Children of the Holy Emperor - Chapter 391



Only Noblemtl

391. Negotiation (1)

The conference room was filled with a cold tension.

Most of the high priests, including the five cardinals, were present. Even more unusually, fully armed paladins were circling the conference hall, maintaining tight security.

“… … .”

They were waiting in silence for just one person.

A person that everyone was secretly wary of.

A person who makes the head of the heresy court publicly make blasphemous remarks.

And recently, ironically, there is someone who has achieved such great things that he is even called the second coming of an adult.

“… Ahem!”

Someone, unable to bear the heavy pressure, lets out a small groan.

Something big was happening. No one said anything, but everyone present subconsciously felt it.

“…I didn’t know that the prince would come out so obediently.”

As Cardinal Cesare muttered absentmindedly, Archbishop Wesker, sitting across from him, furrowed his brow.

“Why? After setting up a nasty trap that no one can escape from, are you now feeling guilty about what you did?”

“What? A trap! Be careful what you say, Archbishop Wesker!”

“Why, did I say something wrong? The old gentlemen are so impatient because they can’t control the young prince who is just their grandson… …!”

“Shhh! Be quiet now.”

As Cardinal Meyer, the head of the group, warned him, Archbishop Wesker glared at Benitus and Cesare alternately, threatening them.

“Everyone, take note. When His Majesty the Holy Emperor comes out of the prayer room later, he will certainly not let this matter go.”

“… Tsk!”

Cardinal Benitus clicks his tongue, showing his discomfort.

But their small talk didn’t last long, because a steady footsteps began to be heard from beyond the open conference room entrance.

Clank clank.

The small friction noises made by the armor echoed throughout the wide hallway, creating a strangely ominous sound.

“Your Majesty the Prince, please!”

And before everyone’s eyes, a dapper boy dressed in the uniform of the Knights of St. Terbachia finally appears.

“… … !”

The Great Hall was silently shocked. Even Archbishop Wesker, who had been protecting the Prince until just now, was speechless and gaped.

“omg……!”

At first glance, Prince Mores looked like an exceptionally handsome man.

A flawless ash-gray uniform and a confident gait. A calm gaze that gazes upon everyone surrounding him.

His prayers were also excellent. Despite his weak aura activity, no one felt like he was a patient who had just woken up from his sickbed.

Ah. Perhaps, one could think that, following Prince Logan, another knight of the Lord of the Lords was born that the Empire could be proud of.

If only it weren’t for that ominous aura emanating from it!

“I, I… … !”

Cardinal Benitus, who had been slapping the young prince with trembling hands, was unable to continue speaking and his chin was shaking. He was greatly shocked by the unexpectedly strong magic.

“What a wicked… … !”

Before he could openly spew out his profanity in front of the prince, Cardinal Meyer came to his senses first and spoke in a trembling voice.

“…Thank you for responding to this summons, Prince Mores.”

“Yes, of course I should be grateful.”

The boy nodded haughtily.

“It’s like I saved you a lot of time by personally taking action, which you were wasting. Isn’t there no time like this?”

The cold gray eyes that resembled the emperor scanned each person sitting in the conference room.

“Isn’t it difficult for you to properly handle the tasks entrusted to you by your father?”

“I believe His Majesty the Holy Emperor will understand. The matter is what it is.”

Yes, their concerns were unfounded.

Cardinal Meyer’s eyes darkened as he stared at Prince Mores.

‘Is proof really necessary?’

Probably not.

The priests gathered here could feel it deeply. That prince was undoubtedly a member of the forces of evil.

“…Can you explain?”

Before ordering the arrest of the knights, Cardinal Meyer asked one last question as a courtesy to the Holy Family.

But what the prince said in response was truly absurd.

“What is there to explain? All of this is God’s will.”

“…What?”

Without even being able to be flustered by that unexpected reaction-

Hwaaaaak!

Suddenly, Prince Mores’s mood began to change.

A strong spiritual pressure bursts out like a storm, and the previously weak aura begins to pulse violently.

A dark red aura that has become so strong that it has become a distinct entity, and has become a blazing flame that rises from all over the body.

Naturally, the magical energy emanating from the boy’s body also grew stronger and uncontrollable!

“… … !”

Srrrrung!

The knights drew their swords halfway with pale faces. Even Francis, who was guarding the prince, was so surprised that he took a couple of steps back.

“… Ugh!”

“Huh!”

