Building A Human Empire By Creating A Clan [EN]: Chapter 73

Constructing a Human Empire with Affiliates Chapter 75 (75/185)

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The capital of Wallachia, Sodomora.

Some time after killing Vlad there,

I received several bundles of documents from the Old Man of the Mountain, Nuadha.

– These are letters that remained in the Blood Clan’s business.

The bundles of documents were letters sent by servants to the Blood Clan.

I used these to understand the servants’ activities.

‘Even if I know a lot, I don’t know every little detail.’

Sodomora was one of the few exceptions.

It was a key base where the Blood Clan operated, and I knew it inside and out because I had encountered its activities spanning decades in previous iterations.

On the other hand, besides Sodomora, there were few other regions that I could recall clearly, no matter how hard I searched my memory.

‘Vampires have always been adept at hiding within groups.’

It was quite difficult to grasp the activities of vampires.

They weren’t a different species distinguishable by appearance.

I couldn’t even properly grasp the representative system.

‘There’s a reason they’re called parasites.’

It would be great if they were affected by sunlight, but they had even developed immunity to sunlight, so it wasn’t easy to identify vampires.

Like parasites, they gnaw at society without revealing themselves, increasing their power, and they don’t easily show their faces even when society is on the verge of necrosis [tissue death due to injury or disease].

‘The information Nuadha passed on is quite helpful.’

The letters left in the Blood Clan’s business eased my concerns.

Because they contained reports from servants to the Blood Clan about their activities.

‘They’ve extended their reach to Germania as well.’

There were quite a few letters sent from Germania.

I paid attention to the letters sent from the Margraviate of Rozen.

The letters contained information about implanting the Emperor’s Curse in the Margrave [a hereditary title of nobility, ranking below duke but above count].

‘The Emperor’s Curse…’

The Emperor’s Curse.

It was a famous incurable disease.

Symptoms appeared as fever, cough, and abdominal pain, followed by large and small wounds all over the body, and soon death from hematemesis [vomiting blood] due to organ damage.

The most well-known cause of the disease was being bitten by vampires such as the Blood Clan or servants, but in reality, cases of onset from bites were extremely rare.

The main pattern was that it suddenly appeared like an epidemic, swept through the entire city, and then disappeared.

‘There is a cure, but it’s virtually meaningless.’

There were two treatments.

One was to alleviate the disease with the sacred power bestowed by the Wolf God, and the other was to extract the infected blood flowing through the body.

However, the first treatment only temporarily stopped the disease, and the second treatment was practically impossible.

‘Once it’s implanted in the body, only Vlad or the Blood Clan can handle it.’

As the name suggests, Vlad created it.

It was a curse he inflicted on a lord who had insulted him.

He annihilated the lord’s family and all the humans belonging to the territory with it.

Then, he lifted the curse from the lord who begged for forgiveness.

This was recorded and named the Emperor’s Curse, and it was said that only the Emperor could cure it.

‘It’s not a disease.’

But the reality was different.

Saying it’s a disease is a deception.

The Emperor’s Curse is not a disease but a parasite.

‘It’s just another parasite implanted by the vampire parasite.’

The blood clot pulled out of the Margrave of Rozen was the adult form of the parasite.

Infection occurred when the Blood Clan or servants bit the target or injected larvae through other means such as food intake.

The symptoms were the process of the injected parasite eating nutrients in the body, growing, and eventually consuming everything in the body and coming out.

‘They implant larvae that have lost their ability to reproduce, and because they look like clumps of blood, it’s difficult to judge them as parasites.’

That was why they thought the blood was infected.

There were several people among humans who knew the truth.

The problem was that they were priests of the Wolf Church and had joined hands with the Blood Clan.

“······.”

I snapped out of my reminiscence and raised my head.

Deng— Deng——

The sound of bells rang throughout the city.

The bells rang even though it wasn’t time for them to ring.

People stopped in their tracks and looked around.

People inside buildings also came out to check the situation.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re gathering in the square.”

“Why suddenly?”

People headed to the square with puzzled expressions.

Among them, Rachel and I walked along.

“Rachel.”

“Yes, Father.”

“What do you think?”

