Chapter 194
TL/Editor: raei
Status: 5/week mon-fri
Illustrations: none
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The nobles were furious about Ian''s theft of their game.
They had delighted in sending people to steal Talian''s prey, but when it happened to them, the shock made their heads spin.
"Find out who the bastard is immediately!"
"S-should we even consider this the work of a human..."
The neighboring nobles busily gathered evidence for prosecution.Evidence was quickly amassed.
Organized movements ofrge wolf packs had been reported.
Not a single noble thought, ''Ah! This must be a miracle from God!''
"It''s a wizard! This is clearly the work of an evil ck wizard!"
Some nobles knew about the [Golden Rule Society] said to be running rampant in the south.
"Count! I heard a rumor that a wizard named ''Ian Eredith Raven'' was headed to the Talian domain!"
"Eredith? You mean a disciple of Eredith the Fire Wizard?"
"He''s quite infamous! They say he makes magic potions, controls monsters as minions, and uses dark magic!"
Then reports came in that the beasts that had vanished from the Talian domain had reappeared.
The nobles were certain.
This bastard! This bastard stole my beasts!
"I''ll ride there at once and split that bastard''s skull in two!"
"C-calm down, Count!"
The nobles who hadn''t lifted a finger when a neighboring domain was under dragon attack were now eager to mobilize troops at the disappearance of their game.
"I hear the beasts went to the Talian domain of their own ord!"
"What the... What nonsense are you spewing?"
The priest exined earnestly.
"A werewolf touched by the heavens received divine revtion and offered tribute..."
"You expect me to believe that bullsh*t?!"
The priest was at a loss.
Such rumors had indeed spread from the Talian domain, with far too many eyewitnesses.
This had to be verified before taking action.
Otherwise, one would be a viin daring to defy the will of Heaven.
Heaven had just shown a miracle, and mere humans dared to ruin it?
There was no doubt it would cause an uproar.
"I''ll send a letter to the Pope. I''ll say there''s someone in Talian suspected of being a ck wizard, and we intend to investigate!"
"Good! Move as quickly as possible!"
The priests of each domain sent letters of petition to the Pope.
''You''re finished now! Raven Ian!''
And they had no doubt that permission to investigate would be granted.
Did you think you could get away with so brazenly swiping beasts?
However, the nobles weren''t the only ones who sent letters to the Pope...
"Brother Takarion!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"A letter arrived from Talian?"
A monk from the Blue Key Monastery.
A certain letter had arrived for Takarion, the ''Golden Finger''.
---
---
Takarion, who dreamed of bing Ian''s biographer someday, was imprisoned in the monastery again, writing with a dying face.
"Why is Brother Takarion''s door open? Didn''t I tell you to nail it shut?"
"Well... An important letter came from far away..."
Abbot Renis tilted his head at the wide open door.
He had locked Takarion in a small room after he returned.
The reason was simple.
"Ah! I have no inspiration to write! I need to go see Brother Ian''s face!"
"What, you''re going on another trip? Then when are you going to publish the next gospel?"
"That''s not my problem!"
"Brother Takarion!"
Takarion was suffering from themon writer''s agony.
It was the pain arising from the difference between ''what I want to write and what I have to write.''
After his northern journey, Takarion had developed a serious curiosity about the wizard Ian.
Where and how he spent his childhood, how he became a wizard, how his current personality was formed, and so on.
''I''m curious! I want to know!''
Like any writer worth their salt, Takarion had an obsessive side that fixated on useless details.
His heart was already crying out to start research as a biographer.
But in reality, his body was trapped in the monastery, forced to write a sequel to the gospel!
"Argh! No fun! This is no fun! This is... this is garbage!"
"Come now, calm down Takarion! What''s the problem now?"
"There''s no passion in the writing! This... this is trash!"
Takarion shouted, throwing a wad of papers.
When forced to write a sequel while wanting to write Ian''s biography, there was no way he could be efficient.
