261. The Method of Distinguishing Good and Evil (9)
As I stepped out of the cave, the faint light of dawn had already broken. Fernandez stretched his stiff shoulders and entered the alley. With every step, dried blood crumbled and fell like dust.
There wasn’t a spot on his armor or the clothes beneath it that wasn’t soaked in blood. With two greatswords strapped to his light armor, and blood caked all over him, he looked utterly menacing.
After walking a while longer and exiting the closed-off area, he sensed movement. People recoiled in horror at his appearance, some even screaming.
Having good hearing is generally just annoying. Fernandez quickened his pace to avoid the murmurs of the crowd. Then, someone blocked his path.
“Please stop for a moment.”
“What’s the matter?”
It was a guard with a somewhat nervous expression. Perhaps on morning patrol, the guard flinched at Fernandez’s appearance and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Did you have an accident?”
“Not on my end.”
“You’ll need to spare some time.”
This was getting bothersome. He should’ve expected this when walking through the heart of the city covered in blood. The blood loss must’ve dulled his judgment.
“Don’t worry. It’s my blood.”
“Ah, yes. Is that so…? Wait, what do you mean? Was there a fight?”
“I rolled.”
“Rolled…?”
The guard stared at Fernandez, dumbfounded. Even if he had fallen from a watchtower, he wouldn’t have bled this much. The bloodstains on his clothes weren’t from mere scratches.
The guard’s face hardened.
“Then I’ll accompany you to the hospital.”
“A nap will fix it.”
“Who in the world gets injuries like that and thinks a nap will heal them? Is this really your blood? How are you even moving with that much blood loss?”
“Hah.”
Fernandez let out a short sigh. His head felt heavy, his body ached, and the fatigue from days of sleepless nights, compounded by blood loss, made him dizzy.
What he needed immediately to recover his physical functionality was a hearty meal, plenty of water, and sleep. Fernandez extended his hand toward the guard with a slightly sharp expression.
As the guard stepped back warily, gripping his sword hilt, Fernandez slowly removed his gauntlet with a calm gesture.
-Clank.
The removed gauntlet fell to the ground, followed by the gloves and bracers. One by one, Fernandez stripped the armor from his arms and held them out to the guard.
“Look.”
“What… is this…?”
His exposed skin was covered in scars. Torn, slashed, ripped, and split scars. From old, faded scars to fresh, deep ones with raw flesh still visible.
Like a shattered mirror or a spiderweb, scars densely covered every inch of his skin. Some scars still oozed fresh blood.
The guard, overwhelmed by the shocking sight, stepped back.
“The rest is the same. If you want to see, I’ll show you.”
“No, how… How did this happen? Were you attacked?”
“I’m an ascetic priest of Vaitas.”
Fernandez shrugged and pulled out a rosary from his pocket. He shook the Vaitas Church rosary in front of the guard before putting it back.
“It’s nothing unusual. No need to worry. I just did some ascetic practices in a secluded place. No victims, no perpetrators. Are you going to detain me?”
“No, no. My apologies.”
“Take care.”
As the guard stiffly stepped aside, Fernandez patted his shoulder a couple of times and walked away.
* * *
After passing five more guards with similar reactions, Fernandez finally arrived at Duke Erbe’s mansion. The fatigue had peaked due to the tighter security in the noble district.
Now looking almost like a walking corpse, Fernandez raised his hand to knock on the mansion’s door, but it swung open on its own.
“Your Excellency, where have you been all night… Oh my God!!”
“Don’t shout, Kirhas. My head is ringing.”
“Kyaaaaaaah!!”
“Ah.”
Kirhas screamed as if she was about to faint and immediately lifted Fernandez up. She carried him in her arms and rushed into the mansion.
“Put me down. My head is spinning. Stop shaking me.”
“Your Excellency! Hold on tight! I’ll call a doctor right away!!!”
Kirhas panicked and screamed. At her urgency, all the servants and attendants in the mansion rushed out, only to scream at the same level.
A half-corpse, covered in blood and still dripping, was in the arms of the Chieftain of the Beastman Nobles!
