I am the Monarch - Chapter 291

Chapter 291: The Past (1)

“Sorry?”

Roan Lancephil gave a frown, and facing Kalian, he shook his head.

“I think you misunderstood. Let me say once again that in the previous life, I had lost my life as the lowest-grade spearman before travelling in time and living this…”

When his words reached that point,

“It’s you that’s misunderstanding.”

As if he was too bothered for a war of words, he waved his hand and pushed the Grand Commander’s Baton forward.

“I’m too lazy to explain so you look into the memories of Tempestas.”

A strange smile hung on his lips.

“If it’s you, you would be able to understand it all.”
“Mhmm.”

Roan let out a low mutter. Seeing the golden Tempestas reflect light brightly, he nodded his head.

“Okay. I’ll try it myself.”
“It will require quite a lot of mana.”

Kalian handed the baton over with a smile to Roan who then sat down before collecting his breath.

“Huu.”

There was slight tension in his face. Together with a short breath, he pulled up his mana and that fiery aura whirled around his entire body before flowing towards Tempestas.

In that instant,

With a flash, bright light shot out from Tempestas, as a strange flow appeared before his eyes.

“Ah…”

A low mutter escaped through his lips. As if it had been waiting, the scenery changed rapidly as he entered the memories of Tempestas.

“It’ll be quite interesting.”

Kalian who had been watching over the scene stood up with a smile.

“I should have a cup of tea.”

Now, he had to wait for a bit. While humming, Kalian carried his feet.

***

“Hello.”
“Thanks to your consideration, the streets had been cleaned.”
“Thank you for helping our children study.”

The citizens of the capital city of the Amaranth Kingdom, Mediasis lowered their heads with bright expressions. They were all honest in their appreciation and joy.

“If you need help, tell us anytime.”

There was a person replying to every single greeting – the Administrator of the Amaranth Kingdom, Viscount Swift Clock. Despite the tremendous workload, he did not forget to inspect the castle in detail and listen to the stories of the citizens.

“Are you making sure the installments of the magic lamps are going fine?”
“Yes. We are currently in the middle of installing them in not only the Castle Mediasis but also the castles nearby and the main roads.”

In response to Swift’s question, the official under Administration and Swift’s aide, Hainz replied immediately. Wearing a satisfied expression, Swift nodded his head and glanced around the surroundings in detail.

“Mhmm?”

It was then, that a situation in the faraway distance grabbed his attention. In a corner of the castle, in front of a small shed there were several people sitting there. There were all sorts of people sitting there regardless of gender or age.

From them, the kids were all sitting around one place, staring at the same location. At the end of their gazes was a young man who was sitting on the ground like the citizens while reading a book the size of the palm.

“That youth is…”

When Swift slurred the end of his sentence, Hainz rapidly replied.

“The Archbishop of the Tallian Church, Latio.”

In that instant, Swift’s two eyes reflected light brightly.

“That’s the person whom His Majesty had mentioned would become the pope of the Tallian Church in the future.”
“Yes, that is right. Following His Majesty’s command, we were about to provide them with a building that could be used as a temple but…”
“They declined all the big buildings and wanted a small shack in the corner. Right, now I remember.”

Because he had been in charge of several things related to the kingdom as well as the Devesis Church, he had forgotten it for a while. Turning his head over, Swift stared at Hainz.

“Have I received a report regarding that?”
“There was nothing special inside so it had been taken care of by the officials.”

It was because it had been less than 10 days since Latio and the Tallian Church had started their official actions. Calculating in his head, Swift gave a nod and in his two eyes was curiosity.

“What are they doing right now?”
“That’s…”

Hainz hadn’t been able to clearly understand the situation yet so was unable to easily form a reply. Then,

“They’re reading stories to the kids.”

A heavy, low voice reached their ears. Turning their gazes, Swift and Hainz searched for the owner of the voice.

“Ah! Regiment Leader Pichio.”

Wearing a bright expression, Swift slightly lowered his head. The owner of the voice was none other than Viscount Pichio Ropol, the Leader of the Capital Defense Army which defended the capital and the surrounding area.

After a light bow towards Swift and Hainz, Pichio looked towards Latio. Likewise, Swift naturally turned his head to stare at Latio.

“Is he reading something like a bible?”

Swift carefully asked a question and Pichio shook his head with a faint smile.

“No. They seemed to read stories and fairytales. Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be picky with your food, respect your parents, exercise… They read interesting stories with all sorts of morals every day.”
“I see.”

With a slightly surprised expression, Swift nodded his head. In fact, he thought the Tallian Church would be the same as the Devesis Church, focusing on propagation and evangelism. However, Latio was actually trying to teach what was right and wrong, instead of reading the bible or sharing the words of the gods.

Turning his head, Swift looked at the several adults gathered nearby.

“Then what are the elderlies there doing?”

There was no way that old men with age under their belt would be listening to stories and tales. The old men were sitting on wooden seats lined up, talking amongst themselves.

Pichio replied after a smile.

“They’re resting after receiving treatment from the temple.”
“Treatment?”

Swift asked back with slight surprise and this time, it was Hainz that replied instead of Pichio.

