Self (5)
“So you didn’t kill me and just came?”
The emperor’s private office.
After telling the whole story in a private meeting with the emperor, Azalea swallowed dryly and looked at the emperor.
In fact, Azalea already knew enough of the emperor’s answer.
He is a person who pays more attention to high risk rather than high return. Because he has the most empire in the world.
With a sword that sharp, he was the kind of person who would worry about whether to break it even if it was in his hand.
“Azalea…you don’t know even if you don’t talk. If it’s that dangerous, why didn’t you kill it?”
The emperor rubbed his eyes as if he was tired.
The emperor also believed that Azalea was intelligent enough to recognize her inner thoughts.
“Your Majesty, what Saint Ronan needs is just one chance. One chance to fulfill his will. He is the one who can lead the Empire to destroy the Church with his own hands.”
“At the same time, it is a hand that can lead the empire to destruction. Now you call that saint by name.”
The emperor noticed that Azalea had a change of heart. He also knew very well that Azalea had enough humane emotions, but was not swayed by his own emotions.
But this time something was different.
“I was inspired by that saint. I sent him to kill him, and I fell in love with him.”
“Absolutely not!”
At the unexpected words, Azalea hurriedly denied it.
“I’m not talking about passionate love between a man and a woman. Compassion, sympathy, respect, intimacy, sympathy, and affection. I call all of these things love. Because a handful of these feelings is enough to start affection. You are the saint. How did you feel about it?”
Azalea couldn’t bear to answer.
I sympathized with him because he had compassion for the situation of the saint. I admired him for not losing his innocence even in that situation, and at the same time, I felt affection for him.
According to the emperor’s words, he loved him to the utmost.
“Azalea. It’s dozens of times harder to get that saint completely out of the church than to kill that saint and take care of it. No, beyond the level of difficulty, it’s almost impossible. Don’t you know that?”
As if teaching a child the correct answer, the emperor calmly but firmly declared that Azalea was wrong.
“How could the imperial family protect the saint? Being alone with the saint was a precarious line. The church will never allow anything more than that. It’s high, what are you going to do now? Your choice was wrong this time. It was foolish.”
“If you’ve reached the limit of what you can get from being scared, why don’t you give them candy as well?”
To the emperor, who asserted that this time it was unavoidable, Azalea replied that way.
“How much price do I have to pay to have the saint’s position conceded? They won’t be satisfied even if I pull out the pillars of the imperial palace and offer them up.”
“There is a good excuse to bring it, and it is a fruit that the church covets, but there is one candy that will not be taken away if you take good care of it while pretending to give it away.”
“Where the hell is that…”
The emperor, who continued talking, stopped talking as if something had come to mind.
Azalea, who saw that, secretly sighed, saying that she couldn’t do it yet. It was a plan she had concocted after thinking about it all day, but the emperor, after hearing such a Zen dialogue, inferred the contents before uttering a single word. He was a father, but he was like a ghost.
“You mean Robben Academy?”
“Isn’t there a good excuse that the saint still lacks learning? At least the headquarters will definitely be able to bring it out.”
“Do you know what you’re talking about? You’re saying you’re borrowing money to win a bet on a big bet. It’s the logic of a typical hunk at a gambling table.”
“If you thought there was no possibility, you wouldn’t even say that to me. You would have given me a disappointed look.”
It was not wrong, so the emperor did not respond. Azalea, who accepted the tacit affirmation, released more agonizing measures.
“To this day, the church is an object of absolute faith for the people, but even the deep-rooted aristocrats who receive education accumulated from generation to generation, the new aristocrats who do not want to be ignored and receive education, and the wealthy commoners who want to get involved in it at least a little bit For those who read, the church is no longer an absolute being.”
“That’s right. The Empire has worked hard to make it that way.”
“Naturally, the church is thirsty for the faith of those who have learned. In fact, it is the one who becomes the money and power.”
This world was a world where the top 10 percent of people led the other 90 percent. In fact, there is a difference between whether a fire goes out in people’s hands or not, so how can people be equal?
Equality was a word used only by prisoners who were on the verge of being decapitated on the death row. Everyone dies equally the next moment.
“However, we have thoroughly blocked the academy, which is in charge of education, so that the church cannot reach out.”
Religious facilities and religious activities were strictly prohibited not only in the Imperial Robben Academy established under the leadership of the Empire, but also in all educational institutions established throughout the Empire.
If you do not come into contact with religion at that time when you are indoctrinated with knowledge for a long time, even if you experience religion later, there will be very little infatuation with religion.