Ian wants a sequel to Takarion''s work too?
Who gives a sh*t.
Writers are selfish creatures after all.
No matter how much money readers throw at them yelling "Hurry up and write that awesome gay erotica about Periyasus with your incredible writing skills!", if they don''t feel like it, they can''t write a single word.
"I''m going! To Baron Talian''s domain!"
Takarion even attempted to escape at night.
But he was immediately caught by Isi, who had been watching with an amused smile.
"Brother Takarion! Do you want to get assassinated again likest time?"
"Who the hell wants to assassinate me?!"
"There are a sh*t ton of them! My friend!"
Renis felt his head spinning from worry about Takarion and worry about the sequel.
He was an abbot, not a writer.
He didn''t understand Takarion''s agony one bit.
So he chose a coercive method without hesitation.
"We have no choice."
Renis took drastic measures for Takarion''s sake.
"Lock up Brother Takarion."
"Yes sir!"
Renis imprisoned Takarion as naturally as water flowing downhill.
No one taught him, yet his first thought was to imprison the writer.
As expected, canning writers was the way to go.
If you just lock them up and feed them sausages, writing wille out naturally!
"Boo hoo!"
Takarion munched on sausages with tears streaming down his face.
He kept moving his pen non-stop, because of the promise to let him out when the sequel was finished.
But... Takarion''s door was open now.
"We could have just passed food through a hole!"
As Renis shouted, Isi appeared from somewhere.
"I told them to open it."
"What? You, Isi?"
Isi handed over a letter to Renis.
There was a familiar name written on it.
"... Ian?"
It was a letter sent by the wizard Ian.
[To my dear Isi. And to my brother, Takarion]
Renis quickly skimmed through the letter.
Though brief, it contained quite shocking content.
"What... what is this?"
"It''s exactly as it says."
Isi said, crossing his arms.
"The ck dragon turned the Araz Duchy into scorched earth. And the people who fled from the ck dragon are suffering from starvation."
"Where the hell did this ck dragone from?"
Takarion came running and shouted.
"The ck dragon Predius! The monster that killed the Mountain King of the north and stole his treasure!"
"...?"
Renis wore an incredulous expression.
It was the exact ''How the f*ck does this bastard know that?'' face.
Takarion shouted, feeling wronged.
"Didn''t I tell you I sent the Mountain King''s soul to Heaven''s side with my prayers?!"
"Ah. You did,e to think of it. I thought it was just bullsh*t."
"Abbot!"
Isi waved his hand.
"Quiet. The important thing is, Ian ''borrowed'' beasts from neighboring domains using magic."
The letter detailed just how dire the situation in Talian was.
Lack of food and neighboring nobles turning a blind eye. Even Duke Araz not moving...
"I can understand the neighboring lords, but why is Duke Araz just sitting there?"
Isi briefly recalled Duke Araz''s retainers.
"The most likely possibility is... his retainers fighting over merits."
"You''re saying they''re fighting over merits? In this situation?"
Renis raised his voice in disbelief.
Not only did he find it hard to believe, but if it were true, he would be truly disappointed in those so-called nobles.
While countlessmoners were suffering...
Are they really arguing over who will im the glory of being the dragon yer?
"By the time the Duke lends his aid... Talian may have already fallen."
Isi fully understood how desperate Ian''s situation was.
With no allies around, the Duke''s help uncertain and who knows when it will arrive.
The ck dragon''s threat growing, while people suffer from hunger...
He was in no position to criticize Ian for sweeping up beasts with magic.
But that was Isi''s opinion.
The nobles were unlikely to see it that way.
"But using magic to steal game from other domains... isn''t that something only ck wizards do?"
"What nonsense is this! Abbot! How could Ian be a ck wizard?!"
Takarion, whose life had been saved by Ian multiple times, raised his voice in shock.
If anyone else, maybe, but Ian was definitely not someone who would be a ck wizard!
"It seems we''ll have to help Ian."
Isi said.
