Chapter 64

Raphael cautiously got up from his chair and waved his hand. “Your highness, please calm down first. This is merely…”

That’s right. This proceeding was merely a ‘formality’, nothing more. These fine folks didn’t even have the required authority to punish me in the first place.

Sure, I might be guilty of causing chaos in the imperial palace, but that directly led to the Imperial Family successfully driving out the Vampires from the Empire to some degree – these were the creatures that proved to be a thorn on their side for the past several hundreds of years or so.

On top of that, let’s not forget my achievement of undoing the curse inflicted upon the First Imperial Prince and restoring him back to full health, too.

In all honesty, even I knew that the plan here was to have my achievements acknowledged and hand out suitable rewards as soon as this sham trial came to an end.

Archbishop Raphael coughed, clearing his throat. The other bishops couldn’t even raise their heads out of pure fright. This was understandable, considering that the two ‘monsters’ with volatile personalities who recently turned the imperial palace into a bloodbath were sitting on either side of them.

Every single word that left their mouths probably placed one hell of pressure on these poor clergymen.

Hiya~ mister archbishop. You’ve somehow managed to keep your sanity intact while dealing with this soya powder family, haven’t you?

Archbishop Raphael hurriedly mouthed off some things for the sake of appearance, then directly got to the last part of the proceedings.

“H-hm. With this, I declare the end of…”

Man, it seems to be finally over. Just as I yawned out of sheer boredom, Raphael suddenly paused and clamped his mouth shut. Then, he wordlessly stared straight at me for a long while.

When the bishops began looking at him with clear confusion, Raphael finally broke his silence. “Your highness, you…”

His eyes swept over his fellow bishops for a little bit before resuming his questioning.

“…Are you somehow involved in Necromancy?”

I scowled inwardly while staring back at Raphael.

This was the bit I felt most concerned about.

Why did it have to be the archbishop of all people who discovered my holy undead?

Since his knowledge on magic was considerable, it was only obvious that he’d have some questions.

Even the emperor and the First Imperial Prince chose to stay silent on this topic. Well, they probably must’ve received some reports regarding this by now.

Other matters could be glossed over without any problem, but if Necromancy was somehow involved, then they surely would want to find out, too.

I smiled and replied, “Nope. There’s no way that’s possible.”

“But your highness! There are eyewitnesses!”

Raphael roared out. Even then, I saw his eyes visibly tremble.

That was definitely because of agitation.

However, his agitation must’ve stemmed from the fear he felt after witnessing an unknown magic, not because of my brazen audacity.

I asked him, “Alright, so. Where are these so-called eyewitnesses, then?”

I scanned my surroundings.

The courtroom was currently populated by the Holy Emperor and the Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire, plus its archbishop and bishops.

Even the Paladins had been excluded from the proceedings. All because nothing good would happen if the story of the Holy Emperor’s grandson being involved in Necromancy somehow got out.

I stared back at the archbishop. “But there’s no one here?”

“Are you really going to stick to your lies, your highness?! I’ve seen those h-holy… holy…” Raphael abruptly started stuttering away. He massaged his forehead as if he wanted to deny reality itself. After sucking in a deep breath, he then continued on from where he left off. “I’ve witnessed the summoning of the holy undead with my eyes. And I must enquire as to whether or not your highness, the Seventh Imperial Prince Allen Olfolse, was behind that event or not.”

This time, it was the turn of the bishops around him to flinch and stare at Raphael. Their gazes were something else to behold, really. Varying degrees of dumbfounded disbelief and fluster were clearly visible in their expressions.

Witnessing undead being summoned was unsurprising in and of itself. However, this should be their very first time hearing anything about ‘holy undead’.

Only the emperor and the First Imperial Prince should’ve received the report. As for the Paladins, they were probably slapped with a comprehensive gag order by now too.

Raphael sensed the piercing gazes of his fellow clergymen and began sweating profusely. No matter how many eyewitnesses were present at the time, that event still sounded like a rambling of a crazed lunatic.

It was possible to mislead the Paladins by saying that what they saw was an illusion, or maybe a bewilderment magic verging on mind control that the Vampires resorted to as a part of their evil scheme.

However, it wouldn’t work on someone like Raphael.

He was a man with abilities powerful enough to make him an archbishop, so there was simply no way he’d be fooled by some illusion or mind control magic.

I could only groan here.

I figured that it’d be impossible to pull the wool over the eyes of someone like this archbishop right here. It couldn’t be helped; since he asked me directly, I had to provide him an answer.

My expression became a lot more serious as I stared back at him. “Do you really wish to learn the truth?”

