CH 145

“But what have we done for His Majesty in return? Two of the four children he adopted ended up betraying him. Even the colleagues who His Majesty had trusted all his life were blinded by greed and betrayed His Majesty!”

The sound of someone giving a speech in a loud voice was heard as soon as Sina and Dembel stepped into the mansion. A Priest was passionately giving a speech on the platform, and the pilgrims who visited the Magic Tower were intently listening to the speech.

Sina and Dembel were wearing hoods to cover their faces, looking just like the other ordinary pilgrims.

“The reason why His Majesty sat on the Eternal Throne all this time and remained silent was not that he was injured. It is because His Majesty was disappointed in us humans! It is because he was tired of endless doubt, ignorance, and greed! Look at what’s happening even now—the old vicious groups from the past are once again trying to take control of the empire in the absence of His Majesty!”

People responded enthusiastically and recited the emperor’s name every time the Priest rebuked the folly of humans in a loud voice.

“Heretics, different races, and the outsiders among us are dividing up the empire even at this very moment! And who is in the center of all that? Barth Baltic! Ladies and gentlemen, can you believe this? It is neither His Majesty nor His Holiness that has the most amount of authority in the empire, but it is the Hornsluine race’s Barth Baltic! They have taken over the power of the empire from behind and are now enslaving us poor commoners!”

Dembel smiled bitterly and opened his mouth.

“I feel like I’m at one of those revival assemblies.”

“Is this the atmosphere of the revival assemblies in the capital?” Sina asked.

“This is definitely a little more intense. At least no one in the capital is brave enough to openly curse the Regent.”

The pilgrims shouted and screamed out curses as if they were excited when Barth Baltic’s name came out of the Priest’s mouth. The Priest didn’t stop them—instead, he even gave them time to curse all they wanted and the sound of curses died down. It was almost as if he was enjoying their reaction.

“Heretics, heterogeneous races, and the outsiders have stolen away our jobs, our money, and our power. And now they are conspiring to take the Church down as well! Their authority is too powerful. Do you know even a single person who can stand up to Barth Baltic? No one! Not even any of the Templars could ever stand up to him!”

Dembel seemed a little offended upon hearing the Priest’s speech, but still continued to listen to him in silence.

“It seems like I have come to the wrong place. There’s no way that His Majesty would tolerate words like those,” Sina said as she shook her head in disappointment.

“Let’s hear him out for a little while longer. It is true that Barth Baltic has even more power than the Church.”

Sina looked at Dembel as if she was dumbfounded.

“Do you actually believe the ridiculous rumor that a heterogeneous race is controlling the empire?”

“The Regent is a member of a heterogeneous race, and I heard that the Order of the Capital often appoints knights from the heterogeneous race—and it’s not like they pick them from some publicly recognized knight school. Barth Baltic is only acting according to his own whims. He is obviously very suspicious from the perspective of the Church.”

Sina wanted to tell Dembel that this was because Barth Baltic picked people based solely on their talent rather than their status as a noble or based on background. Pavan Peltere, the captain of the Order of the Capital, was an orphan from the eastern territory that was famous for being alienated from the empire.

On the other hand, while Sina was from a knight school, knight schools were usually more focused on the Church’s brainwashing lectures rather than swordsmanship.

The pilgrims booed negatively when the Priest said that no one could stand up to Barth Baltic, almost as if they were disappointed. But then, the Priest smiled and waved his hand in a relaxed manner.

“But that arrogant man won’t be able to last forever. This land belongs to us humans! This is the empire made for humans. This is the land His Majesty, the god of humans, founded and blessed! Now, Barth Baltic must be shivering in fear in a corner of his room!” the Priest cried as he slammed the platform. “Because His Majesty the emperor has claimed that he will return!”

The people cheered loudly and clapped.

Then Sina saw Dembel clenching his fist in agreement. Sina found the situation ridiculous, but she inadvertently thought that she, too, would have also been excited by such a speech only a few months ago.

The things she went through after encountering Juan had changed her completely.

“His Majesty will kick that horned monkey out from the empire and clean up the holy city of Torra! He will establish a pure empire for pure humans to rule in peace for the upcoming thousand years!”

The cheers of the people reached an all-time high. Dembel raised his hands to clap without even realizing he had done so, but made an embarrassed expression when he felt Sina’s gaze.

“What? He is saying that His Majesty will return to build a land for us humans. That’s not a bad speech,” Dembel said.

