Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 150 – Justice For the Emperor (1)

It all began with just one old woman.

Early in the morning, an old woman who was wearing a hood limped to stand in the middle of the square in front of the Vatican. The old woman easily caught the eyes of the crowd due to the fact that the middle of the square was empty—there were not many people there.

The old woman stared at the Vatican for a long time, then slammed the cane she held in her hands onto the floor as she shouted.

“I demand justice for His Majesty!”

It was a voice so loud and sharp that no one could believe that it came from an old woman.

The eyes of the crowd who were about to start their morning routine at the edge of the square turned toward the old woman at once. At the same time, the guards who were guarding the Vatican exchanged perplexed eyes.

“I demand justice for His Majesty!”

When the old woman shouted the same slogan once again, the guards figured that they had to pull her out of the square.

“Come on, ma’am. Don’t do this here and…”

“Let go of me, you punk!”

The old woman swung her cane and slapped the guard on the head. The guard was wearing a helmet for protection but still stepped back while feeling dumbfounded due to the tingling sensation he felt on his head.

Then the old woman shouted in a loud voice once again.

“I stood on the front lines alongside His Majesty! I have much more experience than you do! How dare you try and touch me!?”

The old woman didn’t stop there but continued to hit the guard in the back and the waist with her cane.

The guard retreated with a perplexed expression and then ran into the Captain of the Guards who hurriedly came to the square upon hearing about the disturbance.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

“This crazy old lady is saying that she was in the same army as His Majesty…”

The Captain of the Guards noticed a familiar old iron brooch on the old woman’s chest. This was the brooch that many soldiers received when they were discharged from the military at the end of the Founding era and the beginning of the Emperor’s era.

Looking at the old woman’s wrinkled face, the Captain of the Guards figured that there was a high probability that what she was saying was true. But he had no choice but to say the same thing as the other guard.

“Um, ma’am. Please don’t do this here…”

“I said let go of me, you punk! You want me to stay still and do nothing when the empire that I built with my own hands is teetering on the verge of collapse in the hands of the bad guys? What do you or the Pope do other than hiding inside the Vatican and eating up all the food every day?”

The faces of the Guards turned pale upon hearing the old woman’s words. If such impious words were spoken right in front of the Vatican and were heard by a Priest or a Templar, they would immediately be punished. Not only the old woman, but even they, the guards themselves, would be punished.

“This crazy old woman…”

“Hurry up and drag her out. Ma’am, you’ll be in big trouble if you say such things so recklessly.”

“Let go! I said let go, you bastards! I demand justice for His Majesty!” the old woman screamed.

At that moment, someone firmly grabbed the shoulder of one of the guards—it was the owner of a butcher shop in a nearby shopping square.

“Come on, let’s not be too careless with this old woman. From what I heard, she sounds like a war veteran.”

The guard’s face distorted upon hearing the words spoken by the owner of the butcher shop.

“You know nothing. So, you’d better fuck off and stay out of it unless you want…”

The guard couldn’t finish his sentence properly, since merchants and residents from the nearby shopping square had gathered due to the disturbance that occurred while he was talking with the old woman.

The guard’s trembling eyes turned toward the hand on his shoulder. The knife held in his hand was dripping blood and pig fat as if he had been cutting meat until just now.

The guard quickly read the atmosphere in the surroundings.

None of the people were looking at the guards favorably. The guards had never been viewed in such a negative light in the past decades. Flaming discontent and hostility began to engulf the entire square.

“Get back… Get back, everyone.”

The Captain of the Guards fumbled and grabbed the sword hanging at his waist. However, he could not draw his sword; he could clearly tell what would happen to him if he did. To make matters worse, the guards further away were escaping the square on their horses, since they assumed that the Captain’s words were an order directed toward them.

There was nothing more the Captain of the Guards could do at this point.

All the guards withdrew, and then the owner of the butcher shop grabbed the hand of the old woman who was lying on the floor and raised her up.

