Chapter 113: God’s Representative
- Reira ☾⋆⁺₊✧ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁
- Nov 30, 2025
- 8 min read
“Thank you, sir.”
The elderly man with white hair trembled as he reached out his hand.
Beneath his thick white eyebrows, his aged eyes were filled with awe.
“There’s no need to thank me.”
James reached out and took the old man’s hand.
As his sleeve slipped back, a bracelet glinted on James’s wrist.
"How can you say such a thing after all that you’ve done for us, sir?!"
“I merely did what needed to be done.”
“Hearing you say that chokes me up. Fortunately, it seems that God has not abandoned us.”
“Of course, Prime is always watching over us.”
“Ah...”
“Do not worry too much.”
After all, the fate of the witch was already decided.
James gave one final faint smile, then released the old man’s hand and turned his head.
At the end of his gaze, there was a woman, helplessly bound.
The woman’s hair was red.
As if reminiscent of someone.
James silently stared at the woman for a moment, then abruptly turned his body.
“…Just how long are we supposed to keep doing this?”
James strode ahead, and Fenrir, standing beside him with his white hood pulled low over his head, immediately followed closely.
“It can’t be helped. Thanks to the tense standoff with the Grand Duke of Schwarhan, the Emperor’s side has become unexpectedly vigilant. We had to tweak our plan slightly.”
“It’s not just a slight tweak.”
James’s voice grew more agitated.
“Isn’t it better than rashly presenting a fake identity now, getting caught, and ending up at the guillotine?”
“So, you’re saying this situation is fine?”
“Not just fine; it’s perfect.”
“Perfect?”
A deep furrow formed on James’s forehead.
“The Emperor’s current position isn’t very strong. Everyone is whispering that he isn’t the true owner of the throne.”
“What does that have to do with this current situation?”
“If the Emperor is to maintain his position, he must no longer act against the will of God.”
“But I…”
James covered his mouth and trailed off.
He was only acting as Fenrir had instructed; he was not truly God’s representative.
“Don’t worry too much. It’s about time we put the saviour act to rest.”
“Put to rest?”
“Isn’t it about time we went to see the Emperor?”
Fenrir counted the days since the witch hunt began, folding down one finger at a time.
As planned, they had captured the witch who bore a resemblance to Alicia and was causing disasters, but far more time had passed than expected.
They needed to prepare to move on to the next phase of the plan.
“Do you have a way to approach the Emperor?”
“Don’t we have the pretext of being God’s representative?”
“That’s not real, though.”
“But people believe you are God’s representative.”
“...”
“Compared to the Emperor, who lives lavishly in the imperial palace, the saviour who killed the witch and personally helped them feels far more significant.”
Fenrir lifted the corners of his lips as he watched people repeatedly bow and express gratitude toward them.
He wondered if they would react the same way if they knew he was from Roaquin, but unfortunately, now was not the time for such games.
“There’s no need to worry about it now. You made a deal with me, and all that matters is that you get what you want.”
“...”
“Besides, isn’t being God’s representative far more impressive than an ordinary noble you can see anywhere? Those who once looked down on you simply because you were a noble will now bow to you.”
Just as they did now.
Fenrir lightly tapped James on the shoulder.
James instinctively flinched and frowned.
Fenrir’s words were like a hand that suddenly shot out.
It would appear just when he was about to forget, stirring his desire.
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll set the stage; all you need to do is perform perfectly to match it.”
“...There really isn’t any problem?”
“There isn’t.”
“...”
James’s pupils wavered.
Even if he was considered incompetent, his opponent was the Emperor who ruled the empire.
If anything, it was Fenrir’s calm reaction that was strange.
“It seems you’re still uneasy.”
“...”
“Then, would you feel better if I told you this story?”
Fenrir leisurely nodded his head.
“A story?”
“That witch is a subordinate of the Temple of Prime.”
“…The Temple is using a witch?”
“To be precise, she isn’t a witch but a mage. To commoners, who rarely ever encounter mages, she would have seemed like nothing more than a witch who brought calamity.”
For a brief moment, green eyes peeked out from beneath the hood.
James swallowed reflexively.
Green eyes were characteristic of Roaquin, but Fenrir’s were exceptionally vivid.
“For generations, the Temple of Prime has created and dispelled disasters as needed.”
“You’re saying the Temple has been carrying out such horrifying deeds?”
“The Grand Duke of Schwarhan knew about it and concealed it. He needed the Temple’s power to become emperor.”
“...”
“He even went so far as to join hands with the Temple and commit the atrocity of sacrificing his own woman.”
Fenrir pulled his hood down low and turned his head.
He was looking north.
Fenrir’s lips twisted slightly.
“There’s no need to overthink it. Even if we just show evidence of the atrocities the Temple of Prime has committed, the Emperor will have no choice but to accept us.”
“...”
“Most importantly, the Emperor’s side has sent someone.”
“They sent someone?”
“Don’t worry. The storm is only temporary; once it passes, everything will be buried in the sand, and people will build new foundations on top.”
James quietly watched Fenrir.
Fenrir’s lips, hidden beneath the hood, traced their usual faint curve.
・・・・・
This had happened before.
Alicia had collapsed and slept as still as a dead mouse, but she woke up safely.
So it would be the same this time.
Cabelenus roughly ruffled his hair, trying to erase the horrifying thoughts that kept surfacing.
