Chapter 67
Chapter 67
The Knights Templar also returned together with the triumphal army. Their Victory Event was different from the Allied Forces Victory Event under the control of the Emperor.
Although the Knights Templar were a huge pillar of the Allied Forces, it was originally an army of the Five Churches and if the Emperor were to praise them for their achievements, it would be the Emperor doing god’s work.
Therefore, the Knights Templar would return to their headquarters and receive a congratulatory and blessed speech from the Popes of the Five Churches. All of them, as distinguished guests, had come to the Knights Templar’s headquarters in person, coinciding with the Imperial Victory Ceremony.
The headquarters of the Five Churches were located in different places, and among them, only the Great Hall of the mighty Als was located in the Imperial Capital Gardium.
All the leaders of the Five Churches, the Church of the God of War Als, the God of the Sun Salaam, the God of the Moon Mensis, the God of Purity Towan and the God of Courage Litel, were in the Capital. After all of them finished congratulating and blessing the Knights Templar, they would join the Emperor to commemorate this Victory.
So, on the first day the Victory Ceremony is held separately for religious reasons, not because of any personal conflict.
Originally, the Knights Templar also just returned from such a long and hard war, so after commemorating their victory they would take a long rest. And the religious leaders would also be happy to exchange some words with the Emperor about their victory.
“Hmm….”
In that peaceful, friendly and festive atmosphere, I was about to cause a huge conflict between those two groups: The Knights Templar and the Imperial Family.
Trying to sell and use the demons as sex slaves was a huge religious heresy, regardless of whether it was legal or not. Even the wealthy and nobles of the Empire wanted to buy them. you know? It would be strange for the Knights Templar and the religious leaders to not get enraged.
There was no need to wait for the auction to start. As long as they knew that the prisoners were already in the Merchant Guild, there would be no problem at all for the Knights Templar to attack right no. I had no interest in arresting all the immoral Imperial nobles as they attended the auction.
We were still sitting at the table placed on this bustling street, chatting.
“There are two ways to go about this. Give the information directly to the Knights Templar or create rumors.”
Eleris and Loyar nodded their heads at my words.
To leak the information to the Knights Templar directly, or spread rumors among the public so that it will reach their ears. We had these two methods.
“In the former case, a certain reaction can be expected, but they might have doubts about the individual that transmitted the information per letter or something. If they just thought about it for a bit, the Knights Templar would probably be able to guess that the ones who leaked the information were demons.”
That was what Eleris said, and Loyar nodded to her words. It didn’t particularly matter if the informant was a demon or whatever because what we were doing was already dangerous as is, but it wasn’t hard to see that leaving traces was not a good choice.
“The method of spreading rumors to leak the information wouldn’t leave behind any suspicious traces, but, we can’t be sure that the Knights Templar will pick up these rumors and act on them.“
“That’s right.”
“Also, if the rumors start to spread further, there might be a chance that the black market’s organizers will take action before the Knights Templar. Those who’d be most sensitive about these kinds of rumors were them, so they might change the black market’s venue or cancel it all together.”
I also agreed to Loyar’s opinion.
The latter option had the disadvantage of not knowing when the Knights Templar would take action. By the time the rumors reached their ears and they decided to take action, the auction might already be canceled.
“The former would have a definite effect, but it would leave a tail behind and the latter would make it difficult to predict the flow of events….”
Both methods had their advantages and disadvantages. If I used my Preview Function, I would be able to check what would happen in the future, but I couldn’t use it right now.
[You are unable to make use of this function at the moment.]
When I tried using it, I only recevied this message.
Damn it, I had cheats, but I wasn’t even able to use them however I wanted. They should have just kept silent about this useless function.
An uncertain but safe method and a certain but slightly more dangerous method.
“Let’s go with the direct method. If the black market or the Imperial Family got wind of this, we might not even get to try saving them.”
I judged that way, the chances would be lower for them to predict our moves.
“Understood..”
“We’ll do that.”
They both nodded, agreeing to my judgment.
* * *
Passing on information to the Knights Templar.
Just that wasn’t that hard to do. I just had to send them an anonymous letter. On Tuesday, we met up with Sarkegaar after the Victory Event and sent a letter to the Knights Templar.
The black market located in the Merchant Guild’s headquarters where the demon prisoners were said to be sold would open on Thursday.
We observed the Knights Templar’s movements all Tuesday. Eleris and I were positioned in a place where we could easily overwatch the huge temple that was the Knights Templar’s headquarters, and Sarkegaar and Loyar decided to keep an eye on the Merchant Guild, because there might be certain movements visible over there as well.
The Knights Templar were located at the Rosenak District, or the Yangcheon District in Seoul. If they wanted to head from the Mapo District to the Yangcheon District, they would have to cross the bridge first, as one had to do if one were to come from Gangbuk to Gangnam.
