Chapter 195: Divine Presence (1)
The emperor had decided to negotiate with the Order of the Divine Body, an ascetic group said to be able to manipulate a mysterious energy called mana. He was fully prepared for this meeting.
The emperor had dismissed all the nobles who were just deadweight and filled their empty seats with his capable subjects.
A large table for negotiations was placed in the middle of the grand hall, and behind the emperor’s seat at the head of the table stood several dozen bodyguards with their weapons at the ready.
Having already suffered a serious injury once before, the emperor had greatly increased his number of guards, perhaps even excessively so.
With all the preparations complete, the signal flare was fired off.
Swish, boom!
The signal flare exploded, leaving white smoke billowing in the air. How long had passed?
Light exploded through the grand hall, and two figures descended from within it.
“Did you summon us, Your Majesty?”
Louis emerged with a cheerful grin, while Pablo, bewildered by being dragged along, followed behind.
However, Pablo also noticed the surroundings and composed himself accordingly.
The Emperor observed them and remarked, “Your skills become more astonishing by the day. Is space movement as effortless as it seems?”
“Of course not, Your Majesty. All this is made possible by the divine power bestowed upon me by the Pantheon. It is a blessing reserved only for those who truly believe.”
Pablo inwardly scoffed at Louis’s audacious lies but kept his thoughts to himself.
As Louis answered the Emperor’s question, he approached the long table. “May I ask if this is my place?”
“Indeed, take a seat.”
“Pleasant enough, I say.”
“One thing, though,” the Emperor continued, “I’ve been meaning to ask… When did the title of ‘Priest’ come to exist within your Order?”
“It has always been here. I have merely been waiting for the right moment.”
“Is that true?”
“Why would I bother to lie?”
Seated across from the emperor, Louis exchanged brief remarks while scanning their surroundings.
Noting that his guards had increased several-fold compared to last time, he couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
“Hmm… you seem quite prepared.”
“Every detail must be attended to when matters of great importance are at hand.”
“Let’s not waste any breath this time around and get down to brass tacks immediately. By sending us the signal, you’re agreeing to my terms, correct?”
“Of course.”
“Shall we discuss the specifics? Your Imperial Majesty wishes for these monsters to be eliminated and for order to be restored, yes?”
“That is why this meeting has been convened.”
“And you’re willing to pay us one hundred million gold as compensation?”
“That is no issue. However, there is one problem.”
“What might that be?”
“One hundred million gold is an astronomical sum. Even for an empire, it’s not something that can be paid out immediately.”
No matter how much the military budget had ballooned, the Empire was still an Empire. One hundred million gold might be a vast sum, but if they scraped together every available resource, there was no reason they couldn’t foot the bill. However, doing so would leave the Empire wide open. They’d have no money on hand to run the country, let alone enough to raise an army to quash the rebellion in the western sector. As such, the Empire simply couldn’t come up with one hundred million gold on the spot.
Of course, Louis was well aware of this.
“So you’d like to pay in installments?”
“That’s correct.”
“Well, I’m sure there are extenuating circumstances. Very well. I agree to installment payments. But!”
“But?”
“I’ll have to charge some interest.”
“Interest… How much do you require?”
“Twenty percent,” Louis declared.
Darius, the Prime Minister standing beside the Emperor, let out a furious cry the moment Louis’s words hung in the air. “Preposterous! An annual interest rate of twenty percent?!?”
Louis retorted sullenly to the outburst, “What are you on about? Who said anything about an annual rate? I said twenty percent monthly!”
”…?!”
The Prime Minister’s face drained of all color at this successive shock. Behind him, Pablo, observing the scene, wore an expression that screamed, This is some bold-faced thievery right here!
On the other hand, the Emperor’s face hardened ever so slightly, but he remained unmoved. He glared menacingly at Louis before opening his mouth. “A monthly interest rate of twenty percent… That’s excessive.”
“Is it now?”
“There’s no way we can agree to such terms.”
“Fine. Consider the first month interest-free. I’m being awfully generous, you know?”
“Forgiving interest for the first month is the most favorable piece of news I’ve heard today, but even then, I cannot agree to a monthly interest rate of 20%.”
“Hrmm… I have been trying to accommodate His Majesty’s circumstances, yet you remain remarkably uncooperative.”
“Uncooperative? Me?”
“It seems you have some misunderstanding… At present, Other World Co. is the only viable solution for the Empire, isn’t that correct?”
”…”
“If Your Majesty continues this uncooperative stance, we shall have no choice but to withdraw.”
The Emperor glared at Louis, his anger flaring as Louis’s words proved true. Struggling to suppress his rising fury, the Emperor exhaled a sigh mixed with exasperation.
“Five percent monthly interest.”
“Nineteen percent”
“Ten percent”
“Eighteen percent, how about that?”
“Twelve percent. If you refuse this too, I’m afraid the urgency of my situation notwithstanding, this negotiation will be treated as if it never happened.”
“Let’s go with twelve percent!”
In the end, they settled on a vague twelve percent monthly interest rate. Even then, Louis couldn’t help but smile broadly.
I got an extra two percent!
For him, even ten percent on one hundred million gold was an astronomical amount of money. Since he had initially asked for twenty percent when he only wanted ten, he considered this negotiation to be a win for himself.
“Very well. I’ll draft the contract accordingly. But… ”
”…?”
“Are you absolutely sure your men can handle that group of monsters?”
“I believe I demonstrated the equipment’s capabilities last time, don’t you recall?”
“At that time, I merely halted their assault for a short while. What I desire now is the complete eradication of those monsters.”
