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Chapter 97: A Tedious Affair

After going over the documents Aidan had provided, Karyl pondered how he could meet Joey Johansel again. However, the situation resolved itself more easily than expected, as the very person he was thinking about came looking for him.

He must be desperate. The Church may not need me, but if you\'re the emperor\'s man, you\'ll need me.

Karyl was walking in the garden with his visitor. Though it seemed suspicious for two men to be strolling in the garden late at night, just before dawn, their conversation remained mundane.

"Honestly, I also didn’t expect the bishop to react like that. The high priests welcomed the idea of partnering with a guild that owns a Mana Mine..."

"The bishop\'s command is absolute in the Church."

"I will try to persuade the bishop again with the other priests if you give us a few days."

Joey Johansel made the offer first. Since Karyl intended to stay in the Church to seek out affiliates of the Wooden Cloud, he had no reason to refuse.

"Oh, by the way... In addition to trading, there is something else I should mention,” said Karyl. “I didn\'t have the chance to tell you before. I would appreciate it if you could pass this on to the bishop ."

"What might that be...?"

"There\'s an old ruin under the Three Kingdoms. I\'m not sure if you\'ve heard of it. We discovered it while preparing to mine a Mana Mine but left it alone as we didn’t notice anything significant about it.”

"..."

"As you know, ruins are dangerous, but the value of the artifacts they may contain is immeasurable. Honestly, I was tempted. People risk their lives all the time in Tatur, so we decided to explore it half a year ago."

"Half a year ago?" Joey Johansel couldn’t hide his surprise.

"Yes, half a year ago."

"Uh... Um..."

Of course, it was a lie. Karyl had never actually found any ruins, nor was the Mana Mine anywhere near any. He was merely pulling details from the memories of Allen Javius.

He could never be a spy, even if he was resurrected.

From his expression, Karyl could easily read Joey Johansel\'s thoughts—worrying whether the artifacts he might have obtained from the ruins were mere shells, the essence already plundered.

No, that\'s not possible. When I received the report and went down, the seal hadn\'t been broken. He must be talking about a different ruin.

However, being experienced, Joey Johansel didn’t fully take the bait. But even that brief turmoil of thought was enough for Karyl to consider it a success.

"Dragon Slayer." Karyl did not loosen his reins. If he was going to shake Joey Johansel up, he might as well show his entire hand.

"Just a side note, but since Tatur attracts all sorts of people, there happened to be an exiled priest who knew a bit of the ancient language and was able to examine the artifacts from the ruins, albeit imperfectly."

"..."

"The priest said that the artifacts inside the ruins were blueprints for what used to be known as Mana Knights

in ancient times."

Karyl pretended to know nothing.

"Are you talking about that golem? As far as I know, there still are some operating golems left in the principality..."

"So I\'ve heard. It\'s a futile task for the likes of us... According to the priest, it consisted of two volumes of books. Unfortunately, we could only find one." Karyl smiled cryptically. Even though he was lying to Joey, his statement wasn’t entirely incorrect.

There actually were blueprints for Ashkalon hidden within the ruins. And those books were indeed divided into upper and lower volumes.

The golem, a magical puppet that represented the Magical Era, moved not with a soul but with the power of an activation stone, similar to the principle used by the Church\'s mercenary airships.

Still, operating golems had been found in the ruins.

But Ashkalon is special.

The creator, Wolfgang Schumar, had made many golems during the Magical Era. However, being human, he could not surpass the dwarves, who were inherently superior creators. Known to Allen Javius, he had designed a new golem in his later years.

He aimed to create Mana Knights that would surpass the golem called Endelus, hailed as a masterpiece of the Myurga family.

And he succeeded.

From mobility to destructive power and endurance... It was perfect in theory, but just in theory, for his design never left the drawing board.

In order to move, Wolfgang Schumar’s golem would’ve needed an activation stone as large as those that power the Church\'s mercenary airships.

In the end, the plan never saw fruition in the Magical Era due to Wolfgang Schumar’s inability to find a suitable activation stone, making the plan impossible to implement in the present.

Besides, the volume you possess is the lower volume of the blueprint, primarily concerning the activation stone. Without the upper volume, you wouldn\'t understand it.

Karyl had found the location of the upper volume in Allen\'s memories. The location where the ancient book lay dormant was intriguingly unexpected, but he had no intention of wasting time trying to revive an impractical golem.

Well... unless another genius like Wolfgang Schumar appears. If such a person emerged, perhaps Mana Knights could be created.

Karyl knew the power of golems better than anyone. The empire had suffered significant losses due to a few golems operated by magic engineers during its invasion of the principality.

"Mana Knights... You\'ve found something amazing." Joey Johansel, who had yet to interpret the old scriptures, couldn\'t possibly know this much about them. Otherwise, he wouldn\'t have neglected the artifacts in the ruins like that.

"I heard that the Church has been involved in artifact restoration projects for some time,” added Joey Johansel. “I thought I should mention that.”

"Is that so...?"

"Who knows? If we actually succeed in creating a golem, the Church\'s standing could rise incomparably to what it is now."

You mean the emperor\'s standing.

Joey Johansel then said nonchalantly, “In any case, this was an interesting story. I\'ll report it to the Church tomorrow morning. If it turns out to be true, we might seek you out, Mr. Karyl, independent of the mana stones."

"I don\'t need to deal directly with the bishop. A merchant just needs to make a profitable trade."

"What do you mean...?"

"The Church\'s supplies are not managed by the bishop alone. It would be nice if you could persuade the high priests who agree with you... We can replenish the resources from Tatur."

