King-Chapter 1116 - 168, Frank Church_2

The trouble was with "refuting the rumors".

If it were merely rumors, that would be one thing, but the blasphemous statements had indeed come from the Arcane Academy, witnessed by countless onlookers.

Even if someone were to take the blame, the senior members of the academy had to show themselves.

Now, everyone seemed to have hidden themselves away, which made the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs extremely difficult. They didn’t even know where to start.

"I have sent people to look for them, and I believe they will be found soon. Without the individuals present, no one can clarify exactly what happened.

If they are not found within three days, let all the families publicly mourn them!"

Caesar IV said through gritted teeth.

Annoying people, who couldn’t do that?

In the Noble World, issuing a public mourning for living people was not merely a sign of bad luck.

Once mourned, even if still alive, they were considered dead. For the sake of their family’s honor, they could only operate in the shadows and never appear in public again.

For individuals, this was a disaster; for the Kingdom, however, it was the easiest way to get out of trouble in the short term.

Death did not erase debts, but it made shifting the blame convenient.

If the Kingdom could assert that the senior members of the Arcane Academy had all been killed in an attack by enemies and that the blasphemous statements were a plot by these enemies, the nature of the incident would change entirely.

"Your Majesty, if they return afterward, the situation..."

Count Francis was interrupted before he could finish his sentence by Caesar IV, who responded irritably, "Let them return if they must. They’ve caused such trouble and instead of thinking of a solution, they irresponsibly hid.

It’s already gracious that we haven’t taken them to task; do you think they would still have the gall to demand an explanation from us?

If it comes to discussing matters, then we’ll discuss matters properly. Even if they are high-ranking, they can’t ignore reason, right?"

The King’s final verdict was met with approval by the ministers. Nobody liked having ancestors over their heads, but in the Extraordinary World, that was unavoidable.

"Since Your Majesty has made a decision, let’s let the Orcs take the blame," Prime Minister Duke Newfoundland added opportunistically.

In the Alpha Kingdom, whenever there was an irresolvable issue, the blame could always be pushed onto the Orcs.

As for how the Orcs managed to stealthily infiltrate and attack the high-ranking members of the Arcane Academy, and let’s not forget the Cult organization! ƒreewebɳovel.com

Neither the Orcs nor the Cult organization had the ability to come out and explain themselves.

...

One moment, everyone was outraged over the blasphemous statements; the next, all attention had shifted to the loss of the Church Inheritance Artifact.

On Holy Mountain, Shelter VII was furious. The carefully guarded secret had ultimately been leaked.

While it seemed that a Divine Artifact was lost, what was actually lost was the canonical law. With not all three Inherited Artifacts intact, the legitimacy of the Clergy faced an unprecedented challenge.

Combined with the current circumstances, the Clergy’s monopoly on faith among the Human Race was bound to break; it was only a matter of time.

With the divine mandate lost, the largest obstacle for the Frank Kingdom to establish its own Clergy was no longer present, and the stage was set for both parties to strategize.

Worse still, the lower members of the Clergy, unaware of the artifact’s disappearance, still stubbornly announced to the outside world that the artifact wasn’t lost, even having clergy assert emphatically to their followers that the Clergy would soon produce the artifact to refute the rumors.

The premise for "refuting rumors" was: there needed to be rumors in the first place.

With two out of the three Inherited Artifacts lost, presenting just the remaining Crown as proof against the rumors was essentially the same as admitting the artifacts were lost.

But failing to explain wasn’t an option either.

The Monarchist faction, led by the Frank Kingdom, had gathered plenty of evidence and was trying to pin "ten heinous crimes" on them.

If the two matters were linked, it would be easy for the followers to conclude: the Clergy has lost its morality, and the Divine Spirits have reclaimed the Inherited Artifacts.

Even if the followers hadn’t thought of this, the enemies of the Clergy would make sure to suggest it, further undermining the Clergy’s foundations.

"Have you figured out who leaked the news, you son of a bitch?" Shelter VII roared.

He had already resolved that if he found the person who had stabbed them in the back, he would have them roasted, and their soul charred to smoke.

"Your Holiness, the news spread suddenly, almost simultaneously across the Continent. Those capable of this are just those few powerful nations.

The investigation period has been too short to specify which one it is.

At the moment, the Frank Kingdom is the primary suspect, followed by the Alpha Kingdom and then the Three Kingdoms in the Central Continent; Iberia Kingdom might also be possible.

The few other Kingdoms also have the capabilities, though their motives might be slightly lesser, but we can’t completely rule them out either."

Ulysses’s response only fanned the flames of Shelter VII’s anger. This wasn’t isolating a suspect; it was practically casting a net over all major Human powers.

Without needing to analyze it, it was clear that the orchestrator was among these nations; yet, who exactly it was remained an unknown.

Ulysses knew the Pope was displeased but was powerless. He had only received the news two days ago, and even if the enemy didn’t disguise their tracks, it was impossible to determine the culprits so quickly.

What’s more, when major powers caused trouble, they often wore disguises upon disguises, framing and misleading were common tactics.

Without unraveling the threads, it was difficult to clear up who really was behind it.

In case they targeted the wrong party and clumsily started a conflict, the true mastermind would be laughing.

"Idiots!"

"All of you are idiots!"

"I don’t care what methods you use, you must catch the mastermind behind this!"

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