Eleris seemed particularly uncomfortable, because we were close to the headquarters of those who held a power most dangerous to her, divine power.
“They don’t seem to make any special movements.”
It had been over six hours now since I sent them the letter. I sent over a second worry-filled letter to not get ignored, so there was no way that it didn’t reach them.
“There’s a good chance that they are questioning the information presented in these two letters. They might be discussing that internally at the moment.”
Sending armed forces to the Merchant Guild was something that had to be discussed, and it was understandable enough that they wouldn’t immediately believe an anonymous letter sent by an unknown source, telling them to dispatch forces.
It seemed like they were still discussing at this stage.
Since we didn’t know when they would make their move, Eleris and I kept on from one inconspicuous place to another. As there were many people on the streets it was easy to mix in with the masses.
The night was problematic though. One by one, the people would leave except a few drunkards.
When night fell and the streets were covered in darkness, Eleris and I hid in a discreet place at the side of an alley.
“Doesn’t look like they’ll make their move today….”
It was already very deep into the night. It was probably too late for them to take action today.
“I think we’d better go back.”
Even if I stayed here, there would be nothing I could do, and if the situation worsened I’d just put myself in unnecessary danger. Eleris’ words were true, but I couldn’t do as she said.
If I didn’t know how this situation would unfold when a crisis strikes, I wouldn’t even be able to ‘Revise’ it.
“No, my duty is to observe the situation.”
That’s what I softly mumbled, expressing my intentions of staying here, even if it was a little coercive towards Eleris.
“And the mana train won’t run at this hour, so getting back would be more troublesome.”
It was deep into the night, so it would be much more difficult to get back, whether to Temple or any other place. As if she knew what I meant, Eleris hid me and herself in the shadows.
Even while a grand festival was going on, night was still night.
The streets that were so busy by day, now only had some drunken husks of people passing by from now and then. But then-
-Stomp, stomp
From afar, sounds of heavy footsteps echoed through the street. Eleris poked her head out of the alley, then looked towards me and nodded.
Midnight.
That was when the Knights Templar began to move.
* * *
It was night so we couldn’t mix in with the crowd. After casting Invisibility on me and herself, Eleris and I followed them for a while.
‘They might be able to see through magic. Don’t get too close.’
Eleris whispered to me as quietly as she could, and I nodded.
Those Paladins were obviously veterans. A total of nearly 200 Knights of the Knights Templar were marching in front of us fully armed. Each of the knights held great divine power, so if they were to get hurt, they could simply heal themselves and continue to fight. Since I was on the receiving end of Adriana’s recovery spells once, I could tell how mighty divine power could be.
200 such monsters were marching through the streets.
They could be called elites.
200 weapon and divine power experts who engaged in battle after buffing themselves and could even heal any injury they might receive in battle.
Monsters that were more like zombies than actual zombies. A Paladin.
They were something that exceeded the Undead.
200 Elite Paladins who deserved to be called human tanks were now on their way to the Merchant Guild’s headquarters. If they would engage in battle with the Merchant Guild’s forces, that would create chaos.
‘What about Sarkegaar and Loyar?’
‘I sent a familiar over.’
Since there was no tool capable of establishing two-way communication, Eleris seemed to communicate with them using her familiars.
She passed on the information that the Knights Templar were on their way and would soon arrive to those two who were keeping an eye on the Merchant Guild’s side.
Soon, they reached the bridge leading across the Irene River. We continued to follow behind them.
It was good that everything was going as planned up until now.
But why were they taking action at night…?
I had a bad feeling about that somehow.
‘Why did they decide to move at night?’
‘Wasn’t it because they took so long to discuss this matter?’
‘If it’s like this…. They must have judged that this was an urgent matter.’
It was good that they decided to take action at night. During night time, when Eleris’ powers grow stronger, the success rate of our operation would increase even more.
Obviously, if the Knights Templar were dispatched during the day that would cause a big commotion. If there were many people up on the streets while such a fight were to occur in the Merchant Guild, the citizens would come to know its circumstances. They would find out that people tried to sell demons on a black market.
Naturally, that would lead to the prestige of the Empire to get tarnished.
Did they move out during night time out of some form of consideration to save the Empire’s face? They planned on getting rid of this disturbance silently and quickly at night.
However, this case would seriously raise the Knights Templar’s prestige. Wouldn’t it be better for them to let the public know of this?
Though, considering the big picture, it couldn’t be denied that the Knights Templar should take care of this incident quietly though….
Without questioning their actions further, I followed those 200+ Paladins marching forward.
‘This, I’ll give it back to you for now.’
‘……Yes.’
I didn’t forget to return the Flame of Tuesday back to Eleris for a while.
