Chapter 77
Chapter: 77
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 077
>Chapter Title: Orthodox Church (1)
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>“It might look like you’re wielding absolute power right now, but the Heresy Tribunal originally started as a judicial body under the Holy Council. And though it’s now the supreme authority overseeing both the Orthodox Church and the Theological Academy, the Holy Council was originally just one small decision-making body within the Orthodox Church.”
The Holy Council and the Heresy Tribunal, which had once been mere small departments within the Orthodox Church.
The Holy Emperor began explaining in a calm tone how they had separated into their respective organizations and eventually grown into entities that surpassed the Orthodox Church itself.
“Even if it’s become largely nominal now, there are still a few loopholes left in the Orthodox Church that allow direct influence over the Heresy Tribunal. They’re remnants of the old chain of command.”
For example, the Holy Emperor said, there was the [Temporary Emergency Measure Authority] that an Orthodox Church archbishop could invoke.
An authority that allowed direct mobilization of the Capital Guard and the Heresy Tribunal in the event of a grave threat to the empire’s safety.
“Then the ones rounding up people right now aren’t the Heresy Tribunal...”
It meant someone within the Orthodox Church.
Someone who could exert influence over the archbishop, or perhaps the archbishop himself.
“It’s an authority with its limits. It can’t interfere with the Heresy Tribunal’s core duties, and when invoked, approval from the Holy Council must be obtained within three days afterward.”
Of course, the Heresy Tribunal could also request rejection of the approval review.
The problem was that this had to happen after the Holy Council had already begun the review.
In other words, as long as the Orthodox Church dragged its feet on submitting the approval request, they could freely deploy the Capital Guard and any Inquisitors not on assignment for three days. Meanwhile, the Heresy Tribunal would have to sit idly by, twiddling their thumbs until the review started.
“And even if the Inquisitors are ordered to transport gray plague patients to the Heresy Tribunal, housing those prisoners within the Tribunal is another matter entirely. It would undoubtedly cause major disruptions to their operations.”
“...So the Heresy Tribunal isn’t taking them into custody? Then where are they all...”
“Who knows. For now, I suspect they’re being temporarily managed by the Capital Guard.”
Seongjin frowned.
What? What the hell does that mean?
They’re rounding up people the Heresy Tribunal won’t even accept—what’s the point? If the review gets rejected, it’ll all be for nothing.
As if reading his thoughts, the Holy Emperor continued indirectly.
“The one behind this knows that too. He probably considers it a success if he can process even half of the plague patients.”
“...Half?”
“Yes. Both invoking the Temporary Emergency Measure Authority and requesting its rejection hinge on justification. As long as the Orthodox Church’s pretext holds up, the Holy Council won’t outright reject it by convention—they’ll attempt mediation. There’ll be some friction, but in the end, the Heresy Tribunal will end up accepting about half of the people they’ve dragged in.”
Seongjin tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair, lost in thought for a moment.
In that case.
“Putting a deadline of today to bring them all in means today is the last day of those three days. Tomorrow, the Orthodox Church will submit the approval request, and the Heresy Tribunal will immediately request rejection of the review.”
“......”
“If someone wants to intervene in the middle, the ambiguous gap in authority and responsibility—right before the rejection request is made and the Holy Council starts mediation—would be the perfect timing.”
“Your understanding is quick. That’s good.”
At the Holy Emperor’s composed response, Seongjin looked him straight in the eye and asked,
“Does explaining the inner workings of this clockwork mechanism to me mean you’re not entirely comfortable with this situation either, Father?”
“......”
“...It’s fine if I act on my own, but if you get directly involved, something breaks?”
“......”
No answer came, but Seongjin was convinced.
When this man falls silent, it usually means affirmation.
“Go to the administrative office tomorrow morning and pick up the cooperation document. I’ll instruct Dorian.”
It was a dismissal.
Seongjin rose from his seat, gave a slight bow to the Holy Emperor, and left the office.
“His Highness Prince Mores grows sharper by the day.”
Louis, who had belatedly prepared tea for the prince, spoke with a hint of regret.
Having served the Holy Emperor for so long—a man who enjoyed the aroma of tea but rarely drank it—he had grown quietly fond of the prince, who eagerly accepted and drank every cup offered.
“He’s always been exceptional. The problem is he only unleashes that exceptionalism on what he wants to do.”
The Holy Emperor replied as he took the new teacup.
Louis was a bit surprised, for the young Holy Emperor, who rarely showed emotion, wore a faint smile.
“...You seem pleased.”
