Chapter 147: The Voice of God (3)

On the other side of the smartphone screen.

I couldn’t help but be stunned by the sight of the guy who stuck his wooden sword into the ground and made a strange expression.

I had only spouted some nonsense a few times, but he was looking up at the sky with impressed eyes.

He looked like he was sincerely fascinated by something.

He was a character who showed a reaction that was five times more intense than I expected.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

The noble character who looked up at the sky with moist eyes.

He kept mumbling something to me, as if he was the tragic protagonist of some drama who had a twisted fate.

Whether I was a god or a devil, or something worse than that. The story he had been guessing my identity on his own did not continue.

Instead, he just set the mood with a meaningful expression.

A speech bubble popped up over his head, who was looking at the sky and pondering.

-“Ah, ah… I understand.”

“What did you figure out?”

I didn’t know what it was, but he was someone who managed to figure out something on his own.

I didn’t know what he had guessed, but he didn’t seem like a normal character either.

That’s because I had also figured out something I didn’t know on my own.

As I made an awkward expression while looking at him talking nonsense, his determined words continued.

-“I don’t care if you are a god or a devil, or something more than that.”

“…”

-“Please make me an emperor…”

He wanted to be an emperor.

That single-mindedness was conveyed to me through his eyes.

And as if to put a period on his story so far, he added one more word to me with a significant meaning.

-“I will dedicate this whole country to you.”

Right after his last words ended.

Ding.

A new message appeared at the bottom of the screen.

The message displayed in the message box informed me of the birth of a new fanatic.

-[Aicliffe Rogasion] has become a fanatic.

Aicliffe Rogasion.

That was the name of the character who had become a new fanatic.

I looked at him for a moment, who had stuck his sword into the ground.

The character who fluttered his golden hair was a typical noble-like appearance.

“…”

The story I had just told him was nothing more than a joke to mess with him.

It was not my concern if an ambitious character jumped in like a moth and burned himself alone.

However, it was a different story if such a character became a fanatic.

I was not a cruel person who would push away a character who clung to me.

Especially if the target was someone who could benefit me.

“An emperor…”

I recalled the continent that I had seen many times in my head.

This game was based on the relationships that were formed by the interactions between the characters.

Depending on my intervention, I could also change the relationships between the characters.

Then, would it be possible to make one character an emperor in this game?

I couldn’t easily come to a conclusion on this new dilemma.

“How strong is an emperor?”

I had no memory of meeting an emperor before.

The ones I had hunted were either affiliated with a place called Cloud, or belonged to the temple and opposed the cult.

But most of them had performance that suited their roles.

The character who was called an emperor would not be much different from that category.

Either the emperor himself was a very powerful character, or he had a pattern of summoning other characters under the pretext of escorting him.

Then, could I capture the emperor character and make this guy an emperor?

“Is he in the area that I can enter? Or else…”

I didn’t know.

It was still hard to make a decision.

Even in the game, the area where I could move the screen was limited.

Most of them were influenced by the <Eye of the Observer> skill, and even if the level increased, there were many cases where the area did not expand in a certain direction.

No matter how much the <Eye of the Observer> grew, the screen did not move beyond the border of the empire.

To find out more, I had to send apostles to do the work.

“Well, he’s probably in a place that I can’t access.”

I wouldn’t know for sure until I checked it myself, but it was likely that the space where the emperor was also could not be directly observed.

In the end, it was a matter that would keep the apostles busy.

It would take quite a long time to make Aicliffe, who was in front of me, an emperor.

I had to invest the cult’s manpower and resources for that, and spend time continuously.

-“Please make me an emperor.”

But there was a certain charm in the word emperor.

Wouldn’t it be fun?

A story of an unknown force that secretly rules the empire.

To weave a story with my own hands among the characters who live ordinary lives.

Princess Maker… no, King God Emperor Maker.

“Let’s try to make one. An emperor.”

I felt a surge of interest in my chest as I watched Aicliffe.

A future where all the characters of the empire become believers and offer karma.

How strong would the cult be then?

My lips curled up slightly as I imagined a golden future in my head.

-I used <Lightning Arrow>.

Crash!

A lightning bolt struck and electrocuted a suspicious character who was hiding on the roof.

I knocked down the character who was aiming his bow at Aicliffe, and turned my gaze back to him.

I had found a toy to make into an emperor.

I couldn’t just leave him to die by some unknown assassin.

“I have to tell Roan first, though.”

The emperor-making led by the cult.

Of course, Roan would be the one who would spearhead this operation.

Now that I had <Voice> magic, I didn’t need to go through Utenia to deliver the message.

I decided to try to make an emperor and started to move the screen to find Roan in the cult.

***

“…I never thought I’d meet you like this.”

A back alley of a deserted island.

There, Van Krite, who wore a hood over his head, opened his mouth.

He had made a name for himself as a special investigator of Cloud, but now he had withdrawn his hand from the hunt for black magicians even within Cloud.

His behavior was due to the experience he had during the Abyss hunt.

The abyss.

A space of nothingness where only monsters that greedily devour everything like jaws exist.

Van had lost his heart while fighting a demon who called himself Arcrosis in the abyss.

“I thought I’d never see you again in my life.”

