Chapter 240 – Who Am I?
“Welcome to the imperial palace, stranger.”
The grand hall filled with silence caused by shock and astonishment.
A voice rang out there.
There was a lot of laughter in that voice that did not suit the situation, so people who were still in shock and astonishment unconsciously turned their heads to the owner of the voice.
All of their faces are dumbfounded.
Arthur, the Emperor of the Empire, who felt even more cheerful after seeing him, spoke as he sat comfortably on the throne, which had always felt uncomfortable, for the first time in his life.
“So what brought you here? To shake off the 1st Prince’s thrush? If that was the case, maybe you should have come alone. “Why did you drag that old man and those big guys in?”
“…”
While the people were in shock and astonishment for different reasons, Jun looked back at Franco.
What happened to the crazy person sitting on the throne? Could that crazy person be the emperor? No, right? Please say no.
Jun’s gaze is full of earnestness.
Franco looked away, scratching his chin sheepishly.
“That person is the emperor of the empire, but… Is that strange? I wasn’t really that kind of personality. Was the series of incidents so shocking that I ended up going crazy?”
“Isn’t the emperor too mentally weak? “I can’t believe I’m going crazy over these situations.”
A warrior who was the world’s only hope almost died due to the empire’s negligence,
At best, the church ignored the empire’s warnings and raised an army, only to occupy the palace.
All it took was a few teeth to fall out from the 1st prince’s thrush.
These were too trivial things for the emperor of a great empire to go crazy with surprise.
“No, it’s all worth it. I know you have a lot of regrets for the empire, but don’t be too mean to the emperor. Nicholas said that earlier. “The emperor did his best to stop it.”
“We couldn’t stop it in the end.”
Just because I did my best didn’t mean the responsibility disappeared.
It is possible to receive a reduced sentence for the crime that comes with responsibility, but that was only the responsibility of the victim and the victim’s family.
Jun, who already felt sorry for the Lai Windsor family, could not easily forgive the emperor.
Part of me wanted to ask him to his face how he educated his children.
“Tsk tsk tsk. Anyway, young people. “Because I’m like this, I still can’t retire.”
Perhaps sensing Jun’s displeasure, Franco clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
It was to lead the conversation on his behalf.
“Such a ruthless man!”
“How dare you!”
Unlike the royal knights and other nobles standing near Arthur, the nobles who were close to Arthur shouted at the sight.
Of course, they were one of the few loyal subjects of the emperor.
In their eyes, Jun’s actions of ignoring the emperor and leaving the conversation to someone else instead of being happy when he personally spoke to him seemed like an insult to the emperor.
However, I couldn’t go any further than that.
I didn’t know who the stranger in front of me was, but one thing was clear that he was an unusual person.
“Are you sure you said that to me?”
An arrogant look that overwhelms the audience.
A noble appearance that will make your mouth water.
And,
Soft!
A noble atmosphere that feels as if the air is actually weighing down.
They were knights of the royal guard and nobles who served the emperor by his side and saw many people, but they had never once seen such a stranger before their eyes.
He must have been born with great blood.
Perhaps even more than their own masters…
“Haha. Stranger, please forgive my servants’ rudeness. It all comes from loyalty. And you.”
Arthur, who had comforted Jun with a kind face, immediately glared at the royal knights and nobles with a straight face, as if asking when he had made such a face.
The royal knights and nobles, who were already thinking of being rude, straightened up as if their feet were numb.
Arthur said to them.
“Please giggle. Please.”
“… Yes?”
“Don’t you know kikkippapa? When you put it on, put it on, when you take it off, take it off! Anyway, I don’t have any sense.”
“S-sorry!”
“It’s okay, just stay still. If it’s always been that way, I won’t say anything. “When the 1st Prince and the Marquis Armstrong were taunting me, I couldn’t even utter a single word.”
“…”
“Ugh~. He got angry just because I pointed that out. “I’m not a girl.”
The third silence fell.
Because the emperor’s appearance was so unconventional, even Jun and Franco could not avoid this silence.
Is that person really the emperor?
Just by looking at what they say, they are completely similar to middle-aged adventurers.
“Leonard… Said that the Emperor was no joke when he was an adventurer… I guess that was true.”
“Ah!”
It was only then that Jun realized what Franco was muttering.
