"I’d appreciate Your Majesty’s guidance," Kenji said. One of his key traits was his eagerness to learn. After all, no one is born a genius.
Pluvia looked at him deeply, then sighed: "Kenji, when dealing with religious leaders, don’t try to communicate with them using normal people’s concepts."
"The best way to handle them isn’t so-called rationality or objectivity, but ’fighting poison with poison.’ Throughout history, Camelot’s rulers have supported various sects to ease tensions, fully preserving their ideologies and rights. The resulting problem was that these sects became arrogant by the time, even attempting to control the court."
"So Camelot underwent a reshuffling, harshly suppressing all sects while striving to improve people’s living conditions to prevent them from joining these sects out of desperation. This finally forced the sects to change their doctrines and stop causing trouble. The same applies to the Holy Church."
"If I hadn’t made Camelot’s position clear to him, they would think I tacitly approved of their missionary work. If you don’t refuse firmly enough, they’ll push their advantage—that’s how these people think."
She crossed her arms with a slight smile:
"So you see, Kenji, religious matters differ from political and military affairs. In politics, both sides can play a waiting game and even tolerate differences for mutual benefit. But religion isn’t like that. In this matter, you can’t show the slightest weakness."
Hmm, hasn’t she never been to the Holy Country before?
Kenji couldn’t help feeling skeptical, but considering that Pluvia was the former emperor’s chosen successor, she probably learned some of his wisdom...
"Still, this Pope really has a broad mind. I thought he’d pull some dirty tricks on us."
"He already did with the invitation letter," Pluvia said with a cunning smile. "Our visit today must have been quite a surprise for the old man. The Holy Church sent me an invitation, knowing I wouldn’t accept. But today I showed up."
"They never expected I would come. If they dared to attack us, the situation would escalate. If I escaped and told the truth, imagine what impression the Holy Church would leave on people’s minds?"
Kenji considered her words.
If they attacked, with Kenji’s skills and the royal guards secretly protecting Pluvia in the Holy Country, they might not defeat the Pope’s Holy Knights, but they could certainly cause chaos.
If Pluvia luckily escaped the Holy Church’s attempt on her life and spread the news, what would happen?
The Holy Church invites an emperor who doesn’t believe in their church, the emperor attends to celebrate the Pope’s birthday and has a friendly discussion with him, then the Pope tries to have her killed...
Forget the consequences of provoking a powerful nation with over a million regular troops—just the public relations pressure alone would be enough to give the Pope a massive headache.
So they could verbally and ideologically clash, but physically fighting would be disastrous. If they did, the Holy Church might not die, but it would certainly suffer severely.
"Since you’ve already confronted them, shall we leave now?" Kenji asked, trusting Pluvia’s judgment in these matters.
"Yes, we can’t be late. It would seem disrespectful," Pluvia nodded. "Tell them we can depart."
"Understood."
The convoy received the order and immediately accelerated toward the Vishi Empire.
…
Meanwhile, in the distant east, at Duke Anos’s mansion in Luminara City.
Siyue looked at Lina with a headache.
"Sister Lina," she said with a helpless expression, "first, my brother isn’t a child anymore. You’ve seen his abilities, and Her Majesty has so many royal guards accompanying her. There won’t be any security risks—some of those guards are my brother’s men too."
"Second," she took a deep breath to calm herself, "I am my brother’s blood sister, that’s true. But your idea of trying to find my brother’s aura on me simply doesn’t work. So please stop following me every step of the way, will you?!" Enjoy more content from freewebnovel
Siyue had no choice in the matter.
After her brother left, Lina had been acting strangely, following her constantly. She even watched over Siyue while she slept.
She would often approach Siyue for no reason. Siyue was already socially anxious and became incredibly timid without her brother around. With Lina constantly hovering nearby, she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
"The young master ordered me to protect you, Miss," Lina replied calmly, using Kenji as leverage.
"Is this how you protect someone? By following them into their bedroom?!" Siyue demanded.
"Is there a problem?" Lina tilted her head in response to Siyue’s question. "Miss, I protect the young master the same way. Entering his bedroom to protect him is very common."
This was actually true, but not entirely accurate. Lina’s room was next to Kenji’s, with a connecting door between them. This meant Lina could open that door and enter Kenji’s bedroom at any time.
Don’t misunderstand—this design was so Lina could enter his room to protect him at a moment’s notice. Otherwise, if something happened, she’d either have to run out of her room first and then open Kenji’s door, or break through the wall. The former took time, the latter took effort. With this door, she could kick it open and enter Kenji’s bedroom immediately, which was extremely convenient. But to young Siyue, this sounded rather provocative.
