Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 169

There exists a cleric known as Violent Pope Yulia.

She has killed many people.

She executed the previous pope.

She persuaded a foreign king to invade the Papal territories.

Amidst the chaos, she massacred the lords who had occupied the Papal lands without even allowing them to surrender.

If that were all, she might have been like some popes in history.

What set her apart—what made her unique—was that Pope Yulia herself was on the front lines, commanding the troops.

She wasn’t just the supreme commander of the Papal forces in a ceremonial sense; she had a record of tactical military leadership on the battlefield.

Thus, knights and citizens alike called her Violent Pope Yulia.

With an expressionless face, without so much as a smile, she ordered killings while clad in silk vestments.

That was the clergywoman known as Yulia.

And then—

“I will initiate an inquisition against the Cologne Sect,” Yulia declared, fully aware of her notorious reputation but seemingly indifferent to it. In fact, if her reputation as the Violent Pope allowed her to strike without needing to justify herself each time, it was rather convenient.

Even now, she was scheming to crush a sect through violence.

“Why?”

“Because they’ve realized we’re pandering to the Mongols.”

I wasn’t surprised.

I had thought someone would notice eventually.

And when they did, it didn’t change anything.

I scoffed.

“It seems trivial to you. But it’s not a matter unrelated to you, girl empress who decided to sell out the empire.”

Pope Yulia muttered expressionlessly.

What I do is God’s will; everything I do is for the world.

Even pandering to the Mongols is not a betrayal of God.

Her serious expression remained unchanged, and indeed, she wasn’t attempting any deception.

“It truly is trivial.”

To me, Maxine I, Empress of the Holy Gusten Empire, everything was trivial.

Frankly, whether this so-called holy empire turned to dust, whether the citizens who let my father starve to death were massacred, or whether all the people suffered—what did it have to do with me?

In short, I genuinely didn’t care.

I didn’t want to set everything on fire and turn it all to ash.

Even though I detest the world so much.

I am certainly the empress, I have the duty to lead the people, and if there are threats to the empire, I must defend it.

But—only if it were possible.

“This empire will perish.”

There’s no chance of victory.

That was thoroughly explained by Duchess Temeraire.

Lord Inotsuki had tried desperately to convince us as well.

In two years, 158,000 Mongol cavalry will invade.

Everyone must unite, Temeraire swore as she worked like a beast, begging us to face the Mongols together.

Pope Yulia too, please bestow God’s blessing, conduct a holy war for the people living in the Holy Gusten Empire.

I will follow this path until the end.

Ah.

She, too, was a pitiable woman.

Who would stand up with her after such a gesture?

People are inherently selfish, believing others should dirty their hands for them.

Knights, clergy, and citizens all engage in a “war of all against all” for their own benefit, where the law of the feud (self-help) surpasses that of the state.

People don’t unite.

The notion of a “Commonwealth,” a collective entity meant to save the desperate masses from violence and insecurity, probably hasn’t yet emerged in this world.

Even if I, Maxine, called upon the electors, feudal lords, merchants, and citizens as a knight, the forces that would assemble are limited.

Given the dire situation of the Holy Gusten Empire, no amount of effort can counter the Mongols even if we waged a religious war against the pagans.

Defeat is inevitable.

That is reality.

It would have been better to pander from the start.

Why can’t Duchess Temeraire accept such a simple thing?

She’s just a pitiable knight, deluded that he can save the empire.

“…Are you concerned about Duchess Temeraire?”

“A little.”

Time and again, countless times, Duchess Temeraire has plotted my assassination.

She never hid her belief that she was more deserving of the empress’s throne than I.

But I can’t bring myself to hate her.

Arrogant and oddly twisted, yet she tries to live purely as an imperial knight.

I didn’t dislike that peculiar pig.

Even if she aspires to usurp the imperial throne and decapitates me, calling me “a traitor,” I have no intention of holding a grudge.

I would forgive her; such is my fondness for her strange true nature.

However, it seems that Temeraire has caused trouble with the elector rather than usurping the imperial throne and was nearly killed in a duel by a male knight who’s the talk of the imperial city.

Indeed.

Of course, it’s not strange for someone who killed the devilish superhuman Lord Reckenber to defeat Duchess Inotsuki.

But really, could there be a man capable of defeating Lord Reckenber in reality?

Such a monster cannot exist.

Honestly, I doubt it’s true.

Like Duchess Temeraire tried to show me, swearing a geas in the Kingdom of Anhalt, making all the lords and knights present hand over military authority because of it.

That Elector Katarina of Virendorf agreed to peace with Anhalt for the sake of that man.

It sounds like a ridiculous fairy tale.

No—now is not the time to worry about such things.

Thinking about trivial matters makes the pope’s talk seem like someone else’s problem.

