Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

905
"new year?"

Emlyn turned around and frowned at his assistant: "I understand your thoughts, but you also know that we vampires don't have the custom of celebrating the New Year. I have never been to Feynaport, so I don't know what you will do during the New Year celebration."

Finally, he thought for a moment and added with a warning:
"It's harmless for Feynaporte to celebrate in his own country, but you are already in Loen after all."

"Plus, our relationship with the Thunder Church is strained, and we are being watched by that Redar Valentine. Those guys are watching you as if they were watching the church's achievements... If you do something wrong by mistake and offend the other party, someone will definitely take advantage of it and immediately post a sign saying 'Fenepots and animals are not allowed to enter' on the door of the store - I don't think they are capable of doing such a thing."

Last time, that damned Redar had already put pressure on me and wanted to come up with an agreement to "limit the time for Feyneman to drive in certain streets and areas", but luckily I managed to get away with it... Emlyn was still very unhappy.

After finishing his long and rambling speech, Archbishop White saw his assistant's dimming eyes and his voice gradually became quieter.

...Do humans attach great importance to the New Year? Well, maybe they really need something happy to relieve their depressed emotions. I can't afford so many psychologists to see them, and I can't guarantee that they are really kind...

After a few seconds, he pursed his lips, but felt a little reluctant, so he asked casually, "Does the church have any plans for New Year activities?"

"not yet."

The assistant's eyes lit up again, and Emlyn looked away, feeling that the newcomer in the confessional was also eavesdropping.

I have never done anything like this. In the past, few people came to the Harvest Church. Only immigrants from Feynaport and merchants who lived temporarily in Backland would pray here. It was troublesome for Utravsky to handle the affairs of the church alone. He didn't even have the funds, let alone New Year activities, Rejuvenation Day, or the Mother Goddess' birthday celebration... Emlyn muttered to himself for a while and said:

"Let's wait for the clerk from the Holy Temple. After all, this year is quite special, and they should also be concerned about this New Year."

"If the church approves, we will prepare according to the standard process. If the church does not say so, and you really want to celebrate, I will send an application to the cathedral, and we can close the church door and celebrate on our own."

The assistant breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appeared on his face, and he saluted Emlyn.

He was about to say something when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a plain carriage slowing down and stopping in front of the Harvest Church. Then, a blonde girl in a black and white maid's outfit pushed open the door and got out. She carefully helped out a woman wearing an old-fashioned dark skirt, a wide hat brim, and a hanging gauze mesh that almost covered her hair and face.

The two women got off the carriage about fifteen meters away from the main entrance of the Harvest Church and walked slowly side by side.

Then the carriage slowly moved away and went to wait on the side of the street where it would not disturb others.

Seeing that it was a strange believer who looked quite prestigious coming to pray, the assistant immediately went to work, cleared his throat, adjusted his expression, and stood to one side of the church.

Emlyn looked at the other person twice before moving to the first row of benches and sitting upright, somewhat puzzled as to why a human woman who smelled quite young would dress like she was just widowed.

As an archbishop, Emlyn had to put on airs, but not too much. In order to attract believers, he had to select those who were generous and devout, and then give them some special treatment.

About two minutes later, two young ladies entered Harvest Church.

The assistant looked at the two of them calmly while cleaning.

The lady, who was wearing a dark long dress and covered her face with a hat and fine veil, could not help but adjust her veil and headdress as soon as she entered the church, as if she was very dissatisfied with her outfit. With the help of the maid, the two struggled for a while, and the lady finally revealed a round and delicate face and some golden hair.

She looked a little impatient and unhappy, but when she saw the holy emblem of Mother Earth on the wall in front of her, her mood visibly calmed down.

The sunlight shines through the specially designed skylight and shines right onto the holy emblem of the Mother Goddess.

The Harvest Church provides free soothing herbal tea, so the place is filled with the warm scent of herbs and charcoal all day long.

Next, the blonde lady broke away from the maid's support, lifted her skirt and walked quickly to the risk box in the front, and put five ten-pound notes into it in succession.

A devout female believer with a cheerful personality and generous spending!
In contrast, her maid did not speak loudly from beginning to end. She seemed to be quiet and reserved, and did things steadily.

The assistant's eyes widened immediately, suspecting that the other party was from Feynaport, and he immediately felt like he was meeting a family member. If Bishop Emlyn White hadn't made a move, he would probably have smiled at the young lady and even taken the initiative to greet her!

Emlyn was indeed sitting in the first row without moving. When the lady passed by him, his nose moved and he smelled the scent of an unknown perfume on her.

There was nothing strange about this, but he always felt that he did not smell the sweet scent of blood that belonged to a young woman from her.

