Chapter 173

There were three shadows visiting the royal castle in the Kingdom of Dinrat, the royal capital of Elkuxia .

Two of the three were dressed in jet-black robes embroidered with tentacles, the symbol of the Kudor cult, and wore an eerie cover-up that hid them up to their eyes .

They both held large stone staffs, made to resemble the entwined tentacles of Kudor, in their hands .

And walking ahead of them was a tall, white man .

His long hair, too long and smooth for a man, hung down and a mask covered the upper half of his face .

His lips were painted a bright crimson, and a quick glance at them would not reveal his gender .

However, the body, despite its suppleness, was definitely that of a man, and thats where I could tell the difference between the sexes .

Cale, the gatekeeper of the ramparts, was somewhat stunned by the man in front of him, but he called out to him in a hurry .

Im very sorry! Um, which one of them is

The man stops and lets out a sigh of dismay .

The two men standing on either side of him slowly point their large wands at the gatekeeper .

Fool!

The other gatekeeper, Grunk, yelled at Cale .

Cale wasnt convinced, but seeing the swashbuckling manner, he decided it wasnt just any thing and backed away .

Cale was still inexperienced as a guard .

He figured that if Grunk, who had served the castle for many years, was angry, then he had done something wrong .

I beg your pardon, Im sorry, Peter-sama! This one is a newcomer so this is due to my lack of education!

Cale was puzzled by Grunks flat-headedness .

The long-haired man, called Peter, snickered with a humph .

Peter began to walk as the duo on either side of him drew their wands back .

Which way to um, would you like me to show you?

Grunk called out to him, but Peter didnt stop .

He just said, irritably, I dont need it .

After Peter left, Cale asked Grunk .

What what the hell is that that man? Hes a key figure in the Kudorian church, right?

However, even though he was a key figure in the church, it was clearly unusual for an outsider to be able to pass through the city walls with a face-pass, to say the least .

And if it was that big of a deal, it would be strange if even the inexperienced Cale didnt know about it .

I dont know .

What?

Grunks answer was something he hadnt expected .

Grunk looked around and then continued in a hushed voice .

I dont know, except that hes named Peter . But its best not to talk about these things too much . For some reason, talk about the identity of Peter-sama is taboo in the castle . Of course, the royalty should know, though .

I didnt know there was such a person . What the hell did he come for?

I hear that Peter-sama is pushing for his first child, Prince Alphonse, to be the next king . Perhaps well see how it goes . Ive heard that the descendants of the Daldwarves were also involved in the guard knighting of Prince Alphonse, so Im told that Peter-sama was involved .

Brian, the Daldwarf knight, is said to have returned home after his match with Gaston in the arena .

That had raised questions about the popularity of Prince Alphonse, his firstborn son, so it was Grunks idea that he might be willing to take some steps to support him again .

As for the rest I suppose he has come to ask the king for some kind of permission . Its more like a threat, rather than a request, though . I heard a rumor that the king used to call Peter by his nickname .

Th, the king did!

Cale couldnt help but shout out .

Grunk stared at him and covered his mouth in a hurry .

B-But if the king does not raise his head, then the de facto top of this country is

Yeah, that would mean it was Peter-sama .

The royal family must be far more powerful than the church!

In theory, yes . But Peter-sama dressing up as a kudorian could simply be a fake . I dont know whats actually going on . Anyway, Im sure youd be better off not sticking your neck out, though .

Cale remembered the man he had seen earlier with the strange atmosphere and shuddered .

He believed that the Dinrat Kingdom was the most peaceful and stable country in the world, but he didnt think the top was such an unknowable person .

Is, is this country really safe?

Weve talked too long . Thats as far as Im going to go . Listen, dont make the mistake of leaking it outside the castle .

Cale gave a small nod, feeling unconvinced .

A few moments later, Peter returned to the gates of the ramparts with his two followers again .

Cale simply matched Grunk and bowed his head in silence .

