Crown Prince Voltaire and his entourage were quickly captured. Although the escorting knights put up a fierce resistance, there was no way they could fight off more than ten vampire high lords. The disturbance quickly came to an end with quite a few casualties among the crown prince’s group. 

Count Rudiger and the nobles of Petrucca broke into cold sweat when they were informed of the situation. Moreover, they came to realize how fearsome the vampires were as a race and how delusional they had been. It had been hundreds of years ago since vampires were incorporated into human society, and that was more than enough time for their fear of vampires to dissipate. They had lost their fear of the race that ripped apart living creatures and lived in darkness while feeding on blood. Moreover, most vampires above the lord class were very polite, knowledgeable, and elegant. As such, the people of the empire, at least the nobles, had been living their lives ignorant of the essence of vampires. In fact, they even looked down on the vampires.

Vampires could not move around during the day, except for a few of them. Vampires could be subdued at any time with silver weapons, and vampires could not go anywhere without permission. Apart from the many weaknesses vampires possessed, many nobles took them lightly because all the vampires who had been incorporated into human society were compliant with the boundaries imposed on them by ‘status.’

However, they were sorely mistaken. Daywalkers—true vampires who were high lords or greater were monsters capable of facing entire mercenary squads. The vampires had defeated the prince’s chosen escorts without much trouble.

They had been ignorant, or rather, they had forgotten. There was a good reason why the emperor, the crown prince, and even ordinary nobles hired vampires as escorts if they could afford it. It was all because vampires were stronger than anyone else. That was why the prince’s escorts had been completely obliterated after being betrayed by the vampires.

It was both scary and outrageous. However, Count Rudiger and the nobles were forced to remain silent and watch how the matter would develop. This was an issue related to treason. If any of them made a hasty move, their entire families could be completely wiped out. As such, they decided that they would stay quiet and observe the one holding the key to everything.

***

“And what about the governor and the nobles?” Eugene asked.

“They aren’t coming out of their residences at all. It looks like they are keeping in touch with one another, but it doesn’t look like it will be an issue,” Master Rivoles answered. After a moment of hesitation, Master Rivoles continued, “The church seemed a little suspicious.”

“Church? The Holy Empire?” Eugene asked.

“Yes.”

“What exactly was suspicious about them?” Eugene asked.

“Judging by the atmosphere around them, it looked as if they wanted to get involved in this situation. That’s what it looked like to me. And with all due respect… since the great monarch has not visited the church…” Master Rivoles muttered.

The Holy Empire was quite influential even in the Roman Empire. Naturally, they could not compare to the Roman Empire in terms of actual power; however, the pope and the emperor were on the same level in name. Therefore, there were churches in most cities and large villages of the Roman Empire, and in large cities like Petrucca, there were high-ranking priests directly dispatched from the Holy Empire. As usual, religion and politics remained inseparable. The same was true for Petrucca, and it looked like the priest was annoyed or upset that Eugene hadn’t shown his face at all after causing such a huge incident.

“To put it simply, they’re sulking,” Eugene said with a smirk.

Master Helmond spoke while slightly revealing his anger, “If I may dare to advise you, you can ignore them. No matter what they have in mind, there is nothing the church can do here.”

The other clan masters nodded at his words. Having lived in the empire for a long time, they were also quite informed about the churches in the Roman Empire. Even a high-ranking priest could not dare to act recklessly with high lords, let alone clan masters. Considering that, there was absolutely nothing they could do against the king of all vampires.

“Of course, they can’t do anything. However, the problem is my status as the King of Maren,” Eugene replied.

“Hmm.”

Only the crown prince, the four clan masters, and their subordinate vampires knew of Eugene’s true identity as the ruler of all vampires. Even Count Rudiger and the nobles of Petrucca were confused about Eugene’s true identity, so there was no way the members of Petrucca’s church knew anything about it. The Eugene they knew was the King of Maren and a knight of devout faith, someone blessed by the saintess and invited to the Holy Empire. It was natural for them to wonder why Eugene wasn’t paying them a visit after coming all the way to Petrucca.

“The church doesn’t know what’s going on, do they?” Eugene asked.

“That’s right. They know that the crown prince is in the city, but they don’t know exactly what happened after his arrival.”

“Then leave them alone and make sure they don’t find out anything more,” Eugene said.

“Yes...”

Even if the members of the church were upset, there was nothing they could do. Most importantly, Eugene was the only vampire to receive a blessing from the saintess and an invitation to the Holy Empire. If they hastily reacted to the fact that he didn’t take the initiative to say hello to them, they would be putting the papacy in a difficult position. As such, Eugene judged that the priests of Petrucca’s church would not make a move unless they were complete fools. Moreover, even without Eugene’s relationship with the papacy, they would not plot anything against a man responsible for the devastation in the duel that occurred in the city’s square. Unfortunately, Eugene had made the wrong judgment this time.

***

“He’s so occupied it will be difficult for him to visit?” Bishop Javier asked with an incredulous expression.

The clergy surrounding him expressed their anger. “Does that make any sense at all!? How could a knight blessed by the saintess not visit the church?!”

“He has definitely become arrogant after being blessed!”

