Records of the Weakest Emperor

"..."

"Calvin...?"

Ashlynn was the first one to awaken from her trance.

"Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me... Are you guys doing well back in Ashmelion? I really didn't expect everyone to come here." Calvin maintained the smile on his face, "Damn it, even Captain is here!"

Ashlynn made a sidelong glance at Ron Samuel.

The latter nodded and both sides seemed to have reached a mutual understanding.

"Is that really you?"

"I told you, it's really me... Sigh. You know what, how can a Corpse Eater take on the form of someone as handsome as me? What's more, if I am indeed an imitation, then why is it that I can still remember how foxy and sly you are, Ashlynn?" Calvin lightly chuckled.

Ashlynn's pupils constricted.

Corpse Eaters could take on the form of anyone they wished, but the subtle cues of the original owner of the body such as their body language along with their memories weren't something that Corpse Eaters could take.

In short, it was highly likely that the person standing in front of them was the real Calvin.

"Hold up." James Branzuela spoke up, "I'm not convinced that you're the real Calvin. The medallion which is connected to Calvin's soul had shattered and that is the reason why we're even here in the first place. The shattering of that medallion means that Calvin had died. After all, don't we know that the medallion is indestructible?"

"Uhmm..." Calvin raised his hand, "The medallion isn't actually indestructible."

"Shut up, see? You don't even know the indestructible nature of the medallion, yet you're here trying to say that it's not indestructible? It seems that my hunch is right... You're a fake! How dare you try to imitate the image of o—"

"Calm down, James." Ron Samuel interrupted.

He made a sidelong glance at Calvin and asked, "Why do you say that it's not indestructible? Is there a way to destroy the medallion without the death of its owner?"

"Yes, of course..." Calvin smiled, "The indestructible nature of the medallion is nothing but an illusion. There's a way to destroy the med—"

"What?!" Someone interrupted Calvin's words. It was Rosales whose neck was still being constricted by Ron Samuel's arms, "You're lying! I don't believe you! How can you blaspheme a mystical artifact of the church?! That's treason! I will report you for this when we get back!"

He might not be a confrontational person, but Rosales's faith in the Goddess was somewhat radical and extreme.

Well, it was understandable since he was a high-ranking official of the church.

Calvin furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at the person who interrupted his words, "Captain, who is that?"

"A hostage. Don't mind him."

"A what?"

"Continue..." Ron Samuel refused to explain any further.

"Ahem... All right, let me continue." Calvin took a moment to clear his throat before saying, "It makes sense that the indestructible nature of the medallion is nothing but a mere solution since I want you to think of this. Will the church actually spend enough resources to turn an item that's mostly kept away indestructible? That doesn't make sense, right?"

"However, the church likes to put on airs. In the end, they tricked everyone into thinking that the medallions are indestructible!" Calvin said.

"Nonsense! How dare you blas—"

Smack!

Rosales couldn't even continue his words as Ron Samuel directly struck him on his nape, rendering him unconscious.

Bruce and the other Cavaliers stared at Ron Samuel in horror. Rosales was a high-ranking official of the church, so they thought that Ron Samuel would only intimidate him. They hadn't expected that he would actually go so far as to hit him unconscious!

"Go on." Ron Samuel casually said with the same serious look on his face.

"Uh... Okay." Calvin was speechless. Ron Samuel was really acting out of his character.

To think that he would be this decisive as to actually hit a civilian!

Unbeknownst to Calvin, the horror that his comrades felt in their hearts was far greater than his surprise.

"The illusion is based and is maintained by the fact that the holder of the medallion would never be able to break it with his own strength. If someone that is stronger than the holder of the medallion attacked the medallion with a concentrated strike in a single point. They would be able to shatter that medallion."

Ron Samuel frowned, "If that's the case, then why we're still in the dark about this particular property of the medallion?"

Calvin lightly chuckled, "It's because everyone is thought by the church that those with shattered medallions are definitely dead. In fact, there's even an anomaly such as that medallion that Charlotte had. It wasn't shattered, right? Even though the death of that holder is already confirmed. There are still some anomalous events which led me to think that the church is indeed struggling to maintain quality control."

"They're probably using materials that are out of their league, but still readily available in order to create this illusion." Calvin smiled.

"Yes, that's right..." A voice came from behind.

The owner of the voice was familiar to Calvin, but it was foreign to the Cavaliers. As a result, they immediately went into their fighting stance.

"Calm down, Captain... Both of them are my buddies."

"Both?" Bruce raised his eyebrow.

Ron Samuel remained pensive as Heisenberg and Ricardo emerged from the darkness.

"No wonder it's taking you too long to return. It seems that the punitive force has already discovered us. Sigh, I thought you stumbled upon some monsters or something." Ricardo had summoned his bow and was ready to go to battle at any moment.

