Chapter 109: CH 110

I was lost in thought as I entered the dungeons to keep an eye on Count Molzigat’s men.

My suspicions of the Emperor began to grow when a demon attacked the Grand Hall.

Thump! KOOOOOM-!

The floor shattered and people were confused.

Suddenly, I made eye contact with the Emperor.

‘Huh?’

The emperor was strangely calm.

As a leader, he is not simply reacting calmly to this sudden turn of events.

‘It’s as if he already knew this was going to happen.’

A chill ran down my spine.

‘Come to think of it, the demons never attack the Emperor when he’s around.’

It could have been a coincidence, but it struck me as odd.

Moreover, the Emperor’s demeanor amplified my suspicions.

‘Why are you standing still?’

He ordered his knights to deal with the creature, but that was all.

After the knights who had charged the beast had fallen to the ground, he just stood there with his mouth tightly sealed.

‘Why isn’t he doing anything?’

What would he have done if the Master of the Magic Tower or Argention hadn’t stepped in?

If they hadn’t moved, there could have been a lot of casualties.

I felt an unidentifiable sense of discomfort.

Kwahhhhh-!

But I was soon distracted by the sound of the demon’s howl.

‘Let’s think about it later. Right now, we need to defeat the demon.’

After defeating and taming the beasts, I closely watched the emperor’s reaction.

The more I did, the more I felt uncomfortable.

“I understand the Duchess of Palesdon’s wishes, but this is not a matter for me to decide on my own, so I will withhold my decision.”

What?

I doubted my ears for a moment as I listened to the Emperor.

‘Why would he object? He has no reason to.’

Perhaps I should ask Aphoris to take on Count Molzigat’s men.

The palace has already been breached by an unknown force.

They might be defeated now, but there was no telling when they might rise again.

‘People don’t know I’ve tamed Count Molzigat’s men.’

That’s why it’s so hard to keep them in the palace dungeons.

Currently, there was no one in the imperial family with the power to subdue them.

If Count Molzigat’s men regained their strength, they would break the prison and escape.

‘This time, the honor of the imperial family will be tarnished beyond repair.’

Then why does he oppose it?

Is there some reason I don’t know about?

I decided to wait and see what the Emperor had to say.

“If perhaps the Duchess of Palesdon’s claim is at least the official position of Palesdon, rather than just her own…….”

But the Emperor was having none of it.

The fact that his logic was nothing more than a straw man’s was even more curious.

‘Why would the Emperor act like that?’

The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together, but then they didn’t.

But I soon realized the answer.

Count Molzigat tearfully thanked me for sending him to a prison from which no one could escape.

That leaves me with a decisive clue.

I remembered what he’d said just before he started acting strange.

‘Right after he said that, I got a notification that my control over my tamed pet was diminishing.’

Someone had broken into the system and tried to attack Count Molzigat.

‘That someone is an unbeliever.’

There was more, I realized.

“They stopped him from saying what he was going to say because it was important information.

I put the pieces together and came to a conclusion.

‘The power of the unbelievers cannot reach Aphoris.’

I could hypothesize…….

‘And anyone who acts like they know that fact is an……. unbeliever.’

I thought of the Emperor, who had tried to stop the sinners from going to Aphoris with a forced calm.

The embarrassment in his eyes as he tried to look nonchalant.

If all this was true, when had it happened?

‘When did the Emperor became an unbeliever?’

If this theory was correct, it would explain why the Emperor had suddenly become so unkind to me.

The unbelievers were trying to use magic to destroy the palace and throw the world into chaos.

But I stopped them time and time again.

‘I didn’t mean to stop the unbelievers, but it must have been a great distraction for them.’

Part of me wondered.

Until the Empress Dowager was labeled an unbeliever, the Emperor had seemed pleased.

‘Was he simply happy to get rid of her in silence?’

I asked myself, my head aching from the length of my thoughts.

‘In any case, I’m not at the stage where we can be entirely certain that the Emperor is an unbeliever.’

I couldn’t be so casual about it, given who I was dealing with.

‘Then…….’

As I pondered, a notification popped up.

【You have a new quest, do you want to check it out?】

‘Sure.’

I immediately checked the quest.

【Sabotage the Saboteur! (6)

The Emperor may or may not be an unbeliever! But that doesn’t matter now.

Because even if the Emperor isn’t an unbeliever, it’s clear that he’s sabotaging you.

You need to show the Emperor who’s hanging on your every word!

After a moment’s hesitation, I accepted the quest.

‘Not only do I want to defeat the Emperor, but I also want to find out if he’s a disbeliever.’

The conditions were just right.

“Ugh…….”

Count Molzigat’s eyes rolled back in his head and he began to regain consciousness.

He slowly opened his eyes and stared at me.

【Skill 〈Communicate with a Tamed Pet〉 is activated!】

After seeing Count Molzigat’s calm face, I immediately used the skill.

He then said he would do whatever he could.

Count Molzigat shook his head subtly.

His answer made me think for a moment.

I thought to myself, ‘I tried to get information from Count Molzigat in an easy way, but I failed.’

But I hadn’t expected much from him to begin with, so there was no room for disappointment.

I turned my head slightly to stare at the interrogator outside the cage.

When Count Molzigat came to his senses, he fidgeted.

“Count Molzigat is awake, but I’m a little concerned.”

“Y, yes…….”

Turning to his interrogator, I frowned slightly.

“Just in case, I’d like to give Count Molzigat a calming item, would you mind?”

“A calming item? It won’t turn him back into ……, will it?”

The inquisitor seemed to be afraid that Count Molzigat would turn into a demon again, whether he was awake or not.

“Yes. He must have this item for that not to happen.”

“In that case, I would be grateful, so why don’t you give him the item?”

To the inquisitor’s delight, I handed the item to Count Molzigat.

With that, I gave him instructions on how to use the item and made my way out of the dungeon.

Back in the Grand Hall, the Emperor ordered everyone to stay in the palace.

Each of us was assigned a room to stay in, and I entered the room before anyone else.

【Please specify the object you wish to summon.】

“I need an object that can discern unbelievers.”

【Summon it using 100 fate energy. Remaining Fate Energy: 830】

【Summoning…….】

【Summoned successfully. You have obtained a chalice with adjusted conditions.】

【Summoned items are stored in your inventory.】

I immediately took the chalice out of my inventory and checked it.

【A chalice summoned from an unknown world.

‘Alright, this is it.’

After summoning the item, I naturally drew a way how to find out the emperor’s identity.

Afterward, I did a few more things.

And back to the present.

The arrival of Count Molzigat and his men, who had fled, caused a stunned silence in the hall.

There was one person in particular who was most surprised.

“Come on, they can’t be……!”

I pulled out the chalice and looked at the Emperor, who was furious to see them acting as unbelievers as I had instructed.

“Your Majesty, they have been accused of attempting to escape, and they are also suspected of breaking the will of God and walking the path of unbelievers, so I would like Your Majesty to accept this chalice.”

“……What do sinners have to do with this chalice?”

“If an unbeliever picks up this chalice, the holy water inside will turn red. Your Majesty can personally confirm whether they are indeed unbelievers or not, so that the injustice of your people can be released!”

The emperor’s complexion hardened upon hearing my words.

At that moment, I was convinced.

‘The emperor was an unbeliever.’

So, without further ado, I handed the chalice to the emperor.

Finally, after being frozen for a long time, the emperor’s lips parted.