Chapter 144: Entangled
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 144: Entangled
“Surely, you’re not suggesting we depose the Pope?”
Duke Signir’s wide eyes betrayed his shock.
It was an understandable reaction. In an age where faith was an integral part of life, deposing a Pope was unthinkable.
The duke continued.
“The Pope checking the king is an annual affair. If you try to depose him over something like that, you’ll make enemies of everyone, regardless of their station.”
If the duke, the man closest to the throne, showed such immediate revulsion, there was no need to guess how others would react.
That revulsion would quickly turn to hostility. It was a plan with far more to lose than to gain.
“An annual affair… Is that truly all you think this is? Do you really believe that murdering one potential successor after another is ‘merely’ a check on power?”
I was getting frustrated. The Pope was hiding in the shadows, killing off his kin one by one, and the duke was next on the list, yet he was spouting such complacent nonsense.
Would he only come to his senses with a knife at his throat? By then, it would be too late, with no time even for regret.
“…Are you saying there’s another motive?”
Only after seeing my grave expression and hearing the tone of my voice did the duke seem to snap out of it.
“In normal times, a war would have broken out the moment it was discovered he’d had a hand in killing an heir.”
This meant the Pope was already deeply involved in the war that had been raging for five years.
“What could this motive possibly be? Ah! Surely he doesn’t dream of complete independence? I recall the Pope demanding autonomy for the Holy Land, just like the Alliance. That was just a year before the late king passed away.”
It was obvious the king had not granted his request. What ruler would ever give up a place as important and economically advantageous as the Holy Land?
“That’s half the answer. If that were all he wanted, he would have sent an envoy long ago to negotiate, promising his religious authority in exchange for that concession.”
“He wants more…?”
This was the same Pope who had made excessive demands when the late king was on his deathbed.
Now, with the war for the throne dragging on for five years and the crown’s authority weaker than ever, wouldn't it be natural for him to demand even more?
And yet, instead of making more demands, the Pope had remained silent, fading into the background.
It was as if I could see him, hiding in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to achieve his goal. That sly old fox.
For five years, he had fooled the entire Northern Continent. And with his goal now within reach, he was probably raising a toast in celebration.
“Isn’t he a greedy man, rumored to have more bastards than you can count on your fingers? The situation has only improved for him, so of course he’d want more.”
“More. More, you say…”
My words sent the duke into deep thought. But even after a long while, he couldn’t grasp the Pope’s true intentions. It was a failure of imagination.
I decided to give him another hint. There’s a vast difference between being told something and figuring it out for yourself.
“The Northern Continent is a necessary stopover for anyone traveling to the East, and vice versa. In other words, the Northern Continent and the East are bound to influence each other.”
“Why are you suddenly talking about the East?”
“Because it’s relevant. From a religious perspective, what is the biggest difference between the East and the Northern Continent?”
“That would be… No!”
The duke finally seemed to catch on. But as if he couldn’t believe his own conclusion, he shook his head and muttered.
“A theocracy… a theocracy, you say?”
“Yes. The Pope dreams of a religious state.”
In normal times, it would be an impossible feat. The Pope’s religious authority was one thing, but his actual power was another. The latter was, at best, on par with a baron’s.
The problem was that the long war had caused the crown’s authority to plummet, while religious power had grown in its place.
The harder the trials people face, the more they tend to lean on their gods.
In an era where religion was a part of daily life, this tendency was even more pronounced.
In other words, if the Pope were to rise up in the name of world peace at the very moment war fatigue reached its breaking point, many would answer his call.
“Vile! Are you saying he not only condoned the continent’s chaos for his own ends but actively encouraged it? How could the Pope, of all people, how!?”
The duke was enraged upon learning the truth.
In the end, he had been dancing in the palm of the Pope’s hand. For a man with pride so great he already wore a crown-like hat, the humiliation must have been immense.
“In short, even if you defeat Dresden or the Union, you’ll only be playing into the Pope’s hands.”
