Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: 6. The Emperor and the Holy Emperor (2)
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Warp Portal.
It was an utterly bizarre form of magic that one could only imagine.
The Archmage wanted to refute that it was impossible fantasy.
Countless mages had already attempted something similar.
Even geniuses among geniuses had stepped forward to research dungeon portals.
How could living creatures emerge from places where there was nothing?
Could we do it too?
All the answers they came up with to those questions had been wrong.
The Archmage himself was one of those failed geniuses.
But he couldn't bring himself to say anything to Ian.
Denying the words of the Prophet was tantamount to denying the future.
It was also an act of disregarding the prestige of the empire built upon his prophecies.
"Hmm..."
Even the emperor, who hadn't studied magic in depth, knew how absurd it sounded.
"Is this even possible?"
"I don't know when, but I saw her achieve it with my own eyes. I'm no expert in magic myself, so I don't know the details. But there's no reason humanity can't accomplish what the demons have."
Ian's prophecies had never been wrong so far.
No matter how implausible they seemed, everything that came from his mouth became reality.
Hadn't they averted the near-total loss of an entire vassal state thanks to him?
The emperor didn't ponder long.
If the warp portal was invented, it alone would give the imperial family overwhelming dominance to swallow the continent whole.
It was impossible to even calculate how much military marching costs would be reduced.
Inter-city trade already bore massive expenses, but warp portals would solve that too.
Safe, reliable, and fast transactions.
Even if they set high tolls for portal use, people would flock to them.
Above all, there was no downside to heeding the Prophet's words.
If it failed, they could just blame him later.
"It's a field that countless scholars have challenged and failed in already."
"I know."
"Very well... If it's the Prophet saying it, then it must be true. But how does this relate to the 1st Hero Party?"
"In the future I saw, the warp portals only used A-rank magic stones and above. So, before the war comes, it might be wise to secure A-rank and higher stones using the 1st Hero Party. It would be awkward for me to relay this directly, so I'd be grateful if the imperial family handled it on my behalf."
It was all but shoving his responsibilities onto the imperial family.
Yet no one there, not even the emperor, could rebuke him.
"Very well, that shall be done. But I find it hard to understand why you're only telling us this now."
"I can only see what I'm shown. In other words, I can't see what isn't revealed to me. I only saw this future at this point."
Who could argue with the Prophet himself?
"Understood. I'll assign personnel to look into it."
The emperor readily agreed, as he had already been considering ways to move the 1st Hero Party independently.
Letting them go just because they were no longer under Ian's direct control would be a loss of vital strength.
For quite some time, the emperor had been uneasy about the party being solely in Ian's grasp.
What if their blades turned toward the empire one day?
The mere thought sent chills down his spine.
"That said, the name Philip is still valid. Would it be alright to use it when persuading Penny, the 1st Hero Party's manager?"
If possible, the emperor wanted to claim the 1st Hero Party for himself.
Even if Ian had been ousted, he didn't dare hope for it.
"That's fine."
Ian wasn't oblivious to the emperor's intentions.
After all, the 1st Hero Party was a monster born to hunt monsters.
"Finally, one more thing. Late autumn, before the war arrives. A sea dragon will appear on the western coast."
"A drag...?!"
The emperor wasn't the only one startled; the ministers listening in jumped in surprise.
"A-a dragon, you say?!"
The Archmage blurted out unbidden.
He glanced at the emperor too late, but the emperor was too flustered to notice.
"I'm not certain it's a dragon. What I saw was just people talking about a 'sea dragon.' It appears alongside numerous monsters on the western coast, turning the ports into wastelands."
The empire's west, with its mild and dry climate, held vital strategic and economic importance.
The gentle 'L'-shaped mountain range curving from the northwest of the continent southward served as a natural barrier against demonkin borders.
There were also port cities trading with distant continents across the sea.
Without the Prophet, the empire would have suffered major setbacks: port cities crumbling, winter wars unfolding, and a great retreat.
The emperor once again realized how extraordinary and crucial the ability to advise on the future was.
"...Understood. I'll discuss it with the ministers. But one thing puzzles me. Aren't you resentful?"
The emperor was genuinely curious.
Sylvia, who had spent the longest with Ian in the 1st Hero Party, had been with him for a full four years.
Even the shortest, Kaily, had two and a half years.
They weren't mere comrades.
Ian had changed their lives, elevating them to hero status revered like deities by the masses.
Yet they had unilaterally cast him out.
Any ordinary person would be unable to contain their emotions.
"Resentful... I'm not sure about that far. I do have feelings, but I'm simply setting them aside for the greater good."
The emperor's greater good was the empire's peace.
The Prophet's was a future where the Demon King dies.
It was a remarkably selfless statement from the Prophet.
He spoke as if divinely commanded to create that future, not merely foresee it.
"Time marches on regardless of my will, so I can't afford to stop."
"If your achievements had been revealed, things might have turned out better."
"Your Majesty. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who act, and those who make them act. The latter must exist like a mirage, never stepping into the light. If the actors learn of those who set them in motion, they'll question their own agency."
