Saintess (4): The Empire's Hidden Rot

The Empire must perish. That is a law. It is an event that must inevitably occur for the novel to flow smoothly, and since it is destined to fall no matter what, one must extract as much as possible from it before the end. But.

'Why on earth has it come to this?'

What exactly is this situation unfolding before me? 'The Crown Prince has changed so much—and unlike the original work, it’s to a terrifying degree.' What could be the reason? Mirne could not fathom it at all. 'Two male leads have died, and they were both characters with immense potential.' The Northern Grand Duke and the Saint should never have died here. No, it was strange from the start that the male leads in a romance fantasy novel would die so pointlessly. Especially when the Northern Grand Duke is defined by his martial prowess—to have that position die off so early?

'That means when the time comes to use that strength later, one hand will be empty.' Mirne was saddened that the people she had been in contact with had met their ends, but the anxiety of not knowing how the novel would change in the future weighed on her even more heavily. 'What happens if the plot twists even further than this? No, what if the Empire doesn't fall at all?' Worst-case scenarios crept into her mind. She was anxious. The fact that the Empire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠might not fall was the biggest problem of all.

In the past, this issue hadn't caused her much distress. She had thought there was still plenty to plunder from the Empire. Since it would be troublesome if it collapsed on its own while there was still so much to take, she had even thought it wouldn't be bad for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it to maintain a moderately strong appearance. But now, there was no support coming from the Maserin Kingdom, and she had even been exploited by the Empire recently. The Empire was moving beyond a moderately strong level; it was trying to reclaim the glory of its golden age.

'Could it be that as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the story changed, the Crown Prince has become a target for conquest?' Like the famous saying that nothing is absolute, she wondered if a possibility had emerged. But.

It was still just a message stating the Crown Prince was not a target. Then, was the situation truly just one where the plot of the novel was continuously twisting? And the Empire wouldn't fall? 'This can't be... this can't be... then later, the moment the Empire changes...' As Mirne continued to spiral into dark thoughts, spirits that had been waiting nearby appeared, trying to comfort her.

Thud!

"Eek!"

At that moment, the back of her neck was seized, and Mirne’s body was slammed into the table. "We are in a place like this, and not only are you being carefree, but you’re trying to summon spirits... Have you lost your mind?"

"Y-Your Highness the Crown Prince...! I apologize. I was trembling, and the spirits appeared to comfort me because of that..."

"Whatever. It’s not as if this is the place to argue over such trivialities." After releasing the pressure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pinning Mirne down, the Crown Prince naturally looked around. "Teo, you’ve worked hard. I can handle this alone, so you may rest."

"As you command!"

He ordered Teo, who had been standing at attention by his side, to take a break. Once Teo had left, the Crown Prince, Bellon, stared at Mirne in silence for a moment. 'Are male leads inherently unable to harm Mirne?' Can they not inflict meaningful damage on her without killing intent? He had told Teo to pressure Mirne with telekinesis to test this, but strangely, while Teo’s magic had activated, Mirne remained unharmed.

'But it worked when I did it.' So, the Crown Prince himself had used telekinesis to press down on Mirne, and as if it were strange that it wouldn't work, Mirne was subdued instantly. 'There seems to be some kind of law... but that’s not what’s important right now.' After shaking his head slightly, the Crown Prince spoke.

"I would like you to explain why a black mage is likely to appear in the Empire, how you know about it... and even if you knew, why you secretly attached yourself to the Holy Kingdom to come here."

He focused on the immediate situation. 'But what is the relationship between the Saint’s death and the possibility of the Empire’s collapse that it dropped by 10%?' He pondered this alongside his unresolved questions.

The Empire is vast. It is ignorantly vast. And recently, the Empire has not been able to manage that vast land properly. Land that is not managed eventually rots, and in rotten places, strange things are bound to grow. These were things that could have been solved with just a little attention, but because the Empire had been busy supporting other countries, those strange things had grown significantly larger than they were at the beginning. And that strange, evil thing that had grown so large was caught by the divinity of the one who would become the reserve Saintess.

