I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 68

Chapter 68

‘Was there an event at this timing that would warrant the Emperor sending a letter personally?’

I carefully retraced the storyline, but nothing came to mind. In the first place, the Emperor shouldn’t be interested enough to send me a separate letter at this point in time.

She should just think of me as a moderately talented knight and move on, then gradually become more interested as we progress through the related storyline later.

I didn’t have the confidence to handle the Emperor’s capricious personality and actions from the early to mid-stages of the story. It’s definitely gone wrong, but I don’t know where it went wrong.

“Can I just unfold it and check?”

“Yes. Before looking at the contents, be careful not to reveal it to us first. Ah, you know you shouldn’t damage the Emperor’s seal, right?”

I stopped my fingers that were about to tear off the seal. Aurora, who saw my fingers come to a sudden halt, seemed to be at a loss for words and closed her mouth, then after a long pause, muttered in a dumbfounded voice.

“…You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t know.”

“A letter bearing the Emperor’s seal means that Her Majesty took charge of the entire process. From choosing the stationery, writing, sealing the letter, and even the process of stamping the seal. So never damage it. Keep it safe and return it to Her Majesty when you have an audience with her.”

“What happens if I lose it or something?”

“Do you want to hear it?”

“…It’s better not to hear it.”

I quietly gave up. With Aurora speaking like that, I didn’t want to look into the abyss just to satisfy my curiosity.

“It’s a good thing I gave you a heads-up, it would have been a real disaster if I had just skipped over it.”

Aurora patted her chest. I felt the same way. I never thought there would be a landmine hidden in a place like this. Moreover, it’s not just an ordinary landmine, it’s an anti-tank landmine.

There’s no way I could know the detailed information that you shouldn’t damage the Emperor’s seal, keep it safe, and return it when you have an audience with the Emperor later, right?

I moved my fingers even more carefully. I gently removed the Emperor’s seal and placed it on the table, then untied the knot of the red string that was wrapped around the parchment.

‘Do I have to return this string later too?’

I stared blankly at the string in my hand and placed it next to the seal. It was to keep it safe just in case. If I take this as it is, at least I won’t lose anything.

The parchment scroll was a luxurious item at first glance. It was much softer than paper, yet it had a slight elasticity when touched.

I wonder why there’s elasticity in paper, but at least that’s how I felt.

“Wait a minute. There isn’t a certain etiquette or something that I have to follow when unfolding or reading this, is there?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, there really is?”

“Every single action you have to show before Her Majesty is defined as a norm. How to breathe, how to kneel, where to put your eyes, things like that.”

“…”

I suddenly felt my throat tighten. Even how to breathe and move your eyeballs are determined by set rules in front of the Emperor? Really?

“But that only applies when you have a direct audience with Her Majesty at the Imperial Palace. You don’t have to worry about that here, so you don’t have to be nervous. You can just read it however you want. But don’t be too rough with it.”

“That’s a relief.”

I meant it.

I grabbed both ends of the rolled-up parchment and slowly unfolded it. Letters painted in black ink on the surface of the slightly yellowish paper came into view.

ㅡGo to the Holy Kingdom. Kykilia Livanus.

“…?”

I doubted my eyes for a moment.

The long parchment, like three or four A4 sheets attached vertically, contained only two sentences. Even the number of letters in the Emperor’s name and title combined was greater than the number of letters in the main text.

I wondered if I was seeing it wrong, so I looked at the parchment more closely, and I even pulled the scroll all the way down to see if there were any more letters written at the top or bottom.

But those two sentences were really the end. The order to go to the Holy Kingdom, and Kykilia’s full name.

“What’s the content that makes you have such a serious expression?”

Aurora asked a question casually. The other Knight Commanders seemed curious as well, but since it was a letter sent directly by the Emperor, they seemed to be unable to bring themselves to ask.

“Uh… just in case, I’m asking, is there a magic that hides letters and reveals them only when certain conditions are met?”

“Well? I’m not a mage. I wouldn’t know that. Why? What’s the content?”

I handed over the parchment without saying a word. Aurora, who received the parchment, read it and widened her eyes just like I did, then made a face that was a mixture of strangeness and absurdity.

This time, it was the Knight Commanders’ turn to satisfy their curiosity. Aurora, with a complicated look on her face, handed over the parchment, and the Knight Commanders also looked at it one by one and made the same expression.