But once a thought arose, it didn’t fade easily.
With every passing moment, it felt as if his blood were drying up.
“…Mum, when are you waking up?”
“...”
He wanted to shout, ‘Kill all the monsters surrounding the castle walls and save her!’, but he couldn’t, because of the child clinging to his coat.
Cabelenus took the hand of his young son, whose eyes were brimming with tears.
Michael’s hand was much smaller and more delicate than Alicia’s.
The man still had something left to protect.
“It’ll be alright.”
“…Really?”
“Yes.”
Cabelenus met Michael’s gaze and gently stroked the boy’s head.
It felt like his stomach was turning inside out, but seeing a face that looked ready to cry at any moment, he couldn’t bring himself to show it.
“Then when will Mum wake up?”
“She’ll wake up soon. So you don’t have to worry too much.”
“...”
“Your mum would be even more upset seeing you like this.”
Cabelenus forced a smile.
Michael stared at him for a moment, then soon nestled into Cabelenus’s arms.
Cabelenus silently patted the boy’s trembling back.
The child, sobbing silently, resembled Alicia, and it made his throat tighten even more.
It was then.
He sensed a presence.
Instinctively, Cabelenus pulled Michael into his arms and glanced back. But there was nothing reflected in his eyes.
‘What is it?’
Cabelenus surveyed his surroundings cautiously, but nothing had changed.
Still, nothing could be seen.
“It’s Rex.”
Michael, barely peeking his head out from Cabelenus’s arms, muttered softly.
“...Rex?”
Cabelenus furrowed his brow.
Where Michael was looking was completely empty.
"Rex is coming this way."
“He’s here?”
“He’s tugging on Mister’s sleeve. It seems like he wants you to go that way.”
Michael pointed at the window with his index finger.
Cabelenus pulled Michael closer into his arms and cautiously took a step forward.
He still couldn’t fully trust the monsters.
“He’s tapping on the window with his nose.”
“He wants me to open it, huh?”
Cabelenus muttered under his breath and reached out to open the window.
Click—.
The latch, which had been tightly fastened to keep out the bitter cold, came undone.
Squinting against the biting cold, Cabelenus scanned his surroundings.
The monsters were still circling the walls of Schwarhan Castle.
And…
Cabelenus’s arms tensed as he held Michael.
The emotion was so blatant that it was almost off-putting.
Even from a distance, the golden eyes, shining vividly, were all fixed on this place.
They were waiting.
For their king.
“Ha…”
Cabelenus’s mouth twisted.
What they wanted was clear, but he had not the slightest intention of giving in.
It wasn’t only them that Alicia needed.
“Mister, not that way. This way.”
Perhaps frustrated with Cabelenus staring at the monsters, Michael tugged at his shirt as if urging him on.
On the windowsill the child pointed to, there was a single book.
“This is...”
Reading the words on the book’s cover, Cabelenus’s expression darkened further.
He couldn’t discern the monster’s intention in bringing such a book at the very moment Alicia had collapsed.
“So what is Rex doing now?”
“He’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“I can’t see him anymore.”
Michael’s shoulders slumped.
After slowly scanning his surroundings, Cabelenus stared straight into the monsters’ eyes again and then closed the window.
But in his hands was the book the monster had brought.
If the monsters were on Alicia’s side, at the very least, they wouldn’t harm her.
Now was not the time to hold back.
If there was even a sliver of hope, he had to seize it.
“What’s that book?”
“A plant encyclopedia.”
Cabelenus frowned deeply even as he answered.
A wry laugh escaped him at those words, completely out of place in the current situation.
“A plant encyclopedia? What’s that?”
“It’s a book that lists the types of plants and their characteristics.”
Cabelenus obediently answered and flipped through the pages, then paused.
A few illustrations were tucked into the book.
“Pretty.”
Michael muttered as he picked up one of the flower illustrations.
But Cabelenus just watched silently.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen the picture.
He had seen these images somewhere before.
“...”
Cabelenus flipped through the plant guide, checking the characteristics of the plants in the illustrations.
Just as he recalled, all the plants in the illustrations were poisonous.
“It’s no mistake. These are the plants I was reported about back then.”
Cabelenus quickly turned the book this way and that, checking it carefully.
On the inside cover was a familiar signature.
“Hmm, it says Countess Cloud…?” [1]
“You read it as, ‘To the esteemed Countess Claude.’”
“It must belong to Mister Gazeff. After all, ‘Claude’ is Mister Gazeff’s family name.”
“It’s not Gazeff’s.”
Cabelenus carefully smoothed the sleekly drawn signature with the tip of his thumb.
Countess Claude was, before being Gazeff’s mother, the twin daughter of Madame Morco.
Countess Claude’s belongings were also passed down to Madame Morco.
“It seems like this might belong to Madame Morco…”
“Madame Morco?”
Michael tilted his head.
“Do you know Madame Morco?”
Madame Morco had died before Michael was born.
It was not a name Michael could have known.
Yet, without hesitation, Michael nodded vigorously in response to Cabelenus’s question.
“Yes. I know her. She’s the one who gave me my name.”
Translator's Corner:
[1] This is just Michael mispronouncing the name!
⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡ ⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆
If you notice any errors or broken links, please let me know, and I will get that fixed~ Additionally, if you would like to support me, I have a Ko-fi ~ Thank you! 💖
Comments