Chapter 222: Humiliation of Mytilene (3)
“Damn it━!”
Kwaarrrgh━.
The elderly Purple threw and shoved everything in sight.
His magenta eyes, usually brimming with composure and confidence, now gleamed with rage and madness.
“Nicholas!”
At Purple’s call, Nicholas, who was standing quietly by the door, hurriedly approached.
“Yes.”
“You did take care of that goblin bastard, right?”
Nicholas’s eyes widened.
The Seven Wise Men had already experienced firsthand how thorough the seal on the golden goblin Lesbos was for the past few hundred years.
Despite the foolish goblin’s attempts to give away gold and the efforts of the most elite, the seal never grew or diminished.
Nicholas could sense how enraged Purple was to even question it.
Nicholas cautiously opened his mouth.
“Yes. As per your orders then, I told the dying Lesbos the truth.”
“I heard the hero activated the ‘golden passage’ at that time?”
“Don’t you know, Purple-nim? In the end, we went there and saw for ourselves that the hero was ultimately blocked in front of the chain on Lesbos’s sealed door.”
“The holy sword. That bastard has the holy sword, ‘Summer’…… Ugh.”
Purple barely managed to calm himself and closed his mouth.
It was a story about Lesbos that both he and Nicholas knew.
Since the inception of the Seven Wise Men, their foundation had been Lesbos, so the records were meticulously analyzed.
“Even the holy sword ‘Summer’ has never been able to break Lesbos’s sealed chains.”
There were records of attempts to break the chains using the power of the holy sword.
However, even then, they couldn’t sever the chains and open the door to Lesbos’s chamber.
Thud.
Purple, who had been utterly drained by Cain at the auction and whose actions had shattered the future of the Seven Wise Men and the Commons, covered his wrinkled face with his hands.
“It’s not like he possesses two of the 〈Sacred Treasures of the Four Seasons〉, so he couldn’t have opened it.”
“Indeed. We are already tracking the locations of the three sacred treasures, and there’s no way the missing ‘Spring’ would suddenly be with the hero.”
“Then how in the world did he know about the goblin and everything else?!”
Purple roared.
Every single thing Cain had thrown at them at the auction had struck a nerve.
Even if the ‘Witch Inventory’ they had set up in the basement of the Mytilene auction house could be considered compromised because it was guarded by humans, they couldn’t fathom how he knew about Lesbos, something even they couldn’t tamper with.
Fzzt.
Six translucent panels appeared around the slumped figure of Purple in Nicholas’s wrecked office.
From red to indigo.
It was the communication network of the other six color leaders of the Seven Wise Men.
Purple glanced at them once and sat down on the sofa.
“…….”
He had to say something.
No matter how much he had led the Seven Wise Men, they were officially equals.
There was no such thing as friendship or loyalty.
They were a group bound together solely for profit, and he had harmed that profit. How would they treat him now?
If he were in their position and a leader had made such a colossal blunder, he would cut them off immediately.
“Mock me if you want.”
━…….
The six leaders remained silent. Even those who usually bickered amongst themselves could only maintain a cold silence.
━Public opinion is not in our favor.
After a long silence, the indigo’s voice rang out.
Rustle.
Purple looked down at the newspapers and magazines on the table, torn to shreds.
Every single one of them criticized liberalism and the Free City Alliance.
“It’s the old order’s counterattack.”
No matter how good liberalism was and how slowly they infiltrated from the shadows, the center of this world was the Empire and the Holy See.
The power of the Free City Alliance and the Seven Wise Men was insignificant compared to the mystery and authority they wielded.
“Didn’t we expect this? The old order would never accept us.”
━But I didn’t expect us to be so powerless at this crucial moment. And now, the ‘Pureum’s Scent’ has been exposed.
Orange spoke.
Purple steepled his fingers and crossed his legs.
━It’s one of the legacies he left behind, and now it’s been revealed so publicly……
━And I hear the Imperial Administration’s research institute is going to announce tomorrow that they’ve succeeded in replicating ‘Pureum’s Scent’.
━The Empire was hiding witches too, as expected.
━That’s probably why they officially set the number of imperial princesses at 99.
“I found out that one of the administrative staff of the 〈Caballeros Rebellion〉 recently deserted without permission. With a few ‘Pureum’s Scents’, no less.”
Purple turned to his left.
It was the direction of Green, based in the mercenary city of 〈Antwerp〉.
━So you’re saying this is my fault, Purple?
“I can’t say it isn’t.”
━Well, let’s just say it’s my fault. Now that I’ve admitted my mistake, you should admit yours too.
Purple clenched his jaw.
No matter how they divided the blame, he was the one who had directly distorted everything.
Purple had wanted to turn this into the ‘Mytilene Debate’ and make it another historical milestone like the ‘Delft Declaration’.
But he had only become the subject of the ‘Humiliation of Mytilene’.
A money-grubbing fool publicly chastised by the hero.
He had felt as if the world was in his grasp when he gathered merchants, established the merchant city, and issued the continental currency 〈Del〉, named after the merchant city of 〈Delft〉, gradually taking over the currencies of each nation.
Swoosh━.
But now, Purple felt his work and power slipping away like golden sand through his fingers.
Bang.
He couldn’t let it end like this.
He had come into this world empty-handed, but he would not leave empty-handed.
“It’s time for us, who have been hiding in the shadows, to step forward.”
━…….
He spoke of a complete change of direction.
“Now the world knows. About liberalism and the old order. And even knowing all this, there’s a core group that sides with us, and the opposing forces are becoming clear.”
━Public opinion has already turned against us.
