Ch.5454. Synchronization

After the Cordana incident, the ministers of the court had been holding state council meetings every day without fail.

It was no longer strange to see the Emperor or the Prince, the most noble beings in the Empire, presiding over these meetings personally.

“The Count of Deliroz’s territory has been settled, Your Majesty.”

What would normally take months of deliberation was now being processed swiftly. Not because it wasn’t important, but because it was too urgent.

“Strip the Count of Deliroz of his title, and revoke the noble status of his bloodline.”

“What punishment should be administered?”

“Lord Necker, tell me your opinion.”

These days, the Emperor deliberately sought the opinion of the Minister of Justice more often.

Not because he was particularly close to him, but because he knew the Minister had lost everything.

It seemed he wanted to deliberately preserve the dignity of a high noble who lived in the same district as mid-level officials and commuted in a carriage lent by the imperial family. Though his situation had improved somewhat after participating in short selling, concerned glances still followed him.

The Minister of Justice answered calmly.

“…How about sentencing only the Count himself to labor? Place him in one of the direct territory’s labor camps, and assign him simple administrative duties instead of hard labor. Then, when public opinion calms down, perhaps allow him to live with his family.”

The implication was that there was no need to inflict physical suffering on someone who had already lost everything.

“Very well. Do that.”

“Ah, but Your Majesty. According to Lord Waynelight’s report from the field, Baron Wellesley has reached the level of Master.”

This statement drew soft gasps from around the room.

The birth of a new Master. Certainly cause for celebration.

While the ministers were saying things like “I knew it all along” or “I’m worried that favoring him now might cause controversy”…

“Why mention such a matter right after the arrest of Count Deliroz?”

“Could it be suggesting that Baron Wellesley should be designated as heir?”

This question was raised by the Minister of Protocol, who was in charge of imperial ceremonies and meritorious deeds.

However, the Emperor shook his head. Not because he didn’t want to give Baron Wellesley anything, but because he knew the nature of Waynelight, who had made the report.

“He probably just noticed it then and reported it. Without any particular intention.”

“Ah.”

“And think about it. Would a young nobleman who has purchased real estate in and around the capital want to take on that chaotic territory?”

“That’s true. At least after sorting out the traffic situation… oh.”

The Minister of Protocol who had mentioned “traffic situation” closed his mouth with a self-deprecating expression. It was one of the vocabularies that the Hero had popularized in the capital through Prince.

Fortunately, no one gave him a disapproving look. There were more important matters at hand.

Namely, the punishment for the Hero.

Until now, the nobles had vented their frustrations against the Hero in all sorts of creative ways. Physical retaliation was mostly concluded in the first two days, and since then, they had focused mainly on inflicting psychological damage.

And now even that venting had come to an end.

Everyone knew it was time to make a decision.

There were only two options: to kill him or to spare him.

“What about opposing public opinion?”

“There are those who instinctively feel aversion, but not enough to worry about. However, the Margraves are requesting that he be sent to a penal battalion. They’re saying that if he’s going to die anyway, he might as well die fighting monsters.”

“If we release him to the Margraves, he’ll spread his poison there too.”

“Then, Your Majesty, what should we do?”

The Emperor hesitated, unable to make a decision.

Killing the Hero was that significant of an issue.

It wasn’t simply concern about the Goddess’s wrath. Even in the Papal State, faith was wavering, and the capital was no exception.

He was merely afraid of the consequences.

“…It seems there’s public opinion expecting the price of Cordana to rise if the Hero dies, since no more could be produced.”

“This is insane… Well, a friend who supplies hay to our family also believes the imperial palace will offer compensation after killing the Hero. He’s been working so hard, mobilizing intelligence networks, but it’s all been useless.”

While everyone was just beating around the bush—

A report came in that hastened the decision.

News from the Kingdom of Microssia, consisting of dozens of islands.

Recently, the Empire had made two demands to the Kingdom:

To extradite the nobles involved in nominee trading, and to return the island purchased by the Hero and give the purchase money to the Empire.

The Kingdom’s answer was simple.

“They say they will extradite the nobles. However, they cannot return the money.”

“…What?”

Was the Kingdom judging that the Empire had weakened due to Cordana and simply ignoring them? The Empire could make them regret it if they wanted to.

However, fortunately or unfortunately, the Kingdom was not trying to resist the Empire.

They simply said they had no money to give.

“The monarchs of the Kingdom claim they are also victims of the Hero.”

“What does that mean?”

“The Hero was conducting large-scale construction on the island he purchased through nominees. He was building a large mansion with several annexes, entertainment facilities, and resort facilities. The work was only recently halted.”

“……”

Currently, the island was littered with buildings that had barely completed their foundation work.

