Chapter. 14. One empire, three legends (48)
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Multi-faceted multi-faceted rattle! Daggak ratgeuk! Da-gak-da-gak –
A carriage clattering forward with great effort and a coachman glancing back with a look of regret on his face.
As I sat still, I thought about a lot of things.
‘The first thing I admired when I entered the imperial capital was probably how well the roads were paved.’
The imperial road, which was supposed to last for 100 years, was all broken and melted, and even the imperial family’s finest carriage could not handle its twists and turns.
The picturesque mansion turns into a heap of black ashes and scatters into the air along with the smell of burning flesh. Along with him, many high-ranking nobles from the empire have died, so it will be difficult to resolve this chaos for the time being. When you look around like this, it seems like the entire world has been destroyed, but in the end, it was a disaster limited to the capital. It was obvious that outside the capital, nobles who had lost their heads and dependents overnight would rise up like wildfire and denounce the emperor’s immorality.
‘If the power of the empire remained as before, the chaos would calm down quickly and naturally and soon everyone would forget it as if nothing had happened, but that is not the case now.’
The empire will face long turmoil. Perhaps a chaos close to the dark ages that would lead to other chaos.
Knock knock.
“Saint.”
“….”
Knock knock knock knock
“Saint. This is Gregory. “Saint?”
“….”
The professor heard someone calling outside earlier, but his face was more serious and full of agony, and he delved into his own thoughts. Oh, I can’t hear you. I am so absorbed in the chaos of the empire and its bleak future that I cannot hear anything. I can’t hear, I can’t hear, I can’t hear –
When I didn’t answer, I heard a figure moving away from the front of the carriage.
‘Phew. ‘Persistent bastard.’
As soon as he came out of the mansion where he was with his party and got into the carriage, Gregory, who had been waiting in front of the mansion, came running in a huff and caught up next to the carriage.
When Gregory, who had been knocking on the door and calling out to him regularly without getting tired, disappeared, the professor thought he had finally given up and gave up for a while.
“There, coachman. “The saint, who is not well, seems to have fallen asleep, so we will attend to him from now on.”
“Ha, but Duke Glenn told me to bring it personally…”
“Uh-huh. A priest has a priestly mount. With the help of light, a palanquin used for sacrificial rituals survived the terrible fire. “It would be more convenient for you to follow the example of the light, so please go back now.”
Hey shit.
Jump up! Uddangtangtang!
He burst out of the door as if it would break at the sound of a conversation between Gregory and the coachman heard from a short distance away.
“Brother Gregory, I had something to think about for a moment and couldn’t react.”
If it’s a palanquin for sacred rites, that’s it. A palanquin made for old clergy who have difficulty walking during religious events where high-ranking clergy pass among believers, shaking hands and greeting them.
A parade car exclusively for old and sick priests, which is quite tall so that the people riding the palanquin can be clearly seen even in the thick crowd.
It’s much better to go out on my own rather than pretending not to know and getting burned by it.
“Saint! “You’re safe!”
“No, I saw you moving just fine a few hours ago, so what…”
“That’s because no matter how much I called, there was no answer. I thought I had a fever from heartbreak! In fact, the group of people who were like brothers who had gone through hardships back to back went down a path that completely escaped the grace of Ro Haram. “I, Gregory, cannot dare to imagine the saint’s heartache.”
What a fever. Not some kind of shaman.
After learning why Gregory hesitated so much when bringing up Aldrich’s story, the professor took a step back without realizing it when he saw the large palanquin he had actually brought.
‘This guy ate it all up.’
Gregory, commander of the Holy Knights of Light.
The guy who cut off my arm during the warriors’ meeting because he said I smelled like mute.
A hard-core fanatic of Ro Haram who growled that even after the Archbishop acknowledged him as a hero of the church, he could not trust me unless he had seen it with his own eyes.
And he was the one who personally dragged me down, shedding tears like chicken shit when he saw me, impaled on the spire of a temple engulfed in fire like a martyr on a cross, and the believers kneeling in front of him, begging for forgiveness for my past rudeness.