I fanned the flames of his anger. After all, isn’t a hidden enemy waiting to reap the rewards of another’s conflict more detestable than one you fight face-to-face?
“Hah… The problem is, there’s no way to prove it, is there? Even if those Alliance bastards confessed, no one would believe them. On the surface, the relationship between the Pope and the Alliance couldn’t be worse.”
The Church disliked merchants for religious reasons, and the merchants disliked the Church for looking down on them.
It was because of this preconceived notion that the entire Northern Continent had remained oblivious to their five-year-long partnership.
“That’s why we have to drag him out into the open. If the duke, the man closest to the throne, were to endorse a new Pope, he could no longer stand by with his arms crossed.”
To complete my plan, I first had to drag the opportunist seeking to benefit from the chaos onto the stage.
“A new Pope, you say. There’s no suitable candidate… The clerics of the Northern Continent are all cut from the same cloth. It’s hard to find one who isn’t corrupt.”
The duke, who had instinctively opposed the idea, was now swayed by my argument. He agreed that the Pope had to be drawn out.
However, he remained skeptical about its feasibility.
Expecting this, I gave a slight smile.
“Isn’t there a renowned archbishop who is upright, devout, and a native of the Northern Continent?”
When I introduced him to Archbishop Raceni, the duke couldn’t hide his surprise. He immediately approached the archbishop, knelt, and made the sign of the cross.
“Archbishop! When did you return?”
“It has been a long time indeed—a full decade. My lord. No, is it Duke now?”
The archbishop and the duke were acquainted.
In fact, a man of the duke’s stature would have the means to meet an archbishop one way or another. Besides, the Northern Continent was where the archbishop had originally been active.
“So you had the archbishop by your side. Is that why you didn’t even glance at my proposal? The deeper the darkness, the brighter the light shines. In the Northern Continent, teeming with corrupt clerics, who would dare touch the archbishop!”
“Which is why, if you back the archbishop, you can face the Pope head-on. The support of those weary of the Pope’s eccentricities will surely follow.”
I spoke to the duke, ignoring the archbishop, who wore a look of utter confusion.
In my original plan, installing a rival Pope was something for much later, so I hadn’t yet told the archbishop.
“Even if that happens, won’t it still be a problem? If the Pope steps forward, his supporters will rally. A war on a scale completely different from what we see now could break out.”
However, the overall flow of events was the same as when I first met the archbishop. This meant I could achieve the same result with just a few adjustments.
“That’s why we need an alliance.”
“Surely not… Dresden?”
The duke was certain Dresden would lose to the Union. Underlying that certainty was his judgment that the Union was a stronger opponent than Dresden.
It must be because of the Named Character.
In terms of personal might, that character was a powerful figure on par with the Hero. The shock of facing him must have been immense.
In any case, this created the possibility of cooperation between the duke and Dresden. After all, enemies weren’t the only ones who could unite against a powerful foe.
“Anyone who seeks the throne is bound to be an enemy of the Pope. Why not deal with our common enemy first, and then decide who will sit on the throne?”
The duke, locked in a tense standoff with the Union, would not be able to refuse my proposal. He lacked the strength to fight the Union, which had the Pope’s backing, on his own.
“Join hands with a lesser enemy to face a greater one?”
To the duke, who was still hesitant to confront the Pope, I offered one more incentive.
“And one more thing. If we join forces, we can cause a great deal of trouble for that monster knight you’re so wary of.”
The moment my words ended, the look in the duke’s eyes changed. It was a clear indication of how much he had suffered at the hands of that Named Character.
@
In the western part of the Northern Continent, a plain not far from the royal capital was stained crimson.
The ground was barely visible, covered with corpses from a recent battle, their limbs severed and entrails spilled out.
Caw, caw, caw!
A crow, pecking at the eyeball of a corpse, startled and spread its wings.
An eagle, having missed the crow by a hair’s breadth, turned its head toward the half-eaten eye. In truth, with food so plentiful, it had little desire to attack.
The crow knew this. Eyeing the eagle warily, it landed on a corpse just a few meters away and began to peck out another eye.