The old woman shook off her skirt and stood up, once again shouting toward the Vatican, just like earlier.

“I demand justice for His Majesty!”

This was followed by the thunderous roar of all the people in the square.

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

***

“...What the hell is going on? What’s this sound?”

Helmut murmured as he stood in the corridor that overlooked the Vatican square, looking at the scenery outside the window.

The voices demanding justice for His Majesty were loud enough to resonate throughout the entire city. The protest that had been going on for half a day already drew residents from all over the holy city of Torra to fill the entire square and even other streets. Even the buildings around the square were filled with people that were shouting the slogan.

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

“We demand justice for His Majesty!”

“They are demanding justice for His Majesty? Then are they saying that His Majesty’s justice is not here? Who the hell started this whole thing? What kind of apostate instigated this protest!” Helmut shouted in anger.

“As far as I know, it all began when an old woman started shouting alone in the morning. We are trying to figure out who’s behind this whole incident, but we have yet to find out…” a Black Priest cautiously reported by Helmut’s side.

Helmut pressed his hand against his head, almost as if he had a headache.

“...What about the Templars?” Helmut asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“Were there any Priests or Templars who came forward to stop the crowd when the apostates were moving so openly like that?”

“...Well, that is…”

Then a man’s voice was heard.

“The Templars won’t step forward.”

Helmut’s head swung back upon hearing the voice.

It was Lenly Loen and Ivy Isildin, who had a pale face.

Seeing them, Helmut’s face distorted in an instant.

“Are you bastards the ones who instigated this ridiculous protest?”

As Helmut approached them while shaking his fists at them, Lenly stood in front of Ivy to protect her.

“Please don’t get us wrong, Your Holiness. We know nothing about this incident. In fact, the Order of the Black Lion had hurriedly come to see me to discuss what to do about this situation. So, I just told them to act according to their own beliefs about justice for His Majesty,” Ivy, who was behind Lenly, stuck her head out and said.

Helmut’s expression hardened. The Order of the Black Lion was a knight order that had the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the Vatican and the Priests with authority.

‘But they asked the Saintess for her opinion and made a policy based on that?’

Ivy continued speaking as she looked at Helmut’s face.

“You misunderstood again, Your Holiness. It’s not like the Captain of the Order of the Black Lion is following orders given by me. He only decided on a policy based on his own thoughts and beliefs. He figured that the slogan being shouted by the people of the empire doesn't go against the will of His Majesty.”

“Why, you bitch…”

Helmut couldn’t properly hear Ivy’s words, since the only thought in his mind was that he had left this arrogant thing unattended for too long.

Lenly felt something unusual from Helmut and placed his hand over his sword.

Upon seeing Lenly place his hand over his sword, Helmut grew even angrier.

Then, Helmut’s head calmed down rather than getting heated due to his extreme anger.

“Lenly. You being so hostile towards me makes me think that you might kill me.”

A powerful energy started soaring from Helmut’s hand, and the face of the Black Priest watching all this from behind turned pale.

Helmut was the Pope. Not only was he the only one who could grant the Grace provided by His Majesty to others, but he was also the one who held the strongest Grace within the empire. It was said that one knight order led by Templars along with one bishop could easily take over an entire city. But the Pope’s power was on an entirely different level.

“They are demanding justice for His Majesty? I will show them that justice already exists here.”

“Your Holiness.”

Ivy suddenly stood in Helmut’s way.

Helmut tried to blow Ivy’s head while disregarding her, but she hurriedly raised her hand and pointed to the square outside the window.

“Your Holiness should listen to their voices too. They aren’t trying to insult or bring down Your Holiness.”

‘Of course, there are people who want to do that.’

Ivy swallowed those words with difficulty.

“Your Holiness. Do you know where that slogan even originated from?”

Helmut flinched and looked at Ivy with suspicious eyes.

Then, Ivy took a short deep breath with a trembling heart, and continued speaking.

