Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Sail Kingdom Civil War (5)
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Count Vierton slipped out of the banquet hall.
He headed straight for where his head butler, Henrik, was supposed to be.
At first, he intended to chew out the butler who had vanished in the middle of banquet preparations.
But the sight that greeted the count was utterly wretched.
"What in the world happened to you?"
"C-Count...!"
Henrik called out to him in a hoarse voice.
His clothes were torn to shreds like rags, and blood streamed from his head, covering his entire face.
There wasn't a single intact spot on his body.
The count was so shocked that he approached Henrik.
"My lord, this is no time for that!"
As soon as the count arrived, Henrik confessed everything he had endured.
He recounted every detail, starting from his kidnapping during the banquet preparations up to the present.
"They used monsters to abduct me!"
"The Church was behind it all!"
But the more Henrik spoke, the more the count furrowed his brow.
"Butler. Can you take responsibility for those words? That the Church orchestrated this?"
Unbelief laced the count's stern voice.
Henrik had anticipated that the count wouldn't believe him right away.
Who would immediately buy a story about the Church raising monsters, abducting people, and torturing them?
Henrik himself might not have believed it without experiencing it firsthand.
But this was undeniable fact.
Henrik had gone through it all.
Even if the count didn't believe him now, as his loyal butler, he had a duty to speak.
"It's true! My lord... Cancel the banquet immediately! You mustn't trust the Church!"
At his desperate cry, the count glanced toward the banquet hall for a moment.
Inside were the Church's delegation and nobles close to the count.
He had stationed knights in case of trouble, but some of the Church's Holy Knights were also armed and positioned there.
Normally, it would violate etiquette, but the Church couldn't be treated as ordinary guests, so it was unavoidable.
This was exactly why Henrik urged the count to halt the banquet at once.
But his plea fell on deaf ears.
"Hah, listen, Henrik."
The count's voice grew cold.
"Have you turned to the royal side, by any chance?"
"W-What...!"
"Think about it. You disappear the day before the banquet, then pop up out of nowhere demanding I break with the Church."
Henrik trembled at the count's words.
This was a bad sign.
Even Henrik thought the circumstances lined up too perfectly.
Suddenly appearing with such a tale would make anyone dismiss it as nonsense.
This reaction was only natural.
'Did they even predict this?'
If so, the Church was truly terrifying.
Above all, everything Henrik had seen and suffered was real.
That made his injustice burn even hotter.
"I-It's true! Please believe me!"
"Haa..."
The count, meanwhile, rubbed his forehead.
'To abduct and torture my butler right here in the mansion...'
And all of it supposedly a plot by the White Church?
The count couldn't help but laugh in absurdity.
It was far more plausible that the butler had betrayed him and sided with the royals to drive a wedge between him and the Church.
Even if his story held water, why would the Church let the butler live?
It made no sense.
"You need to cool your head for a bit. Guards! Throw the butler in the underground prison!"
At the count's command, nearby soldiers seized Henrik.
But Henrik shouted at the count as they dragged him away.
"No... the underground prison?! My words are true! My lord!"
Henrik tried to shake off the soldiers' hands, but his aged body couldn't match their youthful strength.
"Please, just listen—!"
Even as he was hauled off, Henrik wailed.
"Tch."
Count Vierton clicked his tongue at the sight of his departing butler.
"Looks like I'll have to replace the butler soon."
The Church abducting and torturing people?
No one would believe it, and the idea of them raising monsters was pure fantasy.
'Tch, the Church despises monsters most of all. What nonsense.'
The Church truly loathed monsters.
Blindly believing the butler and antagonizing them would ruin all his plans.
The count glanced around.
Fortunately, no Church affiliates were nearby.
With a Heretic Inquisitor present at the banquet, he had to watch his words even more.
Offending them could brand him a heretic.
Even a noble would be in danger then.
"No choice. Lock Henrik up and gag him! Make sure he can't speak."
Sealing the lips of those nearby came first.
"And forget everything you just saw."
The Sail Kingdom would soon fall into his hands.
He couldn't let a careless word derail it all.
Shaking his head, the count turned back toward the banquet hall.
Then he paused midway.
"...Something feels off."
Henrik had served him faithfully for years.
Dismissing it as utter rubbish didn't sit right.
The count quietly summoned a soldier.
"Gather all the mansion's knights around the banquet hall."
No harm in being cautious, even if unlikely.
Leaving those orders, he reentered the hall.
He headed for where Priest Titan and Captain Gerard had been.
"Hm?"
Something was wrong.
The atmosphere differed from before he left.
Their expressions were sour first and foremost.
'Well, leaving my guests during the banquet was rude.'
Probably because he'd stepped out mid-event.
Inviting them only to vanish was a grave discourtesy.
Count Vierton approached with a smile to lighten the mood.
"My apologies. Haha, turned out a servant botched things. I gave him a good scolding, so it's fine now."
"......"
But Priest Titan sat with a stone face.
Captain Gerard beside him looked grim too.
'What's this? Not about me leaving... Did they overhear Henrik?'
A brief silence fell, then Priest Titan spoke.
"What do you think of our Church's activities, Count Vierton? Or should I say, the kingdom's nobles?"
The sudden question made the count dizzy.
'What does he mean? Did they really hear?'
One slip here, and all his Church appeasement would crumble.
"Haha... The Church's activities? I know they strive tirelessly for the continent's safety in many ways."
A safe, neutral answer.
No fool would bluntly call out their tyranny in the kingdom.
Count Vierton smiled as best he could.
"Hm, I see."
Priest Titan's expression shifted subtly.
The count sighed in relief, figuring it wasn't the worst response.
"I'm grateful for your words, Count. But lately, we've heard strange rumors in the kingdom. Something about the Church oppressing the people?"