“That’s right! Isn’t he basically disregarding the church of Petrucca?”

Petrucca could be considered one of the best cities in the empire. Accordingly, the church was very large as well. The church received enormous amounts of donations, and they held great influence and vested interests in various projects related to mana stones and monster by-products. In other words, the clergy of Petrucca’s church could be considered an influential group separate from the city’s governor and nobles.

Naturally, the lords of the families respective to the clans were well aware of this fact. After all, they had led their lives in Petrucca for a long time. However, Petrucca’s vampires were currently drunk, or rather, high. The masters of their clans were like celestial beings, but an existence revered even by their masters was currently staying in their city. Moreover, the mystical existence defeated five prominent knights with overwhelming power in the blink of an eye, subdued the governor and nobles, and overpowered even the crown prince. It was only natural for them to disregard the clergy. Even though the church was a traditional power group of the city, they were considered weaker than the governor and his nobles. As such, the lords of the city’s vampire families mentioned the church as unworthy of their consideration, and the clan masters relayed that information to Eugene.

However, just as the clan masters were unfamiliar with the church of Petrucca and the clergy, the clergy also possessed only a little information about Eugene. The amazing display of overwhelming force in the square was amazing and frightening, but that was only from a secular standpoint. From a religious standpoint, the King of Maren was a foreign monarch who would have to bow to the three gods and act humbly before them, but he apparently had no intention of visiting the church. Even the crown prince had closed off all methods of communication after entering the city yesterday, without even mentioning the church in the slightest. The clergy of Petrucca’s church had long become accustomed to being subjects of respect. As such, they could not help but become furious at the blatant disregard.

“We definitely can’t stand still…”

“That’s right. Isn’t this technically an act of apostasy? Maren’s King should have faith, but he is showing not even the slightest regard for the church.”

“It won’t be enough just to express our concern. We have to go and strongly protest.”

Bishop Javier’s expression stiffened as the others poured out their complaints. The clergies were pointing out the truth, so it was no wonder he was wearing such a look. However, he was a bishop anointed by the Holy Empire before he was a spiritual leader of Petrucca. He knew that his decisions could have an impact on the relationship between the Holy Empire and the King of Maren, as well as on the crown prince.

“Hmm…”

Bishop Javier sank into thought after listening to the furious voices of the priests. After a short while, he raised his head.

“Let us convey our church’s will to the Government General for now,” he said.

“What? The Government General? We should go to the King of Maren and His Highness the Crown Prince—”

“Our church would look ridiculous if we were rejected again. Besides, I don’t know about the King of Maren, but what good would it be for us to confront His Highness?” Bishop Javier interrupted.

“Ah…” The priests hesitated. Certainly, they did not want to garner the crown prince’s hate when he was certain to be crowned the emperor in a few years.

“The King of Maren and His Highness will leave sooner or later, but the governor will not. If we relay the will of the church, or rather, the gods, and pressure him, he will surely deliver our message to the two of them,” Bishop Javier said.

“Come to think of it, that is a great idea.”

“It certainly is. Sir Rudiger still has three years left in his term.”

“Then, I will send someone to the governor.”

Three high-ranking priests directly under Bishop Javeri immediately rushed to the Government General. Count Rudiger had to personally greet high-ranking officials of the church, which meant that he would be forced to face the pressure of the church as well.

‘Why is the church doing this to me when I’m already going crazy!?’

Count Rudiger felt as if he were going mad due to the recent events, which were made worse by the visit of the priests. He still had three more years in his term, so he could not simply drive out these visitors. As a result, he was forced to listen to the mental torture of the priests in the form of nagging for two entire hours.

Eventually, Count Rudiger exploded. The priests were weaklings compared to Eugene and Crown Prince Voltaire, and he could no longer withstand the stress and pressure the priests were subjecting him to.

“Why?! Why are you doing this to me?! If you have something to say, then say it directly to the King of Maren or His Highness!” Count Rudiger raged.

“Y-your Excellency? What are you…” The priests were greatly taken aback by Count Rudiger’s sudden outburst. The governor had always maintained an honorable and polite attitude until now. The count would have normally stopped himself and apologized after recognizing his mistake. However, it was as if a dam were breached because after his patience overflowed, Count Rudiger could no longer control himself.

“Maren’s King! Maren’s King! It’s all about Maren’s King! If you have something to say to the king, go see him yourself! Ah! If you have something to ask the crown prince, you can ask the king! Since he has captured and detained His Highness the Crown Prince! While you’re there, you can ask—ah!” Count Rudiger hurriedly stopped himself after realizing the mistake he had made in his half-crazed state. Unfortunately, he could not take his words back.

“C-capture the c-crown prince?”

“A foreign noble… The Crown Prince of the Empire?”

The priests stammered in shock. Then, the atmosphere around them changed.

“Treason! Maren has poisoned the empire!”

“This is outrageous! How could a governor of the empire stand by and do nothing?!”

“N-no, it’s not that… Listen to me! Sirs! Sirs! Where are you going?! Please, just listen to me and—” Count Rudiger pleaded, but the angry priests immediately left without listening to him. The unbelievable news of the crown prince’s detainment was immediately relayed to the bishop and to the imperial legion located near Petrucca.