The Fastest Courier
Conia, a Blue Knight, arrived at the tower along with three other knights. They stood in attention in front of a stout man dressed in purple—a Purple Aristocrat. Aristocrats, as the word suggested, were n.o.bles in this country.
The man"s cap was also purple, its shape lost from the jewels embedded on it. Disheveled hair stuck out from under.
「Oh, I see. The emissary has arrived. Hmm, yes.」the aristocrat said in his shrill voice.
He accepted the doc.u.ments from Conia and began leafing through them. There were thirty papers all in all. This world"s papermaking technology was considerably inferior to that of modern j.a.pan"s, resulting in thick papers produced. The way he flipped through the pages was more rustling, rather than casual shuffling.
「Over here.」the man called, and a maid appeared.
For a maid, she wore an above-the-knee skirt, and her cleavage was greatly exposed that one would a.s.sume she was a prost.i.tute. This didn"t bother the man, even ogling at the woman"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s like it was nothing as he handed her the doc.u.ments.
「Give this to Katina.」
「Okay!」the maid said in a sweet voice, casting a flirtatious glance as she walked away.
Men wouldn"t be able to resist following those swaying b.u.t.tocks with their eyes. The knights beside Conia watched her intently as she left. Only Conia had her brows raised.
「Well, then. You will be in charge of security.」
「Yes, Sir!」
「You will split into two pairs, one for the princess and one for the prince. You may use the temple knights however you want.」
「Understood.」
Beneath the Blue Knights were the temple knights who also wore blue here in Agiapole, but only the former was allowed to don blue cloaks. It was the easiest way to distinguish between the two groups.
Only the Gray Deacons didn"t have any hierarchical relations among each other. They were allowed in the tower, but only in a section of the place of worship. They needed special permission to enter other areas.
「You will be informed of the conference date at a later time. You may now leave.」
「Yes, Sir.」
The three other knights were about to leave, when Conia spoke up.
「May I ask a question, Sir?」
「What is that?」
There was a hint of displeasure on the aristocrat"s face. To him, Blue Knights were nothing but his subordinates who said “yes” to every command. Asking a question like this was unthinkable. The other knights felt nervous, wondering what Conia"s question was.
「It"s about the emissary. I heard the princess was asked to send one within ten days. Why is that?」
Conia had scanned over the doc.u.ments that she submitted. The preface— its contents mostly just roundabout and beating around the bush—looked like it could"ve been better if they had more time. Ten days from Ponsonia"s royal capital to Agiapole was too tight a schedule. Even the crown prince hadn"t arrived yet, and he was closer to Agiapole.
「It was His Holiness"s decision.」
「His Holiness?!」
「We cannot comprehend what he is thinking. Does that answer your question?」
「…Yes, Sir.」
Now that the Pope had come up, there was nothing else she could do. Conia left with the other knights, deep in thought.
Wait a minute. The doc.u.ments were received yesterday. That means the emissary arrived in just seven days.
Conia stopped walking.
「Lady Conia, let us hurry.」one knight said.
「What"s wrong?」another asked.
Conia shot a glance at the aristocrat"s room once more, but the door—crude and covered with gold—was already closed.
「I have a question.」Conia said.「How long would it take for a horse to travel from here to Ponsonia"s royal capital?」
「This is about the ten-day limit, yes? You seem too hung up on it.」
「Ten days is enough. My favorite horse can run a whole day without rest and it still wouldn"t be exhausted.」
「We"re not asking about your favorite horse. Let"s go, Miss Conia. Prying into His Holiness"s plans is tantamount to questioning him.」
「Y-You"re right. Let"s go.」
Conia resumed walking, and so did the other knights. To them, ten days was tough, but doable. But if they realized it took the emissary only seven days, they would surely think it strange.
I don"t think there"s any point in explaining to them.
Even if they thought it was strange, they would probably only think “So what?” It had nothing to do with the Church"s teachings and the duties they were given.
It might be a good idea to meet with the adventurer.
It could all just be some trivial trick.
No. Wondering too much about His Holiness"s instructions is disrespectful.
Conia shoved the doubt into a corner of her mind.
The maid handed the doc.u.ments to the senior secretary, Katina Macpaulia, who in turn, submitted them to the Pope.
「Did you read the contents?」the Pope asked.
「Yes. Their reason for taking the throne is within the realm of expectations. But the part about the previous bloodline is quite creative.」
「The problem is how fast this was delivered.」
「Indeed. It"s not normal.」
「Exactly. There is no other word for it.」
Just like Conia, the Pope also noticed the abnormal speed of the delivery. Although, he imposed the time limit for exactly this reason.
「So Princess Kudyastoria sent her very own trusty elite without hesitation.」
「I think so. Otherwise, they wouldn"t have made it past the checkpoints. If they came here through normal means, our men would"ve stopped them. I believe this emissary is some kind of a stealth-user.」
「You do have their name, yes?」
「I do. An adventurer named Hikaru.」
「I have not heard of the name before.」
「He"s rank D apparently.」
「D? Hmm… Look him up.」
「Understood. I knew you would say that, so I already sent someone. If this Hikaru works directly for the princess, what should we do?」
The Pope rubbed his beard as he pondered over the matter.
「You can never have too many skilled personnel.」
「Understood. I"ll prepare some money. If he didn"t accept…」
「Then we will leave his fate to the heavens.」
「Yes, Your Holiness.」
It was code for “kill him”.
「As for the arbitration, just do whatever works. Whether they clashed or divided the kingdom is none of our concern. The Church will not get involved.」
「I understand. Who should we choose as arbitrator?」
「The Purple… No, the Reds will do. Just pick some Red who does not have anything better to do. But make sure it is not the nosy type who likes to snoop around.」
「I understand.」
After Katina left the room, the Pope eyed the doc.u.ments on the table.
「A civil war? How foolish. The kingdom is nothing but dregs, its technology long lost. A shadow of its former self. How is bringing up the previous king"s bloodline creative? Kudyastoria is a legitimate princess.」
Good grief, the Pope thought as he rang the bell. A maid came to take the papers away. The Pope got up his seat and moved to the window. He could see the streets of Agiapole below. Thanks to his strict leadership, no garbage littered the roads. There weren"t any filthy slums, either. Although that was mostly because he got rid of them through force. The poor had turned to burglary outside town.
「Such a beautiful sight… I need this scenery to spread all over the continent as well.」
No one heard the Pope"s musings.
「For that, I, a servant of G.o.d, need power. Power even greater than the ancient city of Poelnxinia.」
The Pope didn"t know that Katina mentioned only “the previous bloodline” to cut her report short. To be more accurate, it was the “previous dynasty"s bloodline” which referred to Poelnxinia.
Ponsonia never brought up Poelnxinia ever since its foundation. It made sense. After all, the kingdom was built by someone not descended from the real royal family.
Had Katina been more specific, it would"ve drawn the Pope"s attention. If the Pope himself studied the doc.u.ments carefully, he would"ve noticed the name Poelnxinia. But in the end, he didn"t. As such, he didn"t care about the arbitration.
At this point, not one soul knew what kind of effect this would have, not even the Pope.