“I think it’s pure arrogance to think that humanity has the right to deserve all that. Was it Barth Baltic that stabbed His Majesty? No. It was Gerard Gain.”

Dembel was speechless.

The cheers surrounding the platform grew even louder, and people began to chant the emperor’s name.

“Great and mighty Kennosis! Please save us!”

“Great Juan Kennosis! Please save the empire!”

Dembel and Sina stopped and looked at the Priest’s reaction. The Priest waved his hands up and down with a solemn expression as if he was trying to further excite the people. People called out the emperor’s name much louder and even more earnestly upon seeing the Priest’s actions.

Finally, when the sound of the people’s chanting couldn’t get any louder, the door to the balcony on the second floor of the mansion opened and a bright light began to burn.

“There’s Sutra! That’s the light of the one and only Sutra!” someone from the crowd shouted.

Sina looked up at the terrace with a stiff face.

As people watched while holding their breath, a person soon showed himself from behind the railing.

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The whole place fell silent. While everyone was feeling shocked, someone fell to their knees.

“His Majesty.”

“His Majesty has returned.”

“His Majesty…”

Sina silently stared at the man standing behind the railing.

The man who was holding onto a burning sword in his hand quietly looked down at the people in the yard without saying anything. The mysterious silence made people kneel down.

Sina turned her gaze toward Dembel, and found his face slowly turning pale.

“Don’t tell me that you’re…”

“He looks exactly like His Majesty… doesn’t he?” Dembel asked in a trembling voice.

Sina realized why the man standing behind the railing was particularly eye-catching compared to the other lunatics and how he was able to get a Priest on his side. The man standing on the second floor of the terrace looked exactly like the portrait of the emperor.

He had blonde hair, pale skin, a shaggy beard and sharp eyes—he looked exactly like the portrait of His Majesty illustrated on the first page of the Church’s scriptures.

“...I mean, I am also a bit surprised to see what he looks like. But the portrait of His Majesty’s face could be exaggerated and the subjectivity of the artist is very much included. Besides, a lot of people have said that the portrait looked more like the artist rather than the emperor. Above all, the artist didn't actually draw that portrait while looking at His Majesty’s face. It’s even thirty years old.”

“Well, it is said that His Majesty appeared in the artist’s dream and walked into the canvas himself. Even I hadn’t expected the portrait to look exactly like His Majesty until now. But he is…”

Dembel looked like he was completely possessed. Sina felt frustrated, but it was only natural for people to be agitated; the man looked like he had walked straight out of the Church’s scriptures. Sina could understand why even the Priest took the lead to praise him.

At that moment, the man standing on the terrace opened his mouth.

“I speak in the name of Juan Calberg Kennosis.”

‘Oh my goodness, Juan.’

Sina touched her head with her hand. Sina, who knew exactly what Juan was like due to the months she had spent with him, felt like leaving this place right away.

“I, Juan Calberg Kennosis, am recruiting a volunteer army to drive out the evil ethnic groups! Unite, humans!”

***

The only reason why Sina didn’t run up to the second floor to beat the heck out of the fake emperor or didn’t leave the mansion right away was to keep an eye on Dembel. Sina knew how dangerous it would be if a captain of a knight order decided to follow the fake emperor along with the Priest, since the Templars were very influential within the empire. At that point, those following the fake emperor would already be beyond a simple group of lunatics.

“As I said, keep in mind that your job is to only check whether or not he is the real emperor,” Sina said.

“...I know. Do I look that stupid to you?”

Some of the people who had gathered in the yard then went inside the mansion to wait for the emperor’s reception. Those gathered were mostly people who had paid a lot of donations, the socially influential, or skilled men like Dembel. Among them, Dembel who revealed his identity as a Templar drew quite a lot of attention.

Other ordinary people were chatting or praying in the yard, hoping and waiting for the emperor to show his face one more time.

“To be honest, you coming here would already not be considered wise,” Sina said.

“You hold too many suspicions. I think I can understand why you’re not a Templar even with your skills,” Dembel said.

“I’m not a child. Just because the Templars seem cool doesn’t mean I wish to join them.”

“...You have a harsh way of speaking.”

“Thank you.”

Then, Sina and Dembel saw a Priest coming down the stairs. Almost as if he was a different person from the Priest who was passionately shouting at the platform earlier, he came down with an elegant smile.

“You all are talented people who will take care of the future of the empire. Please come along. His Majesty is waiting for you.”