Now he had forgotten even the sound of his heart beating, and he was just living day by day waiting for his death.

But that’s what he thought.

Arcrosis, who seemed to ignore him, finally gave Van an order.

To meet the man in front of him and help him.

And the man in front of Van now was a very familiar face to him.

“Long time no see. The Second Apostle, Evan Allemier.”

The Second Apostle. Evan Allemier.

He was the one who had blocked the hunting party in the Kueberg hunt.

He had shown a sight of stalling for time alone against the heroes.

Of course, he didn’t seem to have the ability to take down three heroes by himself, but he was at a level that could easily handle one hero.

Van scanned Evan’s appearance, who wore a hood like himself.

“What business do you have with a loser who was defeated by you?”

He had come to the island wearing a hood, so he must have had something to do with the island.

What were those evil cult bastards trying to do on the island?

As Van looked at Evan with a crooked gaze, Evan took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

Tick. A black lightning bolt sprang from his gauntlet and lit the cigarette.

With a cigarette in his mouth, emitting smoke, Evan slowly opened his mouth to Van.

“Today, I’m going to deal with the empire’s business.”

“Are you trying to tell me to drop the investigation related to the cult?”

“I’ve already given up on the investigation of the black magicians. I don’t expect anything more.”

Hoo. Thick cigarette smoke spewed from Evan’s mouth.

Van clicked his tongue at the sight of Evan smoking a cigarette.

Lighting a cigarette with lightning from his gauntlet.

It was a very strange sight to see.

“Then what do you want?”

“There’s someone in the empire who needs you.”

“Needs me?”

“To be precise, not just you, but all the promising talents in the empire.”

It was hard for Van to understand what Evan was saying.

Why would they need people like him?

Unless they were planning to commit a crime in the empire, why would they need such manpower?

As Van was pondering over this, Evan, who was staring at the back of the alley, added another word.

“The guest will be here soon.”

“A guest? What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see. He’s someone you know better than me, who stayed in the borderlands.”

As soon as Evan’s words ended, half of his cigarette burned, something started to feel in the back alley.

Thud. Thud.

Van’s eyes turned to where the sound of footsteps echoed in the alley.

A burly young man appeared in front of them, casting a dark shadow.

He also wore a hood deep over his head like the two of them.

“You finally arrived.”

“I was a bit late because I had to avoid annoying eyes. Who’s that?”

Evan greeted the ‘guest’ who had come to them.

But the guest’s eyes were on Van.

Evan briefly introduced him to the guest who was watching Van.

It was a short story that didn’t need any more simple introductions.

“He works for Cloud. He might be helpful to you in the future.”

“So, nice to meet you. I’m Aicliffe Rogasion.”

Swish.

The guest who had lifted his hood extended his hand to Van and spoke.

Behind the hood that was pushed back, golden hair fluttered.

Aicliffe Rogasion.

Van chewed on his name as he saw the guest introduce himself.

Rogasion. Rogasion. It was a word that felt strangely familiar.

“Rogasion…!”

Van realized the identity of that familiarity belatedly and knelt down.

Rogasion was a surname that only the noble bloodline that led the empire could have.

The fact that he had Rogasion as his surname meant one thing.

Aicliffe Rogasion was the prince of the empire.

The notorious troublemaker prince of the island was standing in front of Van’s eyes.

“Special investigator Van Krite. It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

As Van bowed to the prince, Aicliffe made a troubled expression and waved his hand.

It was a gesture to stop the conspicuous courtesy.

At Aicliffe’s appearance, Van slowly got up.

Aicliffe, who had approached Van, patted his shoulder and said.

“Since we came out quietly, there’s no need to be so formal.”

“As you wish, Your Highness. But what brings you here…”

“All great causes start in a quiet place.”

“…Ah.”

Van guessed the meaning of Aicliffe’s words.

The Second Prince Aicliffe had joined the cult.

And he had promised to receive full support from the apostle.

If the emperor found out that the prince had joined the cult of the evil god, it would be a matter of great anger.

“Forgive me for asking, but are you with him?”

If he knew the emperor, it wouldn’t be strange if he cut off the prince’s neck.

That’s why Van asked Aicliffe a difficult question.

Evan smiled faintly at Van’s question and nodded slightly.

His answer was not what Van expected.

“The great one has chosen me as the new emperor.”

“Is that so…”

“So I decided to follow his will and become an emperor.”

It was a seditious story that would make the royal knights furious.

There was no mercy for a traitor, even if he was a prince.

But Aicliffe calmly told such a story as if nothing was wrong.

He had clearly made up his mind already.

And on top of that, he confidently laid out his plan.

“Listen. I will build the largest altar in this country. And I will make them praise him gloriously every day.”

“Is that your will, Your Highness?”

“So, Van Krite. I hope you can help me with my great undertaking.”

Emperor.

A glorious position that everyone looked up to.

The prince who was intoxicated by his longing for it had lost his rational judgment.

The temple would turn him into an enemy. The emperor would be angry and point his sword at him.

Aicliffe’s decision was that dangerous.

Of course, Van’s answer to the prince’s proposal was already decided from the beginning.

“I will follow your will, Your Highness.”

Van could only answer positively.

He had no choice since he had lost his heart’s beat.