CHAPTER 235

Of course, even with Dino Zeglun, the Kollon natives, and the fragments of the Living Golem's heart, that was not enough to sway public sentiment. 

It would only work if the fact was revealed that they also kidnapped the holy king and set up a puppet to deceive the holy kingdom's subjects.

"High Priests Montiano and Connyu, and Paladin Commander Sir Vitura, know."

"Who is the most trustworthy among them?"

"None."

Rani stated flatly and then explained further.

"High Priests Montiano and Connyu were definitely bribed. After finding out that he was a fake, I went to talk to them, but they just smiled and told me to do well in the trial after the festival and to serve the holy king well. Those two were certainly bought off."

"You can't be sure that they were bribed based on that alone, right?"

"No, we talked about the finger, too. But the only answer I got was a smile. As if saying I was already in the palm of their hands, unable to do anything…"

The fact that those two had been bribed was especially devastating for Rani.

Montiano and Connyu were McLan's close friends who had been with him since his teens. They were the most powerful people in the holy kingdom after Holy King McLan.

"…From the moment I was convinced that they were on Zipfel's side, I lost hope. After all, Montiano is the high priest in charge of the castle's laws, and Connyu is in charge of administration."

In other words, the current laws and administration of the holy kingdom were completely in their hands.

With even the holy king being a fake, it was an extremely hopeless situation.

A thought suddenly flashed through Jin's mind.

'The holy kingdom's fallen into the ZIpfel Clan's hands, but what's the Runcandel Clan doing about this? Are they leaving them alone, despite knowing about it? Or, could it be that they really haven't figured out the situation yet?'

There was a high chance that it was the latter.

There was currently no information about the battle fought between Murakan and Kadun in Santel.

Moreover, since Santel was the holy land of the Shoal empire, and was a quiet and peacefull place, it was a land where the Runecandel hadn't planted many people.

And Jin was only able to uncover this situation as a result of Murakan being attacked near Santel and meeting Rani.

If those coincidences hadn't happened, he wouldn't have known the true state of the holy kingdom.

"What about Paladin Commander Vitura?"

The final person who knew the secret of the holy king.

He was the only person who knew about the holy king's secret and wasn't in McLan's inner circle.

"I haven't met Sir Vitura. But he's been hostile to my father's politics for a long time. He's always strongly asserted that my father should be brought down."

"Is that why you haven't met him?"

"In addition, he always insisted that we should have a friendlier relationship with Zipfel. I thought he was only doing it because he hated my father, but I believe he may have been working with Zipfel for a long time."

"The military, law, and the administration have all fallen into their hands. It's pretty hopeless, kid."

"Let's meet Vitura."

"Did you listen to what I said?"

"I did. But unlike the two high priests, you didn't check for yourself, right?"

"My father also disliked him quite a bit. It's said that even at official meetings, the sight of Sir Vitura made him grit his teeth. It was to the point that he always made a fuss about not inviting Sir Vitura to official dinners." 

These were actions that the leader of a country, and the holy king, could not do without an extreme dislike of that person.

Rani was, as expected, influenced by the holy king and also disliked Vitura.

No, she despised him.

Jin made eye contact with Rani, seemingly having remembered something.

"Rani, what was your father like toward High Priest Montiano and High Priest Connyu?"

"Well, obviously… Whether it be official dinners, or meetings, he always sat right next to them and discussed everything to do with his rule. He also went on walks with them whenever he had time."

"What do you think you would do if you were the holy king, Rani? In a situation where the holy kingdom's been taken by the Zipfel Clan, right from the roots."

"Sorry?"

"If it were me, I would stay close to the enemy spies. In such a way that they wouldn't suspect I noticed. On the other hand, I would also make sure to be at odds with those who could be of help to me. At the very least, for the sake of appearances."

Rani blinked once but then shook her head in denial.

"That may be possible. However, my father would often say he hated Sir Vitura even when I was the only one around."

"You can interpret that as him judging that even the walls of the castle had ears. Of course, it might be a stretch. But even so, nothing bad will come from checking."

"What if I get caught while looking for him? If Sir Vitura was Zipfel's puppet, then he would imprison me, without a doubt. Up till now, they judged that there was no way I would run because they had my father's life in their hands but… Now, from their perspective, I've killed the soldiers who had turned into Living Golems and fled."

Murakan shrugged his shoulders.

"Why worry about being caught when you have me? Do you think some mere holy kingdom paladins could stop me?"

Rani was still unaware of how strong Murakan had become.

That was to be expected, since the sight of Murakan barely surviving after being attacked by Kadun was still fresh in her mind.

However, the important thing wasn't whether Murakan could take down Sir Vitura and the paladins.

"That's not the problem. Let's say that you two are able to subdue the paladins and escape with me. What do we do next? We'll become wanted and my father… my father…"

Rani couldn't bear to finish her sentence.

