177 - - The 177Th Whole-Face Movement Of がりりりり
I went to ask my grandmother about it, but she didn\'t know how to free the criminal slaves, nor did she know how these diseases were transmitted. As I could not hide my disappointment, Sandille decided to look into it, but she said that it would take some time.
So far, no noticeable confusion has arisen because the people of the capital have not been informed of the situation. May assured me that the beasts were definitely the cause of the epidemic, but somehow, just somehow, I have a feeling that it can\'t be true.
Besides, I have done my research and it seems that the Klimiana cult is a more troublesome opponent than I thought.
It seems that this religion has followers all over the world, and there are many countries that follow this religion on a national level. Above all, the bishop of this religion has the ability to lift the "curse" of the human race and can use LV3 class healing magic. They are like doctors, so to speak, and have been in charge of people\'s lives. And it was they who established the system of criminal slavery.
There was certainly a church in the Kingdom of Juka, and Lady Elsa used to visit there for worship, and I have accompanied her several times. Fortunately(?) After I destroyed the castle in Juka, the bishops left the country during the civil war, and the influence of the Crimiana religion is not strong in Agartha at the moment. On the contrary, the people of Agartha do not have a good impression of me because I fled when they needed my help the most.
However, it is true that they have congregations all over the world and have several nations under their control. Both the empire of Hydata and the Lamaran empire are under the influence of this religion. If we make the wrong move, even these nations may become our enemies. If that happens, I will be in a difficult situation. It would be difficult to defend not only this city of Agartha, but the whole of the vast land of Agartha. On the contrary, if we are not careful, an unlimited number of people will die. That had to be avoided. And more than that, I cannot bear the thought of May\'s life being taken. I really want to avoid that at all costs.
The past three days have been a struggle with these feelings.
As expected, I return to my residence in the capital with nothing on my mind. Perhaps sensing my mood, the atmosphere of the meal has lost its usual liveliness, and the air is somber.
Just then, there is a visitor at the mansion. It was Willis, who is in charge of Super Darke.
"Master, I have a favor to ask you."
"What\'s up, Willis? Come on in."
They try to invite him into the house, but he doesn\'t come in. When I approached Willis to check on him, I found his sisters She-Ra and Uriel and a few other cat people outside the front door.
"What\'s going on? What the hell is this...?"
"I\'m really, really sorry. I\'m really, really sorry... but we need you to hide us.
What the hell is going on?
When she heard what I said, her sister Sheela broke down in tears. Willis looks at her with a sad face and opens his mouth.
"The people of the capital... they attacked us out of the blue.
"The people of the Imperial City?"
"I heard that the human race can catch an incurable disease if they touch us. That\'s why... They want us to leave.
Willis gritted his teeth in frustration. And his sister She-Ra is crying and pleading with me.
"It\'s too much! It\'s too much! No one has ever gotten that kind of disease from our store before! And yet... We are not cat people! We are a tribe of cats! You are all mistaken! Not very much!"
Somehow, they manage to quiet Sheela down and get her inside the house. Then Willis told us a story that had us all in stitches.
The store opened as usual, but the number of customers was unusually slow that day. Suddenly, after lunch, a group of men came yelling into the store. They told us that the cat people were spreading an incurable disease, that this store was producing the incurable disease, and that we should leave now.
Willis tried to stop them, but the men were unapproachable. They had no choice but to take refuge in a room on the second floor and leave the store to the human men. After a while, however, soldiers from the Imperial Guard came to visit them and demanded that Willis and the men be taken into custody. They could not comply with this, and after much struggle, they were forcibly removed from the store by the soldiers.
They decided to take refuge in my mansion, but along the way they were avoided and even pelted with stones by the people of the capital. I was speechless.
"Anyway, I\'m going to visit His Majesty tomorrow. You guys can stay here for a while."
"Master... I\'m so sorry.
