Chapter 49
Chapter: 49
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 049
>Chapter Title: Klanos (1)
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>The day Bantra Moss's larva nearly opened a gate in the capital.
Having literally died and come back to life, Seongjin was immediately carted off to the Pearl Palace, where he spent the entire afternoon being poked and prodded by physicians.
His eyes rolled back, his tongue lolled out—every imaginable examination was performed. Then, suddenly, a priest was summoned for a round of holy power baptism, and only after that did the ordeal finally end. Exhausted, Seongjin collapsed onto the bed after receiving stern warnings from Physician Ninnias to remain absolutely at rest.
He seemed completely fine now, but the moment he tried to move, Masain standing by the bedside would glare at him. And it wasn't just him—the entire Pearl Palace staff reacted excessively to Seongjin's every move.
They wouldn't even let him hold his own cup of water, insisting on feeding him instead. Well, what could he say?
According to Sir Kurt, his heart had stopped for over thirty minutes, so it wasn't unreasonable.
No, wait—wasn't that well past the golden hour for brain damage? Wouldn't that idiot Mores lose even more brain cells on top of already being dim-witted?
But to Seongjin's concerns, Francis, that holy knight with the prickly personality, scoffed.
"I arrived early and kept channeling holy power into you, so cut the excuses. If you feel your intelligence is lacking, blame your innate intellect."
Whoa, what was this guy's deal? Casually dishing out savage burns to a prince of the Holy Empire without a hint of hesitation.
Seongjin looked anew at the tall holy knight.
Francis Agen.
One of the few holy knights permitted entry into the Pearl Palace, where such access was forbidden.
Vice-captain of the Holy Aurelion Knights, currently handling all of Prince Mores's religious and legal matters in place of Captain Katrina.
Legal guardians had to be notified of any outing by underage royals. Having received the report late, the vice-captain—who was also managing the holy knight order in the captain's stead—had raced after Seongjin's group on horseback.
"Of all places, a cult gathering in an area His Holiness the Holy Emperor had secretly designated as off-limits. Why would someone who rarely goes out head there?"
Off-limits area? Because of that larva?
Seongjin glanced at Sir Masain, who quietly shook his head.
How was he supposed to know and avoid a top-secret matter unknown even to the captain of the Imperial Guard Knights?
Anyway, upon arriving at the villa, the ground was shaking like there'd been an earthquake. Shocked, he rushed to the basement just as Sir Masain was starting "CPR" that cracked ribs.
Why did the holy knight captain become Mores's legal proxy instead of the 1st Imperial Consort during the Holy Emperor's absence? And why hadn't the 1st Imperial Consort, who would normally rush over, shown up?
Seongjin pondered these questions briefly but soon shoved them aside. Francis was loudly nagging Masain, who stood there dazed and silent, his brow furrowed.
"Get your head straight, Masain! Do you think His Holiness assigned you to the prince just to teach swordsmanship? This is exactly when you need to shield him from the Heresy Tribunal and the state church!"
They were the same age and old acquaintances, supposedly.
"Anyway, you're always half-assed."
...Apparently not that close.
But as he said, Masain did seem off right now. His blank, lost expression made him look like he was missing a few screws. The usually gentle, puppy-like demeanor had turned uncharacteristically intimidating without any expression.
Of course, a prince of the empire dying and reviving wasn't an everyday occurrence, but was it enough to shock him this badly?
Don't worry Masain too much.
The words he'd heard from the Holy Emperor during his near-death experience suddenly resurfaced.
[Hey, people are coming?]
The Demon King, who had been quietly resting after quite the ordeal, suddenly spoke to Seongjin. Seongjin had also sensed the restless air.
Masain and Francis noticed the anomaly too—their faces instantly hardened. Francis quickly strode to the window and flung open the curtains.
Clack, clack. In the distance, a group of armed knights was rapidly approaching the Pearl Palace. Upon reaching the main gate, they split into formations and soon encircled the palace in a ring.
White holy knight uniforms overlaid with gleaming silver light armor. Golden chains and a pitch-black sword emblazoned on their attire. It was the Holy Marthias Knights, the same ones seen at Digory's villa earlier.
A few resident knights belatedly rushed out to block the entrances, but outnumbered, they looked cowed.
Meanwhile, the grizzled knight Sir Durand strode confidently through the main gate, hands clasped behind his back, and bellowed arrogantly.
"The Heresy Tribunal summons a witness! Hand over Prince Mores immediately!"
"Those bastards finally..."
Sir Masain growled low. His twisted face looked downright demonic, like he was about to charge out and start swinging his sword. The usually mild captain suddenly seemed like a grenade with the pin pulled, making Seongjin nervous.
Tap, tap. Then Francis patted Masain's shoulder.
"Hey, snap out of it. Get the knights organized and block the palace entrances first. I'll handle this old coot."
Pushing up his glasses with a smirk, he looked less like a holy knight and more like the mastermind of an evil organization.
Good. At least they had a guard dog with full authority delegated by the Holy Emperor who bit anyone.
Sir Durand, standing tall with hands behind his back, scowled as the tall holy knight emerged from the Pearl Palace. Him again.
Francis deliberately stopped right in the old knight's face. The short senior knight had to crane his neck up, while Francis loomed over him freely.
Thus, round two between the two began, following their clash at Digory's villa.
"Didn't I tell you I have authority superseding the inquisitor's investigative and prosecutorial powers? Who gave you permission to summon the prince?"
"It's merely a witness interview regarding the Kenneth Digory incident. The prince isn't suspected of anything right now! There's no harm to him, so just hand him over!"
