Chapter 331

(331)

I clutched my face with both hands and rolled around on the floor.

Jeilliris’s frantic voice rang out.

“Matheos! What have you done?”

” Duke Valencius! Duke! Pull yourself together!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

The sound of Matheos hurriedly running towards me could be heard.

His large hand gripped my shoulder.

Snap.

At that moment, a pain like being scalded surged through me.

The sound of shattering glass loudly echoed in my head.

I let out a scream that made the room tremble.

“Khrrr, Aaaaaaah—!”

The pressure I had been holding back finally slipped out.

A faint but distinct crimson wave of energy erupted in all directions.

Fortunately, none of the people in this room were affected by that level of energy.

“Hmm?”

Jeilliris dissipated the wave with a simple hand gesture, while neither Matheos nor Argos so much as blinked.

However, there’s a great difference between not being harmed and not noticing.

“Duke?”

Matheos’s voice had a chilling edge to it now.

Bang!

The next moment, the sound of a door being broken and the clanging of plate armor filled the air.

“Your Majesty!”

“Saint!”

“Your Imperial Majesty. Please step out! Residual mental vibrations have been detected in this room.”

I opened my eyes slightly and glanced around the room.

“…”

Jeilliris was gripping her neck, Argos wore a wry smile, and Matheos looked at a loss, rolling his dark eyes around nervously.

The large door’s hinges had been ripped away, and it hung precariously. Dozens of Holy Knights with blazing holy swords stuck their heads into the room.

“What on earth is going on?”

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

“Duke Valencia’s knights, Lady Trentia has arrived!”

Next, the court nobles and high-ranking priests who had been attending mass downstairs, along with Lady Trentia and her knights, rushed in.

I felt an overwhelming urge to close my eyes again.

“Ah.”

I messed up.

***

By some miracle, there were two of the most powerful authorities in the world in this room.

“…There’s no problem, so all of you should return. By imperial decree.”

“…The God of Radiance himself bids you retreat.”

The Emperor and the Saint had begun selling their act in unison.

“Thankfully, nothing significant occurred.”

“Ho ho. That’s a relief.”

“Didn’t I think His Excellency Duke Valencia was one of the Infiltrators?”

The tide of clergymen and nobles who had rushed in like waves ebbed away just as quickly.

We moved to a room where the doorframe was still intact. Argos instructed the bishops to prepare fresh tea and coffee, while the Emperor managed to force an apology out of the Saint.

“I seek apology for attempting to cremate my counsel.”

“I’m sorry, Duke. Would you forgive my transgression?”

“It’s fine… cough, cough! Let’s proceed with business. Let’s not dwell on the past. Don’t we have a mountain of work and discussions ahead?”

“Thank you, Duke. Right. Let’s move forward with talk of the future.”

That way, I successfully buried the controversy regarding the Amon Temple and the rumors about the Infiltrator Archbishop of Sererassie.

Considering how only my face got a little scorched, I’d say it was quite a successful deal.

“Hum. Let me start by recounting what I saw.”

I cleared my throat awkwardly and began my tale.

Then came the things I had witnessed in the chasm of worlds – the snake with six wings, the whale with eyes the size of lakes, the horses sprouting dozens of legs, the tendrils shimmering with light, the massive coiled serpents, the brass bulls…

“Such creatures were in that space. Do you two have any clue what they might be?”

Frankly, I didn’t expect anything more than a vague answer.

Expecting anyone to recognize beings seen from a place like the chasm of worlds would be unreasonable.

However, Pope Argos nodded as if it were self-evident.

“Yes. Duke, I know exactly who is attempting to summon them.”

Jeilliris raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm?”

Argos pushed up his glasses, which only made his already stern expression even sterner, and began speaking.

“They are all ancient entities worshiped by the people of Amir on the Southern Continent. The protectors of each region have mostly gathered there.”

Matheos also nodded a moment later.

“They harness the power of these ancient entities on a national level to create infiltrator warriors. It’s only natural that they’d be present in that space. Since the establishment of the Amir Dukedom, they’ve been waiting there for over a thousand years.”

Jeilliris furrowed her brow.

“It seems you all know quite a bit about the Amir Dukedom.”

For a thousand years, the Solletarass Empire and the Amir Dukedom had no official exchanges.

Not even the famous conquerors of the Solletarass dynasty managed to establish governorships or colonies beyond the wastelands.

As for me, all I knew about them was that they were madmen who worshipped old gods.

Even the pre-reincarnation Justianus had no intention of allying with them, and pre-reincarnation Jeilliris never considered conquering them.

Their downfall wasn’t even something we led.

They routinely invaded the declining empire like an annual event, and Jeilliris retaliated each time with meteors and the Spears of Wrath.

And around the 34th year of Jeilliris’ reign, a major ritual seems to have failed, effectively destroying their nation.

Upon hearing the news, Jeilliris dropped meteors on the major cities.

The dust from that event caused famine in the southern regions of the empire for some time.

We may have ended them, but their downfall was already imminent due to the ritual’s failure.

If I, a senior official, know only this much, it’s unlikely that even the Church of Radiance would have that much detailed information.

But the Pope of the Radiant Church continued speaking smoothly.

“Countless missionaries have faced martyrdom. Of the thousand who went, barely one returned, but thus a thousand years have passed.”

It seems I was mistaken.

“Hmm.”

“The Radiant Church knows more about the Amir Dukedom than Your Majesty assumes.”

“Let’s listen.”

Jeilliris gave a curious smile.

Argos stroked his white beard.

***

“They are, in fact, a loose coalition of city-states rather than part of anything like the Zahan Alliance.”