Willis shed copious tears, as if he could not hold them back. His wife consoled him and his children looked at him in wonder. We who were watching him felt sorry for him.
After feeding them, each cat tribe was welcomed into the rooms of Peris, Ferris, Ruara, Sidhi, and Matkal. Willis and the other male cats were given a room in the now empty birthing room.
The next morning, I went to the Imperial Palace and had an audience with His Majesty.
"Your Majesty...what\'s going on?"
"Two days ago, a bishop of the Crimiana order came to see me.
"You don\'t really believe what the Crimiana cult says, do you, Your Majesty?"
His Majesty closes his eyes and presses his temples with his fingers. Then, after a moment of silence, he opened his mouth gravely.
The Crimean religion is our state religion. And the Pope, its king, has personally requested it. It\'s hard for me to refuse.
"Your Majesty, do you really think that the beastmen are the source of the incurable disease?"
"...I don\'t know. I don\'t know. But it is a direct request from the Pope, and the name of the world\'s best researcher is on the letter of request. We can\'t just ignore it, can we?"
"So, Your Majesty, you are going to capture the beastmen and send them to the city of Crimiana...?"
"That... is something I\'ve been thinking about a lot. I\'d rather not. I don\'t want to, but..."
"What if, by your majesty\'s command, you forbid violence against or the elimination of the beasts for a while?"
That\'s not going to happen. The Pope\'s request is legitimate and based on the results of our research. If we act contrary to that request, the empire will be considered an enemy of Crimiana. In that case, the empire will be fighting a war against the whole world. On the contrary, the state religion of the Heedata Empire is the Crimiana religion. Not only the citizens, but also many of the nobility and military personnel are believers. If we make an enemy of the Crimiana, the believers will immediately revolt. If that happens, our empire will collapse. I am in pain. I want to help the beasts. After all, Master Linos\' wife is a beastman too. I wish I could do something... I\'m sorry. I don\'t know what I can do. At least, I\'ll give you my orders until the last minute... It\'s the only thing I can do now.
His Majesty closed his eyes and looked up to the heavens, a deep crease furrowing his brow. I had to leave the room without saying anything.
As soon as I left Miyagi, I was transferred to Garbee. In the morning, before leaving for the capital, I had Sadakichi deliver a letter to General Callies requesting a meeting with him. So far, there has been no reply from the general. After waiting in his room for a while, General Callies himself came to Garubbee.
"I am sorry, General. You didn\'t have to come all the way here..."
The general shook his head silently at my horror.
"No, Agartha is now the de facto suzerain state of the empire. The king wants to see you. It is only right that we should pay him a visit no matter what. Don\'t worry about it.
"So, General, let\'s get down to the business of the Crimiana cult..."
Yes, they have come to the capital. We cannot afford such a thing at the moment. We must do all we can to restore our national strength. However, they are holding up the Pope\'s letter of request and refusing to change their stubborn attitude. Well, it\'s not the first time that those people in that country have been so stubborn..."
Caries smiles bitterly.
"Honestly, what do you think, General? I just can\'t believe that the beastmen are the source of the incurable disease."
"Well, I can understand why you would feel that way, since one of the queens of King Agartha is a beastman.
"So, the general, like Klimiana..."
No, I don\'t think so. In all the decades I have been on the battlefield, there has never been an epidemic of chilisleis, guichers, and rulloins in the Empire in recent years. As I recall, there were only a few cases a year. However, as far as I remember, no one in the Imperial Army has contracted such diseases, although the Imperial Army also includes some of the beasts that are the subject of this report. And none of their family members have either. But..."
"But what is it?"
"The world\'s most prestigious medical institute confirms it. There must be a cause.
So, General, you\'re going to have to take the beastmen...
"I wish I could do something about it, but so far there is nothing I can do. The disappearance of the beastmen will delay the restoration of our national power. It\'s a headache..."
In the end, the discussions with General Callies did not produce any results.
And with all sides at a loss, time was wasting away....