But his taut nerves calmed down when he saw that Calvin was talking to the Cavaliers who were a part of the punitive force.

"A Priest of the All-Encompassing Light? How come you're here?" Ron Samuel furrowed his eyebrows when he noticed Heisenberg's get-up.

"Hahaha, it's a long story, sir..." Heisenberg awkwardly scratched his head. His eyes swept across the people in front of him, until his gaze eventually landed on...

"S-S-Sir Rosales?!"

Heisenberg's pupils almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the limp Rosales leaning on the filthy walls of the abandoned alleyway.

"W-W-What happened to you, sir?! Sir? Wake up!" Heisenberg shook Rosales's shoulders as his expression paled in fright. The Cavaliers might know Rosales as a high-ranking official of the church, but Heisenberg knew him more as a mentor.

Yes, Rosales was the one who led Heisenberg on the path of righteousness and on the path of the All-Encompassing Light.

He was the one who shaped his faith in the Goddess.

Yet, why was his mentor lying on the foul soil of this disgusting village?!

Had he been kidnapped by the monsters here too?

No, that's not possible.

If that was true, then the church would've already sent a punitive force the moment they noticed him missing.

After all, a high-ranking official of the church was more valuable than a member of the three Judiciaries.

But why was he here?

There could only be one answer.

Heisenberg stared at Ron Samuel and asked, "You..."

"What did you do to my mentor?"

Ron Samuel's expression remained as placid as ever as he retorted with the same words as Heisenberg had used, "It's a long story."

"Heisenberg, calm down." Calvin interrupted, "You'll still know what had happened in Ashmelion while we're missing later anyway, so you have to calm down for now."

"Okay." Heisenberg faintly nodded as he took the body of his mentor into his embrace.

"Oh, there's also a member of the Missionaries?" James Branzuela said in a mocking tone of voice.

The expressions of the Cavaliers immediately went cold.

Calvin hurriedly waved his hands to the others. He also knew about the love and hate relationship between the Cavaliers and Missionaries.

"He's my friend... He's my friend. He's not hostile to us."

"Oh..." Ron Samuel simply nodded, "All right, can you continue to explain to us what we're talking about earlier?"

"Ah yes... Well, basically... The medallions are made from Deep Sea Gold. This is a widely-available resource that the church can easily gather, but since its properties are still unknown and it's too difficult to use. There are bound to be some imperfections similar to that medallion that Charlotte presented to you." Calvin explained.

"All right." Ron Samuel seemed to be convinced with Calvin's explanation, "So, you're truly Calvin? Okay, come with us..."

"We're going to go back."

"I can't go back yet, sir..." Calvin shook his head.

"What?" Ron Samuel stared at Calvin in astonishment.

The others looked at him the same. Even Ricardo and Heisenberg were confused.

Didn't we want to escape from this place, so badly? Yet, what was he doing now trying to stay here?

"Zsknsnxmji gzxnsjxx," Calvin replied by carefully intonating these letters.

The Cavaliers stared at each other for a moment before they nodded, "All right, we'll go and accompany you."

"Thanks, Captain." Calvin smiled.

"Wait, what did he just say?" Heisenberg turned to Ricardo in confusion.

Ricardo shook his head.

"It's a coded sentence that can only be understood by the Cavaliers."

"Oh... Damn it, how dare that brat act so secretive in front of us!" Heisenberg feigned anger, but he knew that there were some official matters that Calvin just couldn't share with outsiders as a member of the Cavaliers.

"Old man, Ricardo. I'll be going now. I hope we'll see each other again in the future." Calvin stared at Heisenberg and Ricardo. He couldn't help but feel somewhat disturbed. The time that they had spent together might not be that long, but it still was long enough that Calvin couldn't just say that it was insignificant.

Fortunately, Calvin had already experienced countless farewells that were far more heartbreaking than this.

Turning around, he left decisively with the others. 

But little did he knew that when his figure disappeared from the eyes of both Ricardo and Heisenberg.

The two started to argue with each other.

"How lame... To think that an old man like you would actually start crying over some farewell." Ricardo coldly mocked.

Indeed, a tear had dripped from Heisenberg's right eye down his cheek.

"Shut up! What do you know about me, huh?! I might look like this, but I'm still an emotional and soft person, you kn—"

Heisenberg fiercely turned his head in Ricardo's direction, but his sentence came to a sudden halt.

It was because he saw that Ricardo's face was a mess, riddled with tears as he cried his heart out. 

"Damn it, you bastard."

"How dare you..." 

"How dare you criticize me for crying, you crybaby."

Heisenberg chuckled.

1. You can decode this code with a caesar shift decoder. Shift 5 :)