Wortenia Senki (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue

A month had passed since the series of battles between Count Salzberg and Ryoma Mikoshiba—what the history books would call the Northern Upheaval—ended with Ryoma’s victory.

In a room at the Red Star Pavilion, a high-class inn located in Pireas and run by Pireas’s guild branch, two men sat facing each other. One of them was Jacob Roland, an elderly man dressed in decorated priestly garb. He was a cardinal in the Church of Meneos. Akitake Sudou, a middle-aged man with neatly combed hair, sat opposite of him.

Normally, no one would ever picture these two men in the same room. Cardinal Roland rarely left the holy city of Menestia, and even if he did, his status was far above Sudou’s. Wherever the cardinal went, soldiers always guarded him from nearby.

A cardinal was an advisor to the pope, the man holding the highest authority within the church. If the pope ever abdicated for whatever reason, the cardinals would convene to choose his replacement. They weren’t nobles, yet they were even more powerful than the aristocracy.

Given Cardinal Roland’s high station, the gap between him and Sudou was substantial. No one would assume they were acquaintances, but looking at them now, it was clear they were familiar with each other and had known each other for some time. That said, anyone listening in on this conversation would likely balk at such an awful exchange. The topic—bloodshed—was totally unfit for a clergyman.

As they jauntily chatted and joked about, Sudou brought out a bottle of Qwiltantian wine. “I’ve heard of the incident in Galatia, though. Terrible business,” he said, his expression apologetic as he poured wine into Cardinal Roland’s cup.

“Oh, you have no idea,” the cardinal replied. His face clouded over as he gulped his drink like he was trying to wash down some unpleasantness. “I never expected that Count Winzer would be assassinated and that we would be suspected of planning the affair. And that’s even after we suffered our own considerable losses. They say this is all some kind of farce we’ve concocted.”

The cardinal heaved a sigh and continued.

“It’s truly a foolish affair, but I suppose it was unavoidable, given that the officials of this country are heretics who don’t adhere to the faith. I should regard them as I would an ignorant dog.”

Cardinal Roland, usually the very image of irreproachable conduct, spoke in an unusually derisive manner. If Menea or Rodney were to see him now, they wouldn’t believe their eyes. His behavior could call his legitimacy as a clergyman into question. Sudou, on the other hand, didn’t seem at all surprised. The cardinal’s change of attitude couldn’t shake their relationship, it seemed.

“Yes, I’d imagine so. The church’s influence on this country is fairly weak,” Sudou said and then directed an inquisitive look at Cardinal Roland. “And I must admit that the fact you visited Count Winzer’s estate on the night of his assassination, of all times, does seem a bit suspicious.”

As a high-ranking member of the Organization, Sudou was well aware of the tragedy that had taken place in Galatia. Maybe he knew more about it than even Cardinal Roland did. Naturally, he knew that the suspicions toward the church’s delegation were misplaced. However, Sudou only knew all this because he was a member of the Organization. Were he simply an unrelated man who’d heard rumors of the tragedy, he would probably suspect that the church was involved with the assassination.

I do feel bad for doing this, Sudou thought.

He knew his implication was nothing short of slander, but not even he felt comfortable saying something that might expose his involvement in the affair. Nevertheless, Cardinal Roland couldn’t hear Sudou’s silent apology.

“You think we were pulling the strings then, Sir Sudou?” the cardinal asked, shocked. From his perspective, an old friend had just suspected him of murder.

Sudou merely laughed off the cardinal’s reproachful gaze. “I could never suspect you, Cardinal. I’m merely relaying what the public seems to think. Besides, I’ve heard that one of the Temple Knights’ most promising captains, Rodney Mackenna, was severely injured and lost his right arm. If this were all a farce you cooked up, I doubt you would maim one of your men to maintain it. Or is the report about him losing an arm a baseless rumor?”