Rachel tilted her head without answering.

Her eyes rolled around, indicating that she was pondering.

“A human sacrificed another human for God. Doesn’t that give you any other thoughts?”

“Ah, um···.”

She scratched her head awkwardly.

Her expression clearly showed that she wanted to say, ‘No.’

“It’s always been like that. Humans enslave other humans, sell slaves. Isn’t it the same now? It’s just that they’ve implanted parasites in humans for easier domination.”

I shook my head.

“That’s wrong. Slaves are not humans. They’re livestock. The Horbid Church teaches that social class is a right given by God. Therefore, kings, nobles, and priests are the ruling class chosen by God.”

On the other hand, commoners and slaves are those whom God has determined to be ruled.

“Slaves are livestock given by God. Not humans. They were created to be ruled by humans, created to be sold as livestock.”

Therefore, those who believe in the Horbid Church do not question the morality of buying and selling humans.

How could they question what God has ordained?

The King of Wallachia, Pave, was a truly unique case.

“However, this time, it happened among the ruling class chosen by God. Someone who thinks of the other as a fellow human tried to sacrifice another human for God.”

Moreover, the perpetrator of this incident was the Bishop of Horbid.

The Bishop is an existence who can directly face Horbid.

“Whether Horbid knew about the Bishop’s actions, or whether he ordered the Bishop, that’s not important. What’s important is that Bishop Bowler believed that his actions were for God and acted accordingly.”

Did the Bishop see the Margrave of Rozen as not human and plot the scheme?

No, the Bishop saw the Margrave as a human like himself.

However, there was an absolute being above humans.

That being was God, and it was necessary to sacrifice the Margrave for God.

“You also see humans as equal to you. But if you have to sacrifice humans to achieve what you believe in…”

I asked what she would do.

Rachel’s expression hardened.

“Humans should not be a means.”

“Yes… Father.”

“You must not treat humans merely as a means. If you treat them as a means, always, at the same time, treat them as an end. The moment humans become a means without an end in your heart, you become like those beings.”

“Father, I—”

I raised my hand to stop her words.

Through telepathy, I knew what she was going to say.

That she didn’t select the liberated slaves with such intentions.

“I know. You know you can’t cure them, and if you can’t at least alleviate their pain, you want to give them happiness.”

Those conscripted as soldiers are usually not slaves.

They were beings whose very nature as humans had been twisted.

To increase their value as livestock called slaves.

They were literally broken beings.

Broken beings that could never be fixed.

Rachel gave them painkillers.

Highly addictive and sometimes more terrifying than poison, opium, faith.

“But there are many who don’t understand your way of thinking.”

Griff, Pasiphae, Gerhard, Nuadha…

It’s faster to find those who understand Rachel.

“You probably think your belief is right. Because you’re doing the right thing, you don’t feel the need to explain it to others. That’s fanaticism.”

This is why religion is dangerous.

Humans can make mistakes, but God doesn’t.

Believing in God is believing in absolute truth.

‘Who would dare say that the truth ordained by God is wrong?’

“But I am not God.”

“No, Father is—”

“I can’t do everything, and I don’t know everything. It’s just that something vague called the soul is getting bigger and bigger. Yes, it’s just a mere human whose power is growing.”

Even if my soul grows, I am human.

At least for now… an existence that can make mistakes at any time.

To blindly follow such a being?

How foolish and dangerous is that?

“I can be wrong. I can make mistakes. So you must not blindly believe in me. You must acknowledge that I can make mistakes and see me.”

Rachel bit her lip.

She blinked repeatedly as if she was about to cry.

“…What do you want me to do, Father?”

“Look around you. How does your behavior look to others, can you persuade others of your behavior, can others accept it? You have to start there. Right now, you only see me.”

The standard of behavior must be based on humans, not God.

Only when the standard of behavior becomes human can one escape fanaticism.

I gently patted her trembling head.

“······.”

Rachel was silent.

Her thoughts fluctuated greatly.

However, no negative emotions were read.

Little by little, very slowly, her thoughts were calming down.

“I believe in you, Rachel. So don’t make me sad.”

I stopped walking.

We arrived at the square.