“…Gregorius. Is it really necessary to stop the carriage here? here?”
“yes! “Shouldn’t we show the believers who have nowhere to go that the will of light has reached this place and that there is still something left for those who are stuck to hold onto and rely on?”
“….coachman?”
“Well… the road from here is so damaged that a carriage can’t pass… It’s right for you to get off, but…”
“Ha ha ha ha! Of course, there are secondary reasons as well! Now go, saint! The believers are looking forward to the light of the Holy Son!”
First, Lucilla’s carriage stops in front, and Lucilla carefully climbs over the remains of the building under the guidance of a guy named Muto.
A group of carriages stopped one after another behind my carriage.
and.
“Ratura lo-haram!”
“Latura!!!!!! Lo- Haram!!!!”
“Latura!!!!!! Lo- Haram!!!!”
“Latura!!!!!! Lo- Haram!!!!”
“Let there be light! Even if the sky falls, there is a hole to rise up from!”
“Ugh! Ratura… Ratura!”
“Ah, light. Guiding light….”
“Ro Haram, with the help of his instrument, has descended as a comet striking the red star!”
“Latura! Ratura!”
“Do not close your eyes because the darkness is deep! There is always a way, as long as there is a light shining upon us! Pray and move on! Don’t give up! Our lives will soon become someone’s light!”
“Waaaaaa!”
And… the Temple of Light with its strangely familiar pointed spire and the believers filling in front of it.
The place where the carriage stopped was in front of the temple, where the blood stains from where I was stuck were still visible.
Perhaps because my blood is so dense, it didn’t seem to be easily washed off even when it rained.
“Hehehehe. Saint. Isn’t this a truly beautiful sight to see? “Just like the archbishop’s new policy, everyone, regardless of their status, origin, or other worldly circumstances, is crying out for light.”
“Oh yeah….”
Well…well. Even if an assassin falls right in front of you, ‘What is the purpose of your visit?’ From the strict butler who picks up the guest book while saying the same thing, to the middle-aged nobleman with a beard who seems to embody the essence of elegance.
The sight of all kinds of human beings gathered together and passionately shedding tears and chanting [Latura!!!!] is… impressive, but I think it’s a bit scary.
“I am always deeply impressed when I see Brother Pallaus spreading the doctrine. “What a feat.”
“It’s definitely a great…talent.”
I can assure you that they are experts in this field. He’s the kind of person who, if you stay in a mountainous village for three days, can turn everyone there into fanatics.
As I looked at the enthusiastic crowd, I could see the reason behind their need to bring me.
“It’s about stabilizing public sentiment… When there is no foundation, there is nothing better than religion.”
As I said before, from the perspective of the civilians in the capital, they thought, ‘Oh my, my head is dizzy. I stumbled and said, ‘Umm…’ and closed my eyes for a moment. The moment I opened them, I had fallen into the middle of hell.
I can’t help but see it as a nightmare, but the nightmare is so vivid and no matter what I do, I can’t wake up. When a person falls into water, they tend to hold on to something solid, and in the capital city where there is nothing left, there are only two things that seem to have something to rely on.
Oathbreaker and God Emperor who resolved this situation.
Even now, the Temple of Light glows softly in a ray of sunlight that seeps through the dark clouds, as if Ro Haram paid special attention to it.
They chose religion as a means to console and appease the people until they immediately resolved the confusion and announced the direction of the empire.
“…For some reason, it was parked right in front of the temple.”
Duke of Glenn. Head of the imperial scholar group ‘Hall of Reason’.
The leader of a group of intellectuals who refute the ‘understanding’ of individual wizards, instill the rules of the world in them, and destroy magic by destroying the ‘enlightenment’ itself that deviates from providence, means that he is the strongest jaw fighter in the entire 3 worlds. There was no difference. As his eloquence is excellent, his political skills must also be outstanding.
If we had wanted to clean the road, there probably wouldn’t have been anything we couldn’t have done. They probably didn’t clean it up on purpose to make me land here.
