Became the Emperor in the Hero Game

65 – Part 2 Episode 21

“The Pope has arrived in the Islands.”

“Okay. Is the welcome ceremony ready?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. The road to the imperial palace was left empty, and the others were already full of people. The orchestra is also ready. However, it is said that the saintess who was with the empire disappeared with the paladin on the way. Agents from the Ministry of Intelligence followed the trail but missed it.”

“Never mind. Well, at least he must have gone looking for Shien.”

Some time ago, she received a report from Shien that she had defeated the Black Swan.

After that, I ordered to find and recruit other free people or, in some cases, to eliminate them, so I don’t know exactly where Shien is.

Even a saint would have a hard time finding such a Shien.

“Minister Dia.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What happened to Heon?”

“The Duke of Verde raised an army, occupied the royal palace, and proclaimed himself king. He also officially declared himself the King of Heon and a subject of the Empire.”

“What about the backlash?”

“Surprisingly, very little. Only the forces that tried to use the young king rose up, accusing the Duke of Verde of treason, but they did not respond and were driven back to death.”

“Yes. I don’t know whether to admire the king or admire the duke. Oh, do you have the map ready?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The map the Pope showed me earlier was quite impressive, so I prepared it myself.

From noble mtl dot com

A map where only the Mage Tower, Holy Kingdom, and Empire exist.

“Well, I guess you are almost there.”

Perhaps the welcome crowd and the pope are facing each other.

I can feel the enormous divine power bursting out, so it seems like a large-scale blessing.

“Tsk.”

Spreading Kiriya’s holy power on other people’s subjects?

I tried to be a little displeased, but I thought that if the target was Kiriya, there was nothing I could do about it.

Because those are all blessings that the subjects wished and sowed.

“Then Jim will go to meet the Pope.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

__________________________________________________

Even if you search the history of the Holy Nation, which is longer than the long history of the empire, this is the first time that the pope has personally visited the monarch of a foreign country.

Those who are believers and those who are not.

I greeted the pope with joy and pride.

The shouting sound did not stop, and the holy power burst out without a break.

The priests accompanied by the pope joyfully exploded their holy power.

It didn’t even have any special effect, just sharing Kiriya’s light, but the followers were happy enough with that alone.

When the pope and his entourage arrived at the imperial palace, the purple aura mixed with Kiriya’s holy power and spread to the subjects.

“Waaa!”

Once at the Imperial Conference and once at a joint funeral.

Because it was shown twice in total, most of the subjects knew the owner of this aura.

I walked slowly through the divided crowd to greet the Pope.

“Meet the Pope. Welcome to the island.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.”

We shook hands, and once again cheers rang out.

As planned in advance, the band’s performance rang out.

With the use of magic tools, the performance was not drowned out even in the midst of shouts and at the same time was not noisy, and I spoke softly while holding the Pope’s hand.

“The saintess disappeared with the paladin. What does this mean?”

Of course, I know and the Pope knows that he went to see Cien, not for a covert operation, but there’s no reason not to poke him when the culprit is caught.

“You know what? Let the young ones play with the young ones.”

“… The age difference between Jim and the saintess isn’t that great.”

“Didn’t you get away with that?”

It wasn’t a mistake, so I nodded roughly.

“Let’s go in. Today’s story is going to be long, so I prepared the banquet from tomorrow.”

“I see.”

We walked to the imperial palace maintaining a fairly intimate appearance.

Of course it was for show.

——————————————————————————

“The Pope. Jim has prepared a present for the Pope who has personally come all the way here. Unfold it.”

As soon as I arrived at the specially prepared conference room, I handed the map to the Pope.

A declaration that you will know that I have already eaten Heon, and that Zer and Anon will do the same.

How will the pope react?

“This map was produced by the Imperial Intelligence Agency, right?”

“… Exactly. How did you know that?”

Contrary to my expectations, the pope’s reaction was very carefree.

