He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 134

“So, the archbishops are rebelling against the Vatican’s policies?”

“Yes, to be precise… they are opposing Your Majesty’s reforms.”

Shortly after, when the Pope, surprised by the fact that I was using a doppelganger, calmed down, I was able to hear the reason for his request for an audience.

“Opposing my reforms, huh… Well, that’s understandable.”

“I am sorry, Your Majesty. Unlike me, they do not know Your Majesty’s divinity.”

The Pope seemed at a loss, worried that I would be angry at the archbishops’ rebellion.

But I didn’t have any reason to be angry. Rather, I thought it was natural for them to rebel.

“Well, they didn’t see the gods blessing me directly like the Pope did. So, they can do that.”

No matter how devout they are, it is difficult to have faith without witnessing direct evidence.

Moreover, humans are the kind of people who don’t believe even when they see evidence. In the first place, the reason they are rebelling against my reforms is not because they don’t believe in my divinity.

The real reason is because I am taking away their vested interests.

“Honestly, they are rebelling because I’m taking away the episcopal territories and abolishing various church taxes, right? And rebelling against the Vatican, which is at the forefront of that, is a bonus.”

“…I am sorry.”

After putting down the nobles’ rebellion, now it’s the clergy’s rebellion… It was truly a miserable thing.

They didn’t even lift a finger to stop the empire from collapsing, but now that things are getting better, they are raising their voices…

“I’m just glad they’re not becoming rebels.”

“No, absolutely not! Rebellion? They wouldn’t even think of such a terrible thing!”

“Of course, they wouldn’t. They saw the heads of the rebel nobles being smashed next to them, so who would dare to rebel now?”

I shrugged and said sarcastically.

The archbishops who are rebelling are only ‘rebelling’ in name only.

The target of their rebellion is not me, but the Pope, and it felt like they were protesting to me without crossing the line.

So, what are they relying on to act like this?

“If they are not listened to here, they will probably go on strike.”

Because the clergy are personnel used for a considerable part of the administration in this medieval land.

From basic education to household surveys in each village, and in some cases, they also serve as healers or public security officers who stabilize public sentiment.

Of course, that should be gradually replaced with professional personnel through reforms, but since they have lived like medieval times for so long, we have to use them for a while at least.

No, maybe not just for a while, but perhaps they should be used as the vanguard of progress in fields such as education in the future.

But if we just suppress their rebellion, there will definitely be major side effects.

“Then we have to listen to them for now.”

“If you say listen to them… ?”

“It’s exactly as I say. I will listen to their words, judge what is right and wrong, and either accept or reject their demands. So…”

For the clergy, doing such a thing is called this.

“I will hold a council.”

A council.

It had been cut off for a long time. It was the moment when the Imperial Council was newly opened after hundreds of years.

* * *

“I don’t quite understand.”

“What do you mean, Ygritte?”

Some time later, on the day the council was held.

In the streets of Augsburg, the capital, which was half a festival atmosphere under the guise of the council, Ygritte asked.

“Why are you going to listen to the clergy? No matter how you look at it, they are just finding fault because they don’t like your reforms, right?”

Ygritte didn’t seem to understand why I would bother opening a council and giving them a chance to speak.

“Haha, that’s right, actually.”

“Then why? If you listen to such unreasonable fault-finding, you will only boost their morale.”

Ygritte’s words were not wrong either.

Listening to those who oppose for the sake of opposition can be counterproductive.

“But Ygritte, that’s why I opened the council.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the council is basically a discussion. No matter how much you want to oppose, illogical or unreasonable things will not be accepted.”

If you persuade them with logic that even the other party cannot help but admit, they can never oppose it.

So, I chose the method of a council instead of giving orders.

If I can persuade them, their rebellion will naturally disappear.

“Furthermore, if I succeed in persuading them, my authority will soar.”

“But will they really be persuaded? No matter what logic you say, they will surely deny and reject it.”

Ygritte gave a very common-sense answer, but I smiled.

“No, they have no choice but to be persuaded by me.”

“Why?”

“That’s because…”

It was then that I was about to tell Ygritte secretly.

“Your Majesty.”

“Huh?”

A familiar voice was heard from behind.

When I turned around, there was a priestess with a devout atmosphere.

“Stella! Long time no see! Has it already been a year?”

“It’s been a year and a half.”

“Yeah… It’s the first time since I cleaned up the Eastern Territory civil war.”

It was Stella. She was walking down the street without a single guard.

She has a strikingly beautiful appearance, but she covered her face with a hood, so it seemed to block the attention.

It bothers me a bit that she, the archbishop of the Eastern Territory and even the governor, is walking around without guards… Well, that’s not something I can point out since I’m the emperor and I’m walking around alone.

“I’m glad you look healthy.”

“I’m glad to see that Your Majesty is also safe. But… who is the person next to you?”

Before I knew it, Stella’s gaze was directed at Ygritte.

I felt like a spark of purification was rising in her eyes…

“Ah, this is Ygritte. She’s a friend I made during the Northern Civil War.”

