Chapter 145: Intertwined
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 145: Intertwined
Every member of the Union knew that Alex, the peerless knight, had deep ties to the Church.
In other words, touching the Church was no different from touching Alex.
They also knew that Count Momond, the leader of the Union, intended to use this incident to check the knight who had grown far too powerful.
“The Count is right. Now that the suspicion has been raised, we cannot simply ignore it. A thorough investigation will be necessary, if only to prove His Holiness the Pope’s innocence.”
A noble sitting right next to Count Momond was quick to voice his agreement. As his seat suggested, he was part of the Count’s faction.
Bang!
Immediately, a noble sitting on the opposite side of the round table shot to his feet.
“Hah! This is so obviously the Duke’s attempt to sow discord! Why waste our energy on such a meaningless affair!”
The Union’s legitimacy rested with Count Momond, who carried the king’s bloodline. But those who were captivated by Alex’s prowess followed him without a second thought.
After all, the direct royal line was completely dead, and only distant collateral branches with questionable claims to royal blood were vying for the throne.
It was a time when the thought of starting a new dynasty was slowly beginning to rear its head.
“The problem is the slightest possibility! If the Pope truly is the mastermind behind this long war, it means we’ve been dancing in the palm of his hand all this time!”
The words of another noble from Count Momond’s faction resonated with the Union members. They were all nobles, after all, and none could tolerate having someone above them.
Meanwhile, despite the situation unfolding as he wished, Count Momond’s expression remained stiff. Weren’t there more people siding with Alex than he’d expected?
‘When did his support grow so much?’
Only then did Count Momond realize that Alex could challenge his position at any moment.
The problem was that his options for dealing with him were limited. Without Alex, the Union would no longer be a contender in the war for the throne.
Just then, someone caught Count Momond’s eye. It was the man sitting right next to Alex, watching the heated debate with a troubled look.
‘They say a chicken is better than no pheasant.’
Ultimately, all he needed to do was weaken Alex’s faction. There was no need to target the man himself.
“For this matter, how about we have Baron Babel, who has a close relationship with the Church, step forward?”
Baron Babel was Alex’s father.
If, by some chance, the Pope truly was the mastermind behind the chaos in the northern continent, the envoy sent to question him would certainly not receive a warm welcome.
And that wasn’t all. Alex, whose mind was not even half as sharp as his prodigious martial skill, would be left alone. In other words, he would be easy to manipulate.
“Haha. How could a common man like myself take on such an important task? Surely there are others more suited for this job.”
Baron Babel, not ignorant of Count Momond’s scheme, waved his hands dismissively, his expression troubled.
The problem was Alex, who had been showing signs of losing his temper ever since the Church was mentioned.
“I will go! I will go to the Holy Land to prove His Holiness the Pope’s innocence and uncover the truth!”
If only he’d kept quiet, he would have been better off. Alex jumped in recklessly, oblivious to how the situation was unfolding.
Baron Babel let out an audible sigh, and the corners of Count Momond’s lips quivered.
“Hold on! Sir Alex, what are you saying? If we were to be ambushed while you are away, the Union would be in dire straits. How can you act so rashly?”
Alex, who hadn’t thought that far, was struck dumb, his eyes darting about.
Having easily subdued Alex, Count Momond turned his gaze back to Baron Babel.
“It will not be an easy task. If the Pope is indeed the mastermind, he will try to play innocent. He might even try to silence you. But with Baron Babel, who has deep ties to the Church, we can rest assured, can we not?”
If the rumors were true, this was the Pope who had killed the king’s successor. Would he really spare a mere baron just because they were acquainted? The Baron thought as much and was about to refuse again when Alex chimed in.
“Father! There’s no need to worry! The Church, and the Pope, would never do such a thing!”
Alex, who became endlessly amicable when it came to the Church, had just sided with his political rival’s scheme.
With the two most influential figures in the Union sharing the same opinion, the conclusion was set.
Baron Babel, the only person who could advise and control Alex with no ulterior motives, was now forced to leave his side.
It was an outcome that even Allen, who had assumed that simply sowing discord among the nobles of equal power and influence would cause the Union to fracture on its own, had not anticipated.
“Oh! I knew you would think so, Sir Alex! Then let us consider this matter settled. Next, let’s discuss the matter of Dresden, who has set up camp before us.”
Count Momond, his face visibly brighter, quickly moved on to the next agenda item. He was giving them no time to raise objections.
Unaware that he had been played by his rival, Alex whispered to Baron Babel.
‘Ahem. Father. When you go to the Holy Land, you must deliver a letter to Cynthia for me, alright?’
Utterly dumbfounded, Baron Babel could only look up at the ceiling and sigh again and again.
*
After the meeting, Baron Babel returned to his private tent and, instead of yelling at his son, asked calmly.
“If, and this is a big if, everything the Duke’s envoy said is true, what will you do?”
“Father, why are you being like this again? It’s obviously the Duke’s attempt to sow discord! If the Pope were really the mastermind, Cynthia would have told me.”
Contrary to what was known, Alex did not like the Church. Hating to use his head, he found a priest’s sermon to be the most dreadful thing imaginable.
The misunderstanding had arisen because he was constantly visiting the Church to see Cynthia, the only female priest.
‘If I had known this would happen, I never would have taken him with me to donate to the Church’s orphanage when he was a child.’
Alex and Cynthia’s first meeting had taken place at a Church orphanage. Alex had been instantly smitten and had carried a torch for her for over twenty years.
Cynthia, however, treated Alex with nothing more than a consistently business-like attitude.
‘If only she were a wicked woman, I would have a reason to force them apart.’
Contrary to his hopes, it was thanks to Cynthia, who was favored by the Pope, that House Babel had received the Church’s support and secured a position in the Union.