“Yes. How could I not be? He moved for Amelia’s sake not long ago, and now he’s stepping up for these plague patients. Doesn’t that mean Mores is starting to feel some attachment to Delcross?”
Louis found it puzzling inwardly.
Isn’t it only natural for Delcross’s prince to feel attachment to Delcross?
The Holy Emperor, seeing through his chief attendant’s quiet doubt, twisted the corner of his mouth bitterly.
“To that child, none of that is natural, Louis.”
* * *
The Capital Guard had recently been in an awkward cohabitation with the 7th Knight Order.
The 6th Knight Order, with whom they had worked in the capital until now, had split off to the east and south on dispatch, forcing them to start fresh with this newly created knight order.
Unlike the 6th, which had occasionally assisted from the sidelines, the 7th—formed specifically for capital defense—had taken over one side of the Capital Guard’s building and begun meddling in everything.
With most duties overlapping, petty discord over whose responsibility it was or whose authority took precedence was inevitable.
And now, the war between the two departments was escalating through a barrage of cooperation requests flying back and forth daily.
Today was no different, an ordinary morning.
Julia Meyer, adjutant of the 7th Knight Order, gritted her teeth as she clutched several documents hastily drafted last night and delivered to her at dawn.
“Damn these cooperation requests...”
Her fellow young knight, accompanying her, flinched in surprise at her mutter, biting her lip. He stared at her, bewildered by this unfamiliar side of his senior, known for her proper speech and neat demeanor.
Cooperation requests tended to target Julia Meyer in particular. Partly because she handled the knight order’s practical duties, but mostly because the Capital Guard captain had singled her out as the primary target.
It was his way of taming the spoiled girl from a noble house.
Julia was the sole granddaughter of Cardinal Mayer, head of the Holy Council, and had excelled in both swordsmanship and academics since her academy days.
At the end of her first year, she caught the eye of the continent’s greatest knight, Baltazar, becoming his latest disciple. Impressed by her talent, the 7th Knight Order’s captain had boldly appointed the fresh academy graduate as adjutant.
Exceptional administrative skills and a dignified temperament.
She earned her superior’s trust and her juniors’ respect—a model knight worthy of emulation.
Yet even she was starting to wear down under the barrage of pointless cooperation requests designed purely to exhaust their recipient.
“Handing over the perfectly fine 7th Knight Order training grounds for prisoner housing? Does this cooperation request make any sense to you?”
The knight took the documents from her, scanned them, and scowled.
Requests for cooperation on providing prisoner housing space, on deploying knight order members for prisoner management, on procurement plans for detainees’ food supplies...
“Why leave the perfectly good prison in the Capital Guard and demand this...”
“Exactly. The Guard captain’s creativity seems to shine brighter each day—that’s the only explanation.”
But upon arriving at the Capital Guard, they couldn’t deny that this particular request had been issued out of genuine need.
The prison was overflowing, with ragged-looking people spilling out into the courtyard. A foul smell assaulted their noses.
“This is...”
As the flustered pair looked around, an argument broke out nearby between a Capital Guard armed knight and a lowly 7th Knight Order knight.
“Hurry up and take these people off our hands!”
“What do you mean, drag everyone straight to the training grounds without warning? That’s absurd!”
“We already sent a cooperation request to your superiors!”
“Then at least submit a roster with their identities. We’ll issue a cooperation request for data provision!”
“Hey, you bastard!”
Rubbing her throbbing temples, Julia seriously debated storming to the Guard captain’s office when someone approached and tapped her shoulder.
“You must be Dame Julia of the 7th Knight Order? An honor to meet someone so renowned.”
He was a cheerful red-haired holy knight.
“And you are?”
“Yes, I’m Inquisitor Valerie. Dame Julia, if you could take a look at this first?”
Julia frowned involuntarily as he handed her a document. She was sick of papers from other departments.
“What’s this?”
“A cooperation request from the [Monster Task Force] to the 7th Knight Order.”
“Monster Task Force?”
She vaguely recalled rumors of some odd new department being formed, but it wasn’t official yet.
Skimming the document casually, Julia suddenly widened her eyes in shock.
She had spotted the large official seal stamped boldly on it.
But the content itself was unremarkable.
-We request your department’s active cooperation.
“...?”
So what exactly were they supposed to cooperate on?
Puzzled, she noticed someone from the Capital Guard side approaching with a document as well. The dark knight order uniform marked him as an exorcist.
Inquisitors and exorcists—what an odd pairing.
Meanwhile, Sir Valerie began explaining in a bright voice.