“If not, you’ll end up like that someday.”

There was a platform in the middle of the square.

A wooden platform set up for street events.

Calliope threw the Bishop onto the platform.

The people who had gathered in the square after hearing the bell gasped.

“That person is…?”

“It’s the Bishop!”

The people who had calmed their surprised hearts soon became angry.

“Th-that’s blasphemous!”

“Release the Bishop!”

“What are you doing!”

Calliope glanced around, then drew her sword from its scabbard.

Holding the shining sword in reverse grip, she aimed it at the back of the Bishop’s neck.

Then the crowd fell silent with shock.

“Faith is, really, a funny thing.”

I muttered my inner thoughts and went up onto the platform with Rachel.

The Bishop, with his back stepped on by Calliope, raised his head.

“Wh-what are you trying to do to me?”

“I have to kill you. What’s the point of keeping a parasite alive.”

“I am a priest! The Bishop of the Wolf God Horbid! Even the King of Germania cannot dare treat me like this!”

“So?”

I invoked the magic of the ring.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“What’s so great about being a mosquito’s slave and spreading parasites?”

I turned my back and looked at the crowd.

Faces filled with anger, as if they were about to rush at me.

A priest is a bridge connecting God and humans.

In their eyes, it would seem like I was insulting them and God.

“Listen. I will tell you one truth.”

Other affiliates came up onto the platform.

“The disease called the Emperor’s Curse does not exist in this world. It is not a disease but a worm. A parasite that crawls into your body, eating your blood and flesh.”

The affiliates placed the oak barrels they were holding in a row on the platform.

“And this man is the one who spread that parasite.”

Calliope raised the Bishop.

“You have been deceived.”

A moment of silence began, followed immediately by curses.

“Lies!”

“Release the Bishop!”

“It’s heresy!”

The square was filled with jeers.

Stones and trash flew onto the platform.

“The truth is always painful.”

I smirked and kicked the oak barrel.

The oak barrel rolled off the platform and fell to the ground.

With a thud, the barrel broke, and the contents spilled everywhere.

“Kyaaak!”

“Wh-what is it!”

The contents were bloody water with a strong smell of blood.

Very small blood clots wriggled in the bloody water.

It was the larvae that the Bishop had been raising in the temple.

“That is the Emperor’s Curse you fear.”

Rachel smashed the oak barrel in front of me with her warhammer.

The blood clots spread on the platform, and I picked up one of them.

A tiny larva compared to the one that came out of the Margrave’s body.

About the size of a pinch of melted cheese.

“You’ve raised quite a lot.”

These larvae were filled in each and every oak barrel.

“Do you know what you’re trying to do?”

The Bishop trembled and lowered his head.

“Rachel.”

Rachel swung her warhammer over the Bishop’s head.

The warhammer spun several times in the air, gaining speed.

And at the moment she was about to strike the Bishop’s head,

Whack— light erupted from the Bishop’s entire body.

“Oh, oh…!”

The Bishop touched his body with a joyful expression.

“Horbid! Are you saving me!”

The light surrounding him burst even more intensely.

At the same time, his level rose rapidly.

【Lv. 76】

The Bishop’s body swelled as it emitted light.

The swelling flesh tore the priestly robes, and the color turned gray, and thick fur grew.

The face grew a long snout, and the teeth grew sharp.

Krrr… .

The Bishop lost his human form and became a wolf, growling.

“Horbid.”

I read the identity of the power dwelling in the Bishop.

A shimmering figure that seemed to form like a heat haze behind the Bishop.

That figure took on the face of a giant wolf and glared at me.

“The wolf has come to a humble place.”

The heat haze shook violently.

The Bishop, now a wolf, roared.

Awoo——!

Reacting to the roar, the blood clots wriggling on the ground jumped up.

Like a swarm of mosquitoes, they clung to the crowd.

“Kyaaaak!”

Like water sprinkled on cotton, the blood clots seeped into the skin.

The crowd who had the blood clots enter them groaned in pain.

“Father!”

Rachel swung her warhammer, knocking away the blood clots.

Countless blood clots flew from all directions.

They tried to cling to me and my affiliates as well.

“Get lost!”

