The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 190 – Treason (1)

When Juan reached his hand out toward Lenly, Lenly straightened his back.

“It’s okay, Your Majesty. There is no need to…”

“You were wounded while carrying out my order. It’s the least I can do for you.”

Lenly nodded apologetically upon hearing Juan’s firm words.

“It’s an honor, Your Majesty.”

Juan peeled off the cloth wrapped around Lenly’s face. His eyes under the skin that was distorted by the burn were gray and crushed. Juan covered Lenly’s eyes with his hand, and then a pleasant warmth spread over Lenly’s eyes that were distorted by the burns.

Lenly flinched as he felt the tickling sensation spreading above and below his eyelids.

“It won’t heal right away, but it will recover to a considerable extent if you recuperate for about a week or so. I can make it heal right now, but I want to minimize the side effects as much as possible.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I don’t know what to say.”

Lenly knelt down and bowed his head before Juan. He also knew about the healing Grace and had thought about asking the Priests to cure him. However, he could not do so when he found out that Grace was a power stolen from the emperor.

Furthermore, the wounds caused by Telgramm were difficult to cure even with a healing Grace, since it had its limitations.

But curing such a wound was just as easy as counting one two three for Juan.

Haild watched the scene in silence.

“Then we will get going now. Let me know when the Saintess wakes up,” Juan said.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will also look into the former Saintess who are still alive,” Lenly answered.

After leaving Lenly behind, Juan became lost in thoughts. His mind was full of questions about the traces left behind in the Saintess’ soul, as well as her constitution. He was also quite curious about Lenly Loen.

Juan had secretly scanned through Lenly’s soul while using the healing Grace on him. It hadn’t been long since Juan assigned Lenly a mission, but there was a possibility that someone who transferred their spirit into Ivy’s body might have influenced Lenly.

However, Leny’s soul was clean. In fact, in terms of purity of the soul alone, he was even comparable to Sina.

While Juan didn’t find anything wrong with Lenly, there was one thing that made Juan feel uneasy.

‘Why did he learn how to use magic?’

Of course, Juan actively recommended and even encouraged his subordinates to learn magic when he used to be the emperor, since it was very useful. However, learning magic did not spread too widely within the empire because training the Baltic Sword alone could make one strong enough.

It was only natural that not a lot of people learned how to use magic, since it was banned after the Church took control of the empire.

But Lenly surprisingly showed signs of having mastered magic to a surprisingly high level.

Juan could tell that it was magic learned through Lenly’s own efforts rather than some simple Grace. But no one, including Juan, had ever seen Lenly use magic. It made sense that he hadn’t used magic until now, since he would have had to hide it from the Church, but Juan couldn’t understand why Lenly was still hiding the fact that he was capable of using magic.

‘I’ll just have to wait and continue to keep my eye on him.’

Although Juan entrusted Lenly with the task himself, Juan did not trust an educated and learned loyalty. Even Sina could only be accepted by Juan after he observed her for a long time.

“Your Majesty.”

Juan turned his head at the sudden call. Upon seeing Haild calling out to him with a tired look, Juan realized that Haild had called him several times.

“Ah, I couldn’t hear you because I was thinking about something. What is it?”

Haild seemed to be hesitant, but he carefully opened his mouth.

“About the magic Your Majesty performed on Captain Lenly a moment ago… would you be able to perform it on Miss Heretia as well? Or on Duke Henna? I think it will be very helpful, since they are both injured pretty badly.”

Haild’s request was a reasonable one. While the healing Grace granted by the Church was powerful, it was limited. On the other hand, Juan could use the highest level of healing Grace. The rumor had it that the Pope could even bring back the dead with his healing Grace—if that was true, then there was no reason why Juan could not do it himself.

Juan felt a little unpleasant upon hearing Haild’s question, but he decided to be kind and explain it.

“There are two reasons, Haild.”

“...Are those reasons why Your Majesty can’t do it?”