“Around ten days ago, they started their official actions and started treating the illnesses of the citizens. The details are in the middle of being written and will be reported up shortly.”
“Mhmm.”

He let out a low mutter and, staring at the old men, he continued his words.

“So they’re doing treatments with divine powers right?”
“Yes. However, because there’s a limit on their numbers and divine powers, they’re not able to treat extremely serious or extremely light illnesses.”

Hearing Hainz’s words, Swift gave a nod. It made perfect sense.

‘The first time they arrived it was only 3 including their leader Latio. After that 2 more priests came but…’

In the end, their numbers only added up to 5 which was marginally lacking to treat everyone. With a bitter smile, Swift gave out an important question.

“How much fees are they collecting?”

Divine treatments were originally extremely expensive but Hainz gave an awkward smile and shook his head.

“They’re not receiving any.”
“Mhmm?”

Startled, Swift turned his head to face Hainz.

“Free? Or don’t tell me they’re only treating the believers that are giving offerings regularly?”

That would be a problem. Even the infamous Devesis Church allowed anyone to receive divine treatment after paying the treatment fee once even if they weren’t believers. Of course, there weren’t many people that did not believe in the Devesis Church in the first place.

When Swift’s expression turned unsightly, Hainz sweated out and waved his hand.

“No. They’re not only treating the believers either, and it has nothing to do with offerings. They’re treating everyone for free no matter whom.”
“Ah…”

Swift let out a low mutter. It was completely unexpected but there were still unanswered questions left.

“Then how are they operating the temple? Since it has been less than 10 days officially, they wouldn’t be able to gather much offerings from the believers either no?”

Pichio gave a response instead.

“The temples including the leader Latio are taking turns working.”
“Working?”

Swift was a lot more surprised than before because it was his first time hearing people serving gods doing manual work. Pichio nodded.

“Yes. They go out to the markets or the farms and work while getting paid. They’re operating the temple with that money.”
“That’s amazing.”

Swift once again stared at Latio with surprise. He was still reading stories for the kids and that honest smile warmed the hearts of the watching people and put smiles on their lips.

‘That kind of leader of a religion is a first.’

Because he was looking at the dirty, corrupted people of the Devesis Church, seeing people like Latio made it feel like the eyes and ears were being cleansed.

‘I can understand why His Majesty had taken him to his liking. However…’

The Amaranth Kingdom was just founded and was in the middle of forming their frames within. It would be troubling if a strong force rivalling the royal authority was to appear but of course, that didn’t mean that he would block or interrupt the good acts of Latio and the Tallian Church.

Swift looked towards Hainz.

“Send an official from the Administration over to the temple of the Tallian Church. Record the names of the people receiving divine treatments without fail and by the end of the month, we will pay for all their treatment fees in the name of the Amaranth Kingdom.”

Hainz shook his head in surprise.

“Sorry? A, are you saying we will be paying for the treatments? But is there a need to when the Tallian Church is doing it for free…”

When his words reached that point,

“We need to show the citizens that we are the ones behind them. They are our citizens – we can’t cross our arms and let others do everything for us.”

Swift interjected with his determined expression and gaze.

“Ah…”

Unable to continue, Hainz nodded his head and from the side, Pichio gave a strange smile.

‘I see why His Majesty had assigned Viscount Swift Clock to the seat of the Administrator.’

Swift had the judgment and determination that allowed one to rationally overlook a situation, as well as the drive to make a quick response.

‘After finding out that the country was funding for their treatment fees, the citizen’s loyalty, or rather, their feelings for the Kingdom would be raised.’

It was the greatest thing for a kingdom in the early stages. Of course, it would require an amount larger than expected but that was another thing Swift had to take care of.

‘Administrator Swift would be able to pull it off with leisure.’

There was nothing to be worried about. Thinking that, Pichio breathed in deeply.

‘Everyone’s working hard in their fields.’

Not to mention Swift and Hainz, Latio of the Tallian Church was the same. Touching the sword hanging on his waist, Pichio clenched hard.

‘I need to try harder as well. To do that…’

He had to complete the task Roan had left him before leaving.

‘Although a bit unpleasant, it is something for the kingdom and His Majesty…’

With his teeth clenched, Pichio thought of the complex sentences in his head. Those were definitely not lines appearing in the laws of mana, sword arts or martial arts.

Cold breeze rustled past his hair. It was a new wind marking the change of a season.

***

‘The memories of Tempestas…’

Feeling something strange he had never felt before, Roan made a faint smile. The small table, chair and Kalian disappeared and a totally different scenery replaced it. At the same time, no matter where he turned his gaze to, he couldn’t find his own hands, legs or body and felt like his eyes were just floating in the air.

However, he didn’t feel uncomfortable moving nor was it impossible. Although he couldn’t see them, he could definitely feel his hands and legs moving.

‘Interesting.’

When Roan was focusing on feeling his invisible body,

“Sorry.”

A voice of a woman entered his ears. Only then did Roan come to himself and focus on the scene before him.

‘A shabby hut? With grass as the roof?’

On top of that, it was a one room hut with holes in the roof. If it wasn’t for that lady lying down on a small bed located on the corner of the hut and the man next to her, the hut wouldn’t have been any different from other deserted houses.