“You’re giving the right to missionary work at Robben Academy. Certainly. It’s an offer so attractive that the cardinals just can’t accept it.”
To release this meant that the cardinals would get a chance to recruit a new class of followers, especially those who were guaranteed a minimum level of wealth and power.
It was a golden opportunity to explode the power of the church.
“If not…”
Azalea’s face brightened slightly at the emperor’s positive remarks for the first time.
“But that’s not enough. What if the cult actually runs rampant inside Robben Academy? What if the academy’s students are really obsessed with religion? Religion is like a drug, and once it starts to spread, it gets out of control.”
“That’s… carefully examined by the imperial family…”
Azalea’s voice softened slightly.
Even though it was an imperial residence, Robben Academy was a space where maximum autonomy was guaranteed in order to extract quality talent.
Even Azalea couldn’t come up with an answer to this part.
“…I’d rather involve the other races as well.”
“yes?”
However, the emperor quickly came up with a solution.
And Azalea clearly realized that the emperor was her father.
“I have to affirm all the missionary activities of the different races. The inside of the academy will be in chaos. It will be tolerated to some extent to send troops in the name of controlling the chaos.”
She devised a plan to double the stakes, but when the emperor said he would triple the stakes, Azalea’s head went blank.
Intuitively, he sensed that the empire would at least be divided into quarters.
“Azalea.”
While Azalea was taken aback by the emperor’s unconventional measures beyond her imagination, the emperor’s deeply sunken eyes stared at Azalea.
Complex emotions swirled in it at the same time.
Pity, pride, regret…and trust.
“Have a command.”
“You will also be sent to the academy.”
?
At the emperor’s unexpected words, Azalea put a question mark in her head.
He wasn’t old enough to go to the academy. If that’s the case, it means he’s going to be part of the troops to be put into the academy…
“There must have been some nobles who guessed what the envoy that happened this time meant. The saint is fine, and if a cataclysm occurs in the academy, they are gnomes who can infer what happened and how much the saint is worth. You didn’t make the right decision.”
Azalea lowered her head as if she had nothing to say.
“That’s not all. How can I explain the reason for opening the academy to the church to nobles who don’t know the circumstances. Isn’t that to spread the saint’s abilities everywhere?”
Surprised, Azalea looked at the emperor. She hadn’t even considered that. After hearing it, it was natural enough to wonder why she hadn’t thought of it, but it was a very big difficulty.
However, the emperor continued to speak without interruption, putting Azalea’s concerns to shame.
“The ostensible purpose of all of this is to grant the cult the right to recruit academy students, and conversely, the Empire will also proceed to awaken the cult’s children from the delusion of religion. Yay. If the saint openly proclaims that he is the number one target, even those who do not know the circumstances will find the scales right, and the church members who have faith in the saint on their own today will judge that they have an advantage.”
Azalea let out a sigh of realization. It was an exquisite move that was difficult to even imagine for herself.
“But while all of this may be a reasonable excuse, it’s not a rational enough judgment. ‘Worth a try’ in a bet on the country means you shouldn’t do it.”
It meant that even if such an exquisite move was made, it was not a good enough method to convince everyone because the essence was gambling.
“So, going to your academy is a responsibility and a punishment at the same time. Your authority in the imperial family will be weakened and your actions will be restricted. The more you fail to appease the apprentices, the worse it will become.”
“As it is the result of my choice, I will accept it of course.
“And there’s one more choice you’re responsible for.”
“What is?”
“I still don’t fully trust that saint. Your judgment influenced by the saint is even more so.”
Deep down, Azalea wondered if the Emperor would think this way if he met Ronan face-to-face.
“Sit next to the saint. If you think your judgment is right, protect the saint no matter what.
“Please leave it to me.”
The emperor gives one more chance to those who make a grave mistake.
Thinking back to what the emperor had pointed out to him step by step, what he was trying to do was, in fact, an act of political suicide.
If he presented an agenda at a meeting without such preparation, he would have faced extreme opposition, and his opinion would have been rejected or forced to push. Either way, it was an act that ate away his political lifespan.
Therefore, this was the second and last chance the Emperor gave to Azalea.
“I will not disappoint you.”
“I believe.”
Even though Azalea thought she would never point a sword at Ronan, she swore a firm oath in front of the emperor.
In any case, the emperor supported his judgment and gave him his trust.
I was confident that I would not disappoint this time.
It was quite an emotional decision even if he thought that he would be able to succeed if he was with Ronan Saint.
A few days later, a letter containing the will of the emperor reached the headquarters of the church, and the church was overturned.
