Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Chapter 28 - Lightning Strike
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The High Priest couldn't comprehend the current situation.
It was because something utterly impossible by common sense had occurred.
'Entrusting His Majesty's treatment to that cultist?'
The High Priest, who had been thrown into panic by the urgent report from the priest stationed in the palace, hurried into the palace while trying to grasp the situation.
'Even if he's swayed quite a few nobles in just a few days, the number is too small.'
At best, only a handful of baldies had become supporters of that cultist.
Of course, among those baldies were some fairly influential nobles, but compared to the High Priest himself or the Grand General, they were mere greenhorns.
'The princesses can't pull it off either.'
Both the First Princess and Second Princess were still children who hadn't even turned twenty.
The merfolk's lifespan was far longer than humans', and the age at which they were recognized as adults was higher as well.
In truth, the power of the princesses, who hadn't reached adulthood yet, was arguably even less than that of the baldies.
'Of course, as princesses, they have influence, but pushing through something like this is next to impossible.'
The High Priest was well-versed in politics, given his greed for power.
He never neglected gathering rumors, so he knew not only that the cultist was aiming to treat His Majesty but also the general plan the princesses had devised for it.
'They must have been planning to manipulate public opinion.'
On the night of the ball, the princesses would float the idea of entrusting His Majesty's treatment to the cultist, and the baldies would chime in to support it.
That was why the High Priest had already prepared countermeasures.
'But today?'
On an ordinary day when they couldn't even muster the support of those baldies?
"High Priest Martriel has arrived."
Upon reaching the palace of Reina, the Queen Consort who was currently the most senior among the palace's merfolk elders, an attendant inside immediately announced his arrival beyond the door, as if waiting.
The High Priest erased his anxious expression, composed himself, and waited for the door to open.
"You may enter."
The attendant, who had politely bowed, opened the door to the drawing room.
Unlike the audience chamber, this was a relatively private space for entertaining the Queen Consort's guests.
'As expected.'
Just as he anticipated, the drawing room held Reina, the Queen Consort, and the three princesses.
Seeing the fighting spirit in the eyes of the First and Second Princesses—especially the Second Princess's—directed at him, it seemed the two had indeed orchestrated this.
And one more person.
The cultist, brazenly seated beside the two princesses.
"My greetings to Your Majesty the Queen Consort and Your Highnesses the Princesses."
Suppressing his anger for the moment, the High Priest bowed to the Queen Consort and the princesses.
In response, the princesses temporarily withdrew their hostility and returned the courtesy to welcome him.
"High Priest, what urgent matter brings you here?"
At the Queen Consort Reina's question, the High Priest glared at Luther without rising from his bow and spoke.
"Your Majesty the Queen Consort, I've heard something unbelievable. That you intend to entrust His Majesty's treatment to this man."
As the blatantly hostile tone sparked defiance, fighting spirit flickered back in Second Princess Peliaru's eyes.
First Princess Prel Yoru gently took Peliaru's hand to calm her, then began speaking in her usual elegant voice.
"It was Prel Yoru and Peliaru who asked Sir Luther to treat Father. Sir Luther has the skill for it, and we haven't seen Father in years already."
It wasn't a fabricated story.
In the first place, First Princess Yoru had actively joined Aru and Luther's plan because she too had long harbored doubts about Father's—King Malkuth's—condition.
"High Priest Martriel, is Father truly just recuperating? If so, why haven't Peliaru, Fileiru, or I seen him in years?"
Yoru's voice remained elegant, but its momentum was as sharp as a blade.
Before answering, the High Priest hurriedly glanced at Queen Consort Reina.
Because she too knew the true state of King Malkuth.
'What in the world do you plan to do!'
Even if the princesses used the baldies to sway public opinion, he had thought it wouldn't be a problem partly because of Queen Consort Reina.
She had been complicit in the current deception—hiding the king's condition—out of fear that revealing it would plunge the entire kingdom into chaos.
Moreover, regardless of the reasons, she had been deceiving everyone about the king's state for years.
