Throne of the North.

Chapter 626 The Pope's Secret, The Blasphemer of Dawn

"Your Majesty, it's time to wake up."

Beneath the ice covered by snow and ice, a thick bunker had been built, where the King of Nantes and his followers hid.

The king was awakened, and what came into view was the solid ice that he had grown tired of seeing over this period of time.

Is breakfast ready?

The king was hungry, so he woke his followers to bring out the finest food, and then said with some difficulty:
"Your Majesty, we are running out of food."

"Knight Becker intends to send people away from here to find food on the ground."

"Isn't that too dangerous?"

The king frowned. Although he was young, he knew that leaving at this time would make it easy for the Dawn Church's pursuers to find him.

“It is very dangerous, but in a few days our food will run out, and we will run out of fuel. In the North, we will soon lose our temperature.”

"Then let Knight Becker send men to the ground."

The king said this, not knowing what to do. The people around him did not stop, but changed the subject.

"Your Majesty, please forgive my rudeness, but now everyone wants to know, what exactly do you intend to do?"

“You cannot live in the North forever. There is no place for humans here. We must return to the South, back to your kingdom.”

They were very loyal; all the loyal supporters who abandoned everything to follow the king were of one mind. But loyalty aside, confusion still lingered; they didn't know what to do next.

"I do not know either."

The king was also frustrated; he didn't know of any good solutions.

"The Dawn Church is hunting you down for a secret. If this secret is no longer in your hands, will... they stop hunting you down?"

The followers lowered their heads. His words were undoubtedly diminishing the king's authority. The King of Nantes was also somewhat angry at this moment, but he had little strength left when he thought of the Dawn Church.

"I, I don't know either."

"If I could spread the secret, I would, but I don't even know what the secret is."

“My father didn’t tell me directly.”

What the Pope's secrets are, even he himself doesn't know.

The conversation fell silent. The follower left to relay the king's orders to the knights. However, not long after, the ground above them suddenly shook, and large amounts of ice and snow collapsed.

"We've been discovered!"

Knight Becker appeared before the king, his expression full of apology.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, our people are too unfamiliar with the North; they’ve been followed.”

"The Dawn Church has attacked?"

The king's face was filled with fear.

"No, they are adventurers from the North. The Flor Empire has many adventurers who enter the North in search of the treasures buried beneath the ice and snow."

"What about the Dawn Church?"

The King of Nantes was most concerned about this: those clergy members had come to kill him.

"It hasn't been found yet."

……

"Is His Majesty the King of Nantes hiding here?"

The frozen tundra actually pinpointed the approximate location of the King of Nantes.

The reason is simple: the King of Nantes could not have appeared out of thin air in the North; he had a route to the north.

This route could not possibly pass through the Flor Empire, nor could it pass through the Andara Kingdom.

Therefore, it can only be the Kingdom of Sera, which is currently still nominally under the rule of the Dawn Church.

Ryan spent some time finding out the route the King of Nantes had taken to travel north. They entered the North, but humans could not live there for long. As long as these people wanted to survive, they could not go too far from the southern lands.

In addition, with a large number of adventurers, it is always possible to spot humans in this icy world who are not adventurers.

The day after discovering the King of Nantes, Ryan met the young king on his own Rhinoceros Horn Mountain. He curiously watched what the king had done to be hunted down by the Dawn Church.

"Your Majesty, welcome to the Frozen Territory."

The King of Nantes looked at Baron Ryan, who sat at the head of the table, with some displeasure. He knew the name of this northern baron and his story. For a time, this baron was famous in the southern lands. He had killed the werewolf king, one of the six great royal families of the orcs.

But he was the king, and the other party was just a baron, yet he was made to sit in the side guest seat, showing absolutely no respect for the king.

However, after a long period of exile, the King of Nantes was no longer as arrogant as before.

"I am very grateful for Baron Ryan's hospitality and for helping me deal with those pursuers."

Ryan shook his head and said:

“My esteemed Majesty, I killed those clergymen of the Dawn Church not because of you, but because they planned to assassinate me. As you know, recently the Black Swan assassins belonging to the Dawn Church have been killing nobles like madmen. They are the common enemy of the nobles.”