Instead of preparing words to dissuade or persuade me, you said something like that.

“The location and size of the Holy Kingdom are different from the actual ones. It’s disinformation leaked from us, but it’s a map made based on that.”

What? Disinformation?

When I turned my gaze to Dia, Dia’s complexion turned pale.

No, you didn’t even know the exact location of the Holy Kingdom?

“hahahaha, is the beauty over there the Minister of Information? The Emperor, please do not criticize the minister too much. It is information leaked long before the young minister took office.”

“Imperial intelligence is all about cross-validated information, so what is it?”

“As far as I know, this information was leaked 400 years ago, and the Minister of Information at the time was a rather faithful brother.”

Ah, so the head of the intelligence department recorded false information himself?

“No, no matter what. You mean you haven’t felt anything strange in that long time?”

“That’s right, since the exchange between the empire and the Holy Nation was cut off around that time, that’s right.”

“Still, there must be people who have visited Seongguk with their personal qualifications, right? Duke Pale also visited the Holy Kingdom a while ago.”

It’s me, I just went to the place where Kiriya’s energy is strongest, so that’s okay, but what about the others?

“Having false maps or no maps at all. Anyone who seeks the holy kingdom without evil will be able to reach it. Because Kiriya is leading you.”

“Ha. So, is that the reaction?”

“If I say something, do you intend to stop the Emperor?”

“Not really.”

Of course, no matter what the Pope says, I won’t stop.

Even so, I didn’t expect the Pope to come out so calmly.

What is it? Am i missing something?

“… Your majesty. Do you remember what Your Majesty said to me before?”

Before?

“I said let’s unify the continent with Jim.”

“Do you remember my answer too?”

“That was not Kiriya’s will. No way?”

“… That’s right.”

The Pope paused for a moment before speaking with a serious expression.

“Kiriya supports the unification of the continent by the emperor.”

I want it, neither. Support me

It was proof that he understood the emperor’s personality while seeing him as an equal, not a human being.

“This. This is really unexpected. I have prepared many words to persuade the pope.”

“… I will pass on Kiriya’s words. Please pay attention.”

“I will listen.”

“Hmm. The emperor on the continent. Changes are taking place in the world. Those who have been forgotten have come to remember, and traces of those who have disappeared have returned. Those who are asleep try to open their eyes, and those who are in love try to gain strength. Death lurks on the other side of all of this.”

Having said halfway through, the pope’s voice changed.

It was not the voice of a dignified old man, but that of a benevolent woman.

“The emperor’s method is somewhat coercive, but I will affirm that there is no better method than that. If the emperor wants to embrace the continent rather than trample it, if he wants to love and cherish the people of the continent as I do, then I will gladly support you.”

“… You skipped too much. Is it my way, to make sure death has no place to step?”

However, I couldn’t find Kiriya from the pope who didn’t answer my words and closed his eyes for a while.

“… Perhaps the emperor is right.”

Even though Kiriya left, he answered my question instead because he was the Pope who came all the way here to represent his will.

“Kiriya supports me. It’s a cause that couldn’t be better, but I’m concerned about the reason for going so far. What is the relationship between the forgotten, the disappeared, and the sleeping?”

Actually, I have a vague idea, but I still want to be clear. I asked the Pope.

“The emperor knows the forgotten and the vanished.”

“… They are gods.”

“Do you know who is asleep?”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“How much does the emperor know about demon beasts?”

“Since the great subjugation held by the 15th Emperor, I only know that it is difficult to find within the Empire.”

“I see. However, you should know that the kingdoms are still fighting against the monsters, and there are also lands of monsters where people can’t live on this continent.”

“I know that as well.”

“Those who are asleep are the kings of such beasts. When the great war broke out in the past, they were in charge of one axis of the war.”

“That great war is what Jim thinks, right?”

“Yes. It is the war of the gods. Of course, in reality, more people participated.”