“Chieftain! Did you kill a citizen this early in the morning!?”
“This is Paltennoia! What on earth have you done…?”
“Call the King!! Quickly!!”
Kirhas roared like a lion at the screaming servants.
“Everyone, shut up! Where’s an empty room!?”
“H-here!!”
Before Fernandez could say anything, Kirhas carried him and followed the servant’s gesture, striding quickly. He couldn’t even speak, his breath catching from the rough movement.
‘My condition is really something.’
-You look absolutely, absolutely terrible. Haha. This needs to be recorded!
‘Didn’t you hear her say shut up? Kirhas was talking to you too.’
-Oh, sorry… Kirhas’s silence spell doesn’t work on spirits.
‘No response.’
-‘Fernandez’s Scolding.’
Faijashi kept giggling as he followed. Soon, Kirhas kicked open a closed door, shattering it, and entered. The servant who was about to open the door collapsed in fear.
“Your Excellency, just wait a bit. Hold on! I’m here with you!”
“I’m fine, Kirhas. I just need some sleep….”
“You can’t sleep!!”
-Bang!
Kirhas slammed the bed violently. Fernandez gasped at the impact, and she looked at him with pleading eyes.
“You can’t sleep while bleeding like this without treatment. Your Excellency, not all the Diemonica brothers are immortal. They can die too….”
“I know my body better.”
“My mother said the same thing before she passed….”
“Ah.”
Fernandez looked at the tearful Kirhas.
He clicked his tongue. Damn it, I’m cornered. Soon, the sound of commotion followed, and an old man who appeared to be a doctor, Duke Erbe, Abel, and Freya appeared.
“What in the world is this mess!”
“From the looks of it, it’s not a fatal wound. The Goddess doesn’t wake up in the morning.”
Abel was startled, and Freya went back upstairs to her bedroom. While everyone stood dumbfounded by Freya’s actions, Abel approached without hesitation and carefully held the hand of Fernandez, who was lying down.
“Didn’t you say you were going for an investigation? Since when did an investigation turn into a subjugation?”
“Up to the middle, it really was an investigation.”
“Then why couldn’t you return midway? If we had gone together, wouldn’t it have been easier?”
“I couldn’t get out.”
“…You’ve been through hardships. I’m sorry. I’m not scolding you, but I was upset with myself.”
Abel, with teary eyes, slowly stroked Fernandez’s wounded arm. There are so many scars. There are so many wounds that there’s less skin left now. As Abel muttered this, Kirhas dragged the doctor over, forced him to sit, and snapped at him.
It was an open secret among everyone in the mansion that she was the chieftain of the Federation of Nobles. Upon receiving orders from such a figure, the timid old man began the examination in fear.
After checking the pulse near the heart and inspecting the scars on the upper body, he tilted his head and stepped back.
“Um… I’m sorry to say this, but…”
“How is His Excellency’s condition!! What is his condition?”
“His bodily functions are almost normal. It’s just that there are quite a few external injuries… Judging by the amount of blood loss, he’s unimaginably healthy, so after treating the wounds, he should rest and recover.”
“Normal? How can he be normal after losing so much blood! You quack!”
“I am normal, Kirhas. And stop moving. My head is ringing.”
Patting Kirhas, who was jumping around, on the shoulder, Fernandez gestured towards Duke Erbe. Please clear the area. Duke Erbe chuckled and sent the doctor and attendants outside.
“Will you tell me what happened?”
“As I mentioned before, I contacted the bishop of the Shield Church’s diocese. He was in confinement. It was the price for figuring out the Emperor’s true identity.”
“The Emperor’s true identity?”
“He had joined hands with demons and was conducting biological experiments. After spreading the plague in Paltennoia to divert attention, he set up a laboratory.”
“The plague…! Yes, there was such an incident. So what happened?”
The plague incident occurred before Duke Erbe entered the capital. From a position of maintaining order, there was no reason to deal with an already occurred epidemic, so it was enough to close off the entire affected area.
There were other issues as well, and since the epidemic didn’t spread further, they had stopped paying attention…
“What happened? If they were alive, would I be here in one piece?”
