The Empror's Trap

The Western Empire—this was what Camelot Empire called the neighboring country to the west. Back then, the country had a relatively large territory compared to its western neighbors and was located to the west of Camelot, so it was simply called the Western Empire, as Camelot didn't know much about it at the time. Nowadays, everyone knows the country is called Sesvitan, but after all these years of habit, Camelot still refers to it as the Western Empire. Similarly, the Western Empire doesn't call Camelot by its own name either. Instead, they refer to Camelot as Selyn—the earliest Western Empire envoy who contacted Camelot Empire learned the pronunciation of "Camelot", but when he returned to report to his king, his own language didn't have the "Camelot" sound, so he couldn't quite pronounce it. After a long journey and some memory lapse regarding the pronunciation, when talking with the king, he simply referred to Camelot as Selyn, which left the king puzzled: why did their neighboring country have what sounded like a girl's name? Ever since then, the Western Empire called Camelot Selyn, while Camelot kept calling Sesvitan the Western Empire. Both sides have tried to formally correct these names in written correspondence, but after centuries of habit among both the people and officials, everyone sticks with the old names.

As for Kenji, the Camelot military representative, the reason he was looking toward the western border wasn't because he wanted to start a fight with the Western Empire. Relations between Camelot and the Western Empire have always been friendly. Although Sesvitan's territory is quite large (smaller than Camelot, but still one of the larger among its friends), its population is sparse, and arable land is limited. Its ongoing prosperity depends largely on frequent trade with Camelot and reselling Camelot's goods to make profits elsewhere. Militarily, the Western Empire relies heavily on Camelot's security umbrella, and as a result, they are very respectful toward Camelot.

However, not long ago, the Western Empire's good days came to an end.

The Holy Church's influence has been steadily spreading eastward and has now reached the Western Empire. Previously, the Western Empire had long been under Camelot's cultural influence. Combined with their own religious traditions, they'd always remained culturally independent. But now, messages from their envoy—the same one responsible for communication with Camelot—warned that a group of Holy Church followers had appeared in the Western Empire, posing as merchants but actually spreading the Church's gospel. After these strange individuals showed up, incidents of violence and unrest within the country became far more frequent. The Western Empire has always been relatively open—different ethnic groups are welcome—but ever since those Holy Church missionaries arrived, foreign visitors often suffered attacks, and many locals started converting to the Holy Church as well. In fact, large groups of Holy Church believers began forming in different regions. The whole nation entered a truly tense state.

This news immediately caught Kenji's attention.

To be honest, there are already quite a few countries bordering Camelot that worship the Holy Church. Until now, Camelot's policy was not to interfere. However, this hands-off approach clearly isn't working anymore.

The Holy Church has already infiltrated Camelot, to say nothing of its neighbors. And now, it seems, the Holy Church isn't just interested in spreading their faith—they want to stir up chaos in the Western Empire, even topple its current government. To be blunt, the Western Empire doesn't have any strategic resources worth seizing, nor any key locations worth attacking. The reason it's become a target is simple: it has good relations with Camelot and provides an important trade route. Camelot's western border is already sparsely populated, mostly dependent on traveling merchants. If the Church manages to gain control there or in the Western Empire, Camelot would lose either way. Worst case, the Holy Church could use the Western Empire to choke off Camelot's trade to the west. It would be like grabbing Camelot by the throat.

That was Kenji's conclusion.

Still, to put it harshly, internal chaos and missionary activity in the Western Empire are ultimately their own problems. Camelot can't interfere unless the Western Empire explicitly asks for help. Although relations are close, the Western Empire is not a vassal state—Camelot has no right to meddle in their domestic affairs.

That said… judging by the situation, it's only a matter of time before the Western Empire asks Camelot for help. It makes sense to prepare in advance. Meanwhile, to the north of the Western Empire lies another country that's also been influenced by the Holy Church, and Kenji has wanted to root it out for a long time: Samangan—a country that mixes farming and herding. While small, it often invades its neighbors and many of its leaders are now former members of the Church. Frankly, Samangan has become little more than a puppet theocracy. This could be the perfect opportunity to get rid of Samangan—once a vassal of Camelot and now a traitor. Doing so would give Camelot far greater strategic freedom against the Sal Kingdom in the northwest.

Kenji, deciding Samangan was a priority, began focusing on intelligence work. Given how Samangan is constantly undermining the region, Kenji was sure the Western Empire would be very willing to help Camelot investigate its secrets. With that in mind, Kenji quickly drafted the necessary documents and handed them to his subordinates to present to Pluvia, applying for special funding support…

He could almost picture Pluvia's expression on seeing another funding request. Of course, finances in Camelot are tight these days. But just because things are tight, that doesn't mean they can let the Holy Church reel in and transform all their western neighbors. If they simply did nothing, who would defend Camelot's sparsely populated western border? What would happen to the trade routes? Should merchants really have to travel twice as far?

Kenji laid out all these points clearly—he was certain that Pluvia would approve the funding. He also began to mobilize Grey Scales, Camelot's intelligence division. The goal wasn't to send agents into the Western Empire yet, but to monitor and address Holy Church organizations and their followers in Luminara City. Anyone who needed to be dealt with would be quietly removed, to prevent leaks when orders came down. Grey Scales, trained by the expert Lina and with plenty of experience from various martial artists, was ready for this beginner's mission.

Upon receiving the orders, Lina immediately set out to organize a dragnet in Luminara City with Grey Scales.