A toothless tiger—it was the perfect term to describe the Holy Empire. The Holy Empire had an enormous territory comparable to that of the Roman Empire, and its influence could be found in all kingdoms. However, they started to walk the path of decline more than 100 years ago. There were many such reasons for their decline, but it all started with the appearance of evil lands and mana stones. The evil lands weren’t explained in the scriptures, and as such, the Pope and the clergy at the time had labeled the evil lands as ‘entrances of hell’ and insisted on their eradication and closure. No one could deny the authority of the Pope, the representative of God himself, so numerous knights, mercenaries, and priests entered evil lands to fight against monsters, and just as many people died inside the evil lands.

It was to the point where there had been tens of thousands of casualties in just one year.

The Holy War!

The endless war began under the leadership of the Holy Empire, and it continued for more than a year, and once it was discovered that the cursed stone—the mana stone—could be purified and turned into refined mana stones, many things changed. It became known that eternal life, which could never be achieved even through strong faith, could be within reach through the consumption of the cursed stones.

When taken, the refined mana stones recovered one’s energy and healed their wounds. There was even a case where a member of the royalty was cured of leprosy after consuming refined mana stones for more than a year. In addition, the use of by-products gained from the corpses of monsters developed over time as well. The things found and obtained from the entrance to hell had started changing the world for the better, even though the Pope and the clergy had cursed and attacked them.

Their sermons lost their power, and their believers started to scatter one by one. But even then, the Holy Empire refused to acknowledge anything that came out of the evil lands, claiming that they were excrements of the devil. They criticized lords who purified mana stones and attacked royal families that commercialized the subjugation of evil lands. However, although they denied mana stones and by-products on the surface, the church made huge amounts of money by having hundreds of priests purify mana stones in secret.

Eventually, the matter concerning the evil land subjugations exploded into a dispute between the Holy Empire and the opposing kings and lords, and the Holy Empire was defeated after five years of war. The pope was forced to officially recognize the existence of refined mana stones as well as allocate purification and sales authority to kings and lords. And although the name of the empire was maintained due to the strong blood ties and relationships they had with various nobles over the long years, the empire’s territory and power had been reduced to one-tenth of its prime.

As such, the Holy Empire was reduced to nothing more than a toothless tiger for the last eighty years. The Holy Empire had labeled members of other races as children of the devil. But as they had been weakened, they could no longer interfere with the interaction between humans and creatures of other races, even after climbing the hierarchy of the ruling class. They could only exert what little influence they had over a few countries, including the Caylor Kingdom. The pope changed three times in the meantime, but they had been helpless and could only reminisce of their old glory.

However, not long ago, a golden opportunity arose for the toothless tiger. A city known as Maren was declaring its founding as a dukedom, but there was a rumor that the king of the dukedom—who was also a duke of Brantia—might be a vampire.

It had been a long time since other races, such as orcs and vampires, had been incorporated into human society. However, they had always remained under the control of the hierarchy. But if the rumor was true, the King of Maren would be the first member of another race to step up as a great noble under no one’s control.

Of course, the Holy Empire was unconcerned up until then. After all, Maren was distant from them, and it was impossible for him to become king without the consent of many lords. There was nothing for the Holy Empire to gain from meddling. However, the attitude of the pope and the highest-ranking priests of the Holy Empire immediately changed when they received an oracle regarding the King of Maren.

***

“The Monster War will erupt once again and drape the entire world in darkness. When that time goes, the Holy Empire will once again stand at the center as the flagbearer of faith…” High Priest Laerina quietly recited the oracle that had been passed down to the pope.

The holy knight nodded with determination. “That’s right. We must suppress any potential threats as much as possible, those who might interfere with us when the time comes.”

“And the greatest threat is the King of Maren?” she asked.

“That is what His Holiness said,” the holy knight answered.

“I see. But… Honestly, I do not understand,” Laerina said.

