00084 <-- Episode 84 Karen Inasius (1) -->
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Winter of the year 1009 of the Rusclan Empire calendar.
North Clarnium, the capital of one of the four major imperial provinces, was filled with cheers as the cold wind blew.
“Long live the revolutionary army!”
“Long live the Seven Heroes of the Revolution!”
The 100,000 strong revolutionary army led by the Seven Heroes of the Revolution eventually defeated the Northern Empire forces and captured North Clanium.
Citizens suffering from the tyranny of Gwangje rushed into the streets and greeted the revolutionary army, shouting “Long live!” An unseasonable heat filled the city in the middle of winter.
North Palace. In the former royal palace of Archduke Gartan, the monarch of North Clanium, a teenage boy was watching the scene.
“Everyone is happy.”
The leader of the Seven Heroes of the Revolution, the savior of the other world, Seong Si-han.
“Because I was liberated from the madness.”
A calm woman’s voice was heard behind Shihan’s back. A beauty in her twenties with jet-black hair braided behind her back approached the balcony.
She was wearing a black veil with a crescent moon design, revealing her slender limbs and part of her waist.
This outfit, which seemed completely out of place in the cold winter weather and even vulgar at first glance, was Karen Inasius’ exclusive combat uniform.
Karen said, looking down the street.
“Now only the Zodiac Clatil remains.”
Due to the fall of North Clarnium, the four major provincial capitals of the Empire in the east, west, north, south, and south of Terranor fell into the hands of the revolutionary forces. Now, the Empire’s power was narrowed down to the capital where the Emperor of Light resided and the surrounding areas.
The final battle draws near.
Seong Si-han suddenly asked.
“Can we win?”
The current dominance does not guarantee victory for the revolutionary army. The empire still has a central army of 100,000 men, and a considerable number of otherworldly summoners who deal with the monsters of Rusclan still remain.
Above all, the otherworldly monsters commanded by the mad master Rustanad are no different from an army of tens of thousands.
“We have to win.”
Shihan chuckled at Karen’s answer.
That was true. It was a war that had no chance of winning from the beginning. If we had fought while calculating victory or defeat, we would not have gotten this far.
“If we win and the war is over… … .”
Suddenly he turned to Karen and smiled broadly.
“Karen will become the Pope of Kron Lizate?”
She was once excommunicated from the Temple of the Moon. But now it’s different.
The Temple of the Moon was reborn with Karen at its center. Most of the conscious Principles and Prayors came under her command. No one recognized the current Pope who was staying in the zodiac.
At present, Karen is the first apostle of Kron Lizate in name and reality.
“Being one of the Popes of the Sun, Moon and Stars is a great honor, isn’t it?”
Karen nodded with a trembling face at the sudden excitement.
“I guess so… … .”
“Why do you have such a displeased expression?”
He looked at Karen in confusion. Somehow she seemed to have no desire for the glorious position of Pope.
“I don’t really want to become the Pope. Actually, I would like to return to the status of a mere prince… … .”
“why?”
After hesitating, Karen answered softly, her face turning red.
“… … If you become the Pope, you won’t be able to get married, right?”
Priests of the Sun, Moon, and Stars are not, in principle, prohibited from marrying. The union of a man and a woman and the production of offspring is also a noble act that follows the will of God.
However, the high-ranking clergy of the church were forbidden to have families. It was said that it would be unfair for those who were supposed to look after all the subjects from their high positions to have families.
Even so, the position of the Pope means the highest honor to those who serve God. Sihan was shocked because he did not know that he would avoid it just because he could not get married.
“What? You wanted to get married?”
Karen rolled her eyes.
“Why did you think I didn’t want to get married, Sihan?”
“No, it’s just that it doesn’t feel like that usually… … .”
Shihan scratched his head, embarrassed. Karen smiled broadly.
“Actually, I wanted a child. A child from the man I love.”
She becomes the face of a dreamy girl and lets out a hazy monologue.
“I want to have a lot of children who resemble him. Hmm, maybe a dozen?”
“Yes, twelve… … .”
Shihan stuttered in shock. No matter what, isn’t that a bit much?
“What kind of soccer team are you going to create?”
“… … What is soccer?”
“A popular sport on Earth. It is a game where players compete to see who can kick a ball into the opposing team’s goal as many times as possible.”
Karen took a moment to imagine the description of the time limit in her head. Dozens of burly men swarming around, handling and kicking a ball… .
