Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 398 - 13 Purgatory’s Jailer

Until dawn, the dukes had still not reached any conclusions.

The Duke of Bavaria, the Duke of Carinthia, and the Duke of Saxony diplomatically suggested that a full military-political examination was inopportune at the moment and would definitely unsettle the soldiers’ morale. "You could station your Blade Warriors among the troops and conduct inquiries and investigations in secret, without causing a stir."

"If anyone is indeed found to be problematic, notify the suspect’s corresponding Knight and Duke to secretly deal with them for you. That would be the most prudent course of action."

The Duchies of Bohemia and Thuringia were represented by the eldest sons of the dukes. The two young men expressed generously, "We have no objections, sir. You may investigate as you please, in any way you see fit."

"Since we have brought but few men this time, even one-on-one questioning of the knights would only take a single day’s effort to complete. There’s no need to worry about rumors or troops’ morale."

Duke Rudolf of the Wolf Family, in an attempt to prove his innocence, shamelessly declared, "If there are any suspects within the Wolf Family, I will absolutely capture them myself and hand them over to Your Majesty at once. I implore His Imperial Majesty not to harbor any doubts about the loyalty of the Wolf Family due to the conspiracies of a few individuals."

He might as well have inscribed "I am Your Majesty’s most loyal servant" on his face.

The Gryphon Duke, throughout the meeting, was sarcastically mocking every other duke, especially making deep jabs at His Imperial Majesty. It was as if he was performing a series of splits in the Emperor’s face.

The other dukes paid him no mind, and His Majesty could do nothing to him, so they simply treated him as if he were passing wind, with no one engaging in dialogue with him.

After much squabbling, the only consensus that could be drawn was that the army should leave promptly.

Any further delay in this small town would be of no benefit.

The Emperor could only agree with this, so the dukes, with dark circles under their eyes, ordered the knights to organize the departure of the troops as quickly as possible.

Then, having slept outside the town, the soldiers, refreshed, awoke to find that some knights had been wounded or even killed the previous night, while others, looking as though they hadn’t slept, lethargically directed the leaderless soldiers to regroup.

What on earth had happened last night?

The members of The Azure Longsword also finished packing, ready to leave the cottage they had stayed in for half of the previous night. At the door, the grateful woman of the house insisted on stuffing a few eggs into their hands.

Though they had forcibly stayed, they had not transgressed in the slightest and had even protected her and her children from the mutant attacks of the previous night, which the woman, who had hidden in her room all night, knew.

Once again setting off from Pomarolo Town, the group hadn’t gone far when they encountered a band of strangers on the mountain road ahead.

"We are Purgatory’s Jailers from San Marino," declared the lead knight, clad in metallic armor, his breastplate emblazoned with the emblem of a Nail Hammer shattering a ram’s skull, "We wish to meet with the leader of your army."

"You are Purgatory’s Jailers?" the Blade Warrior patrolling the road asked doubtfully.

Purgatory’s Jailers, along with the Night Watchman and Observers, were known as the three major organizations of world order, openly appointed and permitted by the Church Court, and also welcomed by the rulers of many nations on the continent.

For they invested all their energy and time in the noble cause of fighting interdimensional creatures and protecting all of humanity, thus truly deserving their international prestige.

However, the dogma and principles of the three organizations were not entirely the same. The Night Watchman adhered to isolationism, believing "better to have less to do than more, and best to have nothing to do at all," and were very reluctant to interact with outsiders; the Observers followed mysticism, coming and going in haste, almost never appearing in public.

Purgatory’s Jailers, on the other hand, were the most high-profile, large-scale organization, with members largely resembling "Paladins who loathed evil," taking the slaughter of Devils as their life’s ultimate goal. They were also the only organization to establish a permanent base in another dimension, possessing a grand castle in Purgatory known as the "Final Fortress."

Due to their excessively outspoken and indignant nature, the Purgatory’s Jailers did not enjoy a good reputation among the common folk. The Blade Warrior before them now showed a skeptical look, testing the waters as he asked:

"Purgatory’s Jailers? Are you talking about the organization that is determined to eradicate all Devils? Shouldn’t you be wearing Power Armor?"

The Purgatory’s Jailer Knight Captain’s face turned sour, and he slowly raised an eyebrow in a manner that seemed to say:

Are you kidding me? Where would we find Power Armor just after the Magic Tide?

Realizing how foolish his question had just been, the Blade Warrior pulled on the reins of his horse and said:

"Please wait here, I will seek the Emperor’s instructions."

The Blade Warrior turned his horse and left, while the Purgatory’s Jailers quietly found places to either sit or stand, beginning to check their weapons and equipment.

After hearing the report from his warrior, Otto, the Emperor, felt his suspicions rise again:

Why so many complications on this trip? Can’t my army just leave the mountains smoothly? Who knows if these Purgatory’s Jailers are real or fake, and what if they suddenly attempt to assassinate me upon meeting?

"Perhaps, I should go and negotiate with them," suggested the Demigod, the Dragon of Imagination Bruno, who could see the Emperor hesitating.

"That would be best," agreed the Emperor. With his ability in the Sequence of Mind and Dream, he indeed was the best candidate to deal with the other side.

Upon arriving in front of the Purgatory’s Jailers’ group, Bruno said directly:

"Are you here to search for Devils?" fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"That’s right," replied the Purgatory’s Jailer Knight Captain. "My name is Antonio Bajotti. Our Purgatory’s Jailers detected a Purgatory mutant event happening in Pomarolo Town ahead through the monitoring program we rented from Raphael."

"We happened to be stationed in the town last night and did indeed encounter an attack by Devils," Bruno confirmed the truth of the other party’s words by his Mind Reading Ability, "But we have already eliminated all of the Devils, leaving not a single one."

"It’s not that we are arrogant," Antonio said with a haughty expression, "but as professionals in this field, we feel obligated to remind you that Devils are cunning, extraordinary creatures that often disguise themselves as humans to infiltrate your ranks—especially Illusion Demons, Shadow Demons, and Enchanting Demons. And we have professional methods to detect Devils."

The Dragon of Imagination pondered this.

He did not doubt the other party’s words; on the one hand, Mind Reading showed they were not lying, and on the other hand, last night’s Devil attack was indeed quite peculiar.

If the enemy behind the scenes wanted to create chaos and take the opportunity to let the Devils that were good at disguising sneak into the army, that could be a possibility.

So, the Demigod initiated Mind Communication to discuss the matter from a distance with the Emperor and Hedwig.

"I do not trust these Purgatory’s Jailers," Emperor Otto stated bluntly. "Who knows what trickery they might have with the Church Court. Maybe the Church Court deliberately summoned the Devils in the first place and then manufactured an excuse for these Purgatory’s Jailers to intervene, taking the opportunity to meddle with my army."

"They are not lying," said the Dragon of Imagination Bruno flatly.

As a Demigod, his judgment undoubtedly carried more weight than the Emperor’s suspicions. Therefore, the Emperor hesitated before replying:

"Fine, let them investigate. But they must do so under your supervision the entire time. If they dare to cause trouble or attack my Knights, then I must make them see that the Empire’s dignity is not to be trifled with!"

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on (f)re𝒆web(n)ovel.com