Meeting of the Bigwigs

Lately, Oswell had been racking his brain quite a bit.

From long ago, the Eyes of Dawn, hiding in the shadows cast behind the Empire’s sun, had been secretly gnawing away at the country, and now they were slowly revealing themselves and beginning their full-scale uprising.

Because of that, he had launched a large-scale investigation into the Moon Church, which was said to be connected to the Eyes of Dawn, and secretly inspected several families, trying to find as many clues about them as possible.

But there were no significant results.

“Your Majesty, you don’t look well today. Were you unable to sleep peacefully last night?”

“I’m sorry, Lord Valte. I’ve been worried about those bastards lately, so it seems it’s showing on my face.”

“Why do you apologize? It’s not your fault, Your Majesty, but the leeches that are gnawing away at the Empire are the problem.”

Even at today’s meeting in the Imperial Palace, his worries seemed to show on his face, and several loyal subjects expressed their concern while checking on his condition.

Not all nobles had a high degree of loyalty to Oswell, but at least those attending this meeting were mostly figures belonging to the pro-Emperor faction.

From the start, the term “pro-Emperor faction” was awkward, as Oswell didn’t really like factions and wasn’t one to create them.

It was just that he had always cut off the buds of the leeches that defiled and parasitized the Empire, and many people, fascinated by his firm stance, began to swear allegiance to Oswell.

But the more upright a person is, the more enemies they have rather than allies.

“Your Majesty. I dare to say, though it may be presumptuous, it has already been a month since we started searching for those bastards. Yet, we still haven’t found a clue, so isn’t it time to take a break?”

“I think so too. Your Majesty. Complaints are slowly starting to come out even among the soldiers who are continuing the investigation.”

Although most of the attendees were pro-Emperor, there were also figures from the anti-Emperor faction who attended the meeting, taking today as an opportunity to change the Emperor’s mind.

Among them, the skinny, devious-looking man who spoke first was Lühert Kaufmann, the head of the Kaufmann family.

Following him, the greasy-looking, pot-bellied man who agreed with his words was Patro Monsley of the Monsley family.

They were two figures who could be called the representatives of the anti-Emperor faction, and they were the men who were busy gossiping behind the scenes when this large-scale investigation into the Eyes of Dawn continued.

Because of that, rumors that they were colluding with the Eyes of Dawn were quite rampant, and Oswell, upon hearing this news, sent secret inspectors to their families as well, but unfortunately, no tails were caught.

From the start, it was a difficult matter to be certain about.

The two had been nitpicking at his policies at every turn, even before Oswell began to implement strong measures against the Eyes of Dawn in earnest.

Perhaps even this time, they simply didn’t like Oswell himself, so they were just throwing a wrench into things like this.

In the end, it could be seen as a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg.

“Lord Kaufmann, Lord Monsley. How can you say such things!? Letting those rebel bastards who are defiling the Empire go is no different from the Empire’s prestige falling!”

And the man who always fought most fiercely against this anti-Emperor faction was this man, Kellick Valte.

“Hmph, how can Lord Valte interpret it that way? It’s just that, for the time being, there are no suitable clues, so it’s just a suggestion to take a break to finish the preparations.”

“That’s what I mean too. Surely, Lord Valte doesn’t think that the soldiers’ complaints are not even worth listening to?”

The two tried to slip away with snake-like, devious tongue-wagging, but Kellick slammed the desk, then desperately suppressed his anger because it was the Emperor’s presence, and raised his voice even louder.

The nonsense that these anti-Emperor faction bastards spewed was always a similar pattern.

By using those who were relatively likely to be marginalized, such as soldiers or commoners, as an excuse, they shook the Emperor’s mind and nitpicked as if there were corners that he had failed to look into.

Of course, Kellick also never thought that looking after them was a bad thing.

It’s just that he was angry because it was such an obvious trick.

“Don’t nitpick! From the start, there was a promise to compensate the soldiers who accompanied this investigation afterward, and only those who volunteered took on the mission! How much could their complaints be? Or should I personally go and ask the soldiers?”

Currently, he has retired from active duty and is only focusing on managing his family, but even so, Kellick was once recommended to the Emperor and served as the commander of the Imperial Guard directly under the Imperial Family.

