I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 67

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

 
‘What event occurred at this timing that the Empress would directly send a letter?’

I carefully went over the contents of the story in my mind, but nothing came to mind.

In the first place, the Empress shouldn’t have enough interest in me at this point to send a separate letter.

She should have just thought of me as a moderately talented knight and moved on, then gradually become more interested as the related story progressed later on.

I had no confidence in dealing with the Empress’ extremely capricious personality and speech from the early to middle parts of the story.

It was clear that something had gone wrong, but I couldn’t figure out where it had started.

“Can I just unfold it and check it like this?”

“Yeah. Just be careful not to let us see the contents before you do. Ah, you know you can’t damage the Empress’ seal, right?”

I stopped my fingers that were about to remove the seal.

Seeing my fingers abruptly stop, Aurora closed her mouth as if at a loss for words for a moment, then, after a long pause, muttered in a dumbfounded voice.

“…You didn’t know?”

“I didn’t.”

“A letter stamped with the Empress’ seal means that Her Majesty has personally handled the entire process. Selecting the stationery, writing the letter, sealing the letter, and even the process of stamping the seal. So you must never damage it. Keep it well and return it to Her Majesty when you have an audience with her.”

“What happens if you lose it or something?”

“Do you want to know?”

“…It’s probably better not to know.”

I meekly gave up.

If Aurora went as far as saying that, I didn’t want to satisfy my curiosity by peering into the abyss.

“If I hadn’t given you a hint just in case, we would have been in big trouble if you had just let it slide.”

Aurora brushed her chest.

I felt the same way.

I had never thought that a landmine would be hidden in such a place.

Moreover, it wasn’t an ordinary landmine but an anti-tank mine.

There was no way I could have known the detailed contents, such as not damaging the Empress’ seal and keeping it well to return it to the Empress when I had an audience with her.

I moved my fingers even more carefully.

I gently removed the Empress’ seal and placed it on the table, then untied the knot of the red string that was wrapped around the parchment.

‘Do I have to return this string later too?’

I stared blankly at the string in my hand for a moment, then placed it next to the seal.

It was just in case I needed to keep it.

If I took it with me as it was, at least I wouldn’t lose anything.

The scroll made of parchment was a luxurious item at a glance.

When touched by hand, it had a slightly bouncy elasticity while being much softer than paper.

It might sound strange for paper to have elasticity, but at least that was how it felt to me.

“Wait a moment. There isn’t any etiquette that I must follow when unfolding or reading this, right?”

“Well… it’s not that there isn’t.”

“Oh, there really is?”

“Every single action you should show in front of Her Majesty the Empress is defined by rules. Things like how to breathe, how to kneel, where to keep your eyes, and so on.”

“…”

Suddenly, my throat felt choked up.

In front of the Empress, even the method of breathing and moving your eyes had to follow set rules?

Really?

“But those only apply when directly having an audience with Her Majesty the Empress in the Imperial Palace. You don’t need to worry about that here, so there’s no need to be nervous. You can just read it however you want. But don’t handle it too roughly.”

“That’s a relief at least.”

I meant it sincerely.

I grabbed both ends of the rolled-up parchment and slowly unfolded it.

On the slightly yellowish surface of the paper, words written in black ink came into view.

ㅡGo to the Holy Kingdom. Cecilia Libanus.

“…?”

For a moment, I doubted my eyes.

On the parchment, which was as long as three or four A4 sheets connected vertically, there were only two sentences written.

The number of letters in the Emperor’s surname and name combined was even greater than the number of letters in the body of the text.

Thinking I might have misread it, I looked even more closely at the parchment, and I also pulled the scroll all the way to see if there were any additional words written at the top or bottom.

But those two sentences were really all there was.

An order to go to the Holy Kingdom, and Cecilia’s own full name.

“What kind of content is it that you have such a serious expression?”

Aurora casually threw out a question.

The other knight commanders seemed equally curious, but they couldn’t bring themselves to ask since it was a letter sent directly by the Emperor.

“Uh… I’m asking just in case, but is there magic that can hide letters and make them appear only when certain conditions are met?”

“Hmm? I’m not a magician. There’s no way I would know such a thing. Why? What does it say?”

I silently handed over the parchment.

Aurora read it and widened her eyes just like me, then made an expression that was half peculiar and half absurd.

This time, it was the knight commanders’ turn to satisfy their curiosity.

Aurora also passed the parchment with a complicated face, and the knight commanders also glanced at it one by one and made the same expression.

The silence that settled in the reception room lasted for quite a while.

