Chapter 91
What Kim Yul had imagined was, like when he had been invited to the former Duke Bertus, a meal with only a few people.
But.
“Heh heh, how is it that a novelist knows music this well too? Your talent is amazing.”
“Author Ulysses! I always read your work very enjoyably. But did you really have to kill Zhuge Liang like that?”
“Do you have no plans to write any more of The Two Heroes?”
“I heard there really was a person named Beethoven? What country was he from? Why was someone like that buried in obscurity?”
“Haha….”
The attendees were…
a bit too many.
In fact, it was only natural.
Even if novelist Ulysses had melted everyone’s hearts with the concert, it was not as though his name could stand beside the High Priest and the Emperor.
His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire was certainly not so idle, and in fact had not yet appeared there.
Of course, the High Priest was shining in that place.
But, for now.
He was merely chatting with devout noble believers of the Goddess Church and others related to the religious world, occasionally casting glances at Ulysses.
“Don’t tell me, this gentleman here is the pianist?”
“Yes, he is my cousin.”
“Virtuoso! Thank you for the wonderful performance!”
“Thank you for your kindness. It is a title beyond my station.”
Because the original composer-and-performer duo behind today’s overwhelming sensation had drawn disastrous attention.
After the banquet began.
Kim Yul and Historye were swept along by the crowd and basked in their popularity.
.
.
.
For almost two hours, they were caught in the waves of socializing, stamping their faces here and there.
By the time the other nobles, moving about in groups of three or four, had shrunk to about one-third of the original size.
“You are very popular, brother. That was a very impressive performance.”
“I hope you enjoyed the music, High Priest.”
Taking advantage of the lull in people’s interest, the second meeting with the High Priest, who had just finished his audience with the religious figures, was arranged.
Compared to the time when they had argued before the performance.
The High Priest’s tone had become considerably softer.
That favorable response was partly thanks to Historye’s presence as well.
“It was a truly excellent performance. You seemed as though you were blessed by the Goddess.”
“You flatter me.”
From the High Priest’s point of view.
Historye was ideal and noble, and in terms of bearing and the faint aura of divinity, no less than a high-ranking cleric.
So the start of their conversation was very warm.
The same was true when they shared their thoughts on music.
“Indeed... the music you made, brother, if the Goddess herself had heard it, she would likely have nodded in satisfaction. It was really, really good.”
“Haha... I didn’t make it, but I thank you for the praise. Mr. Beethoven would probably have been satisfied too.”
“Did a person named Beethoven really exist?”
“Yes. He does not exist in this era now, and it has been a long time since he passed away.”
“Oh my, how could a composer of that level have gone unknown. It is amazing that you found the records of such a person, brother.”
“I was lucky.”
It would have been good for everyone if the conversation had ended with only such warm praise exchanged.
Unfortunately, the duty assigned to the High Priest was not something that could be set aside by the emotion music had given.
First, in terms of the work itself.
To promise a full revision of the negative descriptions.
To reform somewhat subversive ideas, or at least self-restrain so they could not be expressed.
If such things could not be promised, or if there was no will to improve, to apply pressure so that it could not be published within the Empire.
There was also content related to prophecy, but that part had already had its delusion washed away while listening to the music.
“There is a reason for the classes and roles set by the Goddess, brother. If order in this world collapses, how can that chaos be corrected?”
The High Priest began conveying the will of the church in earnest.
How could all beings be equal?
All history had been built through the thorough distinction between those who lead and those who follow.
How could goblins and dragons cast the same one vote just because they possessed intellect? Their weights were different.
“Can peace born of ignorance... become order?”
At Kim Yul’s question, the High Priest nodded and agreed.
“By nature, people are weak. They fear tomorrow unseen and death unavoidable. Therefore, only when they entrust everything to the Goddess’s will can they regain peace and become free, so I question whether the value of equality you have shouted through Beethoven’s mouth is truly needed in this troubled era.”
Historye’s lips moved, but he lightly tugged at her hem to stop her.
Kim Yul fell silent for a moment.
The High Priest’s words were both right and wrong.
In a social system close to the premodern era, reasoning like the High Priest’s could be a sufficiently valid logic for leading the country and strengthening the authority of religion.
But.
From a twenty-first-century way of thinking, he could never be understood.
As Kim Yul’s irritation gauge seemed to be approaching the limit, he entertained gruesome thoughts like sticking on a mustache or raising a sickle and hammer.
In his current position without a firm backing, if the Holy Kingdom decided to crush him in earnest, he could not help worrying whether a lone individual could endure this fantasy land.
Of course.
“I fully understand the concerns you have, but... if art and philosophy are bent by outside pressure, how can humans be said to have free will?”
With polite words and a respectful tone, Kim Yul whispered, “Fuck off.”
The High Priest also seemed to catch the implication, and his expression stiffened slightly.
“Brother... Ulysses, Kim Yul. Setting rank aside and speaking personally, you of course have the qualifications to say such things. Your way of thinking is also extraordinary, and your artistic sense is abundant too.”
The High Priest drew a cross in the air once.
