Chapter 191 : The High Priest's Whereabouts
Chapter 191: The High Priest's Whereabouts
When I found out that both the Imperial Army and New Level were after Saint, the thing I paid the most attention to was the whereabouts of the High Priest.
The parent of all Priests and the spiritual pillar of the Levela Peninsula.
The only reason Saint, the prime piece of land located at the very center of the Levela Peninsula, had managed to remain neutral all this time was entirely thanks to the Grand Temple and the High Priest.
That place was basically treated like an inviolable holy sanctuary.
Since the entire Levela Peninsula worshipped the Goddess of Mercy, Saint was a land that couldn't be occupied so easily if they took public sentiment into account.
But what if they secured the High Priest after Saint had already fallen into the Empire's hands?
If New Level secured the High Priest first and then reclaimed Saint with the High Priest leading the way, Saint would effectively fall under New Level's sphere of influence.
From the High Priest's perspective, there was no way he wouldn't favor the side that had personally led Saint's liberation.
And if they stationed troops there under the pretext of protecting the Grand Temple and the High Priest, the other Great Territories wouldn't be able to do a thing.
That was New Level's perspective.
But the High Priest was just as important to the Imperial Army.
For an Imperial Army surrounded on all sides by enemies, the High Priest could become their lifeline.
If they secured the High Priest, it would become extremely difficult for the other territories to attack Saint.
If the High Priest were injured or killed during the assault, it would trigger an absolute catastrophe.
In that sense, securing the High Priest was an absolute necessity if the Imperial Army wanted to survive in Saint.
-Indeed, it's a situation where both sides desperately need him.
'Even so, they probably agreed that New Level would secure the High Priest first.'
-Why do you think that? Those Imperial bastards seem just as desperate.
'Because New Level is far stronger. To put it bluntly, isn't the Imperial Army on the verge of collapse right now?'
The two factions hadn't joined hands as equals.
Since New Level held the overwhelming advantage, the negotiations would naturally have gone in the direction New Level wanted.
Just look at the fact that one of the Empire's Masters had already come down here.
But those Imperial bastards weren't fools either.
There was no reason for them to work solely for someone else's benefit.
It was obvious that their cooperation only lasted until Saint was occupied.
Since securing the High Priest was literally a matter of life and death for them, they wouldn't simply back down.
-Then there must have been a clash.
There was only one High Priest, but two factions wanted him.
In the end, it became a contest of who stabbed the other in the back first.
Judging by the atmosphere, though, it seemed Octosia had made the first move.
New Level had secretly dispatched a Master that even their own people didn't know about.
But the Imperial Army had done exactly the same thing.
They had secretly hidden a Master inside Saint.
If each side added one Master, then the Imperial Army, which already had Octosia, would have the advantage.
There was no way it would end up two against one while one of them was a defensive specialist like Octosia.
'The moment they infiltrated successfully, the outcome on that side was already decided.'
In the end, the Imperial Army would betray New Level first and drive out all of New Level's reinforcements.
Once that happened, they would naturally secure the High Priest as well.
'But that's even more troublesome than letting New Level have Saint. If they have the High Priest too, taking Saint will become incredibly difficult.'
I certainly couldn't stand those New Level bastards who were obsessed with playing the Hidden Mastermind.
But the Beastman Alliance's true enemy was still the Imperial Army.
If the Imperial Army established itself in the south, whether it was the Cow Tribe, the Horse Tribe, or the Lion Tribe, everyone would insist on dealing with them first.
If those Imperial bastards also had the High Priest under their protection, nothing could be more inconvenient.
'That's why I played a little trick. I wonder how it... Oh, it's here.'
Just then, a Shamanic Message arrived.
-Objective recovered. Success. Heading to Hound.
That was the first message to arrive.
The contents were so concise that it was obviously sent by the Rabbit Tribe.
Then another Shamanic Message followed.
-We infiltrated Saint according to your orders, my lord. Using the escape route prepared by the Rabbit Tribe Rangers...
...(A very detailed explanation spanning three full pages.) We successfully escaped and are now heading toward Hound. We await your next orders.
The unnecessarily long and detailed explanation made it obvious that the report came from Baurok.
The Dog Tribe Chieftain, who suspiciously enjoyed writing reports, always sent them like this.
Just by reading it, I immediately understood what had happened.
They had safely escaped Saint together with the High Priest and several Priests.
'It actually worked.'
As soon as Baurok, the Dog Tribe warriors, and the Rabbit Tribe Rangers arrived near Saint, they dug a tunnel and remained on standby in preparation for any emergency.
Then, the moment fighting broke out between Saint and the Imperial Army, they infiltrated Saint.
They rushed straight to the Grand Temple and escorted the High Priest out.
-Is that really what you'd call "escorting"?
'Wouldn't it be? He didn't exactly give permission, but the circumstances were what they were.'
The High Priest I remembered was an extremely sensible man.
Which meant there was no way he would abandon the people and flee just because things looked bad.
Not just anyone could pull off a "Runzo."
If foreign enemies invaded, the natural reaction was to think about stopping them first.
And yet Baurok had forcibly dragged that very High Priest away.
Our Dog Tribe Chieftain simply couldn't rest unless he completed whatever mission he was given.
Most Dog Tribe members were like that, but Baurok took it one step further.
When the High Priest refused to evacuate, Baurok struck him on the back of the head, cleanly knocked him unconscious, and fled while carrying him.
'The Priests came with him too, so there shouldn't be any problems.'
The amusing part was that the Priests accompanying the High Priest had also been urging him to evacuate, yet couldn't do anything because he refused.
They couldn't force the High Priest to do anything, so they were at a complete loss.
But the moment Baurok knocked him unconscious and carried him away, they immediately followed our group as if they had been waiting for someone to do exactly that.