"Moreover, you know heroes aren't called heroes simply because they are heroic. They are idols crafted to be consumed for the greater good and peace of this era. The world's attention must remain on them. Humans can't live on dreams alone. They need commensurate rewards."
"I am one who makes others act, but powerless to act myself. For someone like me to claim a share of their achievements would be presumptuous. However."
"The fact that heroes who couldn't have reached their positions without me now cast me out is, in itself, presumptuous. I'm not resentful, just baffled. That in a future I couldn't foresee, the people I trusted betrayed me."
The emperor swallowed hard, unseen by all.
His grip on the throne's armrest tightened briefly, then relaxed.
'What a chilling man.'
The empire's prestige was built upon his prophecies.
Those who knew of the Prophet said as much.
The truth the emperor grasped was more fundamental, more unsettling.
The imperial authority itself was a gift from the Prophet.
Extremely speaking, if the Prophet had sided with the rebel confederation, what then?
The emperor would be on the execution platform, not the throne.
The Prophet had chosen Julianus as emperor.
'...He's asking me this?'
It was about the 1st Hero Party, but thorns hid in the Prophet's words.
The one who granted him the throne now inquired.
'Will you betray me?'
It was a sharp question piercing the emperor's fear and desire for the party.
Ian knelt below, looking up, but his hidden presence was anything but subservient.
He faced the emperor as an equal, shaking hands under the table.
What he concealed beneath his sleeve remained unknown.
'That can't be his only reason. His devotion to the 1st Hero Party can't be reduced to mere calculation. But I can't probe further.'
Overly great heroes threaten power structures.
What of the one who made them?
'...Time will tell.'
Until their needs aligned no longer.
The emperor had no intention of betraying Ian of his own volition.
Nor vice versa.
'But what happens when our needs diverge...'
For now, it was time to clasp hands.
Poison needles hidden beneath sleeves.
"...I see. You may withdraw. I look forward to your continued guidance."
"I am honored."
Ian exited the audience chamber after concluding their talk.
He had been impeccably formal and polite to the end, but no reverence was felt.
'If knowing all the imperial family's secrets still inspired respect, that would be the odd thing.'
Though surprised by Ian's inner thoughts, the emperor hadn't left empty-handed.
'He does have emotions.'
He had hidden them behind that lengthy response.
Just as emotions ill-suited the emperor's throne.
'Whether it's fortunate or not that he feels them like a human... who knows.'
Like it or not, in the end, they would become adversaries.
How much emotion would remain between them then?
Which direction would that remnant lead?
The emperor, no prophet, couldn't dare predict.
Just as Ian had been betrayed by the 1st Hero Party.
Emotions defy prediction from the start.
'We'll find out when the time comes... as will our end.'
In the end, they were merely using each other out of necessity.
Ian could glimpse the future through regression but couldn't move the empire.
The emperor could move the empire but agonized over every moment, every choice.
The emperor decided to investigate this mage named Iris first.
"Archmage, for now..."
At that moment.
-Bang bang bang bang!
Something kicked open the audience chamber doors and charged in.
"Daddyyy!"
"G-Gracie?!"
"Princess...!"
Forgetting decorum entirely, the emperor scrambled up to greet his daughter.
He brushed aside all his grave concerns and opened his arms to Grace.
"Nooo! Not that!"
But Princess Grace refused the embrace.
"All grown up and you won't even hug your father anymore... How many times has it been now?"
"Where's Philip? You said Philip came!"
"Not even answering me."
"Philip!"
"He's already gone."
"Already? Why? He didn't even meet me?"
"Grace. The Prophet is very busy and important..."
"I don't care! You promised to tell me when Philip came! Why didn't you say anythingyy!"
The emperor dismissed the ministers first and spent longer soothing Grace with the chamberlain than he had speaking with Ian.
'Thank goodness Ian left before Grace arrived...'
Ian had even participated in the preparations against assassination attempts on Grace.
Back then, Ian had saved her right before her eyes, and ever since, Grace had been like this.
She had become a new headache for both the emperor and Ian.
The emperor couldn't forget the look on Ian's face whenever dealing with Grace.
The calm, even stern Prophet had begged the emperor with pleading eyes to take her away.
"When did he leaveee?!"
"...Quite a while ago. He's probably far away by now."
"Aaaah, seriouslyyy! You won't let me send letters, or go find him, or even meet him when he's hereee! So meeean!"
The emperor was truly relieved he hadn't witnessed Grace's aggressive pursuit of Ian firsthand.
Since turning of age this year, she even carried a marriage vow document everywhere.
It wasn't formal paperwork.
Just childish scribbles Grace had made on her own.
Of course, she was utterly serious about it.
The doting father emperor struggled to hold back tears every time he thought of it.
It felt like yesterday she was lisping "Daddy, Daddy" and clinging to him...
Her speech was still a bit slurred, but now she refused hugs.
'...I mustn't tell her next time either.'
The emperor had no intention of betraying Ian willingly, of course.
How could he, toward the savior of his beloved daughter?