“You have my solemn promise to see to it that the beasts are completely destroyed.”
“How can I trust such an assurance?”
Under the prince’s cool, scrutinizing gaze, Louis shrugged nonchalantly.
“Then put it in the contract. If I fail to eliminate those monsters, I’ll pay you a penalty fee of two hundred million gold.”
“And you have that much gold on hand?”
“If not, I’ll become your slave for life and work to pay off the debt.”
“Is your worth as a slave truly two hundred million gold?”
“Shall I offer my life instead, then?”
“That’s not a bad alternative.”
“Now that I’ve made things this clear, Your Majesty must reciprocate with certainty.”
“What do you mean?”
“I believe I mentioned this last time. The return of the sacred item stolen from our order and appropriate compensation for the wrong done. Pray tell…are you still denying the Empire’s involvement?”
”…”
“We don’t ask for much. The return of the sacred item and a suitable compensation would suffice.”
”…”
The Emperor grimaced at Louis’s accusatory stare.
Samuel… you son of a bitch.
Samuel had been so confident when they devised the plan. He’d insisted they’d never be caught. By the time the priest realized what had happened, it would be too late. Yet somehow, this leader was convinced the Empire was behind the theft of their sacred item.
With a weary sigh, the emperor finally acknowledged his misdeeds. ”…For that, I am truly sorry.”
Louis’s face lit up at the emperor’s admission. “It took me quite some time to piece everything together due to how meticulously you planned and executed your scheme.”
“How on earth did you uncover the truth?”
“That’s my secret to guard.”
As the emperor glared at Louis’s beaming face, a thought flashed through his mind:
If he knew it was us who stole their sacred relic… why has he remained silent until now?
And why had Louis chosen to confront him only at this juncture? The timing seemed impeccable, which naturally aroused the emperor’s suspicions.
“Let me ask you this just to be certain… The Order wasn’t involved with these monsters, was it?”
The emperor scrutinized Louis’s expression with keen eyes. Louis’s face instantly froze, and he furrowed his brow as he spoke, his voice tinged with anger and a sense of injustice.
“Y-You… Do you realize that what you’re saying is insulting to my order? We are the Church of the Whole—the sword of judgment against evil—and yet you equate us with monsters!”
“I’m merely pointing out the awkward coincidence of the situation.”
“Let me assure you, on my honor as a priest of God, that this matter has nothing to do with our order.”
Pablo, observing this scene unfold, couldn’t help but mentally applaud Louis’s performance.
Even a fake priest can put on such a convincing act.
It hit him just how far he still needed to go in his own abilities.
Well, it’s not like we’re actually serving any god, so why can’t we say whatever we want?
Of course, that was Fabro’s perspective.
The emperor was completely oblivious to this fact.
He was taken in by Louis’s act.
“I feel slightly wronged. The perpetrator has already passed away, so why are you castigating us? You accuse a priest who was serving God of conspiring with monsters…”
“Hmm… I misspoke.”
“I accept your apology. However, let’s make one thing clear.”
“What do you mean?”
“You must surely hand over the sacred object of our faith, and as compensation for this affair, you should provide some form of reparation.”
“What kind of reparation do you desire? Let me say in advance, monetary compensation is no longer possible.”
“It’s not about monetary compensation. We merely request that you officially recognize our order’s missionary activities within the Empire.”
“Missionary activities?”
“We seek to spread the Pantheon’s teachings throughout the Empire. Of course, our efforts will in no way bring harm. As you know, the core of our doctrine is dedicated to eradicating evil.”
The Emperor glanced sidelong at his Prime Minister, a question in his gaze. The Prime Minister nodded, confirming the truth of Louis’s words. This unexpected turn earned him a surprised look from the Emperor.
“Is that truly all you require?”
“As the First Priest of the Pantheon, there could be no greater reward.”
”…Very well. I will have that included in the contract as well.”
“An excellent choice indeed,” Louis said with a broad smile.
Following this, the details were ironed out and the contract was drafted. Two identical copies of the agreement were prepared, each stamped with the seal of the Dominion Empire’s imperial family and the mark of the religious order Louis had hastily concocted.
As they exchanged these mirror-image contracts, the heavy tension that had hung over the Great War’s negotiations finally began to dissipate.
The Emperor turned to Louis. “Then, as we’ve agreed, rid us of those monsters soon. Do you need any time to prepare?”
“No, there’s no need for that.”
“Good.”
“Why drag it out? I’ll take care of them tomorrow right away.”
“Tomorrow… right away?” the emperor asked.
Louis rose from his seat at the emperor’s question. “If you’re not busy, why not come and watch? Tomorrow at dawn, by the east wall of the islet.”
His words had barely left his lips when Louis and Pablo were engulfed in light and disappeared as quickly as they had arrived.
”…”
The emperor and the other nobles of the Empire watched them go, dumbstruck.
After a moment, the emperor rose and spoke to the Master Guard who accompanied him. “Make preparations.”
“You intend to go?”
“Don’t you want to see? How that Priest will drive off the monster, and what this ‘miracle’ the people speak of is all about.”
”…”
“Moreover, leaving that aside… I wanted to see for myself where the boundless arrogance of that insolent fool was coming from…”
“Your Majesty… Although the monster’s attacks are currently dormant, it is still dangerous outside.”
“It is your duty to protect me from those dangers.”
”…Understood.”
The Head of the Royal Guard bowed his head at the Emperor’s command.
Time flowed like water.
Dusk had passed, and the first light of dawn was beginning to creep over the horizon.
The carriage carrying the Emperor headed towards the eastern wall of the islet.
They had no idea what sight awaited them beyond.
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