Became the Emperor in the Hero Game

27 – 26.

“Duke Pale… !”

At my call, Duke Pale slowly opened his eyes.

“Your Majesty… ?”

I immediately made a soundproof screen with my magic power and approached the duke.

“Duke. What is this?”

“hahahaha, I have no face.”

“Don’t get up.”

The state of the Duke’s body was truly miserable.

The appearance of the place where it was impossible to find a sound place showed just how fierce the battle was.

“Your Majesty came to see me in the hospital like this, and I guess I didn’t live in vain.”

Like the last time I saw him, I felt something rising inside me when I saw the Duke smiling and talking.

“Your Majesty, that Lordaeron Edelbein.”

“… He is of Arhan blood.”

As if confessing a sin, I told the story of Lordaeron in front of the Duke.

“Still, you weren’t a member of the royal family in the genealogy.”

I couldn’t bear to speak at the sight of him smiling, saying, “It’s fortunate that he wasn’t murdered by the royal family.”

Seeing my stiff expression, Duke Pale laughed and said,

“Your Majesty, why is your expression like that?”

“Due to Jim’s misjudgment, the duke was seriously injured, and many of Pale’s swordsmen died.”

“Your Majesty.”

After hearing my words, Duke Pale put away his laughter and spoke seriously and resolutely.

“We fail. Arhan’s sword. As the first head of household did, and as my father did, it is we who wield the sword and die for Arhan.”

So there is no need for Your Majesty to make such an expression.

Duke Pale comforted me, saying that there is no swordsman in our family who would feel sorry for his death.

“Duke… “

“By the way, it will be difficult for me to hold a sword any longer with my physical condition like this. It was almost time to retire.”

“Recovery is difficult… ?”

“The priests say that being alive is a miracle. I don’t think I’ll die right away, but I don’t think I’ll be able to recover like before.”

After overdoing it at the end, I decided to do one thing after seeing the duke complaining that his body is not the same as it used to be.

“Duke, it’s too early to retire. Even if you retire, you should enjoy your last years with a healthy body.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Take a break for now, and when you feel better, return to the system. Don’t worry, Jim has an idea.”

“Your Majesty.”

“The Duke still has a lot of work to do. Jim has an idea, the duke, concentrate on your recuperation.”

After I left those words, I left the room where the duke was.

When I left the room, the cardinal I had seen before was waiting for me.

“Meet the Emperor of the Arhan Empire.”

“It’s been a while. Is the Pope looking for me?”

“Yes, Emperor. His Holiness is waiting for you.”

“Guide me.”

——————————————————————————-

“Heh heh, long time no see.”

“Long time no see, Pope.”

The cardinal led me to the Pope’s audience room.

Unlike mine, the room filled with simple furniture instead of fancy decorations seemed to represent the character of Seongguk as it retained its own dignity instead of looking shabby or ugly.

“You don’t know how surprised this old man was to come here without saying anything.”

“I received a report that the duke was seriously injured, so I put in a call and couldn’t wait for an answer. My apologies.”

“I did not mean to rebuke you. It’s just that I’m more than happy that the emperor has come this far to see the injured duke.”

The pope laughed at that and offered me tea.

“This is a tea I received as a gift from the elves through the saintess not too long ago. It smells very good, so try it.”

Elf’s car.

As he said, I lifted the teacup, smelled the fragrance, took a sip, and opened my mouth.

“Is your person in the intelligence department?”

There must be only one reason why you brought the elf’s car to me.

Elves are not enemies of humans.

Just like the saintess, the warrior, and the elf princess, we just interact with each other

Can’t we all get along well together?

I think you want to say something like this.

But how did the Pope know that I regard the elves as enemies?

You can tell that I’m preparing for a war, but I usually think of conquering other kingdoms and unifying mankind, so I wouldn’t immediately think of elves.

“There is no place where Kiriya’s light does not reach.”

It sounds like there is.

Damn it, in the process of urgently recruiting the intelligence department, three works were mixed.

“Your Majesty, I saw you consoling the injured duke and his men and mourning for them. If there is a war, many more people will be killed and injured.”

That’s not true. This happened because I didn’t properly consider the enemy’s strength.

This wouldn’t happen if the troops were deployed in the right place and if I were my own family.

The power of those who faced off against the Duke of Pale was abnormal, and this would not happen in wars with other kingdoms.

Seeing him so earnestly trying to persuade me, I questioned the pope instead of refuting with the words that came to mind.

“The Pope. You once tried to bring Jim down and place Jim’s brother on the throne.”

Three days ago, that is, at the beginning of my possession.

When Triel and other forces tried to bring me down, the Holy Kingdom certainly helped.

Because of that, I had been looking at all the steps of the Holy Kingdom through colored glasses, but after feeling the existence of Kiriya a while ago and understanding its essence, the colored glasses came off.

If the Holy Kingdom were just an interest group aiming for power, as I thought before, Kiriya wouldn’t look at them, bless them, or lend them their power.

So, if you want to have an open and heartfelt conversation with the pope, you must tie this knot.

“Why did you do that?”

“That… “

Did you not know that I would ask you this openly?

The pope paused with a look of bewilderment on his face.

“You dare to touch the throne, not enough even by meddling in internal affairs. If he hadn’t been at war with the Demon King, he would have declared war on the Holy Kingdom right away.”

No matter how many followers of Kiriya there are in the empire, there are not many people who can tolerate even trying to change the emperor in the castle country.

Except for the most faithful, the nobles would rather take the lead in proclaiming their conversion and revealing their innocence, and those who did not would be accused of treason.

“… So, it is.”

“What does that mean?”

The pope let out a deep sigh and said with a stiff face.

“One of the dogs was the old man’s whim, but there are two reasons why the old man made such a foolish attempt.”

“Tell me.”

“As the emperor will remember, the momentum of the Demon King’s army at the time was truly devastating, and if the empire collapsed at that time, the disaster of a thousand years ago could have been repeated.”

A disaster from a thousand years ago.

Are you referring to the time when the dragon helped founding the empire?

I don’t know what happened then, but considering that it was a catastrophe, it probably wasn’t a good thing.

“So, did you think I would destroy the empire?”

“… That’s right.”

… Actually, if you think about what I did at that time, it’s not very wrong.

If a country’s successor shows that kind of attitude, they will try to devour the country by manipulating other bloodlines.

“The Emperor may find it hard to believe, but at the time, I intended to bring the Emperor here and treat him with utmost respect.”

“Triel must have just watched that scene.”

“It was one of the terms of our alliance with Triel, so he probably didn’t interfere.”

“Tsk. If so, what is the second reason?”

“This is the nature of Princess Rael.”

“I thought I would be a better emperor than Jim, you mean?”

That’s a bit unpleasant.

Even if I think I agree with the first one, the second reason is hard to understand.

“No, that’s not the story.”

Shaking his head, the unclean pope went somewhere and brought several old maps.

It was a map expressing the countries on the continent, but it was very different from the present situation.

The empire was less than half its current size, and the number of kingdoms more than doubled.

The pope then unfolded the second and third maps.

Each time the map changes, the empire expands and the kingdom shrinks.

The last map the pope opened showed the current continent.

“What do you mean?”

“Praah, Zevora, Tara, …… And Edelwein. These are the kingdoms that have been destroyed by the Empire so far.”

There are many.

So, what do you mean?

I lit a small flame with my fingertips and burned the daman drawn on the map before speaking.

“Sooner or later you will have to redraw the map.”