But the throne sometimes made a mockery of such sentiments.
For political pretexts, pressures, the empire's future, and the imperial family's standing, there were times when one must kill those who shouldn't be killed.
It was less betrayal than the flow of events.
'What intent lay behind leaving me with that doubt? A warning? Or time to contemplate or prepare for the final moment...'
The emperor simply hoped that moment never came.
Thus, he wouldn't stop at hoping.
Emperors did not pray.
He would solidify the empire's foundations before the war through warp portals and 1st Hero Party operations.
Then, prepare policies and strategies to secure the inevitably shaken public sentiment post-war on those foundations.
No matter how high Ian's prestige rose, he must strengthen imperial authority to avoid threats, pretexts, or manipulations.
He had even considered a marriage between the princess and Ian.
Like swallowing tears over past betrothals for power, it was heartbreaking to merely think of.
But if it preserved imperial authority and accepted Ian, it might be worth trying.
Grace didn't dislike him, after all.
The problem was Ian rejecting Grace.
'What's so lacking about our Grace...'
The greater issue was Ian being a figurehead in the end.
Only insiders knew his achievements.
As seen in his pushing all credit to the heroes, he extremely avoided the spotlight.
In other words, the 1st Hero Party manager—a mere figurehead—marrying the princess would raise suspicions.
Such a marriage could shatter the separation between Ian and Philip.
Thus, the only solution was overwhelming strength to prevent imperial authority from wavering.
Inappropriately for his position, the emperor pitied the Prophet.
'How harsh to see the future yet not glimpse the desired one at will. And not foreseeing betrayal by trusted allies...'
The emperor sometimes felt kinship with the Prophet as a human.
Both were in positions where they couldn't confide worries to anyone.
Just as the emperor could only be emotional before Grace.
He hoped the Prophet had such a person too.
'Protecting him is also for the empire's peace.'
And, though loath to admit it, he was the man Grace loved.
If he died, his daughter would grieve.
For many reasons, the emperor had no desire to oppose Ian.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ugh..."
The moment I left the audience chamber, I rolled my shoulders to loosen up.
I had to maintain decorum before the emperor, so kneeling left my body stiff.
Still, I'd conveyed everything that needed saying right away.
Especially the crucial warp portal.
In the second timeline, it was invented long after the war had already begun.
I had little info on 'Iris,' the mage who historically invented it.
She was an imperial mage.
And she applied to the palace immediately upon awakening as a mage.
In short, even if I wanted to scout her early, she was unreachable.
I worried she might have become a hero this time instead, making things worse.
Not everything matched the second timeline.
In that sense, coming to the palace today had been lucky.
On the way in, I spotted a few imperial mages under Memory Correction and overheard; one was Iris.
I'd been debating requesting periodic imperial mage rosters, but it worked out.
Fastest by summer, latest by autumn—the warp portal would be invented.
After that, the balance between the emperor and the Holy Emperor would gradually tip.
Of course, the Holy Flame Church had much to do in the war too, so it wouldn't fully collapse.
[Master.]
Telepathy from Kati arrived.
'What? Something wrong?'
[A letter came from the abbey. The Holy Emperor is summoning you.]
Yeah, that guy's turn had come too.
I'd anticipated it, but it was a hassle...
'Got it. Won't be back till day after tomorrow morning.'
[Yes. Be careful.]
...She always says that—what exactly to be careful of?
I'm not some kid left by the water.
'Yeah. Thanks.'
[Yes. You too.]
'Why you?'
[......]
'Hey, hey! Pretending not to hear won't work. I hear it all.'
[......]
'Who pretends telepathy isn't audible? Ridiculous...'
This wasn't the first time, so I let it slide.
I received the knight guards' salute and left the palace.
Next destination: the Papal Palace.
I had far less to tell the Holy Emperor than the emperor, so it'd be quick.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The abbey was dark, bedtime long past.
Vivian lay among the children, while Mercy and Kati took the corner spots.
Kati, who lay down first, was staring fixedly at the ring on her finger.
She'd been like that since returning from training Emma.
"Kati."
Mercy lay beside her and pulled Kati into an embrace.
It was her habit to sleep holding something.
"Yeah."
"Did you relay the message?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm, then he won't be back till tomorrow."
Mercy buried her face in Kati's hair.
Mercy, who reached Ian's chin, was taller than Kati too, so she always slept hugging her like a doll.
She did the same with Vivian.
"Go to sleep. Staring at that won't make Ian come sooner... When did you move it there?"
The subservience ring had somehow shifted to her left ring finger.
It worked regardless of finger, so no issue.
Kati just tilted her head slightly, glaring in response instead of answering.
"...Can't stop you, huh."
Mercy let out a wry chuckle, though it wasn't entirely amusing.
'Poor thing...'
"Yeah."
Kati answered but kept staring at the ring.
Ian was off to the Papal Palace without sleep.
Kati wanted more conversation, but he had ordered her to sleep, so she held back.
After gazing long, Kati lowered her hand and drifted off.
It was regrettable that even upon waking, he still wouldn't be back.