Sudou’s reply was a backhanded one, to say the least. It implied that though some of the Church of Meneos’s strongest knights had been present, not only did they fail to stop the assassination, but one of them even lost his arm in the process. No matter how one spun it, it was embarrassing for the church. Indeed, as soon as Sudou brought it up, Cardinal Roland’s expression visibly darkened. It was enough for Sudou to infer the predicament Rodney and his troops were in. They were probably being heavily criticized for what had happened.

It’s only natural. If one of their finest men lost his arm to some unknown assassin, the church’s influence would surely plummet.

Sudou knew of Koichiro Mikoshiba, from the tales of his military service down to his impressive skill, so the news that Rodney had lost an arm to Koichiro didn’t come as a surprise. Rodney was very skilled, but the guild ranked him at Level 6, a warrior who could only use up to the Ajna chakra located in the throat. By comparison, Koichiro Mikoshiba was an ascendant, a master of thaumaturgy who had reached the limits of human capability. If Koichiro were to be down to his last resort, he could surpass even those boundaries and become a transcendent. The idea of a human facing a monster like him head-on was nonsense.

Rodney is strong, but a mere human can only achieve so much. How many warriors alive on this continent could possibly hope to measure up to that man?

If one were to search both the church and the Organization, they could perhaps find one or two warriors capable of facing Koichiro Mikoshiba. But again, Sudou only knew this because he was familiar with Koichiro’s strength. Cardinal Roland knew nothing of this.

“No, as painful as it is to admit, the rumors of Rodney losing his arm are true,” the cardinal answered sadly. “That shadow that slew Count Winzer effortlessly cut it off.”

“Shadow?” Sudou asked.

“Yes, and it very nearly took my life too. Well, it wasn’t a shadow per se. It was some armored figure wearing a black mask, but he truly was like a shadow. He was there, and I could see him, but I didn’t feel him. It was like he had no presence at all.”

Cardinal Roland paused, pouring more wine into his glass before continuing.

“And it seems Menea and her troops were also injured while facing another shadow wielding a spear. They weren’t hurt to the same extent as Rodney, but they did need nostrums to recover.”

Sudou nodded. “I see, I see. That sounds terrible. But those shadows must be rather skilled if they can match and overcome two of the Temple Knights’ most promising commanders.”

“Yes, someone that skilled couldn’t possibly be some unknown person. The church is trying its best to find out about them, but it looks like their efforts are coming up short.”

Cardinal Roland took another sip from his glass, a frustrated expression on his face. He clearly didn’t want to linger on this, so he clammed up and focused on sipping his wine.

A long moment of silence passed until Sudou smoothly changed the topic.

“I suppose if you don’t know, there isn’t much to be done. Let’s get to the main point then, shall we?”

“And what’s that?” Cardinal Roland asked. He was visibly confused.

“It’s in regards to the reason you came all the way to this country, Cardinal.”

“My reason for coming here?” the old clergyman replied suspiciously, sounding cautious.

Sudou grinned at him and played his trump card. “Yes, the man who has been causing trouble up north.”

Sudou’s words immediately lifted the alcohol-induced haze from Cardinal Roland’s mind. Who Sudou was referring to didn’t require any clarification; the church’s delegation had come here to investigate Ryoma Mikoshiba, ruler of the Wortenia Peninsula. However, very few people knew that this was the real purpose of their journey. That small group included the pope, who’d ordered them to look into him, Cardinal Roland, and only a handful of others. And no one who knew this could have possibly leaked that information to Sudou.

It can’t be... How?

The man sitting in front of the cardinal knew something he couldn’t possibly be aware of. All traces of friendship or affection for Sudou vanished from Cardinal Roland’s eyes, and a dangerous glint took their place. These weren’t the eyes of a clergyman.

Cardinal Roland’s glare did little to shake Sudou’s composed smile, though. Sudou kept grinning at the cardinal as the two stared wordlessly at each other.

In the end, Cardinal Roland heaved a deep sigh. “How do you know about that?” he asked.