People followed the Priest while whispering to each other. Sina also stepped up the stairs while thinking about the ways to destroy the reception. Then the Priest caught up to her side.

“You are quite beautiful. Is it your first time visiting here?” the Priest asked.

“Beautiful? You must have bad eyesight. I too have bad eyesight because I’ve only got one eye.”

Sina snapped and lifted her hair to reveal her left eye with its burn marks. People around her flinched upon seeing her scar, but the Priest didn’t even budge.

“I already knew. It’s a unique trait. As far as I know, you came here with that Templar over there. Are you a Templar as well?” the Priest asked as he pointed to Dembel who was walking ahead of them.

“I’m not here with him. I only came here to stop him,” Sina scoffed.

Then Sina looked back at the Priest and continued to speak.

“It seems that your goal is to become the next Pope, but please keep in mind that there had been no Pope when His Majesty ruled—even though there were generals, the Grand Duke, the captain of the Imperial Guards, and the grand magician. Also, please go and study the reason why His Majesty didn’t establish a religion or something like that in the first place.”

Sina quickly disappeared through the crowd before the Priest could even answer her. Sina wanted to tell the Church exactly what she just said, so it felt good to have the opportunity to say what she wanted to say.

When Sina went up to the second floor, Sina could see the ‘emperor’ sitting on a small throne—he seemed to look exactly like the portrait. It also seemed as if the throne was made by imitating the Eternal Throne; it was gold colored with unknown letters engraved everywhere. Behind the throne hung two illustrations from the scriptures on each wall. Sina felt a little out of touch with reality upon seeing such a sight.

“I am Juan Calberg Kennosis, the emperor of this empire.”

The people who were stirred by the emperor’s deep voice carefully knelt down. Unlike before, when everyone was agitated due to his appearance at the yard, no one could feel the emperor’s energy that they had expected. However, most of the people who had come this far were already persuaded—or they were the ones who came to bet on him despite being aware of the truth.

“Your Majesty.”

It was Dembel who stepped forward to speak first. Sina desperately wanted to drag him out.

“I command you in the name of Juan Calberg Kennosis, speak.”

‘It seems like saying the full name has become a habit for him.’

Juan had never tried to hide his identity in particular, but Sina wondered what would have happened if he acted like the fake emperor in front of her.

Dembel bowed his head and carefully opened his mouth.

“I came here under the orders of the Church. With all due respect, Your Majesty is…”

However, Dembel couldn’t finish his words—with a loud bang, the glass on the terrace of the second floor suddenly broke as someone broke in. A wind surged in through the window and a dark shadow engulfed the emperor.

Dembel quickly drew his sword and blocked the attack. A loud roar rang out. Dembel was pushed back but managed to prevent the emperor from being assassinated.

People quickly stepped back in shock at the sudden intrusion.

“It-it’s a monster!”

There was a wolf with eight arms made up of black shadows, and inside the shadow was the face of a woman with a stiff expression, giving off an ominous energy.

Dembel shouted in an angry voice.

“Lianna!”

[Step back, Dembel.]

“What are you doing right now? Didn’t you agree to give me time to speak with His Majesty first?”

[I found evidence that he’s a fake emperor. I’ve witnessed the scene of someone encroached upon by the Crack, an Evil Beast, and a traitor uniting together. He is an evil created to take the throne of His Majesty.]

Dembel was visibly perplexed.

On the other hand, Lianna roared loudly and inflated herself as if she had no intention of further talking.

People were busy running away in shock at the sight. The emperor sat down behind Dembel and blankly watched Lianna.

[Tell everyone to get out of here if they don’t want to be dragged into fight and die.]

“...Everyone, get out of here! I will protect His Majesty!”

Most people hurried away upon hearing Dembel’s shout. Nevertheless, there were some people who did not leave. The emperor remained motionless and Sina also remained in the room.

Dembel shouted once again at those who did not leave.

“Come on! Get out of here before you get caught up!”

“Why? Just keep the show going. It’s fun.”

At that moment, Dembel heard a man’s voice. Dembel, Lianna, and Sina all turned their heads to the voice.

One of the people who did not leave the room brought out a chair and comfortably sat down, watching the scene with interest.

Lianna asked Dembel as if she was dumbfounded.

[Who the hell is that? Do you know him?]

“No, I have no idea who he is…”

Only one person in the room, Sina, was looking at the man with an expression that looked like she couldn’t hold back her laughter.

A black-haired young man was looking at the scene as if he was watching a comedy.