“This Yulia too is concerned about her. But in the imperial city, her reputation was always treated like a pig. Especially now that she’s been dealt with by the elector, no noble will take her seriously. Once they understand the situation, almost all nobles will agree with me and the empress. There’s no need to worry.”

I’m not worried about that.

In the first place, whether I’m agreed with or opposed makes no difference to me.

If Duchess Temeraire wants to become empress, I might even let her have it.

After all, the ship known as the Holy Gusten Empire is already a sinking one.

As long as I can ensure my family escapes on a different ark, that’s enough for me.

“What’s more important right now is the Cologne Sect. I once borrowed the power of this sect to become pope. We delved into their doctrines, their spirit, their potential technologies, and their ideals for salvation in this world.”

“And you found them heretical.”

I laugh.

Abandoning the sect whose power I once borrowed, and now trying to execute the Cologne Cardinal, whom I appointed myself, through an inquisition.

What kind of pretext have they come up with this time?

“—I’ve come to realize what the Cologne Sect has been seeking, what they desire, and even what they’ve been aiming for from the very beginning.”

Trivial matters.

Violent Pope Yulia is insane.

Mad with faith.

Despite having the powerful Papal forces, she didn’t save me or my father when we were imprisoned in the imperial city of Windbona.

Clergy do not consider it proper to use their violence in disputes over the imperial throne.

She genuinely believes that—not just as a convenient pretense or excuse, but truly believes it, and thus she did not interfere.

Yes.

She truly and unquestionably thinks that way.

And so, even when my father died of starvation, she preached that it was God’s will and to accept it.

She could have easily helped us.

In contrast to the odd fondness I feel for Duchess Temeraire, I utterly detest this Pope Yulia.

I’m only dealing with her because it’s part of my duties as empress.

But—

“I do respect the way of the Cologne Sect. They have their own image of redemption, and their faith might indeed bring salvation to the people.”

Regrettably, Pope Yulia is highly capable.

She emerged victorious in the conclave, where all the clergy fought, and survived the ruthless killings.

Well.

It’s becoming unpleasant to let this pope talk any longer.

“Get to the point.”

No matter how much you claim to hold no malice toward the Cologne Sect, you’ll still launch an inquisition and kill them because it’s necessary.

It was unpleasant to hear you arm yourself with trivial, meaningless arguments.

If you’re going to kill them, just kill them without all this fuss.

“Won’t you listen to my explanation, Empress Maxine?”

“If you want to launch an inquisition and kill the Cologne Cardinal, go ahead. But I won’t help you. From what you’ve told me, that’s all I have to say.”

If those who want to resist do so on their own, and if Duchess Temeraire allies with the Cologne Sect and stands against me, I might even prefer them to Yulia.

If they rise above my corpse and fight the Mongols, I might even acknowledge that as the legitimate will of the Holy Gusten Empire.

Even so—they will still lose to the Mongols.

“I won’t help. Everyone should go their own way and do as they please, enemies and allies alike.”

Yes.

This pope abandoned my father.

And I’m not afraid of my own ruin.

So there’s no need to help this one.

“I wanted to tell you the whole story about the Cologne Sect, but it seems the Empress’s ears are closed. Understood. I’ll take action in my own way. To start, I’ll deal with Valiere von Anhalt.”

“…Valiere?”

Why that name?

It seems to be the name of the second princess of the Electorate of Anhalt, but I don’t understand why that name would come up.

Wasn’t the plan to deal with the Cologne Sect?

“Are you aware that the second Princess Valiere of Anhalt is heading towards the imperial city of Windbona?”

“I know.”

I’ve heard from the intelligence network that she departed from the royal city of Anhalt with a brigade of a thousand.

So what?

“With her, it seems the Cologne Sect is transporting something very important—something equivalent to a holy relic. Also, they are trying to bring a large number of Cologne clerics into the imperial city.”

“And?”

Even if it’s a genuine holy relic, it’s worthless.

Magic and miracles exist in this world, but there’s no instance where holy relics have brought any blessings.

They are merely for the face of the sect or church, attractions for collecting donations.

“We’ll conduct a preliminary battle against the Cologne Sect. The Cologne Cardinal is currently restrained in the imperial city and unable to move. Before she gathers forces and gets her hands on something equivalent to a holy relic, we must eliminate Valiere’s brigade.”

Then, pausing for a breath, not with her usual expressionless face, but showing a genuine curiosity, she muttered.

“I’m curious about what this equivalent to the Cologne Sect’s holy relic might be.”

Hmm.

I’ve dealt with this detestable Pope Yulia for a long time, but has she ever shown such an expression before?

I was curious—but by then, the pope had already returned to her usual expressionless demeanor.