The Empror's Trap

Since they were already here, under the pretext of observing local conditions (although these conditions weren’t Camelot’s concern at all), Pluvia, after careful consideration, finally decided to set foot on this land that was said to be blessed by the gods.

Of course, the two weren’t visiting officially this time, but rather as noble believers from an eastern island country.

To facilitate the privacy of their visits, successive emperors of Camelot had specialists create false identities for them—these identities, though indeed fake, would stand up to scrutiny if one were to investigate thoroughly.

"Most of this information is actually true."

For instance, the Camelot professional team has several sizeable industries in the Eastern Country. These industries were actually prepared for Pluvia, who is the so-called behind-the-scenes boss here. In this place, she goes by the name Munai.

Once she uses this fake identity, it’s almost impossible for anyone to discover any issues. To others, Munai (who looks quite different from her original appearance after careful makeup) genuinely owns multiple industries in the Eastern Country, and her family history can be traced back a hundred years.

This time, she used this identity to infiltrate the Holy Country.

"If possible, Your Majesty, I hope you won’t change your travel plans at the last minute next time," Kenji could only say with a bitter smile. "After all, when you change your plans, the entire delegation has to modify their entire set of arrangements."

Her sudden whim meant the entire visiting delegation had to scramble. The royal guards had to change their identities along with Pluvia to protect her, and the team had to create the illusion that Pluvia and Kenji were still in the convoy.

Do you know how frustrating it is to make a bunch of big, rough fighters perform a one-man show to an empty carriage?

"I’ll reward them, and also, don’t use that title when we’re outside," Pluvia glared at him slightly.

"Yes, Miss. May I ask, have you noticed anything?" Kenji smoothly changed his form of address.

"The Pope is in good health and will probably live for another ten or fifteen years," Pluvia said after observing for 

This left Kenji speechless. Apparently she hadn’t listened to the Pope’s sermon at all, despite him specially acting as a translator...

"The Lord blesses us, giving us brief peace. The Lord also say, be vigilant against the devil, send that devil to the underworld, so you may receive the protection of the messengers..."

On the preaching platform, the Pope delivered the gospel of the Lord in his distinctive husky yet clear voice. To be honest, neither Pluvia nor Kenji was paying attention.

The main reason was that the so-called gospel these religious charlatans preached really had no substance. It was basically the same old mythological routine. Pluvia couldn’t figure out what was so charismatic about the Holy Lord in this story. If she had to say anything positive, it was probably that in the mythology, this guy had extremely strong combat abilities and seemed able to make things happen just by speaking.

Besides that, she really couldn’t find anything worth remembering.

"Honestly, it’s a shame you didn’t bring Lina to see this religious propaganda," Pluvia couldn’t help commenting.

Back then, the Demon Cult used similar propaganda methods. They didn’t promote a Holy Lord but rather their cult leader, creating an impression among their followers that the Demon Cult leader had vast powers and feared no army.

To be fair, the Demon Cult leader indeed had impressive combat abilities. As cultivators, most cult leaders took unorthodox paths and had excellent fighting skills. But what good did that do them? After the former emperor deployed the Black Armor Cavalry, most of the Demon Cult branches didn’t even have the strength to resist.

As a child specially trained by the Demon Cult, Lina would surely have strong feelings about the current sermon.

"Someone needs to look after things at home, and I’m not comfortable leaving Siyue there alone. She’s perfect for protecting Siyue," Kenji replied.

For this trip, he rarely hadn’t brought Lina along. On one hand, Siyue also needed protection; on the other hand, he deliberately left her at home.

He and Pluvia held extremely high positions. Although before leaving, the Chancellor and General Balinos were temporarily handling Camelot’s daily affairs in Luminara, and both old ministers were indeed reliable people, their departure from Luminara would inevitably create a power vacuum.The various factions below wouldn’t settle down just because they left. Instead, they might take advantage of the emperor and Grand Marshal’s absence to cause trouble. Even if the two old ministers were reliable, they would struggle to contain the situation if the court officials coordinated their schemes in advance.