“Huh? What do you…” The holy knight became wide-eyed. It was shocking that a high priest of the Holy Empire, who was also the current saintess, had actually made a remark expressing her doubt toward the oracle.

“Even if he is the most famous knight and king of recent times, Brantia and Maren, where he is based, could be considered to be the outskirts. There are many others in the world who are more prestigious than him, however…” she paused.

“Since they have a long history, wouldn’t they be more of a hindrance in us gathering faith once again? Maren and Brantia—what kind of a position do you think those two will occupy in the army of god? Sir, you know much better than I do when it comes to armies. What do you think?” Laerina asked.

“…”

Laerina’s question was just criticism in disguise, and the holy knight could not find any words to respond. She was correct.

‘If an army for a holy war is organized, the long-established and prestigious royal families and nobles will have a much bigger voice and power.’

And they would not follow the instructions of the Holy Empire. Even if the Holy Empire was the one that raised the cause and the flag, the actual command and control would obviously not belong to them.

“We have fulfilled His Holiness’ instructions, but I still don’t know for sure. Perhaps it might have been better to bring him over to our side and give him Seriveta…” she muttered.

“T-that! We cannot do that, ever!” the holy knight shouted when Laerina mentioned Seriveta—one of the Holy Empire’s three holy artifacts.

“The holy sword is a symbol of faith! H-how could we entrust something like that to a member of another race, to a member of the Tribe of Darkness? By no means—” the holy knight continued.

"As the rumors have it, if the King of Maren is one of the highest-ranking nobles of the Dark Clan, or rather, if he is an existence above the monarch, then neither pure silver nor weapons containing divine power can harm him. The blood of the Dark Clan is also contained in Seriveta, and the holy artifacts do not reject vampires,” Laerina retorted.

“T-that’s…”

“Of course, this is all just a figment of my imagination. Something like that is never going to happen,” Laerina concluded with a gentle smile, and the holy knight gave a sigh of relief.

“Phew… You always get me into trouble. Anyway, let us return. The pirates seem to be running out of patience. If we hold out any longer, we may see their blood,” the holy knight said.

“Yes, let’s do that. Meaningless murder is a sin. Anyway, what we have done must have hurt the face of Maren’s King quite a bit. He failed to rescue a delegation that had been captured while trying to participate in his country’s founding,” Laerina said.

“Considering the reputation that the king has built up so far, it will be his first and greatest disgrace. He failed to save you, a high priest,” the holy knight responded.

That was why Laerina and the delegation of the Holy Empire had deliberately let themselves get captured by pirates. If it became known that the king had failed to save a guest who came to celebrate the founding of his country, in particular, one of the most important guests along with the Roman Empire’s delegation, then it would be a fatal flaw to his honor. Now, all they had to do was express regret after returning to the Holy Empire.

After having just declared the founding of his country, the King of Maren would have no choice but to apologize. And he would become desperate for the recognition of the pope. In other words, this was an important plan to suppress the king and keep him under the influence of the Holy Empire.

“But why did the oracle come several days after the visit of the Roman Empire’s Crown Prince…?” Laerina muttered.

“What?” the holy knight asked.

Laerina shook her head. “It’s nothing. For now, prepare to return, and as soon as the messenger returns from the Archivold Marquisate, let us depart. As the will of the three gods,” Laerina drew the holy symbol while trying to suppress her lingering suspicion.

“As the will of the three gods...”

***

Eugene and the expedition killed a great number of monsters while crossing the Carls Baggins Peninsula. However, the monsters he encountered were neither stronger nor evolved as if they had been tampered with by a vampire high lord like Christian.

“Even so, it feels like they have been affected by something… Are you sure they didn’t send someone like you to the Carls Baggins Peninsula?” Eugene asked.

“As far as I, your humble servant, knows. The territories ruled by powerful lords were excluded from the plan,” Christian answered.

“Hmm.”

