Ch.554Leopold’s Lament

Having regained the dignity of his wig, Leopold seated us on the office sofa and calmly asked about our recent activities.

He wanted us to explain in detail what we had done in the Holy State, what our intentions were, and what we had achieved.

He seemed to have already heard the publicly announced information, but appeared to know almost nothing about the unofficial circumstances that hadn’t been formally announced.

I summarized what had happened in the Holy State as briefly and accurately as possible.

“It’s mostly as the rumors say, except for the part about Ceylon. The story about my relationship with Ceylon is merely a false rumor we spread by mutual agreement. We needed to mend the conflict with the Church of Astraea that arose from the Arad incident, and I was also annoyed by the continuous mention of my succession issue, so we spread such rumors.”

“Hmm… I thought there must be some untold circumstances since it seemed unlikely that someone of your character would have a lover… but I never imagined it would be for such a reason.”

Leopold looked dumbfounded, as if wondering why I would choose to spread such rumors for that reason. It was a familiar reaction. Everyone who learned the truth had shown similar attitudes.

I had thought it was a brilliant idea when I did it, but was it really such a strange notion to people of this world?

—-

Given how much had happened, it took nearly ten minutes to explain everything, even though I summarized as much as possible.

I mainly talked about the enemies I had faced, while Lacy occasionally added supplementary explanations, mentioning political aspects I had skipped over.

“So… the Holy State has been normalized after losing half of its power, the Imperial Diocese has been officially recognized as independent from the Holy State’s policies, and the position of Saint has changed from the supreme authority of the entire Holy State to a representative of each church within the Holy State. Is my understanding correct?”

“That’s right.”

Leopold was correct.

The churches within the Holy State are governed by the Saints of each church, while the churches within the Empire operate under the control of the Archbishop General and the Imperial Archbishops, not the Holy State. That was the governance system Lacy had established through negotiations with the cardinals.

Since Lacy, the Saint of the Church of Elpinel, also held the position of Archbishop General, I wasn’t sure if the Imperial Diocese could truly be called an ‘independent’ organization… but in principle, the Holy State Diocese and the Imperial Diocese were completely separated.

“Somehow all three of us ended up coming to the Empire rather than staying in the Holy State.”

“…Three?”

Ah, I hadn’t mentioned that.

I tapped the upper part of the bandage covering the stigmata on my chest and revealed the highest secret of the Church of Astraea to the puzzled Leopold.

“I became a Saint. The Saint of Astraea, the Saint of Order.”

[Proof that this world has gone mad.]

Although Hersella mocked me, I didn’t bother to refute her since I shared the same thought. There was no point in arguing anyway.

“……”

Instead of answering, Leopold’s jaw dropped. He looked as if an axe had been embedded in the back of his head. I suspected he would have been less shocked if his dead mother had returned as an undead.

After being dazed for a while, Leopold seemed to snap back to reality just before drool could escape his mouth. He pulled his upper body forward and interrogated Lacy.

“…A Saint? Did you say a Saint? Is this true, Archbishop General Elmaine?”

His attitude suggested he couldn’t believe it at all.

“Yes. Cardinal Ehrnritter and I confirmed it. Astraea bestowed her stigmata upon Baron Median, appointing him as her earthly representative… an ‘Astika’ to convey her will.”

“Good heavens…”

Faced with an undeniable reality, all Leopold could do was lean deeply against the backrest and sigh.

“Doesn’t… doesn’t the Church of Astraea have priestesses?”

“They do.”

Although fewer compared to other churches, Bethania who followed me was herself a priestess of the Church of Astraea.

“Then why…?”

Well, how would I know? It was incomprehensible to me as well.

—-

Leopold, who had been dumbfounded by the unprecedented emergence of a battle Saint, only calmed down after draining the teacup on the table.

Rather than truly calming down, it seemed he had decided to stop thinking about it since it wouldn’t ultimately harm the Empire.

If there had been some principle that Saints must reside in the Holy State, he would probably be losing even his wig’s hair by now.

However, unfortunately for his scalp, the shocking news I had to deliver to him didn’t end there. I still had to tell him about Rotholandus’s warning and the story of Heaven’s Wall and the Holy Grail.

The heteromorphic races regaining their old powers, the emergence of monsters incomparably stronger than before, and even the revival of dragons.

