Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress
Chapter 909: Shared Responsibility

Chapter 909: Chapter 909: Shared Responsibility

Ferdinand and Raymond also wanted to speak with the Pope about the undead which was why this meeting was agreed upon.

"I believe you must maintain Valeria for a long while. With the number of your knights and soldiers, the undead is more dangerous to your Empire than several kingdoms altogether," the Pope added.

This was true as well.

Several kingdoms attacking together could be won over with their might.

On the other hand, the undead only followed the command they were given by the necromancer. And they keep reanimating unless dealt with properly to stop them completely.

With their numerous knights and soldiers, their numbers could be turned against them, since any death on their side becomes the strength of their enemies, who use necromancy.

Even if their army was strong, they would get tired eventually, while the undead were unfeeling and tirelessly fought continuously.

Thus, they indeed needed to ensure that using necromancers in war doesn’t become a thing.

The Great Temple’s Divine Power is useful against undead, so Ferdinand already planned to inform them about what happened in Crux once suspicions on the Pope were cleared.

After all, the undead were a shared responsibility since both of them would only suffer losses from them.

Neither side wanted to be fighting people whom they once knew or cherished.

After all, people cherish even the corpse of someone they once treasured.

The same was true for Arabella.

It was why, even though she knew Fermin’s original body would be kept safe in Estrella, she did not allow herself to get pregnant immediately.

After all, even if Fermin only died in his form here, he still died for real. Only that his soul immediately returns to his original body in Estrella.

The same was true for Ferdinand.

Arabella did not want to see them die again, the way they did in her previous life.

Thus, she was still not pregnant. Because, she wanted to ensure a better future for them first.

Alwin understood this since he grieved their deaths as well, even when he knew they had their original body in Estrella.

Death was still death, after all.

"Those things are indeed bothersome," Ferdinand said, and the Pope perked up, knowing what would come next.

"Alright. We will allow you to speak with the prisoners and share some of the information we have gathered so far. But, only after you hand us a report of the result of your investigation on your inventory and the people who worked for you," Ferdinand set a condition.

It was to ensure they do the investigations in haste and not give any excuses for delays after they have gotten what they wanted in this meeting.

"Fair enough. We will conduct the investigation as soon as we can and send it over immediately," the Pope agreed.

[I figured they would not give it for free. Then, I should at least add a few more.]

"Can you also add any development on your investigation of the humanoid monsters and those who made the attack during the Yearly Assembly?

There’s been an increase in sightings again, especially in the areas where winter has already begun.

The number of sightings and attacks should have only increased as much as at least a month after winter began.

Yet, they are already wreaking havoc.

I have my hands full sending everyone here and there."

The Pope meant that at this rate, Valeria will have to send their knights to fight monsters as well to uphold their agreement with the temple.

Further, Valeria is now part of the Council. Thus, they would have to send help to any kingdom having difficulty in eradicating monsters.

This meant helping the Pope early on and rooting out the possible cause of these increased sightings meant lessening future workload for them.

"Are you saying you suspect this is their doing? And this time, in different kingdoms?" Ferdinand asked for verification.

"Yes, monster attacks have been increasing ever since that time.

It’s clear from the attack on Medeus that they can summon monsters as they please and even manipulate their strength to their bidding.

This is alarming, especially since the monster even stood its ground against you, and could not be dealt with by an ancient sword."

The Pope glanced at Ferdinand’s Emperor ring, which had the sword passed down from one Valerian Emperor to another.

[He had to use another sword, which I figure is his personal one.

It must be so much older than we can even imagine.

We don’t have that kind of sword, and surely not even his knights had swords of such caliber.

We do have legendary weapons used to slay the long-lived races and monsters from several millennia ago, but I’m not sure it’s not enough.]

The Pope was worried since it was his and the temple’s responsibility to aid various kingdoms.

If by chance a humanoid monster appeared again, it would cause a lot of casualties before any help even arrives.

Likewise, standing its ground against Ferdinand, who was the strongest in Eliora, even if it was just for a few seconds, meant it would need several fighters of the highest caliber to fight and dispose of one.

"I see. There’s not much development on the investigations on that one, but we’ll see what happens if we get more," Ferdinand said.

"Can’t you at least share what you have gathered so far?

I have my hands full protecting several kingdoms even outside this continent.

I haven’t sent any summons here yet, but if I must send more of my people for investigations, I must delegate some of the tasks here," the Pope pointed out.

Arabella could feel his exhaustion just from the look on his face.

He was basically saying, Valeria should uphold their end of the deal and help before things get worse.

[His Holiness is ranting to them?!]

[Is it alright to reveal this much to them? What if they plan to expand the Empire and attack the temple as well while we are vulnerable?]

The paladins were quite surprised that the Pope was revealing this much.