The Prince Wants To Retire

19. Continental Congress (2)

Only 5 countries were called by the Empire to the Continental Congress.

Western Merchants Federation Country Iron.

Talos and Roteon in the Southern Yangtze River.

Saintria, the holy kingdom of the north.

Eastern Luminous Principality.

Even though it was a diplomatic letter, the handwriting was filled with anger.

The heads of each country were furious at the letter that they had written, telling them not to hesitate but to come and meet the emperor in advance, but there was no way to do it.

At a time like this, all the wrath could be directed at them if the Empire was mistreated.

But there’s no way you can be beaten like this.

Then, as if the Holy Kingdom rebelled, the Pope himself wanted to participate in the Continental Congress.

In addition, he said that he would bring the sun sword, which is expected to be the strongest sword in Seongguk and the next master.

It meant that he would endure even the slightest pressure of the Empire by moving with the sun sword, which he thought would become a master within a few years.

Then the two southern countries also quickly summoned the two masters.

Talos and Roteon are willing to endure the pressure of the Empire in line with the Holy Kingdom.

Then, it was the Dukes of Cleata and the Dukes of Pires who were in trouble.

“Are you here too?”

“exactly.”

The two masters of Talos and Roteon looked into each other’s eyes and sighed.

From the point of view of the southern kingdoms, they would be willing to endure the imperial pressure in line with the prosperous state, but it was meaningless to them.

It could have been a good strategy if you wanted to keep the three masters in check.

However, in the eyes of the two Masters, they were not the ones to be most wary of in the Empire.

The Dukes of Cleta and Pires silently looked at the summit of the volcano.

“… … .”

“… … .”

The two dukes looked at the summit in silence, and a red light was spreading out, creating waves of magic.

It is said that the subject of this phenomenon, which created a phenomenon that is astonishing even for the Master, is the Crown Prince.

A phenomenon confirmed by the two dukes going to the top under the pretext of helping the empire.

The moment I confirmed that the subject that was creating the red light at the top of the mountain was the Crown Prince, I could see how meaningless this battle of flags that had been seen even before the Continental Congress began.

Those who embraced the fire of the first emperor who appeared whenever a crisis struck the Ignit Empire.

The fire was held by the Crown Prince and no one else.

It was already difficult to handle with just the talent the Crown Prince had, but to embrace the fire meant that there was only despair left in another country.

‘Can I live if I lie down quietly?’

‘It will be difficult.’

Seeing Cleta’s eyes, Duke Pires sighed and shook his head.

Duke Cleta, who had been silent for a while in a confused mind, spoke to Duke Pires.

“after… … Perhaps this Continental Congress is not likely to end at simply handing over the indemnity or the sinners.”

At Duke Cleta’s words, Duke Pires also nodded with a firm expression.

Speaking of the Continental Congress, I knew how to call all the countries, but there was a reason for calling only five in particular.

A place that meets the minimum qualifications to be called a country from the Ignite Empire, which is said to be the strongest in the West Continent.

It was said that there were only five places.

rest of it?

Countries that are difficult to even call small countries.

On such a subject, he dared to eat away at the empire’s interests like a parasite.

In other words, the empire revealed its will not to leave such a small country any longer by inviting only five countries.

“It means that the time has come to decide whether to stand by or resist this.”

“after… … .”

The two dukes sighed deeply and pondered, but to no avail.

After all, the decision is made by the king.

They were only moving according to the king’s orders.

thud!

The two Masters, who had been sighing, hurriedly looked at the volcano with expressions of surprise at the sudden shaking of the ground.

A red pillar soared from the top of the volcano, which was causing strange magic waves.

“Looks like the time has come to return to the kingdom.”

“It seems so. after… … See you in Ignit’s capital.”

As a huge amount of mana surged into the sky, the volcano’s power, which should have exploded, was rapidly disappearing.

In other words, this meant that work here was almost finished.

All that remains now is to take their king and head to the capital of the empire.

To that end, as the Confederates began preparing to return home, the southern and eastern Margraves of the Empire also began to gather troops.

* * *

By the time the work at Kapur Volcano was slowly coming to an end, Ignit’s imperial palace was troubled by the decision of the Holy Kingdom.

“You say you’re on tour now?”

“Yes, they say they are coming to the capital on a pilgrimage to the northern regions of the empire.”

At the Foreign Minister’s words, the third prince, Seriel, made a puzzled expression.

The second prince, Rufiel, also had an absurd expression.

“The reason is?”

“It is said to be to apologize for the sins of the Holy Kingdom for not properly stopping the black magician.”

Ruffiel frowned at the Foreign Minister’s explanation.

“What is the hidden meaning?”

“It seems to be to cover up the fact that the temple colluded with the warlock. The Holy Kingdom has already declared temples colluding with warlocks as heretical.”

The expression of the two princes hardened at the Foreign Minister’s explanation.

“It’s heresy… … . Did they admit their fault?”

“Yes, it seems that they are planning to organize the temples colluding with the Warlock with the Heretic Inquisitors. Also, it seems that the pope is thinking of comforting the angry believers by personally going to the affected areas to apologize. We have already told the Empire that we would accept the Empire’s request without negotiations regarding matters related to the Warlock.”

The two princes expressed surprise that Seongguk had retreated to this extent.

It was satisfactory just to have brought such humiliation to the proud seongguk, and in fact, the foreign minister also considered this to be a satisfactory achievement.