After Zipfel had kidnapped the holy king, they only needed to keep Rani alive.

Because they wanted to use the symbol of 'father and daughter' that the subjects loved so much.

That's why Rani was left with the role of reading the blessings at the Ayula Advent Festival.

Quietly threatening to kill McLan if she didn't comply or caused another incident.

However, if you think about it calmly, the probability that the real holy king was still alive was infinitely small.

Since they'd taken hold of the entire kingdom, and had a perfect body double, there was no need to keep him alive.

Rani was just a card for the Zipfel Clan to use. Once the subjects turned their backs on her after seeing her break down, they could abandon her. 

"My father… It's highly likely that he is no longer in this world…"

Rani knew of that fact.

However, she'd tossed that thought away because she didn't want to think about it.

Her eyes turned watery.

"Rani."

Rani wiped her tears away and ground her teeth.

Nothing would be resolved by crying.

"As you said, I'll go to meet Sir Vitura. But please promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"It seems that you plan to drive Zipfel out by swaying public opinion, but if Sir Vitura is a spy, as I thought, then that will never work. That's probably why you want to meet Sir Vitura."

As Rani said, it wasn't that there was no chance of it working, but if Vitura was a spy, then Jin would be forced to bring in other forces.

He planned to get help from the Hidden Palace, or even break the law of the Runcandels and ask Luna for help.

Jin had to prevent the holy kingdom from falling into Zipfel's hands at all costs.

"If anything goes wrong, please help me return the holy kingdom to normal after you've become a flag bearer. I wish to receive help from not only you and Murakan, but from the entire Runcandel Clan."

Jin nodded.

"I understand."

* * *

It was impossible to summon just Vitura.

Even though she was the adopted daughter of the holy king, Rani was only a second-class paladin from the Protectors of the Doctrine.

The three thought about it for a while before eventually deciding to go to his official residence in person.

Regardless of whether he was summoned alone, or if they met him at his residence… If he was a spy, the outcome would be the same.

"Why, isn't this Rani Salome! Aren't you the daughter of His Majesty, the holy king, and the Protectors of the Doctrine's problem child?"

Vitura was arrogantly sitting in the middle of a spacious office with an obvious smile on his face.

Behind him, the Paladins of the Golden Shield directly under his command, sharply glared at her.

"Who are these people you've brought?"

Vitura asked, pointing to Jin and Murakan.

"…They're friends."

"Friends, my foot! They must be the ones who killed our soldiers at the eastern temple and ran away with you. Huhu, Rani Salome. I was actually looking for you. It's not right for the person who's supposed to read the blessings in a few days to suddenly disappear, now is it?"

'It's doomed.'

Jin and Murakan couldn't help but think the same thing at the same time.

'Shit, was Rani's judgment correct?' Who would have guessed that the reason the holy king hated this man was really because he was a spy? Did the holy king fall to these people without knowing anything?'

Murakan's strength had returned to 40%, so escaping would not be difficult.

"You must've known that if you acted like that, your father's head would fall off… It looks like you came to your senses while running away, huh? That was the right thing to do. Sit down."

Rani sat in front of Vitura, her expression blank.

Jin and Murakan stood still, contemplating when to escape.

Trickle~

Vitura smiled as he filled his teacup.

"Kayn."

"Yes, Commander."

The paladin called Kayn took a step forward as he answered.

"Take them and put them in the dungeon. I have a lot of questions for them. Contact Zipfel as well. Tell them we've captured Rani."

"Yes, sir."

Kayn walked toward Jin and Murakan along with the other three paladins. Upon entering the residence, Jin and Murakan had handed in their weapons. Of course, even without their weapons, dealing with the paladins posed no problem.

'It'll be tiring to take the sword back when… Huh?'

Shing!

The sharp sound of a sword being unsheathed from its scabbard.

However, it was not the Paladins of the Golden Shield who had drawn their swords.

Paladin Commander Vitura Velter.

It was the sound of his sword being drawn.

Swing—!

Surprisingly, his sword was aimed at his subordinates, who had just received his orders.

With a single strike, the throats of the four belonging to the Paladins of the Golden Shield had been cut.

The heads that still had helmets on rolled along the floor with a metallic clunking sound.

As the Paladins of the Golden Shield under his direct control, they were all 7 or 8 stars.

But there was no way to avoid the sword that the commander-in-chief had swung from behind them.

Especially since the commander was a knight close to 9 stars.

The bodies of the paladins convulsed, their heads severed.

"Don't scream, Rani. And, you really did a good job finding me. How much pain must you have gone through?"

As Rani reflexively straightened her body, Vitura covered her mouth with his hand.

Jin and Murakan looked at Vitura in bewilderment.

The commander-in-chief of the Vankella paladins, Vitura Velter.

He was not Zipfel's tool.

"Please come closer, Lord Jin Runcandel." 

And he even knew Jin's face.