“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Rachel, dressed in a maid’s uniform that hardly suited an assassin.
She answered Emperor Cain’s question calmly.
After quickly scanning the surroundings, she deftly slipped a small note into Cain’s hand with agile movements.
Seeing this, the corners of Cain’s mouth rose slightly.
I thought it was about time for a reply to arrive, and the timing is quite appropriate.
Rachel could not decipher the old cipher of the Hassassin, but since she had received a spare of the ‘whistle’ that Isabella possessed, she could summon the messenger ravens.
Thus, her role was to check periodically whether a note had arrived on behalf of the busy Cain and report it to him.
Something like a mail inbox refresh macro, one might say.
After sending Rachel away, Cain returned to his bedroom and opened Isabella’s note.
[North of Granada, in the abandoned ancient castle area. The secret door under the fifth pillar of the ruined Imperial Church temple.]
And inside the note was recorded the exact location where the sacred traces Cain desired lay dormant.
A bright smile once again appeared on Cain’s lips upon discovering one fragment of hope that could prevent the world’s destruction.
The Evil-Slaying Paladin, Onisia.
In the ancient mythic era, before the War of the End, she was a constellation recorded as having sacrificed her own rank in the ‘Pitch-Black Crusade’—a great war—to seal the absolute evil in what was also called the ‘Impassable Veil Fortress,’ Ainz Rohaim.
The ‘absolute evil’ was an existence of far higher rank than the current final boss of the ‘Imperial Hero Legend’ world, the ‘Primordial Hatred,’ overwhelming even compared to other apostles of the demon god, enough to guess its status.
The place Cain had instructed Nightmare to locate was precisely where the sacred traces of this constellation Onisia lay dormant.
I need to secure Onisia’s sacred traces as a top priority.
However, because the power and authority of the absolute evil were so overwhelmingly strong, the Evil-Slaying Paladin Onisia had no choice but to sacrifice most of her divine power to seal it, according to the setting.
If the absolute evil had not been sealed, a second-in-command like the ‘Primordial Hatred’ could not have taken the final boss position.
Anyway, after finishing the tough morning training with Viscount Denver.
Before having lunch, while trying to organize his thoughts with a bit of cool breeze, Cain received the information on the ‘Onisia’ sacred traces that he had instructed Nightmare to find in advance.
Good timing.
To prevent the rampage of the Beheading Priest Podric Kendal, who would enter Granada in a few days, and to control him appropriately in advance, these sacred traces were essential.
The heretic inquisitor Podric Kendal, widely known by the nickname ‘Beheading Priest,’ was a character who showed endlessly tolerant and friendly attitudes toward those with faith.
Though a Meister-class expert and famously zealous in faith even within the Ellington Holy Alliance, belonging to the hardliner faction advocating extreme extermination of ‘clear heretics’ like black magicians and necromancers…
What does it matter? As long as he’s not hostile to me.
Cain didn’t care about such things.
Above all…
If I awaken Onisia’s sacred traces, I’ll be able to handle divine power too.
According to the setting, the Evil-Slaying Paladin Onisia lost most of her divinity in the process of sealing the absolute evil, ultimately suffering the humiliating fate of being sealed by the ‘Primordial Hatred.’
Yet, she still possessed a high rank among the divine constellations.
Onisia’s sacred traces are a growth type that assimilates with the user and gradually strengthens as it hunts evil.
Immediately after awakening, the authority is at a weak level, but since it’s the sacred traces of a divine constellation, the user can also handle divine power—that was the characteristic of these traces.
With the timing being good, Cain intended to use this to start a friendly relationship with the Beheading Priest from their first meeting.
Of course, that’s not the whole reason.
The reason Cain was willing to take some risk to obtain Onisia’s sacred traces was to win the upcoming power struggle with the Five Dukes faction.
The incident not long ago in the audience chamber where Baron Hog Melros had demonized.
Inferring from that event, Cain judged there was a very high possibility that black magicians were connected to the Five Dukes faction.
Well, just looking at the list of unpublished DLCs currently applied, there was ‘March of the Dead’ featuring groups of black magicians and necromancers.
In such a situation, obtaining sacred traces of a divine constellation was needless to say essential.
“It seems I can’t delay it any longer.”
Cain muttered to himself with an expression dripping with grim resolve.
Then, with a single gesture, he summoned a young attendant nearby.
“Your Majesty.”
“Tell Count Steiner Randerk that I’d like to have a light lunch together.”
“Yes, I will convey it immediately.”
Not long after the young attendant withdrew, Count Steiner Randerk appeared in the garden.
A waiting maid guided Count Randerk to the outdoor table where Cain was waiting.
“I greet His Majesty the Emperor.”
Count Randerk politely greeted Cain and took the seat in front of him.
