A huge bell rang, spreading its melodic, low hum across the area. The people looked serious as they walked in a long march. At front of the march were two men. The two men had bright smiles on their faces while wearing heavily decorated clothes, unlike the other white-clothed men that followed them.
“Thanks to you, our people are happier than ever.”
“It’s all thanks to our God, Horun. I’m just his humble servant.”
“You are as modest as ever, aren’t you? Pope.”
“No, Your Majesty. I’m just a human being. I thank you for your generous donations. I will put it to good use to help our people.”
The pope answered the emperor.
‘Hah, you snake. I will see how long you can act so godly.’
“Thank you for your service to the empire. I will heed any advice from you.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The pope smiled brightly. His old face was very calm and friendly. Combined with his smile, everyone would come to like him. But the emperor was disgusted by the pope’s true nature, as so was the pope toward the emperor.
“Shall we go in?”
Pope stopped at the front of the shrine and turned to the entrance. The bell rang strongly, signaling the arrival of the Emperor.
“Now’s the chance.”
Jinpok spoke quietly as he watched them with the binoculars. Joonbum then swallowed his breath and pulled his trigger.
The gunshot was covered by the huge bell and the emperor’s body was thrown backward, blood pouring out from the wound. The pope froze in place, confused by what just happened. He also fell down as a bullet struck his head. The bell was still ringing and it took a moment for the people around them to realize what had been done.
“Y-your Majesty!”
The Guardian Knights shouted frantically and ran toward the emperor, and so did the paladins who ran toward the pope.
“Your Majesty!”
“The emperor… is dead!”
“The pope died also!”
Everyone was too shocked to even be sad. It was then that some of the smarter nobles began turning back, leaving the area.
“We’re going.”
“Huh?”
“You idiot! Get ready to leave! You don’t know what might happen if we stay!”
It seemed like nobles were already thinking who they would have to side with when the fight broke out over the empty throne.
“This was too easy,” Jinpok commented. There was no one around and the two gunshot sounds were covered entirely by the loud bell. In addition, it was not possible for people of this world to suspect a sniper from one thousand yards away.
“They won’t even know what happened. We should go now.”
Doral nodded. The assassination was over. It was harder for them to return than the actual assassination itself.
“I can’t imagine going back through that forest again… should we join those traveling merchants?”
“No. We have to return in secret. Someone might find out who we are.”
They then walked down from the hill.
*
-The emperor is dead!-
-The pope is DEAD!-
Two great new topics spread throughout the world. The entire world turned their eyes to what might unfold in the future of the empire.
-Assassination!-
The rumors of a successful assassination against the two top figures of the empire had been spread. It caused all mercenaries and bandits to be ransacked in order to fight the culprit, and princes of the emperor had been accused of the killing.
The empire was now divided into two: the Royal Family and their nobles, and the Heir of the Emperor. It was chaotic as both sides fought fiercely to grab the throne for themselves.
-Civil war!-
-It’s a war between the First Prince and the Second Prince!-
The civil war broke out on a huge scale from within.
“It’s as expected, sir.”
“Yeah, history proves it.”
“Hah, they will fight between themselves to the end. Shouldn’t we add some fuel to the fire? It will be easier for us to handle later on. Make them divide themselves up,” Jinpok commented as he drank coffee and puffed on a cigarette from the side.
Joonbum returned with many people. One person was Jinpok Bayne, who showed no respect and did not care about Joonbum at all. He was the father of Hallis and was a distant relative to Joonbum. Others were his wife and her relatives. Jinpok was also a typical warrior.
Jackson turned to Jinpok.
“Oh? So I guess our smart man thought about it already! Good, good. It’s good to have smart people around, you know.”
Joonbum nodded. “Right. I think so too. He is a valuable man.”
Jackson blushed as he heard Joonbum complimenting him.
“Hmph. As you asked, I am sending aid to various factions of the empire.”
Joonbum nodded to Jackson.
It was now time to move onto the next level.