274. Operation Report: Wildfire
“I’m against it.”
The same words, repeated over and over, had been going on since around the 200th time without anyone keeping count. Fernandez no longer shrugged his shoulders and just walked silently.
“I’m against it. I’m against it. I’m against it.”
“……”
“I! Am! Against! It!!”
“……”
“Your Excellency!!”
Kirhas shouted, waving her hands in front of his face. When Fernandez finally turned his head, she puffed her cheeks, crossed her arms, and yelled.
“I won’t follow you!”
“Then stay and rest at the mansion.”
“Are you going to see that woman? Now? That’s absolutely not okay! Of course, I’ll follow you!”
“Then follow quietly. It’s a covert operation.”
“Hmph! Is there anyone in this city who doesn’t know our faces? Don’t you see them pretending not to know and just passing by?”
She was right. The citizens, upon recognizing their faces, turned pale and hurriedly bowed their heads, stepping aside.
Her identity as the Chieftain of the Beastman Nobles, and Fernandez’s identity as the Chief of Staff of the Federation of Nobles, had become public knowledge among the capital’s citizens. There was no stopping the rumors. Nor did they try to stop them.
Rumors grow stronger the more they are inflated. And power grows by feeding on the edge of a blade and fear. The capital’s citizens were terrified of the foreign invaders they were facing for the first time in the Empire’s history.
“It’s not just fear.”
“Right. There’s also disgust.”
“They’re foolish. If they can’t bite, they shouldn’t bare their fangs… That’s the characteristic of so-called civilized people. Those who have never been hurt because their fences are strong.”
Even though slavery had been abolished, beastmen were still openly traded as commodities. And in the eyes of the Empire’s citizens, the Beastman Nobles were nothing more or less than barbarians who had risen to power in troubled times.
Even though one Elector Duke had fallen due to the beastmen, and the most likely candidate for the next Emperor had joined hands with them, this fact remained unchanged. Kirhas’s eyes turned into those of the Chieftain. A cold aura emanated from her.
“Enough.”
-Thud.
Fernandez placed his hand on her head and whispered. For a moment, a dissatisfied growl echoed beneath his hand. It felt like controlling a beast. The chilling sensation of suppressing wildness and killing intent.
“So, I’m really against it, Your Excellency. Marrying the Emperor is no ordinary matter. It’s a lifetime of wearing a leash.”
“Kirhas. That discussion is over. Think of it as just one of our usual operation roles.”
“No! If the Empire’s official documents say the operation is over and you disappear, is that normal? Everyone will know your face, so what about secret operations from now on!”
“I won’t need to personally command secret operations anymore.”
“…What?”
The long-term plan is almost complete. Fernandez chuckled and stroked Kirhas’s hair. They walked through alleys and headed deep into the capital’s slums.
* * *
Religiosa Maledika. A group not officially sanctioned by the Papacy, and likely never to be. Their role was that of spies and expendables. Heretics and cultists who could be disposed of without a second thought, with blades at their throats, ready to be used and discarded at will.
They knew their place. But there were two reasons they couldn’t rebel. One, the blade at their throats. The eyes of the Inquisition Office.
Once their faces were known, if they ran, they would surely be caught, and if caught, they would surely be burned at the stake. Generally, Inquisition Officers were thorough with heretics and cultists, but it was obvious that the blade would be heavier for those who betrayed them.
And there was another reason, perhaps the biggest one. ‘Fear.’
“Damn it. Damn it…”
“Uh… calm down.”
“Do I look calm? He’s coming in person! After just sending letters for the past few days, suddenly!”
“Something must have happened.”
“What if I stutter? Ah, damn it. Why did I become the chairman? If I stutter, will he cut my throat?”
“Surely not? Hmm… maybe he’ll execute me as an example to maintain discipline.”
“Ahhh, damn it!”
They knew Fernandez. His skills and ruthlessness. They wouldn’t have bowed so thoroughly just because some high-ranking mage threatened them.
There was something else about ‘him.’
“Is he really a prophet or something? How does he know all this?”
“Information reflex entities are usually not mentally sound. But he seemed sane?”
“What are you talking about? Someone who crushed the Imperial Palace with a gesture can’t be sane!”
The orders Fernandez had given them over the past few days were extremely simple. Go here. Investigate there. Find someone. Assassinate someone. The kind of orders only someone who knew the limits of their subordinates could give.
Difficult but not impossible. And if they didn’t lose focus, they could definitely complete them within the given time. As they carried out Fernandez’s orders, they felt more and more chills.
When they went out to capture someone, that person was always a local cultist.
When they went to secure a location, a heretic faction was conducting a secret ritual.