“Public opinion? That’s just a show that will die down after a few performances, isn’t it?”
Madness gleamed in Purple’s eyes.
Nicholas, standing right in front of him, felt a cold sweat running down his spine at the strange energy.
What choices would a man make when he felt the fear of losing everything?
“We’ll cover an issue with another issue.”
━……?
“If public opinion is a problem, we just need to create a bigger problem to turn it around. What if the second prince dies in a sea monster attack?”
━……!
Those who sensed Purple’s plan held their breath.
Purple, who had coldly ordered the end of Lesbos, calmly laid out his plan.
“If the ship carrying the second prince sinks and he dies along with thousands of others, it will definitely divert attention.”
━Don’t tell me, you……
Purple’s left lip curled up into a smile.
But his eyes didn’t smile.
People called the evil beings in history devils. But they didn’t know about real devils.
Because real devils walked among ordinary people, walked the same paths, and breathed the same air.
“Just in case, it was a good thing I’ve been ‘charging’ the ‘Devil of Plague’.”
Purple had moved the devil, which had been sealed on a small uninhabited island outside Mytilene.
What did devils feed on?
Left alone, they were like inert rocks, but once you started feeding them nutrients, they endlessly regained their original power.
And the nutrients of devils were humans.
Devils grew from the disparity in emotions that humans emitted.
And Purple……
“I think it’ll be certain if I clean up the ‘Witch Inventory’ and feed them all to the devil.”
━You’re not human.
“Human? Aren’t we the Commons?”
Purple, who should have been moving towards the Commons as one of them, did not define himself as an ordinary person.
“No. We are just a stepping stone for them. When the Commons achieve equality of opportunity, we must purify the world with the flames of blood and death beneath them!”
━No wonder so many slaves were sold to Lesbos but never appeared in auctions. You were using them as food for the devil.
“Heh heh. Because cowards like you wouldn’t dare.”
Purple’s madness flowed through his laughter.
The sacrifice of the second prince and thousands of lives.
The complete resurrection of the devil.
None of it was anything but a disaster, but Purple calmly chose it for the sole reason of covering an issue with another issue.
━If the heart of Procell, who went to Märchen, was a 1, how strong is the Plague Devil?
“You think the hero will defeat it again?”
━He’s the hero, after all.
“Procell was starving. He was a devil, but he stuck to his rules and only took Märchen’s soul as collateral instead of consuming it immediately.”
That’s why he handed over Procell’s heart. Because Procell granted wishes and took compensation in return.
But the devil Purple had prepared was far from gentle.
“But this one is different. Its reason has long since vanished, and it only thinks about eating and eating to become stronger and devour.”
━That means……
“If Märchen’s Procell was a 1, this one is at least a 100.”
Because he had fed it that much.
Purple didn’t bother finishing his sentence and looked around at the others who were pretending to be kind.
He would clean up his own mess.
He would solve it even if he had to dirty his hands.
“With our flame.”
Though they wasn’t sure if they were still a “we.”
━……We will renew the world.
The other leaders couldn’t bring themselves to say anything against Purple’s words.
They were curious to see how far his madness, born from his crushing defeat, would go, and if Purple’s plan worked, it wouldn’t be so bad for them.
Fzzt.
The communication network of the six leaders disappeared, and as Purple pulled out a cigar from his pocket…
A jet-black crow, which had been perched in the Imperial Palace for three years, took flight, and a white dove headed for the heart of the Empire.
🔹🔹🔹
《Elevate the 13th Princess Elena to the position of First Princess.》
The First Prince Victor, the other two dukes, key officials, and members of parliament were all gathered.
From the ceiling, a white dove descended, carrying the Emperor’s message.
《Give a grand welcome to the hero, the First Princess, the Second Prince, and the acting Administrative Duke. And, Grand Admiral Falkenhausen, step forward.》
“……!”
All eyes turned to the white-haired veteran standing behind the officials.
Clack━.
His steps weren’t those of a sprightly man.
The old man, who had lost one of his legs to a sea monster and now wore a wooden prosthetic, slowly knelt before the white dove.
“Falkenhausen, at your service. For the eternal glory of Kreuz.”
《I once promised you eternal rest. You, the very embodiment of the Imperial Navy, born from the sea and raised by the sea, I thought it was the greatest reward I could offer.》
“I am aware.”
《But now I ask you to take to the sea once more.》
Those who had never seen the Emperor speak at such length were already holding their breath.
And Grand Admiral Falkenhausen……
Those who hadn’t known that the Emperor trusted and valued him so much, the man who always kept his mouth shut and cast only neutral votes, began to tremble.
They hadn’t realized that the old man they had dismissed as a relic was such an important figure.
“I am Your Majesty’s sword and cannon. However, I have one request. Grant this tenacious soul, born from the sea and raised by the sea, a battle worthy of ending in the sea.”
Falkenhausen’s words.
It was a blatant plea to not bother him unless it was a battle he was needed for. The white dove lightly nodded its head at his words.
《I entrust you with the Empire’s flagship, Freya. Your mission is to escort the hero and their party as they enter the Empire.》
“……!”
Falkenhausen’s eyes widened.
It was the same for Victor and the other dukes.
If the Holy See had the Celestial Temple Mimesis, the Empire had the flagship Freya.
It was shocking enough that the warship, meant solely for the Emperor, would be mobilized, but to think it would be for a mere escort mission.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Falkenhausen bowed his head.
He smelled the pungent scent of death.
Whether it was his own or the scent of the sea he would be sailing on aboard Freya, he couldn’t tell.
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