Not even two hours had passed since the Monster Special Task Force made an unannounced attack on the Capital Guard. The situation had already been completely resolved.
Those who were wrongfully taken away due to skin diseases and other rashes left the Capital Guard with somewhat satisfied expressions after receiving food and money. No trace of resentment was visible on their faces. They could have been dragged to the Heresy Tribunal and possibly tortured to death, but as things ended well, everything seemed like an unexpected turn of events.
Other patients with serious illnesses were transferred to the palace’s medical institution to receive treatment. These were people who, under normal circumstances, would have never stepped foot in a medical institution and would have died at home in the slums. Now, they had the chance to receive proper treatment.
Even some early-stage patients of the “Grey Plague” were sent to the royal physicians for diagnosis and treatment.
The remaining patients were those who seemed beyond recovery. The number had been reduced so precisely that there was no further need for emergency measures from the Orthodox Church, yet they could still be managed by the Capital Guard.
Julia Meyer, who had been monitoring the situation in real-time, couldn’t help but click her tongue internally.
Honestly, she couldn’t guarantee that things would have been resolved this smoothly even if she had stepped in.
“Your Highness’ decisiveness is truly impressive, isn’t it?” The red-haired Inquisitor standing next to her grinned slightly.
“I didn’t expect His Highness to barge into the Capital Guard since early morning. Initially, he was only summoned for advice, but soon enough, the entire department was operating under His Highness’ commands.”
“Right. It seems we no longer need the cooperation document that arrived at dawn.”
Julia handed over the documents she had been holding to a junior knight.
“For now, our 7th Knight Division will fully cooperate with the Monster Special Task Force. But tell me, Sir Valerie, are you okay with this? Isn’t this crossing the line as an Inquisitor and going against the Heresy Tribunal?”
“Well, I’m a member of the Monster Special Task Force. Plus, the Heresy Tribunal has already rejected the case for review. Maybe our seniors are secretly relieved that the burden has been reduced?”
Valerie glanced briefly at the patients being transferred into the guard’s prison.
“Your Highness has made a big decision. In some ways, aren’t these people the most desperate citizens of the Empire? If he hadn’t intervened at all, he would certainly face criticism for neglecting the needy later on.”
“Even though it was the Orthodox Church that initially commanded them to be brought in?”
“Yes, they probably planned to leave everything to the Heresy Tribunal after consulting the church. Who would dare to object to the judgment of the Heresy Tribunal?”
“I see,” Julia responded briefly and nodded her head.
“God commands us to love his people as we love our own children. Don’t you think His Highness is being overly pragmatic as a member of the Imperial Family?”
“I am a soldier of Delcross before I am a member of the Capital Guard responsible for protecting the citizens. Even the lives of healthy people sometimes need to be strategically sacrificed. I have no intention of blaming His Highness for not clinging desperately to those with no hope.”
“I see. It’s a wicked choice as a prince.”
“But it’s the most efficient choice as a soldier, blocking the possibility of reimplementing temporary emergency measures.” Julia then turned her head towards Valerie. Her unique purple eyes examined his face with a serious gaze. “I can tell that you also think His Highness didn’t make the wrong choice. Stop beating around the bush and tell me directly, Sir Valerie. Do you feel any guilt for contributing to determining the fate of these innocent people?”
At that, Valerie shrugged his shoulders.
“No, it’s not like that. I was just curious to see how others would think. When I look at Your Highness, there are times when it feels peculiar.”
“Peculiar?”
“Yes. Didn’t Dame Julia just mention it? That as a soldier, it’s the most efficient choice.”
“……”
“What’s fascinating is that sometimes he feels less like a prince who has grown up splendidly in the palace, and more like a seasoned soldier from the southern frontlines.”
“Sir Valerie!”
Just then, a bright voice called him from the other side.
Prince Morres was cheerfully waving his hand towards them.
“The Orthodox Church has dispatched the Knights of St. Bastian. Let’s get out of here before we run into them!”
Hahaha.
Valerie let out a hearty laugh and gave Julia a mischievous glance.
