A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression – 332



Episode 332

“If the Pope’s successor goes to the Holy Land of Baadoca will he die?”

Bacchus nodded at Zeke’s words.

“Yes the current situation in the Badoka Kingdom is quite complicated.”

Zeke also knew that some of the cardinals of the Holy Kingdom had turned to the Empire.

Cardinal Verdi who had led the Children of Luverne into Death Valley in search of the Holy Grail was also one of those who turned to the Empire.

Bacchus said looking at Zeke.

“You know that the Pope has little say in the Holy See at present.”

“Yes. I heard that the Sign of the Sun appeared in a nun not a priest and she ascended to the throne but she is not properly exercising the authority of the Pope.”

The person who currently runs the Holy Kingdom is not the Pope but the President of the Holy See’s Synod of Bishops.

Originally the president of the episcopal conference was to be appointed by the pope but because the current pope is a nun and not a priest the parliament changed it so that the president would exercise the legislative administrative and judicial powers of the Holy See.

As a result the Pope was practically a figurehead.

In this situation the power of bishops and cardinals in the Holy Kingdom could not help but gradually grow stronger.

However if a pope with a priestly background and the sign of the sun like Roban were to ascend to the throne all power would pass back to the pope.

If the young Roban were to become the Pope there was a possibility that the current Pope would manipulate her from behind and act as regent. In that case the chairman and his forces who had ignored her would likely face retaliation.

It was also because of these various conflicts of interest that the Pope’s successor Roban was placed outside the Holy See.

Because of this there were more forces within the kingdom that were not happy about Roban’s return.

Power is like a drug; once you taste it you can never let it go.

Bacchus could not immediately take him to the Holy Kingdom of Baadoca because those intoxicated with power might assassinate the young Roban in order to maintain their current vested interests.

Zeke nodded after hearing Bacchus’ explanation.

“I wanted to safely deliver the successor to the Pope but the circumstances made it impossible.”

“Yes. The Pope has no power in the Holy Land except for a few guards to protect him.”

“I think I understand why the Orc Legion invaded the Holy Kingdom but was not properly dealt with.”

Sending troops required the approval of the Speaker and the Council.

However when they heard the news that the Steel Legion was advancing on the Holy Land of Baadoka they were only concerned about their own safety and ignored the rest of the kingdom.

Bacchus frowned and said.

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“Some bishops and cardinals are raising their voices saying that we must immediately ask the emperor for help in driving out the monsters.”

The cardinals who had turned to the emperor’s faction were trying to use this opportunity to bring the emperor into the kingdom.

Zeke who understood that the situation in the Holy Land of Baadoka was quite complicated nodded and said.

“I will take Roban with me into the Holy Land.”

Bacchus said with a surprised expression at Zeke’s words.

“Is that okay? If you take Roban the rulers of the Holy Land might reject Draker’s help.”

“You can just sweep away those pests. That’s a good thing. I needed an excuse to weed them out so it would be easier if you took the initiative.”

Bacchus looked at Zeke who had casually mentioned that he would overthrow the Holy Kingdom.

‘When I was young I thought I would be too small and weak to survive in Draker… but now it seems like I have inherited Draker blood more than anyone else.’

Zig who had no idea what Bacchus was thinking decided that the story was over and got up from his seat.

“Take the vampires and leave. Once you’ve taken care of the affairs of the Holy Kingdom I’ll go and see Carmilla myself.”

Bacchus nodded.

“Okay my mother and I are in a neutral city right now. It would be better to see it from there.”

“Okay. One more thing. Which hand do you use more your left or your right?”

Bacchus tilted his head at Zeke’s sudden question.

“I use my right hand more but why is that….”

Crunch-

Before Bacchus could finish speaking Zeke cut off his left hand.

“Ugh!”

Bacchus was taken aback by Zig’s sudden attack and stepped back.

He picked up Bacchus’ arm that had fallen to the ground and said:

“There has to be at least one piece of evidence to send to the Dark Stage. With the vampire’s regenerative powers it should be possible to regenerate at least one arm.”

Bacchus looked at Zeke with bewildered eyes for suddenly cutting off his own arm but soon understood what Zeke was saying and nodded.

“…I will fake my death and then go into hiding.”

“Good I’m glad you understood quickly. You’d better not do anything useless until I get there so that you don’t get caught by the Black Stage. It seems like Arthur Draker is desperately looking for you and Carmilla.”

Zeke felt that there was something more to Bacchus and Carmilla that he didn’t know about.

And what they were hiding might be some unknown secret of Arthur Draker.

Zeke decided that he had to meet Carmilla in person to find out what she was hiding.

As Bacchus and the Red-Eye vampires left the old monastery Zeke also prepared to go to the Holy Kingdom of Badocca with Roban the Pope’s successor.

He had to hurry his movement as he needed to get to Badoka faster than the Emperor who was full of ambition and madness.

* * *

Kookung!

The largest and most ornate building in the Holy Land was the Central Council Hall where the bishops’ councils met.

This is where all matters concerning the Holy Kingdom and the Cult of the Sun are decided.

In the central assembly hall cardinals and bishops who could be said to be the central power of the religious order gathered and raised their voices to each other.

“We must accept the Emperor of Rom as soon as possible and stop that horde of monsters!”

A bishop who had open relations with the Empire made a strong argument.

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Then the other cardinals and bishops around him nodded in agreement with his words.

They were all people who had accumulated illicit wealth by accepting bribes or entertainment from the empire in return.

They were a corrupt group that had been arbitrarily handing over the rich resources of the Holy Kingdom to the Empire to satisfy their own selfish desires.

