Grand Lust Sovereign

In the opinion of these Cardinals, the Empire was filled with lunatics.

They were power hungry and wanted to absorb the neighboring countries to become the sole rulers of the Southwest.

They also did not have access to the sea and capturing the Theocracy would lead to insurmountable resources.

The Theocracy was nicknamed as God's Own Land due to the vast resources available.

The nobility and the church controlled most of these resources and in the land of god, nobody stayed hungry.

The Empire was surrounded by mountains and barren highlands. The whistling winds were cold and devoid of any moisture.

Most of the land wasn't as fertile and the Empire was thriving simply because of their extravagant deposits of precious metals and magic stones.

Rumor had it that the Empire also possessed the Fountain of Youth somewhere in those snowy mountains. This explained the secrets of their youthful appearances despite them getting older.

The Empire had everything but food. If they did not fight for fertile lands, countries could stop exporting to them and starve them to their deaths.

This was a hypothetical scenario but a possible situation that may arise in the future.

The Empire couldn't sit back and do nothing.

Despite being a place full of warriors, they weren't all brawns for brains.

Some could foresee the destructive future and decided to advise the Emperor to take action.

This was another major reason why they attacked the Theocracy.

The first was still the fact that they believed the Theocracy was weaker than them due to the borrowed powers.

It wasn't wrong for the Cardinals to state that they were full of lunatics.

As the history of war came to an end, the Cardinals went to the point.

"So esteemed guests, do you plan on aiding the church?"

The church seemed pitiful in front of the lunatics of the Empire. They purposely seemed to have made an innocent picture of themselves.

Julien could easily see through it.

"When all is within reach, man still chases shadows of desire—this is not his failing, but his nature; only the divine can fill that eternal void." Amelia added to the conversation.

The Empire only lacked fertile lands for food. If they did not have land, they could've chosen other food sources for sustenance or researched magic to help with it or simply prayed to their gods for a solution.

Gods were happy to help their subjects and oftentimes listened to the prayers if they found it worthy.

The Empire officials did not focus on any of that and attacked as that was the easiest way out.

Now, they were trying to make peace.

They had annexed quite a bit of land and killed hundreds while also keeping some important members as prisoners.

The Theocracy wasn't a fool to get trampled by such people.

They striked back after the initial few moves and eventually began the war between the two.

It was quite sudden that the Empire sent diplomats to resolve this situation.

Though it was still unknown whether they'll actually make proper peace talks or threaten them in their own territory.

"What will you choose, esteemed guest?" The lady Cardinal asked Amelia.

All the Cardinals here placed her in high regards due to the holy aura radiating from her.

With a few more years down the line, they believed that Amelia would turn into a prominent figure within the world and the Tower.

"My apologies. I cannot make such a decision on my own. My Master will decide the future course of actions." Amelia did not reject them and pushed the responsibility on Julien.

The Cardinals were surprised to know that Julien was her Master.

They turned to him.

Julien thought about it for a brief second.

Helping the Theocracy would make him an enemy of the Empire. But it was not like he wasn't already an enemy of theirs.

In the last trial of the tutorial, almost all had died except for lucky ones like Christopher.

The sole reason Christopher survived was because Julien did not have Jackie as his sword yet.

Since Christopher was alive, it changed a lot of things.

Only one pact stood by the end of the trial and it was God's Beloved Children.

Anyone with a little logic could make it out to be Julien's party.

Christopher definitely had to die before he came in contact with others.

So far, he did not seem to have made his uncle aware of his enmity with Jackie, which was a good thing.

"How can we help, Your Eminence?" Julien asked, curious to know what help they needed.

These Cardinals did not know anything about Julien or his party's background. They just knew that they were esteemed guests.

They probably made an educated guess that Julien and his party belonged to a powerful background and were strong themselves because they hold the badge given by the Theocracy.

The Theocracy had a list of all the people they've given such badges to, so it wouldn't take them long to figure out with whom Julien may be affiliated.

Julien felt it was in his best interest to be on the Theocracy's side.

"Esteemed guest, we do not know your speciality so we cannot assign you a proper position. However, the church would be indebted to your grace if you could restrain a few of the active members of the Ingress Family. There is no need to kill them, for god condemns such grotesque acts, but we believe it is high time that…"

The Cardinals gave a speech on morals and whatnot while requesting Julien to restrain a few members of the Ingress Family.

Since they could not use underhanded methods to win this war, having someone else do it for them wasn't as bad.

Julien and his party were under ranked. Restraining them would be difficult.

What Julien could instead do is…

"Your Eminence, is there anyone who requires divine judgment? Someone who cannot be saved or reach salvation in this life?" Julien tried to give the church people hints.

"Your Grace, what my Master means is that…"

Amelia softened Julien's words further and asked the same thing in a more precise and direct manner, making the Cardinals sit straight on their seats.

Julien was basically asking them who it is that they wanted dead.

This matter was of serious concern as one wrong move from the church could shatter the faith of millions and lead to the downfall of the Theocracy.

How would it look in the eyes of the public that the church officials hired outsiders to carry out execution tasks?

As they were the very people who vouch for peace and prosperity, involving themselves in such cruel acts would only make them appear as hypocrites. This wasn't good at all.

Though, the offer was tempting too.

If Julien could eliminate a few, it would make things proceed more smoothly and guarantee the Theocracy's continued rule.

The Cardinals hence couldn't outright reject him.

They thought over it through and through.

"Esteemed guests, you might be tired from all the happenings of the day. I pray you retire early and take a rest. We'll let you know of our answer in the next meeting. Please enjoy the Theocracy's hospitality until then." One of the Cardinals said and bid farewell to Julien.

They needed more time to discuss this matter, and the opinion of others was required.

Julien was in no rush.

As long as Christopher was in this place, he didn't have to worry about him snitching.

He turned to the Cardinals and said, "I suppose we should. Though before we leave, can we make a small request?"

"Pray tell."

"Could you inform us of any movement from Christopher Ingress?"

"Esteemed guest, I'm afraid you cannot do any harm to that boy." The Cardinal spoke while shaking his head.

Julien shook his head and waved his hand. "I merely want to know about the suspicious things he's been upto. I assure you that we are not going to involve ourselves in any matter that would harm the church's interest."

Given assurance, the Cardinals found the request easy to manage.

They agreed and Julien bid them farewell, leaving the chambers.

As the Cardinals had suggested, he retired for the day and took some rest.

All three of them were given the same room, so Julien had enough time to discuss more things with his party members.

Meanwhile, on Christopher's end, things weren't looking so well.

There were Templar Knights surrounding them and serving them. It really put him on an edge as he couldn't move freely.

His uncle Luther on the other hand was relaxed as if it was an average day at home.

He had said in the start that stressing will only make the enemy believe they have an upper hand, and that we are fearful of their presence.

One always had to establish dominance to get what they wanted, such were the laws of this world.

Christopher began acting that way, but the feeling of being watched did not disappear.

He felt uneasy.