Children of the Holy Emperor Chapter 204

§ 204. Louise (7)

First morning at Sigismund Range. Seongjin opened his eyes at the same time without fail.

But instead of jumping up and starting to meditate like he usually did, he lay still, looking at the faint rays of light coming through the small window.

It was a strange feeling that is difficult to describe. A disturbing and breathtaking feeling that will disappear even if you turn your head slightly.

‘Why do I feel so strange? ‘Is it because I’m not used to sleeping there?’

Or maybe I overexerted myself and stayed up too late last night.

With that thought in mind, Seongjin raised his hand to block the sunlight, and suddenly his eyes fell on the small hand of a familiar yet unfamiliar boy.

‘… ah!’

I thought I knew.

From now on, he really has to live a proper life as a Mores. He may be feeling the burden unconsciously.

It will definitely be different from my previous life, which was filled with one goal: revenge. It’s not an extra vacation at the end of life, and it’s certainly not a life that you keep for a while before giving it back to someone else.

This is the full life of a young boy with brilliant potential, a family who loves and is loved, and who must never fail.

‘That’s too much for an old man like me.’

Everything that seemed so clear until now suddenly felt so vague and uneasy.

But it also felt exciting, so it wasn’t such a bad feeling.

‘Well, I guess I’ll have to try something.’

That’s how I make up my mind.

smart.

With a knock on the door, Edith comes in carrying a water bottle as always.

“Did you cough, sir?”

Ah, Edith.

My dedicated maid who is shameful no matter where I put her.

Please don’t cause any trouble while staying at the count’s house.

When Seongjin stared at her unusually, Edith was a little embarrassed and hurriedly made an excuse.

“Ah, I’m sorry, sir. Yesterday, I neglected my work as I was following the butler and receiving necessary training at the count’s residence. Fortunately, Louise took care of most of the work, but did you find it very inconvenient?”

“no. “It was okay.”

okay. Maybe the number of times you gave me gall tea is much more than I know.

I’ll remember this, so let’s do better in the future.

Then Edith trembled and muttered.

“what? Why do I suddenly have chills… … .”

While she was working hard to activate the aura inside her body, Masain also came to Seongjin’s room as usual.

“Sir, did you have any trouble last night? “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, welcome. Lord Masaine.”

Seongjin responded by getting up and looking at Masain’s face once again.

Now that I think about it, that guy has been consistently kind to Mores since I first met him.

Normally, I would just say, ‘You have such a loyal personality.’ I probably would have done it, but as soon as the possibility that the target might actually be me arises, the feeling becomes more subtle.

Did I really know his faithfulness?

Also, have you responded sufficiently so far?

“… “What do you think, sir?”

Masain, sensing that Seongjin’s mood was a little different from usual, asked curiously.

“no. Nothing.”

Seongjin rubbed his eyes and sighed.

It’s a big deal. If this continues, how will we see the faces of the successful people in the future?

‘Amelia is Sister Amelia, Logan is Logan, and the little boy is… … .’

And that’s not all.

What about the bad karma that Mores has committed so far? Does that mean there is a possibility that it was actually all my doing?!

Seongjin suddenly felt dizzy.

“Lowering?”

Hearing Masain’s worried voice, Seongjin shook his head to shake off his wild thoughts.

No, what can I do if I think about it here and now? First, you have to bump into something.

First of all, there is only one thing to do now.

‘I need to finish work here quickly and return to the imperial capital!’

Let’s get everything done quickly.

As a side note, I also looked for some travel souvenirs.

* * *

“I am going to meet the Margrave Sigismund.”

After a light breakfast.

Orden and Herman, who were suddenly called by Seongjin, were stunned by the remarks made by Prince Dajjagojja.

So suddenly?

“I beg your pardon, sir. “Shouldn’t this investigation be conducted without the knowledge of the head of the family?”

“That’s right. “There is a high possibility that he will be displeased, so shouldn’t we first look for conclusive evidence to exclude Milo Dan-dan?”

The two people were very embarrassed and tried to dissuade Seongjin. It seemed like he was worried that the young prince’s impulsive actions might lead to something wrong.