"Y-y-you... you shameless woman!"
This was so inappropriate! How could she act like this? No wonder brother often looked exhausted in the mornings. Perhaps...
Lina didn’t argue back, or rather, she felt no need to. Siyue was Kenji’s sister, and although Kenji had given her sister some authority over Lina, Lina didn’t feel obligated to report every detail to Siyue.
Seeing Lina’s attitude, Siyue finally gave up and turned to the official documents delivered to Duke Anos’s mansion, reviewing them.
Actually, Siyue wasn’t completely incompetent. Since arriving in this world, she had studied various subjects thoroughly. However, she wasn’t as socially skilled as her brother.
For this reason, before Kenji left, he specifically instructed the Chancellor and General Balinos to send documents directly to Duke Anos’s mansion, avoiding face-to-face meetings with Siyue if possible.
"What’s this about?" Siyue asked curiously, examining the document before her.
It was a document about armor distribution within the empire. In Camelot, armor was a crucial military resource. Camelot’s armor provided excellent protection for soldiers, and because of its powerful defensive capabilities, the destination of each batch needed to be tracked to prevent military armor from being misappropriated.
But Siyue noticed something off in this document.
The armor quantities seemed correct. After accounting for daily training and quality issues causing wear and tear, the overall numbers matched perfectly.
However, she discovered that the raw material consumption didn’t add up.
Camelot had specialized workshops for producing armor, employing numerous craftsmen and cultivators. These military supplies were manufactured under military supervision, and the raw materials were likewise managed and transported by the military.
She noticed that the raw material requirements had clearly increased.
The remaining armor quantity matched previous records, but the raw material demand had increased. The data recorder’s explanation was armor wear and tear. This seemed reasonable, given the recent battle at Hanyin City—army armor attrition was perfectly normal. But the quantity...
With her sensitivity to data anomalies, she felt something was off.
"Oh, that? When I went to collect these documents, the official responsible for delivering them said many of these armor pieces could still be used, so they were sent back to the workshop for repairs. They weren’t counted in the current armor inventory," Lina explained.
"Repairs?" Siyue pondered for a moment, then looked up. "Sister Lina, Camelot has only fought the battle at Hanyin City recently, right?"
"Yes."
"I’ll write a letter. Please deliver it to General Balinos."
Siyue tore off a piece of paper, wrote the letter, sealed it carefully, and handed it to Lina. "Make sure to deliver it personally to General Balinos, understand?"
"Understood."
Lina was very obedient when it came to following orders.
…
Vishi Empire.
The arrival of Camelot’s emperor prompted the highest level of courtesy from the Vishi Empire.
From the moment the delegation reached Vishi Empire’s border, a special reception team respectfully waited at the border city’s gates, followed by neatly dressed soldiers.
Several officials spotted the convoy from afar and immediately came forward to welcome them.
In this setting, Pluvia wouldn’t use Kenji as a translator. Although Kenji understood the Vishi language, having an emperor use her Grand Marshal as a translator at such a formal diplomatic occasion would seem undignified. She had prepared a professional translation team.
"Hedino Sano, Foreign Minister of the Vishi Empire, awaits the esteemed Emperor of the Camelot Central Empire. We will provide escorts and hospitality throughout your journey."
In front of the stopped convoy, the neatly dressed minister bowed respectfully.
He wore typical aristocratic attire, and judging by his golden sash, he was likely a military officer as well.
Pluvia was familiar with such attire. In fact, Vishi Empire envoys to Camelot also dressed this way. Apparently, aristocratic participation in politics was common in the Vishi Empire, with many nobles holding multiple positions. Many non-noble officials were also ennobled after gaining favor, often adding various decorations to their attire.
Different countries, different systems—understandable.
"Hello, Duke Hedino...," Kenji stepped down from the carriage, glancing at the official’s emblem to determine he was a duke. "It’s an honor to meet you. I am Kenji Anos, Grand Marshal of Camelot. Her Majesty has bestowed upon me the title of Duke Anos."
"So you’re Duke Anos," Duke Hedino bowed slightly to him. "I’ve long heard of your reputation, but I never imagined Duke Anos would be such an accomplished young man."
"You flatter me. It’s all thanks to Her Majesty’s grace."
After their exchange, Duke Hedino led several viscounts to accompany them, surrounded by an escort. Kenji represented Pluvia in conveying messages to Duke Hedino, as Pluvia was an emperor, and many communications needed to be delivered by Kenji as her subject.
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