"The Dawn Church is utterly despicable."

The King of Nantes agreed, and Ryan echoed his sentiment.

"They are truly despicable, attempting to kill a king. Are they prepared to challenge all the powers in the world?"

Indeed, killing a king, let alone downplaying the seriousness of the matter, is something that history will continue to use as a weapon for centuries to come.

More so now.

"However, you are the King of Nantes, and I am not qualified to invite you. I have prepared a letter, which will soon be delivered to the Emperor. I believe His Majesty the Emperor of the Flor Empire will make proper arrangements for you, and perhaps you will be able to return to your kingdom soon."

"do not want!"

The King of Nantes cried out in alarm, saying he did not want to return to the Kingdom of Nantes, as it was too dangerous there.

“The Pope of the Holy Mountain will not give up on assassinating me, and there is hatred and war between the Kingdom of Nantes and the Flor Empire. I cannot go to see the Emperor of the Empire.”

The King of Nantes said that he was well aware of this, and that if he, as the king, met with the emperor, things would get complicated, as the empire would inevitably demand that he, as the king, sign a series of treaties following the defeat in the war.

The Kingdom of Nantes will suffer heavy losses as a result, and the kingdom's wealth may no longer belong to him.

Ryan remained noncommittal, saying that the Empire might not care about the Kingdom's paltry sums.

“I have a question. I don’t understand why the Dawn Church is so persistent in pursuing His Majesty the King. Your status is noble, but the Pope openly sent an archbishop to find you. This is unreasonable. Even the Pope cannot bear the guilt of killing a king.”

The King of Nantes fell silent, unwilling to tell Ryan. Ryan wasn't buying it; the King of Nantes' status meant nothing to him.

"Without a reasonable answer, my tundra territory is not qualified to receive a distinguished king, and I must escort you to the capital."

The King of Nantes struggled; he was now merely a high-ranking prisoner with no bargaining chips to negotiate with Ryan.

After a long time, the king finally gave in and had to reveal some secrets.

“My father told me a secret about the Pope.”

"Oh?"

Ryan wasn't surprised, but his expression betrayed his utter shock.

"My God, a secret about the Pope? As far as I know, His Holiness the Pope of the Dawn Church is sacred, and there shouldn't be any secrets about him."

"He actually has a secret that no one knows about?"

Ryan acted exaggeratedly, and then gave a sincere piece of advice.

“I think it is because of this secret that Your Majesty is being hunted down. If this secret is no longer held by you alone, then His Holiness the Pope of the Dawn Church will have no reason to hunt you down. You will return to your loyal kingdom and reclaim the power that belongs to you.”

Ryan wanted to know what this secret was that was worth going to such lengths.

“I don’t know either; my father didn’t tell me directly.”

The King of Nantes took out the blank letter, opened it, and showed it to Ryan; there was nothing on it.

"I wonder if I can take a look?"

Ryan reached out his hand, and the King of Nantes hesitated for a moment, considering that Ryan might hand him over to the Emperor, before handing over the letter.

The main problem was that the baron's men were all around the dining table, and those fierce-looking guys showed absolutely no awe or respect for him, the king. Their expressions, as if they wanted to tear him apart, made the young king somewhat afraid.

Ryan took the letter and glanced at Dean Rose and Archmage McKen on his left and right. They both shook their heads; there was no trace of magic on it.

Indeed, if it possessed magic, the Dawn Church would have noticed it long ago.

Ryan glanced around, picked up a candle, and placed the letter over the flame. As the flame heated the letter, white writing gradually appeared on the blank paper.

The previous King of Nantes wasn't that mysterious either. As long as these fancy things don't involve supernatural powers, Ryan can always find a way to uncover their secrets.

If burning doesn't work, you can soak it in water; it's an old tradition.

However, this method was shocking to the others present, as they had never seen anything like it before.

As Ryan watched the words gradually emerge, his gaze turned serious. After a moment, his expression became dazed, and his hands seemed to lose their strength, causing the letter from the King of Nantes to fall directly into the candlelight.

