Chapter 275: 145. In the Name of the Holy King -1 (Part One)
Translated by A Passing Wanderer
Edited by RED
**
The banquet got underway inside the flashy hall.
Maybe because it was the day before the coronation, many important people continued to enter the banquet hall, one after another.
From the gentle, soothing background music, to the various luxurious cuisine laid out…
…I had no time to enjoy any one of it.
That’s because the moment I stepped inside the banquet hall, I was instantly mobbed by a throng of people.
“How do you do, Your Highness! This servant is Count Pudin, hailing from the County of Orun!”
“How do you do? Do you perhaps remember me, Your Highness? I’m Celia!”
The heads of the various noble houses, and the scions and esteemed daughters of nobility, all crowded me.
They continued to shove glasses filled with fine liquor in my face, and I could only accept them all with an awkward grin.
As soon as I began gasping for breath and showing signs of struggling to cope, Charlotte, acting as my escort, quickly stood in their way. “His Highness wishes to take a rest. Please everyone, you must…”
“Oho! Aren’t you Her Ladyship Marquis Charlotte?”
She flinched and turned her head. A rotund nobleman was bowing his head to greet her, his hand pressed to his chest. It wasn’t just him, though, as more sons and daughters of the noble houses began gathering around her, as well.
“W-wait a second…!”
Before long, Charlotte was dragged away from me.
She was a member of none other than the Heraiz house. I wasn’t all that clued up on what the special thing about her lineage was, but from the looks of things, her family seemed to be well-regarded by the other nobles.
This development certainly took some of the burden off my shoulders, though. Charlotte was pressed further away from me while floundering like a drowning woman.
“…No suspicious movements so far, sir?” Hans whispered to me from behind, after confirming that the coast was clear and walking up to me. Right now he was actually clean-cut and smartly dressed.
I scanned the gathered nobles using my [Mind’s Eye]. “Nope, none at all. They are all humans. Of course, I don’t have a clue if there are human spies mixed in among them.”
What Hans was most worried about was the sealing of the Imperial Family, using the heart of Mist Calf. In other words, the Warp Magic.
Opening a gateway to another dimension and sending lifeforms there required a specific technique. It should be impossible to pull off since Count Timong was dead… but there was always that one in a million chance.
Hans had said this during their discussion earlier: {“Three days, sir. All we have to do is to endure for the next three days, until the coronation.”}
That was how long until all the demonic energy from Mist Calf’s heart dissipated. Meaning, the vampires had a time frame of three days where they could potentially try something underhanded.
Hans mumbled softly, “Of course, if those vampires have functioning brains, they wouldn’t dare try something stupid now.”
“I agree with you on that one.”
The threat Hans spoke about? The odds of it happening were around one percent, tops. Even then, both Hans and I had made preparations, just in case.
I glanced at Hans. His eyes were bloodshot, while thick black bags were hanging below his eyes.
Man, he looks like crap, that’s for sure.
“…Hey, man, you feeling alright?”
“I was preparing the whole night, sir. That’s why.”
“I pity you. We don’t even know if they will really show up here or not.”
“But, sir. You’ve also been making preparations for that off chance, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah. And thanks to that, it looks like I won’t be able to weasel out of becoming the Holy King now.”
“Just do it, sir. Some people are frothing at the mouth while trying so hard to move up in the world, you know,” Hans retorted in a manner wholly unsuitable for the occasion.
The nobles near us frowned deeply at his attitude.
Surely these folk must’ve done their investigations on Hans by now. They were looking down on him and trivialised him simply because his background was that of a commoner.
What an unfortunate thing that was, though. Disregarding a bona fide talent of a century just because of his lowly birth.
“Besides, sir, the easiest time for the vampires to make their move should be tomorrow,” Hans added.
Even if they were the so-called noble vampires and whatnot, they still wouldn’t have the balls to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. That meant that they had only one chance they could potentially seize: during the coronation of the Holy King.
More specifically, during the pilgrimage to the statue of Goddess Gaia located in the city’s main plaza, which involved me and the others leaving the Imperial Palace.
They would surely aim for that.
“In any case, you are implying that if nothing happens by tomorrow, it’ll be peaceful for us, right?”
“That’s correct, sir.” Hans nodded, but he kept staring at me. “Please don’t forget, you must make it as flashy as possible, like we’ve talked about. What was it again…? Ah, right, like when you were showing off your military prowess back during the Church of Caiolium incident. Just like that, sir.”