“Yes. To be exact, it is why ‘I didn’t do it.’ First, Lenly had a physical form left even after the injury. Sina Solvane had suffered from even more serious injuries than Lenly before, but she also had the physical form that remained. In that case, I am more than willing to use the healing Grace on them. But Heretia and Hela are different. I don’t use healing Grace in the event of the loss of the physical form.”

“Why is that?”

“Because one’s soul will be contaminated by the magic once it is healed with someone else’s magic. That’s why I don’t like healing using magic itself. Even if I use magic, I try to minimize the contamination as much as possible. It goes without saying that restoring a body part that has no physical form left will lead to much more severe contamination.”

“What do you mean one’s soul will be contaminated?”

“Let me explain it like this—let’s say there is a castle. It’s a castle where countless heroes bled and history was made. But that castle was so old that the old parts were filled with new materials after breaking them. Then would you say the restored castle is the same as the original castle?”

“Um… Hm, it kind of is in a way, isn’t it?”

“Alright. Then time passed by and the castle became even older. The old parts became much more rusty. You decided to fully restore the castle again and got rid of all the older parts from when the castle was originally built and then restored it with new materials. The stones the heroes stepped on, the blood they shed, and the tower where they sang all those years ago all got destroyed and disappeared. Is the castle still the same as the original castle even now?”

“Hm, that’s hard to say. I don’t think I could call it the original castle, but…”

“Exactly. But from what point was it no longer the ‘original castle?’ The time when the first stone tile was lifted? Or the time when the last foundation stone was removed? I think restoring one’s lost body part is similar to restoring the castle.”

Juan stopped talking for a moment, then continued to speak.

“If anything, it’s much worse, since you are filling someone with an unknown material called magic. Restoring body parts is already bad enough, but imagine what it would be like to bring someone back to life. I think that one turns into a completely different being from that point and…”

Then Juan stopped talking again. He was speaking as if he was teaching Haild, but his words were also directed at himself as well.

‘Then am I the same Juan who used to be the emperor in the past?’

This was a question that he had to ask himself.

Haild nodded when Juan stopped talking.

“I understand what you mean, Your Majesty. I mean, to be honest, I didn’t understand it well, but… is the second reason as long as the first reason?” Haild asked.

Juan thought that Haild was not suitable for learning magic. However, there was no reason for Haild to learn magic, since not only was he already a powerful swordsman but his ability to deal with the Crack was quite exquisite.

“The second reason is much simpler. It is because the two you asked me to cure did not ask me to do so.”

“I’m sorry? Then…”

“Yes. It’s impossible to cure Hela since her wound is from way too long ago, but I could have healed Heretia if she asked me. I would have definitely tried to persuade her not to, but I would have done it if that’s what she wanted. Heretia also knows that I have the ability to heal her, But the fact that she is not asking me to do so means that she has her own thoughts. That’s all.”

***

A huge oak tree branch that seemed to be hundreds of years old hung over the roof of the mansion. The oak tree which was famous in Torra showed the majestic and old history of the mansion—although it was nothing more than Anya’s ladder right now.

Anya recalled the old days as she gently fell from the oak tree onto the roof of the mansion. It was around the time when she was active as one of the ordinary members of the Order of Huginn. Even then, Anya often visited other people’s houses in the middle of the night like right now. Of course, she was rarely ever invited.

Anya could see the guards patrolling the garden with hounds. According to Anya’s observation over the past few days, there had never been a day when the security guards let their guard down. Rather, it was only getting tighter.

Anya wondered who the owner of this mansion was trying to block. Of course, a noble’s mansion in Torra which had been peaceful for the past forty-eight years was easily broken into by Anya.

The terrace door was locked, but Anya simply used Umbra and made an appropriate key. The door was easily opened, and Anya leisurely entered the hallway on the second floor of the mansion without making a sound.

The first thing she found was a large symbol of the emperor across the wall. To be precise, it would be right to call it a symbol of the Church, since Juan had never accepted it as his own symbol.