“A friend… is it?”

“Yeah, ah… if I say that, there might be a little misunderstanding. Actually, Ygritte is…”

I briefly told Stella that Ygritte was the daughter of the Northern Grand Duke and how we got to know each other.

“I see, nice to meet you, Ygritte. I’m Stella Lake Shire, I met His Majesty a little earlier than Ygritte.”

“…Nice to meet you, Archbishop.”

“Just call me Stella.”

Then the two people exchanged introductions. Are they already getting close?

“But Stella, are you here to attend the council too?”

“Yes, Your Majesty opened the council, so I have no choice but to attend.”

“…Didn’t you or the Purification Order have any particular objections?”

This council was an event to appease those who opposed my reforms.

But Stella, as well as Stella’s Purification Order, are already devoted to my divinity.

So, they are the ones who actively accept my reforms, so there was no need for them to attend this council.

“No, I have to attend no matter what!”

“Why?”

“That’s because…”

It was when Stella said those words as we entered the temple where the council was being held.

“Isn’t that Archbishop Stella?”

A group of people approached and called out to Stella.

They were all old clergymen. However, judging from their attire, they were high-ranking officials.

“…Archbishops. So, everyone came after all. Shamelessly, too.”

“Shamelessly? We’re just here to attend the council hosted by the Emperor.”

It seemed like they were the archbishops of the Vatican-affiliated orders who the Pope had mentioned were rebelling.

And Stella was glaring at them as if she would burn them to death.

“Are you going to say that you are not shameless when you were holding your breath when the empire was shaking, and now you are denying him after His Majesty has rebuilt the empire?”

Stella, who I thought was gentle, was speaking in a rarely angry voice.

It was an unexpected sight, but I felt a little pleased.

It was because Stella’s personality, who had only been enduring, had changed in a positive way.

“Huhu, don’t misunderstand, Archbishop Stella. We are not particularly trying to deny His Majesty. We are just worried about some radical moves.”

“Isn’t that the same thing? The empire didn’t fall apart thanks to his efforts. If you know that, you should be grateful to him!”

But at the same time, I felt that Stella was getting too angry.

Somehow the tone was… it also felt like she was excessively protecting me.

So, she came all the way here to get angry at the fact that they were rebelling against me?

No, that would be too much of a self-conscious thought, right?

“So, is it justified for the Purification Order to receive special treatment?”

“What did you say?”

“Isn’t that the truth, Archbishop Stella?”

While I was having such 잡생각 [jap-saeng-gak, Korean for 잡 “various/雜” + 생각 “thought”, meaning random thoughts], the archbishops’ rebuttal came back.

“The Purification Order is acting independently without listening to the Vatican’s orders. They have even been granted autonomy. Isn’t that a privilege granted by the Emperor?”

“That’s…”

“Ah, of course, I’m not denying the dedication that the Purification Order made in the Eastern Territory during the last civil war. But isn’t it clear favoritism that the archbishop even took the position of governor?”

“…”

“At this council, we are going to question such favoritism.”

The archbishop, who had said that far, smiled all over his face as he looked at Stella, who couldn’t refute him.

“There are even rumors circulating around.”

“…What rumors?”

“That the archbishop might be in that kind of relationship with the Emperor…”

“…!”

“Ah, of course, it’s just a vulgar rumor of the world.”

The archbishops continued, wearing a very vile smile that a clergyman should not have.

“But how do we know if it’s true, even by any chance-”

“Seriously, this is too much to listen to.”

I, who had been listening up to that point, came out in front of Stella and cut off the words.

“All you’re doing is making baseless slander. Those aren’t words a clergyman should say.”

“Who are you? How dare you 안전이라고 [ahn-jeon-ee-rah-go, likely a fragment of a sentence implying a challenge to his safety or authority]…”

I was heading to the temple without guards, so I wasn’t wearing clothes that looked like an emperor.

Perhaps they saw me as a commoner, so they had a very disrespectful attitude.

But I just smirked instead.

“Who am I?”

[Imperial Soul Stage 1 activated]

Swish- Chuck.

In an instant, I drew Silver Rose from its scabbard.

Silver Rose’s sharp blade stopped right in front of the clergyman’s eyes.

It was so fast that their guards, the paladins, couldn’t keep up.

“He, heok!”

“Pro, protect the Archbishop!”

The archbishop was horrified, and the paladins were about to draw their swords.

Perhaps because of the commotion, the archbishops and their attendants, as well as the bishops and priests who came with them, all gathered there.

I revealed myself in front of them.

“I am the empire soon.”

[Soul World Deployment]

And the world turns white.

I was going to show them the grounds for my divinity that they could not refute.

“I was originally going to show it at the council…”

It seemed better to just show it here than to show it at the council.

“Come out quickly and give some instruction to these impious things.”

[The gods respond to your call due to the characteristic ‘Loved by the Gods’.]

-The most disrespectful attitude seems to be yours.

What is the best way to shut up the fault-finding clergymen?

It’s to call out those gods.

Where would you dare to argue with what a god says?