At my shout, the blood clots exploded.

The blood clots clinging to me, my affiliates, and the crowd exploded. The blood clots that had seeped in flowed back out and fell to the ground.

They turned into white crystals and crumbled, just like when a servant died.

“Did you really think you could stop me with something like that?”

I scoffed at the heat haze.

– You impious wretch!

Thump, thump, the Bishop charged, pounding the platform.

The wolf-transformed Bishop had grown several times larger.

The jaws he opened, aiming for my head, were bigger than my entire body.

I reached out from among my affiliates, who stood in front of me to protect me.

Twitch.

The Bishop froze mid-leap in the air.

He trembled, trying to move, but couldn’t budge.

“Even though the outside has changed, the inside is still the same.”

The magic flowing from Vlad’s ring.

The magic bound the Bishop, who was receiving Horbid’s power.

Just like when he was human, he was reduced to a slave once more.

His origin as a servant of the Vlad family bound him, even as a wolf.

“The mosquito’s blood flowing in your veins. The dog’s power enveloping your body. I wondered which would be stronger.”

I scoffed.

“It seems this one is stronger.”

I clenched my fist and struck down.

The wolf was slammed into the platform.

– Krrheeeeeuk!

The wolf-transformed Bishop Bowler screamed.

– H, how?

“It just means that what’s closer to you is the mosquito, not the wolf.”

I twisted my palm and showed the ring to the Bishop.

– That’s, impossible….

“Impossible? Then whose body is this, playing in my hand?”

I slowly opened my clenched fist.

The Bishop’s body stretched as if it would tear apart in all directions.

– Wh, what are you doing!

Stop, stop, the Bishop screamed, shaking his head.

The heat haze flickered violently beside him.

The power emanating from the heat haze enveloped his body, repelling the magic, momentarily suppressing the ring’s magic that was trying to tear his body apart.

“Get lost, wolf. Don’t interfere in human affairs.”

I glared at the heat haze and rebuked it.

At that moment, light emanated from me, covering the Bishop and the heat haze.

– Ugh, ugh!

The heat haze vanished like a candle in the wind.

A scream that couldn’t be heard brushed past my mind.

The Bishop gritted his teeth and groaned in pain.

I brought my hand down as it was.

Thump!

Once again, the Bishop was slammed into the platform.

White smoke leaked from him as he cowered and huddled.

The divine power that Horbid had bestowed upon him was scattering.

Crack, crack….

The sound of bones twisting came from the body that had lost its divine power.

The fur fell out, revealing bare skin, and the color of the flesh faded from gray to white.

The long snout also shortened, returning to a human form.

Bowler, who had become a wolf, returned to being the human Bowler.

“Looks good.”

“The power… Lord Horbid’s voice….”

The Bishop covered his face with both hands.

“Why, why can’t I hear it! Lord Horbid’s voice!”

“When the light is too strong, even shadows disappear.”

I gestured to Rachel.

Rachel gripped her warhammer and stood before him.

He tried to lift himself up from the floor.

“This can’t be happening… This can’t be happening…! How much I—”

Thwack!

Bishop Bowler’s head exploded.

The body fell backward, spewing blood.

The blood soon faded and turned into salt crystals along with the body.

Huh….

A gasping sound spread through the plaza.

The crowd stared at the Bishop’s corpse, their eyes wide.

‘How could this happen?’ they muttered the same words, making the sign of the cross [a religious gesture signifying faith or seeking protection].

However, there was no sorrow for the Bishop in their gazes.

“I’ll say it again.”

I looked around at the crowd and raised my voice.

“You are being deceived. The Emperor’s curse that has taken root in the city and frightened you is a parasite that the salt-turned Bishop here has spread to control you.”

The crowd fell silent.

Bishop Bowler had transformed into a wolf.

They couldn’t possibly not know that it was the power of the wolf god, Horbid.

And at the same time as the wolf roared, the parasites had swept over the crowd.

What would the crowd think of this?

Also, didn’t my shout kill the parasites and save them?

“….”

The reason the crowd was quietly listening to me was that.
Doubt had sprouted in their minds, so they didn’t argue with me.