After leaving the castle, Peter made his way to the Great Prison of Orknor in the city of Orknor, next to the royal capital of Elkuxia .

The main purpose of the Great Prison of Orknoa is to house delinquent aristocrats, political prisoners, and dangerous prisoners with high physical abilities .

What on earth is your business in our prison, Bishop? We dont have much time on our hands, you know .

Warden Bayman, the warden of the Great Prison of Orknor, asks Peter .

Warden Bayman called Peter a bishop, because when he saw his grand outfit and took a chance and called him a bishop, assuming that he would be someone from that area .

He didnt know him .

Peter held out his hand to the squire next to him, who he had left standing, facing forward .

The squire dropped to his knees and handed a rolled-up sheet of paper to Peters hand .

Peter undoes the string and thrusts the paper forward .

On the edge of the paper is stamped the Magic Seal of the current king (a seal that is stamped with magical power, and in addition to the shape of the seal, it can also be used to confirm the identity of the person in the appraisal of the magical crest) .

This, this is !

Theres one girl who wants her home back . I should be thanking him for that .

He flicks out his tongue, a venomously bright crimson tongue .

Who the hell are you?

Peter got up from his seat .

Please show me around quickly . I dont want it to be too obvious, Bayman, youre coming .

Ah yes

Bayman, too, squirmed in his seat .

Peter was ushered into a special visiting room, where he came face to face with the prisoner he had appointed .

The prisoner who had been called in was a dark-eyed, red-haired man in his late twenties .

On his wrist is a fetters made of a special metal that has the power to restrict the use of magical power .

The mans name is Margus .

He was accused of attacking the monastery, stealing the demons sealed wand and using its power to sabotage several towns .

Who are you? Why are you trying to free me?

Margus says to Peter .

A pair of followers hold up their wands, but Peter controls them with his hands .

Stand back a little . Warden, you too .

As he dismissed the three men, Peter waved his arms lightly .

Summon .

As Peter chanted, a large staff appeared in Peters hand .

Margus was familiar with the ominous light emitted by the crystal attached to its tip .

Zo, Zolomonias staff!

Thanks to you finding this child, it came into my possession . Truly so the sorcerer who sealed Zolomonia didnt trust the country . And the royalty also didnt know that right?

What are you doing! Who the hell are you!

Oh my goodness how dare you say that when youre the one who stole the tentacles of the god Kudor from me .

Peter held his hand out in front of him .

In his hand hung a metal necklace that resembled the emblem of the Kudor religion .

It had been distributed to members of the criminal organization, the extremist Kudorian magic society Amor .

Margus had been a member of Amor for the purpose of stealing Kudors tentacle seal that was enshrined by the society .

Youre the boss of Amor, huh! Why would a man like you have such authority!

The boss of Amor didnt even show himself to his subordinates .

There was even a lot of speculation among the subordinates that there was actually more than one boss, or that he was a magical stone with a mind of its own .

Please dont say it too loudly, its one of my faces . Im sure youll be pleased to know that I purposely made you swim and Im grateful to you . I came to see you this time because I wanted to thank you and the other reason is that I wanted you to be my man again .

My man?

We are short on staff . Even a magician of your caliber must be a valuable resource . Its not exactly a requirement for someone of your stature .

In short, you want someone a little capable and are a person that can be a disposable pawn .

Peter pretends he didnt hear and continues .

Actually, thanks to Zolomonia-chan, I found out where the god Kudor is sleeping . If I can get that thing into my hands, the world will be mine .

Youll break the seal of the god Kudor!?

Even though Im an ardent believer, I dont like it . There are still other gods countries lying around that were created by other gods besides the god Kudor . It seems the Kingdom of Riveras has been doing some strange things lately, so I thought Id give them a chance to clear their land . So, will you help us? Dont you?

Margus knew that if he refused, he would be killed .

Margus could only nod, though his face paled at the delusion of the madman .

Well then, lets head over right away . Before we do that, just in case I want to stop by the Fage territory in person to check things out . I can leave it to my men, but the place is close enough anyway .