Each person’s teacup was emptied and refilled at least twice.

When the silence was finally broken, it was Aurora who spoke first.

“There must be something more, right?”

Aurora picked up the parchment with a face that clearly showed the emotions she must be feeling right now.

“No matter how I think about it, there’s no need to go through the trouble of writing a letter directly just to convey an order to go to the Holy Kingdom. There must be something more to it.”

“I agree with you, Lady Aurora. It would be more accurate to think that this letter has undergone some kind of magical treatment.”

Iris affirmed those words.

The other knight commanders seemed to have similar thoughts.

“Then the first question is this. Why specifically the Holy Kingdom?”

This time, the reactions were mixed.

While Aurora and Iris had expressions of having no idea why it had to be the Holy Kingdom, Claudia, Lizé, Erica, and I had expressions of recalling something.

We would have to talk about it anyway, and perhaps now was the right time.

Our decision was made quickly.

After exchanging glances for a while, it was Erica who finally took the lead.

“Perhaps it’s because of what we experienced.”

Erica revealed all the events that had occurred right after we subjugated Arachnae.

The incident where Stella, the Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom of Raphaella, and her subordinate battle nuns had appeared when we were about to set out to find an antidote for the poisoned Claudia.

The incident where Stella had declared us heretics and surrounded us with battle nuns.

And then, under the pretext of judging heretics, she had unfastened her sacred robe to expose her breasts and genitals, and when I was judged not to be a heretic, she had said she couldn’t accept it and made me fondle her breasts.

Finally, while mentioning that she sensed sacred power from me, she had spaced out and told me to visit the Holy Kingdom, saying she would arrange for me to meet the Pope of the Sun after treating Claudia.

Even after the explanation ended, Aurora and Iris remained silent for a while.

“…To summarize what you said, Erica.”

Then suddenly, Aurora grabbed her forehead.

“Delta underwent a heretic judgment by the Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom of Raphaella, and the method of judgment was lifting clothes and fondling breasts? Before that, she even showed her nipples and vagina by lifting her clothes?”

“Although I’m a bit concerned about the words you used, you’ve accurately understood it for now.”

“Is that Inquisitor woman a pervert? Or does she have exhibitionism or something?”

In fact, Aurora’s own attire was far from normal.

Her dress exposed her sideboob, collarbone, and even armpits, and she wasn’t wearing a single piece of underwear underneath.

Saying such things while dressed like that had no persuasive power at all.

Moreover, didn’t the knight commanders also come to the banquet wearing transparent see-through one-piece dresses that clearly showed bare skin, which they called dresses, along with lingerie matching their hair color?

‘And calling that a sacred robe is also odd.’

Erica referred to that insane outfit, which seemed like it would fully expose her nipples and genitals if the wind blew from somewhere, as a sacred robe, and neither Aurora nor the other knight commanders raised any questions about it.

From my perspective, it was six of one and half a dozen of the other.

“If the Inquisitor promised to arrange for us to meet the Pope of the Sun, it’s highly likely that the Holy Kingdom has already conveyed the news to Her Majesty the Empress. That’s why Her Majesty sent such a letter.”

“That quickly? It would take a while to get from the place where we subjugated the monster to the Holy Kingdom…”

“They might have used some trick. Since there’s a spatial movement magic among the highest-level magic, even in sacred spellsㅡ”

“That’s correct.”

A third-party voice was heard from somewhere.

It was a voice I was hearing for the first time.

The response was quick.

The knight commanders instantly drew their weapons and aimed at the direction the voice had come from, and the maids immediately clung to Aurora, shielding her with their own bodies.

By the time I barely reacted and started moving my body, the knight commanders had already finished preparing for battle.

“Who’s there? This is Lady Aurora’s mansion. If you don’t reveal your identity, we will consider you an enemy.”

In front of the large window of the reception room stood a woman wearing a robe mixed with gray and silver, pulled over her head.

Even over the baggy robe, the curves of her body were clearly visible.

“Please lower your weapons. I am not an enemy.”

“That’s up to you. I won’t talk for long. Show yourself. Any conversation or discussion will take place after that.”

“…Understood.”

A slender hand wearing a leather glove reached for the robe that covered her face.

The soft sound of the robe being removed was heard, and the abundant gray ponytail hidden inside cascaded down her back.

Violet eyes shone purple, reflecting the light from the chandelier.

The jewel-like purple eyes slowly swept over us.

There was no hostility in that gaze.

“My name is Selene.”

The woman spoke with an expressionless face.

“I am the Inquisitor under the Pope of the Moon.”

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