‘I don’t think their faith will be broken this easily.’

However, it wouldn’t be enough to shatter the crowd’s deep-rooted faith.

Would a lifetime of faith be broken by just one doubt?

It’s just a very small crack.

‘At best, they’ll think that bishop was corrupt, or something.’

Like some heretics.

‘But this is the beginning. I know that the sins you have committed are not just this once, but countless times. I know that you are not a part, but the whole.’

I will drag out all the parts.

If I drag out all the parts, it will eventually become the whole.

‘I will drive you out of the human mind.’

The prelude to a proxy war.

“….”

The crowd looked at each other, then looked behind them.

Step, step, footsteps were heard in the awkward silence.

The crowd, discovering the source of the sound, parted to the sides.

Marquis Loegene stood in the path that was created.

“Marquis?”

“How is he here?”

The crowd was surprised to see him.

He was being supported, but he was walking.

Their lord, who should have died at any moment.

He ascended the platform with the support of his daughter, Yulia Loegene.

“Bowler is dead?”

The Marquis muttered, looking down at the platform.

White crystals were scattered on the platform like sprinkled salt.

And in the middle of it, the wolf cult’s relic had fallen.

It was the relic that Bishop Bowler had worn.

“To kill a priest of Horbid, even a bishop…”

The Marquis said that he had committed a terrible act.

I slightly twisted the left corner of my mouth upward.

“Don’t you think it’s more terrifying to keep this man alive?”

At my sarcasm, the Marquis flinched.

“That’s right. If I had kept him alive, he would have eventually killed me.”

He let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“I’m getting old. To believe that the cult would protect me even after being backstabbed… Alright, Edar. What are you going to do now?”

It goes without saying.

I have to catch the parasites that remain in the city.

I told him to gather people.

To gather the cursed people in this city.

I can heal them,

I told him to order them to come to me.

He nodded and turned to look at the crowd.

“All the people living in my city, listen and hear!”

The crowd focused their attention on his words.

“I, Matthias Loegene, say that, as you have seen and felt, the Emperor’s curse is not a disease. The parasites that clung to your bodies are the reality of the curse.”

He dismissed Yulia’s support and stood up straight on his own.

“Look again. I, who was on the verge of death, am standing before you. What does this mean? It means that I have overcome the curse and regained my life. Doesn’t this mean that the Emperor’s curse is no longer an incurable disease!”

He stretched out his right arm and pointed at me.

“Here before you is a person who can lift the curse. The one you have reviled as a liar and a heretic can heal you, so if there is anyone among you who is cursed, confess your sins and lift the curse.”

The crowd looked at each other and then scattered from the plaza.

Only healthy people can come to the plaza.

They scattered to bring their cursed family members.

And soon they returned with many people and their families.

“Can we really be healed?”

“My child first….”

“The hemoptysis [coughing up blood] is too severe. Even the priest said it was impossible….”

They each brought their families and ascended the platform.

I personally touched each and every one of them and lifted the curse.

The moment my hand touched the patient’s body, blood clots flowed out of their skin and fell to the ground, turning into white crystals.

“Good heavens….”

The power contained in Vlad’s soul fragment is strong.

If I wanted to, I could have dealt with the blood clots from afar.

Just like in Sodomora, one word was enough: Return to ashes.

‘But would they learn anything from that?’

They must accept that what is in their body is a parasite,

Understand that I have resolved the parasite in their body,

And realize that the curse is a sin committed by the god they believed in.

Simply dealing with the parasites and ending it is an easy ending.

Therefore, I demonstrated the treatment in front of the crowd.

“This wasn’t a curse….”

“Even the scars have disappeared?”

“The light….”

The crowd was surprised to see blood clots coming out of their skin when I touched them.

They were surprised again to see the patient regaining strength after the blood clots came out.

They were shocked to see the wounds that were not curses disappearing from the patient’s body.

“A miracle, it’s a miracle.”

“The priest is performing miracles!”

“A real priest has come!”

Because my soul was growing bigger and bigger.

I, who had only healed one child in Sodomora, now had enough soul power to heal all the patients in this city.

“Priest!”

“Please forgive our ignorance!”