“Well then, we shall execute a strategic retreat, Dame Julia. Thank you for your proactive collaboration so far.”
And the red-haired Inquisitor bounded towards the prince with a jovial stride.
“We must hurry, Your Highness! The Bastian folks are a bit dense. Running into them will undoubtedly be tiresome.”
“Really? Even if for the Knights of St. Marcias?”
“What, you say that when I’m standing right here? St. Marcias and St. Bastian have been notoriously incompatible. The seniors have always complained that they can’t communicate.”
“Shouldn’t we also consider the stance of the Knights of St. Bastian? Perhaps both sides dislike each other for the same reason?”
“Hahaha! I can’t deny the possibility.”
They chatted back and forth as they quickly moved away, followed in a line by the commander of the imperial guard, an inquisitor, and the palace knights along with plague doctors.
It was a strange combination, yet oddly fitting.
Julia, who had been watching them for a moment, soon led her junior knights away from the scene. She wholeheartedly agreed with Valerie that encountering the Knights of St. Bastian would be tiresome.
* * *
St. Bastian Church.
Built over 500 years ago, this beautiful church has upheld more than half of the thousand-year history of the Holy Kingdom Delcross. It serves as the cradle for the Knights of St. Bastian and the headquarters of the Orthodox Church.
On one of its high spires, in the archbishop’s office, two elderly men in magnificent robes were sitting across from each other.
“It seems we’ve grown old. I wish we wouldn’t set up meetings in a place this high anymore.”
Archbishop Albus Meyer, the head of the Council, removes his bishop’s hat and wipes the sweat off his forehead.
The elderly woman sitting across from him snorted.
“It’s too late to complain now. Don’t you remember summoning me here day after day when you were archbishop?”
“You were in your prime back then.”
“Stop whining. We are all growing old. I commute to this high place every day.”
The saying that people grow old together didn’t seem to be empty words; the majority of the woman’s hair covered in grey streaks made her look even older than Cardinal1 Meyer, depending on how you looked at it.
Archbishop Wesker.
The current head of the Orthodox Church, she became a high priest at a relatively young age and had risen through the ranks to archbishop from a bishop faster than anyone else.
Thanks to an eyepatch over her right eye, Archbishop Wesker looked more like a battle-hardened veteran than a clergywoman. The fact that she had sustained a deep wound that could not be healed, despite her strong divine powers, indirectly showed just how fierce a life she had led.
“Originally, the reason I summoned you here was to ask for your advice on the upcoming screening process, but…”
“I heard the news on my way here. The prince has considerably reduced our workload, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, that Prince Morres.”
Archbishop Wesker frowned deeply, her face wrinkling all over.
“He really pulled quite a stunt today. When I hastily sent the Bastian Knights, there were already fewer than 40 prisoners left.”
“Commander of the guard is not an easy person, either.”
“He pushed in cooperation documents stamped with imperial seals and released people in the blink of an eye. The commander didn’t even have a chance to stop it.”
“Haha, indeed.”
Cardinal Meyer chuckled and stroked his beard.
“He did leave a reasonable number, though. As you know, there are precedents for the screening process. It would have been difficult to hand over more than that to the Heresy Tribunal. It’s more than enough that he sorted out the innocent beforehand.”
“That’s what makes it more infuriating! Unfortunately, his effectiveness isn’t bad, and when you blame the prince, things seem to have cleaned up!”
Archbishop Wesker seemed irritated just thinking about it.
“What on earth is he doing? Has he completely given up his right to the throne? Doesn’t he care about his reputation? The high-ranking members of the Orthodox Church and the Heresy Tribunal will now turn their backs on him.”
“If he cared about reputation, would he be doing these absurd things to begin with?”
Cardinal Meyer wiped the sweat from his forehead a couple more times and neatly placed the mitre back on his head.
Then he looked straight into Archbishop Wesker’s eyes and spoke in a slightly lowered voice.
“I think you know it too. You’ve really crossed the line this time.”
“…”
“Don’t even think about making nonsense excuses like being cursed by a demon, as you submitted in the review documents. You’re not a simpleton who would blindly charge in like Benitus. Don’t you know best that as long as His Majesty the Holy Emperor exists, demonkind can’t extend its claws into the Imperial City.”
