Chapter 173 (1/2)

811'>

The Nation Dances, but the Wheel of Fate Still Turns

In Bios, there stood a castle made of white, high-quality rock. But none called it a “castle”, as it was a religious facility, and not a symbol of military power. Therefore, people called it the White Tower, despite the fact that it clearly looked like a castle.

The tower was located in the center of Bios, the Holy City of Agiapole. Located on the top floor was the room of the tower's owner, the suzerain state of Bios's leader, the Pope.

A country with a long history, it was known as a suzerain state because of its nonaggression pact with other nations. The temples and churches spread across everywhere were nothing but “branches”, and everyone shared this view that all other countries were under Bios. That's why it was called a suzerain state. Eventually, Bios stood above all other nations.

「Have you read Ryver's report?」A gray-haired man wearing a silky robe of fine quality asked. His blazing, red eyes was a sharp contrast against his overall white-themed attire.

「Yes, Your Holiness.」a woman kneeling down nodded.

She wore a pantsuit—an attire uncommon to women in this world that emphasized work over s.e.x appeal—and under her silver-rimmed gla.s.ses were deep-blue eyes. She had long hair, the same blue color as her eyes, that flowed straight down. The woman was the Pope's senior secretary.

「He said they lost the Drakon Ball Staff.」

「Yes.」

「I ordered it to be confiscated the moment it was found.」

「Yes.」

「Katina, you and the Cardinal suggested that it should be observed first, not taken.」

「Yes.」

「And now we're in this mess!」

The man slammed his palm down on the desk. It had quite the impact, yet the pen sitting on the pen holder did not move. The office desk was that heavy and ma.s.sive.

「Your Holiness, if I may speak.」

「Go ahead.」

「I know explaining again is unnecessary, but if we confiscated the staff at that point, people would have thought we stole the weapon of successful adventurers, therefore sullying the Church's reputation. It would've been different if we obtained it right after they laid their hands on it, but they've become too famous using that weapon. You agreed to this as well, Your Holiness. As for the watcher, Ryver is one our best and he failed. Even if others took his place, the result would've been the same.」

「Are you saying we should give up on the staff?」

「No. The Drakon Compa.s.s is being modified at the moment. We'll give Ryver a better compa.s.s than the one he already has.」

「So we can find the weapon, correct?」

「Yes.」

「Fine, then. You may leave.」

The secretary hung her head low once more before moving back to the door, and left the room.

「We have not made progress on our study on drakons. Just when we found a new drakon magic item, we lost it.」

The Pope sighed and picked up a different paper from his desk.

「Arbitration on the Ponsonian civil war. So the foolish prince has come begging for help.」

It was a letter sent by Austrin.

His Holiness, Pope Evangelos, rang a bell, and an official appeared.

「Did you call, Your Holiness?」

「Send a notice to Ponsonia's royal capital via Linga's Quill Pen that an arbitration for the civil war is being requested.」

「Understood.」the man said and left immediately.

Alone in his room, the Pope pondered matters over.

「What Katina said is true. If even Ryver failed, then there's nothing we could have done better. But still, who could outwit one of our best?」The man tapped his index finger on the desk.「Wait a minute.」

His finger stopped.「Stealing the staff at this time… The king's suspicious death… Princess Kudyastoria benefits from both. Each of these is a covert operation. Does this mean she obtained a skilled spy? It's hard to tell.」

Tap, tap, tap.

「We will simply find out.」

The Pope rang the bell once more.

Back in Ponsonia, the fort city of Leather Elka. Prince Austrin and Einbeast's rank A adventurer Gotthold Kostenlos Anchor faced each other, surrounded by their followers.

「What did you just say?」Gotthold asked.

「We'll be temporarily stopping our advance to the royal capital.」Austrin answered.

Gotthold, a Beastman with the face of a tiger, frowned, causing Austrin to let out a small shriek. The man's face was intimidating.

「May I ask why?」

「We're planning something at the moment.」

「Planning what?」

「That's, uhh…」

「You don't need to answer the question, my Prince.」the grand chamberlain whispered.

The grand chamberlain gained power by sucking up to the previous king, but he made a mistake by supporting Austrin, and was now in danger of losing his position.

If they won the battle, he could make a comeback, but the chances of that were fifty-fifty now that Kudyastoria formed an alliance with Quinbland.

Right now, the grand chamberlain was thinking of founding an independent nation with Leather Elka at its center. The arbitration from Bios was his idea.

Einbeast, on the other hand, was eager to crush Ponsonia's royal capital. What happens afterwards would be up to the king of the Beastmen, but Gotthold was here right now to fight.

Then out of the blue, the Prince said they were “planning something”, which could be taken as “we're doing something behind the scenes”. Gotthold couldn't help but be baffled, and even feel suspicious.

「So you can't tell me, the representative of the allied armies?」

「We'll inform you when the time comes. Let's just leave it at that.」

「When is that?」

「…When?」Austrin looked at the grand chamberlain.

「In a few days.」the old man answered.

「There you have it. If you'll excuse us.」

Austrin left along with his followers.

「Master Gotthold, we can't take it anymore.」