"So [right now] there's no suspicion, but you might pin something on him during the investigation?"
"Don't speculate wildly! Of course, if unforeseen crimes come to light during the process..."
"Understood. Knowing you have every intent to do so, as the prince's religious and legal proxy, I refuse accompaniment."
Sir Durand exploded in frustration.
"Do you know what you're doing? We don't have time to waste— we need to investigate the incident! Hand over Prince Mores now!"
"Ah! I see. No time to waste, so you mobilized before the incident even leaked?"
"W-What...?"
As the flustered old knight stammered, Francis curled one corner of his mouth smugly.
"I was pursuing Prince Mores for official reasons, but how did the Holy Marthias Knights deploy before the incident broke? You arrived almost at the same time as me."
"Well, that... The mansion had long been flagged as suspicious, so we were keeping watch and..."
"Ah, so you knew it was suspicious but deliberately looked the other way, waiting for things to escalate until it endangered a royal life..."
"What! Waited deliberately? What nonsense is that!"
Sir Durand sputtered.
"Isn't it? Then you monitored a suspicious site without preempting the danger. A grave failure threatening the capital's safety, isn't it? I'll formally petition the tribunal to reprimand the responsible parties and impose fitting punishment."
The grizzled knight glared at Francis for a long moment, face flushing red and purple, before storming off in a huff.
Even after he left, the knights maintained their encirclement. Soon, Sir Masain rallied the resident knights to block the main gate, heightening the standoff.
Then, a short while later, an advisor to the incident from the Theological Academy appeared—the dean, clad in ornate robes with a well-groomed goatee.
"Prince Mores was a witness at the scene with the impure entity. All matters involving demons must be handled strictly. Our advisory council formally requests his appearance before the Heresy Tribunal!"
Francis nodded with a sincere expression.
"Quite right. But how do you know it was demon-related when you weren't even there?"
"What?"
"How do you know it was a demonkin? Got proof?"
"Well, anyone could see it was..."
"As a holy knight, I didn't sense any demonic aura. No miasma either. Ah, does the Academy interpret the divine definition of demons differently? You mean from a scholarly rather than religious perspective?"
One wrong word and he'd face a religious trial. The dean's face drained of color.
"Even if not demonkin, it's still impure! If it's a new threat from another realm, for Delcross's sake, the prince's testimony..."
"So how will you prove it's a threat from another realm?"
"That's what the investigation is for!"
"Investigation? Mind if I ask what evidence you'll base it on? Ah, perhaps consulting forbidden texts like the [Apocalypse of Other Realms] designated by the Holy Empire..."
"Hey! Don't speak such dangerous words!"
The dean slunk away, hands trembling.
And late that evening, the final visitor to the Pearl Palace was the stern, hooked-nose old man Seongjin had encountered in the main palace before.
"I didn't expect Cardinal Benitus himself to visit."
"In a crisis threatening the Holy Empire's security, who but the Heresy Tribunal's chief would step forward?"
The cardinal glared coldly, but Francis didn't flinch.
"My deepest thanks for your efforts, Your Eminence. But why come here personally?"
"To request the prince's attendance, naturally. I hear you sent Sir Durand packing? Hence my reluctant intervention."
"Digory's grandson caused the incident at Cardinal Digory's villa—why not interrogate him first?"
The cardinal clicked his tongue.
"He's suffered severe trauma to the back of his head. Unconscious as we speak!"
"Then wait for him to wake. Depending on his testimony, I, Francis Agen, will decide whether to summon the prince as a witness."
"How can we wait when we don't know when he'll wake!"
"Strange. With so many high clerics around, why hasn't he regained consciousness? Unless you're deliberately delaying treatment or hiding his recovery..."
"What? Is that what you dare say!"
Cardinal Benitus trembled pitifully in his already diminutive frame. But Francis calmly posed another question.
"By the way, Your Eminence, did you receive the administrative notice? His Holiness warned against overstepping. Ah, quoting verbatim. 'Don't overstep' applies only to the notice, of course."
The cardinal's clenched jaw twitched violently.
"I, uh, haven't received it yet."
"Cardinal Digory claims so? The administrative head asks you to look the other way? Delay the grandson's interrogation? So, is this collusion between the Heresy Tribunal and the administration?"
"No, you... There are things one says and doesn't say!"
The cardinal's eyes blazed furiously. To that, the smirking holy knight added one final barb.
"Ah, but Your Eminence. You knew the Pearl Palace forbids entry to clerics without His Holiness's permission, [naturally], right?"
The cardinal ground his teeth at Francis for a long while before departing. He shook so violently, Seongjin worried the old man's blood pressure might cause him to collapse.
Whoa. Combat power maxed out. Seongjin was genuinely impressed.
But it wasn't over.
"Resident knights, full emergency duty today! Masain, what are you still spacing out for? Assemble proper shifts and patrol the perimeter!"
He barked at Sir Masain, who still wasn't fully compos mentis.
"And you, rolling your eyes like that. Feeling antsy? Maybe try getting up? Ribs still hurt?"
He shot Seongjin a sour look from above, giving him a pointed glance.
So their house dog barked at outsiders and insiders alike.
Thus ended the stormy day.
Pearl Palace staff snatched brief naps in shifts amid the taut tension, fearing imminent armed conflict. The Holy Marthias Knights maintained their siege through the night, exuding menace without relenting.
But the next morning, the situation flipped dramatically. The Marthias Holy Knights vanished from the Pearl Palace without a trace, as if they'd never been there.
Word had spread throughout the imperial palace.
The Holy Emperor's seclusion in prayer had finally concluded.