Doing a favor, then isolating yourself?"
Bernadette stared at the horn held in Tristan's palm, a cold smile on her face.
"Your Excellency, are you saying that I should give my only bargaining chip to your master for free?"
"Indeed, I am only a fraction of your age, but that doesn't mean I should blindly follow your lead and do whatever you say."
"No matter how humble I am, do you think that emperor would give up his ambition against the 'Black Emperor' because of one or two sealed artifacts?"
"Of course not."
Tristan casually put down the horn in his hand and waved his hand lightly.
"No matter what you do, Orsono Trensost will not let go of his prejudice and fear of you."
"Your surname is Gustav, and your father is Roselle; this is your greatest original sin."
"You don't understand this very well..."
Seeing Bernadette's undisguised disgust, Tristan shook his head.
"No, no, no, Bernadette, you've misunderstood me."
The heir to the Solomon Empire's earldom raised a finger, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"First, I need to correct one of your mistakes."
Bernadette composed herself, her deep blue eyes flashing with stubbornness, ready to retort at any moment.
"Orsono Trensost... I am not loyal to Him."
The side hall used for meetings was completely silent; the entire space seemed to freeze because of this insubordinate remark.
"He is not my master. I am a servant of the 'God of Mystery', a dog under the Creator's command, but I don't wag my tail at just anyone."
"Orsono Trensost, like you, is just a lucky and pitiful fool who inherited a good surname and was born into a good family."
"Oh, Your Highness, please don't feel offended. I believe Friedrich has said similar things to you, only perhaps in a more subtle way."
"You, and the descendants of His Majesty Solomon, have no redeeming qualities compared to those true emperors. The only reason you are treated favorably by others is that your fathers have left you a great legacy."
Tristan pressed his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly.
"What I mean is, you don't need to care what our 'His Majesty' thinks, He's not important."
It doesn't matter... Bernadette paused slightly, her lips trembling a few times, which made Tristan laugh uncontrollably.
"Bernarde, don't look at me like that."
"I just don't want to see our collaborative projects die out for no reason."
Bernadette tried to retaliate, but her sarcasm was so weak that Tristan found it amusing.
"Alright, Your Highness, I appreciate your kindness."
"But as I said a few seconds ago, He is not my master. I have not accepted any official position in the empire, nor have I accepted any title He gave me. My title of count comes directly from the Creator. I am just an ordinary church member. What reason does He have to deal with me?"
"Don't worry about these trivial things. What I want you to understand is what can truly help you."
The power of the Church completely overshadowed that of the Emperor… In fact, Bernadette understood from the beginning that the Emperor of Trensus was a puppet who was dependent on the Creator.
Tristan's attitude was far too blatant; his disdain in his words and his reminiscence of the Solomon Empire made him seem fearless.
This veteran demigod truly fears no so-called emperor, and looks nothing like a subject...
No, as he himself said, he was not facing a real monarch, so of course he didn't need to show any humility.
Thinking of this, Bernadette nodded slightly, feeling inexplicably much more relaxed.
"Please, tell me."
Tristan was in a good mood after finally receiving a respectful address without any ulterior motives.
"Like I just told you, no matter what you do, Orsono won't give you a friendly look."
"He is ambitious and has always longed to restore the achievements of the Night Emperor, but he lacks the courage to do so."
"Perhaps it's because the Creator and my Lord are so great that He has become accustomed to living in their shadows, so He always overcomplicates things and acts timidly..."
"It's hard to find the qualities of an emperor in him. His cautious and timid attitude is more like the role that Friedrich always played, more like a courtier than a monarch."
"You also know what the Augustus and his ilk are plotting. Upon hearing this news, Orsono hastily launched a war, which was the only thing He could do."
"But what if we win the high ground?"
"He was unable to snatch food from Augustus's jaws. He believed that it didn't matter to the Lord who became the 'Black Emperor'... Although this is probably true, there are still some discrepancies."
"In short, things are very sensitive right now. Anything that appears before Him and can be even remotely associated with the 'Black Emperor' or the 'Judge' will attract His harassment and prejudice, and you are no exception."
"Since He's already gone this far, why don't you go and support another potential 'emperor'?"
"You might have more in common, since your fathers are both crazy."