When I glanced back, I saw that the other group members were all following the coachman’s guidance and making their way through an alley with few people. Unlike my coachman, who stared blankly and pretended not to notice.
“Haaaa. I want this. Even though I knew it, I still had to be deceived…”
Well, I could just climb over the roof of a building and that would be enough.
As I look at the people kneeling in front of the priest with desperate faces, as if they are going to scream if they don’t pray right away, I wonder if saying a word is such a big deal that they are avoiding them so much.
As if shaking off Gregory’s sticky, sticky gaze, the professor walked through the crowd of people without any room to move.
“Let’s pass by~”
“Ugh, someone is at the sacred mass… ugh!”
“Yes yes. “It’s passing, it’s passing~”
“Oh hey! “What the priest is saying now is… hey!”
People who, whenever a professor who is two heads taller than an average person passes by, look sharply at someone who is interrupting their religious pursuits and then quickly lose their mind.
“It’s the professor.”
“You are a saint.”
“I heard you passed away?”
“I saw it clearly with my own two eyes. Surely His sublime Eucharist hung on that steeple! “I saw evidence of blood and sacrifice!”
“You passed away… but you’re back!”
“He who completed his sacred mission and was embraced by light has returned!”
“He is back with us again! To lead us! “To shine a light on an empire that has fallen into darkness!”
Murmur, whisper, whisper!
As the number of people pushing past increased, the whispers in the crowd began to spread like waves. Actually, I saw it hanging over the temple like an autumn gwamegi. It’s even weirder to think that he’s not dead.
The professor, who carefully made his way through the crowd as if walking on thin ice for fear of breaking people’s limbs, gave a small bow to the priest standing on the makeshift podium and approached him next to him.
“Oh oh oh oh oh. Saint Ratura! “You came back safely!”
“Uh… Brother Palaus…?”
“yes! yes!!! I am Palaus, the missionary priest of light, saint! Come up! “Lost people are waiting for the rays of light!”
“I’m not used to this kind of place, so I’m just going to say hello and leave…”
“Follow my wishes! Oh, and if you come down, could you spare a moment? The Archbishop has instructed all priests to connect with the saint as soon as they come into contact with him…”
Archbishop Norman. There was that human too.
When I nodded, the priest took a step back and left the podium, looking like he was about to cry.
I saw the priest who just a moment ago led the people with a firm voice, like that of an Austrian moustachioed demagogue, look at me like a girl in love after hearing a few words from me, sweep the floor with the hem of his priest’s robes, and hand me a seat… What should I say? .
‘Now I feel like I’m starting to realize my influence in this area. I feel like I’m getting used to this, so I feel a little scared.’
At times like this, if Hyde had been giggling and teasing me, I would have felt a little more at ease. This guy had no intention of waking up again, wondering what was the problem.
….what can I do? I have to pretend to be crazy and just close my eyes.
When I got up to the podium, the people who had been talking noisily closed their mouths as if they had made a promise.
No, rather than keeping my mouth shut. As he snorts and pants, it looks like he’s clenching his teeth to stop himself from wanting to rush at him.
Really, I was just planning to show this person that I am here and leave.
“Latura. “Brothers of the Empire.”
Ssaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
just open their mouths and mouths and people cover their mouths and rub their eyes as if I am some kind of illusion?
“He was shamelessly given the title of saint as an instrument of light. “This is Professor Seongja.”
A low and dry greeting without any great passion or even touching phrases or words of faith.
.
.
.
.
.
dump.
Those words signaled someone whose legs gave out and fell down.
“Waaaaaaah!!!!”
“It is him! He saw me!”
“Ah, saint! Brother! “My brother, who shared faith instead of blood!”
The front of the temple was transformed into a place of bright praise.
Some people pray, some cry, and some even hug the person next to them whom they don’t know, saying, ‘Thank you for surviving, you did a good job!’ Very handicapped! ‘Thank you for being alive, man!’ Into a frenzy where the same words are shouted out loud.