Anya found a servant patrolling the hallway, thus she quickly cracked his neck. Checking through the servant’s body, Anya found a sword.

‘Even a servant is patrolling while armed with a sword, huh? This is getting more and more interesting.”

Anya checked each room on the second floor one by one. She took a necklace with names engraved on them from the room of the sleeping twin children, and she also took the hairpin of a lady who slept alone on a large bed. And in the last room, Anya was finally able to find the person she was looking for.

However, the person she was looking for was with a guest in the mansion.

“...it’s a night where patience is necessary. You may feel humiliated, but must patiently wait while lying on your stomach.”

“But you can see how the Argyll family went down. We might just get stabbed while lying on our stomachs.”

Anya found the conversation quite interesting.

‘They should be quietly sticking out their neck if His Majesty wants to cut off their necks, but they are just trembling in fear, huh?’

Anya didn’t intend to eavesdrop on their conversation in the first place, but she decided to wait and keep an eye on them for now.

Anya hid inside the ceiling. Thanks to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, Anya was able to peek into the room. One of them was Delane Deed, a noble from the religious faction and also the owner of this mansion. But it was impossible for Anya to recognize the other person, since he was wearing a black robe and a hood to cover his face.

“The master is sending supplies that will come in handy through your merchants now. You just have to stay quiet until then.”

“The people who have occupied the Imperial Palace are strong enough to refer themselves to the emperor. If the master doesn’t come forward himself, it will be impossible to fight against them. We won’t even stand a chance. Those people are not opponents that can be dealt with just a few swords.”

‘A treason conspiracy, I see.’

Anya felt entertained rather than angry. She took out a letter containing details about Delane Deed, the owner of this mansion, plotting to commit treason. Delane had become the practical head of the religious faction after the head of the Argyll family died.

He seemed unwilling to take the position, but he had no choice in terms of scale and status.

And this letter—although forged by Anya herself—was part of the plan to frame the defiants for attempted treason, all in order to dry their seeds.

But now, there was no need to even fabricate evidence. It didn’t matter whether it was right or wrong. For Anya, the measure of justice lied only with Juan.

“I’m not talking about just a few swords. The master thinks this might be better than him coming forward in person. If it is used at the right time and place at the perfect moment, then even the fake emperor will…”

At that moment, the man wearing the black robe suddenly stopped talking and looked up at the ceiling.

As soon as she thought she had been caught, Anya broke through the ceiling and stabbed the man wearing the black robe in the shoulder.

Thus, the man in a black robe failed to dodge and looked at Anya in astonishment.

Anya knew her opponent.

‘He’s someone from the Ilde family.’

Ilde family were nobles who not only obeyed the Church as they acted like the Pope’s tongue, but also built wealth through the most profane crimes in Hiveden. Imil Ilde, the head of the Ilde family who fled with the Pope, seemed to have been planning to recapture Torra while working with the insiders like this.

Anya completely covered the face and body of the man from the Ilde family with Umbra before he could even let out a scream. After checking that the man from the Ilde family was pinned down and couldn’t move, Anya turned her gaze toward Delane Deed who was looking at her while frozen.

Then Anya took something out of her pocket and threw it onto the floor before he could run away or call for security.

It was the necklace of the twin children and the hairpin of his wife, all the items she stole earlier.

“I’ll let you choose who I should torture first,” Anya smiled and looked at Delane. “Choose the one you value the least—although you will end up opening your mouth regardless of who you choose.”

Delane could recognize his opponent as well. She was Anya, the captain of the Order of Huginn who could deal with the undead. The Order of Huginn was almost the only object of fear among the nobles in Torra, even before the emperor reappeared.

Anya’s contribution in the recent war once again touched their deep-rooted fears. Some of the nobles feared Anya even more than the returned emperor. This was especially true of Delane who was a noble from the religious faction.

Delane quickly fell on the floor to beg.

“I’ll tell you everything! Please leave my family alone…!”