Chapter 771: The King’s Summoning
“Um… well,” Clark said, wis.h.i.+ng he could cry. Even the archbishop had already defended the Tower of Dusk. What else could he do? After all, the Brilliance Shrine was the real owner of the Ledin Kingdom.
However, at this moment, a brazen laughter came as a middle-aged general who was in his forties arrived together with two n.o.bles who were chubby like meatb.a.l.l.s.
“Archbishop Domingo, Sir Holliard, I didn’t expect to see the two of you here at Clark’s. It’s my absolute honor,” said the middle-aged general, who bowed to Domingo and Holliard after entering the guest hall. However, his gaze was full of respect, and not fear.
Upon sight of them, Domingo and Holliard had no choice but to frown slightly. The middle-aged general was Marshal Benjamin of the Ledin Kingdom, and the two chubby men behind him were the Ministers of Commerce and Tax. However, although Benjamin was also a believer of the Holy Light, he was never close to the Brilliance Shrine, and even felt a sense of superiority. Hence, Domingo and Holliard didn’t have a good impression of him. Besides, they had also heard that Benjamin was the backer who supported Clark during the dispute between Clark and Andre just now.
Although Marshal Benjamin was saluting Domingo and Holliard calmly, he was also very surprised to see the two of them there. Upon sight of the two mages beside Domingo, Benjamin could guess that they were probably the mages of the Tower of Dusk. He didn’t need any introduction at all. It was clear what the two big shots of the Tower of Dusk were there for.
Benjamin secretly lamented. Although he could tell from the fact that the Tower of Dusk could afford magical crystals that the Felan Kingdom should be very powerful too, the Supreme Council wouldn’t be able to affect the Ledin Kingdom, after all. However, he didn’t expect the Tower of Dusk to be able to get the two big shots of the Brilliance Shrine to come forth.
“Marshal Benjamin, let me do the introductions. This is President Felic, the President of the Tower of Dusk.” Domingo did not directly ask Benjamin to release the caravan of the Tower of Dusk, and instead introduced him to Lin Li.
After hearing Domingo’s introduction, Benjamin and the other wealthy and powerful figures of the Ledin Kingdom who were present were immediately filled with shock that they could not suppress. They knew that Domingo and Holliard were there to help the Tower of Dusk, but they felt that it was just the Tower of Dusk’s good luck. However, they didn’t expect them to address the young President of the Tower of Dusk as “master”. That was an honorary term, and those who could be addressed as masters were definitely few and far between in Anril. That showed that Lin Li’s status was the same as theirs.
After being introduced by Domingo, Lin Li humbly greeted the several n.o.bles of Ledin Kingdom. He also expressed his grat.i.tude to Andre for his help. Originally, Andre hadn’t thought highly of the Tower of Dusk, but after hearing Lin Li thank him, he felt rather flattered.
However, Clark’s face grew increasingly sullen, and he kept his eyes fixed on Marshal Benjamin. He would have never expected that an unknown force in the Felan Kingdom would be so closely related to the higher-ups of the Brilliance Shrine. Although he was the one who’d caused everything, he didn’t wish to see things getting blown out of proportion.
What kind of person is this!? What kind of a force is the Tower of Dusk!? Benjamin had long discovered that Clark seemed to be wavering, but that was beyond his control. He had no choice but to secretly sigh in his heart. Although he was the marshal of the Ledin Kingdom, in this holy nation, Domingo and Holliard were powerful figures of authority he could not shake.
However, a shriek filled with excitement and respect came from outside at this moment. Yet, the shouting did not end, and it seemed that the entire Sparta was filled with those sounds.
Finally, a clear yet agitated voice yelled, “His Holiness is here!”
His Holiness! Except for Lin Li and the rest, the several n.o.bles in the room looked at each other in astonishment when they heard that sentence, trying to verify if they had heard correctly. Although the city of Sparta was not too far from the City of Dawn, it had been decades since the pope left the Holy Mountain. Even though no one dared to talk about it, many had already begun to speculate if Pope Rosario was still alive.
Clearly, all the rumors were being revealed on their own now. No one in the Ledin Kingdom would dare to impersonate the pope. However, there was another question in everyone’s mind. Why did he come here at this time? There was a terrifying answer in their heads, but they dared not believe it at all. After all, the difference in status was too great.
However, no matter what they thought, they still rushed out to greet the pope quickly with respectful expressions. When the crowd arrived outside, they indeed happened to see the two Archbishops Englos and Martin escorting the pope through the corridor slowly.
“All hail Your Holiness!” When Pope Rosario approached, no one dared to show a tinge of negligence, and everyone instead showed as much respect as they could.
“Okay, may the Holy Light always be with you. Rise.” Rosario nodded slightly with a faint smile on his face. He seemed to have bathed them in Holy Light, causing the nervousness in their hearts to disappear without a trace.
Immediately afterwards, Archbishop Englos who was standing next to Rosario, took two steps forward and said to the crowd, “All future operations of the Tower of Dusk in the Ledin Kingdom will be protected by the Brilliance Shrine. No one is to make things difficult for them deliberately with any excuses. This is a specially issued order.”
As soon as Englos said those words, everyone was visibly shocked as they had never thought that the pope would issue such an order. That meant that the Tower of Dusk would have unlimited business rights in the Ledin Kingdom, and would never be restricted again. It was an unprecedented rule.