“…Can I go down now?”
“Kkeuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
.
Even if I tried to fix something, even the missionary priest next to me rolled his eyes.
‘…I don’t want you to help me with this.’
The professor sighed as the drizzle stopped and a halo from the clouds parted like a painting landed behind him.
Is it because his name and color are the god of light? One light catches the eye in an amazing way.
It seemed like it would take some time to get to where Gainax was.
****
Meanwhile. While Professor Park was caught in the hall of praise for the saint in front of the temple, he fell behind for a moment.
“This way, Miss Aedran.”
“By the way… where are we going?”
“Hwangseong…. No, we are going to the site of the Hwangseong Fortress. There are some buildings that have survived in Castle City, but in Ol Amperia, there really isn’t a single building that has survived in good condition. “Funny enough, the ruins of the imperial castle, which was completely collapsed from pillar to floor, are somewhat in order, so people are gathered there and setting up tents.”
Lucilla was walking along a neat path that seemed to have been prepared in advance, even though it was between collapsed buildings.
What on earth is going on?
‘….marriage? I?’
So many things happened at once, and I was so tired that when I looked at the faces of my companions, I felt so relieved and so tired that I fell asleep.
It felt like something was going on while I was sleeping without knowing anything about the world.
‘…Calm down, Lucilla. It just said it was a coronation, but my name wasn’t in it anywhere. Right now, I haven’t talked to that person in Gainax for even 30 minutes, we don’t know anything about each other, and the capital looks like this, so I can’t believe we got married. Not yet. ‘It’s not cancer!’
As a woman from an aristocratic family, it wasn’t that she didn’t think about the word marriage. Rather, it can be said that she thought dozens of times more than women of the same age who were born into ordinary families.
Marriage is a connection between families, and in an aristocratic society where not even a drop of saliva can be trusted with what comes out of one’s mouth, marriage is a powerful means of stigmatizing the person who has the strongest deterrent, ‘If you betray even your blood relatives, you can’t really trust anyone.’ We had to constantly calculate when, how, with whom, and in what manner.
As rumors of the strange ‘suitor of Teldrat’ circulated, didn’t he look closely at the noble men, vaguely imagining that he would find a mate on this trip?
Calculation was also an area in which she was confident.
‘Seueueu-huuuu. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! good. Lucilla. Let’s think about it one by one. Rational and noble. Gainax. It’s definitely an opponent with many advantages, but the risks must also be taken seriously. Well, as usual. I’m taking a look at everything, finance, power, everything…’
Calming her mind with a short deep breath, Lucilla sharpened her judgment trained as a merchant and began to think about Gainax.
The former first prince of the empire. Known as a thug. Red blood. He is excellent in military terms…. Hmm…. He has a manly appearance and his skills as a knight are excellent, but his views on political relations… Considering that he is an executive in a capital city that is destined for chaos in the future –
Woe!
[I’m already tired of being manipulated by fate.]
“Ugh?!”
“yes? “Did you call Lady Aedran?”
“Oh no. “I lost my footing…”
The image of Gainax emerged as if seeping through the information known to the world. A man wearing a thick robe and mocking himself in a rough, cracked voice.
‘Concentrate, focus! What should I do if I was thinking about something else while calculating? Marriage is real! Ugh…. So…. Thanks to his military ability, he is close to a family famous for the Margrave and the Knights, who owns several military private armies, and his diplomatic skills are-‘
Woe-ak!
[It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s that I’m afraid of it.]
[The person in front of Lady Aedran is probably the 1st Prince Gainax. Mid 30s. A person who has the qualities of a king and is known as a great knight.]
[Now that I open my eyes, the image I see in the mirror is nothing more than a child who fell and cried in the garden of the imperial palace before collapsing from fever.]
“Ugh?”
It’s strange that I can’t concentrate. Why are you like this?
Even if I try to concentrate on the calculation again, every time I think of the word Gainax as if there was a needle piercing my heart, boom! And his low voice and gloomy face came to mind.
