Children of the Holy Emperor Chapter 178

§ 178. List of contracts (4)

Director Collins, who is in charge of logistics distribution in the eastern region, was very embarrassed by the sudden request for an interview.

“Lord Martha? “Why me all of a sudden?”

Of course, there was a superficial friendship. Although it is said that he currently has no right of succession, Masain is a full-fledged member of the royal family.

Therefore, whenever they met in an official capacity, Collins did not neglect to stamp his face with him. When he had time, he did not hesitate to ask Regina to visit him as a courtesy.

But don’t you usually think it’s just a greeting?

Anyway, given his status, I couldn’t help but treat him to a simple cup of tea.

Soon, a tall knight enters the office, guided by the secretary. With a bright smile that belies the bright blonde hair typical of the Seonghwang family.

“Director Collins. I heard that for this birthday banquet, I returned right after attending the first banquet. “I couldn’t even say goodbye, but I’m glad we got to meet each other like this.”

“That’s because work has been so busy, Sir Martha.”

It was a direct criticism as to why he was looking for someone who was busy.

However, despite Collins’s shocked reaction, the driver did not lose his sociable smile. Considering his noble origins, this is a truly down-to-earth attitude.

“Then it will get even busier from now on. “You might see me more often soon.”

“What is that… … ?”

“Prince Mores has recently been interested in the salmon business. Cham salmon from Eastern Ortona is currently transported through the Cyprus Federation. “I understand that Director Collins is in charge of all logistics and distribution in the eastern part of the country, including Cyprus, isn’t that right?”

business? Is that the business that came to you?

Collins asked with a skeptical look on his face.

“Is that something that the imperial palace is officially promoting?”

“Not really. “It is still my personal idea.”

“Did you bring a detailed business plan?”

“We are still preparing.”

“… … .”

Collins didn’t hide his discomfort and glared at Masain, who was taking a sip of his teacup.

No matter how much he was a candidate for the throne, it is all meaningless now that he has been reduced to Klanos. The fact that he is treated as a member of the royal family as a matter of courtesy must already be an undeserving treatment for him.

Moreover, it is said that he recently abandoned his position as Commander of the Knights of the Royal Guard. If that’s the case, haven’t we now become worthless beings who can’t gain any real benefit from being polite?

In comparison, Collins himself already holds real economic power in the East. A person with real power who belongs to the most powerful interest group on the continent and can even influence the existence or death of a country.

There is no need to try to please such a superficially sane young man.

‘… Should I just chase him away?’

Collins twitched the finger he was lowering down the table.

‘Are you here, Raum?’

[I’m listening, contractor. Kill.]

In my head, I hear the devil’s voice cracking like metal scratching.

It goes without saying, but Collins was a devil’s contractor. The numerous enemies he faced before reaching this position were easily defeated with the help of the devil.

[This person has inherited the blood of the beginning, even if only slightly. It must be tricky to touch.]

‘So is it impossible?’

[Of course not. Kill.]

Collins’ demon, Raum, was a demon who was particularly skilled at manipulating the mental world. Not only could it cause a person to hallucinate or have a nervous breakdown, but it could also cause a momentary shock to the person’s mind and cause them to lose consciousness.

Collins was going to do the same thing to Massain as he had done to so many people.

It would be perfect to shock them and then brainwash them into returning quietly. There will be some aftereffects, but it will not be enough to interfere with daily life. With just a snap of a finger, the power of the devil would be unleashed.

Click, the driver quietly put down the teacup, and Collins was just about to tighten his hand.

smart.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door.

“Lord Masaine. “If you are finished with your business, would you please visit the branch manager’s office with me?”

The person who visited the office was Branch Manager Schmidt’s secretary. Collins quickly put away the devil and looked at his secretary.

‘That arrogant branch manager? ‘Why someone like this all of a sudden?’

But the doubt was quickly resolved.

“Prince Mores is urgently looking for you.”

“You?”

“Yes, Lord Masaine. “Thanks to you, the necessary work has been successfully completed. He told me to stop by the branch president’s office and tell him that we can return together.”

While Collins was still dazed, Martha stood up and straightened her clothes with one hand.

“It looks like your business talk will be carried out through the branch manager’s line. “I think this is the end of our meeting.”

