Chapter 138 – In the Middle of the Storm (2)

“Huh. Well.”

It was the Priests from the Thornbush Priest Organization that Juan was going after, not the beings from the Crack. Juan didn’t intend to deal with the intellectuals who ran away on their own if they weren’t planning to intervene in the matters of this land. Even when he had been the emperor, Juan did not chase after the gods who fled to the Crack.

“Then this is the only one who is left.”

Juan headed toward the center of the temple where dozens of tentacles the size of trees were rolling on the ground, almost as if they had been roughly torn apart. In the center of the temple was a Priest who had lost all his limbs. He was sobbing helplessly.

“Gerard! Gerard Gain that fucking bastard! He said that he killed the emperor!” the Priest cried.

“Well, I’m sorry that I’m not dead,” Juan looked down at the man coldly and muttered. “But unlike me, you will most certainly die.”

The man’s head exploded, with blood splattering everywhere as soon as Juan’s feet touched his chin. It was hard to find even a single trace of the man in the blood scattered all over.

Haild scratched his chin and then opened his mouth.

“Didn’t you want to interrogate him? You must have had a lot of questions to ask.”

“I already did. But, it turns out that he doesn’t know much—not to mention that it’s been a long time since the Head Priest of the Thornbush Priest Organization showed himself,” Juan said as he looked around the temple. “It’s basically an abandoned group. They were only able to maintain themselves because of their hostility toward the empire and them having been encroached upon by the Crack. It seems like they’ve tried lots of things, but nothing has gone right since their Head Priest disappeared about a year ago. I think they had more plans to resurrect other gods besides Talter…”

“Woah. Isn’t that too dangerous?” Haild asked.

“As I said, I don’t think they’ve achieved anything, since they haven’t been properly managed.”

“I don’t know if I should be relieved or frustrated. After all, we didn’t end up getting any of the information that we were looking for,” Haild said as he sighed. “This underground city of Kaleb was the largest gathering place for the Priests of the Thornbush Priest Organization. We destroyed all the gathering places of the Thornbush Priest Organization, but it doesn’t seem like we’ve gained much from it.”

“We’ve gained enough just based on the fact that they won’t be able to stab us in the back anymore,” Juan said, clicking his tongue. “Besides, I had already decided to completely exterminate these bastards when they had thrown Hela into the sea. That resolution has now been fulfilled—that’s it,” Juan said.

Haild nodded. If Haild hadn’t rescued Hela back then, she would have died.

While Hela survived in the end, Juan had no intention of reverting the decision that he had already made. Juan was especially careful about keeping his word when they involved killing someone.

“Then… are you planning to go back to the capital now? Aunt Nienna left first to prepare everything in the north, so I think this is enough.”

“Yes, this is enough. Let’s go back.”

***

Cold wind blew toward Juan and Haild in the snowy mountain valley when they came out. Due to the lukewarm wind blowing out from inside the cave, snow was not piled up at its entrance. The sunlight poured into the white snow field, causing Haild to smile joyfully upon seeing the natural sun that he had not seen in a long time.

As Juan stared at the smiling Haild, Haild asked something as if he were curious.

“Is everything okay, Your Majesty?”

“...Yes, it’s nothing.”

For a moment, Juan felt as if it was Gerard who was standing in front of him. Haild had a large scar engraved on his face due to being pierced through by the arrow and being encroached upon by the Crack, but Juan couldn’t help but acknowledge that Haild really was Gerard’s son. Juan nodded as he thought that blood really ran thicker than water.

Juan couldn’t understand what he was feeling. He was regaining the strength he had as the emperor with the help of Gerard’s arrangement, and the Thornbush Priest Organization who had been encroaching upon the empire had been eradicated.

But Gerard’s intentions, as well as his whereabouts, were still unknown.

If Gerard had no reason to be ashamed of himself, it would have been fine even if Gerard himself took charge of what Haild was doing right now. Juan felt that he might be able to forgive Gerard, though his relationship with Gerard would never be the same.

‘

Isn’t that what reconciliation is all about anyway?

’

“This cave has an exit leading to the north, so it will be close to the Winter Citadel. Would you like to visit Aunt Nienna, Your Majesty?” Haild asked.

“No. We are heading toward the capital right away.”

“Do you mean the Holy City of Torra?”

“The Order of Huginn, Duke Henna, and Nienna will all join me on my way.”

Haild looked a little frightened when Juan mentioned Duke Henna. He had still not informed Hela Henna that he was alive. In fact, he didn’t even know how he would explain it to her or where he should begin. After all, to explain why he was still alive, he would have to talk about Gerard first.

“I’ll talk to Hela first,” Juan said.

“...Maybe that’s for the best. I’ll follow Your Majesty’s orders.”

Juan began to walk through the snowfield and Haild followed behind him.

“Come to think of it, why did you stagnate for a month even after sending out the message that you are returning? Ah, of course, I also understand that it was important to destroy the Thornbush Priest Organization, but couldn’t you have sent the message of your return now rather than a month ago, since you have now eliminated the Thornbush Priest Organization?” Haild asked.

Juan took a glance at Haild. At this moment, he truly understood that Gerard really had stopped Haild’s growth—he really was just like a young child, starting to ask so many questions right after saying that he would follow Juan’s orders.

“I’m just following Harmon’s advice,” Juan said.

“Harmon…? Who is that?”

“He’s the most annoying man I know. But, he is also the most capable man I know as well. He used to have an attitude that screamed, ‘I’m a competent man and you wouldn’t dare to kill such a talented man like me even if you’re the emperor.’ There was a piece of advice that he gave me when I had united all of humanity.”

“What was the advice?”

“Man is even more afraid of imaginary monsters than he is of real monsters.”