“…Even if it’s not a curse, it doesn’t matter, Your Eminence. The patients with the gray plague are dangerous.”
“Is that why you arrested people who might not even be infected?”
“The symptoms were revealed; I didn’t want to miss a single case. Whether they’re infected or not will be determined during the review period.”
Archbishop Wesker didn’t want innocent people to get involved either.
She simply had her own calculations.
Patients in the late stages of the gray plague would die while waiting for the screening, and during that time, patients in the early stages would have progressed to a point where their symptoms could be identified.
Even if a small sacrifice was made during this process, it was nothing compared to the risk that would occur if they were left in the Imperial City.
“If the Heresy Tribunal had done their duty, this wouldn’t have happened. When even one more capture is insufficient, now they are standing idly by, making the excuse of an unknown thing called [monster] spreading the disease.”
“The duty of the Heresy Tribunal is to fight heresy. Not to arrest random plague patients.”
“If it poses a serious threat to the safety of Delcross, shouldn’t we condemn them, even if we have to accuse them of non-existent devil worship!”
“Archbishop Wesker, you really…”
Cardinal Meyer sighed.
Although they are now leading separate entities, the Heresy Tribunal and the Orthodox Church, Benitus and Wesker were originally junior priests who had long worked together under his leadership.
Benitus, who would charge headlong without considering the repercussions if it involved stepping over the strict religious line, and Wesker, who didn’t mind skirting the edge of doctrinal taboos for the sake of pragmatism.
If only one could mix the two half and half, how wonderful that would be.
“I’m no stranger to your fiery personality, but you are now the leader of an organization. There are limits to acting first and dealing with the consequences later, just like in your days as a high priest. Do you think His Highness is the only one who’s been labeled a troublemaker by high-ranking officials due to this incident? I wonder what you’re going to say to him now..”
“…”
“I say this because it seems His Majesty values you quite highly. I, too, don’t want to lose a talented individual who has served under me for a long time. Do you understand? The fact that His Majesty has given His Highness a letter of cooperation branded with the Emperor’s seal is not to be taken lightly.”
Archbishop Wesker remained silent.
She looked at Cardinal Meyer with sunken eyes and rose from her seat. She slowly walked toward a wardrobe in the corner of her office.
“Your Eminence, I still dream of those days from time to time.”
Inside the wardrobe was a small wooden box. She picked it up and gently stroked it as she spoke.
“The days when you led the Orthodox Church and I was still a high priest. Fighting against demon cults and purging the underground dark orders, following His Majesty. A time when there were no suspicions and doubts, and it felt good just to forge ahead.”
“…”
“I remember the time when I thrust the holy relic with all my strength into the torso of the demon that took my eyes. And finally, when His Holiness2 crushed its neck with the Nutcracker.”
The archbishop pushed the wooden box toward Cardinal Mayer.
When the cardinal slowly opened the lid, inside was a translucent, milky-white stone-like object. It looked as if it was made of crystal, but its form was irregular, twisted together like an aged lump of oil—a sinister mass.
“This stone is dangerous, Your Eminence.”
“What is this…”
“These are occasionally found in cremation grounds. Sometimes, these stones emerge from the heads of the Gray Plague victims who have been executed by the Heresy Tribunal.”
Cardinal Mayer racked his faint memories. He was certain he had seen such a stone before.
Hadn’t Wesker, when she was still a senior priest, shown him something like this in this very place and reported it?
After a long moment of pondering, the cardinal suddenly widened his eyes.
“You don’t mean, the Ansa village…!”
“Yes, Your Eminence. I clearly saw it that day. The entire village and its surroundings were being sucked into a human body! That’s when I realized that the seed of unrest must be eradicated, even at some cost.”
In the sole remaining eye of Archbishop Wesker, who was facing the cardinal, a flame that looked like a form of madness was fiercely burning.
“Do you find the pain that some of our faithful are currently going through pitiable? If we leave it as it is, eventually there will be no more commoners left to suffer.”