The shock the high priests received was beyond words.

The weak priests, whose only occupation was praying every day, were oppressed by the prince’s powerful magic and sweated profusely like small animals that had encountered a natural enemy.

“… Ah, the devil!”

“Quick, we have to stop it… …!”

But at the very moment when the knights were about to rush towards the ominous prince.

Shoooooo-

The magic that was so powerful disappeared without a trace in the same instant it appeared!

“… … ?!”

Everyone present blinked in bewilderment.

It was impossible to even properly estimate what had happened in that short period of time. Only the person who had created all this situation was looking around at them with a face that seemed to be a lie.

“Everyone, listen carefully.”

The boy who had been hitting the back of the priests’ heads one after another opened his mouth with a calm expression. Now, the prince standing in front of them was only gently flowing with a magical energy that felt much more subtle than before.

“All who stand before the Lord are nothing more than His faithful instruments.”

“… … ?”

“This is proof that all things in the world can never escape the will of the Lord.”

… What the hell is this?

While everyone was in shock and perked up their ears without realizing it, the wicked prince raised the corners of his mouth and confidently declared.

“So, open your eyes and get out of your narrow field of vision! Hear the words of the one who stands before the holy temple of the Lord without any hesitation. I am a seeker who has been tried by the Lord, and at the same time, an apostle who carries out His noble mission!”

“… … ?!”

* * *

“Sir Haven? What are you doing here?”

When Maria Kyung stopped by the knights’ quarters for a shift change, she found Haven sprawled out in the break room and asked him.

Of course, it is true that there is nothing to do during working hours since the prince to serve is not in the palace.

“Why are you being lazy alone? All the other knights are busy training in the training grounds.”

It was just as Maria Kyung pointed out.

While Masain Kyung, who was in charge of the Sangju Knights, was away to guard the prince, there was a person who belatedly awakened as a tiger instructor.

This is Captain Bruno, a close associate of Prince Mores.

He basically ruled his disciple, Sir Carmen. As a result, he ended up looking after the sword of Sir Claudia, who had exceptionally good combat synergy with his disciple.

As the time spent in the training ground increased, most of the resident knights now rolled around under his orders.

“Kyung, weren’t you working yesterday or today? Did you drink all night long when you weren’t on duty?”

At Maria’s beating, Haven raised his head with a gloomy expression.

“Mary, can you please just let me off easy today? If you knew what I went through all day yesterday, you would never say such a thing.”

Judging by the cracking of his voice, something seemed off.

And, the story I heard from Haven was unexpected.

“Recite the fairy tale from the scriptures? In front of His Majesty Mores?”

“Yes, that’s right! I think I’ve recited all the fairy tales that have been published so far. But do you know what’s even stranger? At that time, Your Majesty was reading another book by himself!”

…reading one book while reciting another at the same time? What’s the point of that?

As Maria Kyung made a bewildered expression, Haven nodded vigorously.

“Right? It’s really weird, isn’t it?”

“… I guess your ears got bored while reading.”

“That’s absolutely not true! Well, aren’t you listening to my recitations properly? Sometimes, when you think something is strange, you just point it out like a ghost.”

For example, it was like this.

– Don’t just skip over it, read it properly, Lord Haven. The context becomes awkward because you keep leaving out words or sentences.

-Oh. That’s enough of that story. It’s not that different from the fairy tales we read before. Let’s just move on to the next volume.

-Wait a minute, Lord Haven. Things are going quite interestingly. I’d like to go back and review them, so could you please read the part where we started?

Maria Kyung stuck out her tongue.

“You gave me detailed instructions while reading the book?”

“Yes. You wouldn’t believe it, would you? I didn’t either, until I experienced it myself.”

Haven shook his head.

“But even while doing so, he never took his eyes off the book he was reading for even a moment. He even turned the pages incredibly fast!”

“hmm.”

Why did He do such a strange thing as soon as He recovered?

Lady Maria rested her chin on her hand and sat in thought, but no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with an answer.

* * *

Sungjin’s strategy was simple. As the saying goes, simplicity is strength and clarity.

Originally, Seongjin had no interest in the scriptures, and had never even properly read the introduction to the introduction to theology. Therefore, no matter how much time he spent on studying, it would be absurd to argue logically with the elders who had spent their entire lives delving into the scriptures.

If so, the answer was simple.

‘Let’s present simple, clear, and intuitive anecdotes.’

