Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 226



Only Krnovel

Episode 226. Earth for Man, Heaven for God (2)

The events that followed were so hectic that Isaac couldn’t even grasp them properly.

As the crowd cheered, he went up to the palace escorted by knights, chatted with old men with various titles, the emperor came out and patted him on the shoulder, and before he knew it, Isaac was sitting in the waiting room with Isolde.

“… … You’re crazy.”

“That’s right. I even rehearsed, but I feel like I just went with the flow.”

Isolde also muttered with a somewhat tired look.

“But what brings you here? The Duke said you were an Inquisitor, no, you were supposed to be guarding the Brandt Estate.”

“… … You find it surprising that I’m here, Isaac?”

Isolde smiled and whispered.

“If your pet has been neglected for months and you don’t even see its face and it wanders off somewhere else, shouldn’t you go and check on it?”

Isaac felt stung by Isolde’s words and tried to make excuses. But she burst into laughter and patted Isaac on the shoulder.

“I’m joking. His Majesty the Emperor called me too. I’m sure my father knew about it, and he probably wanted to surprise me.”

“… … .”

Isaac felt the urge to hit the back of Dietrich’s head with that good-looking face, but he barely suppressed it with his inner Confucian personality. He was more concerned about Isolde’s words.

The Emperor would not have asked the Duke’s heir to come that far just to give Isaac a surprise gift.

“Why does His Majesty the Emperor… … .”

“Well, I heard you had some kind of special investigation organization in mind. You suggested that I join the expedition, using my experience from when I worked at the Inquisition.”

Isaac’s expression hardened.

A special investigation organization? That means they’re going to create something like the Inquisition under the Emperor. And while this might have a lot of power, it’s a position that’s perfect for getting cursed at.

They are trying to entrust a similar task to Isolde, who has seen all sorts of bad things while working as an Inquisitor.

And in the first place, the Emperor had no need to create a ‘new’ special audit organization or intelligence agency. The Imperial Knights were already performing similar roles. Nevertheless, to appoint a new special audit organization, and Isolde at that…

‘Are you really going to investigate the church?’

Isolde, the Inquisitor, knows many of the Church’s weaknesses.

The job of the Inquisition was to cover up such weaknesses. If the Emperor could expose the ‘corruption of the sect’ and reveal it to the people, he could undermine its authority and power without becoming hostile to the sect.

“Isolde, it would be better to decline that.”

“Because it’s like pointing a knife at the church?”

Isaac was taken aback by the fact that Isolde already knew. But it was something he couldn’t back down from.

Exposing the corruption of the sect is not just a matter of being cursed at by insiders, but can actually lead to death. There are many powerful people within the sect, and the Inquisitors are particularly skilled at assassination and information manipulation.

Isolde could have been murdered by her former comrades.

“Isaac, I know what you’re worried about. But that’s why I have to do it. No, I asked to do it. The only daughter of the Brandt Duke, a former member of the Inquisition, and… …the companion of the Resurrection Saint. Who else could do it?”

“no…….”

Isolde blushed a little at the last modifier, but she still spoke confidently.

“Do you remember what I told you at the Isaacrea estate?”

Isaac was speechless. Only then did Isaac remember that she was a hard-core radical reformer. In the Isacre domain, Isolde had not judged Isaac a heretic after seeing his tentacles.

I only judged Isaac based on his results, actions, and character.

“I judged you to be a messenger sent by the Light Code to restore the broken order.”

“… … That’s right.”

Isolde still knows Isaac’s secret, but she keeps it a secret from him, hoping that he will bring reform to the church she loves.

Isolde gripped Isaac’s hand tightly.

“If other people did it, they might not be able to last long. But I know what the Inquisition is up to. There’s no one else who can do it.”

“ha…….”

Isaac let out a deep sigh. Even back in the realm, he had thought that if he got involved with this crazy inquisitor, he could be in big trouble.

But since they were already tied together so tightly, Isaac had no choice but to cheer her on.

But more than anything, he also wanted to see the image of faith that Isolde portrayed.

