Chapter 24
The Pope of the Romper Religious Order has no bloodline of his own, officially or unofficially.
How could one who pledged devotion to God create offspring through the reproductive act of sex?
However, the Pope clearly had a son.
That meant it wasn’t a second generation born through mating.
It was a child born of the heart.
The only child the Pope had born of the heart, Valerian.
Showing extraordinary promise and immense talent for Divine Power since childhood.
He had now even earned the title of Saint.
But what good was being called a Saint?
“Just what kind of accident did you cause for a letter like this to arrive!”
When he was causing accidents like this every day.
If the accidents he had committed so far were at a level that could be forcibly endured by squeezing one’s eyes shut.
The accident he caused this time was on a completely different level.
The Empire sent a letter that so blatantly showed they were furious?
And through a carrier pigeon instead of normal channels of communication?
This was absolutely not something that could be taken lightly.
However.
“Father, it’s fine. Just trust me, I can handle it.”
Hearing his son’s nonchalant reply, he felt like he would die from frustration.
The Empire might have a mild image now, but going up just a few generations, it was a truly terrifying place.
Acting up? Then die.
You’re starting a rebellion because you don’t want to die when told to? Still die.
Fine, leave for another country, but only your body goes, nothing else, you don’t want to? Die.
As if trying to weed out those with rebellious temperaments in advance.
They killed absolutely everyone who wasn’t loyal to the Empire to a truly terrifying degree.
Immediate execution at the slightest hint of defiance.
After performing such a sword dance once, it was passed down through several generations.
And the Empire with its current mild image was born.
“How are you going to handle…, no, wait, handle it? Are you saying you know what’s happening in the Empire right now?”
“Of course. How could I not know?”
“But you knew, and you didn’t share it with me?”
“I was going to handle it on my end.”
Crack, thwack!
“Keuk! A sudden kick…”
An old age.
Even though he had reached a point where he needed about two hours of stretching for his body to properly loosen up.
The Pope forgot his own body screaming and fiercely kicked his son.
“You crazy bastard! You couldn’t handle it on your end, which is why the Empire’s letter arrived in my room! How can you be so carefree!”
“It really is fine. It seems the Grand Duke of the North failed his rebellion, but there won’t be any disaster on our end.”
“The Empire demanded the truth. Even compensation for damages, yet you say there’s no disaster?”
“Just that part… we just need to comply with that part. There won’t be anything else. They won’t be able to find out, and since they must be angry about the rebellion… we just need to dispatch a few clerics.”
“Hah, you speak so easily.”
“I mean it. And this is also part of my plan.”
“Your plan?”
Whether it was a plan or bullshit.
The Pope sent a glare saying he couldn’t permit it until he heard a proper answer.
The Saint, Valerian, shrugged and continued.
“Right now, due to the rebellion in the Northern Region, there is a large void in Troops there. And we have been suspected, so to resolve this suspicion, we should send Troops to the Northern Region.”
“Indeed. That is the Empire’s demand… and the problem is we don’t know what they’ll do if we don’t comply.”
“Then we just need to comply. While complying, we can finally proudly proselytize within the Empire.”
“Proselytize?”
“Yes, the Northern Region is an environment where survival is difficult to begin with. At such a time, if the people we dispatch show Divine Power, how easy would proselytizing be?”
“…”
The Pope saved his words.
Honestly, ignoring the Empire’s letter here was one method.
Or he could have gotten angry, asking what on earth they were talking about and why they were harboring such suspicions.
But.
“The Empire has caught some solid evidence. That”s why we have no choice but to comply.'
The situation itself was disadvantageous to the Holy Kingdom.
It was blatantly obvious that his own son had intervened.
And due to his conscience as a cleric, it was difficult to just turn a blind eye to it.
Proselytizing in the midst of all that.
'It’s not a bad idea.'
But on the other hand, it was dangerous.
Although the Empire hadn’t specifically said anything about religious activities.
Was it right to proselytize in a situation where personnel were dispatched for the purpose of apology?
But proselytizing itself was one of the doctrines of the Romper Religious Order, so it was natural.
Should he say there was nothing forced about the situation itself.
“…I’ll let you do as you wish for now, since the dispatch itself won’t change anyway.”
“Father, you must trust me completely.”
As soon as the Pope’s permission was granted, Valerian smiled deeply.
“So the Grand Duke of the North ended up dying?”
One competitor had disappeared.
But showing this outwardly was the mark of an amateur.
