The Emperor Who Was Chapter 86 : Chapter 86

Chapter . 86

The Knights of Purity, other Brothers who had always obeyed the priest's command whenever a mage hunt took place, approached one by one and placed their hands on Immanuel's shoulder. Just as the Prince had done.

As a sign that they respected and supported Immanuel's decision.

"I do not think that just because a holy knight has not bestowed a blessing until now, there is any law stating they cannot do so in the future. What do you think?"

Once they had expressed their will, the Prince, who had been waiting for them, asked the priest.

The priest could not object any further either. There was no justification to refuse the will of the Prince, who respected even the holy knights who wielded swords within his castle, rather than opposing the temple in front of people.

Immanuel approached the wolf. The wolf, seemingly influenced by the Prince and the holy knights in that short ti, did not resist roughly like evil beasts under a spell.

Instead, it approached Immanuel on its own, lay down on all fours, and stretched out its long neck. As if willingly entrusting itself to Immanuel's disposal.

"Good heavens, that notorious Wolf of Petrafis!"

"I have never seen that terrifying beast act like a sheep before!"

"It is truly an extraordinary occurrence!"

The people whispered in surprise, but Immanuel grew more tense, closing his eyes and concentrating.

The monts of sacrifice he had offered up until now flashed by like a revolving lantern.

However, at this mont, what was required of him was neither his blood nor the enemy's blood.

Blessing. A chance for him to receive God's love and forgiveness.

Also, a chance to show his love and forgiveness.

When he opened his eyes, he saw rare blue-grey eyes.

The first person who believed that he could accomplish sothing other than courage, fighting, and sacrifice.

His hand went up unhesitatingly, just as when he raised the holy sword. Even though he was not holding the holy sword that was like another limb to him, he moved freely like a fish in water.

"In the na of the God Traneha, I bestow a blessing upon this pitiful being."

As he placed his hand on the wolf's head, only then did the thought occur that this pitiful being might also be himself.

One who had only now obtained the opportunity to show love to soone... to a target other than his Brothers.......

It was then. A blinding light spread out. Like the monts he had seen so often in holy paintings. How brilliant a radiance it was to witness in person!

He could not even breathe. Until that refreshing and warm light, resembling a blend of wind and sunlight, enveloped everyone present, swirled around, and disappeared. His heart swelled of its own accord.

"Aaaah!"

"Look! Look at that!"

"How can this be!"

People shouted wildly. He opened the eyes that had closed without him realizing it.

A naked man was prostrate at Immanuel's feet. The wolf had vanished without a trace.

"Oh, God Traneha!"

The man shouted, shedding tears. No one could continue speaking. Because the man's voice was so desperate.

"The God Traneha has saved !"

The man threw his body forward, embracing Immanuel's legs and sobbing.

"The God Traneha has saved ! The God Traneha... Heuheuheuk!"

Immanuel could not believe what had just happened. There were often mages who turned into beasts and hard people.

However, they were so depraved that they had lost their human souls. No matter how strictly they were tried and tortured, there were often tis when a mage who had lived as a beast for a long ti did not return to being human.

Although they would return if killed by a holy sword, even that did not always work. They lived like beasts and died like beasts, and it was truly a fitting punishnt.

-There are records that in the old days, the temple turned such mages back into humans by performing a trendous ritual. However, it was not always successful even then, and because the sacrifice of the temple was so great, the Holy Emperor of that ti forbade it.

A ritual that succeeded only after countless holy knights who had received special training bordering on penance were deployed and paid a trendous sacrifice.

He and his Brothers had never even received that training... yet he succeeded in a task that even his predecessors had failed at so often, without even performing a ritual, with just a simple word of blessing?

Immanuel felt his head spin. The fact that the one who accomplished this unbelievable feat was himself made him feel dizzy.

At that mont, an upright voice was heard.

"It is a miracle."

Immanuel, whose eyes had snapped open of their own accord, looked at the blue-grey eyes in front of him.

However, unlike before, those eyes were not looking at him but at the void, as if looking at the place where the God Traneha was looking down.

Was he really seeing the God Traneha? Was it because his eyes held God that they shone so brightly?

As the wind rose and fluttered the Prince's hair, the hawk's wings spread as if in response, montarily covering the Prince's face. When the wings folded again, the revealed face of the Prince was looking straight at Immanuel.

"The God Traneha has perford a miracle through the hands of Knight Commander Immanuel."

Immanuel could breathe again.

"A miracle!"

"It is a miracle!"

"Oh, God Traneha!"

People shouted wildly. There were those who sobbed, and those who embraced each other and cried. There were also those who knelt and prayed reverently.

"Exorcist Priest, inform the temple. A miracle has occurred in Montova, and Knight Commander Immanuel has saved a poor soul under a spell. As an observer and witness, record this event and report it to the Holy Emperor."

The old Exorcist Priest, who had been dispatched from the Great Temple, enjoyed the trust of the Holy Emperor and the Cardinal, and had hunted mages for the longest ti, gathered his two hands at his chest and inhaled for a mont. Then he opened his mouth with a serious expression.

"The God Traneha—"

"The God Traneha has saved . A blessing... please, God's blessing once more! Without God's blessing, I might fall under the spell and turn into a wolf again! Please save !"

At that mont, the man who had been hugging Immanuel and crying clung to the priest and wept as well. He grabbed the priest's hand and placed it on his own head.

