An argument

Malcium's P.O.V.

After watching his nephew leaving for the anti-magician association, he knelt down and started praying to his god.

[Oh mighty god of justice, I have done my all to uphold justice on this land but I am stuck with a certain problem, I am in need of your advice.]-Malcium silently prayed to his lord.

[Malcium my devoted follower... come and speak up the troubles you are facing.]-A deep voice answered.

With a flash, Malcium's consciousness is no longer on the mortal plane, instead, it has appeared in the divine kingdom of his lord. A giant man sat on a divine throne in front of Malcium, followed by two other middle-aged men kneeling onto the ground. With a look, Malcium realize that the two other men are the popes that he strongly disliked.

However, in front of the god of justice, he did not showcase his dislike for them.

"So what troubles you, my follower?"The god of justice spoke.

"My lord, I have discovered that there is a false god in the kingdom of Dusk and they are prepared to make a blood sacrificed. I hope that in my absence, the ritual of hero summoning would not proceed and that we should stop taking in tier 0 countries." Malcium spoke loudly and clearly.

"The ritual would proceed, it is an agreement with the goddess of magic and several other gods in the alliance of light. The summoning of heroes could help us stabilize the situation we are currently in. Besides, heroes are people who support justice, I see no reason to stop this. And for the matter on us supporting tier 0 kingdoms, I don't see another reason to stop this. Tier 0 kingdom has many poor people and by supporting them, we are doing justice aren't we?" The god of justice replied without any interest.

"My lord there are reasons why we shouldn't do this. For the hero summoning, we are asking otherworlders to solve our problem caused by our own incompetence, we can't ask innocent people who have their own lives to selflessly aid us!! And we can't take in tier 0 kingdoms, we do not have the resources to support them in the long run!! While we may have enough resources to feed them now, in the future they may just abandon us once we are in trouble. These tier 0 kingdoms are tier 0 mainly due to management problems. If we just aid them with food, they would only rely on us and not produce their own goods. They are only seeking us for the benefits and would not help us. If we want to take in tier 0 kingdoms, we should be taking over their ruling class and rule over them. This would better help the weak commoners who are suffering due to the greed of the ruling class." Malcium retorted.

"If their ruling class is taken over by us completely, we can build an army that can be sustained using their resources. This would better help us instead of that foolish plan!!" Malcium mocked the plan made by the other 2 popes.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? FORCEFULLY TAKING OVER THE RULING CLASS WOULD MAKE US THE SAME AS THOSE EVIL COUNTRIES!!!!"The younger pope yelled.

"The heroes summoned would be grateful to aid our cause! They would be helping the gods, so they should be proud. I see no wrong in summoning them."The older pope retorted against the argument made by Malcium.

"MINDLESSLY PROVIDING AID WOULD NOT HELP THE COMMONERS!! FIND A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY. THIS WOULD JUST DRAIN AND PUT BURDEN ON OUR RESOURCES. THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR US TO ACT!! AND YOU IDIOT, HOW WOULD WE KNOW THAT THE HEROES SUMMONED WOULD HAVE THAT MINDSET. IF THEY TURN AGAINST US WE WOULD BE DOOMED!!!" Malcium shouted angrily at the other two popes.

"The reason why I built up our supply reserves of money and materials is to keep us alive during times of need. Do you think we can aid others if we cannot even feed ourselves?!!!" Malcium question them angrily.

"Enough! Finish your mission before we continue. We are supposed to use our remaining supply to help the weak, not use them for ourselves. I am disappointed in you Malcium." The god of justice was unimpressed by the reasons provided by Malcium.

"But if there are no excess reserves, our temple will collas-" Before Malcium could finish, Malcium was interrupted by the popes.

"Foolish old man, are you too old to uphold justice?" The younger pope mocked.

"Maybe it's time for you to retire since you do not uphold justice anymore."The older pope strike back.

"YOU IDIOTS WOULD CAUSE US TO FALL. OUR RESERVES ARE ALREADY UNDER GREAT BURDEN BECAUSE OF YOUR FOO-" Malcium was interrupted again.

"Enough!! Do I need to repeat myself?"The god of justice narrowed his eyes seemingly displeased by Malcium's anger.

Not willing to disobey his lord's order, Malcium suppressed his anger and exit the divine kingdom of his lord.

Looks like I am really too old for this, Malcium smiled bitterly. He felt that the prosperity of the temple of justice would crumble in a few years time. Maybe I should just retire, working as a pope has put much strain on my body. Especially after those two popes came into power, I should quit before the temple falls into chaos.

As he thought to himself, the remaining faith he had left in his god weakened significantly. I should tell my nephew to quit too, maybe the goddess of peace would treat him fairly. The more Malcium thought, the more he felt distressed. If he loses his power as a pope now, his nephew would surely face discrimination, especially since Malcium sealed several evil false gods in him

Do not worry Carol, after this mission, I will solve your problem. During his youth, Malcium was a hot-headed fellow who would do anything to stop false gods, even if it means sealing them in his nephew. The higher-ups had already known about this and would seal Carol for eternity if Malcium gave up his position now.

Looks like there really isn't any choice here, I will need to beg the saintess of peace for help. I will need Carol to follow me on this mission this time round. This would be my final mission, Malcium thought to himself.