Haild looked confused as if he didn’t understand what Juan was saying.

“Did he mean that Your Majesty is a monster?”

“I think that’s what he meant. Back then, Harmon had placed a bait half a year before I met the leader of another kingdom. He made sure to let everyone know how ruthless I was to my enemies and about all the terrible things I’ve done… the process was so slow and there were so many intrusive rumors that I used to get really annoyed with Harmon.”

“Your Majesty was annoyed? That’s kind of hard to imagine. So, what was his reaction?”

“He didn’t even bother to listen to me.”

Haild laughed at the absurdity.

“His idea wasn’t wrong though. Harmon just wanted to create a morbidly tight community for humanity. Taking more time makes one firm, but acting hastily makes one see blood. Thank goodness I had already declared that I would never get married. If I had agreed to get married, with Harmon’s arrangement, I would have had at least about twenty wives,” Juan continued to answer Haild’s question. “That’s why I took a month. Attacking right after sending a warning is done only when you lack power or just as much power as your enemy. But I have overwhelming power and the flow is with me. Moving slowly is one of the ways to avoid having to shed blood.”

Juan continued walking in the snowfield.

“If the opponent is scared of you, even taking one step forward is enough to make them fall. That moment is also when the enemies and allies get clearly divided. That’s the way to do it.”

“That’s very generous of you, Your Majesty.”

“Generous… I don’t know if that’s the right word for it,” Juan smiled and looked back at Haild. “Maybe I’m just acting like that because that’s what I have learned. Or maybe I want to look generous so that the people that I care about won’t be disappointed in me. But to be honest, I hope that my enemies will rebel and fight back with all their might.”

Juan’s tone was quite harsh.

“Then I’d be able to see those bastards die of regret while rolling in bloody mud.”

***

“Do not dazzle the believers with fake prophecies!”

Hemult had never imagined that he would have to shout these words out loud to the Saintess even once.

The Saintess stood on the altar and bit her lips with a hardened expression. She looked pale, but determined.

.

Helmut couldn’t understand such a look on the Saintess’ face. The position of a Saintess was created by him, and she had no real connection with the emperor whatsoever.

‘

But what is with that rebellious attitude that she is showing me?

’

“There is only one emperor, and that is His Majesty who is sitting on the Eternal Throne! How dare you babble out all that nonsense!”

“It isn’t nonsense!” Ivy said firmly.

Helmut’s face flushed. All the Priests and Bishops in the capital had gathered to attend the general assembly of the Church, but the Saintess had just refuted his words in front of all of them.

“His Majesty appeared in my dream and declared that he is returning. He said that the return would begin from the east.”

Murmurs started to spread once again. Just like the prophecy she had made at the ceremony for the appointment of the Saintess, she had now made another concrete prophecy. Ivy’s words were even more effective due to the rumors that had already started to spread around the empire.

“His Majesty said he would generously give a total of three warnings before his arrival, since his absence has been so long. First is to make us confront our own lies. Second is to break down our swords. Then the third is to…”

“Stop! Stop impersonating His Majesty’s words with such a false prophecy!”

When the uproar grew, Helmut slammed the floor with his staff as if he could not stand it. The entire altar vibrated with a rumbling sound while the floor began to break. Then, amidst the loud sound of something breaking, a loud scream was heard by everyone.

Only then did all the Priests, including Ivy, closed their mouths. Most people didn’t know just how powerful Helmut was, since it was rare for him to show himself in outside events, but he was the one who handled the most amount of His Majesty’s Grace out of anyone in the Church.

No one in the Church could dare to go against his unilateral dictatorship.

“I am the one who brought mankind together without splitting the empire after His Majesty’s assassination! I have helped and maintained the Eternal Rule under His Majesty’s values until now, do you understand? But how can all of you be shaken so easily by such a fake prophecy!” Helmut screamed.

“It is His Majesty that is great, not Your Holiness.”

Helmut’s face turned even redder at Ivy’s remark.

Meanwhile, Ivy’s hands were shaking as if she was nervous, but she did not back down. The reason for her being able to stand strong was Lenly Loen, the captain of the Imperial Guard, who supported her from behind. Even the Pope couldn’t beat her to death like he had once done in the past as long as Lenly was protecting her.

Helmut, who had been silently glaring at Ivy for a while, opened his mouth.

“Yes. You’re right. I am not His Majesty…”

Helmut strode toward Ivy with his staff. Lenly Loen quickly blocked him as soon as Ivy flinched, but Helmut didn’t even budge. Helmut just glared at Lenly and opened his mouth again.

“...And just as the nonsense that your flighty mouth recites is not a real prophecy, neither is the man you speak of the emperor.”

“I thought I made it very clear that…”

“If your prophecy was coming from the real emperor, why are Lenly Loen and the Imperial Guards here?”

Ivy closed her mouth upon hearing Helmut’s words. Then Helmut continued to speak sarcastically.

“His Majesty ended up dying because of the Imperial Guards not doing their job properly and moving out in vain. It’s not like I expected them to protect His Majesty in the first place. Only if one of them had bothered to scream to warn His Majesty, then His Majesty would have been safe. But the Imperial Guards did absolutely nothing until the moment His Majesty was stabbed.”

Lenly’s hands began to tremble as Helmut continued to speak in a calm manner.

Seeing this, Ivy quickly grabbed Lenly’s hands in order to calm him down. Lenly’s faith and loyalty toward the emperor were impeccable, which was why Helmut’s criticism was completely unbearable for him.

“If the emperor is really out there, shouldn’t you drag all your guards to go and protect him? But look at you, still lingering around here in Torra. Doesn’t that alone prove that the Saintess’ prophecy is fake? Though, I have nothing to say if it is the tradition of the Imperial Guards to guard the wrong place.”