The count broke into a cold sweat at the pointed query.
With their open bullying, it'd be weirder if such talk didn't circulate.
But he couldn't affirm it.
He'd staked everything on the Church; he had to defend them.
"Who dares spread such ludicrous lies!"
Count Vierton slammed the table.
He feigned maximum outrage and pressed on.
"That's absolutely false! Anyone saying such things is a heretic. I well know the Church labors for the continent's safety beyond our kingdom. Such slander only harms the realm. No need to worry."
Priest Titan's face darkened further.
"Heretic, you say..."
His voice dropped, chilling the air.
"So, by your words, our actions are indeed for the kingdom's safety?"
"Y-Yes, exactly!"
The count couldn't shake the ominous feeling from the priest's question.
'What's going on?'
The mood grew heavier.
Ornate music blared, but he barely noticed.
Henrik's earlier words resurfaced.
'No way...'
Why did they echo now?
'What if the butler was telling the truth?'
Impossible.
Yet unease lingered.
The count subtly lowered his left hand, signaling for knights discreetly.
Regardless, Priest Titan continued.
"You've affirmed it's for the kingdom's safety. So, what of threats to that safety?"
"Threats...? If any exist, they must be eliminated."
"Heh heh heh."
Priest Titan merely chuckled at his reply.
But it held no approval.
"Since you put it that way, I'll be direct."
Count Vierton's head throbbed.
Why was Priest Titan saying this?
What caused this tension?
It all started after meeting Henrik.
"Then why oppose the Church?"
"What? I don't—"
Before he finished, Priest Titan vanished backward.
He simultaneously subdued one of the count's knights at the hall's edge.
Thud—
The knight's armor crumpled as he slammed into the wall.
"What is the meaning of this outrage!"
Count Vierton bellowed at the sudden event.
Even for the Church, attacking a knight unprovoked crossed the line.
"Even the Church can't—"
But his words halted.
Priest Titan removed the subdued knight's helmet, revealing an unimaginable truth.
Beneath the armor was a skull.
"Eh?"
A skeleton monster disguised as a knight in full armor.
The count's mind reeled.
Why was a monster wearing knight's armor?
No, why was a monster inside his mansion at all?
Henrik's words echoed again.
— The Church was raising monsters!
— The Church was behind it all!
Count Vierton wasn't a fool.
The pieces fell into place.
Could all this have been the Church's scheme?
'They meant to trap me!'
But why? Motive mattered.
Why target him?
The answer came swiftly.
'They planned to swallow the kingdom from the start. The royals, nobles—all gone.'
The skeletons wore his family's knight armor.
Even now, the Church could label him a heretic and purge him.
If that was their intent, sitting idle wouldn't save him.
No more hesitation.
Act first, faster—that's how he'd survived the noble world's predation.
"Knights! Draw your swords!"
He raised his right hand and shouted.
His knights obeyed, unsheathing theirs.
The Church's Holy Knights drew theirs in response.
Swords pointed, standoff ensued.
"Kyaa!"
"W-What's happening?!"
The clueless nobles enjoying the banquet looked bewildered.
They'd sensed the off mood, but knights drawing steel shocked them.
Tension filled the once-joyous hall.
The first to move would taste blade's edge.
Swords gleamed; neither side yielded in the standoff.
Priest Titan broke the heavy silence first.
"Haha, Count."
He moved swiftly again, subduing another knight aiming at the Church.
"What barbarity is this!"
The count protested, but Priest Titan ignored him.
He stripped off the helmet.
"...!"
Another skeleton lurked inside.
"What?!"
"The count truly kept monsters...?"
"I'm innocent! I was just invited by the count!"
Chaos erupted from the nobles close to the count.
The count was just as dazed.
"Ha, haha..."
He let out a hollow laugh.
The butler was right.
The Church raised monsters and used them.
This was a trap to bring him down.
"Me... a trap from the beginning."
How long had the skeletons been planted?
Infiltrating them required long preparation.
If the royals had done it, fine—but the Church?
The count inwardly berated his lax security.
But he wouldn't yield meekly.
"All knights, reveal your faces!"
Some armored knights showed their faces. The helmetless ones were familiar.
At least not all were monsters.
But some defied, keeping helmets on.
'Skeletons, probably.'
Confirmed.
Multiple skeletons impersonating knights.
'Insane Church— they went all in!'
Rage boiled in the count.
Daring to toy with him like this!
To survive, break through now.
Otherwise, heretic charges and Church custody awaited.
Best case, crippled escape.
'Can't let that happen.'
Subdue them now. Expose the Church's villainy!
Even if it meant making the whole Church an enemy.
Their reputation would plummet.
"All knights, subdue the heretics in Church guise!"
Knights from outside the hall stormed in.
"Kill any who resist!"
Clashing steel echoed everywhere.
Tables shattered; blood splattered walls.
Uneaten food and dishes scattered across the floor.
Merry music turned to screams of despair.
Gorgeous crimson blood flooded the hall.
"Father."
Princess Irena sought audience with her father, the king.
King Carendia was in a meeting.
But few nobles attended. Not all nobles were faction-aligned; a minority were royalists.
Yet their numbers dwindled daily.
Royal knights and aides flanked them, but sorely outnumbered.
Hardly fit for a king's council.
"Yes, what is it?"
King Carendia replied flatly.
Father-daughter or not, "Father" was improper in formal settings.
But Princess Irena was ice-cold.
Carendia sensed her mood.
"I have words for you, Father."
Princess Irena drew a deep breath.
Hesitation?
No time for that now.
Looking back was a luxury amid what lay ahead.
Straight forward only.
Silence hung, then she spoke.
"Count Vierton has clashed with the Church delegation."
Now it was Princess Irena's turn.
Armed knights filed in behind her.