The emperor was once an adventurer, a person who was so reckless that he was even called a ranker.
‘If you rolled in the labyrinth enough to become a ranker, it’s worth it to have a bad mouth. I somehow managed to keep that from being noticed by the people around me.’
Jun looked at Arthur with eyes filled with admiration and pity.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Franco shed their cheerfulness that did not suit the situation and got down to business seriously.
“Emperor, the empire has made many mistakes this time. Because of their shabby pride, they expelled the priests who were hunting down and dealing with apostates from the capital, and hid from the church for three days that the warrior who was the hope of the world was in danger.”
“It’s the same! “What do you think of the empire’s honor and why do you say such cruel things!”
A nobleman who appeared to be out of his mind rebelled against Franco’s words and fell to his seat, letting out an ugly scream at the sight of his harsh gaze.
Even if you hit the level of an insane nobleman, it’s a level of sodomy that’s close to the mark.
There was no way such a person could withstand the gaze of Franco, an orange-level powerful man, and in the end, the nobleman achieved the feat of urinating in the middle of the grand hall.
There were no more people who opened their mouths carelessly, perhaps because they were impressed by the achievement.
“Do you think the Pope’s words, which the Emperor has also seen, sound like nonsense?”
“No. The Pope is right. The Empire has committed a great mistake to the Church, and indeed to the world. “I will apologize and give you the compensation you deserve.”
“Don’t do that. I know that the emperor did his best to prevent it. “Apologies and compensation should be made by those ugly servants over there who don’t know their mistakes and have their eyes wide open.”
Franco’s gaze was not near the nobleman who had seen urination… But rather towards the nobles who were one step away.
The moment his eyes turned towards them, they quickly looked away, but the displeasure and anger on their faces did not disappear.
Since he can’t open his mouth because he’s scared of Franco, he’s probably trying to protect his ridiculous pride in this way.
‘That just makes it look even more ridiculous.’
People who are not good at anything, just because they were lucky enough to be born into a good family.
Jun shook his head as if he was fed up with their behavior.
“As expected, these squires cannot come to their senses even with words. Okay, let’s take this opportunity to get to the very end. Even if there are squires like you, they will only be a hindrance in the future battle.”
Franco, who was clearly angry, quietly raised one hand.
And immediately,
Slam! Slam! Slam!
The Holy Knights lined up behind him began to enter the grand hall, making a heavy metal sound.
The knights of the Royal Guard tried to stop them, but Arthur stopped them and told them to stay still if they didn’t want to be humiliated.
His words were so merciless that he seemed to have accumulated a lot of things from his own people.
“The church sees the empire’s rampage as a threat to humanity. We’ve sent out troops to stop him, and we’ve just taken over the heart of the empire! From now on, the Empire is a puppet state of the Church, and the Empire will be controlled by the Church until the Church liberates it!”
Franco’s declaration of conquest.
This was an unprecedented event in the hundreds of years of imperial history.
The nobles, regardless of faction, were shocked and opened their mouths.
I tried to say something, but I couldn’t because of the paladins glaring fiercely behind me, so I just looked at Arthur.
Arthur, who knew things would turn out like this, snorted and ignored the stares.
Then he soon realized that continuing like this would only be a bother, and he opened his mouth weakly.
To protest Franco’s declaration?
No, it was to prevent people who did not understand reality from doing useless things.
“The people will rebel.”
“You’re welcome. On the contrary, I would welcome it. Through this occupation, we will punish not only those associated with immoral people but also those who have committed evil acts that have crossed the line but have not been punished.”
“The empire is large. It is impossible for the denomination to control.”
“There is no place in this world without a denomination, and everyone is a believer in a denomination, even if their level of faith is different. “If the reason for the invasion and the policy are properly conveyed, the empire will be under the control of the church within a few days.”
“The army and nobles of the empire will not remain silent.”
“No, I will stay still. Those who want to rebel will be caught before they do anything foolish. As if this person was captured.”
Franco said and threw the person he was carrying on his shoulder like a piece of luggage to the ground.
Not only the nobles, but even Arthur, who had been skeptical of Franco since he entered the grand hall, was shocked.
Of course, the person Franco threw away like trash was William Armstrong, the man who ruled the empire from behind the scenes.
