# Chapter 40
A few days later.
An emergency summit was held at the Delos Imperial Palace, gathering all the kings of the Arpensia continent.
“How can this be acceptable?!”
The King of Altia, unable to contain his indignation, abruptly stood up from his seat. Not satisfied with just that, he pounded his fist on the round table and raised his voice.
“My son, who came here to study the Empire’s academics, was brutally murdered! He died after being shot with a poisoned arrow inside the imperial palace! How can this possibly be justified?”
Another king from a different country, carefully reading the atmosphere, spoke in a low voice.
“I heard that the palace annex where the ball was held was destroyed by a bomb…”
“That’s a false accusation! Kalvern was a devoted scholar who didn’t even know how to properly handle bombs! And what purpose would he have had for doing such a thing?!”
“Well, I’d like to know that too.”
Emperor Tis of the Delos Empire responded as if defending against an attack.
“Not only did they destroy the palace annex with a bomb, but they also brought assailants and trespassed into the imperial palace.”
“Are you saying the Delos Empire shoots poisoned arrows without warning at people who might have simply lost their way and considers them trespassers?!”
Inwardly, Tis was cursing at the absurdity of his words, but outwardly he remained perfectly calm.
“Unauthorized entry into the imperial palace is an offense that can warrant immediate execution without warning.”
“So you’re saying you killed him for that?! The only bloodline of the Altia Kingdom?!”
That was the problem.
Although Altia was a small kingdom, it had a unique bellicosity as a nation and a strong bond between the royal family and its citizens. Crown Prince Kalvern, despite being somewhat selfish and greedy by nature, was said to be deeply loved by his people.
Such a person had met an unexplainable death in the empire where he was staying for “academic research.” It made sense that the citizens would cause an uproar demanding a thorough investigation.
But for Tis, it was truly unfair.
“We were trying to arrest him, not kill him. At the time, there were 20 spearmen, 10 infantry soldiers, and 10 guards mobilized for the arrest. There were also 10 imperial knights armed with swords.”
Tis swept his eyes across the audience and spoke with force in his voice.
“At that time, all the imperial archers had been directed to capture the culprit who had carried out the massacre in the market and fled.”
“The culprit who shot the arrow hasn’t been found, but I heard that those poisoned arrows are items handled exclusively by the Delos Empire.”
One king, who tactlessly interrupted, threw out just that statement before pretending to look at some innocent documents. Meanwhile, the King of Altia shouted loudly, saying, “See, I told you,” and insisted that the Delos Empire had indeed killed his son. Arrows were consumable items that could be easily purchased anywhere in the empire, so anyone who prepared the poison well could have carried out the deed.
‘This doesn’t seem like something that can be resolved with just some compensation.’
Just as Tis was sighing at the frustrating situation.
“I’ve heard a strange rumor.”
A black-haired man who had been sitting at the round table without speaking once raised his pitch-black eyes, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking, and looked at the audience. With just that one glance, everyone fell silent. Even the King of Altia, who had been shouting until tears appeared, quietly waited for his next words.
“I’ve heard that in the Delos Empire, there is something called the Former Empress’s record. Crown Prince Kalvern, who was studying the academics of the Delos Empire, was apparently interested in it.”
“The Former Empress’s record?”
“By the Former Empress of the Delos Empire, do you mean Saint Claudia?”
She had established her position as the first heir to the throne with tremendous support from the empire’s citizens. During the war with the Caron Empire, out of compassion, she had treated and sent back an incredibly skilled enemy general. A few days later, as if repaying her kindness with enmity, the general led a large army and trampled the territory of the Delos Empire.
Not only that, but she was also taken as a prisoner to the Caron Empire, where she continued to fulfill her duty as a saint by treating their soldiers, which ultimately changed the tide of the war. The people of the Delos Empire wished she had accepted an honorable death, but instead, they trembled as they saw her continuing to live and save enemy soldiers.
Because of this, Claudia, who had been the first heir to the throne, was deposed and, without being repatriated to her homeland, fled to a remote area with an outsider.
The incredible actions of the princess who had been revered as a saint are still talked about by many people to this day.
But that was only about her actions.
The fact that she truly possessed abilities deserving of the title “saint” was undeniable. Her miraculous ability to heal wounds and cure diseases just by touching them was like magic straight out of legends.
It was said that such a person had left behind a “record.” About what exactly?
The black-haired man, Emperor Raziel of the Caron Empire, went on to make an even more shocking statement.
“I’ve heard that the Former Empress’s record contains instructions on how to make humans immortal. Is that true?”
Tis was about to immediately refute that statement, but Raziel was one step ahead.
“If so, then it would also be possible to create an ‘immortal army’ using it.”
Raziel’s words had the effect of first dousing the audience with cold water and then pouring hot spring water over them.
❖ ❖ ❖
“Damn those old men!”
Sitting in his office, recalling the emergency summit from hours ago, Tis deeply furrowed his brow. He took out the tobacco leaf he had received from the slave trader Ensha, with whom he had previously made contact. He had heard it was incredibly strong, but at this moment, he couldn’t bear not having it in his mouth.
Without even thinking of transferring the flame from a candle holder, he picked it up entirely and lit the tobacco. Tis exhaled a long, deep sigh-like smoke. His head felt dizzy, but at the same time, it seemed to clear.
Tis’s face was quite serious.
“The atmosphere isn’t good.”
“If the atmosphere isn’t good…”
He clicked his tongue briefly.
“War.”
Tis cursed strangely as he recalled Emperor Raziel of the Caron Empire.
‘Even during a temporary ceasefire, he attacks like this…’
Until a few days ago, they had been at war with the Caron Empire, but at their suggestion, they had entered a ceasefire for the emergency summit.
In truth, even before that, it was only war in name, with no significant clashes, so he thought a ceasefire wouldn’t make much difference.
The statement made by the Emperor of Caron had made all the nations tremble with anxiety.
An immortal army.
The impact of that term was greater than the incident of a crown prince being killed in a foreign country.
If the Former Empress’s record containing the secret to immortality was real, the nation possessing it could raise an immortal army. In that case, even empires of equal strength would have to lower their tails. If mortal soldiers were to face immortal soldiers, the latter would win too easily.
That’s why everyone was wary.
But the content inside was so simple that it was disappointing.
The Former Empress’s son, Grand Duke Verdit, had seen it and said, “If you follow this as is, one person will die,” adding that the person who would die would be himself.
Although the saintly Ion, son of the Former Empress, had said this, those who had not seen the contents found it very tempting. He had told them there was nothing inside and it had been discarded long ago, but they would never believe that.
‘I never expected the Emperor of Caron to be among the very few who knew about the Former Empress’s record…’
If he were the Emperor of Caron and had comparable national power and defense capabilities, but the opponent possessed supernatural abilities, he would never have created a state of war. He would have formed an alliance instead.
He’s bringing up something that only he needed to know, and connecting Crown Prince Kalvern to it as well.
‘It seems he’s planning to gather everyone to beat us up…’
Creating a common enemy and having everyone unite to annihilate the opponent is a good method to defeat a large enemy with minimal damage.
But that doesn’t mean they would lose. After all, they really could create an “immortal army.”
‘For that, first I need to find something he would like.’
Tis, exhaling a long stream of tobacco smoke, called his knight-guard.
“Kayan.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Prepare to go to the Grand Duke’s mansion.”
“Understood.”
Rising from his seat, Tis extinguished the strong tobacco leaf in a small ashtray and left the office. He was thinking of gifting a black cat with pretty eyes to Grand Duke Verdit, who was probably spending miserable days shut up in his mansion.
