The Extra Prince Sets Out To Conquer The World

In the main chapel of the Sea Church, Saint Amelie let out a sigh.

“Why is one of the permits missing?”

Though an uproar didn’t break out immediately, the leaders of the cathedral fell into confusion. It was because one of the entry permits Amelie had retrieved from the ruins to enter the site had disappeared.

Her voice was calm, but the Archbishop of the Vahanad Cathedral broke out in a cold sweat at the anger-tinged divine power subtly permeating her words.

“It, it was there even just yesterday. Really!”

Amelie didn’t bat an eye at the Archbishop’s excuses.

“It doesn’t matter if it was there before. What matters is that it’s gone now. How exactly have you been managing things? Does the Archbishop not understand the importance of the ruins?”

She was smiling, but the Archbishop felt like he was suffocating.

“N-no. I am aware.”

The ruins that were deeply stained with remnants from the end of the Mythical Era were extremely important.

Mythical artifacts had high historical and magical value on their own, but from the perspective of the seven churches, they were all the more precious as a means to communicate with the gods.

“You knew, yet the permit was stolen?”

The Archbishop was having a miserable time under Amelie’s interrogation.

Along with the permit, documents and evidence that could prove his corruption, which he had hidden in a secret space within the vault, had also disappeared.

Could it be that the Saint already knew of his corruption and made the first move?

Thinking she might be trying to confirm the kill by hiding the permit and pinning the crime of its loss on him since the corruption alone wasn’t enough to kill him for sure, his complexion paled.

The Archbishop had no choice but to bow his head and apologize.

“I’m sorry…”

In truth, the Saint did not hold a position high enough to interrogate the Archbishop.

The position of a Saint was more noble than even the Pope as they were directly bestowed a stigma by god.

However, that did not symbolize power within the church.

Rather, under the pretext of protecting them because they were precious, they were excluded from church politics and merely enshrined.

The clergy of the seven churches worshipped gods and wielded the powers bestowed by the gods.

However, as the church was ultimately an organization built up by humans, they did not want to share power with the gods.

Previous Saints also did not deny what the church had built up, so they had respected that sentiment.

But the current Saint of the Sea Denomination, Amelie, was different.

She intervened in politics when necessary and punished the corruption of priests.

Some high-ranking priests in the power structure of the church revolted against her breaking tradition, but after those revolting high priests were divinely punished by the Saint in the name of god, the revolts ceased.

The priests who received divine punishment were not injured in the slightest.

They had merely lost all the divine power they had honed their entire lives.

However, to the priests, that was an endless horror.

A priest who loses divine power is no longer a priest.

Those who wielded immense power lost everything and fell to the status of a commoner.

Seeing the divine punishment unfold before their eyes, all the priests trembled and bowed their heads before her.

The current Saint held power greater than even the Pope of the Sea Church – she was essentially a ‘female Pope’.

“Whew… What’s done is done, I suppose.”

The Archbishop shuddered at Amelie’s cold gaze.

However, she paid the Archbishop no more attention. She only thought about the disappeared permit.

She needed the permit to enter the ruins as planned.

One might think it would be fine since one permit remained, but that was not the case at all.

The number of people that could enter with one permit was a total of 20.

Being unable to deploy even half the forces prepared for entering the dangerous ruins was fatal.

When Amelie learned the permit had disappeared, she first suspected Sophia.

It was clear she had sneaked in and out of the vault.

However, she soon abandoned that suspicion.

Sophia had no motive to steal the permit, and judging by the disappearance of the holy water being stored in the vault, it was evident there was another intruder.

To Sophia, who used the divine power of the Earth Church, the divine power of the Sea Church would only be a hindrance.

“What do you think?”

When Amelie asked Rotulus, the parrot beastman who had followed her, he spoke while recalling the vault.

“Hmm, the culprit who took the permit is at least a duo. Judging by how they infiltrated through the complex ventilation duct, it’s likely the work of a familiar face who knows the inside of the cathedral well.”

In fact, there were clear marks of a rope rubbing against the ventilation duct in the ceiling of the vault and traces of dust accumulated in the vent being swept away.

“Seeing as they descended and ascended by rope without triggering the mana reaction alarm, one is a man with excellent strength, and the other is a light boy or woman. And judging by how they didn’t touch the security devices, the one who descended is either skilled at mana detection or has excellent magical knowledge.”

It was impossible to discern the subtly hidden security magic with ordinary senses.

“I don’t know much else. I apologize.”

Amelie waved her hand at Rotulus’s apology.

“No, it’s a big harvest just knowing that much. Right, Archbishop?”

When she called for the Archbishop, the old priest froze with his few strands of hair fluttering.

“Yes…! I, I will definitely find them!”

“Don’t disappoint me.”

“Yes! I will not disappoint you!”

Amelie let out a small sigh seeing the Archbishop as tense as a new recruit with tightened discipline.

If both had disappeared, even if it took some time, she could have negotiated with the city government to obtain spare permits, even if temporary, but with only one remaining, she couldn’t even negotiate.

From the perspective of the city government and royal family ruling Vahanad, the permits were a good means to control the massive organizations gathered in the city, so they were reluctant to hand them over easily.

Could it be they did this on purpose? Hard to say.

But given the exquisite situation, it was true she was suspicious.

“Ah!”

Just then, the Archbishop clapped his hands as if he remembered something.

“Come to think of it, the Twilight Company said they had a client who wanted to rent our permit and asked to meet them once!”

“…You agreed to meet them?”

At Amelie’s question, the Archbishop froze again.

“I had no real intention of renting it out! They just said if we met, we could refuse…”

It wasn’t a lie.

He had agreed to meet them after receiving a bribe from the Twilight Company, but he had received confirmation that he didn’t have to lend it.