[I have learned to get lost, although it must be unfamiliar and painful. Isn’t that something that everyone endures and lives with?]
[Dear Lady… How can you be so calm even after seeing this?] [
I still have no intention of becoming the emperor of the empire. From your point of view… would that be okay, Lady Lucilla?]
“Awwwww… ugh…”
The more she thought about getting away, the more memories came to her mind, and Lucilla cupped her cheeks with both hands. wrapped and hugged
[I’m a merchant… so I guess I’ll have to pay the price.]
I guess I’ll have to pay the price.
You’ll have to pay the price.
You’ll have to pay the price.
I guess I’ll have to pay the price…
‘Price? What value? With what? To me? Gainax, that guy?’
A small figure struggling with questions about its own life.
Leave her behind and go to the burning city. A broad, manly back pointing towards people.
A safe house in a secret passage. Silver waves were clearly visible even through a small window for ventilation, and Gainax’s expression seemed to be visible even from afar, as he lifted his sword resolutely.
‘What should I do? how how!’
Did you say that an auror embodies a person’s soul?
Every time I think of the silver aura that shined like hard metal and the hollow eyes of Gainax, I think of the silver coin I first held in my hands when I was five years old. The ecstatic sensation of being cold and hard and gradually melting into warmth in her hands.
I swear it was the first time I felt this way about someone other than money.
Yeah, I can’t calculate it. Even to the professor, the most unique and trustworthy man I’ve ever met, I secretly thought, ‘How much… won’t it be?’ I had a wild imagination and tried to put a price on it, but for this man… I didn’t think I could calculate it.
If you live together for about 50 years, you’ll never know…
Boom!
“Oh my, Lady Aedran! As expected, you’re not feeling well…”
“No! no! “Absolutely not, so please don’t look back!”
Lucilla, who was so startled by the thought that floated like soap bubbles in her head, fell down, placed her forehead on the cold floor for a moment and concentrated on catching her breath.
“…I said Muto.”
“Uh… Yep. Can I turn around now?”
“never. No. “Now we are going to the ruins of the castle.”
“Of course.”
“I will go and see Master Gainax, get dressed up, and then enter the coronation ceremony.”
“yes. Your Highness has repeatedly said that you need to check on Lady Aedran’s safety…”
“Hmph!”
“…It would be nice to meet you soon and say hello…”
“Hehehe.” Phew! Ah, I get it. First, let’s change the order a bit. You said there was a place on the site of the imperial castle where the maids and servants who survived the city of Yongin gathered? “Aren’t there people who are expert in aristocratic decoration?”
“Yes… I only need to prepare before the coronation, so there’s still plenty of time…”
“No! “I don’t have much time, so let’s go there right now!”
“Uh… But….”
Muto heard his father’s frost-like command, the calm but slightly trembling order of the soon-to-be emperor, and the earnest request of the young lady who was guessing what kind of fall he would have suffered behind him. There was a conflict between them.
As Muto had developed an extraordinary sense of humor thanks to having lived as a servant to his father, who was the most eloquent and mean-spirited person in the empire, and who was good at verbal abuse and violence, it was not that difficult to weigh the three statements.
Duke of Glenn = vassal of the soon-to-be emperor.
The soon-to-be emperor = He seems to be very interested in this girl, to the point of being quite impatient.
Lady = Unlike the person who will become the emperor who wants to see her right away without paying attention, she seems to have the spirit to take care of herself.
Muto, who had always received attention from pretty maids thanks to his status as a servant… but was well-known to everyone, was also quite knowledgeable in this area.
Usually, the sane one takes the lead in the relationship.
.
.
.
.
Glenn < Emperor (Jin) < Lady
ding ding ding ding!
“…Lady Aedran? Dresses or jewelry. “What style of hair and makeup do you prefer?”
“….song. Let’s just talk as we go. “I think I need to take some time.”
Muto, who was the heir to the Duke of Glenn and lived as the duke’s servant for 15 years, thought it would not be a bad idea to line up the person who would take over the real power of the next great empire.
****
