When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

Chapter 1174 - 1107: Minor Purge

The corridor of the Holy Seat Mansion was engulfed in an almost solid silence.At eight-thirty, this time was usually filled with the sounds of papers shuffling, the brisk footsteps of administrative monks, and the intermittent reporting between various departments.

But this morning, these sounds seemed to have been severed by an invisible hand.

On the third floor, Abel from the Privy Scriptorium held the attendance book, scratching his nearly bald head in confusion.

At eight-thirty, monks should have been arriving one after another, the busiest time, yet at this moment, the workstations were empty.

He looked across diagonally at the Holy Machinery Court office, which was even more exaggerated.

All three desks were empty, and even the coffee pot, usually steaming, was cold.

"Where's Ryan? He said yesterday he would submit the peat allocation plan today." The young monk at the next table murmured.

Abel's Adam's apple moved, but he didn't dare to respond.

Earlier, he had asked the on-duty gendarme, who replied only with, "Ordered to attend training."

When he pursued the training location and return date, the gendarme suddenly tightened his face: "This is none of your business."

All morning, similar conversations replayed in every corner of the mansion.

No one knew where those suddenly missing colleagues had gone, nor did anyone dare to ask further.

The Holy Seat Mansion was silent, and everyone sensed something unusual in this silence.

However, after eight-forty-five, they still picked up their briefcases and walked towards the Grand Hall beside the Holy Seat Mansion.

At around nine o'clock, wheels trampling on snow, Horn's carriage finally arrived.

As soon as he alighted, he saw Hilov waiting under the corridor of the hall.

"What are you waiting here for?" Horn vaguely guessed why she came.

Hilov had the longest contact with these Loyal Successors, many of them were her students, surely someone had asked her to intercede.

"You've already guessed." Hilov paused, "They are guilty and should be punished. I don't expect you to pardon them, but at least consider their parents and achievements; not the death penalty."

"This is not my decision; it's theirs with the law."

"Must it be so?"

There was a sudden moment of silence under the corridor.

At the top of the hall, the spire pierced through the clouds, and the white breath was instantly swept away by the cold wind.

Horn circled behind Hilov, pushing her into the warm hall, speaking as they walked.

"I think economic stability and development, so-called a machine can run without meddling.

So those old bureaucrats, as long as they do a good job, let them be, give them a chance to amend, even ready to promote them, and what was the result?

Look at the Loyal Successors; I thought sending them out could change the grassroots environment of the former empire and shift the ethos.

But what happened was, look at how these Loyal Successors degenerated; if there were truly bad people among the masses, so be it!

But in reality, they were assimilated by the empire, sitting in the church, becoming new bishops.

The high-speed economic development of the Holy Alliance has never solved problems; it only covered them, making it look like they were solved."

"I knew they would corrupt, but I didn't expect it so quickly." Upon saying this, Horn suddenly stopped pushing, "Ten years, it's been ten years, have I also indulged in bliss."

The fireplace, along with the heater, made one's bones itch and dizzy, only wanting a languid nap or idle talk.

Had he also stayed too long at this warm center of power, forgotten the days of gnawing potato roots in the Blackbone Marsh?

"Can't you give them one last chance?" Hilov pleaded, her fluffy wolf ears drooping back.

"No." Horn resolutely refused, "If we don't punish severely, it won't rectify the situation. The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, and the next best time is now."

Seeing Hilov visibly dejected, Horn reached out, gently ruffling her head, his tone kind but the content extremely cruel.

"We can never rid ourselves of corruption unless we have a nationwide planned economy and resource allocation machine that's far smarter than humans.

But we don't have it, and it's hard to have, so accept it; many of our close ones, one day, must also fall under our knives.

Our lifespans are very long; this kind of thing will continue to happen, you need to adapt, I need to adapt, everyone needs to adapt."

Watching Horn's departing back, Hilov silently turned her wheelchair, her mind not on the Loyal Successors.

"A nationwide planned economy and resource allocation machine far smarter than humans" was what continuously echoed in her mind.

She turned and stepped onto the steps leading to the hall, and the bronze door slowly opened before Horn, the scene inside instantly crashing into view.

Hundreds of high-ranking officials in various church gowns and monk uniforms stood up as he entered, applause surged like a tide.

Horn didn't signal for silence as usual, merely standing at the podium, his gaze sweeping the hall.

The applause gradually became sparse, eventually fading completely into the quiet, leaving only the occasional soft crackling of wood in the fireplace.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Horn began, "Today, standing here, my first act is not to deploy new plans, but to confess to the Holy Father, to plead guilty to all the believers of the Holy Alliance."

There was an immediate wave of murmurs below; the Cardinals in the front row all straightened, faces filled with astonishment.

Horn hadn't informed them about this beforehand.

"Over the past six months, the Holy Machinery Court's civil engineering corruption case, the Kasha County palanquin incident... one after another." Horn's fist heavily slammed on the podium, "This is my negligence!

The Holy Father and the believers entrusted me with the papacy, and I've turned it into this; I am guilty to the Holy Alliance, ashamed before the believers, ashamed before the Holy Father, I wish I could abdicate myself."

"Your Majesty is being too harsh!" Thomas, the Cardinal in the first row on the right, quickly voiced, "The Holy Alliance owes its current state to Your Eminence's wise leadership, minor corruption..."

"Minor? Is that really so little?" Horn sneered coldly, his gaze sweeping across the room: "Thomas, ask everyone present, who dares to pat their chest and say there's no corruption under their command?"

The hall was so quiet one could hear the snowflakes hitting against the glass windows.

Everyone kept their heads down; no one dared to meet Horn's gaze.

"The Planning Department has a total of five administrative monks, and I had to dismiss four.

The Holy Machinery Court Hall had six heads, and I had to dismiss three.

Look at these seven people, which one wasn't a war hero, which one didn't come from the Loyal Successors, which one wasn't like my own children.

They've rotted, and my heart is shattered!"

Several elders who had worked with the dismissed lowered their heads, shoulders slightly trembling, unclear if from fear or regret.

The younger monks in the back rows were pale; most of them had only been promoted in recent years, looking at the names of those they once revered being read out one by one, their faces full of shock and bewilderment.

"Those from the Loyal Successor Academy have really been out of touch with reality too long." Horn's voice returned to calm, "The latest batch of Loyal Successors, send them all to Shattered Stone Plain and Mountain County's impoverished towns, a two-year probation period before they come back.

As for the Loyal Successor Academy, add an extra month of peasant and labor training each year, send them to dig, forge, and mine.

Don't say I'm mistreating the Loyal Successors; if their parents were still alive, they'd be angrier than I am to see this."

Horn didn't even glance at those who lost their composure, only nodding slightly towards Thomas's direction: "Effective immediately, initiate a comprehensive self-examination movement throughout the Holy Alliance.

Additionally, Advisory Council representatives from all regions have the right to submit reports to me directly, no one can obstruct."

"Your Eminence!" someone on the left suddenly spoke, it was the deputy mayor of the Holy Machinery Court, his face waxy, lips trembling, "Will this... will this shake the foundation? After all, it involves too many..."

Horn ignored him, slowly turning around, his gaze sweeping inch by inch over those faces below, fearful, resistant, or hiding with luck.

"Have I been too gentle?" he suddenly said, "Gentle enough to make you forget how the Thousand River Valley war was fought?"

The hall, previously bubbling with whispers, became deathly quiet.

"I know some of you have already half-stepped into the devil's den. Take this opportunity and think it over again."

Horn walked to the door, adding a final comment.

"This rectification movement will be assisted by the Cheka."