She thought that hell was something one would experience after death.

Especially after she ascended to the coveted position of Archbishop, that thought solidified.

However, at this moment, she was…

Maxim Cafeo, former Archbishop of the once-prosperous city of Milano, and leading the Empire’s paladins by the Emperor’s command, she felt it very clearly.

This place she was in right now was truly hell.

“Hey, can’t you sweep properly? Are you really going to finish this today?”

“Ugh…”

“Whoa? Look at those eyes again. Where do you think you’re trying to die?”

– Whack!

“Gah!”

A terrible shock struck her abdomen.

In an instant, Maxim’s face twisted in agony.

A massive man mercilessly bludgeoned her.

He was in charge of managing the ‘servants’ in this lord’s castle and glared down at Maxim, who lay sprawled on the floor.

“Listen well, if you don’t clean this place up by today, you won’t have a drop left! This lazy archbishop thing…”

“…Ugh…”

With that, the man left her side.

Watching his retreating figure, Maxim gritted her teeth, holding back the simmering anger inside, and reluctantly picked up a broom to start cleaning again.

“Damn it… Why… why do I have to end up like this? Why am I… Archbishop Maxim… being humiliated like this in this wretched Heretic’s Domain?”

After being unintentionally labeled a traitor for leaking false information to Mansfeld, her life had literally fallen into the abyss.

Mansfeld sold her into slavery under the guise of being a woman who was slightly deranged, after feeding her false information.

As a result, Maxim was now working as a servant in a dirty little village located in the outskirts of the Heretic Forces.

A shabby rural estate known as Berlin.

A place neither rich nor populous, with no glimmer of the splendor that Milano had.

Even Maxim, before being sold here, had never even heard of this place, and this realization was only driving her already awful mood to unfathomable depths.

“Why did I have to fall into such a miserable place? I was once the illustrious Archbishop of Milano, and now I’m being subjected to this in a nameless backwater…”

The more she thought about it, the more it contrasted starkly with her past, fueling her growing dissatisfaction and hatred.

With that anger boiling inside her, Maxim was grinding her teeth.

At the same time, holding these intense emotions inside, she was trying to channel them as motivation to find a way out of this predicament.

Although she had hit rock bottom, she had climbed to the position of Archbishop through various schemes and awareness.

She wasn’t the type to lose hope; she kept her sharp eyes peeled for any opportunities that might come her way.

“An opportunity will come… It must. Archbishop Maxim cannot just fall apart like this.”

*

Franz Kingdom

A massive nation situated in the western continent, which has fiercely fought against the Sacred Empire for a long time to protect its land.

Once shaken by the internal conflicts among the nobility and wars with the Britten Kingdom across the sea, it had suffered significant blows to its national power.

However, thanks to a succession of capable monarchs and ministers, it managed to overcome that crisis, and currently, Franz Kingdom was steadily on the rise.

At the center of this development was an illustrious minister known throughout the continent.

Chancellor Richelieu Kazinar was diligently committed to the day and night duties for the glory and progress of Franz Kingdom.

Surrounded by a multitude of big and complex issues both inside and outside the kingdom.

Most of them had been dealt with, but the persistent risk from the nobility could not be ignored.

Furthermore, there were also recent signals of possible marriage talks with the Britten Kingdom.

Richelieu was burdened with many pressing matters that he couldn’t afford to take lightly.

Among those, one significant concern that Richelieu was particularly troubled by recently was…

The long-standing nemesis that has threatened the Franz Kingdom: the Sacred Empire.

The Sacred Empire, embroiled in a whirlwind of civil war due to religious conflicts, had lost the chance to address their internal turmoil with their previous complacent emperors.

As a result, they were paying a painful price in the form of the Heretic Alliance.

Watching their situation coldly, Richelieu pondered how Franz Kingdom could utilize this to their advantage.

“Overall, the situation is indeed very favorable for us right now. The long-time nemesis, the Sacred Empire, is faltering due to internal strife, which means they won’t be a threat for a while… But simply stopping their invasion during this golden opportunity isn’t enough.”

The Sacred Empire was the continent’s strongest nation, at least for centuries.

And while Franz Kingdom had always successfully repelled their invasions, it had been limited to mere defense.

Franz Kingdom lacked the capability to confront the Sacred Empire directly, thus living in constant fear of invasion.

However, currently, Richelieu saw this civil war as an ideal opportunity to reverse their protracted passive stance.

“Cracks are beginning to show in the Great Empire. If we use this properly, we might be able to tear that enormous empire apart. If that happens, we can surely bring an end once and for all to the continuous threat posed by the Sacred Empire.”

Having a strong neighboring country is always a danger.

To resolve this, it was best to divide them and prevent them from being able to act properly.

“The Sacred Empire’s power is weakening, unlike in the past. This is certainly possible.”

In Richelieu’s view, the Sacred Empire was like a sunset, its glory at its end. Meanwhile, the future of the Franz Kingdom resembled a rising sun, currently at its peak in power.

In this backdrop, Richelieu calmly began to decide what moves Franz Kingdom should pursue.

“Even so, it’s still premature for our Franz Kingdom to directly intervene. No matter how much they are at odds with each other, if we, their long-standing nemesis, were to act now, they would certainly become wary. In this situation, indirect support to worsen their condition would be the best approach.”

When hunting, it is wise to send out the hounds first.

Especially when there are plenty of usable pieces available, the necessity increases all the more.

On top of that, Richelieu’s keen eyes spotted suitable pawns about to spring into action.

“The alliance between Friedrich the Lord and Chris IV of Mark… Honestly, I’d like to extend a hand to the Heretic Alliance, but they are still cautious, so I’ll observe the situation a little longer before making a decision.”

With that thought, Richelieu immediately sent a letter to Friedrich the Lord.

On the surface, it created a bizarre scenario where the Franz Kingdom, a faction of the Church, proposed an alliance with Friedrich the Lord, a key figure of the Heretic Forces, to jointly defeat the Church’s influence…