The debt was owed by House Babel.
“Alex. Sometimes, you must learn to doubt even your closest friends. A single mistake could lead to the deaths of every relative who bears the name Babel.”
“Oh, come on. You’re worrying for nothing.”
Busy writing his letter to Cynthia, Alex paid no heed to his father’s words.
The sight of him moving a quill pen, which looked like a toothpick in his hand that was as large as a man’s head, was almost comical.
“You really…!”
Just as Baron Babel could no longer hold back his scowl, Alex, who was now humming as he wrote, spoke nonchalantly.
“What’s the difference between following Count Momond and following the Pope?”
“How can you say that! Do you really think the Pope is a worthy head of state to follow?”
“Is Count Momond any different? He only became the leader of the Union because he has a drop of royal blood left, but his abilities are less than a rat’s tail.”
“Yes. He’s a typical noble—moderately greedy and obsessed with saving face! That’s why he became the leader of the Union! Because he’s a known quantity!”
Before Alex could say something else foolish, Baron Babel quickly continued.
“And what about the Pope! He’s a clergyman who commits all sorts of evil deeds! If he were to gain the power of a king, the northern continent would be plunged into even greater chaos!”
Baron Babel added that such an outcome would go against Alex’s goal of peace for the northern continent. Like a true father, he knew how to control his son.
Alex stopped writing his letter and scratched his head vigorously. His choice was to evade.
“Anyway! There’s no guarantee the Pope is the mastermind, so let’s think about it again later.”
“Haaah… If only your head were half as good as your body, I would have handed over the family and lived a carefree life.”
“It’s not that I’m stupid, I just don’t use it.”
“I’m sure that’s it.”
Until his departure for the Holy Land, Baron Babel could not shake his worries about Alex being left alone. An even greater worry was his son’s future.
‘At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if he handed over the entire House Babel to the Church.’
Alex was so infatuated with Cynthia that he wouldn’t hesitate to offer up his family if she asked. Yet he couldn’t force them apart…
Baron Babel was the head of his house before he was a father. He might have to make a choice for the good of his family. The time to make a decision was drawing near.
*
Meanwhile, at that very moment, I was also about to depart for the Holy Land. The Archbishop was with me. Duke Signir, who had come to see us off, looked bewildered.
“You possess the intuition to see through everything and the intellect to utilize it, yet you’re recklessly heading to the Holy Land, which is no different from a death trap, with just the two of you?”
“Didn’t the Archbishop say he would only decide whether to accept the papacy after meeting the Pope face-to-face?”
When we heard in Bochum that the Pope had permitted the sale of humans as slaves, the Archbishop and I had reached a consensus: the Pope had to be overthrown and the faith restored.
But becoming the Pope himself was another matter, apparently.
He emphasized the importance of proper procedure. He said that if he ascended to the papacy while ignoring the Church’s traditions, the various dioceses would surely refuse to recognize him.
If that happened, he would be Pope in name only, unable to exert any influence over the churches in other regions. The very reason for becoming Pope would be lost.
“My point is, why are you going alone! Do you think the Pope, who must be furious about the Alliance’s affairs, will just leave you be? The moment he finds out it’s just the two of you, he’ll jump at the chance to capture you.”
The Pope would not tolerate the Archbishop, who had become my puppet. The Archbishop still considered him a friend, but I wondered if the Pope felt the same.
“That’s why we’re going alone.”
Did he think I didn’t know it would be a dangerous journey? On the contrary, that was precisely why we were going by ourselves.
“What do you mean by that?”
“The Pope will only let his guard down and show his true colors if it’s just the two of us, won’t he? The Archbishop says he won’t be satisfied until he sees the Pope’s corruption with his own two eyes, so I’m luring the Pope into revealing his true nature.”
The Pope is elected by the votes of five bishop-level cardinals, who are scattered across the continents. It would take at least several months for them to gather.
The bigger problem was that a Pope could only be elected by a unanimous vote. In the worst-case scenario, months could pass with nothing but voting.
In fact, such cases were not uncommon. In other words, if we proceeded according to the proper procedure the Archbishop desired, the schedule would be far too drawn out.
That’s why I intended to use shock therapy. Would the Archbishop still prattle on about proper procedure when the Pope, whom he considered a friend, held a knife to his throat?
There was one more objective.
‘It’s time to find the witch.’
Before confronting the Pope in earnest, I needed to spirit away the witch who served as his source of power.
The witch’s special ability would help legitimize the Archbishop’s ascension to the papacy.
Furthermore, she was the childhood friend and unrequited love of a named character in the Union. If used correctly, I could provoke that man and turn the tide of the war in our favor.
And spiriting away the witch was something that was only possible at this specific time, right before the great war.
The Duke shook his head.
“I don’t know if you’re reckless or audacious. Aren’t you worried? What will you do if I betray you while you’re away?”
Although the Alliance had made the first move, the Duke was a man with a history of betrayal.
I had left a force of a thousand men in the hands of a mercenary captain, with no proper commander. If the Duke decided to, he could swallow them whole.
“I trust you.”
“How long have you known me?” the Duke asked back, a look of disbelief on his face. I smirked and corrected myself.
“I don’t trust you, Duke. I trust myself.”
“What…?”
“I am the one who brought down the Alliance single-handedly. If you betray me, you will pay a price ten times greater.”
Given what I had already shown, he wouldn’t be able to dismiss it as a mere bluff.
“Well, I’ll be. I gave a peck and got a bushel in return.”
The Duke laughed awkwardly, then looked away for a moment before saying he remembered something he had to do and left.
I watched his seemingly flustered back for a moment, then, along with the Archbishop, set my feet on the path to the Holy Land.