Ch.141Symphony for the Pope. (1)

# Chapter 141: A Symphony for the Pope (1)

As soon as I finished speaking, the waiting purge unit members and the Imperial Guard Captain rushed in, pouring psionic abilities into those two’s heads while I nodded in approval.

“Hmm.”

Of course, seeing my actions, the faces of the other aides watching the situation turned completely pale.

“M-Minister?! What on earth is this…?”

“Before that, Inquisitor and Priest…? What exactly do you mean by that?!”

Since everyone was understandably confused, I nodded and tried to answer.

Or at least I was about to.

[Time Pause]

‘Wait, how should I respond?’

But thinking about it, I had no idea what to say to these intelligent young men… or rather, middle-aged men.

Should I say the event message told me so?

As I’ve mentioned several times before, in this world, people inexplicably refuse to believe anything about event messages or status windows.

If I said such things now, it would only undermine my leadership(?).

But I couldn’t think of any better solution either.

After what felt like two hours of contemplation, I decided to just let things play out and released the time pause.

[Time Pause Released]

I was about to say something when…

“It’s natural that none of you know this. I just shared top-secret information I obtained through my confidential informants.”

“…Ohh!”

“My, how surprising… I wonder when those two planned this.”

Riel glanced at my eyes briefly before immediately jumping in to back me up.

‘Thank you, Riel.’

I expressed my gratitude to Riel with a look, then adjusted my posture and tapped my fingers on the table a couple of times to focus everyone’s attention on me.

“First, I’m sure you’re all curious about the authenticity of these spies, so shall we start by looking into that?”

At my words, I noticed the aides gathered at the table nodding in agreement.

——————————

A short while later.

“I see… so it was true that those men were spies dispatched by the Papal Office.”

Through the psionic abilities of the purge unit and the Imperial Guard, along with various interrogation techniques, I was able to expose the spies’ identities completely, giving the aides reassurance and trust.

Those two spies were left in tatters.

And as for those who had been deceived by them…

“Duke! We are innocent!!!”

“That’s right! We only just learned they were spies!”

“Then that’s proof of your incompetence.”

“Ah.”

After the purge unit dragged them away, I struck a somewhat chuunibyou-like pose in the now less crowded meeting room and began discussing future plans.

Or more precisely, since the system’s annoying interference was gone after I made my choice, those intelligent men (though they were far too old to be called young) worked out the plans themselves.

Then super-intelligent individuals like Alina and Riel organized everything, and all I had to do was approve it.

The plan our intelligent team came up with was to use the spies in reverse.

“How exactly?”

“Minister, the captured spies had no separate communication devices on them, and they don’t possess psionic abilities.”

“…”

“That means the Papal Office doesn’t yet know they’ve been captured, right?”

“Exactly, Aide Riel.”

Of course, it was clear that if I, a non-expert, unnecessarily interfered, it would be disastrous for the operation.

‘Why would I jump in? I’m not Hitler.’

While my subordinates discussed the plan, I turned off the screen in the conference room and spent time handling some of the work on my table.

After some time had passed…

“Minister, we’ve finished the detailed operation plan.”

Just as Riel came to me with the operation report and said those words…

-Ding♬

[Time Pause]

[Event: A Symphony for the Pope]

[You have finally decided to raise your blade against the Pope, who nearly caused you to fail your main quest for the Empire and the Emperor.]

[Your subordinates have discussed and debated the best methods to carry out your decision.]

[Shortly, they will explain to you the means to eliminate the Pope.]

[Linked event in progress]

Seeing an event message rather than a choice appear, I nodded inwardly as I confirmed the message.

[Time Pause Released]

I immediately dismissed the message, released the time pause, and spoke to Riel who had brought the compiled opinions and operation plan.

“So, what’s the plan?”

————————————-

Three days later.

“How exciting. To think the day would come when that arrogant woman would finally swallow her pride.”

Pope Alexander I was busy preparing for an outing(?) outside the Papal Office after a long period of seclusion.

And the purpose of that outing was none other than…

“Indeed, Your Holiness. No matter how much of an Iron Empress she is, or how powerful the Minister of Execution may be, how could they possibly stand against Your Holiness?”

“That’s right! Hahaha!!”

It was to confirm through the spies dispatched to the Execution Ministry that the Emperor and Arto had submitted to him.

Of course, Emilia, the Pope’s aide who was helping him dress while reporting, twitched her long Sebelian ears and spoke with a tone of doubt.

“Do you really believe what the spies say, Your Holiness?”

“Of course I do. They are the finest agents boasted by the Papal Office’s intelligence unit.”

But seeing the Pope like this, Emilia found it difficult to hide her inner doubts.

After all, wasn’t it just days ago that he showed every sign of launching an offensive against the Papal Office?

Yet even with these thoughts, Emilia had nothing to refute about the situation.

‘According to the spies’ reports, the Emperor and the Minister wish to negotiate to avoid civil war.’

It was quite a plausible story in a way.

Unlike Alexander I, the lord she had served her entire life, they had an extreme aversion to causing division within the Empire.

‘While Your Holiness would sacrifice half the Empire if necessary to obtain the throne, they are different.’

Given such fundamental differences in mindset, their responses to the situation would naturally differ.

‘Of course, it was unexpected that they would suggest meeting directly without separate guards for negotiations… but that actually made it more credible.’

Moreover, strictly speaking, in terms of both quality and quantity of “pure combat forces” that could be mobilized independently, the other side had the advantage.

The fact that they were willing to give up their advantageous position to pursue negotiations gave the Pope, Emilia’s lord, great satisfaction.

———————————

Of course, the Pope didn’t believe their story from the beginning.

It’s not like he obtained the position of Pope through gambling.

It was the culmination of skill, talent, achievements, and surviving the dark internal political struggles of Sebelian nobility.

Someone who had accumulated enough experience and effort to reign as an absolute authority in his field wouldn’t simply accept an enticing story at face value.

“Emilia, how do you interpret their actions?”

“I merely follow Your Holiness’s will.”

Seeing Emilia simply bow her head, the Pope clicked his tongue and said:

“I never expected spies to bring back such information.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“That distant relative might, but there’s no way that Artraia woman would negotiate with me.”

Since he had directly challenged the Emperor’s authority, it was essentially equivalent to treason.

In such a situation, who would believe talk of negotiations?

As the Pope said, perhaps the originally flexible and accommodating Minister Arto might consider it, but the Emperor, who must be furious over this incident, suggesting peace negotiations?

It was utterly absurd, but…

With additional testimony from the spies:

‘The division of the Empire must be prevented at all costs, no matter what.’

Along with the Emperor’s strong opinion and the statement that during negotiations, the Emperor was prepared to transfer the imperial throne to the Pope if necessary…

“W-w-w-what?!”

“…”

The Pope’s bloated lust for power couldn’t resist snapping up that sweet bait.

Of course, while obviously taking the bait, the Pope managed to suppress his desires with superhuman patience and said:

“…It seems they’re getting desperate.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

He was trying to regain his composure and restore his sanity.

But such feeble attempts were…

-“Here are the approval documents from the Minister of Diplomatic Execution that we managed to obtain.”

-“We’ve confirmed there is no forgery in this document, as it bears Minister Arto’s unique approval seal.”

When documents bearing the approval of the Minister of Diplomatic Execution were sent to the Papal Office through secret communication equipment, the Pope, as Emilia now observed, had completely lost his mind to power lust, believing victory was within reach.