A small group of bishops sitting on the other side vehemently opposed their claims.

“We have excellent Paladins! We are fully prepared to wage a holy war so how can we invite that greedy Emperor into our holy land?”

At those words the Imperialist senators waved their hands and clicked their tongues.

The reason they reacted this way was because many Paladins had already been privately recruited.

Instead of being knights who protect the Holy Kingdom they have joined forces with powerful priests to become private soldiers for their own power.

They were not approving the bill to conscript troops because sending these Paladins to battle monsters would cause them great harm and were only talking about receiving help from the Empire.

The honest priests had less power and voice than these corrupt ones so they could not recruit paladins.

In the end the Holy Kingdom despite having a powerful Paladin force just stood by and watched as the Orcs invaded the major cities and trampled the citizens.

The bishops and cardinals had the complacent idea that since their assets were already concentrated in the Holy Land of Badoca they only had to firmly protect this place.

Bishop Pierre the chairman of the Bishops’ Conference which held the most power in the Holy Kingdom was tapping the table with his fingertips while resting his chin on his hand looking at the members who were still arguing and unable to reach a conclusion.

Bishop Pierre was wondering how to resolve this situation.

They had to find the best way to resolve the issue by preserving their own power as much as possible while using and sending out outside forces only for a short time.

‘Bringing in the Emperor is not a good idea. That greedy old man could be more dangerous than the demons.’

It was while Pierre was racking his brain considering various political variables.

A priest approached him and whispered something to him.

Pierre’s eyes widened as he heard the priest’s words and he straightened his posture.

He thought deeply and then knocked on the podium.

Boom! Boom!

The sound echoed throughout the conference room causing the members to turn their heads and focus on Pierre the chairman.

Pierre looked at them and said.

“I have two pieces of news to share.”

He opened his mouth slowly.

“One is the news that the dirty orcs will arrive at the Holy Land in a few days.”

The council members murmured at Pierre’s words.

The Imperialist bishop rose from his seat and shouted.

“Chairman! The Emperor’s army must be brought into the Holy Land immediately…!”

Pierre raised his hand to stop him.

The bishop who had been shouting had no choice but to shut his mouth and sit back down.

Pierre opened his mouth and looked around at the members of parliament.

“You can easily bring the Emperor in. However it is a question of whether it will be as easy to send him out as it was to bring him in. If the Emperor who is like a leopard were to show his teeth behind your back after chasing a monster would you be able to stop him?”

The imperialist deputies looked embarrassed at Pierre’s blunt words and turned their heads away.

Pierre clicked his tongue and said at the sight.

“As a priest who serves God you should not only look at the situation right in front of you but also be able to see further ahead just like our sun god on high.”

At those words the Imperialist bishop said to Pierre:

“So Chairman are you saying that we should conscript Paladins to fight those monsters?”

In fact the faction that had the most Paladins was none other than Chairman Pierre.

He also had dozens of Paladins under his command who could use the Auror Blade.

The Arch Paladins were like symbols of the Holy Nation so even the Chairman could not move at will but if the council approved they could not refuse to go to the battlefield.

However since they were private soldiers sending them to war would incur losses so moving the Arch Paladins was quite a burden even for the chairman.

When Pierre who could be said to be the most greedy among the priests spoke out of turn the other bishops and cardinals looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Pierre opened his mouth slowly.

“Didn’t you say there were two pieces of news? The other piece of news is that troops sent by the Silver Knights will soon arrive at Badoka.”

At the mention of the Silver Knight the cardinals and bishops began to murmur again.

It was Kali Draker who cleared out the southern pirates that were a headache for the Holy Kingdom which had amassed great wealth through trade brokerage. As a token of gratitude the Holy Kingdom presented him with a silver Hersion made of mithril and they maintained quite good relations.

One of the cardinals asked Pierre.

“Chairman does that mean that the Silver Knight is personally leading the Knights Templar to the Holy Land?”

After Abel Draker disappeared from the ghetto area Carly Draker was almost firmly established as the successor to the Draker family.

If such a Kali Draker were to enter the Holy Nation it would be no different from accepting the Draker family which was shaking the entire continent.

Pierre shook his head at those words.

“They say that a knight of salvation not a silver knight is coming.”

Pierre’s words caused the council members to murmur again.

“What if you are a knight of salvation?”

“That’s him. Zeke Draker. The one who subdued the monsters in this ghetto.”

“The youngest of the Draker family? The youngest red knight…”

When the news came that it was Zeke Draker not Kali Draker who was leading the Knights the council members put their heads together to decide how to make this news.

It was burdensome for Kali Draker to enter in person but it seemed that Zeke Draker who was far from the successor would not be able to exert much influence even after the monster subjugation was over.

Pierre watched the reaction of the members and then hit the table again.

As the members of parliament turned their heads to look at him Pierre opened his mouth.

“Zeg Draker the Knight of Salvation. Let’s welcome him into the Holy Land and entrust him with the task of subduing that filthy monster horde. What do you think? I think that would be better than bringing in the Emperor.”

The deputies immediately understood what Pierre was saying.

A person who can be entrusted with dirty work and easily kicked out.

Although he was a direct descendant of Draker and was known as the ‘Knight of Salvation’ he was still just a young child to them.

No matter how powerful their military might be they believed that it would not be able to handle the worn-out people in the icy political arena.

The members of parliament nodded in agreement with Pierre’s words.

“Good! I agree with the chairman’s words!”

“I agree!”

Rarely has a bill been approved unanimously by Congress.

The next day the Black Sword Knights led by Zeke arrived at the Badoka Castle.