Bernadette suddenly realized.
"Azik Eggers?"
"He needs an ally, and so do you. It's a perfect match, isn't it?" Tristan didn't answer the question directly. "The 'Pale Emperor' in your possession could be the final cornerstone for His reconstruction of Byron. Such a huge favor, how do you think He will repay it?"
"Both of you are hostile to the emperor. If you want to continue to survive in the empire and stand on equal footing with the emperor, the only way out is to unite."
"Furthermore, given the situation in the Southern Continent... isn't this the most opportune time to prepare for the 'Sage' ritual?"
"I don't know Him, and He is a high sequence of the 'Death' pathway, and He is also a Byron…"
Bernadette hesitated, and as Tristan had anticipated, she did not immediately agree.
In response, Tristan presented a prepared statement.
"Don't worry, Azik Eggers won't care what your father did to Byron."
"Speaking of which, how long has Roselle lived, and how many years has he been reaching out to Byron?"
"Even if Byron, as the initiator of the Age of Exploration, bears undeniable responsibility for the downfall of the empire, how much of that responsibility does he actually bear?"
"It was we who dealt the blow to Bailang, it was the Highlanders who tore Bailang apart, but what truly led the Bailang people to the brink of extinction, and was it not the later Northern Continent nations, or the Seven Gods?"
"That prince has lived in the Northern Continent for over a thousand years and has rarely attacked the people of the Northern Continent. On the contrary, he usually likes to be a nice guy and cares about the safety of the people of the Northern Continent. Now that he has come to seek refuge with us, do you think he will specifically seek revenge on you?"
Tristan casually remarked, counting the number of patterns on the tea table.
"The dead can never compare to the living. Don't be fooled by the Byron people's reverence for death; that's only when 'Death' is still alive. Fanatical faith overrides biological instincts."
"Now that 'Death' has been dead for so long, and Byron's faith has been poisoned to pieces by outsiders from the Northern Continent, apart from die-hards, any normal person knows which to choose between a chance to live well and a meaningless death, given the choice between a chance to eat and drink well and a chance to live well."
"That prince is kind and has a lot of ideas. He wants more than just to restore the country. He also wants to kill his father completely and replace the 'Grim Reaper' as the new 'Emperor'. Even if he is subservient to someone else, it is not complete."
At this point, Tristan felt it was time to stop.
"In short, the decision is yours. If you've thought it through, I can recommend someone to you. As long as you can persuade that lobbyist, taking down Azik Eggers won't be a problem."
"Your Highness, the end of the world is not many years away."
...
Klein had a feeling that someone had been talking about him these past few days.
This feeling was not unfamiliar to him. On the contrary, every time he felt anxious before, he would indeed encounter thorny troubles or changes that could shake his fragile heart.
So is this trouble or an unexpected turn of events...? Klein wanted to know, but he didn't have time to guess.
This afternoon, the conflict between Intis and the "Rose School" in Entres, which he and Jerry Zaratul had been eagerly anticipating, finally broke out.
A speech by Brinnie Lefebvre, acting governor of Caesar Harbor, commodore of the Republic of Intis Navy, and former bishop of the God of Steam and Machinery, blasted open the door to regional conflict, and this invaluable mine was about to be tainted with the colors of purgatory.
...
On the morning of December 10th.
The planned Mass proceeded as scheduled, but the military intervened without prior notice or a large retinue. Brigadier General Brinnie Lefebvre attended the Mass as an ordinary participant and, in the final stages, took over the presiding duties from the archbishop, who seemed to have been prepared all along.
He took out the eulogy he had prepared beforehand, and facing the countless unseen faces below, he spoke with a heavy heart.
"Hardworking workers, scholars who spread knowledge, and down-to-earth farmers—the Republic has lost too many of her children on this land."
"Since the revolution a century ago, we naively believed that peace would be the theme of the future. No one expected that war would come so quickly. Three generations have passed in the blink of an eye. The only thing we can be thankful for is that we have not let our ancestors who founded the republic see us in such a sorry state today, and we have preserved the most worthless face."
"Today, under God's watchful eye, I do not wish to discuss such a useless topic as 'why the war broke out.' We have already discussed it too many times and wasted too much time on it. Continuing to discuss it further will not do much except to continue to condemn the greed and barbarity of the Ternsost people."