“Today, I should converse with Mirne with the sorrow of losing a close friend.”
Just that level of a conversation topic.
Valerian was already delighted at the thought of talking with Mirne.
+++++
“Ah, for reference, if the ones who come to be dispatched look like they’re going to proselytize, punish them severely.”
“Will that be alright?”
“It’s almost certain they’ll come, so when they say they’re sending a dispatch, we just need to time it right and send another letter from our end.”
Exactly at the point when the people from the Romper Holy Nation arrive in the Northern Region.
We would send a letter to the Holy Kingdom.
The contents of the letter being.
“If they came to compensate, they should quietly just compensate, and if they proselytize, they won’t see a good end… embellish it appropriately and send it.”
“Yes, yessir!”
If I spoke roughly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would take care of embellishing it well and sending it.
“A bloodbath has swept through the Northern Region and the Eastern Region, and The Center also has a lot of personnel voids. Therefore, actively recruit talent without status restrictions.”
“H-His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. I am terrified to speak, but there are concerns that the existing Nobles might rebel if that happens…”
“Haha, wouldn’t I take care of the Nobles? They are only temporary, after all. Do not worry too much.”
“Your Highness’s grace is…”
“Ah, enough with the flowery words, what happened with the Academy?”
“We are devoting all our efforts, but…”
“Just the estimated timeframe.”
“We are estimating two years.”
Two years is too long, isn’t it?
Of course, I knew this was an incredibly fast speed because it was the Empire.
But right now, when I didn’t know why Mirne was trying to build the Academy.
It was too much of a shame to just suck my thumb for two years.
“Even so, it”s not like I can immediately shorten the completion period.'
If the position of Crown Prince passed by and didn’t like a mountain.
“The mountain is blocking the sun, clear it away.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
It did possess the power to move it to the side.
But right now, with the Empire already having many administrative voids, overworking them further was too much.
“Come to think of it, there was someone who used a hammer among the Executioners.”
I should ask that side.
Thinking that.
“I will end today’s State Council here.”
I ended the State Council that started like breakfast and immediately stood up from my seat.
'There’s too much to do.'
It was good that I did all the urgent cleaning right away.
The problem was that in the process of cleaning, I threw away all the furniture in the house too.
I disposed of them all because it was obvious they would just spread mold if left alone.
But the house was so empty that filling it was the problem now.
“Phew.”
As soon as the State Council ended, I came straight to my room.
I checked the reward I received for resolving the Northern Region’s grand cleanup.
[ You have perfectly resolved the situation. ]
[ You are granted the “Convenient Empire Status Window” as a reward. ]
[ You will be able to manage the Empire more conveniently. ]
Convenient Empire Status Window.
So it meant I could see the Empire’s situation more conveniently than the one I received before.
Ding!
[ Empire Status Window ]
Displays the current status of the Empire.
As it is in the initial stage, the parts that can be checked are limited.
Administration: Excellent National Treasury: Insufficient Military Power: Worst Diplomacy: Worst Corruption: Fair
Currently, a massive cataclysm has occurred in the Eastern Region and the Northern Region.
Due to this, a brief Eastern & Northern report is temporarily displayed.
[ Brief Eastern Report ]
All sectors are striving to quickly return to normal.
The efforts of the current Grand Duke of the East, Jabairen Marin, are shining through.
Because it is recovering at an incredibly excellent speed, it seems it will soon regain the appearance of a powerful Eastern Region.
[ Brief Northern report ]
Recently, all subversive forces have met their deaths.
Due to this, the Northern Front has been placed in a highly unstable situation.
If not resolved promptly, Demonic Beasts will cross the Northern Front.
Currently, Estella Neave, known as the “Staff of the North”, is managing this.
She is putting forth the best countermeasures,
and appropriately utilizing Wizards to narrowly maintain the Front Line.
Support is needed promptly.
“…?”
As soon as I saw the status window, I was bewildered.
“Nothing’s changed.”
What made it a convenient status window?
I decided to think about that later.
There was a major change in the status window after finishing the Northern Region cleanup.
“Corruption has finally gone up to Fair.”
It was at Worst when I first saw it.
Still, it could be said that the rotten parts had been cut out to some extent.
“The National Treasury and Military Power have dropped even more than before, but this should be temporary too.”
Starting from the Northern Region to the Eastern Region and the Academy.
There wasn’t just one or two places that required money, so the National Treasury emptying out was inevitable.