When they investigated an area, an ancient dungeon sealed with a demon popped up.
Every order was like this. Given only the result without the cause, just doing their assigned tasks would purify the area.
Even reaching local factions that the Shadow Academy hadn’t even identified. Fernandez seemed to know everything.
-Tap. Tap.
Footsteps were heard. Not from one person. The Maledika agents bit their lips tightly and hid in the shadows, trembling with fear.
At the highest platform of their secret base was a throne they had meticulously carved. A throne for one person. Avoiding the path leading to it, they prepared to greet the approaching figure.
Tension flowed.
-Creeeak…
Light came through the cracks of the door. The silence was so deep that even the sound of the person next to them swallowing could be heard. Through the heavy air, two people walked in.
-Tap, tap.
Cold sweat dripped from the tension, closing their eyes. A young man with half-white hair in a robe and a slender beastwoman walked silently through their path. Soon, the young man sat on the highest seat and nodded.
“It’s good to see you all safe. Since you didn’t think of running away.”
It was Fernandez’s kind of joke. It could be taken as a joke, depending on how you heard it. But none of the mages in the room responded to it.
“Even with the name Religiosa, it doesn’t look like a monastery at all. That’s a big problem.”
“If the deceased said so… how could we become monks?”
“Why not? From now on, you are monks.”
Fernandez chuckled and pulled out a scroll from his robe. It was high-quality paper with the Papacy’s seal clearly stamped. He slowly crossed his legs and unfolded the scroll.
“What does this look like?”
“Could it be… that the Pope has truly acknowledged us?”
“Yes. There are conditions, but you are now officially part of the Inquisition Office.”
Fernandez waved his hand, and the scroll floated up and fell in front of Marlin’s eyes. Marlin bowed deeply, showing respect, and carefully picked up the scroll to read it.
“The Inquisition Officer is…”
“…No?”
“What use is such a shiny title?”
“Then where can our safety be guaranteed?”
“Safety guarantee? Go on, keep talking.”
Fernandez tilted his head and smirked faintly. From the shadowed podium, his gleaming white teeth were visible. No one in this room could simply dismiss that as a smile.
“From today onward, the fact that I have personally seen and organized you means you are now officially under my command.”
The Pope had promised Fernandez the position of Pope in exchange for deposing the Emperor and installing a new Emperor favorable to the Vaitas Church. Now that this operation had been successfully concluded, Fernandez could demand at least equivalent authority from the Pope.
The right he demanded was singular: the establishment of a new monastery. He requested a Religiosa independent of the St. Bartholomew Monastery and outside the jurisdiction of the Inquisition Office. The title of Pope held little real power compared to its authority, and Fernandez had no interest in mere titles.
Rather than being a great religious leader revered by all believers, it is more important to have loyal hounds who can carry out dirty deeds at his command.
“With the official name and the relics entrusted to us, this place will become our monastery in the future. From now on, it shall be called the St. Paul Martyr Church, and from this moment, you will shed your worldly names and become martyrs.”
From this moment onward, no one here is officially a ‘living person.’ They will be treated as martyrs—believers who have sacrificed their lives for the Church. Or rather, believers who *will* sacrifice their lives.
“Inquisitors sometimes call themselves ‘those who walk the darkest paths.’ A rather self-comforting phrase. But we are not like that. We have no noble mission to walk the shadows and protect the light. If they tread on mud, we will lurk beneath the abyss.”
No reward, no honor, no pride will follow. If thrown into the battlefield, they will die, and even if they survive, it will merely be a postponement of death.
“The priests of this office leave symbols instead of names on their tombstones. Pectus. Incensum. Courage and devotion. But your tombstones will not remain on earth. What you leave behind is not a trace. You will leave only results and then fade away. If there is a flame that lights the darkness, the embers burning beneath it are also necessary.”
After your deaths, only ruins will remain. The death of heretics and the end of demons. Even if the fuel for that fire is yourselves.
“If there are any among you who do not wish this, now is your last chance to object.”
“If we refuse now, will we be granted freedom?”
“No. You will be given the chance to leave a name.”
Sometimes, life within the text feels suffocating. Everyone in the room swallowed hard and bowed their heads. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to die. They simply didn’t want to oppose the speaker.
After scanning the silent crowd, Fernandez declared:
“You will abandon your names and receive new ones. You are the martyrs of the Religiosa Maledika, and from now on, you will be called by different names.”
Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, Quintus… Number One, Number Two, Number Three, Number Four. Dry, lifeless words. As if they no longer treated humans as humans, but merely as chess pieces.
-*Whoosh!*
At Fernandez’s gesture, the torches flared up. Shadows flickered within the blazing flames atop the torch stands.
