Chapter 143: Famous Scene: Odin's Imprisonment
The Roman Imperial Palace.
The 'Lucius' currently seated upon the emperor's throne gazed down at the senators and his advisor, Manaka Sajyou, momentarily at a loss for words.
He had thought that since the real Lucius had fled, and someone in Rome had summoned Cú Chulainn, continuing to use Cú Chulainn's avatar might prove troublesome. So he had decided to go all the way, directly adopting the avatar of the Roman emperor to temporarily replace Lucius.
Odin had believed that becoming the Roman emperor would make it easier to prevent the White Titan's return.
But...
—He never expected being an emperor to be this difficult!
"Your Majesty, the laws of our ancestors must not be altered!"
Quintus, the first seat of the Senate, spoke out directly, followed by the other senators joining in unison.
"The laws of our ancestors must not be altered!"
Tsk!
Though Odin didn't know who originally coined this phrase, hearing it now grated on his nerves!
Logically speaking, while Odin was most renowned as the God-King, his wisdom also held a place in legend!
He could clearly see many outdated aspects in Rome's systems, which was why he had proposed reforms!
But these ministers paid no heed to whether his policies were correct; it seemed they were using this phrase to challenge him personally!
Ah!
Odin was so infuriated he nearly lashed out several times, but he couldn't!
After all, even if the Sword Emperor Lucius lived in a manner reverted to primitive ways, she probably wouldn't resort to physically assaulting these ministers!
Thinking this, though frustrated by the inability to implement what was clearly right, Odin calmed down, deciding to take it slow and start with reason...
"You make a fair point, but the problems do exist. So if any of you have good ideas, feel free to speak openly. Let us discuss this together."
Odin spoke thus, and then Quintus took a step back, retreating into the ranks. The other senators followed suit, falling silent. The meeting descended into complete stillness.
If Odin's senses were weaker, less sharp, he might have thought these men were pondering.
But his senses were far too keen!
He clearly saw each of them with eyes fixed on their noses, noses pointing downward, utterly abandoning any thought.
In other words, they had no ideas on the matter!
Then Odin tried revising some of the more radical plans he had previously mentioned, such as abolishing the nobility system, and presented them again.
But...
It was as if the earlier scene was replaying!
"Your Majesty, the laws of our ancestors must not be altered!"
...!
If such a situation had occurred during a divine council convened by Odin as God-King, he would have undoubtedly taken action by now!
But he couldn't now!
Because he was playing the role of Sword Emperor Lucius. As one who had emerged from the Inner Sea of the Planet in an avatar primarily to prevent the White Titan's descent, he could not slaughter humans under such circumstances!
It was utterly infuriating!
So much so that Odin even pressured the senators at one point!
They must come up with a solution, or else he would use his own!
Seeing their emperor in this state, the senators exchanged glances, then, led by Quintus, launched their third tactic.
"This old minister is incompetent. If Your Majesty wishes to punish me, I have nothing to say. But if Your Majesty insists on continuing with these reforms, this old minister is willing to dash my head against the floor here and now, begging Your Majesty to rescind the decree!"
"This minister is old and frail, willing to retire and return home, but I implore Your Majesty not to proceed with the reforms!"
First one or two, then all the senators followed suit... This scene left Odin utterly dumbfounded!
Seriously... can't you people do something remotely human?
Before truly becoming emperor, Odin had somewhat looked down on Lucius, that thick-skinned, utterly primitive monkey.
But now, witnessing this scene—unable to kill them outright and powerless to enforce his orders—he began to understand Lucius a little.
How can Rome be governed properly with these insects and weeds!
Driven to the brink by these people, Odin could only give up and adjourn the meeting.
After the meeting, the senators gathered together, secretly rejoicing.
In truth, before Lucius became emperor, the Senate was not this submissive.
Back then, the Senate didn't need to resort to such tactics; they could simply oppose the emperor directly.
But... Lucius wasn't human; she was a monkey.
If you openly opposed her, she would scratch you!
If you tried to reason with her, she wasn't pretending—she genuinely lacked the intelligence to understand or comprehend. She'd think you were talking nonsense and scratch you even harder!
These three tactics were what the Senate had painstakingly devised after enduring countless scratches from Lucius—the ultimate form of refusal that even a monkey could understand and feel pressured by.
For Lucius, these three tactics were just right.
It was like a curse tightening around her head.
But for Odin... Odin felt as if his intelligence had been dragged down by these people, and he had been defeated by their wealth of idiotic experience!
He felt insulted!
Meanwhile, the senators were delighted that they hadn't been scratched today and that the Sword Emperor had returned so quickly.
Manaka Sajyou, who had remained silent throughout the meeting, watched this harmonious scene between ruler and subjects and smiled genuinely from the bottom of her heart.
Yes, this is good.
With you, ruler and subjects, united as one, Britain is sure to have a bright future!
However, Manaka Sajyou also recalled the decrees 'Lucius' had proposed today... Upon careful thought, although these decrees were exceptionally extreme and harsh for the nobles, no different from the monkey decrees of the past, from her perspective, they were actually painful only in the short term, with benefits outweighing the drawbacks.
Thinking this, Manaka Sajyou narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked toward the throne.
Has this monkey evolved?
Tsk!
Let's observe for now. If she truly is different, then perhaps it's time for Rome to have a new emperor!
After the meeting adjourned, Odin returned to the emperor's bedchamber, feeling utterly withdrawn.
He felt that he wasn't ruling as an emperor but serving a prison sentence!
No! Even the dungeons he had designed as the God-King weren't this torturous!
Just as he was about to switch to the Avatar of Sword Emperor Lucius, he had originally thought that what he needed to do next was to suppress Britain, prevent the White Titan from appearing, and effortlessly manage the Roman court with a few strategies. Then, when he left and returned everything to Lucius, he would give her a better Rome as compensation!
In Odin's conception, it should have been like this!
But he never expected that as soon as he became emperor, he would fall into such a predicament!
"No, I'm not playing anymore!"
Odin decided to switch back to his original Avatar.
The original Avatar might indeed cause some trouble if encountered by Cú Chulainn, especially since that Scáthach was still alive. If that guy were to be drawn out, it would be too troublesome—
He didn't want to fight that Scáthach under such circumstances.
But even that kind of trouble would be far better than the current situation!
"However, after I switched Avatars, it seems that because an official suddenly went missing, the people below issued a search order in Rome... Hmm, that won't work for now. I'll endure a little longer, endure for a few days, and then pretend the emperor ran away again before switching back to my original Avatar. That should be about right."
At this point, Odin sighed.
"If I hadn't escaped from the Inner Sea of the Planet and could only use two Avatars, both of which are now locked, I would have switched to another Avatar and run away long ago!"
"Damn it! Using a blank Avatar to disguise myself as the Sword Emperor was a miscalculation!"
"Ah!"
"But there's no helping it. Everyone fails once or twice. Just endure a little longer, and soon I won't have to sit in this big prison anymore!"
"As for this throne... three days from now, whoever wants it can have it. I'm not doing it anymore!"