The candle flame wasn't large, but as soon as the letter was touched, the flame seemed to ignite the grease and spread along the paper, burning it to ashes in an instant.

The King of Nantes stared wide-eyed at Ryan in shock and anger, then stood up and slammed his hand on the heavy solid wood dining table.

"Baron, what have you done? That belongs to the Kingdom of Nantes!"

Ryan abandoned any pretense of acting out a drama between a king and a nobleman, and looked earnestly at the King of Nantes, saying:
“I have seen the letter your father left for you; it is undoubtedly yours. But I would like to ask seriously, does His Majesty the King really want to know the answer to that letter?”

Seeing Ryan's incredibly serious expression, the King of Nantes stood frozen in place. Did he want to know?
Of course he wanted to know. The only thing his father left behind was his, belonging to the Kingdom of Nantes, and he certainly wanted to know.

but……

The Pope of the Dawn Church personally ordered the killing of him, without even letting the Black Swan lift a finger.

"I...I want to know, will I die if I find out?"

Ryan nodded and replied:
“I retract my previous proposal. Even if this secret is spread, there will only be one outcome: everyone who knows this secret will die.”

"Even the emperor of an empire can become incredibly dangerous."

"As for you, when the time comes to hunt down His Majesty the King, it will probably not be just two Holy Domain Retribution Priests who will be doing it."

"I……"

The King of Nantes slumped into his chair, head bowed. He didn't know what to do. His uncle, the prince, was dead, and now there was no one to help him.

Ryan looked at the butler and ordered him to fetch the resin and letter paper.

A moment later, in front of the King of Nantes, Ryan melted the solidified resin with fire and wrote on the letter paper.

Not long after, Ryan placed the brand-new letter back into the King of Nantes' envelope, and the butler came up, took it, and presented it to the king.

“I swear on Ryan’s honor, Your Majesty, you would never want to know that secret. The reason your father didn’t tell you was that he hoped you would never find out.”

"The reason why the Pope of the Dawn Church did not make up his mind is because he was not sure whether you really knew."

Ryan resumed his standard aristocratic smile, hypocritical and flamboyant.

"But I think you can treat this letter as that secret. I suggest you give it to His Majesty the Emperor of the Flor Empire. That way, you won't have to pay any price, and His Majesty the Emperor will even be happy to bestow upon you a great deal of wealth."

"I wonder what you think?"

The steward, Beard, placed a candle in front of the King of Nantes, who held the letter up to the firelight and watched the words gradually become clearer.

"Pope Solarion, the most devout servant of the great Lord of Dawn, His spokesperson on earth, the incarnation of the Lord's God, has betrayed the glory of the great Lord of Dawn."

"He should have remained unmarried and childless for his entire life, offering his sacred body to the Lord of Dawn."

"He failed to do so. He has a child, and that child, perhaps in the future, with the help of his pope father, will become the Holy Son of the Dawn Church, making the papacy a hereditary authority."

The King of Nantes stared at Ryan in shock, his mouth agape.

“It is true, Your Majesty. You can consider it a secret about the Pope that your father left you.”

"It can also be given to His Majesty the Emperor of the Flor Empire. Our Emperor will be very pleased, and then his status as the High Pope of Light will be comparable to that of the Pope of Dawn."

"After all, neither the High Pope of Light of the Empire nor His Holiness the Pope of Dawn of the Holy See are absolutely devout believers."

"As for His Highness the Holy Son of the Dawn Church, I recall something. Thousands of years ago, didn't the Dawn Church announce something? That is, the descent of their Holy Son?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, this Holy Son... is still Your Majesty's younger brother."

Ryan smiled, but the King of Nantes became furious in that instant.

"This matter is very serious, but Your Majesty would be better off treating this letter as a secret known to the King of Nantes. The Pope will be angry that you have revealed this to the world, but the Pope will not implicate the King in the crime of killing him because of this."

Ryan allowed the King of Nantes to rest temporarily in the castle on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain. After the king left, Ryan looked at his followers with a playful yet serious expression.

He looked at the ashes in front of him and said:

"The Pope of the Dawn Church is actually... a blasphemer."

(End of this chapter)