As for Military Power, everyone from the Grand Duke of the North, who was a Grand Master, to the Sword Master Knights beneath him had all died.
So weakening was, in a way, a natural progression.
“The Chance of Annihilation is 80%, and I”ve obtained clues about the Covenant…'
While checking the things I had obtained one by one.
I pulled out the sword I got after splitting the Grand Duke of the North in half a while ago.
“Maybe because it’s the Sword of the Future, it definitely looks incredibly stronger than modern ones.”
Furthermore, it felt like it was made for the Grand Duke of the North.
Just holding it made a chill flow out profusely.
'Hmm?'
But holding it like this, I sensed an energy I hadn’t felt before.
What should I call this, that sensation of detecting an unmanned drone in the past.
“A Spirit? Was it a weapon imbued with a Spirit?”
Vrrr.
As soon as I mentioned a Spirit, I saw the sword tremble slightly.
I thought I should melt this sword down later and extract just the Spirit separately.
'There’s a lot to do, but I feel like I’m short on time.'
The moment I had that thought, as if it had been waiting.
[ The Convenient Empire Status Window moves to solve your worries! ]
A random message popped up before my eyes.
Flash!
It brought up a chart like some kind of Tech Tree.
No, not 'like' a Tech Tree, it was literally just a Tech Tree chart.
The kind that usually appears when you play games like Civilization.
There were truly countless categories on it.
What completely caught my eye was the Rare Resources category and the section on technological prowess.
Should I say there were things that couldn’t be seen in a typical Romance Fantasy Setting.
“Magitech? Gears? Hah, so there’s something else besides swords and Magic.”
Does this mean something like a mecha dragon is possible? But why on earth should this be possible?
I had many questions, but a setting was originally up to the author’s whims anyway.
I decided not to dig into it in detail.
“But it only gives me a Tech Tree, doesn”t it give me points to invest or something?'
Would it give those separately as a reward?
Still, figuring it was better than nothing, I stopped thinking about it.
“Arveda.”
“Yes! His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
I immediately called for Arveda.
Actually, calling for her was funny in itself.
Because it was at the level where if I just called the name 'Arveda' into thin air.
She would pop out instantly.
“It would be more accurate to call it a summon.”
Anyway.
I asked various things about what I had felt while watching the Executioners recently.
“When the Grand Duke of the North learned of the Executioners' existence, he treated it like an imperial rumor… When was the last time the Empire directly commanded the Executioners?”
The first thing I felt doubtful about was the use of the Executioners.
Why did the Grand Duke of the North make a face like he was seeing the Executioners for the first time?
Even treating them like a rumor.
“Shall I inform you of the most recent time, sir-ness?”
But.
“…You’re still terrible at honorifics, but whatever. Yes, I want to know that.”
“Since the Great Prophet, no one has ever given an order to the Executioners, sir-ness.”
“What?”
I was shocked by the answer that followed.
So no one has ever used them?
While possessing five Bio-Nuclear Weapons?
Of course, I understand the desire to avoid using them as much as possible.
Because nukes originally exert great power just by being held.
But even though the Executioners weren’t consumables.
None of the past Emperors ever used the Executioners?
“Why on earth? What”s the reason?'
They bound Executioners they weren’t even going to use with a Covenant?
“Then did the Great Prophet ever use the Executioners?”
“Yes, but it was before I was born, so I don’t know the details.”
“…”
So he used them exactly once, felt they were good to use, bound them with a Covenant, and then.
Left the payment to the next generations?
“How on earth am I supposed to interpret this.”
For now, there are two hypotheses.
1. He really liked the Executioners, so he made a long contract.
2. He bound the Executioners with a Covenant to prepare for the future.
Looking at it this way, number 2 is unconditionally correct.
But what that future was, was truly ambiguous.
“If it”s the future… just the Empire’s annihilation?'
Or does something else happen once these Executioners cross over to Maselin?
The easiest things to think of are a Black Mage and a Demon King.
Because they are the perfect ones to appear as villains in a fantasy setting.
Then the fastest method for now is to contact Mirne directly.
“Even if it”s rotten, it’s still the Empire, so it’d be best to use this power.'
The internal cleanup is finished for now, and things are gradually being organized.
“The Romper Religious Order was a place that claimed a monotheistic god, probably.”
“Yes, that is correct, sir-ness.”
“Then…”
I pondered for a moment before quickly coming to a conclusion.
“I should hold a grand banquet in the Empire.”
Shall I stir the pot properly for once.