If this came to light, the Queen Consort wouldn't escape public scrutiny either.
Yet now, bringing in an outsider—what was she thinking?
But despite the High Priest's probing gaze that clearly sought her intentions, Queen Consort Reina did not side with him and instead brought up another topic.
"I've heard about the patients Sir Luther recently treated. After hearing everything, I had no choice but to trust him."
"No, what in the world... Your Majesty, curing baldies and—"
"It's not baldies."
Yoru cut the High Priest off with an elegant tone and glanced at Aru as if to confirm, and Aru replied with a triumphant face.
"That's right. The person Luther cured this time wasn't a baldie."
"Not a baldie? Then what in the...?"
"I can answer that in their place."
At the final voice that rang out, the High Priest whipped his head around in shock.
The one who had stepped out from behind a partition was none other than Grand General Azrael.
"Grand General? You—don't tell me?!"
As shock spread across the High Priest's face, the Grand General nodded with a faint smile.
"Indeed. The one Sir Luther treated was my daughter. The daughter you and the temple failed to cure for years—Sir Luther healed her in mere hours. And after that, this thought occurred to me."
Pausing briefly, the Grand General glared sharply at the High Priest and continued.
"Does the High Priest and the temple lack the ability to cure my daughter, or the will?"
Normally, the High Priest would have bellowed that it was an attack on the temple and insolence, but this time he couldn't.
Falteringly, he turned to Luther and shouted.
"Is it true? Did you really treat the Grand General's daughter—Amina, that child—"
"Yes. I treated Amina."
As Luther answered calmly, the High Priest looked back at the Grand General and realized.
Luther was not lying now.
"High Priest Martriel, Prel Yoru and Peliaru wish for Sir Luther to treat Father. Mother and the Grand General, guardian of the royal family, have permitted it."
At Yoru's words, like a verdict, the High Priest took a few deep breaths, then turned to Queen Consort Reina and said.
"Your Majesty the Queen Consort, have you resolved yourself?"
That Luther, an outsider, would learn King Malkuth's true condition.
No—would more people, starting with the princesses, than now learn it.
At the High Priest's question, Queen Consort Reina nodded with a composed face, as if her mind was already made up.
"It's already decided."
The High Priest knew Queen Consort Reina well.
Thus, instead of further obstruction, he let out a long sigh, looked around at everyone in the drawing room once more, then bowed to Queen Consort Reina again.
"I shall take my leave. I hope you have no regrets over today's choice."
Leaving words that could be either a warning or a desperate outburst, the High Priest exited the drawing room. Aru silently flipped him off, while Yoru pretended not to notice her sister and said to Queen Consort Reina.
"Mother, thank you for your wise decision."
At Yoru's words, Queen Consort Reina exhaled deeply without replying, then turned to Luther and said.
"Sir Luther, preparations will be made for you to see His Majesty the King two days from now. Bear that in mind."
"Understood. I will do my utmost until then."
As Luther bowed, Queen Consort Reina nodded once, then signaled Yoru with her eyes.
A gentle request to leave now. Yoru pinched the back of Aru's hand, who was grinning broadly, to snap her out of it, then elegantly bowed.
And about fifteen minutes later.
The moment they exited Queen Consort Reina's palace, Aru raised both hands high in joy.
"Luther, did you see the High Priest's face earlier? Watching him slink away without a retort was so satisfying."
As Aru laughed heartily as if truly refreshed, Yoru shot her a slight glare and spoke in an elegant tone.
"It's a relief things worked out. I never imagined we'd get the Grand General's cooperation."
"Right, right. At first, I thought the Grand General was actually bald, and Luther had cured that."
[I've felt this before, but the people of this country seem excessively obsessed with baldness.]
[What on earth does baldness mean to them?]
Ignoring Integra's somewhat philosophical question as always, Luther gave a wry smile and said.
"We got lucky. And above all... I'm glad I could cure the Grand General's daughter."
While it was good that things had gone as planned, Yoru smiled elegantly at Luther's words emphasizing relief at curing the Grand General's daughter.