It wasn’t just Archbishop Raphael, but even the Holy Emperor Kelt and the First Imperial Prince Luan focused the entirety of their attention on me.

A lengthy and weighty silence descended on the courtroom.

Raphael’s trembling voice leaked out from his mouth after a moment. “Are… are you admitting it, your highness?”

I looked at them and smiled brightly.

“Nope.”

**

I exited from the courtroom.

“Thank you for your hard work, your highness. Is your body still feeling fine?” Charlotte kitted out in a maid’s outfit and carrying her trademark expressionless face, asked while bowing her head. She then helped me put on a coat.

Honestly, rather than a maid, she gave off the vibes of a dependable guardian knight instead.

“I’m fine.”

I began heading back towards my quarters in the imperial palace. Although Charlotte followed behind me, she didn’t stop observing my complexion.

She must’ve been really worried. Her actions made sense, though; I was unconscious for about three whole weeks, after all. Even after waking up, I suffered from a serious fever too.

Without Archbishop Raphael and the lady-in-waiting Alice looking after me by my side, who knows if I ever would have woken up?

Even though I resorted to using Amon’s skull, I never expected the side effects or penalties associated with [Resurrection] to be that extreme.

Things should get troublesome from now on, that’s for sure.

Investigations into the ‘holy undead’ would surely be launched, and those wishing to inquire more about [Resurrection] would only increase in number.

I kept relying on the time-worn excuse of not feeling so well when refusing them all, but this excuse wouldn’t work forever.

“I offer my greetings to your highness,” Harman said, welcoming me by the corridor. Apparently, his business this time was with Charlotte, and not me. “Charlotte, his majesty is summoning you.”

She tilted her head in confusion. She couldn’t hide her surprise at the fact that the Holy Emperor wanted to see her, a mere commoner.

“Understood,” Charlotte bowed a little to me and responded. “In that case, please excuse me.”

Harman also bowed to me and was about to guide her, but I hurriedly called out to him, “Ah, Harman, by the way…”

I summoned my shovel from my item window and lightly tossed it at him.

“My shovel is broken.”

During my duel against the First Imperial Prince Luan, the shovel’s handle broke on me. I’ve grown attached to this guy while relying on it ever since our days in the monastery, so I couldn’t help but feel bad about making this decision.

“Go and find me another shovel.”

Harman alternated his gaze between me and the shovel before forming a really perplexed expression. “But your highness… a shovel? How about mastering swordsmanship instead?”

“Swordsmanship? Do I look like I’m suited to swinging around a sword to you?” I nonchalantly shrugged my shoulders. “Just who am I? I’m a Priest, innit? How can someone like me swing a sword around?”

Harman lightly facepalmed. “Your highness, a Priest walking around with a shovel looks even worse in my opinion.”

“A sword and a shovel aren’t even remotely the same, you know?”

“Yes, I agree. They couldn’t be any more different even if they tried. Which is why a Priest swinging around a shovel is even more bizarre.”

“Well, why don’t you hand me a weapon that I’m familiar with then? What can I do when all I know is how to shovel?”

“A weapon you’re familiar with? Even if you say that… Ah, wait! How about having it crafted exclusively for your use, your highness?” Harman pondered this query deeply before looking back at me. “There is a mine that produces iron and magic stone ores up in the fiefdom located in the northwest.”

Northwest, is it?

Harman proceeded to explain more about the fiefdom located in the northwest of the empire. He said that it was currently being governed by the First Imperial Princess, and that the place also served as the Theocratic Empire’s greatest armoury as well.

The ones referred to as ‘fairies blessed with the deftness of the gods’, the dwarves, were found there. A contract was signed with them and they produced all sorts of armaments by the truckloads in that place, almost like some kind of a factory.

“Hilda fiefdom is home to artisans capable of crafting not just some regular weapons, but even powerful magical weapons, your highness,” Harman continued on while making an awkward expression. “They should be able to craft a weapon that suits your particular needs the best, your highness. Also…”

He then pondered something else for a bit.

“…You might be able to procure a musket rifle as well. Such an item is still popular among the aristocracy as decorative ornaments, after all.”

“Oh, really?”

I recalled the musket rifle. Now that I thought about it, didn’t I acquire an antique back in Ronia fiefdom and use it until now? That thing only saw the light of day as an ornament in its original home.

However, what if I could get my hands on something even better?

“Hilda fiefdom, is it…?”

What kind of firepower would a proper modern musket possess, I wonder?

< 038. Imperial Prince is Heading Out to Enjoy A Festival -1 (Part One and Two) > Fin.