Ch.553The Reason Why That Man Started Wearing a Wig

After Haschal departed for the Holy State, Leopold had to govern the Empire without his strongest asset at his disposal.

There was no peace—neither for him nor for his scalp. The world was filled with problems.

Lord Wien was openly gathering nobles to form a massive power bloc, while the only two great nobles who could check his influence—Faelrun and Landenburg—were too busy restoring and strengthening their territories to even set foot in central politics.

As a result, Leopold had to endure stomach-cramping stress as he worked to prevent Wien’s unchecked rise and maintain political balance, constantly dividing nobles against each other and walking political tightropes.

Of course, he couldn’t blame the two great nobles. The northern regions had suffered massive damage from the Great Invasion, while the eastern regions faced imminent attack from the Ka’har. Either situation was enough to keep them fully occupied with their own territorial concerns.

‘If only the Imperial Army were still intact…’

Leopold’s original plan had been to ascend to the throne with Lord Wien’s cooperation, then use the Imperial Army to prevent the Duke from becoming too powerful.

Neither the Imperial Army nor the Imperial Knights would interfere in power struggles between imperial family members, but they would never tolerate a mere noble attempting to usurp imperial authority.

The problem was that the Empire’s elite 1st and 2nd Legions had been completely annihilated in the northern snowfields. It was a devastating loss that shook the very foundation of imperial authority.

Several months had passed, but the damage to the Imperial Army remained unrepaired. The remaining 3rd and 4th Legions could barely maintain internal security.

Far from checking the nobles’ power, he was in a position where he had to encourage them to raise private armies to secure local regions.

It was only thanks to the Empire’s First Sword—a woman who was more like a storm of murder than a person—pledging her loyalty to Leopold that he hadn’t already become a mere figurehead emperor.

—-

The problems weren’t limited to internal affairs; external issues were equally troublesome.

The elves and dwarves had been engaged in such massive battles for so long that it was impossible to tell what was happening anymore. The Dragonborn were also engaged in a brutal civil war, washing blood with blood within their own borders.

The Ka’har in the east remained eerily quiet, increasing anxiety, while the Dane were steadily expanding their territory by invading the chaotic Panam.

It was as if the entire world had reverted to hundreds of years ago—that insane era when every race was hostile to all others, waging endless wars.

‘If they exhaust all their forces in these wars without winners, that would be fortunate… but conversely, the victors might devour the losers and grow stronger, then target the Empire.’

While the Werebeasts maintained a friendly attitude toward the Empire, the elves and Dane were openly hostile despite not having declared war. The Ka’har were even worse.

Even the Werebeasts could no longer be considered reliable allies after they had unveiled weapons of unbelievable power. Those with such strength would hardly be satisfied with their current status as virtual vassal states of the Empire.

‘Yet we lack the resources to launch preemptive strikes…’

Leopold’s forehead grew increasingly exposed as he worried about the Empire’s future.

—-

The final blow to Leopold’s deteriorating hair condition came from news about the Holy State—specifically, about Haschal’s actions.

“He imprisoned a cardinal of the Church of Elpinel?”

The first news was still somewhat understandable. It was an internal church matter, and considering Lacy and Haschal’s aggressive tendencies, such actions seemed plausible.

“Two cardinals died? And the Churches of Volberg and Grimnir have abandoned the Holy City?”

He managed to accept the second piece of news as well. Though it seemed strange that three cardinals had disappeared and two had defected so soon after Haschal’s arrival in the Holy State, at least it didn’t appear that Haschal and Lacy were directly involved.

However, from the third report onward, he could no longer stem the flow of falling hair.

“They annihilated the Church of Grimnir? Necromancy? Designated as heresy?”

The major incident that reduced the eleven patron deities to ten wasn’t just a Holy State issue. The declaration of the Church of Grimnir as heretical meant that Grimnir followers within the Empire were also classified as heretics.

Grimnir followers within the Empire had to choose between conversion or imprisonment. The Grimnir Archbishop of the main diocese protested the injustice, but the decision couldn’t be reversed.

The subsequent reports were even more outrageous—from suddenly emphasizing Ka’har bloodlines and occupying Arad while expelling the Church of Astraea, to the bizarre rumors that followed.

Technically, occupying Holy State territory while holding Imperial noble status was a serious crime bordering on treason, but no one in the Empire had the mental capacity to condemn it. The rumors that followed were simply too shocking.

“Lovers? Who with whom…? How is that even possible?”