“That’s easier said than done, you know.”
“It’s a preventative measure, sir. Please do your best!”
“The idea of suffering from intense muscle aches while trying to prevent something doesn’t sound so appealing to me, though.”
I drank the wine from my glass.
Hans stared at me in silence for a little while, before finally asking, “Aren’t you at least a little bit apprehensive, sir?”
“Regarding what?”
I looked back at him, and he dry-coughed as if he was flustered just now, “Even though I’m a genius… Just like we discussed earlier, the odds of them attacking us are only around one percent, sir. Even then…”
“We’re getting ready precisely because there’s a one percent chance of it happening. I’m pretty sure it’s not possible, but if Count Timong is still alive somehow, then that mistake is on me. I’ll take care of my own mess.”
“But sir, aren’t you a bit too gullible? Is it alright for you to listen to the advice of a commoner?”
You know, Hans? I often think this, but uh, it feels like you keep forgetting that I’m an Imperial Prince, you fool.
If it was any other noble, they would’ve chopped your head off already for impudence.
While glancing in dissatisfaction at Hans, I took out a parchment from my item window.
“The esteemed daughter of the family of guardians protecting the noble Theocratic Empire, Alice Astoria, is gracing us with her presence!” the grand chamberlain loudly announced.
The banquet hall’s door opened, and Alice strode inside.
Silence immediately descended on the venue, and I could spy the nobles beginning to get flustered. Some among them, those folks with deep religious convictions, even began praying the moment they clapped their eyes on Alice.
“…It’s the Lady Saintess!”
“She’s the granddaughter of Cardinal Raphael, isn’t she?”
“Apparently she hid the fact that she’s a Saintess until now.”
“Yes, I hear His Majesty the Holy Emperor will personally confirm whether she’s a Saintess or not after the coronation.”
The silence was quickly shattered by all their whispering, which grew loud enough to overtake the background music in the banquet hall.
This reaction certainly didn’t qualify as ‘good’, I’d say.
Alice seemed to be flustered as well, as I could see her falter a bit just now. I muttered to no one in particular, “Well, that’s gonna be troublesome.”
She had been hiding the truth of her being a Saintess before now, all to prevent vampires coming to hunt her down, as well as to grow stronger in a safe location while no one was paying much attention to her.
But I ended up exposing her secret so carelessly up north in Ronia. I was definitely at fault, since I got too greedy with trying to minimise the sacrifices and protect the lives of the convict soldiers back then.
I looked back down to the parchment in my hands, then called out to Hans, “Hey, Hans.”
“Yes, sir?”
I pressed the parchment to his chest. He ended up receiving it, looking rather puzzled.
“You said something about advice from a commoner, right? With this, there’s no more reason to say crap like that.”
Hans confirmed the contents of the parchment, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “J… Jerurami?”
The parchment contained my decree, granting him a surname, and also bestowing a peerage that allowed him to use a residence within the capital.
“It’s the peerage document. With my authority, I can only grant you the rank of viscount, however.”
A commoner suddenly became a viscount. Sure, the other nobles would get pretty vocal about this, but I was planning to ignore them all.
I was a mangnani, and not to forget, I was about to ascend to the role of the Holy King. Who would dare raise a voice of objection regarding this issue?
I looked at Hans. “I’ll raise your peerage to something better at a later stage. You’ve already accomplished more than enough to earn it, after all.”
“…”
“Enjoy the banquet, okay?” With that, I walked away.
I sensed his gaze landing on my back, but I ignored it.
My steps took me to a spot right before Alice, where I stood tall like a statue. She flinched in surprise and stared back at me, and I extended my hand to her. “Wanna dance?”
The whispering of the nobles came to an abrupt halt. Even the music in the banquet hall changed.
The nobles got into pairs at the turn of the music and began dancing to the rhythm. The gazes directed at Alice were dispersed for the time being.
She made an awkward expression and answered, “This one’s etiquette is still sorely lacking, and as such, I’m not certain if I can satisfy your expectations, Your Highness…”
“Don’t worry about it, since I also suck at it, too. So, why don’t you teach me? Like how you taught me magic in the past.”
A faint smile formed on her face. It seemed that she no longer felt repulsed by me.
We held hands and began dancing around clumsily, but still got to enjoy the banquet nevertheless.
Tomorrow was my coronation.
I predicted that it’d turn out to be a very tiring day, indeed…
