Paladin of the Dead God - Chapter 258



Only Krnovel

Subject Here – Episode 258. Horseshoes and Gunpowder (1)

“The Paladin cut off the merchant’s head at the top of the Golden Idol!!”

Isaac wasn’t the only one concerned about and trying to control the madness of the sect.

The representative figure was the Baltic Emperor, who was responsible for the dignity of the empire, the authority of the empire, the greatness of the empire, and most importantly, the livelihood of the empire.

Up until now, he has been trying to somehow undermine the authority of the church and regain some of that authority.

But lately, the church has been more inclined to try to keep the empire from strangling it.

“What on earth are you going to do? You’re going to cut off the head of a merchant from the Golden Idol Top Ranks instead of just another merchant?”

“It is said that the ship above was plundered by the Siero Dawn Army. However, a nearby paladin saw this and did nothing, so when he protested, the infuriated paladin decapitated the merchant… … .”

“That paladin’s head is just for decoration! Does he think that since it’s decoration, he can just knock other people’s heads on it? No, we already know that the paladins’ heads are empty, so even so, why would the merchant complain to the authorities instead of the religious order… …”

Baltzemer’s face turned red and he became angry, but when he saw his servants around him sweating with suffocating expressions, his anger stopped. He realized that his horn was burning brightly and that his servants were struggling under the heat.

Baltzemer rarely shows his emotions to the point of using his horns. This is because he does not like his emotions to be completely revealed to others, regardless of whether it is a nuisance to those around him or not.

But this incident shook his emotions. Normally, he would have kept his emotions to himself, but with similar incidents happening several times recently, his patience was already at its limit.

Baltsemer stood up, leaning on the conference table, and began to walk slowly around. The courtiers attending the meeting were horrified to see the emperor walking behind them, and it was hard to breathe, but he was not a madman who would stab his courtiers to death in anger.

There was someone else he wanted to stab to death.

“… … Pope.”

Baltzemer suddenly muttered.

“Does His Holiness have any comment on this matter? He must have heard the report before I did.”

“… … I heard it from our priest.”

The commander of the Imperial Knights, who was in charge of the information department, opened his mouth cautiously.

“They asked how much gold coins were on the ship.”

Baltzemer burst out laughing.

His subjects were worried that the horn would burst into flames again, but the emperor did not explode in anger.

Baltsemer laughed heartily, killed the Pope in his mind about fifteen times, and then regained his composure with a kind and calm mind.

“Pay your respects to the Golden Idol and promise to pay sufficient compensation for the plundered cargo and condolence money for the dead merchants. What was on board the ship?”

“Fortunately, it wasn’t anything expensive, just wheat and barley.”

Baltsemer nodded and was about to move on, but something suddenly occurred to him and he asked back.

“Wheat and barley? The incident occurred in the port of Lefis. In the southeastern part of the empire. Didn’t you say there was a crop failure there?”

“yes.”

Baltzemer instinctively guessed the situation. Perhaps the Golden Idols were trying to sell food at a high price in the Lehuis region, which was starving due to crop failures. Or perhaps they had scraped together what little they had harvested and supplied it regardless of the crop failures.

But at that moment, the Siero Dawn Army was there.

Whether they had demanded a bribe or a more reasonable price, the gold idol merchant would have been angry. Eventually, the indignant Siero Dawn Army beat the merchant down and looted him.

Was it really only the Dawn Army that participated in the looting? It is highly likely that local residents also joined in.

The paladin residing in that area would have deliberately ignored the situation. After all, the paladin order is a neighbor who has ties with the local residents. However, the merchant became angry at the paladin and insulted him until… … he was cut off.

‘Fuck.’

I don’t know the truth.

Subject Here – This is just a guess based on the circumstances and common sense. Honestly, I don’t feel like blaming anyone. As a result, all that was left were the plundered ships and the severed heads of merchants, so I am solely responsible for the results.

Besides, if you cut off the merchant’s head because you don’t like it, who will go to sell food even if there is a crop failure in the port of Lefis later?

‘The problem is the crazy Pope who led the Dawn Army in this way in the first place.’

Baltsemer eventually decided that the Pope was the source of the problem.

Just as all the poverty of the empire is the fault of the emperor, isn’t the poverty of the conscience of the faithful also the responsibility of the pope? And honestly, even if he didn’t know the nature of the local paladin who had beheaded the merchant, Baltsemer knew the nature of the pope.

He decided to take out the knife in his heart that he had always kept in his heart but had never dared to take out.

He walked around the conference room table and returned to his seat. Sitting down again, the Emperor tapped a piece of paper on one side with his fingertips.

It was a document that Isolde had researched and compiled about a bishop.

Bishop Katin Rachel.

He was a cardinal candidate that the emperor had in mind.

“When is the cardinal election?”

“You said you would proceed as quickly as possible, so it should definitely be done within this month… … .”

Baltsemer nodded. He decided to focus all his energy on this cardinal election. It was of course important to make the Dawn Army a success. However, for the Empire to survive after the Dawn Army, the Pope had to die. And the Emperor wanted to bring that time forward if possible.

‘If I have to elect a new Pope… … I must first get at least two of the cardinals on my side.’

Thump, thump, thump.

Just as Baltsemer was making his tough decision, someone suddenly knocked on the conference room door. Baltsemer frowned, but interrupting the royal meeting meant that it was important news. Soon, the door opened and a pale-faced messenger came in.

“Your Majesty. In the church… … .”

“What happened at the church? Did the paladin cut off another merchant’s head?”

Baltzemer was prepared not to be surprised, but the messenger’s next words made him jump to his feet.