After "kidnapping(?)" the High Priest like that, Baurok and the Rabbit Tribe immediately began heading toward the Dog Tribe city of Hound.
'Octosia must be pretty upset.'
They had captured Saint, yet the one person they truly needed wasn't there.
Without the High Priest, capturing Saint was practically meaningless.
Their original plan of secretly ambushing New Level had already gone off the rails before it even properly began, and they had likely shed a considerable amount of blood because of it.
The smartest choice now would be to leave Saint the moment they realized the High Priest was gone.
They were surrounded by enemies on all sides, so they couldn't hold the city anyway.
But would that really be easy?
Winter hadn't even ended yet.
Choosing to become wanderers again at this point wouldn't be an easy decision.
"So they rescued the High Priest safely. Then we should send Deron Level there as well. Elline. I'll assign some Priest-Warriors to escort him. Please send this man to Hound."
"Shall I?"
There wasn't much for him to do by staying here anyway.
Not that he could do much while unconscious.
If I handed him over to New Level, it felt like those Hidden Mastermind bastards would only benefit.
Bringing him to Haken also felt awkward.
If that was the case, it was better for us to take him ourselves.
Especially since Hound, the city of the Dog Tribe, was a place where we could protect Deron Level without worrying about anyone else's eyes.
'If we send Deron Level there, the High Priest should calm down a little too.'
Looking at it this way, Deron Level being in the condition of a patient wasn't entirely a bad thing.
Forcibly taking the High Priest away like a kidnapping had undoubtedly been an enormous act of disrespect.
Still, since there was a patient, we at least had a proper justification.
If it had been an ordinary patient, that would've been another matter.
But this man was a Great Lord.
Considering the influence of a Great Lord, even such rough methods of bringing the High Priest could be understood to some extent.
It was still little more than a flimsy excuse, but in the end, what mattered was having a justification.
"That's settled. The real problem is the Lord of Haken."
-What's wrong with that male?
"Well, it's understandable that he's heartbroken. But more than that, I think he's terrified."
-Terrified?
"Yeah. He's probably worried about Haken's situation."
The Lord of Haken still hadn't returned to his territory.
At first, I thought he was simply too shocked after being betrayed by Durek.
But after thinking about it, that wasn't the whole story.
Being betrayed by Durek certainly hurt, but what truly worried him was Haken itself.
More specifically, he was worried about his family.
'Because it's a rebellion.'
When a rebellion broke out, the first people to suffer were naturally the political rivals.
Logically speaking, Durek and Gios's biggest rivals would be the Lord of Haken's other sons.
From the Lord of Haken's perspective, there was no way he wouldn't be anxious.
He loved his family more than anyone.
-If he's that worried, shouldn't he rush back immediately?
'When things become too overwhelming, even confirming the outcome can be terrifying.'
-Hmm... I suppose so. Maybe we should've prepared for that too.
'I thought about it as well, but Irene told me not to.'
-Ah, that's right.
I had been worried about this as well.
So I asked Irene.
I wondered if there was any way to protect the Lord of Haken's family.
She rejected the idea immediately.
She said that since friend and foe hadn't been clearly identified yet, acting rashly would only create more problems.
Then she told me this.
-Even if Second Brother starts a rebellion, the family won't be harmed.
She insisted that this wouldn't change even if Gios wasn't the Lord of Haken's biological son.
So I had no choice but to nod.
There were still a few things that bothered me, but it was Irene.
I trusted her.
-Considering she's a human female...
More importantly, we simply lacked the ability to do anything in Haken under those circumstances.
Our only intelligence network consisted of the Fox Tribe and their associates.
And they were nowhere near capable enough for a mission like that.
No matter how much we wanted to help the Lord of Haken's family, it made no sense to risk the Fox Tribe on such an unlikely operation.
So for now, all we could do was trust Irene and wait.
-Arrived at Haken. Situation confirmed. Everyone safe. Return requested.
"As expected of Irene."
Around that time, a message finally arrived from Irene.
She had reached Haken, assessed the situation, and confirmed that the family was safe.
Her prediction had been correct.
Now it was finally time for the Lord of Haken to end his brief journey and return home.
"...What?"
"Yes. Sir Irene confirmed it."
"Huh... How?"
"Well, I suppose you didn't completely fail at raising your children after all."
"Hah... Good grief."
"Time to head back, isn't it?"
"...Yes. Let's return immediately."
The Lord of Haken had looked completely absent-minded just moments ago.
But the instant he heard his family was safe, he reacted immediately.
Just as I'd expected, that had been the thing worrying him the most.
Honestly, I was surprised too.
I couldn't understand how something like that was even possible during a rebellion.
-I suppose that's the virtue of earning people's respect.
Between the succession issue and his family matters, I had often criticized the Lord of Haken in my heart for never being decisive enough.
But now that everything had turned out this way, perhaps I had been wrong.
The only reason Gios hadn't harmed the rest of the family, even in the middle of all this, was undoubtedly because of the Lord of Haken.
'Power or not, that's a lot better than pointing a sword at your own brothers and sisters.'
-Don't forget this either, Master. It seems there's something to learn even from that old male.
'...Really?'
-Then again, Beastmen aren't particularly obsessed with power. As long as you take good care of the Horned Rabbit Ranch, there shouldn't be any problems.
'No, why are you specifically bringing Beastmen into this?'
-Well, aren't most of the females around you Beastmen? There's only one human female.
...How was I even supposed to argue with that?
Half ignoring the rabbit's absurd logic, I returned to Haken together with the Lord of Haken.
Once Haken was back in order, I could say we'd completed about half of what we needed to accomplish.
-Half?
'It depends on what New Level decides to do next.'
By the time we finished stabilizing Haken, they would surely begin making their move as well.