“I heard that you were looking for me, Your Majesty.”

After learning that the man who confessed to assassinating the Emperor was cursed, the priest who confirmed this fact said that if the minister knew about this field, he would bring him along.

But the one who came to the palace to find Latil was only the minister, the priest who introduced the minister was not seen.

“Where is the priest of Gnosis?”

“Sister stayed in Sosta after telling me about this matter, and is now taking care of my work.”

“Did you hear the explanation?”

“Yes, I heard it.”

Latil nodded and took the minister into his private office. The private office was a space where, unlike the public office, no secretary or servant could come in no matter how urgent the matter was.

Latil deliberately called him inside because there were few people who knew about black magic or curses.

“As you may already know, a guy who confessed to killing the previous Emperor showed up. But as soon as he opened his mouth, something strange happened.”

Latil sat on the desk after instructing the servant to bring a chair to the minister.

“The cursed criminal said strange things as he was dying. Pay homage to the Lord or something like that.”

The minister sat awkwardly on the round and soft chair brought by the servant.

“Priest. There are two things you need to answer.”

“Even if there are dozens of things, I will answer everything I know, Your Majesty.”

“No, two will do. First question, what does ‘pay homage to the Lord’ mean?”

“…What is the other question?”

“Can a zombie be created because of the cursed corpse? If so, what is the way to deal with it when it appears? The priest of Gnosis said that he doesn’t know because almost all information about Guma has disappeared.”

The minister, who said he would answer dozens of things, however, couldn’t easily open his mouth when Latil threw the question. Latil frowned and propped his chin.

“Do you mean you might be able to answer one of the dozens of questions?”

“No, sir.”

“Then answer everything you know. Even if you babble, I will listen.”

Latil’s words were firm and cold, yet it was nice because there was no ambiguity. If the Emperor beats around the bush, the ministers would be busy analyzing and interpreting his words.

Thinking about the rumors that people were buzzing about the new Emperor, Minister Hira opened his mouth.

“The story of the black magicians being exterminated 500 years ago…”

“I know.”

“Then do you know there was a time when the black magicians were exterminated 1000 years ago?”

Latil looked darkly at the minister’s beard and raised his eyebrows.

“Were they exterminated twice? Is that an extermination? Are you sure?”

“The stories about the black magicians are passed down like legends under the explanation of ‘a long time ago’, and ordinary people think this story is about the incident 500 years ago. But that ‘a long time ago’ is about 1000 years ago.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. The records themselves are few, but most of them are found in faraway countries. It was not just one or two nations.”

“……”

“Perhaps the records from 1500 years ago would be more precise… but maybe there’s a resurgence of dark magicians every 500 years.”

“High Priest, I’m not interested in when they revive.”

Latil crossed her knees and furrowed her brow.

“We need a way to handle them.”

“If we knew the records from the past, we would know the method.”

“The records are?”

“Those records are missing…”

If the High Priest wasn’t a venerable old man with sacred white hair, Latil would have asked coldly, “Are you kidding me?”

But the High Priest was older than anyone Latil had met, so it wasn’t easy to speak carelessly.

Latil rubbed her temples with her thumb to suppress her anger. The High Priest didn’t know how to handle it, despite beating around the bush.

Even the first question he didn’t answer outright seems like he doesn’t know the answer. Eventually, Latil sighed and stood up from the desk.

“If you don’t know, that’s fine. I’m sorry for making you travel so far. Rest a bit before you go.”

“Although the records are lost, I know of someone who can perform the rites.”

However, the High Priest’s added words stopped Latil. Latil, who had been heading to the door, slowly turned around.

“Who is that?”

“It’s the Archbishop.”

“The Archbishop? He knows the method?”

“Exactly, the existence of the Archbishop is diametrically opposed to those in the dark.”

“That’s good.”

Latil grinned and approached the High Priest.

“Then I just need to find the Archbishop.”

In fact, the thought of having to find not only the High Priest but also the Archbishop made her sigh, but it was better to have someone to find than not knowing anything.

However, the next words from the High Priest greatly disappointed Latil.

“Even the priests don’t know who the Archbishop is, or where he is. He keeps his identity hidden.”

Latil furrowed her brow.

“Then it’s useless, isn’t it?”

Then why did he even speak?

“Fortunately, I have a connection with the Archbishop, so I know his location.”