[We will obey your command.]
Partak Blackfang of the Great Wilderness. The first dark mage to be subjugated by Fernandez.
[If it is our Lord’s will, so be it.]
Orion Weavingrat of the North. The high priest of the North’s largest heretical sect, the Changeling.
“Shadow King, guide us.”
Finally, Maledika. Merlin, the head of the Shadow Academy. She bowed deeply and whispered.
* * *
[Operation Report: Wildfire]
Operation Area: Duchy of Carvelier, Ribue, Leviathan Empire.
Operation Summary: Investigation and elimination of the Imperial corruption.
Operation Progress:
1) Contacted Duke Erbe of Carvelier. Requested cooperation.
2) Detected and suppressed heretical activities near Ribue.
3) Contacted Robert Benitier Tremule, the second prince. Requested cooperation.
4) Suppressed and subjugated the wraith warlords of the Eastern Wilderness.
5) Eliminated and subjugated the Emperor’s royal guard.
6) Detected the rise of Duke Sephor, the Elector of Bülrang. Civil war within the Empire.
7) Suppressed the Sephor Ducal family and subjugated the entire Bülrang region.
8) Occupied Paltennoia and began the Imperial investigation.
9) Detected and dealt with heretical activities within Paltennoia.
10) Initiated the destruction of the Imperial Palace. Secured and dealt with the Emperor.
11) Concluded an agreement with Rene Philippa of Carvelier. Mission complete.
Operation Task Force:
1) Religiosa Diemonica, Fernandez Sernerd.
2) Torchman Kirhas Hearttaker.
3) Torchman Abel.
We will burn demons, heretics, and witches.
Operation Leader: Diemonica Fernandez Sernerd.
* * *
“What do you think of this? All in just half a year.”
“In half a year, you overthrew the Emperor of the Empire. Truly, achievements worthy of a saint recognized by His Holiness.”
“To call it the achievement of a saint is too cruel. Also, did I say I recognized him as a saint? No, this young man is a saint recognized by God.”
The Pope chuckled and closed the report. Beorn hesitated, watching the Pope’s expression. Despite criticizing the saint’s actions as extreme, the Pope’s complexion was bright.
“The report is very concise. Cross-verification may be necessary, but there are clear facts. The Emperor is dead, the young Duke of Carvelier is vying for the throne, and the entire Empire has now become very favorable to the Church.”
“Expanding the Church’s influence so much in just half a year is a blessing.”
“A blessing for civilized society.”
-*Thud.*
The Pope stood up and walked to the window. The dawn over the Dragonspine Mountains. As he looked down at the fog-covered peaks, he spoke.
“Where did he go? And dealt with it. Where did he go? And soon dealt with it. What did he confirm? And dealt with it. That’s how it is. Even excluding the process, not a single mistake, not a single hesitation. Everything was perfectly executed. Do you believe in this saintly brother?”
“Yes.”
Beorn’s answer was firm. The Inquisition Office’s entry process is extremely strict and ruthless, but once someone joins, they treat each other with brotherly love beyond that of real brothers. Until clear signs of corruption are detected, they never doubt their brother’s loyalty.
The blind faith of an Inquisitor. The sharpest sword of the Lord. But the Pope slowly shook his head.
“I am afraid.”
“…Afraid?”
“If this young man, with the same abilities, harbored a different heart, what would have happened? His implicit request caused the Eastern Kingdom to rebel against the Empire. At his gesture, the savages of the Great Wilderness raised their spears. Looking back now, the next Emperor of the Empire is practically his puppet.”
The Pope is not naive enough to interpret Rene Philippa’s request for a state letter as mere affection. Fernandez Sernerd’s political strengths already held international influence. Considering his relationships with power players in the East and West, and even with the Elven Fleet, it was even more so.
Rene Philippa wanting Fernandez. In other words, it could be read as the next Emperor’s ambition stretching across the entire civilized world. Half the continent to the east of the wilderness. With the Emperor’s power and Fernandez’s connections, what would be impossible?
On top of that, Fernandez’s request to the Pope. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Maledika… Haha.”
Using heretics to hunt heretics. The method and the collateral damage were not to be interfered with by the Church. It was a request backed by the Emperor’s authority, and the Pope, who had to consider diplomatic relations with the Empire, could not refuse this proposal.
It feels like a meticulously laid trap. The kind you know you’re falling into but can’t avoid. Sometimes, when reading Fernandez’s letters and reports, the Pope would fall into confusion. Is he really just a young man in his 20s? It feels like dealing with a seasoned politician or a master schemer.
“This young man is a brother under the Lord’s peace. Truly, a blessing for this era.”
The Pope shook his head and left the office.
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