The crowd who witnessed the treatment exclaimed.

The number of patients was not large, but the crowd saw it.

They saw their wounds heal and light emanating from my hands.

They knew that the light was not magic, but similar to the divine power emitted by the priests of the cult, so they regarded me as a priest, made the sign of the cross, and praised me.

“That power, you are….”

On the other hand, Marquis Loegene recognized a part of my power.

“I have seen Horbid. If you are a prestigious nobleman, you have to go to see Horbid. I also saw him.”

“Were you satisfied?”

“Satisfied? It was more than that. Seeing him was really… so dazzling that it was blindingly oppressive. Yes, it was really an oppressive light.”

The Marquis looked up at the sky as if lost in deep thought.

“But it wasn’t as much as the light I saw when I first saw you.”

He narrowed his eyes and examined me.

“For some reason, I can’t see the light from you anymore. I can’t see the dazzling light I saw a little while ago.”

“Well, it could be that my energy is weakening and I’m hallucinating.”

“Do you really think so, Edar?”

The Marquis looked at me.

It wasn’t a look that believed it was a hallucination.

Rather, he looked at me with a look of conviction.

I answered by silently raising the corners of my mouth.

“What do you want from me? You’re not just helping me out of pity. You’re not just trying to ask me to let the troops pass through, and you wouldn’t have killed the bishop either.”

‘What do you want?’ he asked.

“I want Germania.”

The look of conviction in the Marquis’s eyes faltered for a moment.

“I knew it. It would be strange if you didn’t. So you helped me. To gather allies.”

“Germania is too big to be ruled by 6,000 people.”

“Because the interests are too intertwined.”

“The people of Germania are also very proud.”

“Very proud. Sometimes to the point where they want to stand above their master.”

He scratched his forehead and continued.

“It’s not something that can be done just because one of me raises your hand. You may not know it, but I’m like a candle in the wind. No matter what I try to do, it won’t be of much help.”

“One, you mean.”

“Yes. It would be a little different if there were many. But that’s just a little different. This country is not something you can have just because you want it, just because you are strong.”

His voice changed resolutely.

“The owner of Germania is separate. The king is just the owner’s agent… no, a servant.”

And he laughed lowly as if mocking himself.

“Even Thirdret has not been chosen by the owner. But, do you think that’s possible? You, who killed the bishop, have lost a lot of trust.”

“Trust….”

I smiled and asked.

“Do you know who that owner is?”

“Don’t you know? The races that have built civilizations in this world each choose representatives to rule the world. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that the representatives of civilizations discuss how to rule the world.”

He took the strength out of his voice and lowered his head.

“There are no humans among them. Therefore, the fate of humans is decided under their discussion, and Germania is one of the positions given to the bloodline most trusted by them.”

“That’s called a representative system.”

“Representative system?”

The Marquis raised his head abruptly.

“The place where the representatives of the civilizations you mentioned gather. That is the representative system. Dragons, elves, dwarves… a total of eight races discuss how to govern the world.”

I let out a low laugh.

“And the Wolf Church, or rather the Horbid Church, is a governing body created by the representative system. They need to control humans, but they can’t come to this land directly. They set up a proxy who can handle this, and that proxy is Horbid.”

To be exact, Horbid is the manager of the seal.

A manager selected to manage Tiamar’s seal.

And humans became necessary to maintain the seal, so Horbid also came to manage humans, and in order to manage them more easily, he became a self-proclaimed god and founded the cult.

“You said that I lost the trust of the representatives because I killed the bishop?”

I laughed loudly.

I couldn’t hold back the laughter that came from deep inside my body.

It was so funny that I laughed so hard that my back almost went over.

The Marquis blinked, not knowing why I was laughing.

“There are eight races in the representative system. But, do you know that there are nine seats? Whose seat do you think that one seat is?”

I put my hand on my chest and said with a smile.

“It’s mine.”

The Marquis’s eyes widened.

“The ninth seat in the representative system is mine.”

The representative is me, so do I need trust?

I put my hand on his shoulder and said.

“Therefore, as the one representing humans, I command you. From now on, do not send tribute to anyone. Also, do not buy or sell humans anymore.”