Chapter 553

After Hasal headed to the Holy Kingdom, Leopold had to manage the empire’s affairs while temporarily losing the strongest card he could mobilize.

There were no peaceful days. Not for him, nor for his scalp. The world was full of problems.

Duke Bien openly gathered nobles to form a massive power bloc, while the only two great nobles who could counter him, Pailoon and Landenburg, were too busy restoring and strengthening their territories to even step into central politics.

As a result, Leopold had to endure stress to the point of cramps, dividing and sowing discord among the nobles to maintain political balance and prevent Duke Bien’s dominance.

Of course, he couldn’t blame the two great nobles for this. The north, which suffered massive damage from the Great Invasion, and the east, where Ka’har’s attack was imminent, were both in situations where they were too preoccupied with their own territorial issues.

“If only the Imperial Army were intact…”

Leopold’s original plan was to ascend to the throne with Duke Bien’s cooperation and then use the Imperial Army to check the duke’s growing power.

The Imperial Army and the Imperial Knight Order were organizations that didn’t interfere in power struggles among the royal family, but they would never tolerate a mere noble overstepping imperial authority.

The problem was that the elite 1st and 2nd Corps of the Imperial Army had melted away in the northern snowfields. It was a massive loss and a defeat that shook the foundation of the imperial authority.

Even months later, the Imperial Army’s damage hadn’t been recovered, and with only the 3rd and 4th Corps left, maintaining internal security was precarious.

Far from checking the nobles, they were now at a point where they had to encourage the raising of private armies to secure local order.

If it weren’t for the Empire’s Greatest Sword, a woman more like a murderous storm than a person, who pledged loyalty to Leopold, he might have already become a hollow puppet emperor.

—

Not only the empire’s internal affairs but also external matters were a headache.

The fairies and dwarves had been engaged in such grand battles that it was impossible to tell what was what anymore, and the dragonkin were also in a brutal civil war, washing blood with blood within their kingdom.

Ka’har in the east was eerily quiet, only increasing the unease, while Dane was invading the chaotic Panam, smoothly expanding its territory.

It was as if the world had reverted to hundreds of years ago, to that insane era when all races were at war with each other.

“If they exhaust their strength in a war with no winners, that would be great… but on the other hand, the victors might swallow the defeated and grow stronger, targeting the empire.”

At least the dwarves were showing a friendly attitude toward the empire, but the fairies and Dane were openly hostile, even if they hadn’t formally declared war. Ka’har was even worse.

Even the dwarves, who had brought out some absurdly powerful weapons, were no longer a reassuring ally. It was unlikely they would be satisfied with their current status as a quasi-subordinate state of the empire.

“But with our current lack of strength, we can’t launch a preemptive attack either…”

Every time Leopold pondered the empire’s future, his forehead seemed to grow wider.

—

The final blow to Leopold’s deteriorating scalp condition came from news about the Holy Kingdom… specifically, about Hasal’s actions.

“He imprisoned a cardinal of the Elpinel Church Order?”

The first news was somewhat understandable.

It was an internal matter of the church, and considering Hasal and Lacey’s radical tendencies, it was something they might do.

“Two cardinals died? The Bølberg and Grimnir Church Orders have left the Holy City?”

The second news was also manageable.

It was surprising that three cardinals had disappeared and two had defected so soon after Hasal went to the Holy Kingdom, but it didn’t seem directly related to Hasal and Lacey.

However, from the third news onward, the flow of falling hair couldn’t be stopped.

“He massacred the Grimnir Church Order? Soul Extraction Technique? Declared a heresy?”

A major event that reduced the eleven main deities to ten. This wasn’t just a problem for the Holy Kingdom. The declaration of the Grimnir Church as a heresy meant that the Grimnir Church within the empire was also labeled as heretical.

The Grimnir Church members in the empire had to choose between conversion or imprisonment. The Grimnir Archbishop of the Imperial Diocese protested his innocence, but the decision couldn’t be reversed.

Moreover, the subsequent news was even more outrageous.

Starting with the sudden emphasis on Ka’har’s lineage and the occupation of Arad, expelling the Astraea Church Order, followed by bizarre rumors.

While occupying the Holy Kingdom’s land as an imperial noble was a serious crime akin to treason, no one in the empire had the energy to condemn it.

The rumors that followed were too shocking.

“A lover? Who, with whom…? Is that even possible?”