Eugene became certain. Christian had no idea that a black wizard had been active here before. And it meant…

‘Are they thoroughly isolated from each other? Or perhaps the one who planned everything was cautious…’

Almost no one knew that Eugene had killed a black wizard in the evil land of the Archivold family in the past. It had been left as a secret in consideration of the honor of Essandra and the Archivold family. Of course, one could discover the truth by tracing back the appearance of the undead twin-headed ogre, but no one would be bold enough to do such a thing while Essandra was watching everything on the peninsula with blazing eyes.

‘They designed it so that everything will look like they are their own separate issues, and they only worked in remote or chaotic areas to avoid detection. Amazing. Whoever they are, they are truly amazing.’

Even the unusual gathering of monsters would have remained a secret for a while if Eugene hadn’t sent Delmondo to collect information. It would have only become known that the number of roamers was increasing in certain regions. The lords of the regions would have been completely occupied putting out the fire in their faces and would never have thought to delve deeper into the issue.

In the end, everyone would have assumed their predicaments to be isolated, separate issues. However, the delegations in the founding of Maren had come to realize the abnormality of the situation.

‘In about a month, all of the messengers sent by the delegations should arrive at their respective countries.’

Eugene was convinced that a lot would change depending on how each country would react after receiving the report. He was pretty sure that the same would hold true for the mastermind behind the entire operation.

‘If the yellow bastard is behind this, then he will soon find out that I have left on an expedition to take care of the monsters. Hmm. I’ll have to be prepared for that.’

Of course, it didn’t matter even if that was false. The issue concerning the rallying monsters was also taking place in many countries adjacent to the Roman Empire. As long as Eugene took care of the countries one by one, he could face the empire once again or even end up entering it.

“Localope! Your Highness!” Eugene shouted.

“Did you call, Your Majesty?” Localope stretched out his neck from the group of nobles he was traveling with.

“Let me talk to you for a minute,” Eugene said.

“Sure,” Localope answered. He quickly turned his horse toward Eugene. In the first place, he had already suffered enough pestering from the nobles. As soon as he left, the eyes of the surrounding nobles became filled with disappointment. They had been eager to establish a friendship with the prince after recognizing that he shared an unusual relationship with Eugene. However, no one was stupid enough to barge into a conversation between the prince of the Roman Empire and the king of Maren uninvited.

“Have you gotten close to the other sirs?” Eugene asked.

Localope answered, “I think I’ve done as much as Your Majesty expected.”

His tone was a little curt, even though he was one of the few Eugenophiles. He was a little upset since Eugene neglected and left him to deal with the foreign nobles alone.

“Keep it up. From their point of view, you are the only corridor to the Roman Empire since the yellow bastard has returned. It’s a big opportunity for you as well,” Eugene said.

“I know. And… I’m grateful to Your Majesty,” Localope said. He truly was thankful to Eugene, even though he was a little exhausted by the expected, repetitive conversations he had to have with the nobles.

“When I return home, I will repay your kindness at all costs,” Localope added.

“What kindness? All you have to do is stick to the contract. Anyway, there’s only a formal relationship between the Roman Empire and the Holy Empire, right?” Eugene asked.

“It’s mutual respect, but as you say, there’s definitely nothing more than that,” Localope answered.

“Then what about this? What if I told you that I can have the Holy Empire indebted to the Roman Empire?” Eugene asked.

“Indebted…?” Localope asked with a puzzled expression.

Eugene gave a mysterious smile. “Saving the high priest of the Holy Empire. Let’s say that the prince of the Roman Empire has strongly insisted and carried it out.”

“…?!”

“So, to the Holy Empire’s delegation, we didn’t leave on the expedition because of the monsters, but to save the high priest at the strong request of Your Highness,” Eugene explained. He already had enough honor and achievements. Eugene laughed because he could give up such a small achievement if he could confuse the enemy.

However, he had no idea of the aftermath his decision would create.