But how could there be none? Emlyn looked over again with doubt. His eyes were lively, his limbs were flexible, and his expression was natural. The spirit was inside him. It didn't look like a secret doll or a zombie... Was it really not there? This was clearly a living person... Emlyn frowned and thought carefully. As he recalled, he seemed to smell the scent of blood from a young woman, so sweet that it couldn't be faked.

Well, she looked like a living person no matter how I looked at her. I must have made a mistake. Emlyn came to the conclusion.

It was noon, and there was no one in the church except a confessor, a priest and the archbishop. The assistant was just about to go up and say a few words to the lady when he suddenly saw her turn around and look directly at the archbishop.

"Praise the Mother!"

The young lady performed the standard movements of holding a baby, which made the assistant think that she was a fellow villager.

Emlyn had no choice but to stand up and return the greeting:

"Praise mother, thank you, kind lady, your hair is as beautiful as the ripe ears of wheat in the fields at harvest time."

Then he looked at the strange lady and asked in confusion, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

Such praise really made the young lady, whose appearance was in line with the aesthetics of the Feynaport people, happy. She tidied her hair again and said, "It is an honor to meet you, Archbishop Emlyn White. I just moved here from Feynaport. Please forgive me. Due to the prejudice of my elders, I have to hide my face in front of the Mother Goddess and you."

"To make a long story short, I came here to tell you something..."

Having said this, the young lady looked around with a vigilant look, lowered her voice and said to Emlyn:
"Archbishop, I heard that many important figures seem to want to find fault with you, just like my elder. They don't like the Mother Goddess Church and want to find faults with you, or deliberately stir up trouble and do things that are disadvantageous to you."

So that was the matter—Emlyn was not surprised at all, and even wanted to thank the other party for his concern.

He had been having a hard time in Backland for more than a day or two. The vampires believed that he was favored by other gods and kept a relatively polite distance from him. His parents didn't know whether they should continue to contact him. The Loen people treated him as a Feynapotter, and the Feynapotter wanted him to be completely one of their own. Every day, one or two of them kept chattering in his ears.

But everyone seemed to have forgotten that Emlyn White was not actually from any country. He was just a passing vampire who was lucky - or unlucky - and happened to be blessed by a god he did not believe in.

It was already difficult to maintain the peaceful status quo of the church. He did not understand or want to understand the more complicated struggles.

Similarly, Emlyn didn't want to listen to the quarrels between the two sides. If it wasn't for the believers, he wouldn't even want to care.

Today, someone suddenly came to comfort him, and he realized his situation and dilemma. Although it was just a word of comfort and reminder, Emlyn's mood suddenly improved. Looking at the lady's face and exquisite dress, he suddenly remembered that he had not been home for a long time and had not visited his dolls that he once loved so much.

"Thank you," he said from the bottom of his heart.

The lady seemed to have not finished speaking: "And..."

The maid who always kept her head down also walked to her side at this time. Without saying a word, she pursed her lips and gently pulled her sleeve.

Her words got stuck in her throat, showing her astonishment and confusion. She seemed to have swallowed some of the words back into her stomach, but then, her pretty face showed an unconcealable anxiety and worry:

"...From what I know, there seem to be quite a few people in Backlund who are hostile to you and Feynapotter. I'm very sorry that I can't find out their identities, but if you need any help, please feel free to contact me."

As she spoke, she seemed to be about to take out some banknotes from the handbag she was carrying.

Emlyn quickly stopped the other party's behavior. Even if the believer who had just arrived was devout, he could not let him spend money so frequently!
"We have received your kindness, but if the donation is modest, Mother Goddess will also want to see you continue to be as beautiful as a blooming flower."

After saying that, seeing that the other party seemed to want to continue talking, Emlyn spoke straightforwardly:
“If you are interested, you can come to the church anytime to listen to the sermon.”

"By the way, I haven't asked your name yet?"

She opened her mouth, but finally gave up struggling, slowly put her handbag back, and then performed the skirt-lifting gesture.

"Susie, my name is Susie Conard."

……

"Audrey, why did you suddenly come to visit this archbishop today?"

Half an hour later, on the return carriage, Susie asked the other party in a low voice.

"He is a friend I met at a Beyonder gathering," Audrey replied. "No matter from a personal point of view or my own thoughts, I don't want to use him to achieve my goals."

"But you look distressed, Audrey." Susie observed the other's expression and said tentatively, "This choice makes you feel embarrassed."

Audrey sighed and admitted her dilemma.

How could it not be difficult? The Tarot Club held a high position in her heart, and everyone she met on it was higher in Audrey's heart than her real friends. Even if Emlyn White was a stranger, Audrey would think twice whether to use the other party's kindness and goodwill to achieve her own goals. Unless the other party was a hypocritical hypocrite, Audrey would never do so.