“Then those ‘client’ individuals are suspicious.”

“Yes! Th-that’s right! No doubt those bastard clients stole it!”

Amelie looked at the Archbishop coldly as he made the conclusion.

It was indeed suspicious that someone wanting to rent the permit appeared right when it disappeared, but they couldn’t be decidedly called the culprit.

Rather, seeing as they were brazenly hoping to meet like this, there was a high likelihood it wasn’t them.

However, the Archbishop, driven into a corner, had to somehow create a culprit to try to get through the situation.

“When did you agree to meet those ‘clients’?”

At Amelie’s question, the Archbishop checked the time and spoke in surprise at how much time had passed.

“The appointed time is almost here.”

As soon as he said that, an apprentice priest of the cathedral timidly knocked on the door and spoke.

“Um… Archbishop. There is a guest looking for you, what should we do?”

Before the Archbishop could answer, Amelie answered instead.

“I will meet them right away. Could you guide them here?”

At the Saint’s request, the apprentice priest bowed his head in awe.

“Yes! I will bring them right away!”

The clumsy-looking apprentice priest ran off in a fluster.

“…It really wasn’t you, right?”

The deputy branch manager of the Vahanad branch of the Twilight Company asked me with anxious, trembling eyes.

At her question, I deliberately answered in a slightly irritated voice.

“I said it wasn’t. I heard about the Sea Denomination’s permit disappearing for the first time just now from you.”

Then, with a serious expression, I let out a sigh.

“But if one of the Sea Denomination’s permits disappeared, renting them will be even more difficult.”

At my words indicating trouble, the deputy branch manager’s expression looked even more confused.

As I thought, she seemed to suspect me.

Yes, be more confused and do your best to protect me! You know that in the end, protecting me is your only remaining path, right?

I snickered inwardly and glanced at Precia.

Precia, who couldn’t act, had her face fixed expressionless with the Thousand Faces mask and remained silent.

Looking through the illusion of the mask with the Eyes of the Galaxy, Precia was fidgeting restlessly, shaken with worry that my lies might be exposed.

Is entering the cathedral boldly after robbing it making you that anxious?

Thankfully, with the power of the mask and superhuman restraint, the awkwardness didn’t show outwardly.

Next time there’s a situation like this, I should move with Yard or Jade.

“Let’s meet them for now.”

When I gestured for the deputy branch manager to lead the way, she sighed deeply as if she had no choice and took the lead.

Even while leading, she kept glancing at me, seeming unable to completely abandon her suspicion of me.

“What are you looking at?”

Yes, I stole it! What are you going to do if you suspect me? You became an accomplice from the moment you sold the information, so what can you do other than thoroughly hide my information?

If you’re upset, announce it everywhere and die with the branch!

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

The deputy branch manager swallowed dryly and turned her gaze away from me.

Entering the Sea Denomination’s cathedral that I had visited once before, I pretended to be seeing it for the first time and looked around with feigned amazement.

The worshippers visiting the cathedral seemed unbothered, but among the priests, there was a sense of inexplicable unrest.

Seems there was quite a commotion in the upper ranks.

The deputy branch manager briefly spoke with a clumsy-looking apprentice priest, and before long, permission for an audience was granted.

Guided by the apprentice priest, we were led to the Archbishop’s office.

“I have brought the guests!”

At the apprentice priest’s tense exclamation, a voice from inside told us to enter.

“Let’s go in.”

The deputy branch manager entered first, and Precia and I followed behind her.

In the center of the spacious room permeated with a refreshing divine power like the sea, a beautiful girl with golden hair tinged with blue was sitting at the head seat.

Next to her, a middle-aged priest with thinning hair and a parrot beastman with colorful feathers were seated side by side.

‘Arcana 02, High Priestess’ Saint of the Sea Denomination, Amelie.

‘Arcana 07, Chariot’ Colorful King of the Mercenaries, Philidrion Rotulus.

As I expected, the reason for summoning the Sea Denomination’s exploration team exploring the ruins was because of Arcana.

It was good I came to check even after securing the Earth Church’s permit with Sophia’s cooperation.

“Welcome to our meeting. Please, have a seat.”

Even with the Archbishop present, when the girl who looked the youngest offered us a seat from the head position, the deputy branch manager didn’t understand the situation.

The position and identity of a Saint were the highest secrets of each church, so it wasn’t unreasonable that she hadn’t grasped it.

Tsk tsk, but still, getting flustered like that. Seems she won’t be able to rise higher than a deputy branch manager.

“Thank you for allowing this meeting. Archbishop, and…”

When I deliberately greeted the Archbishop first like someone who knew nothing and glanced at Amelie and Rotulus, the Archbishop’s complexion turned ashen.

“Right now, Moo-!”

“Ah, you suddenly joined the scheduled meeting. Would it be rude?”

Amelie cut off the Archbishop’s words and asked me. I smiled brightly and shook my head.

“No, not at all. If the person seated at the head, pushing aside the Archbishop, is attending, it would be an honor for me.”

At my response, Amelie looked at me with intrigued eyes.

“I am Amelie, a priest of the Sea Denomination from the Holy City. This person is an important believer of our church.”

Rotulus’s religion should be a subordinate god of war and fear under the Goddess of the Moon, right?

Mercenaries who risked their lives mainly believed in subordinate gods of war and fear under the Goddess of the Moon or subordinate gods of life and regeneration under the Goddess of the Earth.

Either was popular among mercenaries as they were good to believe in when swinging swords or getting injured.

I smiled brightly and said,

“If it’s an important person, they can stay as much as they want.”

Rather, it would be troublesome if they weren’t here.

“I am called ‘Ian’. This is my bodyguard.”

At my introduction, Amelie smiled subtly.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ian.”

Yes, nice to meet you too. Let’s see if I can read your true intentions.