Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 224

Let’s talk about what happened next.

As he had said, Raikuya took action; he ran around screaming that Seora was dead, causing the Mongol superhuman army surrounding the cathedral to withdraw temporarily.

Against the encircling regular troops, carnage ensued, reminiscent of the acts committed by Duke Temeraire’s superhuman army, “The Mad Boar Knights,” against the Landsknecht.

This happened right in front of the cathedral, and Duchess Astarte expects they will return.

Although it is believed that Seora is dead, several of her subordinates, still lurking in the imperial city, don’t believe it and might act to retrieve her or retaliate.

However, Seora is indeed still alive.

By order of Princess Anastasia, she was captured alive instead of being killed.

Docile and showing no signs of resistance, she was temporarily locked in a room.

“Now, what to do from here on—”

Princess Anastasia muttered, her face clearly strained.

“The initial plan was to kill the Pope in a manner satisfying to the Cologne Cardinal and be done with it. However, our expectations were wrong, as the Cardinal managed to persuade the Pope. Therefore, the Pope is alive and cannot be killed.”

“Not that the Pope would resist if we tried to kill her anyway,” she muttered, looking towards Lord Eugen.

“It’s a pity, but under these circumstances, the reputation of the Archbishop of Mainz cannot be restored.”

“Why not just kill her officially?”

Although he seemed unsatisfied with his own suggestion, he did not intend to argue further.

“Indeed, that Pope instigated my mother. After losing to Lord Valiere, her reputation was tarnished. Therefore, to restore honor, the instigator Pope must be killed. However, if I set aside my personal feelings, a nominal killing would suffice.”

“Make it appear as though he was killed.”

Duchess Astarte snapped her fingers with a pop between her thumb and index finger.

It would be appreciated if that were the case.

“Astarte.”

Princess Anastasia gave her a look, indicating for her to refrain from interrupting.

Duchess Astarte didn’t seem to mind at all.

“One would indeed think so. Lord Eugen is truly wise. It can be said that he understands the situation,” she remarked, clapping her hands lightly with a playful, somewhat mocking expression.

“There’s no room for hesitation, Anastasia. We can no longer afford to fret over the turmoil in the imperial city. We’ll pretend to have killed him officially, allowing Lord Eugen to avenge his mother’s reputation and you to retaliate for the harassment of your sister. That way, as Electors, we maintain face, satisfy the Cologne Cardinal, and keep the religious turmoil to a minimum.”

She briskly summarized the situation and settled the matter.

Indeed, everyone present understood this.

It’s just the emotions that are the issue—if Lord Eugen, acting on behalf of the Archbishop of Mainz, is satisfied, that’s all there is to it.

I too would like the Pope to die for insulting the Cologne Sect, but since the Cardinal himself has forgiven him, there’s nothing to be done.

And Lord Valiere, who was attacked, would probably forgive as well.

Then it can’t be helped.

Katarina nodded.

“Well, that’s it then. Without the Cologne Cardinal’s understanding, we have no choice but to keep the Pope alive. There’s also the fact that he ultimately stopped the betrayal.”

The three Electors considered the situation and reached a conclusion.

I have no particular opinion.

As long as the Cologne Cardinal, whom I trust, wishes for the Pope’s survival, I have no objections.

Killing an unresisting opponent is not to my taste.

“What about the Pope’s proxy? There’s no time for a conclave.”

“The Cologne Cardinal?”

“He would refuse, and ‘outside the Empire’ wouldn’t accept it.”

The discussion continued.

As for me, I was pondering a bit.

The Pope doesn’t matter.

But regarding Seora, I feel it would be better to kill her sooner rather than later.

Of course, it’s just a hunch—

Should I speak up?

Duchess Astarte seemed to have opened the topic, now allowing me to speak in my capacity.

But well, now is not the time for that topic.

The problem is finding a replacement for the Pope.

“Actually, isn’t it difficult to decide on our own within the Gusten Empire?”

Lord Eugen spoke with a clearly displeased expression.

At worst, accepting an official apology from the Pope and acknowledging his tenure might be an unavoidable option.

But.

“They mocked us, didn’t they? They mocked us Electors. For a knight, being mocked is the same as death. If you don’t want to die yourself, you must kill the other party.”

Princess Anastasia opposed that idea.

Nevertheless, Pope Yulia was a person of power, whose influence extended not just within the empire but also overseas, where papal authority still held sway.

According to Duchess Astarte, those overseas had just finished the “Hundred Years’ War” and wouldn’t have the resources or energy to assist or interfere.

“Would you even consider nominating your sister for pope?” Katarina casually suggested.

Princess Anastasia vigorously shook her head in denial.

Lord Valiere as pope?

She is a follower of the Pomponpain faith, a clear heretic, which makes her unsuitable in my opinion.

“Even if the empire agrees, the overseas powers won’t accept it. Even if all the Electors wanted it, unilaterally making an Elector’s daughter pope wouldn’t work. We need to properly nominate a suitable candidate. There are plenty who would die for the chance, dazzled by the seat of power.”

My thoughts were dismissed for an entirely different reason.

I still think Lord Valiere has the qualities to be a religious figure.

“If Valiere were to become pope, it would only be as a last resort. Astarte, find someone suitable,” Princess Anastasia ordered.

“Understood,” Duchess Astarte replied, though her level of motivation remained unclear.

“Now, I want to clarify something. What do we do about Seora?” The topic shifted.

“She should be killed,” I stated immediately.

I believe we should kill her while we have the chance.

Princess Anastasia seemed hesitant.

According to Duke Temeraire, she has a habit of delaying decisions.

I suspect that bad habit is showing now.

“It would be unwise to kill her.”

But it was Duke Temeraire, who should have issued that caution, who stopped it.

She looked troubled, but—

“This Temeraire has many people infiltrated in Mongolia. Well, frankly speaking, ‘I am hesitant to promote war.'”

“Why?” I asked immediately.

“Plainly speaking, our chances of winning against the Mongols are slim, even with the ‘something’ the Cologne Cardinal used to persuade the pope.”

I see.

That’s understandable.

If war is inevitable, we will fight desperately, but our chances of winning are slim.

Duke Temeraire acknowledges this.

“Do you want to avoid war just for one person, Seora? That’s ridiculous,” Duchess Astarte objected, finding it impossible to believe.

“Even if I were taken hostage along with Anastasia or Valiere, I would only say this: die for the sake of the state. Taking the enemy’s daughter hostage won’t change anything.”

I understand that.

But there must be more to what Duke Temeraire is saying.

“I understand that avoiding war might seem futile, but there’s a lot of information we want to extract from her. We can’t forget that.”

Hmm.

Even if we torture her, she might not speak.

“Could you perhaps let Temeraire handle it? It’s better than doing nothing—and after all, even if Seora is recaptured, it doesn’t mean the enemy will become significantly stronger.”

Well, what about that?

A knight dies for those he knows well.

That’s something I, Faust von Polydoro, understand better than anyone.

“The Mad Boar Knights” wouldn’t die for anyone but Temeraire.

When loyalty reaches its extreme, that’s what happens.

“As for guarding Seora, and as an interrogator, in other words, someone to extract information—”

Duke Temeraire continued speaking.

I listened, wondering what move he would make next.

“I’m thinking of Lord Polydoro for this role. It’s not exactly a honeytrap, but he’s the most suitable for casually extracting information during conversation and preventing any rescue attempts.”

Suddenly spotlighted, I furiously scowled and blurted out, “I hate to take on such a responsibility!”

But for some reason, no one seemed to listen.