“Master Felic, after you’re done handling the matters here, please stay on the Holy Mountain for a few days, we still have many questions for you to answer,” Englos said to Lin Li with a smile before turning around and walking towards Pope Rosario.
Pope Rosario did not stay there any longer. After getting Englos to issue the decree, he left again while the crowd surrounded him. He didn’t give Lin Li any special instructions, either. However, everyone broke out in a cold sweat after Pope Rosario left, be it Marshal Benjamin, Count Andre, or the rest. In particular, General Clark was overwhelmed with regret, for he hadn’t expected to see Pope Rosario, who hadn’t left the Holy Mountain in decades, coming forth to defend a foreign force.
The battle between the old and new forces of the Ledin Kingdom ended with a tie because of the Brilliance Shrine’s intervention. The real winner was actually the Tower of Dusk, whom they had not taken seriously at first. The unrestricted business rights granted by the pope himself was something unprecedented in Anril.
However, it was an embarra.s.sing matter for both the aristocratic group represented by Count Andre and the rising n.o.bles represented by Marshal Benjamin. After all, the Tower of Dusk which seemed like a pushover at first finally became an existence that neither side could afford to offend. Hence, only the higher-ups of both parties knew the truth of this matter. The ones of the lower levels simply thought that they had obtained victory.
Of course, the most important thing was that the people of both forces had been notified by their superiors to never make things hard for the Tower of Dusk’s caravans in the future.
After leaving General Clark’s mansion, Benjamin rushed directly to the palace and reported about the matter in detail to King Sinelli. Although he grew up in the Ledin Kingdom and believed in the doctrine of the Holy Light, King Sinelli was the only person worthy of allegiance in Benjamin’s heart.
“You mean, the Brilliance Shrine has intervened and issued that warrant?!” King Sinelli exclaimed as he remained seated quietly and listened to Benjamin, whom he trusted most. However, he would occasionally see some anger and indignation in his eyes.
In the battle between the traditional n.o.bles and the rising ones, many thought that Marshal Benjamin was the leader of the new n.o.bles, and even General Clark thought that Marshal Benjamin was his biggest backer. However, no one would have imagined that their king, Sinelli, was the one who’d developed those forces.
Without the intervention of the Brilliance Shrine, the event would eventually have a great impact on the traditional n.o.bles, who might have even gotten wiped out under the control of King Sinelli. The traditional n.o.bles would have to give up their place to the emerging forces that were valued greatly by King Sinelli.
However, all of that was destroyed by the Tower of Dusk’s attack. How could King Sinelli take it lying down? As a king, no one except an unambitious wastrel would be willing to feel suppressed all the time. This time, they even ignored him, and issued an exaggerated permit that was in favor of the Tower of Dusk. Unrestricted business rights? That’s just the trampling of the laws of the kingdom. If this country is ruined, the Brilliance Shrine is not going to clean up the mess, right? he thought.
“Your Majesty, please simmer down. The pope has not appeared for decades, so there had been various rumors, but I saw with my own eyes that the pope is still alive and kicking. He’s still the way he used to be,” Benjamin said with a wry smile. Who would have thought that the pope who had not appeared in decades would still be a G.o.dlike Sanctuary-realm powerhouse? This time, the influence of the Brilliance Shrine had been greatly stabilized, and no rumors would be able to break through their defense.
“Okay, got it. You may go down first. Although we can’t touch the Tower of Dusk, those rotten n.o.bles related to them should be wiped out according to the plan. Find out some information about the Tower of Dusk. I shall see who Mage Felic is and why he’s regarded so highly by the Brilliance Shrine,” King Sinelli said calmly, not revealing his resentment at all.
After Benjamin left, King Sinelli sat in his chair, and frowned deep in thought instead of smas.h.i.+ng things in exasperation. Although he was the king of the most powerful kingdom in Anril, Sinelli didn’t feel the thrill of being the king at all. In fact, he felt that they were just pigs of the Brilliance Shrine, regardless of whether the kingdom was ruled by himself, his father, or his grandfather.
Sinelli dared not lose his temper even at this time, because the guards and servants around him were all believers of the Holy Light, and were snitches of the Brilliance Shrine. Ever since he’d come of age, he had never been willing to live such a life. He refused to pray and wors.h.i.+p another person. Hence, ever since he’d been crowned as the king, he had been continuously trying to strengthen himself in all aspects, and had not slacked at all. By the age of 30, he became a true Legendary swordsman.
That was precisely the reason that Sinelli managed to make the Brilliance Shrine ignore the First Marshal who was in charge of the entire Ledin Kingdom army. In the opinion of others, the Brilliance Shrine’s suppression was the reason Sinelli did not have to worry about Benjamin overthrowing him. However, even the Brilliance Shrine probably didn’t know that Sinelli trusted Benjamin so greatly because of other reasons.
Although they had been at odds with the Felan Kingdom for nearly a millennium, King Sinelli actually envied the royal family of the Felan Kingdom. The power of the Supreme Council there was not inferior to that of the Brilliance Shrine. Yet, the royal family of Felan Kingdom had actually managed to escape the control of the Supreme Council and truly become an independent kingdom. In contrast, the Queldala Family of the Ledin Kingdom had been controlled by the Brilliance Shrine for all that time, and they almost had no freedom of choice. Even the queen had to request for the Brilliance Shrine’s consent before going ahead with her decisions. If it weren’t for his hostile relations.h.i.+p with the Felan Kingdom, Sinelli would have even gone to Felan Kingdom to learn from the royals of Felan Kingdom.