The rumor of a romantic entanglement with Ceylon was so shocking that Leopold forgot his imperial dignity and nearly knocked over his teacup. Even if the dead Carlos had returned to life, he wouldn’t have been as surprised.

The idea that a woman who seemed incapable of romantic feelings had fallen for one of the Holy State’s greatest powers was absurd. It was like saying Isabella had become a saint.

If the partner had been a mage rather than a paladin, he might have suspected mind control magic.

And a few days later, after hearing the heroic tale of how the Baron of Median split the sky with a single strike to vanquish a demon that had descended upon Arvil, Leopold had to seriously consider whether to dismiss a large number of intelligence agents.

He couldn’t tell if they were providing accurate information or deliberately deceiving him.

“Are you expecting me to believe this report?”

“…It may be difficult to believe, Your Majesty, but it’s true. We also found the information incomprehensible and verified it multiple times… all testimonies match.”

But Leopold’s doubts couldn’t change the truth. Eyewitness accounts, intelligence department investigations, rumors crossing borders, and official announcements from the Holy State—all confirmed Haschal’s heroic deed.

“Hmm… splitting the sky. It’s not as if Carlos the Great has been reincarnated… what in the world…”

Leopold felt dumbfounded. Haschal’s skills had always seemed inhuman, but there were limits. This incident was straight out of legend.

“…So, what is Baron Median’s condition? If this information is true, it must have been no ordinary battle.”

“Yes, as you feared, he sustained serious injuries… but thanks to timely treatment, he recovered safely. I heard he’s currently recuperating at Ellunel Cathedral to regain his strength.”

“I see. That’s fortunate…”

Leopold sighed with relief. It was fortunate both psychologically and politically. With his imperial authority and the Empire’s future already precarious, losing Haschal in such times would have been devastating.

—-

The news that arrived a month after the demon incident revealed dramatic political changes in the Holy State.

Two more cardinals had died, and the Church of Volberg had fled after suffering massive casualties, resulting in its expulsion from the Ten Deity Church.

While Haschal and Lacy’s reputation soared, the Holy State’s fighting power, which should have been at the forefront against the elves, had been reduced by more than half.

“Is that so? That is indeed serious.”

Perhaps having developed immunity to shocking news, Leopold could only laugh hollowly.

‘He said he would restore the Holy State to its original form. Did he mean returning it to hundreds of years ago, to the era of religious wars…!’

Though his lips smiled, his hair follicles were screaming in protest.

The hair scattered on Leopold’s pillow was now so mixed with white that it could be called platinum blonde rather than golden.

Empress Adelheid had even begun searching for ingredients good for hair roots.

Even his androgynous beauty, full of imperial dignity, was diminished by his increasingly sparse hair.

Leopold, well aware that an attractive and dignified appearance was a great advantage for a ruler, consulted a high mage about solving his baldness problem… but unfortunately received no satisfactory answer.

“I apologize, Your Majesty. If I could develop such magic, I would have resigned as Tower Master and lived focusing only on research I wanted to do while raking in money.”

High Mage Floheta bowed her head, revealing the cruel reality that hair restoration magic neither existed nor could exist.

“I see…”

Leopold sighed deeply, greatly disappointed.

—-

If Floheta said something was impossible, it truly had to be considered impossible.

Who would contradict the Tower Master of the Imperial Mage Corps?

Floheta had originally been a high mage with the somewhat ambiguous rank of fifth in the Magic Tower, but after the Grimnir incident swept away everyone above her, she unexpectedly became Tower Master.

The mages who had ranked above her had all been involved with the Church of Grimnir. This was confirmed information obtained from interrogating the Archbishop of the institutional diocese.

Those four high mages had secretly received massive funding from the Church of Grimnir and, in return, had been leaking imperial tower secrets.

When Floheta finally learned the truth as she watched her superiors being dragged away by the Royal Guard, she could only laugh bitterly.

“No wonder. While I’m gathering research funds by hunting monsters and exploring dungeons, I wondered how those who never leave the tower were making so much money.”

It was infuriating for Floheta. She couldn’t produce research results because she lacked funds, and she lacked time for research because she was busy traveling to earn money.

That’s why she remained perpetually ranked fifth.

Meanwhile, the mages above her had been selling state secrets to fund their research. How absurd it must have seemed to her.

—-

In any case, Leopold, who had to face his reflection in the mirror every morning while preparing his appearance, finally decided after much deliberation to wear a wig.

If he had a wrinkled appearance, a bald head might have lent him a certain dignity, but with a face that looked only in its mid-twenties, baldness just made him look ridiculous.

And that was how Leopold came to wear a wig.