Chapter 33 - Conspiracy

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The Holy Church of the Main City.

Although the City had a much more sophisticated and majestic name, the residents of the surrounding areas always called the city 'The Main City', since that was what was used multiple generations before.

Also, it was the central trading hub for the surrounding towns and villages. For little kids and the elderlies, understanding the City as 'The Main City' was easier when compared to its long and confusing delegated name.

And since what the citizens call a place becomes its identity, if any tourist asked for the City by its official name, they would just keep running around in circles for the whole day.

The official name was hence only used by the City Hall and by the outsiders. Even then, the City Hall and the City Lord were just paper tigers by now. The Royal Family had no power or means through which they could empower their officials so far away from the Royal Capital.

The main governance and tax collection duties had been taken over by the Duchess and her representatives a long time ago. Even after the fall of the Duke in the battle against the invading forces, the Duchess had an iron grip over the politics within her Duchy.

Even the Royal Edicts could be ignored by her if she had a sufficient reason to do so.

...

Within the secret inner room of the Church, two groups of people were staring at a piece of parchment with grim expressions.

The candle on the nightstand left four long shadows on the floor, one distant from the other three.

The letter was addressed by the highest authority of the Church on the continent, the Pope. It was addressed to all heads of the Church in all parts of the continent.

The Head Priest of the Main City Church was staring at the parchment's content with a very grim expression.

His already bald head was missing its usual shine as the candle's light wasn't focused on his head. It was instead illuminating the contents of the letter.

His face, which was already full of wrinkles, twisted in a weird way, making even someone as revered as him appear in absolute anguish.

He was the only one sitting on his side of the table. The other group, consisting of three individuals was sitting on the other side.

A young man was sitting opposite the Head Priest, surrounded by two females, one on each side of the man.

In contrast to the sharp expressions of the other three in the room, the young man was casually sipping the tea prepared by the Sisters of the Church earlier.

His green hair fluttered in the air with the will of his wind magic. The fresh and warm aroma of the tea, along with the slow movement of the air around him seemed to be lifting his spirits many folds.

The man and the two females were all dressed up as common citizens and had no holy equipment on them. The females had an almost similar appearance, only distinguishable from their eye color, blue and red.

From appearance alone. it was as if three citizens were just meeting the Head Priest for a casual confession.

In reality, it was anything but that though.

The Head Priest coughed out thrice roughly, as he tried to calm himself and his raging emotions quickly. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the dignitaries sitting in front of him.

"So... that stupid Jade Emperor couldn't hold himself back, huh? Daring to attack the Church's caravan... even though we never involved ourselves in the measly politics of these power-hungry brats! They dare to...!"

The young man gulped down the tea and put it down loudly while smirking at the old man in front of him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it. No need to appear so frustrated over this, okay? I mean, such an over-dramatic expression... did you really take me as a simple child?"

Sweat quickly drenched the Head Priest's face, as he desperately tried to correct the misunderstanding.

"N-No! I would.. never dare to. It's just that... why would he want to harm the Church? It just doesn't make sense!"

The young man suddenly became bored of the predictable response from the old Head Priest. He sighed in disappointment and picked up the teacup as he spoke,

"Puhhh. Hey, who knows what's going on in that meathead's brain? Maybe he wants absolute control over his new territory. You know that we had a very good relationship with the deceased Autumn Emperor and his Clan. He must be afraid of us supporting their cause somehow~~?"

The Head Priest became very agitated upon hearing such things. He lost himself in the moment and loudly proclaimed,

"B-But! That's preposterous! Even when the Autumn Emperor's loyal subordinates came to our local Church in the region for shelter.. in the aftermath of the sudden assault... our Church made sure to hand them over to the new sovereign. Why would he even suspect us now?!"

The young man slumped back into his seat. His face showed how used he had gotten to repeating the same thing over and over again at every place that he visited. Still, for the sake of fulfilling the mission handed to him, he replied,

"Don't. Know. He attacked us, with the full intention of extermination, if I might add. He had shown that he has no intentions of making any peace arrangements. He wants us gone, not just from his new Empire, but from the continent itself."

The old Head Priest became speechless in shock, He had never imagined that anyone would even begin to entertain the thought of challenging the Church's might.

After the last major war, the Church expanded rapidly, to become what it did presently. Its forces were comparable to the combined might of the top three Empires of the Continent.

Not just that, but the hidden masters trained by the Church over the years were actually frightening amount. To contend against such a force by just a single Emperor of an Empire seemed ridiculous to the Head Priest.

"Just by himself? It seems like the might of our Church has really been underestimated this time! Even when we have proven our might six times in the past."

Something snapped in the young man upon hearing the Head Priest talk about the past. He quickly interjected the old Head Priest's musings and said,

"Hey, that was way in the past, alright? Besides... he won't be alone in this. He has already solidified his alliance with the other regional sovereigns. We have no choice. This is a war of extermination. However, it has nothing to do with this part of the continent. They have no allies here to support his craziness."