"As expected of Sir Luther. Your heart is as admirable as your medical skills. Your character is equally outstanding."
"Hmph, of course, since it's Luther."
For some reason pleased at Yoru's praise of Luther, Aru hugged Luther's arm and said.
"Luther, I'm counting on you for Father."
"Yes, Aru. I'll do my best."
As Luther smiled and replied, Aru blushed slightly and flashed a bright smile again.
The princess always looked best with that beaming face.
[Master, anyway, shall we head back now?]
[Let's go back. Right?]
At Integra's remark—who had immediately clung to Luther's left arm the moment Aru took his right—Luther smiled wryly and nodded.
"Then, Aru, Yoru. I'll head back and make preparations."
"Fiiiine, no helping it. See you tomorrow, Luther."
"Until tomorrow, Sir Luther."
As Aru and Yoru each bid farewell tinged with reluctance, Luther returned the bow and left the annex palace toward the guest quarters.
And about twenty minutes later.
"Haaah..."
The moment he arrived at his quarters in the annex, Luther flopped onto the bed and let out a long breath, sprawling out.
He hadn't done much, yet he felt strangely exhausted.
[Still, Master, it's fortunate things progressed as planned.]
"Yeah."
Even with the Grand General's support, Luther had been half-doubting whether he could immediately treat King Malkuth.
Because he couldn't predict how Queen Consort Reina would react.
[We can consider her quite cooperative toward treating the king, right?]
"Have to see it that way."
As she had said herself, she decided to accept the princesses' wishes right after hearing about Amina.
Integra lay down beside Luther and said.
[Then, Master, the spy would want the current situation to persist, so can we rule out the cooperative Queen Consort Reina and Grand General Azrael as spies?]
[By process of elimination, the spy is the High Priest.]
Since he was the only one opposing the king's treatment.
Moreover, his parting words of "no regrets" lingered oddly in Luther's mind.
"For now, he's the highest possibility. As you said, Integra, a spy wouldn't lead the charge on treating the king. But... we should consider the chance it's a smokescreen."
There was no concrete proof the High Priest was the spy yet.
It was just circumstantial—the highest likelihood.
"But either way—regardless of who the spy is—treating the king will drastically reduce the spy's influence. We can prevent whatever scheme they have at the ritual too."
Since the very board would change from the original story.
[But Master, Hecatoncheires surely knows this too?]
"They do. So they won't sit idly by while I treat the king. They'll likely ambush me before I can."
In the past few days, Luther had racked up significant achievements.
Not just curing baldies, but already treating several patients—like Count Lionel's daughter and Grand General Azrael's daughter Amina—that Malkuth's medical standards couldn't handle.
He was to go to the Sea Temple to treat the king in two days, so they'd try to eliminate him in the interim.
"I'll ask Sandalphon and the Grand General for cooperation. I won't leave the palace for the next two days."
Even Hecatoncheires wouldn't likely attack the palace to get at Luther.
They'd probably come when he headed to the Sea Temple.
[There's a chance they won't come, right?]
"Possible, sure."
But one must always prepare for the worst.
"Curing the king will stop the tsunami. We can save the south just like the west."
Comparing to the original story's events, the south had been far more devastated than the west.
A massive tsunami had swept the entire south, killing over hundreds of thousands and laying waste to the region.
Closing his eyes briefly and recalling the southern tragedy Ash had personally endured in the original, Luther let out a long breath.
It was a future he had to prevent, no matter what.
[Master, time to rest now.]
[We need to hurry reproducing the nanomachines depleted from treating baldies these past few days.]
"Yeah, let's rest."
He felt good from the sense of accomplishment, but as Integra said, he'd consumed quite a few nanomachines lately, so his strength was notably reduced.
"Good night, Master. Dream of me in something naughty. Got it?]
"I'll think about it."
Replying flippantly to her flippancy, Luther slowly closed his eyes.
And how much time passed.
After sunset, when night had fallen and all were deep in slumber.
The anticipated assault roused Luther's mind.