“The authority to decide the disposition of these people passed from the Orthodox Church’s hands this morning, when the Holy Council approval review officially began. Since the Heresy Tribunal has just formally requested rejection, it’s not yet under their jurisdiction either. So if either side issues any orders regarding our department’s actions from now on, that would be a clear overreach. Consider this advance notice.”
“But then what does this ‘active cooperation’ phrasing...”
“Yes. We’re kindly requesting that you actively do nothing. We, the Monster Task Force, will handle everything!”
Julia was speechless at the beaming red-haired inquisitor’s face.
In the meantime, an even stranger group filed into the Capital Guard courtyard.
“They really rounded them up like animals. Even if it’s orders from above, you’ve got to consider the circumstances. If you’re bringing them in, at least house them properly—what a pointless mess.”
First, a sullen-faced boy in fine clothes.
“Your Highness! These people are pitiable, but does Your Highness really need to step in for something involving the Heresy Tribunal? You could just leave it to your subordinates...”
“This is a race against time, Sir Masin. It’ll go faster with me here.”
“Pardon? Why is that?”
A knight following anxiously behind the boy, fidgeting in a way that didn’t suit his large build.
“You’re calling me out for every little thing now. Am I Your Highness’s personal secretary or what?”
“Didn’t Dame Katrina specifically tell you to help properly? Keep whining, and she’ll hear about it.”
“Eek...!”
A tall holy knight—head and shoulders above most—wearing glasses and grumbling nonstop beside them.
“For Your Highness to personally ask the Liora Plague Society for help—such an honor. What can I assist with? Shall I drain all their blood?”
“...No, Doctor Gibriel. I just need the Liora Plague Society’s credibility. If the Holy Council questions it later, just testify that we classified the patients through proper medical procedures.”
“But I’m a plague doctor! Now that I’m here, we should actively treat these patients!”
“...Then at least spray some perfume for disinfection.”
“Yes, sir! Leave it to me!”
A Liora plague doctor in a rust-colored hazmat suit, wielding a large sprayer.
“...What are those people?”
Ignoring her dazed junior knight’s mutter, Julia closely observed the boy at the center of this bizarre group.
The fierce eyes reminiscent of Empress Elizabeth, and the form of address “Your Highness” confirmed it.
“Prince Mores...”
“Huh? That fat little failure?”
Julia sharply scolded her startled junior knight, who had shouted.
“Watch your tongue. What insolence toward a member of the imperial family!”
“S-Sorry!”
In the meantime, some Imperial Guard knights entered and set up tables and chairs.
“Sorry for assigning you menial tasks during guard duty, Sir Haven.”
“Not at all, Your Highness! My body is yours to command! Whatever you order, I’ll serve with utmost loyalty!”
“No, that’s why I said don’t offer yourself like that.”
“Huh? ‘Like that’? That’s too much!”
Soon after, another Imperial Guard knight dragged in a large cart.
“I’ve swept up every rye bread in the area, Your Highness!”
“Good work, Dame Claudia. Record the exact amount spent for now. We’ll bill the Orthodox Church later.”
“Yes, Your Highness! Hehe, can I have one too?”
“......”
It was impossible to guess what they were even doing here.
As 7th Knight Order members and Capital Guard personnel gathered around the courtyard to watch, Prince Mores—who had been directing the entire scene—finally finished preparations and stepped forward.
He scanned the slum dwellers filling the courtyard.
Those with severe rashes or bodies turned fully gray lay unconscious on the ground, but patients with minor blisters, simple skin conditions, or fever spots made up more than half.
All of them, in their shabby clothes, eyed the stacked rye bread on the cart hungrily, swallowing hard.
Addressing them, Prince Mores spoke.
His voice, unamplified by aura, rang strangely clear in their ears.
“For the time being, the Monster Task Force will take custody of you all! Those suffering from the gray plague will receive treatment, and anyone brought here by mistake will be safely returned—so rest easy!”
Murmurs rose among the crowd.
They had thought being dragged by inquisitors meant inevitable imprisonment, torture, and death in the Heresy Tribunal.
“For now, let’s quickly check those who can move. Come forward one by one to this table.”
But the people hesitated, glancing warily at the Capital Guard, none daring to step up.
Most had been beaten yesterday for claiming they didn’t have the plague. If they stupidly stepped forward now and got thrashed again?
But the prince’s next words changed everything.
“We don’t have enough rye bread, so it’ll be first-come, first-served...”
In an instant, the slum dwellers surged forward in a stampede. Even the Capital Guard who had brought them flinched at the feral hunger in their eyes.
The young prince, unfazed, exuded an overwhelming presence and shouted at them.
“Form a line!”