Chapter 78
But for one of the highest-ranking figures of the temple — the High Priest himself — to say that…
Even as I stared at him with eyes still filled with shock and confusion, High Priest Illian continued to speak in his calm, steady voice.
“It’s not that I don’t believe in God. God surely exists in this world and protects humankind. However, I believe the power to heal people wasn’t given to us because we’re ‘chosen’ for our special faith — it’s a power granted so we can serve others. Whether it’s the power to slay monsters or to heal people, both are used to protect ourselves, after all.”
Illian chuckled heartily.
“So, even within the temple, there are those who crave power and wallow in their sense of privilege as ‘chosen ones.’ To be honest, I don’t even see them as comrades. How could someone who wields their power to save lives like a weapon possibly call themselves a faithful servant of God?”
“I-I see.”
I swallowed dryly and nodded.
Well, the temple had planned to summon me sooner or later anyway. I hadn’t expected to get such valuable information in the process, though. Should I call this luck? Maybe not. My feelings were a tangled mess.
“Anyway, that’s why I don’t think Cronen will treat the Offering Ceremony all that seriously. Nothing’s gone wrong so far, so he’ll assume nothing ever will.”
I’d heard that same kind of talk countless times before — people breaking established protocols, thinking “it’ll be fine just this once.” But without fail, something would go wrong.
And only when facing the miserable results would they think, I shouldn’t have done that.
The ones who caused the problem and the ones who had to pay for it were never the same. Especially when power struggles involved the fate of an entire nation — or even the world.
I often wanted to shout, “If the barrier collapses, we all die together! The only reason you’re safe is because the Castrain family’s been holding back the monsters! If it breaks, your land, your nation, your home — all of it’s gone!” My tongue itched to say it more times than I could count.
But, well — the person who saw the Castrain family as a thorn in his eye just so happened to be my own father, the Emperor himself. So I couldn’t exactly say it out loud.
“The Castrain family has always been an unshakable bulwark. Because the splashes that hit others were so small and shallow, they’ve come to underestimate the weight of the waves the family’s been holding back. I suppose it’s no surprise they can’t grasp the true gravity of the Offering Ceremony. Not that that excuses them.”
“Still, we can’t just stand by and watch others throw stones at that bulwark, can we?”
“Haha, Your Highness truly has a deep sense of purpose.”
“Purpose? Hardly. I just want to pay back the people who started this. Since the mess they made with Viscount Flux ended up hurting me through the temple, I intend to return the favor.”
“Is that so?”
Illian High Priest smiled at me fondly, like an elder looking at a child who’d just done something impressive.
What was with that smile? Even Her Majesty the Empress had given me that same ambiguous look once…
“So, what I’m saying,”
I took a deep breath.
“…is that if the southern temple’s high priest — the one who’s drunk on his own sense of privilege and doesn’t see others as comrades anyway — happens to get ruined because of something I set in motion, you wouldn’t have a problem with that, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Would you help me?”
“Hahaha! My bonus will probably triple! I’ll have to treat my subordinates to some real meat for once!”
“……”
Ding!
(It felt like I’d just gained a highly competent, capitalism-sensitive party member.)
* * *
“Sooo, that’s how it is~. My brother actually went there himself, huh~.”
Bibi’s expression, reflected on the floating circular screen, was hard to read.
Raymond, who usually gave her at least a faint smile even when he was being stiff, had a rather uncertain look this time.
“Mmhmm. Honestly, I thought someone from the elite unit would just carry High Priest Illian on their back and swooosh—run off somewhere! But nope! Big Brother himself dashed off, like he’d leave behind anyone who couldn’t keep up!”
“…Bibi.”
“No, no! I’m not blaming him. Even though he’s acting like he’ll guard the capital for a thousand years, following every one of Papa’s orders like his life depends on it! Even though he left without saying goodbye to me! I’m fine! Totally fine!”
“…Sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand.”
Bibi puffed out her cheeks. Her blue eyes sparkled, a bit sulky.
“If I’d known, I’d have gone too! I should’ve gone! I wanted to see my sister! With my brothers!”
“That would’ve been too dangerous.”
The temple was, quite literally, a disaster zone.
Holding the Offering Ceremony on schedule was now practically impossible. Cronen’s face had turned red and pale by turns as he tried to get things under control, but there were limits.
The storage rooms holding the supplies were burned down, and the chamber that housed the sacred relics was damaged — repairs were inevitable.
Naturally, there was no way they could pressure the princess to resume the purification rites when she’d nearly died in the fire that burned her quarters and bathhouse, and had to be personally carried to safety by her fiancé.
And to make matters worse, public opinion wasn’t on their side.
Of course, people assumed there was some other true culprit — someone who dared to set fire to the temple, steal the princess’s famed sword, and ruin the preparations for the ceremony. Whoever it was, they had to be caught at all costs.
But regardless of who was behind it, the public also believed Cronen and Sir Gregory shared part of the blame.
Cronen had always acted as if he was composed, pretending to be humble, hiding his luxuries — but such carefully crafted images always had cracks, especially in how one treated others.
Because Princess Titania’s past reputation wasn’t exactly good, people suspected Cronen — the stiff, self-righteous priest — of deliberately isolating her in the temple and driving away anyone who might defend her.
Then, when her gallant fiancé personally came to rescue her from danger, the romantic scene only fueled the gossip further.
Even Viscount Cortez — Flux — who had rarely shown himself in public, openly sided with Titania and criticized the temple. Suspicion quickly turned into conviction.
Still, Cronen wasn’t entirely helpless. He spread a plausible rumor that the culprit hadn’t just targeted the temple, but the sword capable of slaying monsters — implying a larger threat over the entire region.
The real issue, though, was that that famous young duke from the Castrain family had come to the city himself.
The citizens thought, “Well, if Duke Raymond Castrain is here, things probably won’t go too badly.”
Cronen, meanwhile, was on the verge of bursting a blood vessel.
As for Gregory, he’d apparently been ranting about challenging that arrogant Lysiansius to a duel while the man wasn’t even present — until his subordinates managed to calm him down.
Claiming he needed to “stay behind to hunt the culprit,” Gregory remained near the temple, assisting with reconstruction — though everyone could see he had ulterior motives.
Raymond didn’t bother to stop any of them. Titania herself intended to deal with them personally.
Then Bibi, in an unusually quiet voice for her, spoke.
“Well, I already know. Papa confirmed it… He said a really, really unsettling ‘enemy’ has appeared in that city.”
“……”
Raymond’s eyes darkened.
The Castrain family had always had enemies — plenty of them. But there were those far more sinister than ordinary rivals after their wealth or influence.
There were people specifically targeting the bloodline of the Castrain family — criminals unafraid to dabble in human trafficking despite imperial bans, and with enough backing and information to evade the family’s eyes while hunting their kin.
Judging by the method used on Viscount Cortez — Flux — and the precise cleanup afterward, this new enemy was likely of the same kind.
Originally, Raymond had intended to track down the supplier who’d provided forbidden goods to Empress Cleo. But that trail, too, had been abruptly cut off.
What exactly was their goal?
Was it simply to take the Castrain family’s place — or something darker still? The fact that their identity remained unknown made them all the more dangerous.
Duke Orto Castrain, once the strongest man in the Empire, was now losing his strength day by day. It was the burden every head of the Castrain family had carried throughout history.
“In other words,” Raymond murmured, voice low,
“if things go wrong, Her Highness the Princess may truly be in danger.”