The ‘world governed by the order of light’ he desires is a world filled with the warmth of the hearth and the light shining on crops. It is not a world where people are burned at the stake and where they prostrate themselves under the flash of light that they dare not look at.

Perhaps that world could not have been created by anyone other than Isolde.

“Okay, but I have a favor to ask.”

“Please?”

“We haven’t gotten married yet, but it’s natural for a couple to be worried. Please trust me and allow me to take the minimum steps to protect you.”

Isolde seemed oblivious to what Isaac was talking about.

Isaac knew that what he was doing would be a fatal threat to Isolde’s faith, but he did not want to leave his companion defenseless before the savage teeth and claws of the cult.

Isaac wanted to make the world that Isolde envisioned come true.

To do that, the existing world had to be demolished.

***

After a long wait, Isaac was finally able to enter the Emperor’s office.

As soon as the door opened, the dwarves who had come in grumbled and left. Isaac was surprised to see that they were the braziers of the World Brazier Cult.

‘The Brazier? Looks like you’ve decided to join the Brazier Sect of the world!’

I heard that an envoy was sent to that side as well, and judging by the fact that even the brazier craftsman joined, he seemed to be a very capable person. As expected of a space frequented by braziers, the Emperor’s office was filled with documents that had just been signed in a jumble, as well as ominous weapons that did not match.

“Isaac!”

Baltsemer welcomed Isaac with open arms the moment he saw him. However, he soon felt embarrassed when he saw the rolling weapons and roughly arranged them against the wall.

“I’m sorry. The quality of the equipment delivered to the knights was below expectations, so I had to hurry. I’m not one of those people who can keep you waiting.”

“It seems that the World’s Brazier Sect has also decided to join the Dawn Army?”

“Well, the Marquis of Lyon did a good job. It was expensive, but the fact that I could pay for the furnace craftsmen was already a great gain.”

Isaac thought of Wolsten, happily hammering away at the Archangel sculpture in the Isacre domain. He hadn’t seen him in a long time, and he hoped he had made enough progress in his research. Sooner or later, he would be forced to do the outsourced work that Isaac asked of him.

But Baltsemer’s expression was not good.

Isaac thought for a moment and realized that what he was saying was incoherent.

“It was made by the world’s best brazier, but the quality is below expectations?”

“Yes. I may not be talented at swordsmanship, but I am confident in my eye for weapons. I have produced some weapons that are somewhat usable, but the weapons I desire are not ‘somewhat usable’ weapons. Especially compared to the amount of gold and silver I paid for them, they are no different from theft.”

So it seems that they made a claim about the quality of the delivered product. As a result, the furnace craftsmen went away with a sour look on their face. Only ill-tempered dwarves would be able to make such an expression in front of the emperor.

Isaac walked over to the equipment that was standing on the wall and examined it. It was a product with good balance, even weight, and a sharp edge. It was a weapon that even a knight could carry around without any regrets.

“What item did you request… … .”

“Well, I requested a relic that would be enough to fight a paladin. But I gave them a bit of an urgent deadline, so they brought something like this.”

“… … .”

Isaac kept his mouth shut. After all, the furnace craftsmen were capable of making relics of other faiths. It was necessary for a priest to grant a miracle to finish it, but it was certainly a powerful relic even without a miracle. However, Isaac was curious about the Emperor’s ‘intention’ in requesting the relic.

Baltzemer snickered when he saw Isaac’s face.

“Why, if you say it’s a weapon that can stand against a knight, do you think they’d attack the sect? I never even dreamed of such a thing.”

“I heard that you are not on good terms with the church.”

“The blind men of the church try to blind me, but my faith remains strong.”

Although he spoke politely, for someone of the status of the Emperor to say something like that is no different from saying out loud, “All the Vatican bastards should go out and die.”

“Don’t take it too seriously. As you know, the sect is not cooperating properly with the Dawn Army. There is a high probability that they will not cooperate properly on the battlefield either, so we should find a way to fight the undead of the Undead Sect among ourselves. We can’t face the Death Knights or Liches without any defenses, right?”