"Um..."

Karyl scrutinized Joey Johansel\'s expression.

That way, I could find out who else is on the empire\'s side.

"Understood. I\'ll let the priests know.”

"Thank you."

With that Joey Johansel turned around and walked away rather quickly. Trying to restore the artifacts from the ruins was akin to gambling, but if it was actually possible, the value would be tremendous. Not just the principality\'s golems but even the Imperial family\'s armaments—some artifacts held the value of an entire order of knights.

Aidan... Karyl didn’t say it out loud; he merely mouthed it. He knew Aidan was somewhere hidden in the shadows, watching him.

Follow that man. Find out if he contacts anyone. Karyl gave the command.

Instead of a response, the leaves in the garden rustled lightly against the direction of the wind.

"Hmm." Left alone in the garden, Karyl sighed softly as he looked up at the sky.

Was I always such a weak strategist? He unwittingly smirked to himself. As I thought, strategizing is tedious. I\'d rather sweep them away... But I hate to lose to those who play mind games.

He had been on the battlefield far longer than them.

Think hard, Joey Johansel.

Karyl walked away, enjoying the anticipation of the many events about to unfold within the serene Holy Land.

***

“Joey Johansel, seventeen, an orphan of unknown parentage, joined the Church just after reaching adulthood. His sponsor remains unknown, but the priest who accepted his initiation was Yurin Huygar, a first-class priest. After five years of training under him, he was formally ordained as a priest. Since then, he has been away from the Church for missionary activities, returning every two years to report, mainly about the locations of ruins, and always meeting Yurin Huygar separately.”

From the documents Aidan had sent, there was nothing particularly strange about Joey Johansel. There were other priests in the Church involved in the excavation of ruins. However, Karyl\'s intuition that Joey was the emperor\'s man was due to his sponsor, Yurin Huygar.

Yurin Huygar... Yurin Huygar, huh... I didn\'t expect to see that name here. Honestly, it\'s ridiculous that he\'s a priest of the Church. Karyl muttered the name written in the report, recalling his memories.

Yurin Huygar, the Madman of the Battlefield—he was known as an imperial knight who had beheaded numerous generals of the Three Kingdoms and whose shoulders were never dry of blood.

It was laughable that such an individual was now in the Church, a first-class priest, no less.

How long has the emperor been planting his people in the Church?

To Karyl, the emperor had no significant presence other than the Imperial Decree, the Extermination Decree of Heresy. The Empire itself had only affected his life after Olivurn ascended to the throne.

In Karyl’s eyes, Titan Shutean was just meant to pass on the Empire he had built to the next generation before succumbing to his chronic illness.

But...

He was clinging to power until the very end, not letting go of his dwindling life.

Titan Shutean, you are indeed a man of great greed. You have not passed the throne to your children till now for this reason.

Perhaps for the emperor, the Church was the last place he could rely on.

After the emperor died, Olivurn called back everyone the emperor had planted, including Yurin Huygar. Joey Johansel was also among them.

Throughout history, even the secondary characters held significant roles, each a crucial piece in the larger puzzle.

Although he had come from the future, Karyl was not a god. The history preceding his birth was unknown to him. He couldn’t know much about events he hadn’t experienced.

However, he was confident that these small differences he was learning could bring greater changes compared to the history he knew. He could only hope that this future would be brighter than his previous life.

"..."

Karyl looked at the sword propped against the wall, clicking his tongue. "It really doesn\'t suit my personality." He sighed deeply, rested his forehead on his hand for a few moments, then slowly got up.

That night, Karyl was somewhat nostalgic for the past, when his self-centered strength used to be order and justification.

***

It wasn\'t long before turmoil swept through the Church. The moment Karyl had been waiting for was finally unfolding.

A carriage arrived at the Church in secrecy. It was unadorned, with no escort, and yet the aura emitted by the coachman and the one inside the carriage was unmistakably extraordinary.

“Neighhhh”

The carriage halted, and a man descended from inside. He had a stooped posture, his eyes hollow and wary, and his skin, marred by age spots, lacked vitality. Yet, the priests of the Church hurried out to greet this corpse-like old man.

"..."

Among them were Joey Johansel and his sponsor, Yurin Huygar, with whom he had a private meeting a few days prior.

Is this the first time I’m actually seeing him? Karyl muttered under his breath, looking down from the window.

He had never met this man in his previous life.

"Titan Shutean."

Despite the wrinkles, the resemblance to Olivurn in his eyes was uncanny and disturbingly captivating.

Aidan, arms crossed, leaned against the wall and said, "Are you really going to proceed?"

"I\'ve been investigating for a few days now. And as you’ve said, the reason Joey Johansel has been exploring those ruins all this time was because of the emperor."

At Karyl\'s words, Aidan shrugged. "Sure, he has been sending pigeons every day at dawn, but there’s no guarantee those birds were heading to the empire. Besides, it’s unlikely that the Church isn’t aware of this.”

"It was the Empire. To be precise, it was him."

"Huh..." Aidan grimaced slightly at Karyl\'s confident response.

"Did you do as I instructed?"

"Yes. As you ordered, I left the seal you provided in Joey Johansel’s room two days ago. I checked it myself, and there wasn’t much of a reaction."

"The lack of reaction is enough for now. Until a few days ago, he was talking to me regularly, but since the day before yesterday, he hasn’t even shown his face." Karyl chuckled softly.

Then, leaning against the window with his chin propped on his hand, he spoke in a weary voice, "It\'s about time this tedious charade came to an end."