“hmm.”

“Besides, sir, if at all possible, the head of the family…” … .”

Orden, who had said that far, could not bear to say anything and trailed off.

A token of the Dark Church discovered while investigating despite the opposition of the head of the family.

You might not want to believe it, but you couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that the head of the family was directly involved with the corrupt group.

But Seongjin firmly shook his head.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. According to my independent investigation so far, although the Margrave may have been aware of and tolerated the atrocities committed by the Milo clan, there were no circumstances to suspect any particular relationship with the Dark Church.”

“… yes?”

An expression of relief and confusion flashed across Orden’s face at the same time.

It would be nice if it were true, but the sudden assertion seemed very suspicious.

“Is this an independent investigation? What on earth… … .”

“These are the territory operation records from the past several years. The financial condition of the estate. Records of transactions with the top. Number of births, deaths, and disappearances of Young Ji-min. “Records of the demonic beast’s large and small migrations south, number of subjugations, etc.”

Sigh.

Orden and Hermann were at a loss for words after seeing the high-quality documents spread out on the table.

Only one day has passed since the prince came here. When on earth did you get such detailed information?!

While the group looked at the documents and couldn’t help but admire them, Seongjin smiled happily inwardly.

‘good. ‘It’ll be over sooner than you think?’

It may have been a surprise to them, but in fact, Seongjin had assumed from the beginning that there would be a number of cases where he would meet the Margrave and negotiate.

Before coming here, Seongjin conducted research with two major possibilities in mind.

first. There is a possibility that Sigismund has already fallen into the hands of the Dark Church, or that the Margrave himself is deeply involved in something that has been wronged.

In this case, it would have been inevitable to carry out a large-scale operation by involving the Holy Knights of the Imperial Capital.

The people of the Sigismund family, including Orden, would have had no way to survive, and the territory would have also suffered irreparable damage.

‘But when I actually got here, I couldn’t sense the involvement of anything evil, let alone the devil.’

This was confirmed through the demon lord’s spiritual eyes.

In addition, the territory’s finances, as seen on paper, are not bad, and it has been stably preventing the invasion of magical beasts for several years.

Is there any reason for the Margrave to join hands with the Dark Church?

Here the second case arises.

It is possible that the Margrave, who judged that the distribution of medicinal tea was not actually harmful to the territory, decided to completely ignore it.

And for this case, Seongjin was considering peaceful negotiation through appeasement or threats.

“You are amazing, sir. “This is really carefully researched material!”

Meanwhile, Hermann was reviewing the documents and constantly expressing admiration.

“There is nothing wrong with it. Additionally, some of these contain confidential information that only insiders can access. “How did you get all these?”

“hmm. “I can’t reveal his identity, but I have a very capable informant attached to me.”

“Huh, such a great source of information…” … .”

Everyone could not help but admire the resourcefulness.

“uh? But wait… … .”

At that time, Hermann found something in the documents and muttered in surprise.

“This handwriting definitely belongs to the head deacon? Moreover, the payment section really has the head of the household’s signature… … .”

Patter.

Seongjin quickly gathered up the documents and hurriedly made an excuse.

“Hmm, so I have a very capable informant attached to me.”

“… … .”

“… “It’s like handwriting forgery.”

Seeing the two people staring blankly in disbelief, Seongjin cleared his throat and turned his head.

[Hey, why don’t you just tell the truth before it escalates?]

‘Are you crazy? I’m a guest now!’

You have the dignity of a prince of the Holy Empire.

How could I possibly say that I confidently robbed the matriarch’s study on the first night I came to the estate?

‘it’s a shame. If Dasha had been with us as planned, she might have been able to easily copy and return them… … .’

For now, let’s leave all the research to Dasha. Since the head of the house was away at the time, the theft would not be discovered for a while.

Anyway, Seongjin decided to play it cool until the end.

“… “I understand what you are saying, sir.”

Orden, who was looking at Seongjin with strange eyes, soon smoothed his chin and sighed.

“I will not ask any more about the source of these materials. “What do you plan to do when you meet him?”

