Chapter 195 Political Consequences [Bonus]

POV Baroness Tanya :

The whole town was in chaos, with all of the people still discussing the past events and mourning their fallen loved ones. The memories of the rain that looked like it was straight out of hell were still vivid in their memories.

Tall and thick walls surrounded an imposing castle in the centre of the town. Its towers reached high above the town, showing the status of its inhabitant to the common folk living under its shadow.

Deep inside it, in the tallest central tower, was a circular chamber with tall pillars and massive arches supporting its vaulted ceiling. The bright daylight was entering through massive two meters tall windows, filling the whole room with light.

A young woman in a long red dress was nervously walking from one corner to another, her feet taping on the hard stone floor. Her black hairs with a few red strands were in a mess, and her face looked as if she had not slept for days. She held an open envelope with remnants of a seal.

'Why is this happening?!' she couldn't help but feel horror from just thinking about all of the events that happened in such a short succession in her own barony.

'This is not normal. How can so much stuff be happening in this small barony.'

Her eyes fell upon the letter in her hand, shudders passing down her whole body as she read one specific line over and over as if she refused to believe it.

'The kingdom wants to verify if I can uphold my title. This wasn't supposed to happen for years. Why so soon? The only explanation is that all of these accidents caught someone's eye. Or is it a machination of him?'

'',

Flames ignited in her hands, illuminating the whole chamber. It wildly flickered, moving together with Tanya's emotions and turning the letter into ash.

She was quickly growing in power. She felt like, in a few years, she would reach the rank of high mage, which was enough for her to hold the title of baroness. But for now, she doubted she had enough qualifications to hold such a title.

Her heart flared up in anger as someone wanted to take from her something that belonged to her. Her draconic blood was boiling with hatred.

'They want to rob me!'

She stopped before a large window. The red glow from the burning wastelands was still glowing on the horizon.

'It is not all lost. I still have the backing of my master. They have so much power that even a count of this kingdom is nothing in comparison. I just need to find a way to leverage that power without anyone in the kingdom accusing me of being a puppet ruler serving a wyrm.'

A plan started to form in her mind as a grin grew on her face, her eyes flashing in red and gold light, 'This can work. I just need to hope that they will agree to help me. Well, they should if they want me to keep my title.'

POV Bishop:

An old fat man in white robes decorated with silver tread stained with sauces and grease was sitting in his throne-like chair, holding his head with both of his hands. His hands were trembling when he glanced at the table that used to be filled to the brim with food, but now it was filled with letters and papers.

"Dammit!!" he angrily banged with his fat hand against the hard table, a loud bang resounding through the white chamber, "Why is everyone blaming me for this? It is all the fault of these damn inquisitors. I never ordered them to do something like summoning angels!"

He felt like all of the years of his careful political games went down the drain because of some stupid fanatics that couldn't think with their heads, 'Everyone is just blaming me! The count, the archbishop! Everyone wants my head! Even the cardinal demands an explanation.'

'ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovelB(i)n. ᴄᴏᴍ',

The doors into his chamber suddenly barged open, a priest in white robes walking in and immediately bowing to the bishop.

"You holiness, as you ordered, I have personally checked the contents of our reliquary. Y-your..." the priest, his personal assistant, shuddered as if collecting his resolve.

The bishop started to feel uncomfortable as he had already guessed from his assistant's behaviour that something valuable was missing, "Speak. Tell me what you have found."

"Y-your Holiness..." the priest gulped before continuing, "The blood of an authority angel is gone."

The bishops slumped back on their thrones, almost fainting after finding out that the precious blood was gone, 'How could they steal... no, they were inquisitors. I gave them authority to access our holy weapons. They must have used it to take the blood. That at least explains how they could summon the whole angelic army.'

The bishop felt his head spinning as he knew that the consequences of losing the precious blood were even worse than the whole fiasco with the angelic invasion. He could already see himself getting demoted or his head rolling on the ground.

He could throw most of it on inquisitors as he never ordered them to do anything so drastic. That would allow him to maybe keep his rank if he paid some bribes. But he couldn't get away with losing a holy relic, as it was only his fault as it was his duty to guard it.

As he already wanted to resign to his faith, he got an idea, 'This can work. With a little bit of luck, it can save my neck!'

He looked back at his still kneeling assistant, his most trustworthy subordinate, "Go to Azerlisia barony. There was a large battle where a powerful principality angel died. Maybe there is enough of their essence to create a new batch of angel blood."

'It isn't the blood of an authority angel, but the blood of a principality angel could still trick most observers. They will not dare to unseal it just to check its contents. Just the powerful holy energy should convince them.'