The First Vampire

An unknown chill breeze ambled around the hall.

All the cabinet ministers couldn’t help but shudder a little.

The Prime Minister of the Empire, Baron Heidegger, who had been silent all along, finally couldn’t help but speak:

“Your Majesty, it’s not a good idea to provoke the Church at this time.”

Emperor Reinhardt grumbled discontentedly, “What? As part of the empire, shouldn’t the Glorious Church contribute to fighting the Orc invasion? Is it wrong for the imperial treasury to borrow some money from them?”

Baron Heidegger shook his head firmly. “Perhaps it could be negotiated before, but now, absolutely not!”

“Why?”

“Your Majesty, are you aware that this morning, the archbishop of the Eastern Territory was buried in the Holy Tomb under the arrangement of Pope Gregory?

This is obviously Pope, expressing his anger to the outside world. If you approach them at this time, even if you politely ask to borrow money from the Church, the Pope must reject you harshly in order to maintain his strong position.”

Emperor Reinhardt clenched his teeth, trying to suppress his anger. “So are we supposed to let the Church stay out of this?”

Baron Heidegger responded in a poker-faced manner:

“Your Majesty, according to the ‘Glorious Code’, the responsibility to defend the territory from foreign invaders rests with the nobles, not with the Church. Therefore, even if the Church truly stands aloof, one cannot criticize.”

Bam!

Emperor Reinhardt slapped the armrest of the seat heavily, startling all the cabinet ministers.

“That ‘Glorious Code’ also stipulates that the Church may not interfere in secular affairs, have they strictly adhered to this?”

Baron Heidegger remained silent.

He only spoke up again after the anger of Emperor Reinhardt had abated somewhat:

“Your Majesty, if you put yourself in the Pope’s shoes; once he agrees to your loan, wouldn’t the actions of the lords of the Eastland be seen as reasonable under special circumstances?

Then how could the Church punish those Eastern nobles in the future?

Wouldn’t the Pope’s act of burying the archbishop of the Eastland in the Holy Tomb become a joke?”

Emperor Reinhardt’s face turned forebodingly dark, he coldly stared at Baron Heidegger and questioned:

“Heidegger! As my Prime Minister, are you seriously considering the Pope’s difficulties?”

Baron Heidegger held his ground and looked straight into Emperor Reinhardt’s eyes, stating calmly:

“Your Majesty, I am not defending the Pope, but the matter has indeed touched the foundation of the Church. If it is not handled well, extremely severe consequences will follow.

Given the current situation of the imminent Orc invasion, such consequences are unbearable for the Glorious Empire.

Therefore, you must not provoke the Church at this time.

What’s more, we have already taken advantage of the changes in the Eastern Territory. Now our priority is to stabilize the situation, repel the invasion of the Orc Empire, and then take our time to settle any scores with the Church.”

Emperor Reinhardt was silent, an oppressive atmosphere pervaded the main hall.

Everyone could feel a shudder deep within due to the mighty aura of the stage six knight.

But Baron Heidegger, a commoner who was not even a knight, stood tall and stared at Emperor Reinhardt quietly, with a clear conscience.

After a while, not knowing whether he had come to understand or realized that such intimidation was useless against Heidegger the stone-headed, Emperor Reinhardt finally resigned and retracted his aura.

But he still asked in a hostile tone: “Then how do you propose we solve the problem of military expenses?”

Baron Heidegger seemed prepared as he immediately replied:

“Your Majesty, I don’t think it’s necessary to mobilize a million troops so early. For one, the local lords won’t have enough time to organize, and secondly, maintaining such a massive army is terrifyingly costly.

So, we can ask the lords to send their troops to Westland in two batches. The first group will arrive as originally scheduled. This way, even if the Orc army arrives early, we won’t be completely defenseless.

As for the second round of troops, there’s no need to rush. We can wait until we have confirmed news of the Orc army’s movement before setting a time for them to gather.

This would save a significant amount of military expenditure, and the local lords would have ample time to mobilize their troops.”

Emperor Reinhardt swept his gaze around the hall, asking, “What do you think? How about the Prime Minister’s suggestion?”

“I entirely agree with the Prime Minister!” Count Lloyd, the Finance Minister, immediately spoke up.

The remaining cabinet ministers also voiced their agreement one after the other.

The Emperor Reinhardt’s expression softened somewhat, though he still seemed somewhat dissatisfied, “So, we just let the Church completely sit out without shedding a drop of blood?”

Seeing the emperor was still trying to involve the Church at this critical juncture, Baron Heidegger sighed inwardly, but patiently replied:

“Your Majesty, if you wish for the Church to participate in this war, we can’t force them. We should approach this from the angle of public opinion.”

“Public opinion?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You can have someone spread the news that the Church is about to dispatch the Holy Temple Knights to join the war against the Orcs. As long as this rumor gets around among the empire’s citizens, the Pope will have to send the Holy Temple Knights to the Westland, regardless of his willingness, in order to maintain the Church’s lofty prestige in the hearts of the people.”

Emperor Reinhardt’s eyes flickered, but he still seemed somewhat unsatisfied. He said:

“So it’s just the Holy Temple Knights?”

“Similar tactics may also get the Church to send military pastors, but that’s about it. As for things like ‘tithe taxes’, I would advise you to dispel the idea as soon as possible.”

Emperor Reinhardt gave Baron Heidegger a glare, but didn’t harp on this issue any further.

“Alright, let’s proceed according to the Prime Minister’s suggestion.” Emperor Reinhardt stood up and confidently declared, “Also, there’s no need to worry about the commander’s selection for this Imperial Allied Army; I plan to lead the campaign myself!”

Upon hearing this, the ministers in the main hall were astonished.

Baron Heidegger was about to dissuade him, but he noticed Emperor Reinhardt’s icy gaze. The emperor asked ominously:

“What? Does the Prime Minister think I am unqualified to be the commander of the Allied Army?”

Baron Heidegger wanted to remind his self-assured emperor that he had never been on a battlefield. To command a million-strong army without having any firsthand battle experience… this was like gambiling with the fate of the empire and the lives of our warriors. However, no matter how audacious he might be, he dared not say “you’re not qualified” face to face.

Moreover, he realized that his previous advice had already upset Emperor Reinhardt. If he were to further provoke him, the Emperor, who was eager to demonstrate his prowess, would not let him off the hook.

With a silent sigh, Baron Heidegger lowered his head.

Seeing that even the Prime Minister of the Empire gave in, the rest of the cabinet ministers naturally dared not say anything more.

Their interactions over time had fully revealed Emperor Reinhardt’s impatient and stubborn nature. They knew that trying to dissuade him at this point would surely end in no good.

Seeing no opposition, Emperor Reinhardt nodded in satisfaction, saying:

“Good, it’s settled. You all should go and prepare, and make sure there are no more mistakes!”

With that, he strode out the door.

Just as the doors opened, a piercingly cold wind blew in, making all the cabinet ministers in the hall shiver involuntarily.

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