As the empty seat found its owner, the waiting maids brought light meals like sandwiches and salads, placing them on the outdoor table.
“It’s an early lunch, so I plan to eat simply. Will that be alright?”
“It is an honor.”
“Good.”
At the loyal count’s answer, Cain nodded with a satisfied expression and picked up a sandwich.
Then, taking a big bite of the sandwich with grilled chicken and sweet sauce, he spoke to Count Randerk.
“You always work hard for the defense of the imperial castle and Granada. There’s no need to drag out the preface while holding a busy person. If it’s alright, I’ll be direct.”
Count Steiner Randerk currently held the position of Imperial Army Commander, responsible for the defense of not only the imperial castle but the entire capital Granada.
In times like these, the position of Imperial Army Commander was one of the busiest, with almost no spare time.
“I will listen.”
“There’s a place I need to visit briefly. It’s a very important matter.”
“May I ask the location?”
Seeing the emperor—who always threw words unpredictably—Count Randerk barely suppressed a sigh that was about to burst out.
From past experience, when he spoke without context, there was a reason for it.
Instead of seeking context fruitlessly, he asked about the location to visit.
“The abandoned ancient castle area north of Granada.”
Cain said it straightforwardly without hiding anything.
Of course, he would have to go down to the underground ruins through the secret door in the abandoned ancient castle area, but there was no need to explain that in detail.
“There won’t be any danger for me. I can guarantee that.”
Count Randerk, who tended to overreact to the point of madness when it came to the emperor’s safety.
As frustration like a volcano about to erupt showed on his face, sensing the precursor, Cain hurriedly strongly affirmed that there would be no danger.
Though called underground ruins, it wasn’t like a dungeon commonly appearing in fantasy games, but literally just ancient ruins.
So, no evil guardians protecting the seal or complex magical traps designed by mad mages as in stories.
Though she sacrificed most of her power, Onisia was the Evil-Slaying Paladin strong enough to seal the absolute evil—the most powerful among the demon god’s apostles.
The reason she didn’t place guardian traps in the underground ruins where her power slept was extremely simple.
There was no need.
Due to the curse left by one of the demon god’s apostles, ‘Ancient Oblivion,’ the humans of the continent remembered Onisia’s existence but could not think that her power was scattered across the continent.
They had forgotten the very fact that it needed to be reclaimed.
The power of ‘Ancient Oblivion’ was not strong enough to erase Onisia’s existence entirely.
But it was sufficient to make humans forget the will to unseal her.
However.
They could never have anticipated that a possessor like Cain would enthusiastically collect Onisia’s power fragments later.
Anyway, even if going down to the underground ruins, Cain was confident there would be no danger and actively explained this to Count Randerk.
“Your Majesty. I am truly sorry, but if I may dare to voice my opinion again, outside the imperial castle is too dangerous. As I have said dozens of times, my opinion remains unchanged.”
As expected, the opposition was fierce.
But.
“Yet, if I must go there nonetheless, what then? Count Randerk.”
“Hmm.”
When Cain said this much, Count Randerk seemed to ponder for a moment before reaching a conclusion.
“The northern ancient castle area would normally not be a big problem… but considering the current chaotic times in the empire, I, in my position, must ensure Your Majesty’s safety to the utmost.
Please understand.
If you truly must go in person, I request that you take the White Wing Assault Knights and 1,000 imperial troops as escort.”
Though the abandoned ancient castle area north was relatively close to the capital Granada, it was a distance that would take over five hours even on horseback.
Count Randerk requested an escort of sufficient numbers.
But the ‘sufficient escort’ he envisioned was on a scale easily exceeding 1,000, which was troublesome from Cain’s perspective, who wanted to avoid attention as much as possible.
In truth, Count Randerk would have liked to join the procession to escort the emperor himself, but after the Baron Hog Melros incident, the imperial army was mobilizing manpower to search for possible spies in the imperial palace and castle.
Thus, Count Randerk also could not easily leave his post.
“Count Randerk. I don’t fail to understand your feelings, but if we mobilize the imperial army just to visit abandoned ruins near the capital, won’t it draw too much attention? Wouldn’t it be better to move with a small number instead?”
Moving with the imperial army would draw excessive attention.
Given Count Randerk’s personality, he would request over 100 imperial troops, and even for a short distance, that many forces moving at once would attract unnecessary eyes—that was Cain’s thought.
But the current Felberg Empire was in a precarious state akin to declaring emergency, and the opponent was the renowned Count Randerk.
As expected, he did not yield an inch even in front of the emperor.
“For His Majesty the Emperor’s safety, you must take a sufficient number of escort troops.”
Faced with Count Randerk’s firm attitude, Cain—who was in the position to persuade him—already felt fatigue coming on, rubbing his brow.
It seemed it would take longer than expected.