“What kind of oracle do you think the princess received?”

At the question thrown with a nonchalant tone, Jurgen tried not to frown as he looked to the side.

When their eyes met, the Emperor― Veratir grinned. He had the face of an easy-going uncle looking to tease his nephew.

Jurgen was always uncomfortable with this immortal man. Precisely because of that mischievous side.

“Aren’t you paying keen attention to the princess? Come on, tell me. What kind of oracle do you think the princess received?”

“…If I knew that, I’d be a fortune-teller, not Your Majesty’s Executioner. And it doesn’t matter what kind of oracle she received. Nothing will change anyway.”

“You’re not denying that you’re paying keen attention.”

“……”

Jurgen finally let out a sigh and impolitely turned his head away from the Emperor. Nevertheless, Veratir remained entirely generous. It wasn’t an empty statement when he said he thought of Jurgen like a son.

“The princess seems to resent you, thinking that you don’t respect her wishes.”

“Should I respect the target of my revenge?”

“Revenge… Come to think of it, you said something similar when we first met.”

[I will take revenge on the demons who pushed me into the gutter, those who abandoned me. I’d sell my soul for that if I had to.]

“You’ve achieved half of that revenge. Is the other half for the princess? But that child doesn’t seem to have any idea who you are.”

“She probably forgot, deeming me not worth remembering. That’s all I am to that woman.”

“Jurgen, do you remember the day you received Vüs’s blessing?”

“…I remember.”

How could he forget that day? It was the day his life underwent a massive change. Jurgen’s golden eyes deepened as he recalled the past.

[I heard some scruffy little child received an oracle, so I came to see, and my, what a sight.]

[…Who are you?]

[My, my, what an ill-mannered little brat. Don’t you know how to respect your elders?]

Until he was grabbed by the strange man who suddenly appeared and thoroughly washed in the bath, Jurgen didn’t realize he was the Emperor. But even if he had known, it probably wouldn’t have changed much.

[You’re a fearless one, aren’t you? Aren’t you afraid of me? The Emperor of the Cartes Empire, the representative of the gods?]

[What more could happen than death for being insolent to you?]

[On second thought, you’re not fearless, you’re insane. I can see why you received Vüs’s oracle.]

After that, Jurgen underwent a purification ritual in the sanctuary and received Vüs’s blessing. He couldn’t understand what the God of Madness wanted from him. He only knew that the god was very fond of him.

“Vüs must have liked your madness. Thanks to that, you received the blessing and rose to your current position as a power user. It’s truly ironic, isn’t it? That madness you possess was planted by Vanessa Roengreen.”

“……”

“If you hadn’t met the princess, if that child hadn’t abandoned you, the current you wouldn’t exist.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

Jurgen’s voice was boiling as he asked, and his eyes burned like the sun. Like a dragon enraged by having its reverse scale touched.

Veratir let out a quiet sigh and asked in a monotone voice.

“Wouldn’t it be better to be honest?”

“About what?”

“Haven’t you already encountered a contradiction? If you really wanted revenge on the princess, you should have killed her the day you conquered and destroyed Terevron. Not bring her back alive.”

“I just thought killing her easily wasn’t revenge.”

“Then couldn’t you have made her a slave and made her suffer? You, who kicked away every marriage proposal saying marriage was cumbersome, now say you’ll marry the princess. Jurgen, honestly speaking―”

“That’s enough. What’s important now isn’t my marriage.”

His insolent attitude of daring to interrupt the Emperor’s words hadn’t changed from childhood to adulthood.

Veratir rolled his eyes slightly with a somewhat exasperated look and sighed again. Fine, do as you please. You can’t hide the truth forever anyway.

“Have you decided not to punish King Roengreen’s messenger after all?”

As Veratir showed signs of giving up, Jurgen changed the subject as if he had been waiting. The messenger he had brought to the Imperial City was currently imprisoned in the underground dungeon of the imperial palace. How to deal with the messenger was entirely up to the Emperor.

“Declan came and pleaded. Saying, ‘Though he’s loose-lipped and short-sighted, he surely didn’t intend to insult the Empire and Your Majesty’…”

“……”

“He asked me to hand over the messenger, saying as his master he wanted to punish him directly, so I told him to do so. Declan is greedy and wicked, but he doesn’t have the guts to dare defy me. There’s no need to bother with every little thing.”

The boredom of an immortal who had lived for two centuries was evident in his expression and gestures. Jurgen replied with a flat “I understand” and brought up a more important topic.