Leopold’s face gradually hardened as he listened. I felt like I could hear the death throes of his hair follicles.

After a long silence, Leopold, with a complexion as dead as his hair roots, revealed a desperate look toward me and blurted out something unexpected.

“…Baron Median. Did you know? Your ancestor, Rotholandus’s birth mother Bertheia, was said to be Carlos the Great’s sister. It’s a secret history of the imperial family, so even I only learned of it after ascending to the throne, but it means that a tiny bit of Carlos’s imperial blood flows in your veins as well.”

…I didn’t know that. Rotholandus never told me such a story.

If that was true, it meant that while I wasn’t a direct descendant of Carlos, I was at least a relative.

“Oh… is that so?”

It was surprising, but the timing was so random that I was merely puzzled. I wondered why he suddenly brought this up.

Of course, I soon understood the reason.

“So, it would be no problem at all to transfer the imperial throne to you.”

“…Pardon?”

Because Leopold started nodding and spouting nonsense.

“Don’t you think? A descendant of Carlos passing the throne to another descendant of Carlos—this is truly a natural thing. Yes. Yes. There’s no problem at all. I will abdicate the throne and pass it to you.”

What do you mean no problem? There’s a limit to talking nonsense, why so suddenly…

“Think about it. Isn’t the reason for this chaos in the Empire due to my lack of virtue? That must be it. Otherwise, how can we explain why such things happen only during my reign? Even if we combined all the hardships experienced by previous emperors, they couldn’t compare to the trials now rushing toward me. Surely, the gods are rebuking me for ascending to the throne through a civil war between relatives. Therefore, shouldn’t a virtuous count like you, who has received the stigmata, become emperor and rule the Empire peacefully? Right? Say it’s right.”

Seeing him rambling like this, he seemed to have gone half-mad from stress and pressure.

“Um, Your Majesty Leopold? Let’s calm down first. Take a deep breath…”

I was simply bewildered. Leopold had broken down less than a year after becoming emperor. To the point of writing a resignation letter and quitting.

“How can I calm down! Both I and the Empire are already at our limits with what has happened so far, and you’re saying this is just the beginning? That we must prepare for attacks from monsters incomparably stronger than before and dragons that only appeared in old tales? Elpinel, why are you doing this to me…!”

Leopold literally started blaming the heavens. Certainly, as the ruler of the Empire, it was an enormous burden.

It was equivalent to a crisis at the level of Carlos’s era plus the threat of monsters, yet we didn’t even have six hero-level forces, let alone twelve, to stop it.

Still, I never expected him to try to dump it on me and run away.

[Hah, he might even start shedding tears at this rate. An emperor wailing and escaping reality—what a spectacle that would be, not to be seen even for a thousand gold coins.]

Hersella snickered with a hollow laugh. Even she found his reaction quite absurd.

Of course, I wasn’t in a position to snicker. I needed to somehow soothe Leopold before he completely regressed to infancy.

I asked Lacy to cast a miracle of mental stability on Leopold, then began to calm him down with all my heart and soul.

“Now, Your Majesty. Think positively, positively. It’s an incredibly serious matter, difficult to express in words, but isn’t it fortunate that we found out in advance? It’s a hundred, a thousand times better than having to face a dragon that suddenly appears. Whether dragons or monsters, if we prepare sufficiently, there’s no reason we can’t handle them. I’ll somehow defeat them all.”

Indeed, it was a much better situation than being ambushed without any preparation.

In the original story, the reason the empire was destroyed by a single earth dragon Nidhogg was because no one expected a dragon to emerge from beneath the imperial territory.

“Besides, it’s impossible for you to abdicate to me in the first place. Who in the Empire would approve of me ascending to the throne? All the nobles would rise in rebellion.”

Abdicating to me would truly be the shortest path to the Empire’s destruction. Rebellions would break out everywhere, and suppressing them would exhaust all the Empire’s resources.

Even if I were a noble—well, I am one, but anyway—if I were in the position of the subjects, I would have started a rebellion first if someone like me suddenly became emperor.

“Elpinel, Carlos… why do you bring such trials upon me…”

After desperate persuasion, Leopold finally accepted that there was no way to escape his responsibilities and let out a deep sigh. His hair roots also sighed, shedding hair like tears.