Countless birds were feasting on the banquet of human blood and flesh.
The number of corpses wearing the blue cloth of the Dresden army on their arms was far greater.
“Hah. Can we even call this a victory?”
Yet, the atmosphere in the command tent of the Union army, camped half a day’s march from the Dresden forces, was grim. The enemy and the losses had been unexpected.
Duke Signir, who had been checking their advance toward the royal capital, had turned his army back at the request of the Alliance.
In that opening, both sides had advanced and met on this plain, not far from the capital. The moment they realized they shared the same goal, battle was inevitable.
Victory belonged to the Union, which had an unparalleled knight in its ranks. In a sudden engagement like this, individual prowess was bound to be effective.
“Didn’t I suggest we move faster! If we had, we would have captured the royal capital before the enemy and fought from an advantageous position!”
“Ha! What are you talking about now? You agreed that the duke suddenly withdrawing his entire force was suspicious! That’s why we increased our scouting!”
The timing had been exquisite. If either side had been just a little faster or slower, they would not have met, and the battle would have been postponed.
“The problem is that our old nemesis, Duke Signir, still has his forces intact!”
“And where in the world did those bastards pop out from!”
The command tent was as chaotic as a marketplace. It was because the power and influence of each faction within were evenly matched.
A week had already passed since the battle with the Dresden army, yet they still hadn’t decided on their next course of action, all due to the unique nature of the Union.
The situation was similar for Dresden. The cautious count and Erik wanted to learn more about the Union before making a move.
Thanks to this, they continued their tedious standoff for another week.
“An envoy from the duke is here?”
It was then that Duke Signir’s envoy visited the Union. The envoy revealed the Pope’s conspiracy and insisted they must join forces to drive him out.
“Ha! A pathetic attempt to sow discord!”
“I heard something happened to the Alliance. Perhaps the duke suffered a great loss like we did and is now in dire straits?”
Of course, for the Union, which had been receiving various forms of support from the Church, the prevailing opinion was that it was a divisive ploy.
“This is guaranteed by Archbishop Raceni!”
However, the situation changed when the envoy held up a pendant containing a piece of a saint’s garment, known to be in Archbishop Raceni’s possession.
“That is the archbishop’s holy relic! I once had the honor of touching it after asking for his permission!”
Like the duke, many had met the archbishop when he was in the Northern Continent, so the suspicion vanished in an instant. This threw the command tent into even greater confusion.
“The archbishop has finally drawn his sword. Frankly, the current Pope is not worthy of his position.”
“Who could disagree? I had the chance to meet the archbishop once, and he was such a great man that I felt ashamed of myself.”
“The problem is, we have no way of dealing with the enemy without the Pope’s help!”
“It’s been ten years since the archbishop left the Northern Continent. It wouldn’t be strange if he had turned his back on us in that time!”
But like any organization, the Union had a leader: Count Momond, whose kinship with the royal family was now so distant they were practically strangers.
“Enough! All of you, be quiet! As others have said, this could be the duke’s attempt to sow discord, or the archbishop could have turned. It won’t be too late to argue after we’ve confirmed whether the duke’s words are true!”
Though his words sounded negative, his conclusion was that they needed to verify the claim. In other words, a small seed of doubt had been planted in the Union leader’s heart.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason he wanted to investigate the Pope.
Count Momond’s gaze shifted slightly to a knight sitting at the edge of the round table.
The knight, with a body as large as a mountain and eyes as gentle as a cow’s, seemed to be suppressing his anger.
He had been renowned for his piety since childhood and had deep ties to the Church.
It’s about time I put him in his place.
The knight, from a family that had sat at the far end of the table when the Union was first formed, was now seated with him. What would happen if more time passed?
In truth, if his intellect were even half as great as his martial prowess, the leadership of the Union would have changed long ago.
The feats he had shown on the battlefield were so incredible they threatened to overshadow the legitimacy of the royal bloodline.
That was why Count Momond was willing to play along, even though he knew it was highly likely to be a divisive ploy.