What's more, Emlyn was a member of the Tarot Club. Audrey didn't want him to fall into danger.

After all, demigods can be fragile...

Audrey slowly deleted Emlyn White and the Harvest Church from her plan, and then continued to think about how to promote social change. She looked out the window and saw people dressed as farmers appearing on the street one after another. They had just finished their morning work, with mud on their shoes and fingers, or they had just sold some of their own crops and were holding a few coins to buy bread on the street. But soon, they would all move in the same direction.

These people have only one destination, which is the Harvest Church with the "best" archbishop.

It was a beautiful scene, but Audrey saw more.

She saw that when the farmer with a lot of mud on his body walked onto the street, the people around him always made an obvious avoidance gesture, and some even covered their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs, as if the other person had a very unpleasant smell on him; on the other hand, the man selling bread in the shop did not show any dissatisfaction, but after getting the other person's coins, he threw them directly into the sink and scrubbed them vigorously.

For the audience, the temptation of this scene is too great.

No, it's simply horrible.

Such an obvious gap, such a balance that is vulnerable to collapse, every detail is tempting the "audience" to gently reach out and push, tearing apart this social order that still maintains superficial peace on the spot, allowing everyone to pour out their desires, attack each other, and abuse each other.

——But why is it so obvious?

——Everyone knew that it would take at least several years of conflict to get to this point, but in reality it was achieved in just a few months.

——“Because there is more than one person pushing this behind the scenes,” everyone thought so.

——It is as obvious as a trap, tempting everyone to step in, lower their bottom line, and get satisfaction from destroying others.

No...I really can't do it. I can't do it...I can't take advantage of his kindness, just like I can't let these ordinary people die because of my ideas. Audrey watched all this in silence.

Susie also looked at them, but she didn't feel anything. The joys and sorrows of human beings were too far away from her. She read the struggle and embarrassment from Audrey's expression. She knew that Audrey had special sympathy for civilians, so she took the initiative to say:
"Audrey, I'm going to a ball tomorrow. Let's start with the nobles and begin to destroy the balance between them."

Audrey neither agreed nor disagreed:

"I have considered this idea, but it is impossible to expect the nobles to invade each other and cause the social order to collapse. If this is the case, I must try to borrow the power of the 'Emperor' to contact MI9, but that is too dangerous. Both your life and mine will be in danger."

"Well, what about the church? The church has a lot of members."

"It's useless to hint at low-sequence Beyonders. High-sequence Beyonders in the church can detect that something is wrong with them through prayer and confession. It's too risky to remove psychological hints in the church, and there's almost no benefit." Audrey sighed, looking distressed, thinking about how to start the action. "No wonder so many eyes in the dark are staring at Mr. Emlyn White. He has no subordinates, is a demigod with little experience, and manages an area that has become a powder keg. He's perfect for being the fuse that detonates order."

"But you're not going to take advantage of him."

"Yeah." Audrey was about to speak when she caught a glimpse of a family of three passing by on the street. The mother was pushing a stroller, and she met the eyes of the baby in the stroller who was holding a small toy.

Audrey was startled, then smiled at him, but the baby turned his head away disrespectfully and pretended to sleep.

What an interesting kid... Audrey didn't think much of it.

TBC
------

"Let's find another way." She said to Susie, "My mission requires disrupting social order, but under this premise, I think my new boss still wants to test whether I can always stick to my ideas."

"It's really stupid to not harm innocent people at all. I won't deny the casualties, nor will I ignore my responsibilities. I will also try my best to suppress the intensity and save people." Audrey thought for a moment and made a suggestion, "Let's do as you said, and start with the nobles."

"It's easy to create conflict among nobles, but it's difficult to break them up."

"Perhaps I should try to take the initiative to contact the people in MI9 and those extraordinary people who are said to have been brainwashed by the 'Emperor'..."

"Of course, it won't be me who makes contact. Didn't Hvin Rambis say that he has already defected to the other party?"

"I have to pay attention to his movements. Even if I don't do it, others may not."

"Although they can no longer influence politics, there is a god behind them... At the same time, the Thunder Church now has a large number of extraordinary people who are good at divination. If I want to do something to the nobles, I will definitely not be able to escape the perception of those people, so I must also satisfy the church and turn a blind eye... Phew, compared to taking action against civilians, I am more willing to accept this challenge."

"Susie, just think of me as crazy."

Susie nodded: "I believe you, so where do you want to start?"

"I need to think about this again." Audrey smiled. "It's not that easy to cause infighting among the noble class."