“We’ve confirmed the survival of Arno Terevron, who was the prince of Terevron. He’s currently missing, though.”

“…Oh?”

Veratir, who had been standing askew until then, straightened his posture. And with a somewhat bewildered look, he asked.

“Didn’t you say all the royalty of Terevron were killed?”

“We thought so, but it seems he escaped using alchemy.”

“Alchemy?”

“According to Vanessa, it’s the kind that changes faces.”

“…Ah… Right, the Terevron royal family had long been friendly with magic and often dabbled in alchemy.”

While the use of alchemy was clearly problematic, it wasn’t the reason Veratir had Terevron destroyed.

A king who practiced tyranny and corrupt nobles, people suffering and being exploited. Noisy problems erupting inside and outside the country and signs of war.

That country was rotting. Terevron was known as a wealthy country, but only the corrupt ruling class enjoyed its benefits.

If the inside is completely rotten and festering with no possibility of recovery, it must be cut out. So he sent his most excellent Executioner to exterminate it. So that land could be purified.

[Have you ever grown geraniums, Jurgen?]

[…I have no interest in gardening.]

[Of course not. I’ll explain, so listen carefully. The plant called geranium. If it gets too little or too much water and sunlight, its leaves rot yellow one or two at a time. You have to cut off those ruined leaves. What I’ve been doing for two hundred years is just like that.]

That arrogance of believing only he is justice, calling himself the representative of the gods.

Yet no one could dare to rebel. Because the means to kill an opponent impervious to any poison or hidden blade was far off.

Even if his head is cut off, even if his heart is ripped out, Veratir Barbaroc does not die. His immortality was flawless and perfect.

Moreover, he possessed the blessing received from the Sun God… Who would dare harm him?

So they can only pray. That this immortal man doesn’t go mad.

For a world under the rule of an invincible, mad emperor would truly be terrifying.

“We’re in pursuit of Arno Terevron. …It won’t be easy though, given how completely he’s vanished.”

“Vanished completely? How?”

“That…”

Jurgen added an explanation about Saskia, the mage who had sworn loyalty to the Terevron royal family.

After hearing that story, Veratir stroked his chin with a seemingly perplexed look and said.

“Hmm, well… There was already something suspicious…”

“What do you mean by suspicious?”

“I received a report this morning. They say the severed head of Leroy Terevron that was hung on the gates of Rivenue, the capital of Terevron, has disappeared.”

Jurgen’s brow furrowed slowly as he paused for a moment.

After a while, he asked in a tone of incomprehension.

“Who on earth would take that tyrant’s head? It should have no value.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s a strange thing. I was thinking what an odd occurrence it was… and then hearing about this mage called Saskia…”

A sharp glint flashed briefly in his silver eyes, which looked as mild as spring but also languid and bored.

“…I’m suspicious. Whether that mage might be plotting something using the severed head of the dead Leroy Terevron.”

✦ ✦ ✦

The fact that Vanessa had received a god’s blessing was widely known to the Emperor and Jurgen through the High Priest, and to the vassals of House Drake through Jurgen.

The one who offered congratulations most nonchalantly was the Emperor. As if even the appearance of a newly blessed person wasn’t special to an immortal who had lived for over two centuries, his attitude seemed somewhat bored.

In Jurgen’s case, he didn’t even offer congratulations. Though not as much as the Emperor, he too seemed to regard the fact that Vanessa had received a blessing as insignificant. Vanessa found even his indifference unbearably irritating.

Still, she received proper congratulations from the vassals of House Drake. Though many showed signs of surprise.

Especially Garcia. That chatterbox made such a fuss saying he couldn’t believe it, greatly grating on Vanessa’s nerves.

The desire to give Garcia a knock on the head every time she saw him surely wasn’t because Vanessa had a violent tendency. Anyone who had been annoyed by Garcia would think the same.

“So, you haven’t used divine words yet, right?”

“That’s right.”

Anyway, whether being blessed was really that great, she had been showered with questions and attention constantly since returning from the Pantheon yesterday.

The looks in the eyes of the vassals watching Vanessa had completely changed, with even those who had shown signs of discomfort now sending gazes full of goodwill and reverence.

“Well, then… how about trying it out once? We’re very curious about this divine word of life too.”

“That’s right, if Your Highness could show us just once, as long as it’s not too much trouble…”

The sparkling eyes colliding with her were very burdensome. Vanessa blinked slowly with a blank face, then soon sighed and complied with their expectations.

“Alright. I was curious about it too, as it happens.”

No sooner had she said this than cheers erupted from those gathered around Vanessa.