Chapter 542: Chapter 537: 「Please Stop!」

「Are you sure you really want to know?」

「I’m definitely interested.」

When I said that, both Fuguruma and Inaba looked like they would rather be anywhere but here.

I’d become intrigued by the reactions from those around me after I mentioned the emperor—or rather, the imperial family—of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. With this curiosity in mind, I decided to drag Buubo to a corner of the temporary hangar to get some answers.

「I’m busy, and, you know, I’m a tech guy! Ms. Fuguruma is much more knowledgeable about history, so it’s better if you ask her! 」

His excuse was transparently flimsy, but the logic behind it wasn’t entirely wrong, so I shifted my focus to Fuguruma as my new target. Incidentally, Elma didn’t seem interested and said she was heading off to join the other crew members. This heartless elf is no fun.

「Oh, is something the matter? You look like you want to ask me something.」

「I’d like to know more about the emperor and the imperial family of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire.」

「Oh, uh, I just remembered something urgent, so I’ll excuse myself…」

「Now, now, now…」

「Ah—! Don’t! You shouldn’t, Hiro-sama! Please don’t, you shouldn’t touch an unmarried woman’s body so carelessly! This is… inappropriate! Ah—! Please don’t!」

「Just get her to quiet down.」

「Yes, sir.」

「Mmgh!」

When Fuguruma tried to slip away, I grabbed her shoulder, which made her start squawking, so I ordered Inaba to cover her mouth. With that settled, we headed off to a secluded corner of the temporary hangar.

「This looks exactly like some scoundrel abducting an innocent woman to do some unspeakable things.」

「Does that mean you’ll tell me instead, Konoha?」

「…」

Konoha turned her head, clearly avoiding eye contact. Seems like this topic is… let’s say, a serious taboo or something best left untouched. Now I’m even more curious. A few other people had tagged along—whether out of concern for Fuguruma or general apprehension, I couldn’t tell. Among them were what looked like priests and shrine maidens from the Ministry of Divine Affairs, and a few military officers besides Konoha and Moegi, all exuding a rather reluctant vibe.

「To get straight to the point, the imperial bloodline has died out… at least in the physical sense.」

「Wait… what?」

If the bloodline is gone, does that mean there’s no emperor, even though they call themselves a Holy Empire? Is that even possible? Oh, but hold on; she did say ‘in the physical sense’.

「Does that mean it still exists… spiritually?」

「You catch on quickly, Hiro-dono… Yes, that’s exactly it. The imperial family abandoned their physical forms and ascended into astral beings. But… well…」

「Why are you trailing off there?」

「Hiro-dono, no matter how much spiritual discipline one attains, how much one elevates their Spiritual Power, and no matter how strong a human gets, the human spirit is very susceptible to changes without a physical vessel. And we failed to recognize that change.」

「This is sounding even more twisted than I expected.」

「It truly is a twisted tale…」

In summary, here’s what Fuguruma told me.

About 1,500 years ago, the Holy Vuelzarus Empire developed a new theory for psionic power accumulation. This innovation allowed for the rapid and low-cost gathering of massive amounts of psionic power, enabling large-scale rituals to be performed. Previously, such rituals were possible but required significant time and resources to accumulate the necessary energy, making them rare and difficult to execute.

The emperor of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire at that time used this technology to amass an enormous amount of psionic power. With it, he aimed to release his spirit, transcending the physical body to permanently fulfill his duties as emperor. In the end, the attempt was a success. The emperor’s body vanished, and, as intended, he evolved into a powerful astral being.

However, there was one critical miscalculation. No one could perceive the emperor who had become an astral entity.

After decades of trial and error, they discovered that he could possess a suitable vessel—someone from the same bloodline. When the emperor finally returned, there was a great celebration, as everyone believed the empire would now fulfill its responsibilities more effectively than ever.

「…I think I can see where this is going.」

「Yes, it’s one of those moments where you think, ‘Why would they do something so foolish?’ And yet, that’s what history shows us.」

Fuguruma’s expression soured. I probably am showing the same expression as her.

The emperor, now an astral being, resumed governance over the Holy Vuelzarus Empire. He took control of a blood relative’s body, merging their spirit with his own. Over time, this process made the entity of the emperor grow increasingly powerful.

And so, the years passed—until catastrophe struck suddenly.

「During the ritual to select a new imperial family member for succession, all descendants failed to withstand the emperor’s possession. One after another, they died, triggering the emperor’s own powers to go berserk, turning the scene into a hellish nightmare. The imperial bloodline was entirely wiped out at that moment—not a single one survived.」

It seems that as the emperor’s psionic power grew over time, fewer and fewer members of the bloodline could endure his possession. Eventually, they resorted to gathering not just those who clearly were of imperial blood, but anyone even slightly related, in a desperate attempt to find a suitable vessel. This ill-fated tactic led to the complete annihilation of any possible successor to the imperial family.

「What is that, the plot of a horror movie? The Holy Vuelzarus Empire is still called an empire, which means the emperor’s still around, right?」

「Yes, his existence remains. I can’t divulge the details due to state secrets, but we continue to live under the protection of the imperial lineage.」

「…So you do know more, but you won’t tell me.」

「Correct. But I must ask for your understanding. Even meeting with him is impossible.」

「Impossible, huh…」

If there’s no direct ruler, then perhaps the Holy Empire functions like a republic, with a council or senate making decisions? The Ministry of Divine Affairs seems to hold significant authority, so maybe they govern through a coalition of leaders from different institutions. It’s hard to picture the government system of this place. The people of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire live their lives focused on their sense of duty to atone for their ancestors’s mistakes, so perhaps they are controlling the populace through a blend of ideology and religion.

Now that I think about it, if you add up this story about the imperial family to the ancient mistake when they were close to destroying the universe, and the several mistakes with ‘visitors’ that ended in the destruction of multiple star systems, the conclusion you get is troubling, to say the least.

「Are the citizens of the Holy Vuelzarus Empire prone to… well, make catastrophic blunders every couple of centuries or something?」

「I-I would prefer you focused on our citizens’ resilience to survive those catastrophic blunders.」

「You know, maybe you should focus on not making the catastrophic blunders in the first place… The scale we’re talking about here is galaxy-ending, empire-destroying, multi-star-system-level. That’s… too big to ignore.」

「Please stop!」

Not only Fuguruma, but several others around us, clutched their chests or held their heads in despair. The citizens of this empire are polite and generally serious, and they also have impressive technology, but when you think about the scale of their failures, they’re actually quite… troublesome.I’m starting to feel that maybe getting out of this country as quickly as possible would be a good idea.