The wages the Hero had guaranteed were so generous that many workers had set aside their livelihoods to participate in the construction, but with wage payments stopped, they were about to launch massive protests.

“It seems the Kingdom has many concerns, though not as many as us.”

“……”

In the end, it meant the Kingdom had been bitten too. Moreover, the Kingdom had already renamed the island to “Ibiza.”

This was also something the Hero had requested through nominees.

Because of this, there was once a rumor in the Kingdom that “a prince who lost in the succession competition seems to be trying to live a comfortable life here.”

“What on earth is Ibiza?”

No one could answer the Emperor’s question, asked with a vacant expression.

Ibiza, like many of the vocabularies spread by the Hero, was a word whose meaning was unknown. All they could tell was that it contained the Hero’s characteristic malicious playfulness.

At that moment, when the hatred for the Hero that had slightly subsided began to boil again,

The Emperor finally made his decision.

“…Contact the Papal State.”

***

The Empire contacted the Papal State right after the desperate collective prayer had ended.

Now, in the Grand Cathedral, only hundreds of clergy members, including Elder Priest Edin, were sprawled in a pitiful state. Other clergy had already been carried away.

Their ages, ranks, and holy powers varied, but they had one thing in common: they were all crushed by extreme despair.

A nun lying on her side, gasping for breath due to back pain and fatigue,

A holy knight sobbing without shedding a single tear,

A cardinal still prostrating himself, insisting it wasn’t over yet.

And in the middle of it all, Elder Priest Edin sat with an expressionless face, staring at the statue of the Goddess.

‘In the end, she didn’t respond.’

It wasn’t unexpected. The Goddess wasn’t one to indulge whims.

Still, he had hoped against hope.

A collective prayer with tens of thousands of clergy and believers participating. If you counted those who took time to pray from their homes, it would be hundreds of thousands.

With so many children pleading, she wouldn’t ignore them; despite considering humans who dared to threaten her with faith to be arrogant, she would show mercy just once.

It was an act based on such groundless belief.

But the Goddess gave no response whatsoever.

According to the diocese in the capital, holy power could still be felt from the Hero. The holy sword kept there remained quiet as well.

What could it mean that the Goddess, who had revealed her presence through the holy sword several times when the Hero was summoned, was now silent?

In the end, it meant she would maintain her trust in Gwon Heejin. Whether due to lack of power or simply lack of will.

Now Edin didn’t even have the energy to shed tears. The solemn determination he had made talking about the “final service” was long forgotten.

Only silence flowed through the cathedral.

“…Excuse me, Cardinals and Elder Priest. It seems the Empire is about to make a decision regarding the Hero. They’re asking for our consent on how to respond.”

This was a report from a communication mage who spoke with trepidation.

Regardless, the clergy remained silent and sprawled out. Elder Priest Edin, who was barely maintaining his sanity, nodded with difficulty.

“Yes. Then tell them to do as they wish.”

Edin watched the back of the mage running out of the cathedral, then suddenly turned his head to look at the clergy sprawled like corpses.

Some of them were in such a dangerous state that he wanted to use holy power to help them.

Even with his faith shaken, Edin still possessed immense holy power. He was exceptional to begin with, and had grown even stronger after joining the pursuit team.

Should he just use it, thinking of it as magic?

While Edin was having such blasphemous thoughts,

An uninvited guest walked into the cathedral that resembled a house of mourning.

With chestnut-brown hair and a plump, cute face, it was Saintess Claire, the only clergy member who couldn’t participate in the collective prayer.

Everyone stared blankly at the Saintess, but no one spoke to her. Not even anyone asking how she had escaped from confinement.

“Um, I have something to tell you… everyone?”

Ignored, the Saintess soon stamped her feet and even shed tears. Yet there was no one here to comfort her.

After a while, the Saintess tearfully confessed.

…She had just confirmed that her holy power had weakened, not completely disappeared but diminished to the level of an ordinary priest.

The power of the Saintess bestowed by the Goddess had vanished somewhere, she said.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Edin listened to the Saintess’s lament indifferently.

‘Why take away only the Saintess’s power while leaving the Hero as is?’

He didn’t even feel like mocking. Although Edin himself possessed holy power almost equal to the Saintess, he felt not a shred of pride now. He was willing to sacrifice not only his holy power but even his life if it meant taking away the Hero’s blessing.

Holy power, status, what use were these in the current situation…

“Wait, just now? You said you lost it just now?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

Elder Priest Edin suddenly jumped to his feet.

‘Perhaps.’

The Elder Priest began running frantically toward the communication crystal. There was one last thing he needed to confirm. A few priests tried to follow him, gasping, but they all collapsed due to accumulated fatigue.