"Is that roughly the story?"

"Yes, that is correct, Your Highness."

"The reason you checked in secret was because you didn't want to cause unnecessary confusion by speaking up about something that hadn't been properly verified yet, right?"

"That is correct."

"You are a remarkably capable reserve Saintess, to be able to know this from such a great distance."

I laughed inwardly at Mirne’s words. 'If I had known it would be like this, I should have read a bit further in chapter 50.' Up to chapter 50, it was all about the Empire giving everything away, so I hadn't read any further and just hit the 'drop' button. 'There is a Magic Tower in the sky... and black mages living in unmanaged lands?' I never imagined the Empire was in such a sickly state. And the concept of 'unmanaged land' was quite ambiguous to begin with. It was to the point where I wondered, 'Did such a thing even exist?'

'Is it because it’s unmanaged that no one has been able to report it?' But even with such land existing, it had managed to survive this long without falling. How on earth was the Empire’s foundation built to be this sturdy? Just as I was admiring this to myself, ding!

The reward arrived just in time to make finding the black mages easier. 'Yeah, it was about time they gave me something.' The protagonist with the 'possessed' setting right in front of me gets handouts from everyone around her just by existing; it would have been a shame if I didn't have something like this.

However.

The following message almost made my expression change. So, if I had just sat on my hands, the probability of collapse would have suddenly skyrocketed? 'Why on earth does this novel want to destroy the Empire so badly?' Just as my irritation was rising, Mirne looked flustered at how easily I believed her words.

Honestly, it was a situation where she could have been angry. Asking why she came and then using black mages as an excuse could be seen as a desperate, spur-of-the-moment lie. 'I wouldn't have believed it either if I didn't know you were a possessor.' But since it was the words of someone who had read the original novel to the end, the value of its reliability was quite high. I didn't intend to explain the basis for this trust one by one, so I waved my hand lightly at Mirne.

"I’m actually more surprised that you’re surprised by something like that."

"What do you mean..."

"The Saint died right in front of you, and a god died... yet you are excessively calm. Your attitude is as if what was supposed to happen has happened."

I had already obtained all the information I could get from Mirne for now. Since I had also obtained the Empire Map, I could just tell Arveda and Teo to examine every nook and cranny of the Empire. The most urgent thing was for Rowena to purify the curse on Luminix’s body. If there was anything left to discuss with Mirne, it was regarding the Saintess.

'In any case, as long as the Holy Kingdom is under the Empire’s management, Mirne will not be treated as a Saintess.' Since the personnel related to the Saint would be wiped out, Mirne would no longer be able to exert any influence on the Holy Kingdom. So.

"T-that is..."

"Enough. I didn't ask because I wanted an answer."

I stood up from my seat first. Due to the process of taming the Maserin Kingdom, Mirne was not scheduled to return immediately; she would spend some time in a cell before returning to the kingdom. "I hope such unpleasant incidents do not occur in the future."

This time, it had moved on to information regarding black mages, but I couldn't guarantee that I would let it slide so easily if something like this happened again. Thinking this, I left the interrogation room and reviewed the conversation I had just had with Mirne.

'Black mages... it’s sudden, but it’s entirely possible. But why in the Empire instead of appearing near the novel’s protagonist?' I had a nagging suspicion about why black mages were active within the Empire and why their activities caused the Empire’s collapse probability to rise so sharply.

'Usually, in fantasy novels, when you talk about evil appearing... it could be a god, or it could be between individuals... black mages are also part of that.' But generally, it was difficult to see black mages themselves as the main body. In other words, black mages were just the type to say, "I am the weakest among us," and the main body was mostly...

'No way.'

It was related to the Demon Race. And when it came to the Demon Race, only one cliché came to mind. 'The Demon King.' If so, the reason black mages were active within the Empire was...

"...Why are you so desperate to devour the Empire?"

The possibility of the Demon King’s descent was extremely high. 'Do they want to earn the title of Hero or something?' But if the Demon King appeared within the Empire.

"Not a chance."

I will become the Hero.