“Are you imitating a cat?”
“… … Soccer fans on Earth would be horrified if they heard that.”
Somehow, as I explain it, I feel like I’m insulting soccer. There is a ball in Terrano, but it’s nothing more than a child’s toy, so it’s hard for Karen to understand.
“Hey, just move on.”
Sihan waved his hand and changed the subject.
“By the way, I don’t know who Karen’s husband will be, but she’ll have to work pretty hard.”
“If it’s the man this body has chosen, then I should do that much.”
Karen shrugged her shoulders playfully. Sihan narrowed his eyes.
“I can’t tolerate a clumsy man!”
He looks like a younger brother who is wary of the man his older sister brought home. Karen smiled lightly.
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And soon his face changed to a bitter one.
“You don’t have to worry about it. The things you’re worried about won’t happen anyway.”
The Temple of the Moon, which had been reduced to a puppet of the Empire, was finally purified to this extent. The prestige of the sect, which had been abandoned by its subjects, was finally restored to this extent.
All this was possible thanks to Karen Inasius. No one else could have filled her shoes.
So Karen had to become pope. That was the only way for the church and its many followers.
There was no room for choice.
“Of course I know it’s an impossible dream, but… … .”
She smiled bashfully, feeling embarrassed.
“… … But you can still dream, right?”
***
Seong Si-han looked at the scenery before his eyes, recalling a dozen years ago.
“Karen loved children… … .”
The very next day after I infiltrated the eyes of the night.
The Shihan party was walking along a country road outside the Lizatherium.
It was a quiet rural area with gentle hills, fields, and wheat fields. Whenever the wind blew, the ripening wheat fields swayed green like waves.
Beyond the wheat field there was a small temple.
It was such an old and shabby building that it was awkward to call it a temple. If it hadn’t been for the full moon sign, the symbol of Kron Lizate, I would have passed it by without even realizing it was a temple.
Shihan continued to mutter to himself as he watched from afar.
“… … In some ways, it might be a place that suits Karen.”
In the shabby temple courtyard, several children were running around. They were about six or seven years old at most, with skin tones and hair of all kinds.
They were all orphans.
That old temple also serves as an orphanage, as most rural temples do.
Alita, who had been following the deadline, made an expression of disbelief.
“Is this really this place?”
The same was true for Xenon.
“A revolutionary hero and queen of a nation is hiding in a place like this?”
This kind of rural temple is where only the lowest-ranking, untalented priests of the religious order, who have not even made it past apprenticeship, are assigned. It is a place that seems completely out of place, considering the fame and power of Karen Inasius.
“I think so.”
Seong Si-han nodded awkwardly, recalling last night.
“According to the message she left behind.”
***
Clear Korean flows out from the woman of Terrano.
“… … You’re back, Shihan.”
It was something completely unexpected. Shihan froze like a statue in front of the fake Karen.
My head was in a state of confusion.
‘What is it? What happened?’
Could it be that I was mistaken? Could this woman actually be the real Karen? No, but what I’ve found out so far is that she’s a fake?
The fake Karen continued, her eyes whites exposed.
“Only one person in Terranor can use the Armillary Device, the Savior of the Otherworld. So, it must be a time limit for you to be listening to this message?”
This time it wasn’t Korean, it was Austronesian. Only then did he realize what was happening.
‘Oh, so that’s what it was.’
It is true that this woman is fake. She just has the real Karen’s message.
Using sacred magic, a message was left in the fake Karen’s subconscious. Normally, the fake Karen would not be aware of it, but it would only surface when she came into contact with the Honcheongi.
The reason why the first words were written in Korean was probably to prove that it was really Karen who left this message.
Shihan asked in a trembling voice.
“… … Did you know I’d come back, Karen?”
The fake Karen’s voice continued.
“Don’t touch this child. He won’t remember anything anyway.”
That didn’t answer the question.
The fake Karen simply repeats the message left behind like a recorder. She is not in a state to have a conversation.
A distraught woman faithfully continues the message from her subconscious.
“You’re looking for me, right? If so… … .”
After saying her last words, she fainted.
“… … I’ll be waiting, Shihan.”
***
The message Karen left behind pointed to a rural village on the outskirts of Lizatherium. After returning to the inn, Sung Si-han departed from Wolyeonggwan with Zenon and Alita as soon as the next morning dawned.
Originally, I was planning to just take Alita with me.