That’s why he was closer to the soldiers than anyone else, and it wasn’t that difficult for him to talk to them openly.

If someone else had said these words, the two would have again nitpicked, saying, ‘How could a soldier honestly reveal their inner feelings in front of their superior?’

But since Kellick, of all people, said these words, they had no choice but to avoid his gaze and cough dryly.

“Keuheem…!”

“W-Well, then it seems we heard the rumors wrong. I am sorry, Your Majesty.”

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.”

Still, their pride was hurt to the point where they couldn’t bring themselves to apologize to Kellick, so they only apologized for interrupting Oswell’s words and took a step back.

Just like that, the atmosphere, which was like walking on thin ice, eased for a moment, and just when it seemed like the meeting would continue as before.

Kuung─!

“Who is it! How dare you barge in here without notice where His Majesty is!”

The door to the huge conference room, which was about twice the size of an average adult man, opened with a violent sound, and the man sitting closest to the door rebuked the soldier who had rushed in.

The soldier also knew that he was at fault, and even while panting, he saluted and quickly apologized.

“I-I’m sorry! It’s just that two guests wish to see Your Majesty!”

“Hmm?”

Upon hearing those words, a look of bewilderment appeared on Oswell’s face.

After all, there was no one who could suddenly come to see him, the supreme ruler of the Empire and the Emperor, without even making an appointment.

And even if such a person did appear, most of them would be sent back with the excuse that he was in the middle of official duties.

But even though two such people had appeared, instead of issuing an order to expel them, he had hurriedly run into the conference room to deliver the news.

From there, Oswell sensed something was strange.

‘Could it be?’

Then, he recalled several requests he had made to his subordinates earlier and widened his eyes, jumping up from his seat.

The content was none other than that if a certain man came to find him, he should be brought to him even if it was the crack of dawn.

“I’m sorry. We’ll have to end today’s official meeting here.”

“Y-Your Majesty…?”

Oswell ignored his flustered retainers and quickly left the conference room.

In the middle of that, a question suddenly popped into his head.

‘He said two people, so who’s the other one?’

There was no one in particular that came to mind.

I guess I’ll just have to meet them.

＊＊＊

Oswell deliberately called the person he was supposed to meet not to the audience chamber, but to the terrace near his bedchamber.

The audience chamber was usually guarded by at least one retainer, so he was reluctant to have a secret conversation because there were ears listening.

In addition, his bedchamber and the terrace were surrounded by a complete shielding barrier that prevented anyone from seeing inside or hearing the conversations inside, so he could have a conversation with peace of mind.

Embarrassingly, it was originally a place he had created when he was secretly enjoying dates with his wife when they were in the midst of their romance because there was no place to enjoy secret trysts.

Now that it’s being used like this, should I say that it was worth the effort?

“Greetings to His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Your Majesty, I’m glad you seem to be well.”

“So it was you two. Please, have a seat.”

When the two people who had been suddenly called to an unexpected place appeared, Oswell greeted them with a bright smile of joy.

It was Kyle and Sylvia, who were involved in the incident that had taken place in the Imperial Palace last time and were also the biggest victims.

So that’s why they said two people were coming?

Oswell put aside his questions for a moment and personally guided the two people to their seats, going out barefoot to greet them.

“So, you said you wanted to meet me urgently. Did you find out anything?”

“Yes. Before that, there is someone I need to introduce… Would it be alright to call them here?”

“It doesn’t matter. I trust you.”

Normally, it would be quite rude to arbitrarily call someone who was not scheduled to be at the audience with the Emperor, but Oswell nodded as if he didn’t care.

In response, Kyle briefly concentrated his mind.

Oswell guessed that he was probably conveying words to someone in his mind through telepathy magic.

And whether that prediction was correct or not, before long, a man who appeared to be in his early 30s stepped onto the terrace.

Oswell tilted his head, about to express his question about the unfamiliar person.

Paaaat….

“……!?”

Soon, a small cluster of light bloomed from the man’s body, and fine wrinkles began to appear on the young man’s face.

The moment he finally witnessed his real face, Oswell uttered his identity in a low voice.

“…Are you not His Holiness the Pope?”

“I am sorry to visit you so suddenly, Your Majesty.”

He was none other than Theodoric, the Pope, who could be said to be the head of the Moon Church.