3 bar menu

Volume 7 Chapter 1 Part 13

Theo himself can say he was on board with it the idea of unifying all the Crests together so that the Emperor who’d bring the Era of Chaos to an end could be born, but he had no intention of allowing that someone to be a Pope from the Order of the Crest, if only because he didn’t know how exactly he’d go about achieving that.

(In the worst case scenario, maybe Alexis Ducet and Marine Kraische could be persuaded into converting to the faith of the Order of the Crest…)

But while that was certainly a possibility, it was, admittedly, not the one that seem to be too realistic.

「But what is my purpose in all of this, Archbishop Torkano? Whay have you chosen to contact me? 」

Theo asked the bishop one last question.

「Because you’ve been chosen by Lady Priscilla’s revelation. That’s why I’d like to ask you to continue to protect her like you’ve been doing until now. There are many people like me who believe that Lady Priscilla is the true Holy Grail, but I wonder what the current Pope thinks about that that though… 」

The Archbishop did not continue speaking to finish his thought after that, probably because there was still a certain amount of confusion within him.

「If that’s the case, I’ll do my best to help you. 」

Theo replied strongly.

「Thank you. 」

The archbishop bows his head to Theo with sincere gratitude.

「Please allow me to pray that the day will come when you, the young hero, will be able to unite all the Crests into Grancrest and present them all to the saintly Lady Priscilla. 」
「I don’t mind you praying for my success, but if that day really comes, then the decision on what to do with the Grancrest will be mine alone, and no one else’s. 」

Theo answered, and then he shook the Archbishop’s hand one last time.

After finishing their meeting with the Archbishop and eating a meal in the bar upstairs, he returned back to the mansion with Priscilla and the Werewolf twins, who bot pretty bored of waiting for them. Once they got back, they saw that the carriage that was parked in front of the mansion’s entrance, the one that seemed to have been used by Siluca was already parked there as well, meaning that she must’ve concluded her business as well.

* * *

「Hey, mind if I come in? 」

Siluca, who was sorting out her things in her room, received a visit from Theo in the middle of the night.

「Please, go right ahead. 」

Before opening the door for him, she hurriedly took her luggage, which was sprawled out all over the floor, and hid it out of sight.

「Do you have any alcohol with you? 」

「If you’re fine with wine from Sistina, then yes, I do. 」

Thinking it was unusual for Theo to be visiting her so late and make such a request, Siluca poured wine from a small barrel into a glass and handed it to Theo, who was sitting down on the sofa.

Theo then took a deep breath and let out a big sigh.

「What happened? 」

She prepared a second glass for Theo and a glass of wine for herself, and sat down next to Theo.

「I wound up getting myself involved in a small incident today, and my head is still spinning because of it, that’s all. 」

Theo said with a sigh.

Are you visiting the town of Kou^~Rum?「That’s right, you were going to Elam with Priscilla and the twins today. So, how was it? 」

「It was fun. We mostly went around eating at various places though. 」

「Ah, yes, I heard Emma and Luna ate quite a lot. I think they’re being chastized by Irvin for it right now. 」

「Speaking of Irvin, you brought in a new servants, right? 」

「Looks like it. 」

Siluca smiled and nodded her head. They were talking about the children who were following Siluca and Aishela’s carriage during the day. They actually ended up picking up the piece of paper that Siluca threw out through the carriage’s window, opened it, heard the message that she recorded in it, saw the map to this mansion, and visited Irvin. They then flatly asked him to give them a job.

「So, what happened? 」

Siluca asked, putting her hand on Theo’s arm.
「*Sigh* before I start, let me ask you to let me finish the whole story before you’re going to say anything, alright? 」

After Theo asked Siluca for that, he then proceeded to tell her about what happened to him in the city from beginning to the end.

「The Order of the Crest… 」
After listening to the story, Siluca had a stern look on her face. She knew exactly how Theo must’ve felt.

「What do you think? 」

「I thought that the Mages Association overlooked the expansion of the Order of the Crest, but in reality, maybe it was the other way around the entire time. Right now, it would make more sense to think that the Order of the Crest was actually under the influence of the Mages Association which helped them expand they way they did by sending these mercenaries their way. 」

「Just like I thought.」

Theo nodded loudly.

「I felt like that too. But what’s the purpose of them doing that? 」

「It’s dangerous to make hasty judgments, but… 」

Siluca prefaced this and then continued talking.

「I think the Mages Association is afraid of the ending of the Age of Chaos and the coming of the Age of Order. That’s why they may be trying to use the power of faith to fight against the Lords who want to get rid of the Chaos once and for all. 」
They probably thought that unless they did something like that, they would not be able to prevent the coming of the Age of Order. However, the course of history cannot be changed so easily, and Siluca felt like the Mages Association simply refused to accept that.

Siluca feels like the association is holding him back.

「Actually, I went through a few things today as well. 」

Siluca met with the lord of Meletes Family and the Headmaster of the Magic University, and she relayed everything she said to them to Theo.

「I see. 」

Theo crosses his arms in front of his chest.

「It seems that the current Mages Association is dominated by a conservative and hardline faction. 」

「I am myself a Mage, and I have always believed that the Mages Association is necessary, no matter what. There is no doubt that the Association has led the fight against Chaos from the Time of Extreme Chaos up to this point, and that it has helped our civilization to grow and develop a a much faster pace and spread it across the entire continent. However, it is also true that as long as the threat of Chaos got reduced, they started helping Lords fight over Crests and titles. 」

Therefore, the Mages Association created a peerage system and placed restrictions on battles between the Lords.

However, under the peerage system that they introduced, Jurgen Kraische, the Iron-Blooded Earl, rose to power and aimed to conquer the entire continent and its Crests through military might under the banner of the Factory Alliance. It was probably at that time that the Association first foresaw that the Age of Order was coming. As a result of this reaction, the Mages Association began to change.

「Well, I’ll be able to meet some of the great people from the Mages Association soon, so I’ll decide how I feel about them at that time. 」

「Yes. 」

Siluca smiled and nodded. What matters is what Theo wants to do, and her role is to think of a path for him so that he could achieve whatever he ends up deciding on.

「I’m glad I talked to you about all that. I feel a lot better now. 」

Theo looked at Siluca and puts his hand on her shoulders. She relaxed her body and allowed herself to be pulled towards him. She then closed her eyes and allowed his lips to touch hers.

Siluca was happy just by knowing that she and Theo still shared the same feelings towards one another.

* * *

The next day, a notification letter arrived from the Mages Association. It states that in three days, Theo Cornero, the Earl of Sistina, would be presented with an official reward foe his efforts in capturing the Black Witch, and that she is going to be burned at the stake at the Grand Cathedral.

It was the first time Siluca had entered the cathedral since that tragic day.