He would like to go alone, but unfortunately, he has not yet fully recovered his magical power.
The battle would be enough with just fighting skills, but with my current magical power, I wouldn’t be able to open the gate to the other world. So, whether I like it or not, I had to take Alita with me no matter what.
However, Zenon insisted on following along. Zenon was already upset inside because he was left behind when dealing with the Zexenguard.
‘Of course I have no intention of interfering with the time limit’s revenge. But if it comes down to it, I might be able to help, right?’
There was no reason to exclude Zenon since Alita was following along, and there was also the possibility that Karen would bring her subordinates, so Shihan simply allowed it.
In the meantime, Dina was sent on a separate errand.
She had to express her gratitude to the nobles who had invited her party, and reply that she had declined their offer. Since it was something she had to do anyway and it was also in line with her duties as a servant, she went on the errand without any hesitation.
After traveling for half a day, the group arrived at Glam, a rural village that Karen had mentioned.
***
Three armed men and women appeared in front of the old temple. A small girl who was playing around flinched at the sight of them.
“Teacher! Teacher!”
“Someone’s here!”
Some of the children hurriedly ran towards the temple. The remaining children also began to look at the armed men, women, and Shihan with frightened expressions.
To the powerless, a warrior with a sword is terrifying enough in itself, let alone to orphans.
Shihan and Zenon looked awkward at the children’s reactions. Alita tried to smile and calm the children down.
“There’s no need to be afraid, kids.”
But the children’s expressions did not soften. It was because of Xenon.
A two-meter-tall, rugged giant, heavily armed with thick metal armor, wielding a sword taller than an adult, appears before your eyes. Any child who is not frightened by this sight must be a promising young man.
“Boo…….”
“Brother, I’m scared… … .”
The little girls slowly hide behind the other orphans, avoiding Zenon. Alita nudged Zenon in the side with her elbow.
“Oh, boy, be careful, Zenon.”
“… … What did I do?”
Are you saying that being big is a sin? No, rather, in this situation, what should I do to restrain myself so that my big body can become smaller?
It was when Zenon was mumbling that something was wronged.
A woman opened the old wooden door and walked out.
“teacher!”
The children ran towards her like chicks meeting their mother hen. The woman smiled brightly and comforted the children.
“Oh, I see you have guests?”
The beauty looked at the group of children, relieving their tension.
The woman and Shihan’s black eyes met each other.
Seong Si-han let out a blank voice.
“… …Karen.”
***
The woman in front of her had the exact same appearance as Karen Inasius. If they were placed next to each other, no one would suspect they were twin sisters.
Yet the atmosphere was completely different.
Her hair is tied up in a bun without any decoration, and her top and skirt made of rough cloth, as well as her apron, are covered in colorful food stains. She has no makeup on her face at all, and even her forehead is slightly stained with charcoal soot.
Except for the fact that she was a dazzling beauty that even her simple attire could not hide, she was almost no different from an ordinary country girl. There was nothing in her that could make one think of the legendary revolutionary heroine.
Still, Seong Si-han recognized him at a glance.
Every sense, every memory, was convinced that the woman before his eyes was the real Karen Inasius.
A corner of my heart sinks heavily, and all sorts of thoughts and memories mix together and rise up into a turbid feeling.
“Karen… … !”
Just as Shihan was about to burst out in screams, Karen gently reached out her hand to stop him.
“I have children.”
She continued with a wicked smile.
“You don’t want it to be noisy, do you?”
“… … .”
Shihan was taken aback by her calm demeanor. In the meantime, Karen looked back at the children and said.
“Kids, these are people I know well. You don’t have to worry at all. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then stop playing and go inside.”
The children hurried into the temple. A middle-aged woman wearing shabby robes glanced outside and made a surprised expression at Shihan and his group.
“Princess Riana, who are these people?”
Rihanna seemed to be Karen’s alias. Karen responded calmly.
“I am a guest who has come to see me, Prin Maria.”
There was not a trace of tension on his face. Prin Maria muttered in relief.
“I guess I should prepare to welcome guests.”
As Maria entered the temple, only Shihan and Karen were left in the forecourt.
In an instant, her expression changed.
The face that was gentle and kind like a country girl is covered with the authority of an absolute being that controls the fate of countless people.
“I was hoping that the trigger I put on that kid would work… … .”
A cold queenly smile appeared on Karen’s lips.
“You’re really back, Sihan.”
