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Episode 123: When Desires Clash (XVII)
“It’s acknowledging the epidemic and using it in reverse.”
“What? But if you’re not careful, they might find out that you don’t have the ability to protect the barrier.”
Rabienne’s smile grew when Kyle subtly ignored her suggestion.
“We can just announce that the fault doesn’t lie in us. For instance, the imperial family shut down the temples in the border area, and without the protection of the temples, an epidemic began to circulate in the border area. How is it?”
For a moment, the high priests swallowed their saliva. They still had a bit of conscience left, so they were reluctant to answer right away.
But Lucas made up his mind and defended Rabienne.
“That sounds like a very good idea. That way, the temple can avoid responsibility and blame the entire epidemic on the imperial family.”
“Yes?”
Rabienne smiled beautifully, her eyes curving sweetly. It was a smile that made her seem out of place because it didn’t match the situation.
“In such a situation, we are stepping out to help. Who else will cure the plague if not us? It’s impossible for doctors without divine power to prevent disease.”
A job that only priests and the saint with healing power could do.
In other words, if the responsibility could be avoided, the plague was perhaps an opportunity for the temple to gain great power again.
“It would be better to let the epidemic spread further.”
“Yes. Then people will depend more on our temple.”
Simultaneously, Crisper and Lucas actively supported Rabienne’s idea.
“…I’m not sure.”
However, when Kyle expressed the opposite stance, opinions began to diverge even among the high priests.
“To begin with, it’s a disease caused by weakened barriers… Isn’t this too cowardly?”
Rabienne spoke in a soft voice to squash Kyle’s disapproval.
“High Priest Kyle, don’t you like my method?”
“…….”
“I like High Priest Kyle. But if you don’t like my way, I can’t help it.”
“Saint, that’s not it…”
“Yes. I’m a saint. You have to help me no matter what. You know. That we are already in the same boat.”
Somehow, Rabienne’s red eyes turned redder than blood. As Kyle looked into those bewitching eyes, he felt an eerie sensation.
“I apologize. I will follow.”
Only then did Rabienne take her gaze away from Kyle and lean back in her chair.
“Then I will meet the emperor with High Priest Lucas. If his position is to close the temple no matter what… When that happens, I will think about other ways, whether it’s to wage war or something else.”
She didn’t care that a lot of people were dying from the plague, or that the empire was in danger.
Her only thought was to negotiate with the emperor to reclaim the rights to the closed temples.
“Um… By the way.”
High Priestess Joffrey looked at Rabienne and hesitantly continued talking.
“Have we not yet found a trace of the owner of the revelation?”
Although he was asking about the owner of the revelation, Rabienne’s voice sharpened at the words that meant ‘the real saint’.
“Yes. Not yet.”
“As the Saint knows, we desperately need that power right now.”
Joffrey forcefully emphasized.
Rabienne let out a long sigh as the owner of a revelation she could not replace kept popping up.
Lucas noticed that she was feeling uneasy, and so he laughed awkwardly to quickly change the mood.
“Haha, the Saint is working hard too. We can’t look for her publicly, so it will take time.”
“I feel sorry for the Saint. Honestly, if we find the owner of the revelation, everything will be solved, right? The emperor will never look down on us…”
Rabienne smiled brightly as she interrupted Joffrey’s lamentations.
“I think our discussion is done. Everyone must have a lot of work to do, so go and take care of it. In particular, think about where to accommodate the influx of priests.”
In the end, the three high priests excluding Lucas could not speak any more and had to leave the conference room.
After first parting from Crisper, Kyle grabbed Joffrey and brought him to a corner, whispering in a low voice.
“What do you think?”
“No matter how I think about it, this is not it. It’s the wrong choice from the start. Putting out a fake…”
“I am afraid that the history of our temple, which has been painstakingly built, will collapse in an instant.”
“That’s true, too, but I’m more worried about the barrier, that it will break when this plan is put into action.”
The two men’s expressions darkened as they recalled the barrier. Having the barrier completely broken was tantamount to the end of the empire.
“Oh, I can’t bear to imagine. Say, why don’t we pray again among ourselves? It’s a time like this, although it’s burdensome to use our divine power… Shouldn’t we try our best to find the real one?”
“…Let’s do it.”
Confused and worried, Kyle and Joffrey went to the prayer room together to pray as much as they could.
★★★
Several days had passed since Noah returned to the Imperial Palace.
Noah, who was resting in his room, heard a knock on the window. He jumped up and ran over.
It was a carrier pigeon used in communicating with his subordinates. This time, it brought a note from Chen, who was entrusted with tracking the temple’s carriage.
Noah quickly untied the note from the pigeon’s foot and read it.
“The carriages carrying the holy flowers split in the middle, to three different destinations… All went towards the border. And what’s this? An infectious disease?”