“Each city worships a different ancient entity. This isn’t merely a cultural difference. In a state united by religion, worshiping different gods essentially means being entirely separate countries.”

“Of course, they do pledge allegiance to one Sultan. However, the relationship between the Amir lords of each region and the Sultan is akin to… the early relationship between Your Majesty and the high nobles. They are part of the same cultural sphere but don’t form a cohesive unity.”

“Each ancient entity also has a relationship of either advantage or disadvantage with others. Due to this, disputes between major cities over whose god is the greatest are a daily occurrence. This is why we must believe in a monotheistic faith like the Radiant Church. Tsk tsk. Such barbaric individuals.”

Though the conclusion felt a little off, Pope Argos successfully delivered the information Jeilliris and I wanted.

He had just told us how to make those cultists pay.

“Your Majesty. It seems we can take an approach that preserves the utmost imperial power.”

I enthusiastically spoke up.

Jeilliris gave a lazy yet cruel smile.

“I think so too. It would be good to divide them. Pope, do you have more details?”

Argos’ wrinkled eyes gleamed like jewels.

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

A seasoned legal expert from decades of a closed society is truly a master of division and intrigue.

“Ultimately, attacking the line of succession is the most effective approach.”

Jeilliris nodded.

“I think so too. After all, experience teaches that everyone must die before it ends.”

“The current Sultan, Baphomet, is old, and it seems he has only one surviving daughter.”

“One?”

“The other sons and daughters have either been too corrupted by infiltration or have renounced their secular inheritance rights, joining the infiltration sect outright.”

“So if we wait for them to fight over marriage and succession, time will be on our side. Time is my ally, is it not?”

Jeilliris ended her sentence as if asking someone and the Saint responded.

“The God of Radiance aids those who help themselves. What do you think about assassinating the Sultan or inciting other Amirs to court his daughter?”

A ruthless statement worthy of the Saint of the Radiant Church, who was known as the Wrath of God in the pre-reincarnation era.

Ching, Ching.

The Emperor tapped his teacup with his fingers and smiled contentedly.

“We could pursue both methods simultaneously. There will surely be internal strife. Once that happens, I will send the Purification Army and Duchess Helena. Conquering them will be much smoother.”

Pope Argos gave a benevolent smile and stroked his beard, though the content of his speech was anything but benign.

“Let’s marry the daughter to one of Duke Sycarioius’ sons. That way, we can take away the succession rights, sowing confusion among the people.”

Jeilliris seemed to be growing a bit annoyed, as if managing duchies was as tiring as war.

“Then, can’t I just drop a meteor on them?”

But both were seasoned veterans, and they knew war was far more exhausting than that.

I urgently interjected.

“Your Majesty. An external, enormous enemy can unite a nation’s internal divisions. Did you not just say you would divide them?”

The fall of a nation doesn’t necessarily mean the fall of a people.

With both these infiltrators and other races awaiting confrontation, we couldn’t afford to have those desert gods infiltrate the empire.

“The prospect seems tiresome.”

“One can conquer a country with meteors, but one cannot rule it. We must send Duchess Helena anyway. Sending her to a divided enemy will be easier than sending her to a unified one.”

The Saint and the Pope supported my argument.

Matheos earnestly declared,

“You’re right, Your Majesty. We shouldn’t cause these heathens to resent us. They must kill each other.”

“I agree with the Saint’s point. We must not give them any justification to unite.”

Argos also strongly agreed, and Jeilliris finally nodded.

“If all of you concur, I shall understand. Let’s start by completely dismantling the succession plans of the Sultan.”

???? ???? ????

As I listened to this entire dialogue, a peculiar thought came over me.

No, wasn’t this supposed to be my job, the Wild Duke?

Why are the Saint and the Pope discussing this?

Is our empire really okay?

“Duke, your expression isn’t good. Are you still in pain?”

Matheos asked worriedly.

I hesitated, which was uncharacteristic for the Wild Duke.

“Please don’t smile. For a moment, I thought it would be alright.”

The next instant, the three responded differently.

Jeilliris gave a lazy smirk.

“I am beyond sin and punishment. I can do anything.”

Matheos flared up.

“Don’t say such things like what you’ve been doing from behind the red-light district! Besides, the Duke who kidnapped me twice—”

Argos gave a kind smile before delivering a cutting response.

“Your Majesty, isn’t it natural that one comes to resemble those they fight?”

That’s right.

Exactly.

I was living proof of that.

Through the battles with ancient entities, I had come to trigger psychic waves, hadn’t I?

I burst into hearty laughter.

“Yes. Pope’s words are correct. Let’s start public opinion-building through sermons first. This isn’t a war that will happen in a day or two, but we need to solidify the grounds for augmentation and conscription.”

Argos wore a smile.

“I’ll summon the bishops from Sycarioius.”

“I’ll make my tithes next Sunday.”

Matheos shook his head.

“Do it this Sunday. Don’t postpone today’s obligation to tomorrow.”

“But I’ve sent a considerable amount for Rudi’s cause…”

“Right now, construction workers in the new town sector are collapsing from the heat, unable to afford treatment because they lack money.”

The condition commonly referred to as “heatstroke” is a more serious illness than one might think.

In extreme cases, it can lead to death on the spot.

Massive amounts of divine power are required for treatment, which means substantial amounts of tithing are needed, and the people with the money to bear the cost were not working under such conditions.

Matheos held out his palm with dignity.

“Treating with divine power alone has proved inefficient. The best remedy is letting them rest in a cool place, so I’ll hire plenty of temporary cold-magic specialists. Recently, didn’t some wagons filled with silver coins come from the red-light district? Tithe them.”

I chuckled bitterly and nodded.

“Understood.”

That balance of dignity and audacity, that was truly befitting of a saint.