At this rate, Ian would have to engage in a mud fight with the surrounding nobles.
But if the monks of the Church of Heaven''s Faith''s Faith stepped in, it was a different story.
They could grant Ian the ''legitimacy'' of his actions that no one else could!
"I''ll send a letter to His Holiness the Pope. Takarion, you write a speech to deliver to the faithful."
"How should I write it?"
To Takarion''s question, Isi said with a smile.
"Praise the Pope''s wisdom, and extol the divine work carried out in Talian."
"...! I understand!"
Isi and Takarion busily wrote to help Ian.
And a few dayster.
"Your Holiness."
In the Papal States, far to the south of the Empire.
Sir Leshach, the Pope''s knight, returned and presented the Pope with an armful of letters he had received en route.
"What is this?"
"Letters addressed to the Papal Curia."
Sir Leshach handed the Pope one letter.
It bore a seal in the shape of a key.
The Pope immediately recognized that seal.
"Oh. This is from Isi?"
"That''s right."
Monk Isi.
He was a monk respected by the masses and an old friend of Cardinal Teranos.
"What could have prompted him to write?"
The Pope set aside the nobles'' letters and naturally opened Isi''s letter first.
"Hmm..."
The Pope quickly grasped the contents of the letter.
''A ck dragon. Conflict. And a miracle...''
All situations beneficial to the Church of Heaven''s Faith''s Faith.
''We must not let the Araz Duchy be a conflict zone.''
The frequent appearances of ck wizards in the southern Empire were already giving him a headache.
If the Araz Duchy became a conflict zone, ck wizards might try to expand their influence.
"Leshach. What about these?"
"Letters sent by the nobles of Araz, Your Holiness."
Next, the Pope read the nobles'' petitions.
They wanted to crush some guy who looked like a ck wizard named Ian.
''This is troublesome.''
It wasn''t a good look for a religious leader to allow nobles to fight amongst themselves while a ck dragon was wreaking havoc.
This was the northern Empire, beyond the Pope''s reach anyway.
If he could scold the nobles with a few words and establish the Church''s authority, it would be a profitable gain with little investment.
The more the Church of Heaven''s Faith''s Faith''s image improved, the greater the Pope''s authority would grow.
Without much deliberation, the Pope took Ian''s side.
"Leshach. Inform the priests. The Pope is very pleased with the miracle that urred in Talian, and it is undoubtedly the work of God."
"It shall be done, Your Holiness."
---
---
"Ian! Ian! Did you hear the rumors?"
"What rumors?"
Ian, who had been checking on food and poption stats, looked at the suddenly boisterous Lucy with a sour expression.
Hold on. Weren''t you the domain lord here?
In fantasy novels, lords are always drowning in mountains of paperwork.
Howe our Lucy is so carefree despite being a countess...?
"People are calling me the blessed countess!"
"What?"
"And Ian, you''ve be super famous? They''re calling you the miracle wizard!"
"???"
Ian was genuinely curious what kind of crazy talk Lucy had been hearing.
And when Ian stepped out into the streets-
"Wow! It''s Lord Ian!"
"The miracle wizard! Ian!"
"Oh saint of coffee!"
He nearly lost his mind at the deafening cheers of the people.
Miracle wizard, fine, but-
Saint of coffee? Which moron spread that kind of rumor-
"Just one person. Come out and exin what the hell is going on."
Then one scruffymoner jumped out and shouted.
"The story of [The Miracle of Talian] is incredibly popr right now! Lord Wizard!"
"... What''s that?"
Ian was dumbfounded.
Come on, this is Talian. How can there be a story going around that the people of Talian don''t know about?
"Well, it''s a tale spread by a monk named Takarion!"
That bastard...!
Ian nkly stared up at the sky.
Above the clouds, he could almost see Takarion''s faceughing "Hahaha~".
[Sh~! Ian! My soul brother~!]
''...''
Ian couldn''t bring himself to get angry.Toggle New Ads
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