The only way for a commoner to deal with a paladin or priest is if he himself is a saint like Baltzemer, or if he possesses a holy relic, even if it is insignificant. And Baltzemer seems to have planned something like ‘mass distribution of holy relic weapons’.

However, the craftsman-minded braziers failed to meet the expectations of ‘mass production and low prices’, which were essential elements of military supplies.

‘This is something I can’t do anything about.’

It is up to the emperor to either give up or for the furnace craftsmen to go their separate ways.

“Well, that’s not the point. Would you like to hear about the achievements made in the Kingdom of Elril?”

“Haven’t you already been informed?”

“Did I needlessly delay my schedule like this? It was because I wanted to hear the exciting story of your achievements in the Kingdom of Elril directly from your own lips. By the way, your schedule is the last one on the schedule for today, so there is plenty of time.”

Baltsemer leaned back on the sofa as if to tell me to hurry up and solve the story.

Isaac opened his mouth, laughing in disbelief.

***

“… … Only then was I able to see his true sword. I don’t know how to describe it. It was like the shock of a falling star.”

“Huh, indeed, the nicknames ‘God of War and King’ are not without merit.”

Baltsemer listened to Isaac’s words with constant admiration. He thought that some kind of political discussion would take place, but Baltsemer was really interested in Isaac’s story. Even Dietrich was preoccupied with how Isaac would use the achievements he had made in the Kingdom of Elril for political and diplomatic purposes.

But Isaac was able to tell a detailed story with considerable immersion thanks to this passionate listener. Of course, he kept the stories about the gods and swords that Elril whispered a secret. There was no way to know how far the ambitious emperor would go if he heard such stories.

And of course, there were comments like, “I resemble my daughter.”

“Fortunately, Elril acknowledged my sword and appointed me as a great warrior. Thanks to that, I was able to gain the recognition of the Elril Kingdom and join the Dawn Army.”

“Oh, then is the sword you brought in the car the holy sword Kachulin you received from Elril?”

Isaac was specially permitted to be armed when he met the Emperor. The Luaddin Key was a weapon belonging to the Paladin, so it could not be tampered with, and the same was true for Kachulainn, as it was a symbol of the Great Warrior of Elril. However, the fact that the Emperor was the most powerful being in the Empire probably played a part in this loose weapon restriction.

Thanks to this, no royal knight was able to stop Isaac when he drew his sword.

“Can I come and take a look?”

“Oh, of course.”

Isaac untied Cachulain and placed him on the table. Baltsemer instinctively reached out to examine the sword, but Isaac stopped him. The Pope would be pleased if the Emperor were to kill himself by stabbing himself in the neck, but Isaac still liked this tightrope walk.

“Be careful. The Holy Sword will pierce the neck of anyone who holds it unless he is chosen as its master.”

“Huh, it’s true that each holy sword has both holy power and a curse attached to it.”

Baltzemer looked at Kachulain with regret. He was an unmanned man, but he seemed to have a great desire for weapons. However, the spear he held was also a sacred relic of considerable quality. After finishing his observation, Isaac put Kachulain back into his scabbard.

A satisfied smile appeared on Baltsemer’s lips.

“Seeing that makes me feel like I can once again declare myself the Emperor of Baekje. Delia Lyon did well in the Svanbar Archipelago, but not as well as you.”

“… … If you are thinking of an alliance, it would be best for you not to show your arrogance. It would be better to make it so that the young people think of His Majesty the Emperor in that way.”

“Of course. That’s something to do after the end of the Dawn Army. For now, let’s start with internal reorganization.”

Internal cleanup? Isaac looked at Baltsemer cautiously.

Baltzemer has now gained the cooperation of the Baekje Empire, that is, the Ellil Kingdom and the World’s Brazier Church. This means that even if he starts ‘cleaning up’ the Light Code Church from now on, there will be no force that can restrain him.

The Immortal Order is always on the defensive, never sending troops to invade.

“I am thinking of nominating Cardinal Juan Riard as the new pope.”