That’s why Kenji specifically left Lina in Luminara. He temporarily ordered soldiers from a large camp near Luminara to follow Lina and Siyue’s commands. This camp wasn’t the previous Red Kite Army but one of the forces Kenji personally trained. After Prince Yunis’s rebellion, Kenji specially transferred them to guard near Luminara just in case.

They were very obedient to him and would execute whatever he ordered, so entrusting them was quite secure.

As for Lina, Kenji gave her significant authority: he gave her a list of officials’ names, all people he believed might act against the court.

When giving Lina the list, Kenji instructed her: if Siyue (since Kenji had also assigned some of his subordinates to her) judged that someone was trying to destabilize the court, as long as they were on the list, Lina could assassinate them if necessary.

Simply put, Siyue, Chancellor Long, and General Balinos were the homesteaders, while Lina and the soldiers from that camp were the bottom line. When a problem developed to an unresolvable degree, Lina would be responsible for eliminating the person causing the problem.

"Honestly, whether for the court or the family, you’re indeed reliable in this regard. I can understand why father became so adamant about employing you later on."

"You flatter me, Miss. I’m merely benefiting from my father’s influence," Kenji said softly.

At that moment, bells rang in the ancient cathedral.

With the melodious bells, the choirs standing on both sides of the cathedral began to sing the legendary sacred chants. Accompanied by the organ’s resonant sound, a truly sacred and magnificent atmosphere was created.

Many devout believers present shed tears of excitement under the music’s influence.

"What are they singing?" Pluvia asked curiously. The melody was beautiful, but she couldn’t understand what they were singing. As someone who had traveled extensively, Kenji had some knowledge of the languages of the major countries and races in this world.

"They’re using what’s called Saint Mano language, supposedly the language of the Holy Lord’s Church from the legendary God’s Descent Era. The general meaning is praising the Holy Lord’s glory."

"Translate the specific lyrics for me."

"Uh, do I really need to translate the lyrics? They’re actually quite awkward when translated."

Hearing Kenji say this and seeing his troubled expression, Pluvia suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

"Translate it. I want to understand their culture."

"..."

Kenji looked at Pluvia helplessly, then could only nod:

"The lyrics they’re singing roughly mean: Great Holy Lord, may Your gaze guide my path, may Your hands bury me, may Your glory be poured upon all living beings, ah~ praise our Holy Lord, the only Lord..."

"Hiss... alright, you don’t need to translate anymore."

He was right, it was indeed awkward. Pluvia couldn’t help thinking about those officials who piled on compliments to praise her after she ascended the throne. Even they hadn’t reached this level.

It’s impressive that the choir could sing it all with such excitement.

After the sermon ended, the Pope seemed to say something else. According to Kenji’s translation, the Pope basically said: This sermon was personally led by me, you have all received the Holy Lord’s blessing, blah blah blah.

Pluvia understood this – similar to "this is blessed by the master personally."

Next, everyone was supposed to move to the dining hall to share the holy meal, while the Pope would join later because he needed to change his ceremonial attire.

Seeing that most people had left the cathedral, Kenji led Pluvia to follow the crowd out. At this moment, a Holy Knight walked toward them.

The Holy Knight made no attempt to hide his approach. He walked openly toward them, his armor making metallic collision sounds, each step extremely steady.

Kenji instinctively tensed up. Outwardly, he was just walking out with the noble lady beside him, but in reality, Pluvia could already feel him channeling his energy.

"Excuse me, you two, please wait," came the Holy Knight’s voice. However, it wasn’t the authoritative tone Kenji had imagined, but rather quite gentle.

He turned around.

The Holy Knight seemed a bit apologetic. Under his helmet, he smiled awkwardly: "I’m truly sorry to disturb you both, but His Holiness the Pope requests your presence. He hopes to have a chat with