“They say the church is invading the Olkan discipline!”

***

“Olkan discipline? The Olkan discipline has moved?”

Isaac asked the refugee with a surprised expression.

The Isacre territory was teeming with refugees who had suddenly arrived from the east. Most of them were from Soer, east of the territory. Isaac had no problem feeding them, as he had just about harvested and had stockpiled a lot of food, but the problem was that the Olkan regulations were in motion.

“Yes. There have been frequent reports of border principalities being plundered by orcish nomad hordes, and of sightings of groups of at least a hundred.”

The refugee muttered in a voice filled with despair.

“I heard that there was a story about a teacher who provoked the school’s discipline. Is that true?”

“I’m hearing this for the first time. Why is the Olkan Discipline so far from the Holy Land?”

“I don’t know either. If not, then it must have been a group of beggars who took the wrong path and did something crazy. They even beheaded the Golden Idol Merchant, so what else would they not do?”

Isaac nodded absentmindedly at those words.

I had already heard from Catelyn that the paladin had beheaded the head of the Golden Idol. If the beggar Dawn Army had harmed the merchant, they would have retaliated in a covert and undisclosed manner, but if the opponent was a paladin, it would have been an awkward problem for them as well.

But Isaac was strange no matter how much he thought about it.

‘There is no benefit to be gained by messing with the Olkan rules.’

This orc nomad band began hundreds of years ago, when a prophet named Olkan led all the orcs to the east. There are humans, but the majority are orcs. It is located on the edge of the continent, almost on the edge, so it has little history with the Empire.

Although they belong to the Black Empire due to differences in faith, just as the Undead Cult treats fleshy beings as inferior beings suffering from base desires, the Olkan Discipline also considers the undead as pitiful and weak beings whose souls are trapped in their bones.

Because of this, the solidarity of the alliance is not that strong. To put it simply, it is similar to the awkward relationship between the Gertonia Empire and the Ellir Kingdom.

To drag them into war by touching such strict discipline is no different from saying that the religious order voluntarily sentenced the Yeomyeong Army to death.

Subject Here – No matter how foolish the sect was, it was unlikely that they would do it on purpose. From the beginning, the Olkan Discipline was planning to commit large-scale plunder, and it was more likely that they launched an attack using the influx of Siero Dawn troops as an excuse.

“It doesn’t matter whether Siero’s Dawn Army did something stupid or the Olkan Discipline just made excuses and couldn’t change their old habits.”

Given the situation where the Dawn Army was right in front of them, it was impossible to think that the Olkan Discipline had come for a temporary pillage. There is a record in history that the Olkan Discipline came right up to Ultenheim and pillaged.

“Jacklet, prepare for battle immediately. First, we must go to Soeur and assess the situation. Request support from Lenheim and Count Richard. When requesting support from Lenheim, meet with the Rottenhammer Commander of the Brient Knights in person and ask for it. Then, send a message to Marquis Delia Lyon in the center that the Grail Knights need your help.”

Since Isaac heard the news through the refugees, the center must have already received information. The specific size of the enemy, the area of ​​damage, and even the reason for the conflict.

Perhaps the Imperial forces would already be on the move before his request for assistance even arrived.

‘Unless the Emperor has already received the sect’

***

Isaac flew up first on Nel, asking for support from those around him.

There might be important people who need to be rescued, so only Hesabel was accompanying them. It was already early evening, and the sun had set, but even before they reached Soer, flames were already visible here and there. The Olkan discipline likes to set fire after pillaging. It is a kind of ‘ritual of their own’.

‘The orcs are right.’

When we think of orcs, we usually think of a savage, marauding tribe, but in this world, the religiously inspired orcs of Olkan are a little different.

Although they are a savage raiding tribe, they are a practical raiding tribe with a considerable amount of system.

‘Hesabel, have you seen the orcs?’

‘Yes? I’ve seen it a few times… …but I’ve never sucked blood.’

‘You’ve never fought before?’

‘yes.’

‘Don’t get close, just shoot your arrows, and keep moving while fighting.’

Hesabel was puzzled by Isaac’s strange warning, but he took it to heart. Soon Isaac was flying low, and the view of Soer came into view.

The city of Soeru was already on the verge of collapse, with flames everywhere. However, many soldiers were still guarding the city hall.

But Isaac knew that it wouldn’t last long.

‘The wall… … .’

Hesabel looked surprised at the traces of destruction all over the walls. It was the kind of destruction that could only be a miracle. However, it was not Olkan’s miracle.

When you think of nomads, you might expect barbarians with no means of attacking walled cities, but these orcs had a means that even the empire did not yet possess.

At that moment, the orcs came out in front of the city hall, dragging something. Isaac groaned briefly as the expected object was revealed.

It was a cannon.

The orcs grinned and shouted at the soldiers occupying the city hall.

“Release!”

Boom! With a loud bang, dozens of stones splintered into pieces and hit the city hall. The largest of them tore through the flimsy door of the city hall and the soldier behind it.

Hesabel was astonished at the sight.

‘What the heck is that?’

‘It’s a cannon. It’s part of the knowledge that Olkan stole from the gods.’

The Olkan Code, which symbolizes a single chain, does not live up to its name in that it emphasizes only one discipline.

Be free, especially not be bound by gods.

The contradictory doctrine that faith should not be bound by faith was the philosophy and discipline that permeated the Orcs. So Isaac decided to give them a chance to become even more free.

As Nell began her low-altitude flight, a crackling sound echoed through the air.

The moment the orcs looked up at the sky belatedly and shouted something, lightning burst out from Nell’s mouth.

The gunpowder piled up precariously exploded, scattering the orcs in all directions.