57
Chapter 57
Stained glass painted in beautiful colors by the sunlight.
A majestic icon and a classic pipe organ.
A cathedral exuding a remarkably sacred and divine atmosphere, completely contrary to what actually took place within its walls.
Inside, a man's disgruntled voice echoed through the halls.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
The Second Prince asked with a deep scowl. For a prince of the Empire, he was making no effort to hide his blatant displeasure.
Despite this, the answer he received remained the same.
"I am truly sorry. We recently ran into issues with our material supply, so aside from the Holy Grail you took last time, we have nothing else in stock. It will also take some time to forge the next one."
Hearing this, the Second Prince gritted his teeth.
He knew. He knew that those words were likely true.
From the Holy See's perspective, they wouldn't want to risk upsetting the prince of the Empire by telling blatant lies.
What that man had just said was definitely the truth.
But... even so, it made him grind his teeth in sheer frustration.
His nerves were on edge after staying awake for days on end. And, though the prince himself failed to realize it, there was also the side effect of having a portion of his soul stolen by Asmodeus.
All of this was clouding his judgment, preventing him from acting rationally.
Even though he knew they had their own circumstances, something about the Cardinal's attitude rubbed him the wrong way.
He couldn't shake the feeling that the Cardinal standing before him was secretly mocking him.
Taunting him, saying that if he hadn't so uselessly wasted the one they gave him last time, he wouldn't be suffering like this right now.
Saying that for someone who called himself a prince of the Empire, it was a pathetic sight to see him come all the way here begging for help.
"...Useless."
The Second Prince muttered under his breath as he walked out of the cathedral.
As he walked away, he chewed on his lower lip without even realizing it.
The relaxed demeanor of a man who always looked down on his inferiors with a cigar in his mouth was completely gone.
His eyes were bloodshot and lined with red veins from pulling all-nighters to work alone for days.
His hair was a disgustingly tangled mess.
He looked less like a prince of the Empire and more like a madman. A lunatic you'd expect to see in a gambling den.
'I can't let it end here. Not like this.'
Biting his lip, the Second Prince frantically racked his brain.
The original plan had been simple.
If the Leader of Black Fang was a being close to a Demon, discovering his True Name would weaken his power to some extent.
He planned to use the Holy Grail to attack him once more, or if an attack was impossible, at the very least discover his true face.
But he had failed.
There were no Holy Grails left. He had no more cards left to play. Thus, he couldn't launch an offensive against Black Fang this time.
That truth was enough to drive the prince mad.
'I was so close. Just one more step forward, and I could have reached the truth of his identity.'
How much had he lost because of that bastard?
He had lost three precious Holy Grails, and even sold half of his soul.
And now, finally, an opportunity to make up for it all had arrived.
Victory was already guaranteed.
This was a gamble he was absolutely certain to win.
But he was out of chips.
"......."
The Second Prince fell into thought for a moment.
And...... before he could even speak, that bastard had appeared like a ghost.
The Demon simply smiled without saying a word. It was the same unpleasant smile as back then.
As if he knew exactly what he was thinking.
The Demon hadn't opened his mouth, but the Second Prince could almost hear his mocking words ringing in his ears.
Words claiming that unlike the fools who depended on demonic contracts and ended up losing their souls, he would know where to draw the line.
Words boasting that he would merely use Demons, not be used by them.
Words asking if it wasn't shameful that the moment a crisis struck, he was the very first to rely on him.
But.......
The Second Prince gritted his teeth.
"Can you uncover information about him, or use his True Name to seal a portion of his power?"
Winning was all that mattered.
No matter the sacrifice, as long as he won this gamble, he could recover everything.
So if he was going to make his move, it had to be now.
He had to bet everything he had.
[That depends on the weight of the price you are willing to pay.]
Even if it meant joining hands with a Demon.
*****
My daily life lately had been incredibly peaceful.
The Relief Center was improving day by day, patients with Mana Poisoning had almost completely disappeared from the area, and people's faces were full of smiles.
But....
I couldn't fully rejoice as I watched.