“It started with Heretia Helwin at the House of Peers when she told everyone to bring down Barth Baltic. Those people aren’t demanding justice for His Majesty from Your Holiness—they want to bring down Barth Baltic, a man from a heterogeneous race and the person who holds the real power within the empire. Does Your Holiness intend to go down with Barth Baltic by trying to protect him?”

***

The atmosphere of the House of Peers assembly was darker than ever. The reason for this was the protest that broke out inside the holy city of Torra despite three sides of the empire getting ready for war.

Everyone could see that the empire was on the verge of disaster.

However, only one person did not think so.

“What is everyone so concerned about? Are those who are protesting right now a group of evil gods or heterogenous races that are full of hatred? No. Those are our own people who belong to the empire. And what they want is very clear.”

Heretia Helwin raised her hand and pointed toward Helmut, who was standing on the platform.

“To bring down Barth Baltic and get justice for His Majesty.”

Helmut glared at Heretia with bloodshot eyes; he realized that he had left the seeds that she scattered unattended for way too long. Helmut had thought that Heretia’s actions were just a way to gain the attention of the nobles and the citizens, but now, it looked like she genuinely intended to bring down Barth Baltic.

“One of the knight orders that had been dispatched to check on the rumors about the returning emperor came back in a terrible condition, while the other one never even came back at all. What do you think that means? Does it mean what they encountered was the devil?” Heretia shook her head. “No. It’s not the devil that they encountered—it was His Majesty’s wrath. That’s the reason why there are voices demanding justice for His Majesty from the east, north, south, and now even the capital of the empire.”

The murmuring between the nobles slowly grew louder.

Rhymer, the head of the founding faction, raised his hand with a tired look and asked for everyone’s silence.

“Miss Helwin seems to have already concluded that the self-proclaimed emperor is the real emperor who is returning. I heard that you left the Capital for a while. Did you get to meet him in person or what?”

“Yes. I actually did,” Heretia said proudly.

The murmurs grew even louder upon hearing Heretia’s answer. Her remark was one that could be counted as treason if something went wrong.

However, Heretia continued to speak in a calm manner.

“And I have also met a lot of people who follow him. Others could say that I fell for the devil’s trick if I was the only one who saw him, but even trustworthy people such as Duke Hela Henna and General Nienna Nelben have acknowledged him. Are you going to say that they are wrong too?”

Duke Hela Henna had many admirers among the nobles of the capital. The nobles couldn’t help her out in the open, since she wasn’t well-liked by the officials in high positions, but her struggling on her own in the east was a perfect example for the nobles to follow.

People’s respect for General Nienna Nelben didn’t even have to be mentioned, since she was the eldest daughter of the emperor.

One nobleman rose from his seat and shouted.

“I agree with Miss Helwin. They are not coming to start a war—they are only taking a desperate step to ask the empire for justice.”

“I agree.”

Slowly, voices filled with empathy started to come from everywhere.

Rhymer looked at Helmut with anxious eyes, while Helmut continued to silently listen to the nobles’ agreements.

The atmosphere had already tilted in the favor of one side. Helmut had to oust Barth Baltic; otherwise, he too would be placed in a position where he would be dragged down.

‘I did always dream about stabbing him with a knife on his back one day, but…’

Helmut also had just as much hatred for heterogeneous races as ordinary people of the empire. However, back then, the empire couldn’t rely on anything other than the power of Barth Baltic, who took command of the Imperial Army at that precarious time.

But there was nothing Helmut could do at this point. Helmut and Barth had no choice but to remain politically separate for the greater good.

Helmut quietly raised his hand, causing the interior of the House of Peers to become quiet.

“If it is justice for His Majesty to bring down the Regent, then…”

The moment Helmut tried to declare in a quiet voice, the door of the assembly hall of the House of Peers opened wide with a thud.

The eyes of the nobles turned toward the door in unison—everyone’s eyes widened with surprise when they saw the person standing in front of the door.

“There is no need to put your dirty hands on me; I decided to come here on my own.”

It was the Regent of the empire, Barth Baltic.