However, if he had been the crown prince, he would have thought differently.

‘His Highness the Crown Prince won’t be satisfied with this.’

The foreign minister, who had already grasped the crown prince’s disposition, thought so to himself.

And it was the same for the two princes.

‘If it were my older brother, I wouldn’t have been satisfied with this.’

‘What else should I rip off?’

While the two princes thought so, they thought of putting pressure on the kingdom in their own way.

“What do you think their intentions look like to you?”

The foreign minister pondered for a while at the second prince’s question before opening his mouth.

“It seems that they are trying to maintain the Holy Nation’s position within the Empire at any cost.”

“Is it simply because of that?”

The Foreign Minister shook his head at the second prince’s question.

“It seems to be a springboard for future negotiations. I think I will build a cause in the Continental Congress while enduring some humiliation.”

“For what?”

“Seeing that the Heretic Inquisitor is following them, I think we should consider the possibility of taking the currently detained priests for punishment.”

“Only that?”

The Foreign Minister nodded at the second prince’s question.

“That’s right. Even if it’s humiliating right now, it’s okay if you think about the future.”

Priests who were convicted by the Heretic Inquisition are returning to the Holy Land.

Even if they were sentenced to death there, being punished at the hands of the Seongguk meant to the people of the West Continent that the Seongguk had not yet fallen into abyss, and that meant that if they passed this moment and passed time, there was a possibility of regaining its former prestige. it meant

Now, the pope was looking to the future and moving.

“For now, I have no choice but to dig more warlocks. First of all, I have to work on the priests more.”

“Then I must dig deep into the corruption of priests.”

So the two princes put their heads together and found a way to tempt the Pope.

But it was difficult for the two young princes to handle the old fox.

If the pope returns to the capital after completing a pilgrimage in the north to apologize, public opinion about the Holy Land may change.

What if he, like a fox, teases his cunning mouth in such a situation?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs closed his eyes as if he was terrified.

To deal with the Pope, someone has to take the lead, lead each ministry, and put pressure on the Holy Land.

However, the two princes tried to get things done within their powers.

‘You two are still inexperienced.’

The Minister of Foreign Affairs thought so and made a sad expression on his face.

Actually, this is correct.

Considering that they were still young and lacking in experience, it was hard to say that the two princes were not good enough.

Rather, considering the previous emperors and the imperial family, it was very good.

However, to the Foreign Minister, who had already seen what the crown prince had done, the two princes’ response was bound to look very immature.

“… … Why don’t you call the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Inspection Department and come up with a sure countermeasure?”

At the foreign minister’s suggestion, the two princes turned their gazes to him and then nodded slightly.

Opponent is the pope.

If you make a clumsy approach to such a person, you are likely to get hit back.

I had to approach carefully because I could have missed the golden opportunity to fuck the castle.

In the end, the decision of the two princes summoned the Inspection Department, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and even the military department to secretly discuss the kingdom.

However, there was no easy conclusion for me.

As each ministry has its own position, and each field of expertise is different, the approaches are all different.

Besides, the princes also had different thoughts, so there was no way they could mediate.

‘It’s shit.’

The foreign minister, who had been watching it quietly, sighed and secretly reported this to the emperor.

In the end, the Daejeon Council was held under the direct authority of the emperor, and an agenda related to the Pope’s pilgrimage to the north was presented.

Still, the experience of being on the throne could not be ignored, and contrary to the immature appearances of the two princes, the meeting proceeded normally.

Of course, that didn’t mean there were sharp numbers.

It’s just that what each ministry said was refined and a usable countermeasure was created by mediating each other’s opinions to some extent.

‘If I told you… … Was it different?’

The Foreign Minister, who was watching the Daejeon meeting, thought of Kariel in the southeast.

It occurred to me that if it had been Kariel, he would have pressured the pope before the situation became like this.

Considering the past, it was clear that the pope had been working all night to come up with countermeasures from the moment he announced that he would participate in the Continental Congress.

Thinking that far, a bitter smile appeared on the foreign minister’s lips.

Obviously, my body is much more comfortable now.

When the Crown Prince was there, he was so tired that he had symptoms of hair loss from anxiety every day and had to work all night often for several days.

But why do you miss the Crown Prince today?

“after… … The old fox is giving me a headache.”

At the emperor’s words, the nobles in Daejeon bowed their heads.

There were already rumors circulating that the Pope would come directly to the Empire, that the kings of each country would attend, and that the leaders of each country would accompany the Masters.

And rumors circulated that the beginning was the Holy Land, and if the rumors that the pope is going on a pilgrimage as an apologetic will start to circulate, all attention will be focused on the pope.

In such a situation, what would happen if he came to the capital and started making jokes?

The board that Kariel had worked so hard for could be damaged.

“Set a date for the crown prince’s retirement ceremony and prepare.”

Anticipating this situation, the number prepared by Kariel came out of the emperor’s mouth.

If the pope wants to write numbers through an issue, he can just cover it up with a bigger issue.

Along with the words that the emperor would directly supervise the retirement ceremony for the crown prince, an order fell to make a grander retirement ceremony than anyone else.

As if the Continental Congress was the cause of bringing the heads of countries together for the Crown Prince’s retirement ceremony, the schedule was arranged to revolve around the retirement ceremony.

And when this news was officially announced to the Empire, all previous news lost its power.