The sight of Masain saying that somehow felt bigger than the first time, so Collins blinked.

Originally, the knight was a sturdy young man, but now it felt like he was looking down from a height well beyond his own head.

‘… ‘Is it an illusion?’

But soon Collins realized why. At some point, an evil energy was radiating from Masain’s entire body. Collins, who was not an Auror user, was feeling strong pressure from him without even knowing it.

An inertial smile was still hanging on the knight’s strong jaw, but his eyes were so fierce as he glared at Collins that they seemed as if they were sparkling with fire.

“Thank the branch manager’s secretary, Director Collins. “The reason your hand is still attached is purely because he got in the way of what you were trying to do.”

Only then did Collins realize that the knight’s hand had been fixed on the handle of the sword from earlier. He was ready to draw his sword at any time.

‘Holy shit… … !’

Masain is a high-ranking knight who is expected to reach Dekaron Knight within a few years.

Even if you cannot detect the presence of the devil, you can easily detect the level of hostility of the other person who is trying to harm you.

“I’ll pretend I haven’t seen that disrespectful attitude toward a member of the royal family today. “You can think of it as a reward for letting me stay at the logistics relay station until now.”

The knight spoke in a cold tone and turned away without saying hello.

Looking at the strong figure following the secretary out of the office, Collins became so nervous that he broke into a cold sweat. I can barely realize that if I had made a mistake, my arm would have been blown off.

It was then. The devil in my head suddenly started fussing.

[Heek?! Look at that! The sword the author has! That’s a holy relic!]

‘A relic?’

[okay! If I had chosen that one, we would both have been in big trouble! Did you know?]

A chill runs down Collins’ spine.

It dawned on me later that Seonghwang was so fond of his nephew that he readily gave him a relic as a graduation present from the academy.

‘I… ‘Who on earth am I fighting with?’

Collins, who suddenly lost strength in his legs and was staggering, barely moved his body and collapsed into a chair.

After gathering my wits for a while, I was startled when I suddenly realized that I was not the only one in the office.

For some time now, a dark new model has been leaning against the wall like a shadow.

Jet black hair covering part of her pale face.

Silver-grey eyes that occasionally shed a strange glow.

“Who, who?”

I asked incoherently, but the devil Raum screamed in my head.

[Oh, damn it! Since when?]

‘Why, why are you doing that?’

[The success is here! Quickly take cover, Collins!]

Director Collins, embarrassed, stood up straight away, and Shinhyeong, who had been quietly watching, opened his mouth.

[Matthew Collins, Director, Merchants Association Northern Branch. There are dozens of counts of tax evasion, dozens of thefts, and dozens of murders. It seems like there is nothing sufficient to be judged.]

‘What on earth is this? Raum! Mr. Raum?’

Collins, who sensed an unusual atmosphere, called the devil in a hurry. But Raum had no answer at all as to where he had disappeared to.

“ah… … .”

Collins, who was lost in thought, hesitated and took a step back, and the woman who had been staring at him with cold eyes slowly opened her mouth.

[I’ll leave it up to you for now, Sir Sharon. What should I do?]

Then the exorcist laughed like a sob.

“I accept Your Majesty’s orders. “It is right for sinful devil contractees to be summarily executed.”

Summary execution?

Before I could understand the meaning of those words, I gasped. Suddenly, a silver, sharp curved sword flew in front of his eyes. And that was the last thing Collins saw.

Sigh!

Blood was splattered on the office wall along with a long silver line.

* * *

While waiting for Sir Martha, Seongjin was looking around Schmidt’s office with curiosity.

I thought something would be different where the devil works, but instead of a summons drawn in blood, the office was filled with miscellaneous documents with all kinds of numbers.

The demon branch manager seemed to be doing his job more properly than expected.

“Anyway, why is it so quiet outside? “There was such a big tremor just a moment ago?”

“You probably didn’t notice anything strange, sir. “There is a relatively strong barrier in this office.”

The branch manager politely answered Seongjin’s question. In just a moment, his attitude changed to an even more polite manner.

He was in the process of organizing the materials instructed by Seongjin by hand, and occasionally entrusted the selected documents to his subordinates.