"But reality forces me today to continue wasting the most expensive resource in our lives—the time of all of us—looking back at the root cause of all misfortune."
"Great god of steam and machinery, please forgive my extravagance."
"This is actually a simple question. Our arrogance and madness have blinded us. When we set aside the innocence we have imposed on ourselves, the answer will naturally come to light."
"Rosser, the founder of the Republic, the sinner of the Republic, his greed and wisdom ushered in the most brilliant era of the Republic. With his divinely bestowed talent, he brought decades of prosperity to the Republic, a bloody prosperity."
"Under his leadership, we were the first to set foot on the fertile soil of the highlands, we conquered the ancient kingdoms that had been known for their death for millennia, and we were blinded by gold and blood."
"Under his leadership, every Intis youth was a warrior. They were willing to follow the emperor and were also infected by the emperor's bad habit of blind arrogance, believing that the great Intis was naturally noble."
"However, when a soldier believes himself to be superior to other lives, the killing begins. When an army believes itself to be superior to all others, it will ruthlessly use its guns to trample on those who are different—the Highlanders, the Byrons, or the Intis."
"We were never chosen by the God of Steam and Machinery, because we have long since turned our backs on His teachings."
"God tells us that creation and civilization are the right path, but we are obsessed with fanaticism and conquest, just like the Sauron dynasty that was rejected by God."
"Please brush away the bloody golden dream that has been frozen before your eyes for too long, follow God's guidance, open your eyes and see who our true enemy is."
"Highlanders? I don't think we can name them or picture their faces."
"The people who attacked Caesar's Port a few days ago, killing those hardworking miners and artisans, killing our fellow countrymen, were indeed Highlanders, but Highlanders are not terrorists."
"The Highlanders are just like us. They are victims, lambs who, even in the face of tragedy, still have a conscience and can be redeemed by God. They just lack guides and kind treatment."
"I ask you all, there are quite a few highlanders living in Caesar Harbor, are they all bad people?"
"No, they will always be the kindest residents in Caesar Harbor. They are warm, sincere, and never arrogant towards us outsiders."
"Then why were the terrorists so cruel the day before yesterday? Why are there so many Highlanders charging into battle for evil on the front lines?"
"We pushed them to the opposite side. Each and every one of us personally pushed them to the precipice of no return."
"Even for just a second, please put yourselves in their shoes and look at the world from their perspective. You who have also experienced the oppression of war and chaos, please put aside your arrogance and prejudice and look at their lives."
"If you lived in a concentration camp, with no clothes to wear and no food to eat, what would you do?"
"If your child were born into a place with no future, destined to be given away as a servant, what would you do?"
"If the people who live on the same land as you have never looked at you properly because of your skin or your bloodline, and have treated you like livestock, what would you do?"
"Think about it carefully, isn't the misfortune we're experiencing today the bitter fruit we deserve to bear?"
"Do we really have the right to criticize their actions?"
"No! It was flawed thinking that caused all the tragedy!"
"As long as we keep our eyes closed and our heads held high, we will never escape the shadow of chaos, nor will we ever restore the glory of Intis!"
"We can no longer deny that half of the problem lies within ourselves, otherwise our republic will collapse sooner or later. We can no longer ignore the barbaric and blasphemous cults that we once despised, otherwise everyone will suffer!"
"The 'indulgent' madmen who call themselves 'Rose' are poisoning the people of the Highlands and are skinning us alive. We can no longer sit idly by and wait to die!"
"We will embrace the Highlanders, and we will eradicate all false beliefs except for the true ones with the most severe violence. We will call upon the name of the God of All Machines and rebuild true civilization!"
...
He was disgusted by his own hypocrisy, disgusted that he had clearly resolved to dedicate himself to God and become a martyr, yet he had come here to exploit God's Mass to manipulate the emotions of the people for his own personal gain and peace.
Brinny put down his speech, feeling the rush of blood through his veins and the almost shattering vibrations in his heart. He took a deep breath, and after the shouts of the crowd subsided, he cast aside his hypocritical political mask, his voice trembling as he roared to cover his unease, completely immersing himself in the frenzied intoxication.
"Long live Intis!"