“Don’t say that.”

Soon, a male voice replied. Moving his invisible legs, Roan walked towards the bed.

“Ah…”

A low mutter escaped unconsciously. The lady on the bed and the man guarding his side – although they were well above the middle ages of their lives, those faces were all too familiar.

“Pierce and Castellan Katy…”

The lady breathing in short breaths on the bed was Katy Rinse and the man holding onto her hand from the side with a gentle gaze was Pierce. They were all old enough to have visible strands of white hair.

‘It must be a memory after I died.’

Roan calmly assessed the situation. The Grand Commander’s Baton was hanging on Pierce’s waist, thanks to which the happenings of this space had been remembered in its entirety.

‘Having the baton would mean that he is still the duke and the Grand Commander of the Rinse Kingdom though…’

The scenery around him didn’t make any sense. Why was a duke and a princess of a kingdom residing in a shack that resembled a deserted house?

It was then,

“I wanted to live happily with you forever and ever…”

Making a faint smile, Katy let out drops of tears and her face was pale without a single sign of blood. Roan made a frown in response.

‘The illness is very turbulent.’

Even at a glance people would be able to tell that Katy was nearing her end and it was safe to say that death was right at the doorstep. Pierce couldn’t say anything in reply and could only hold onto Katy’s hand without a sound, without any tears despite his sorrowful heart.

Then,

Knock knock knock.

A sound was heard from the entrance.

“Who?”

Keeping his eyes on Katy, Pierce asked in a low voice.

“There is news from the Estia Empire.”

It was a similarly, deeply-sunk tone.

‘Estia Empire?’

Roan pointed his ears. It was hard to guess exactly how many years had passed since his death.

‘It was a country we were fighting against viciously when I died…’

The Rinse Kingdom and the Estia Empire were a pair of nations that stood out as one of the most hostile pairs even from the entire Great Warring Period.

“Enter.”

After slight hesitation, Pierce let out some words.

Creak.

Along with the screech of wood, the old door opened heavily and from behind appeared a young soldier in his mid twenties. Saluting to Pierce, he lowered his head.

“I greet the Grand Commander!”

Respect was definitely evident in his voice, but at the same time, there was a sign of despair colouring his voice.

‘So he still is a Grand Commander.’

Hearing that Pierce was still the Grand Commander, Roan felt a strange sense of relief and while he was like that, Pierce turned only his head to look at the soldier.

“What happened to the empire?”

In response to the low questioning voice, the soldier couldn’t even raise his head as he replied.

“The imperial capital had gone over to those guys’ hands. The emperor and the imperial family had lost their necks. The Estia Empire…”

His voice trembled.

“Is finished.”

After his report, the soldier clenched his teeth.

“What?! The empire is finished?”

Roan bellowed in surprise but his voice did not reach anyone else. Staring at the skies through the holes in the roof, Pierce let out a short sigh.

“In the end, even the Estia Empire had fallen.”

With a sullen expression, he waved his right hand. The soldier that had given the report gave another salute before walking outside the shed. A heavy silence fell, as Pierce closed his two eyes and quivered his body.

Seeing all that, Roan clenched his teeth unknowingly.

‘It’s my first time seeing Pierce suffer like this.’

It was something he had never seen in the current life, not to mention from the previous life. Soon, Pierce opened his closed eyes and stared at Katy.

“Katy.”

A low calling voice. Katy gave a nod without a sound, and Pierce struggled to continue with a pained expression.

“The humans… no, the Middle World is finished.”

Shocking words left his mouth. He grasped his hand into a tight fist.

“Two days ago, the elves led by Pisces were obliterated and now, even the empire had fallen. The only remaining force is the Middle World Defense Army made by the defeated soldiers of the Rinse Kingdom, the Byron Kingdom and the Diez Kingdom.”

Hot, sorrowful tears fell down Pierce’s cheeks.

“The Defense Army merely has twenty thousand while the enemy exceeds a million in number. We have…”

Words he didn’t want to say even in his death, he had to say.

“Lost the war.”

There was nothing else that could be done but Roan was befuddled.

“Pierce! What do you mean! What exactly happened?!”

But his voice did not reach the ears of Pierce. Then, Katy who had been lying down like she was dead struggled and raised up her body. Hugging Pierce who had been crying sorrowfully into her embrace, she whispered in a small voice.

“Are you going to continue crying like a baby?”

A soft voice.

“Huuk. Huuk. Huuk.”

Pierce tried his hardest to hold his tears back. Holding onto Pierce’s face with her two hands, Katy forced a smile on her face. Although the signs of illness were evident on her face, there was still a beautiful flower-like smile hanging on her lips.

“We still have a chance.”

Power entered her voice and her eyes flickered with light.

“We still have a way left to defeat the Tallian Church.”

An unexpected word came out.

‘The Tallian Church? It’s the Tallian Church that crushes the Middle World?’

Kung!

It felt like something had smacked at his head.

‘Not the Devesis Church, but the Tallian Church?’

He couldn’t believe it.

Goosebumps appeared in his skin, as his thoughts became tangled and complicated.