“…I suppose not.”
The Duke looked somewhat relieved. Stopping one demon incident didn’t just mean securing the safety of the capital’s citizens at this moment.
Since the Emperor had colluded with demons, it meant they had successfully severed one of the Emperor’s limbs.
“What’s the next move?”
“We need to figure out the Emperor’s intentions. Since we’ve destroyed the facilities he’s been meticulously building and taken out one demon, he’ll have to move personally.”
“Isn’t it disadvantageous to wait quietly? If it’s difficult for you to move, I’ll recall my army.”
“I told you that wouldn’t work. If it were that easy, we would have done it already, Duke Carvelier. The moment your troops cross Paltennoia’s outer walls armed, you’ll become a rebel. Even if you succeed immediately, you won’t be able to handle the backlash later.”
Fernandez said this and sat up. A loud sound echoed from his stiff joints. Kirhas, startled, tried to support him, but he gently pushed her away and said,
“Right now, we need to understand the situation in the Imperial Palace. Announcing the demon incident and collecting evidence is easy, but linking it to the Emperor will be extremely tricky. That’s what you need to do, Duke.”
“You mean I have to go to the Imperial Palace directly.”
“Though it might be hard to come out alive…”
“Right. If I’m killed in the Imperial Palace, the justification will fall to me.”
“To be precise, it will fall to your family, not you.”
It was a cold death sentence. The Duke, however, smiled at Fernandez’s words and readily nodded.
It was the stance of a sovereign doing the right thing and the image of a father wanting to leave the best for his daughter.
And Fernandez could empathize with that sentiment. He clicked his tongue. It would have been easier if he had grumbled, hesitated, or been scared.
“Ah, you said we need to figure out the Emperor’s intentions. What does that mean?”
“What do you think the Emperor is thinking to do such things now?”
“Wasn’t it a scheme to gain immortality and maintain the throne permanently?”
“The big picture is correct. But the process isn’t. Until now, I thought he was incompetent, but no. The Emperor isn’t just an incompetent fool. He’s deliberately splitting the Empire.”
The Emperor, who wants to own the Empire forever, is deliberately destroying the national power of the country that will become his. The civil war among the Elector Counts isn’t just due to the decline of the Imperial authority. This is an orchestrated civil war by the Emperor behind the scenes.
In fact, until now, Fernandez also thought the Empire was divided because the Emperor was stupid and incompetent. That was a reasonable judgment.
But not anymore. If the Emperor were incompetent, he wouldn’t have been able to summon a demon of the monarch level. Also, if he just wanted to maintain the throne, he wouldn’t have schemed to summon Urcasia.
Long ago, when Mumto called himself the Great Demon, the Ancient Ashit Empire, which ruled the entire Great Wilderness, was destroyed in an instant. It wouldn’t be any different now. If Urcasia’s seal is broken, this Empire will also be shattered into pieces.
So his goal isn’t just maintaining power. There’s some other scheme. There must be a reason for conducting excessive biological experiments on civilians.
What that is, is unclear. The Emperor’s actions, to put it bluntly, have a completely different direction from his intentions. Someone trying to maintain the throne is desperately trying to destroy the Empire, and someone who has set up a nest in the capital isn’t making any effort to defend it even as the capital is about to fall.
“Well, saying this still doesn’t lead to a conclusion. Fine. I’ll go.”
“Take three trustworthy knights with you, and have two of them accompany you only up to the Imperial Palace.”
“What about the troops?”
“Surround them so they can blockade the capital if necessary.”
Erbe nodded and stood up. Rest and recover. Your turn will come again soon. Duke Erbe said this and walked towards the door.
“Ah, by the way.”
As he was about to walk over the broken door, Fernandez spoke up from behind him.
“Actually, I hope you don’t die. If possible.”
“Take good care of my daughter.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“That’s enough then.”
Duke Erbe smiled faintly and left. Fernandez watched his retreating figure for a while before burying himself in the bed.
Sentimental. It must be because of fatigue. He closed his eyes with a sigh.
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