Then, the goat devil with a large lump on the back of his head glances at Seongjin with resentful eyes and piles them on one side.

“Then what about the priests? “You’re so blatantly giving off demonic energy and no one notices?”

“Priests don’t come and go often around here. “All the big churches in the city were relocated far away.”

Seongjin slightly raised his eyebrows.

“Relocate?”

“Yes, sir. Even though they hide their demonic energy well, priests are very annoying to us.”

According to Schmidt’s explanation, it was a relatively simple matter to separate the logistics relay station from the church. By donating good land and capital through the capital of the merchant association, a new church was built on that land.

Of course, it cost a lot of money, but there was no significant opposition to carrying out the work. Because it was something that no one wanted for the church to become distant. This is because there were many devil contractors in key positions in the Merchant Union.

Seongjin was shocked.

“Everyone is playing well in the devil’s hands. Is the empire’s economy really okay as it is?”

Then Schmidt shook his head.

“Surprisingly, the devil himself does not encourage his contractors to cause massive amounts of harm. “Unless there is a place like a dark cult hiding in the outskirts, where sacrifices are made and special rituals are performed.”

“Why is that so?”

“You can only survive if you don’t cross the line. “His Majesty’s eyes are reaching every corner of the empire.”

According to the ‘Guidelines for Living a Successful Empire for Demons’, as long as a few taboos are not broken, the Holy Emperor does not have much to do with what the devil does. This is because we have been bound by strange rules called [agreements] for many years.

Originally, the Emperor at the beginning of his reign had nothing to hesitate about.

The demons were driven out of the capital in the blink of an eye, and the demon contractors were busy executing everything they saw.

He took a friendly stance toward vassal states, but showed a firm stance in exorcising the devils hidden deep within that society.

Where is that? Not only did he frequently show miracles across the entire continent, but when the opportunity arose, he directly invaded the demon world and slaughtered demons, causing them to tremble in fear.

But he suddenly stopped a few years ago, after the [Agreement] was created. From then on, the Holy Emperor did not leave the capital, and he did not even touch the demons unless it was extremely intrusive.

“agreement? “What on earth is that?”

As Seongjin frowned, Schmidt shook his head.

“Even the devils don’t know the specific details.”

It is said that through various experiences accumulated over the past years, demons also have their own standards for the allowable range.

first. Harm humans with demonic power, but do not go far beyond the scope of human capabilities.

You can easily eliminate one or two political opponents with demonic power. Anyway, if you plan well and hire an assassin, you can achieve the same effect.

However, if a demon is summoned in the public eye or if it is too obvious that it is a supernatural phenomenon and harms people, it will be restrained by the Holy Emperor.

second. Do not confuse society with the power of the devil.

It is possible to use demonic power for economic gain. However, when a demon suddenly descends and causes a large-scale massacre, or when a supernatural disaster is caused and the logistics movement on the continent is disrupted, the retribution of the Holy Emperor cannot be avoided.

‘Is that why the empire operates relatively stably even though there are so many devil contractors?’

As Seongjin was thinking that, Schmidt’s expression became serious.

“And finally, the most important thing of all.”

third. No matter what happens, never, ever, mess with the children of Seonghwang.

“… children?”

“Perhaps that is something you know better, right?”

Schmidt, who responded to Seongjin’s question, added with a meaningful expression.

“What happened to the dark church that tried to kidnap you when you were young? “That day, those in the Church of Rest didn’t leave even a single piece of bone behind, right?”

… kidnap?

It was when Seongjin was about to ask something more.

“Ugh! Guard! Guard!”

“It’s murder! “Someone here is dead!”

“Priests! “Hurry and call the doctor and priest!”

Followed by a crash, rumble! The sound of countless footsteps echoing through the hallway.

Seongjin and Schmidt, facing each other, opened the office door at the same time and went out. Then, the panoramic view of a chaotic hallway filled with guards running around in a hurry unfolded before my eyes.

“where are you? “Where is it?”

“This is Director Collins’ room!”

“Hurry up!”

Then, I saw the secretary and Masain walking in this direction, wading through the crowd of people running in one direction. Masain’s face, looking at Seongjin, was full of embarrassment.

“Why suddenly? Director Collins. “The one I just left is his room, sir.”

fantasy,