“I will persuade you well. “Just cut off the deal with the Milo merchant.”

“It won’t be that easy. “If the Dark Church has not discovered a weakness but is voluntarily tolerating it, then the head of the family must have a legitimate reason of its own.”

There was even a faint hint of frustration in Orden’s eyes as he said that, as if he were facing a huge wall that he could not overcome.

‘It’s so difficult even though it’s your father… … .’

I also heard this from Dasha.

Even though he stands between a father and son who are praised as geniuses in swordsmanship, the Margrave is said to be a man who stands out just as well through the management of his fiefdom.

He probably doesn’t have special charisma.

“But rest assured. There are ways to think about it all. “As for the medicine truck, I will meet him in person and make a clear deal.”

Seongjin had the materials that Dasha had scraped, as well as many records accumulated by exorcists and inquisitors over the past decades.

If you combine them well, you can turn a single territory into a den of the Dark Church in an instant. That’s a big deal.

He threatens to bring in the Heresy Tribunal to his territory, but would he have the wit to pretend to be the Margrave?

As they were thinking that and smiling happily, Orden and Hermann’s faces suddenly turned white.

huh? What’s wrong with you?

The devil bastard sighed.

[So you said it? Go somewhere and stop laughing like that.]

No, why are people not allowed to laugh as they please?

* * *

That evening, Dasha, who had sneaked into the count’s residence, was thinking on a tree.

Count Sigismund’s residence was a very difficult place for an assassin to break into.

First of all, it was quite difficult to climb up the terrace, as well as the rough walls without any irregularities. Even the building structure is extremely simple, so it is not possible to use other geographical features.

Above all, since the windows were all the size of my palm, I was worried that I might get caught.

‘As expected, I saw an opportunity and sneakily approached the hallway… … .’

At that time she was startled.

Suddenly, the prince peeked his head out through the small window and began gesturing precisely in the direction where Dasha was.

‘Dasha! Come in, come in.’

‘… … ?’

Are there still traces of people around the prince?

Dasha hesitated for a moment, but was unable to disobey the prince’s order to call him again and eventually climbed through the small window.

And waiting for her there with the prince were two former knight commanders with conflicting expressions.

They are Captain Bruno, who is smiling politely, and Sir Martha, who has a grim expression on his face.

Surprisingly, Dasha was embarrassed by the situation and just blinked, and the prince apologized as if he was embarrassed.

“I’m sorry for confronting you so suddenly, Dasha. But I was thinking that I should create a place like this someday.”

“Lowering… … .”

“Of course, I know that hiding your identity from Dasha is more important than anything else. But we are now a community with a destiny that will go together forever. So let’s be as efficient as possible. huh?”

Then, former Dekaron Knight and General Manager Bruno pulled his mustache and nodded.

“I was wondering how long I should pretend not to know you. I feel relieved to be able to open up like this now. “My name is Bruno.”

He is a man known as a legend among commoners.

As Dasha bowed her head, the leader added with a happy expression.

“So, as soon as you arrived at Sigismund Territory, you found that much information in one day, right? “The prince speaks so highly of you.”

“… yes?”

“I always thought he was a great person when I visited Jinju Palace, but I never thought he would be so good at information. “I saw it again.”

Dasha looked back with a face full of doubts, but Seongjin secretly avoided her eyes.

The next person to speak was Sir Masaine, who looked somewhat dissatisfied.

“Are you the source of information? “It was Iza who taught you the wrong trick of ‘concealing an Auror.’”

Hiccup.

What is coming has come.

I was hiccuping with a tired face without realizing it, but Lord Masaine momentarily relaxed his frozen face and nodded.

“But I can’t help but acknowledge your resourcefulness in finding such confidential information in a short period of time. From now on, please be more careful to make up for the decline so that there are no mistakes.”

In response to the unexpected reactions of the knight commanders in succession, Dasha looked back at Seongjin with a bewildered expression.

“… Lowering?”

Oh, I’m sorry, Dasha.

Can’t we just ignore it and say that good things are good things?

fantasy,