* * *
Fortunately, this midnight march continued until they reached the Merchant Guild’s headquarters. I was wondering if they were headed somewhere else, but so far everything was flowing as intended.
We were in a place from where we could observe the building from a distance. Eleris used floating magic while hugging me to get us on the roof of a building.
Loyar and Sarkegaar were hid in the place that they chose as an observation spot, reading the flow of the situation. Loyar looked at us and nodded seeming like she knew we were present even though we had invisibility magic cast on us. That showed that our location could be predicted by smell and sound.
Because we had Loyar, we didn’t need to look at the scene with our own eyes..
However, there was one thing we could notice even if we didn’t have ears as good as Loyar.
‘They aren’t very loud.’
The other two, including myself, nodded at Eleris’ words. They were supposed to loudly shout something like: “You blasphemed the Gods!” but they didn’t do something like that.
Loyar shook her head.
‘Even though their voices are low, it seems like there’s an argument going on in there.’
Loyar told us that, although they try to not make as little noise as possible, they were still arguing.
‘We got information that a black market was supposed to open here and that demon prisoners were to be auctioned of there. In the name of God, I demand you cooperate and let us search this place. If these allegations are not true, the Knights Templar shall promise to make a formal and respectful apology to the Merchant Guild.’
Loyar seemed to be able to hear their conversations from this distance.
‘The guards don’t seem to make it easy for them.’
However, even if the Knights Templar came to visit, the other party wouldn’t just let them search the place so easily. That was to be expected. Loyar seemed to concentrate on the following conversation as she fully focused on her ears. The three of us remained silent and only looked at Loyar, trying not to get in her way.
I was wondering how the conversation would continue.
-Rooar!
We could clearly hear the sound of many people pulling out their weapons and going at each others. I didn’t expect this battle to actually take place.
‘The guards eventually made way.’
They didn’t want to open the way, but when the Knights Templar drew their weapons, they had no other choice but to open their doors in the end.
They had no good reason to block the Knights Templar’s way. They were disguised as Merchant Guild guards. If they started a conflict with them Knights Templar, they would have justification to call them blasphemers, giving the Empire a lot to explain. For example, why regular soldiers were disguised as Merchant Guild guards.
They probably thought everything would be over once they started a fight with the Knights Templar. Of course, the moment they opened the doors for them and released the prisoners, things would be over for them as well.
Anyway, the Knights Templar had entered, meaning I wouldn’t have anything to do anymore from now on, although my job wasn’t over yet.
There was still a possibility that the Knights Templar would immediately execute the prisoners on the spot without escorting them to their headquarters. That was what everyone was most worried about.
[The ‘Revise’ Function has been used.]
The function that would make things happen that wouldn’t normally and would prevent things from happening that should.
The Knights Templar would escort the demon prisoners from the Merchant Guild to their headquarters without killing or harming them.
[The ‘Revise’ function cannot be used.]
……What?
My heart froze over when I saw that message appear in front of me.
If I couldn’t even use the function it wouldn’t even matter how many achievement points I had at my disposal.
Seeing that message made me stop for a moment. I knew that an event that was too improbable would require a huge amount of achievement points or wouldn’t be able to be revised at all.
Was it something like that?
Did that mean that the Knights Templar didn’t even consider anything else but killing all of them out of resentment for those guys trying to auction off demons?
‘Hey, why are you like this?’
When Eleris noticed that I was acting a little strange, she asked worriedly.
‘Ah, no…. It’s just… What if… Those guys decide to kill all the prisoners….’
They didn’t make this a public appearance, but it wasn’t a cover-up either. I tried to make sure that they would escort the prisoners back to their headquarters using the Revise function.
The prisoners that were supposed to be auctioned off could be used as evidence to force an apology out of the Empire. So, they could only use the living prisoners to put pressure on the Empire.
I sincerely thought that was the most probable situation, but it seemed like I was wrong, wasn’t I? If so, I had made a huge mistake, as all the prisoners that could have survived as slaves would now get collectively killed because of the choices I made.
My heart was completely frozen and there was a chill running down my spine. What should I do? Should I save them by using Revise in a different way? But in what way should I use it then?
I could only imagine the ground suddenly collapsing enabling all the prisoners to escape through a type of tunnel. Of course, I couldn’t make that happen.
After a while Loyar grabbed my hand.
‘Your Highness, don’t worry.’
Loyar whispered to me.
‘The Knights Templar are taking the prisoners out.’
With those words, I felt like my brain was freezing over again.
I then realized why I couldn’t use the Revise function just then.
I could make things happen that wouldn’t happen.
However, how could I use Revise to create a situation that would happen anyway?
The situation I was trying to create with Revise was the exact same happening at the moment.
They had no intentions of killing the prisoners in the first place. So I couldn’t Revise this scene.
I was freaking out because I simply misunderstood the Revise function.