'Why on earth isn't the Empire taking any action?'
At first, I was glad, thinking the Empire was just slow to respond. But no matter how I looked at it, this was far too strange.
To remain completely unresponsive even as rumors about Black Fang spread... It simply didn't make logical sense.
In my mind, there was only one possible reason for this.
The calm before the storm.
They were preparing something. They were conserving their forces for what was to come.
'......This might just be me overthinking things.'
It doesn't hurt to be prepared.
Judging by how things have been so far, it seems this place fortunately hasn't been discovered yet.
But letting my guard down would be the worst possible move.
Things have stabilized quite a bit here, so maybe it's time to slowly relocate the Relief Center.
If we do move, what will happen to the people left here? Is there a risk of this place becoming the Empire's target?
There were so many things to consider.
It was right then, as I was agonizing over such paperwork, that it happened.
-Hurry, hurry! Look at this!
An urgent voice echoed from somewhere.
But there was no one else around me.
That could only mean one thing.
Wherever she had been so busy, Rubia, who hadn't contacted me for days, had finally reached out again.
And with that desperate tone, no less.
It was incredibly ominous.
I had a gut feeling that something—something major—was about to happen.
-T-The Leader of Black Fang's identity has been revealed!
"...What?"
-They said a public Wanted Order will be issued soon....
Rubia stomped her feet in sheer panic.
Only then did I realize.
Why those bastards had been so quiet.
They had been preparing for this very moment.
This... could be a bit dangerous.
If the Empire issued that Wanted Order and launched a full-scale attack on Black Fang, we could end up caught in the crossfire.
'As expected... they are definitely not an organization to be trifled with.'
Their military might was undeniably outstanding, and their intelligence network was unfathomable.
The face of the Leader of Black Fang...
Even I still didn't know who that guy was.
Yet they had managed to uncover his identity.
-W-Wait just a moment! I'll send it to you the second I get the data!
Rubia scrambled about, waving her hands frantically. Since she couldn't use magic herself, she was operating a Magic Engineering Device to send the files.
Not long after, a single photograph floated up in front of me.
And.......
"......?"
Rubia's face flushed with bewilderment. My own face was likely no different.
In a way, it was completely understandable.
The man in front of me was just some Mister you could never imagine as the Leader of a secret organization.
No. It went way beyond just not looking like a Leader...
'Why is the Main Admin here?'
For a moment, my mind went blank.
The name written on that Wanted Poster.
Teolbakteolbak.
I had seen that nickname so many times while publishing strategy guides on the Bone and Blood Minor Gallery that I was sick of it.
Since I practically lived in the gallery 24/7, it would have been stranger if I didn't know it.
-This is.......
"Yeah, for starters, he's definitely not the Leader of Black Fang."
My brain simply couldn't process the situation.
What the hell was going on here?
How badly did things have to get twisted for this to happen?
'No, more importantly, that's definitely Korea.'
The background of that photo.
Anyone could see it was from the modern era.
No matter how developed the Empire's Capital was, it wasn't on that level.
The implication of that fact was clear.
By some unknown means, the Empire had successfully taken a covert photo of a Main Admin living in another world.
My head spun even more.
There's a limit to how much you can waste your capabilities.
I didn't know what methods they used, but they couldn't have done something like this without paying a price.
To exert influence on another world just to reveal the face of a Main Admin...
It made me genuinely suspect that the Empire was running a hidden camera sting operation on me.
'......I know I shouldn't be thinking like this.'
For now, I was in a position where I was responsible for the lives of countless people as a Ruler.
Letting my guard down was out of the question.
Even if the enemy did something incredibly stupid, I couldn't drop my vigilance.
I knew that very well.
Yet, I couldn't stop my thoughts.
The prestige of the Empire I had seen in my previous life.
That powerful image vanished in an instant.
Naturally, a single question popped into my head.
'Come to think of it, aren't these bastards just total losers?'
Black Fang wouldn't even need to step in; it felt like I could overthrow them just by half-assing a revolution myself.