The old Head Priest assumed that the young man had finished talking, and sighed in relief at the news. He was content with not fighting at the frontline with such an aging body after all.

"On the contrary, the purpose of my visit also relates to this."

Upon hearing the further sentence of the young man, all hopes that the old Head Priest had were shattered into pieces. He prepared himself for the worst and fearfully asked the young man.

"Y-Yesh! Please tell me.. what do I must do?! I will scale mountains and cross oceans if it means helping the Church in this battle!!"

The young man giggled in apparent amusement. His expression was in stark contrast to the grim faces of his female companions, who were staring at the Head Priest as if he was already a dead man.

"Hey, easy there alright? I don't want people saying that I killed our own with just enthusiasm?!"

The Head Priest did his best to regulate his breathing and calmed down after a moment.

"A-Alright... what are the orders, Your Excellency?"

The young man smirked and took another sip of the tea instead. After letting his throat become comfortable again, the young man spoke,

"Well.. even if I asked for War Funds, you would have nothing of value for me. The reason why I came this far is... because of your Battle Mage. What was her name again? Hmmm... Casta, if I am right?"

A bad feeling rose in the Head Priest's heart as soon as he heard the young man talk about Casta. The young man already had a very bad reputation at their Holy Capital and was a famous womanizer.

The old Head Priest had taken care of Casts ever since she reached his Church at the tender age of seven. Since then, he patiently educated her about the scriptures and treated her like his own long-lost daughter.

He could sense a strange emotion leaking out from the young man when he spoke about Casta. The old Head Priest just hoped that his hunch was wrong in the end.

"C-Casta?! But, Your Highness... what if someone attacks us when she is away? We might even lose our position here completely! She is our strongest believer here..."

The young man seemed to have detected the old Head Priest's attempts to keep Casta away from these matters. However, once he set his heart on something, he always made sure to do it, no matter what.

"Yeah. I know that. Still, I am here. You know what that means, right?"

At the young man's blatant statement, the old Head Priest became speechless again.

"Y-Your Excellency..."

The young man stood up from his seat and slowly walked over to the old man sitting in front of him.

"Hey.. I don't have all week for you to wait and decide. Besides, you don't have the authority to decline my orders. Just send her in the name of helping the reinforcements. Even if she discovers her true position, later on, she would already be on the battlefield. She would have no other option but to help us fight the War."

The young man bent down to look down upon the old man and to suppress him into submission.

He could have easily used force to take Casta away, however, her battle capabilities were far above his own. He was just an official, not a soldier. He had no prior battle experience and certainly didn't want to start with Casta that night.

Especially when he had an easier way to do it. He gained some prior information about Casta from the neighboring territories that could aid him in his task.

Although he had never personally seen Casta before, the descriptions he heard in his travels had already painted a very beautiful image of the woman in his mind.

"I-I am not certain about that, Your Excellency. She... Casta is our Goddess's favored one. Only one appears in hundreds of years. We were fortunate for the Goddess to have led her to our side. If the Goddess became infuriated with us because of this.. then...!"

The young man was suddenly brought out from his fantasies of another rare beauty, to be faced with an ugly face of a desperate old man.

"Shut up."

The old man suddenly found himself unable to utter a single sentence. He looked towards the two female companions, who were sitting away previously. They had now drawn their swords and had the blades next to the old Head Priest's neck.

"..."

The coldness emitting from the young man's eyes made the old man shiver in fear. After all, other than his unique identity as the Head Priest, he was just a common old man. He had no way of resisting the cruelty displayed by the three in front of him.

"What wrath? Huh? Do you mean to tell me that I lack faith in the Goddess? Don't make me laugh! She.. is just lying about being the chosen one. No one in the past four hundred years has been able to hear her voice! And you want to tell me that... a simple common girl suddenly received the Goddess's grace?"

The young man spat out the tea in his mouth in anger. He then angrily glared at the old man and spoke,

"Don't test my patience. She has just proven herself to be an excellent battle mage so far. If she really is our Goddess's favored one though... wouldn't she also join our fight against that vile Emperor...?"

The old man was a devout believer in the benevolent Goddess. The young man touched his bottom line by ridiculing her for his own purpose. Anger filled his mind, as the old man shouted out,

"S-Slander! Don't speak about the Goddess like that, Your Excellency! Even you..."

The young man took a step back and smiled calmly at the old man. He had already used the 'stick'. There was no need for excessive force on a feeble old man after all.

Even if his 'carrot' would be incomparable to his 'stick', he had no mind to care about such a minor character from the boonies.

"Okay, okay. I get it, alright? Just tell her to accompany us to help on the battlefield. The rest... I will take care of it, understood?"

The old man angrily bit his tongue in shame. Still, the two blades resting at his neck made him realize how powerless he actually was.

"I... understand."

...

A/N: Thanks for being here!