Wrinkles formed between Noah’s forehead as he read the last part. It was written that he had seen bodies dumped on the side of the road as he passed by.
The details must be investigated. It was concerning that an unknown disease seemed to be spreading. Noah ran outside.
“Is His Majesty inside?”
“Yes, please wait a moment.”
Noah entered the emperor’s office. He was fortunately able to meet the emperor right away as he had no other duties.
The face of the emperor was deeply troubled.
“What are you doing at this hour?”
“You look really bad… What happened?”
“Well, I just got an urgent telegram.”
The emperor held out a piece of paper. Noah came closer and accepted it.
“Count Elius… His territory is at the southern border, right?”
“Yes. It’s said that an epidemic has spread in the vicinity. It was only discovered after it had already spread widely.”
Noah’s expression grew in seriousness as he read the letter. Coincidentally, it matched up with what Chen had scouted.
“I don’t know what this is. A never seen before epidemic. Of course, at a time like this… It’s too bad.”
The emperor couldn’t even imagine the cracked barrier was the reason why there was an epidemic.
“I was just about to redefine the palace’s relationship with the temple, but now that this has happened, it’s all to no avail. It turned out to be a bad thing.”
“Father, you’re not thinking of asking the temple, are you?”
“Is there anything else I could do? If I left it alone, all the people of the empire would get sick, I can’t let that happen.”
Staring at the emperor sighing with his eyes tightly closed, Noah hardened his heart and said,
“The temple is not necessarily the answer. There must be another way.”
“What is that way?”
The emperor slowly opened his eyes. The eyes that were deeply immersed in worry were starting to shine with hope.
“The holy flowers. If we use it, we can cure the plague without the help of the temple.”
If the temple tried to send the holy flowers to the border area, it meant that they could be used as a cure for contagious diseases.
“Noah, did you forget that the flowers come right out of the temple?” The emperor shook his head. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“No. There is a way to secure a lot of holy flowers without borrowing the power of the temple at all.”
“Really? How?”
The body of the emperor, who was quite ashamed to see his subjects at the meeting to be held in the afternoon, tilted forward by itself.
If it was truly so according to Noah’s words, he might be able to push ahead with his plan without bending to the temple.
“I know someone who can create holy flowers.”
Noah recalled how the holy flowers bloomed wildly during his conversation with Esther even though she didn’t do anything.
If it was Esther, she could have made holy flowers without much effort.
“A person who can create holy items, other than the saint…”
The emperor, who was muttering in amazement, laughed when he saw Noah’s eyes change dramatically.
“Is it the lady you like?”
“How did you know? Wait, did mother tell you? I told her to not tell anyone.”
Noah’s face flushed with embarrassment when he saw that the emperor noticed it right away, even though he had not said anything to him yet.
The emperor’s expression, which had been serious all along, finally softened a little when he saw his young son behaving like a child.
“All right. You said that child healed you, and she can even create holy flowers? That’s amazing.”
“Yes. She is a great friend.”
As always, a proud smile hung on Noah’s lips as he spoke of Esther.
In the heart of the emperor who looked at the cute figure, some doubts and various guesses began to sprout.
‘She can make holy flowers? Is it possible for someone other than a saint?’
If anyone could have made the holy flowers, there was no way they would be so precious.
The holy flower was a flower that only a saint could create and grow.
The emperor thought it was strange when Noah said someone cured his illness, but when he said that the child could even create holy flowers, his suspicions grew.
Suddenly, a rumor he had heard from a spy planted in the central temple a while ago came to mind.
“They said that the current saint’s divine power isn’t great, so she’s getting behind in her work.”
The saintess’ ability this time wasn’t exceptional enough, to the point that rumors were already circulating inside the temple.
Thinking hard, the emperor even remembered what Noah had said when he came to visit him a year ago.
At that time, Noah said he knew who the next saint would be.
A suspicion that perhaps the saint in the temple right now was a fake and that there was a real one quickly crossed the emperor’s mind.
He was shocked to the point of gasping for a second, but he hid this feeling and asked as a benevolent father.
“I don’t know if I can entrust you with such a huge task. I don’t think it’s an easy request, so please let me meet her once.”
It was necessary to meet and judge in person, rather than just listening and assuming.
“Yes. I’ll ask her.”
Noah left the office to send a message to Esther, not knowing the emperor’s speculations.
“Maybe this will result in revenge sooner than expected.”
Muttering to himself, Noah had a determined expression on his face.
When he heard the news that people were suffering from the plague, he, too, was devastated.
But with this unfortunate opportunity, they would be able to reveal the true nature of the temple to everyone while saving the people of the empire.
It was a battle that the temple without the saint had no choice but to lose if it dragged on.