What Sungjin had to convince was not just the old people of the Holy Assembly. Ultimately, the people of the entire continent, including the people of the Imperial City, had to be able to accept his existence without hesitation.

The answer was in the fairy tales from the scriptures that had been published so far.

“When Saint Aurelion received the revelation from God and was about to take action, the one the Lord used was a flock of evil ravens.”

It is written in passing in the scriptures like this –

-After spotting a flock of crows circling beyond the mountains, Aurelion, the servant of the god, discovered the whereabouts of the missing magi.

The anecdote was expressed in the fairy tales of the scriptures like this.

-To show Saint Aurelion his destination, the Lord himself moved a flock of evil ravens to serve as markers for his journey.

The same goes for ‘Saint Bastian and the Finger Devil’, which was published recently.

-The faithful Bastian followed the devil worshipper on the wind.

This simple content is transformed like this in a fairy tale.

-Saint Bastian brought the wind of the divine water and made the devil’s yoke his servants and guides.

At first glance, it seemed like it had been changed into sentences that were easy to read for children, but at some point, the evil forces had been transformed into God’s tools.

If you look closely like this, you will find that many of the fairy tales published so far subtly distort the content of the scriptures.

Although he didn’t know the original text exactly, Seongjin was able to easily grasp such subtle nuances by reading the sutra fairy tales one after another.

‘Is it a coincidence? Or did my father plan all this in advance?’

It is impossible to know for sure now that Seonghwang has entered the prayer room.

But if there is a plate of food prepared that is good to eat, isn’t it the duty of a child to use it?

“You all must have heard that when I was fighting the devil, the holy grace of the Lord covered all around. At that time, I clearly heard His voice. It said that in order to be reborn as a more faithful servant of the Lord, I must overcome even stronger trials.”

So, it hints at something similar to the story in the fairy tale. Even without specifying it, if you are a high-ranking priest, just mentioning this will make you think of the ‘trial of misunderstanding’ that was given to Saint Grazie.

“And there is also a deeper meaning hidden there. This new power is not just a trial to test me personally. Sometimes, the evil energy of the demonic species must be dealt with in an equally evil way, right?”

The story of Saint Terbachia, who actually served the devil in order to destroy him, also hints at this.

Compared to the numerous anecdotes of other adults, only a couple of fairy tales have been published about the dark saint. Coincidentally, Sungjin is currently wearing the uniform of the knights who honor him, and is deliberately vividly recalling the anecdotes that the priests want to forget.

“And above all, I am safely worshipping the Lord in His kingdom, surrounded by divine grace, together with His servants. How can I more clearly prove that I am His instrument?”

The goal is to hammer all these leaps of logic and far-fetched claims into your head as quickly as possible.

At this very moment, after being shocked one after another, while they still haven’t come to their senses!

“That’s… that’s nonsense!”

There was some silence.

Cardinal Benitus, who had been listening to those words with a blank expression, finally squeezed out his voice, which was starting to crack.

“This, this blasphemous and evil energy, could it really be a trial sent down according to the will of the Lord… …!”

“What is the matter? Are there not a few instances where evil things have been used as His tools? Cardinal Benitus, you should read the scriptures again.”

“… … !”

Actually, it was Seongjin who had to read the scriptures. Well, the important thing here is that it is an excuse to criticize the cardinal.

“Haven’t you read the recently published fairy tale? In order to destroy the five fingers of the Finger Devil, the Lord Himself sent the Devil’s servant to Saint Bastian as a guide.”

“Ma, don’t talk nonsense! That is entirely a matter of interpretation… …!”

“Isn’t that interpretation the correct one that was published after review by the Holy Assembly?”

The old man, who had never even bothered to read the scriptures, now regrets his sins and closes his mouth with a pale face.

Then, Seongjin continued his attack with great momentum.

“You seem to be very dissatisfied with what I have to say, so why don’t you listen to me? Why do you think my father, the representative of God, has not purified my power and has left it as it is?”

“… … !”

“If that isn’t proof that my power comes from the One who gave it to me, then what is it?”

As expected, it was just bullshit.

But isn’t it important to push forward with such things with confidence?

“Well, if you find it hard to believe, there is another way.”

Seongjin paused for a moment after saying that, then leisurely looked around before turning his gaze towards Benitus.

“Well, if you are confident, you can purify me right now.”

At that very moment-

Cardinal Benitus saw the intense red light emanating from the pupils of the boy he was facing.