The silence that descended upon the reception room continued for quite a while. Around the time each person’s teacup had been emptied and refilled twice, it was Aurora who broke the silence first.

“Isn’t there something more?”

Aurora picked up the parchment with a face full of emotions that she might be feeling right now.

“No matter how much I think about it, there’s no need to go through the trouble of writing a letter personally just to deliver a single order to go to the Holy Kingdom. There must be something more here.”

“I agree, Lord. It would be more accurate to assume that this letter has been treated with a specific magic.”

Iris affirmed those words. The other Knight Commanders seemed to think the same.

“Then the first question is this. Why the Raphaella Holy Kingdom?”

This time, the reactions were mixed.

Aurora and Iris had expressions that they couldn’t understand why it was the Holy Kingdom, while Claudia, me, Rize, and Erika had expressions that we could think of something.

We had to speak up anyway, and maybe now was the right time. The decision was made quickly. After exchanging glances with each other for a while, it was Erika who eventually took the lead.

“Perhaps, it might be because of what we went through.”

Erika recounted all the events that took place right after we subjugated Arachnainera.

About how we were about to set off to find an antidote for the poisoned Claudia when Stella, the Inquisitor of the Raphaella Holy Kingdom, and the Battle Nuns under her command appeared.

About how Stella declared us heretics and surrounded us with Battle Nuns.

And then, about how she said she would determine heresy by unbuttoning her holy vestments to reveal her breasts and thighs, and when I was judged not to be a heretic, she said she couldn’t accept it and made me touch her breasts.

Finally, about how she said she felt divine power in me, became absent-minded, treated Claudia, and told us to visit the Holy Kingdom, saying she would let us meet the Sun Pope.

Even after the explanation was over, Aurora and Iris were silent for a while.

“…To summarize what Erika said.”

Then suddenly, Aurora grabbed her forehead.

“Delta was judged a heretic by the Inquisitor of the Raphaella Holy Kingdom, and the method of judgment was to lift up her clothes and touch her breasts? Before that, she lifted up her clothes and showed him nipples and vagina?”

“The words you used are a bit concerning, but you’re accurate.”

“Is that Inquisitor a pervert? Or does she have exhibitionism or something?”

Aurora herself, who was saying such things, was far from normal in her attire.

Her dress exposed her side breasts, collarbone, and even her armpits, and she wasn’t even wearing any underwear underneath. Those words had no persuasive power coming from her.

Besides, didn’t the Knight Commanders also come to the banquet wearing see-through dresses that revealed their bare skin and lingerie that matched their hair color?

‘It’s also strange to call that a holy vestment.’

Neither Aurora nor the other Knight Commanders questioned the fact that Erika called the crazy outfit that would expose her nipples and thighs if the wind blew a “holy vestment”.

From my point of view, it was six of one and half a dozen of the other.

“If the Inquisitor promised to let us meet the Sun Pope, it’s highly likely that the Holy Kingdom has already informed Her Majesty. That’s why Her Majesty sent this letter.”

“That quickly? It will take a long time from the place where we subjugated the monster to the Holy Kingdom…”

“They might have used some kind of trick. There’s a teleportation spell among the highest-level magic, so there might be something similar in divine spells tooㅡ”

“That is correct.”

A third party’s voice was heard from somewhere. It was a voice I had never heard before.

The response was swift. The Knight Commanders instantly drew their weapons and pointed them in the direction of the voice, and the maids immediately clung to Aurora and shielded her with their bodies.

By the time I barely managed to react and start moving my body, the Knight Commanders were already prepared to fight.

“Who is it? This is Lord Aurora’s residence. If you don’t reveal your identity, we will consider you an enemy.”

In front of the huge window of the reception room stood a woman with a gray and silver robe covering her head. Even over the baggy robe, the curves of her body were clearly visible.

“Please lower your weapons. I am not an enemy.”

“That depends on you. I won’t beat around the bush. Show yourself. Conversation or whatever will happen after that.”

“…I understand.”

A slender hand wearing a leather glove reached for the robe that was hiding her face. The rustling sound of the robe being taken off was faintly heard, and the abundant gray ponytail that was hidden inside poured down her back.

Her violet eyes shone purple in the light of the chandelier. Eyes like jewels slowly scanned us. There was no hostility in that gaze.

“My name is Selene.”

The woman spoke with an expressionless face.

“I am the Inquisitor of the Moon Pope.”