“However, people need balance, peace, and stability. The Holy Kingdom cannot ignore cracks being opened in that, and I think the Empire will also express agreement with my views.”
“Hmm, I’m also close with the Second Prince, so I wonder how that will go.”
Under the High Priest’s pressure, Kim Yul tried to leverage his connections, but the High Priest only laughed heartily.
The meaning contained in that gaze reached Kim Yul completely even without being refined into words.
- The prince? He is just a commoner who has not yet become emperor, right?
Kim Yul unconsciously stroked the necklace made from Nureongi’s scales.
Fortunately, because it was a light movement, the horrific diplomatic catastrophe of a ferocious monster ripping through space and appearing to go growl-chomp-nom on the High Priest did not occur.
Instead.
“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!”
As if waiting until all the people who remained for socializing and flattery had left and only his close aides were left.
The Emperor descended onto the banquet hall, which had somehow become quiet.
And.
“Huh, Sister?”
“Roselyn?”
What appeared together with the Emperor was.
The saintess Roselyn, whom everyone had assumed had left the capital to avoid the High Priest.
* * *
Before arriving at the banquet hall.
Right up until just before meeting the Emperor.
Roselyn agonized.
The judgment of the upper ranks of the Holy Kingdom almost never changed once made.
Their main logic was that those who follow the will of God cannot speak two ways, and while that was very suitable for establishing prestige.
If a misjudgment should occur, there was no choice but to go through an excessively rigid and arduous process to reverse it.
Therefore.
If it were the Kim Yul she knew.
He would absolutely not bend his own stubbornness.
Revision of the work?
There was no way that guy would do such a thing.
Even if she grabbed his collar and shook him dangling, he would only spit out jokes like “Keh, kill me...!” and he was a stubborn man who had never once listened to her earnest requests.
Therefore, what the Holy Kingdom wanted would not be achieved.
That said, it was not as though Kim Yul held such a firm position within the Empire that he was hard to discard.
Although he was under the protection of two dukes, in the end a duke’s will could not guarantee public opinion.
No matter how loudly they defended him, Kim Yul’s fate could be decided by a single word from the Emperor.
Therefore, Roselyn.
“You remember my goodwill from before, do you not?”
“If you mean the matter of saving my supporters, I always remain grateful.”
She had the Emperor wrapped around her finger.
But even that alone still left many shortcomings if Kim Yul were to resolve all the pressure exerted by the Holy Kingdom.
Just chanting that heretical refrain was already enough to eat away at his time and mental strength.
A little more essential.
What was needed was a more fundamental and certain method that could block the Holy Kingdom’s intervention and allow the Empire to protect him more actively.
So.
She made her decision.
.
.
.
Watching Kim Yul, who seemed to be in the middle of an argument with the High Priest and had a slightly heated expression, Roselyn smiled faintly.
That’s right.
How could Kim Yul possibly endure the High Priest’s old-man nagging?
That was impossible.
Roselyn paid her respects to the Emperor and strode over there.
“I heard you left the imperial capital.”
“I’ve returned, High Priest. Might I borrow writer Kim Yul for a moment?”
At Roselyn’s bold words, the High Priest looked troubled.
“Do you intend to go against the will of the Holy Kingdom?”
“Not at all. I simply intend to wield the rights I can exercise as a saintess.”
“Rights...?”
Leaving the slightly dumbfounded High Priest behind, Roselyn looked directly at Kim Yul.
Given this person’s personality.
He would definitely grumble later that it had become a bothersome matter.
But.
With this method, he could keep only a trivial burden on his shoulders and easily let any kind of external pressure slide.
And as for that burden, instead of carrying it out right away, he could secure at least three years of leeway, and if necessary, revoke it again.
That degree of burden was something Roselyn could fully bear.
Roselyn quietly closed her eyes.
And.
The Goddess’s workings, that miraculous moment.
Began to turn into radiance from Roselyn’s chest.
At the same time, Roselyn’s arms, which had been held in a deeply reverent posture with both hands resting on the pouch of divine power, spread open.
A single sword glowing with bright light was drawn from the gap in that rift.
“Ohhh...!”
“A holy sword, it’s a holy sword!”
“At last, has the saintess without a hero found a hero...!”
Gasps burst from the mouths of the nobles who were still keeping their seats.
“Roselyn, you...?”
The High Priest’s voice trembled.
The Emperor watched the scene with eyes full of interest.
“Wow, titty-draw.”
Still unable to understand Roselyn’s intention, Kim Yul could only think of blasphemous ideas in his head.
After an instant like eternity passed.
In Roselyn’s hand was a holy sword scattering a soft glow, a holy sword whose exact name even she did not know.
And.
“Please take it, Kim Yul.”
Roselyn calmly handed that holy sword to Kim Yul as if she had simply found it and picked it up.
“Uh, uh?”
The instant Kim Yul, whose thought circuits had short-circuited, unconsciously took the holy sword.
The Emperor, who had been observing that scene with interest, murmured in a low voice, but loud enough for the few people left to hear.
“The Empire has gained a new hero. That is something to celebrate.”