“I’ll just say that being aware of things I have no possible way of knowing is part of my job and leave it at that,” Sudou replied with his usual calm tone. “But my objective is the same as yours, and that’s why I came to visit you. We have been friends for some twenty years now, haven’t we?”

Sudou’s response could have easily been interpreted as mocking, but Cardinal Roland suppressed the anger rising from the pit of his stomach. Their long friendship was one reason he’d done so, but more importantly, they supposedly shared the same objective. A small sigh escaped his lips, and the enmity drained from his eyes, proving that he’d taken an interest in Sudou.

“Very well. I have much to ask you, Sir Sudou, but it has been a long time since we last met, my friend. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to be of much help to you, but I can, at the very least, speak of this common objective of ours.”

Cardinal Roland smiled at Sudou. 

Before long, the sun sank below the horizon, and the veil of night settled over the capital. Having finished his talk with Cardinal Roland, Sudou was walking along a back alley.

Hm... Someone is tailing me, it seems. Two...no, three people.

Sudou could faintly feel the gazes fixed on him from behind. Their presence was so indistinct that no one but Sudou could have possibly noticed them. It seemed the spies Cardinal Roland sent to track him were quite skilled. Given that he didn’t feel any bloodlust emanating from them, they must have been ordered to track and gather information on him.

It makes sense he’d do that.

Their exchange had continued and ended exactly as Sudou had planned it, and Cardinal Roland had agreed to follow Sudou’s plan, though not by choice. From the cardinal’s perspective, Sudou might not have coerced him per se, but it had felt like he didn’t have much of a choice. In other words, it was too good of an offer to pass up, so he wasn’t likely to refuse.

The cardinal hadn’t sent these spies to follow Sudou out of hostility. After all, Sudou had never exposed how dangerous he could be until today. The cardinal was merely being cautious because an old friend had suddenly revealed an unexpected side he’d never seen before.

That made him wary of me. He was a very convenient pawn for learning what the church was up to, though.

Sudou had to reveal his fangs like that; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to move the conversation in the direction he wanted. But it had surprised Roland greatly. A friend he’d known for two decades had displayed such a dangerous side to himself, which was why he was having Sudou trailed. But Sudou had good reason to put in so much effort.

“Either way, everything is in place now,” Sudou whispered.

Ryoma Mikoshiba was like a blessing to Sudou. While Ryoma did constantly foil the Organization’s plans, the more he struggled, the more this continent bled. He spread chaos and ruin, and that was everything Sudou wanted and more. The destruction Ryoma created was so significant that it was enough to cancel out the damage he caused by getting in the Organization’s way. Nevertheless, Sudou wasn’t pleased that Ryoma continued to expand his power and influence.

Sudou already had a grasp on Queen Lupis’s actions, and knew that the House of Lords was poised to act too. To them, Ryoma was a dangerous thorn in their side, and war would soon break out between him and the Kingdom of Rhoadseria. But Sudou also knew that Ryoma had predicted this and taken measures to defend himself.

This was fine, of course. Sudou didn’t care much who won the upcoming war.

But I can’t allow the Ivory Goddess of War to join his side. That would throw the game off balance.

Games were only interesting when the enemy was appropriately strong, but an opponent that was too powerful took all the fun out of it. A balance had to be maintained.

I’ve taken such a liking to him that it’d be a waste if I can’t have fun with him for long.

Sudou sneered. This world was a boring, stifling place. Nothing had value or significance. There was one exception, however, one time when he could relish being here—when his plots caused the death and bloodshed of many. Those moments were the only things that roused Akitake Sudou from his ennui and tedium.

The hustle and bustle of the street brimming with people soon reached his ears. The pleasure districts were always alive with activity at night.

Now then, I think it’s time I shook off these bothersome spies.

Sudou glanced behind him one last time before slipping into the crowd and disappearing from sight. 

On that day, a single force of malice was unleashed—an invisible hatred which, unbeknownst to anyone, would bring further strife and conflict upon the Kingdom of Rhoadseria. And the only one who knew of it was the creator of the malice, Sudou Akitake.