As the priest placed his hand on the man's head and bestowed a blessing while people watched, everyone rejoiced. Immanuel took off his pure white cloak and wrapped it around the man's naked body.

"Thank you, rciful Knight! I will never forget this grace!"

He held Immanuel's hand tightly and expressed his gratitude. Immanuel gazed down blankly at the hand touching his body, even though it did not belong to one of his Brothers.

Flesh and blood that he would originally have struck rcilessly with the holy sword. The body of an enemy that would have been stained with blood, and the unfamiliar warmth touching his body.

When he raised his head again with the instinct of a holy knight, the Prince was looking at them and smiling. As if that, the contact not stained with their blood, was what should have happened originally.

"Brothers! Brothers! Now my Brothers!"

Following Immanuel, the man who had been a wolf received blessings from all of Immanuel's holy knight Brothers and the other priests. Immanuel thought that the faces of his holy knight Brothers, blessing a stranger who was not a fellow Knight of Purity for the first ti, were more solemn than the priests and incomparably reverent. Thinking that the Prince watching them must have realized that as well, his heart beat with pride for his Brothers.

People slowly began to wonder about the man's identity.

"Co to think of it, while there are mages who transform themselves into animals, there are also poor people who beco animals under a curse!"

"It reminds

of the legend of the seven princes who beca swans under their stepmother's curse."

"And the frog prince who only beca human after receiving a princess's kiss!"

"How pitiful. Who on earth is that person?"

The man soon revealed his na. Jero de Lagardi.

The second son of a Baron's family who had even beco the Emperor's secretary, but was cursed and trapped in the body of a wolf.

A man who was chased by his father and brother even in his hotown, and could not even be present at the deathbed of his father who had been searching for him.

People shed tears. Not missing that mont, the Prince commanded.

"However, you must explain the deaths of the Petrafis villagers. Is it true that you hard people while you were the Wolf of Petrafis?"

"I am responsible for the deaths of only two people, and even then, one fell to his death in surprise upon seeing , and the other attacked

first so I only defended myself. The others went missing in the mountains; they have nothing to do with . I have never eaten human flesh!"

Jero shouted desperately.

"If a wolf had truly devoured them, only bones would have remained; would there have been any bodies found at the bottom of the cliff? Furthermore, not a single child, whom a wolf could have snatched more easily, was hard! Honestly, because of my notoriety, people stopped sending children to the mountains to dig for herbs, so I guarantee that the number of children dying from falls or snake bites has decreased. There were many tis when I was unfairly accused of killing people who were actually killed by beasts like snakes or bears that even I was busy running away from!"

The villagers of Petrafis could not help but nod their heads. Although they were the ones who had captured the werewolf, having witnessed the wolf turn into a human, and seeing that the human was so remarkably human, they all lost their wits and listened intently. His tall, handso appearance and dignified deanor were far removed from the wolf harming people that they had believed in.

The Exorcist Priest persistently asked who dared to place a curse on him, a noble, and Jero willingly opened his mouth.

"The place where I was cursed was the Imperial Palace! There was a priest present, and among the mages—"

"Since you have lived as a wolf for so long, your mory seems to be unstable. Rest well for now and recover your stability."

However, the Exorcist Priest hurriedly cut him off. If royalty was involved, a mage hunt would yield no results. Not to ntion if it was the Emperor. Even if that man claid he was cursed by the Emperor's mages, it would be over if the Emperor denied it.

In the case of Prince Leontes, the temple had joined hands with the Empress, and the incident had originated in a territory awarded behind the Emperor's back, initially seemingly unrelated to the Prince, so they had been able to intervene to this extent.

-One must always be cautious regarding the Armatia Imperial Family and mage issues. especially matters related to the Emperor, you must not move even half a step without informing

in advance.

As the Holy Emperor had directly warned, it was now ti to retreat. The people were already agitated as it was.

"If it happened in the Imperial Palace, we must inform His Majesty the Emperor!"

"That is right, isn't it those who rebel against His Majesty going around cursing people?"

"They might curse His Majesty!"

"Everyone, be quiet. Prince Leontes is present. The Imperial Family and the temple will deal with the sinner as they always have."

When the Count of Montova scolded them, everyone fell silent. As the priest, who had inwardly sighed in relief, nodded, the Prince fortunately changed the topic in line with the priest's movent.

"He was saved in the na of the God Traneha, by the blessing bestowed by the Knights of Purity. Everyone here, including myself, is a witness. I will have this miracle painted as a series of holy paintings and dedicate them to the temple in Montova. All of you shall co to worship."

Prince Leontes declared.

"Wooooaaaah!"

"A series of holy paintings in our hotown temple!"

"Well, it is the place where a miracle occurred!"

Despite the people's cheers, Immanuel could not believe it.

The Knights of Purity appearing in holy paintings decorating the altar? Not the God Traneha and angels, saints, or the Holy Emperor?

"There will be a painting of that Knight turning a wolf into a human!"

When an old woman with a hooked nose wrapped in black clothes—who would likely have been caught as a fellow witch had a mage hunt taken place—said this while pointing at him, everyone nodded.

A holy painting depicting that scene... The mont he forced himself to imagine it, Immanuel realized.

Sacrifice for the God Traneha was his mission. But having soone recognize his sacrifice, save him from that fate, and value his honor just like secular knights shook his soul. Blending exquisitely without going against that sense of duty.