章 129: Holy Church and Responsibility

When Artorius and his group arrived at a hotel located about fifty kilometers outside Tokyo's city center, the situation had already come to an end.

It wasn't that they weren't fast enough; the battle had just ended too quickly.

Kirei was exceptionally talented, maybe even a bit too much.

Although it might seem like he and his daughter exchanged banter while fighting for quite some time, in reality, it all happened in just a few seconds. From the moment he suddenly appeared behind Bazett and stabbed her with the Black Key, to delivering a punch that sent his daughter flying, it was all over in a matter of seconds.

This battle had taken place simultaneously with the explosion at the hotel where Artorius was located.

"The wounds are fresh. Search the area. The enemy likely hasn't gone far!"

They entered the hotel and followed the scent of blood to the room where Bazett and Caren were. Of course, prior to that, they had discreetly used magecraft and reported to the local branch of the Imperial Mystery Bureau.

One of the personnel responsible for the Mystery-related work in this area was Rudolf. So, there was no need to call for additional assistance; they just had to make a report, and later provide a detailed report.

"These two children are badly injured."

Looking at Bazett lying in a pool of blood and Caren who was vomiting blood and some kind of organ injuries, X made this assessment.

At the same time, several maids had already formed teams and started searching the surroundings, activating large-scale spells to ensure that everyone would be updated on any maid's situation in case something happened to them, facilitating support.

Although the Einzbern family wasn't a regular military force in the Empire, their Battle Maid Corps had reached the average level of the Empire's second-line troops. Not to mention that recently, they received magical nourishment from His Majesty the Emperor. With the power of the dragon's magical essence (Semen), their strength had slightly improved.

These maids were of good quality and worked diligently for Artorius. However, he had a feeling that the guy they were after had already escaped.

"Major Bazett."

At the same time, under Artorius's magical energy infusion, both women had already recovered. Their faces, though, looked grim. On one hand, they were defeated, and on the other hand, they felt uneasy about showing their unsightly side in front of the Emperor.

But now was not the time for taking care of their feelings.

Rudolf, standing beside Artorius, directly asked, "What exactly happened? Who attacked you?"

Both Rudolf and Bazett were students of Agravain. Although they belonged to different departments, they had cooperated a few times before, so they knew each other to some extent.

This time, both sides knew their respective tasks, so he asked the question directly.

"..."

Upon hearing the question, Bazett didn't answer. Her expression grew even more somber, and she subconsciously looked at her partner.

Although in one timeline, she had achieved remarkable results in the Holy Grail War in a single night, in more timelines, she was also defeated by Kirei in an instant.

The fact that Kirei chose to ambush her instead of Caren suggests that he had found confronting her head-on troublesome and her strength surpassed Caren's. Nevertheless, being taken down by surprise was still embarrassing.

"It was a man named Kotomine Kirei, an agent of the Holy Church. He attacked us."

Caren's expression remained unchanged as she readily betrayed her own father by telling the truth.

"The Holy Church? Why would they do this? Are they planning to betray the Empire?"

As he said this, Rudolf's expression turned grim.

Even during the weakest times of the Empire, the so-called Holy Church never gained any advantage here.

Unlike certain timelines where Europe had a weak feudal system and diminished imperial authority, The Empire established by the Dragon Emperor tightly controlled the Holy Church from the very beginning.

The Empire practiced religious tolerance and secular policies towards commoners while imposing strict control over religious figures.

Religious organizations were taxed, restricted from owning large amounts of land, required to engage in labor, and subjected to rigorous evaluations. The Imperial National and Religious Bureau governed the Church and all other religious entities.

Under these circumstances, it was natural for the Holy Church to be unhappy. Open opposition, secret resistance, and even armed revolts occurred.

However, in the end, the powerful strength of the Empire crushed all opposition.

By the end of the 20th century, the influence of the Holy Church waned, much like many other religions around the world, becoming more of a cultural aspect of life rather than a deeply held faith.

With the widespread promotion of rationalism and compulsory education in the Empire, and the concentrated faith in the Dragon Emperor officially encouraged and spread throughout the world, the Empire aimed to strengthen the Emperor's power.

Some fanatic followers of the Dragon Emperor harbored hopes of establishing a cult as the official state religion, with the aim of making every citizen within the empire a believer.

A few figures even knew the truth that from Artorius I to Artorius LXXV was the same figure. The upper echelons of the Empire, wholly devoted to the Dragon Emperor, intended to unveil this plan and the secret, reaping a bountiful harvest of faith.

Especially after the Empire's research institutions discovered ways to convert faith into power, it was quite astonishing that the Holy Church dared to cause trouble openly.

As expected, after making a call to inquire, the Holy Church quickly issued a statement claiming that Kirei had left the church years ago and they had no idea of his whereabouts. They claimed that his actions were unrelated to the Holy Church.

Of course, even though they said this, it wasn't truly the end. If the Empire didn't take this opportunity to teach them a lesson and force them to reveal more information, then it wouldn't be the Empire.

This could be considered an unexpected gain, but it didn't help the current situation in any way.

"It seems like someone can't stand seeing me live a good life, huh..." Artorius sighed. "They even have to ruin my rare vacation. How despicable."

"I'm truly sorry, Your Majesty, for letting you witness such a shameful side of us."

While Rudolf went out to make calls, contacting various parties and assigning people to search and monitor all over Tokyo, Caren, who had already recovered, bowed to Artorius and offered her apology.

Following Artorius's attempt to forgive her with understanding, Caren prostrated herself before him, pleading, "I'll take responsibility for this, Your Majesty. Please, let all your anger and resentment be vented on me. Whether I will be your toy, slave, or tool, I'm willing to accept it all."