The scandal with Seilon. It was so shocking that Leopold, forgetting his imperial dignity, almost flipped the teacup on the table. Even if the dead Carolus had returned to life, he wouldn’t have been as surprised.

The idea that a woman who seemed devoid of romantic feelings had fallen for one of the Holy Kingdom’s strongest forces was as absurd as Isabella becoming a saint.

If the other party had been a mage instead of a paladin, he might have suspected brainwashing magic.

And then, a few days later, when he heard the tale of Count Median splitting the sky with a single sword and defeating a demon that descended upon Arvil, Leopold had to seriously consider whether to fire a large number of Intelligence Department agents.

He couldn’t tell if they were collecting accurate information or deceiving him.

“Do you expect me to believe this report?”

“…It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. We also found it hard to believe, so we verified it multiple times… but all the testimonies matched.”

But Leopold’s skepticism didn’t change the truth.

Witness testimonies, Intelligence Department investigations, rumors crossing borders, and the Holy Kingdom’s official announcements all corroborated Hasal’s heroic tale.

“Huh… splitting the sky? It’s not like Emperor Carolus the Great has been reincarnated, what is this…?”

Leopold was dumbfounded. Hasal’s strength had always been inhuman, but this was on the level of legend.

“…So, how is Count Median’s condition? If this is true, it must have been a fierce battle.”

“Yes. As you feared, he was severely injured… but thanks to timely treatment, he has recovered safely. He is currently recuperating at St. Eluniel Cathedral, regaining his strength.”

“That’s good. That’s a relief…”

Leopold sighed in relief. It was a fortunate turn of events, both psychologically and politically.

In a time when his imperial authority and the empire’s future were already unstable, losing Hasal would have been devastating.

—

A month after the demon incident, news came of a political upheaval in the Holy Kingdom.

Two more cardinals had died, and the Bølberg Church Order had fled after causing massive casualties, being excommunicated from the Ten Main Deities Religion.

Hasal and Lacey’s fame was soaring, but the Holy Kingdom’s military strength, which should have been at the forefront of countering the fairies, had been halved.

“Is that so? That’s a serious matter.”

Having grown accustomed to shocking news, Leopold could only laugh hollowly.

‘He said he would restore the Holy Kingdom to its original state. Did he mean reverting it to the era of religious wars hundreds of years ago…?’

While his lips smiled, his scalp screamed in agony.

The hair scattered on Leopold’s pillow was now so mixed with white that it could almost be called platinum blonde.

Empress Adelaide, unable to bear it, began searching for medicinal herbs good for the scalp.

Even Leopold’s dignified, androgynous beauty was fading due to his thinning hair.

Leopold, well aware that a ruler’s attractive and imposing appearance was a significant advantage, consulted a high-level mage about solving his hair loss… but unfortunately, he didn’t get a satisfactory answer.

“My apologies, Your Majesty. If I could develop such a magic, I would have resigned as Tower Master and spent my life raking in money to focus on my desired research.”

High Sorceress Floheta bowed her head, delivering the cruel reality that hair growth magic didn’t exist and couldn’t exist.

“I see…”

Leopold sighed deeply in disappointment.

—

If Floheta said it was impossible, then it really was impossible.

Who could deny the words of the Imperial Mage Tower’s master?

Floheta was originally a high-level mage ranked fifth in the tower, but after the Grimnir incident wiped out those above her, she became the Tower Master by default.

The mages above her had all been involved with the Grimnir Church Order. It was confirmed information obtained from interrogating the Archbishop of the Imperial Diocese.

Those four high-level mages had secretly received massive funds from the Grimnir Church Order and, in return, subtly leaked the Imperial Mage Tower’s secrets.

Seeing her superiors dragged away like dried fish by the Royal Guard, Floheta finally understood the truth and let out a bitter laugh.

“No wonder. While I was out hunting monsters and exploring dungeons to scrape together research funds, those guys holed up in the tower were making money from somewhere.”

For Floheta, it was an infuriating situation.

She couldn’t produce research results due to lack of funds, and she didn’t have time to produce results because she was busy earning money.

Thus, she remained perpetually fifth-ranked.

Meanwhile, the mages above her were selling state secrets to fund their research. How absurd must that have been for her?

—

In any case, having to face his reflection in the mirror every morning while grooming, Leopold, after much deliberation, finally decided to wear a wig.

If his face had been wrinkled, his bald head might have added some dignity, but with a face that looked no older than mid-twenties and only his head bald, it was simply ridiculous.

That was how Leopold came to wear a wig.