The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 1093 Ch.1092 No Price
Horn was one of only two of the most muscular men Roland had ever seen—the other being his captain.

The man was dressed like a boxer ready for action in the East End, his sleeves missing, revealing bulging, rock-like muscles. His forearms were wrapped in bandages, and he wore numerous ornaments made of animal bones around his waist.

A giant wolf lay at his feet.

There was only a round table in the flowerbed, with a wooden teapot and a few cups on it.

Deloz was a little afraid of him.

He looks too fierce.

"Welcome, benefactor's sword." He was much friendlier than the Green Robe cultists who were leading the way (incidentally, after Roland's outburst, the two Green Robe cultists refused to speak to them for the rest of the journey).

Horn rose to greet them, and after the cultists had retreated, he invited the three to sit down.

They even poured tea for me personally... or drinks with some strange and unusual seasonings, which were a bit too sweet.

“I’ve heard of the ‘Golden Rose’ for a long time, Mr. Collins, but seeing her today, I’d say that’s an insult.”

Deloz wasn't being impolite, but she was genuinely worried about her sister—the Whirlpool. This place didn't resemble Holy Cross; how could they possibly think her sister was a cultist?
“Mr. Horn, my sister—”

“Of course, Miss Fonseca. Personally, I’m willing to believe that your sister did not use the power of the cult to do evil,” Horn did not show any displeasure at Deloz’s rude opening. Instead, he spoke gently to soothe her: “She escorted our Child of Nature back to the Sanctuary—Miss Fonseca, the Great Vortex is not like some sects that cannot distinguish right from wrong.”

His language seems to have a magical power to calm the mind.

With just a few vague words of comfort, the flames of anger in Deloz's heart were immediately extinguished by the gentle drizzle.

"...Okay. How long do I have to wait before I can see my sister?"

“To be honest, we can do it now.” With a look of surprise and delight in the girl’s eyes, he called over another, even younger child—perhaps not much older than Delos—and asked him to take the girl to see Gilles.

Deloz hesitated before getting up, glancing at Roland and Theodore.

“Go ahead.” Roland nodded.

Only after the girl left with the worshippers did the conversation begin to get to the point.

“Honestly, Mr. Collins, if only I had met you sooner—”

“We should have met before,” Roland said, stroking his silver-handled hand.

He couldn't be bothered to engage in any pretense with this masked, muscular weirdo.

"...Sorry?" Horn asked, surprised.

"At sea, sir. Did the giant waves you summoned greet me—or is there another ritualist in the Great Whirlpool who has reached the Eighth Ring and can invoke natural disasters?"

Theodore's fists were clenched tightly under the table, his palms sweating.

Horn's enthusiastic smile gradually cooled down.

This isn't a good way to talk, but it's very Roland-esque.

“…Apostates must die; this is the ironclad law of sects and faiths—let’s change to a more worthwhile topic. Mr. Collins, Gilles Fonseca used unclean powers in the Lady’s Sanctuary, and when my fellow believers tried to stop her, they were attacked by a swarm of rats.”

His thick fingers tapped the table, and as he stared at Roland, the surrounding space seemed to distort for a moment.

"The court needs to provide an explanation."

"Explain?" Roland tilted his head. "You mean, send a few 'Saints'..."

Horn shook his head: "That's strange, Collins. According to our investigation, Gilles Fonseca's lover is from the Inquisition—Fernandez Devinson, isn't he? The lover of the Radiant Sword is a follower of the Cradle of Flesh..."

He pounded on the table, his eyes filled with a wolf-like cruelty and mockery.

That was the look in someone's eyes when they're eyeing their prey.

Obviously.

He had no intention of letting Gilles Fonseca off the hook.

Not only did they not release her, but they also used her to implicate Fernandez Devinson, thereby connecting her to the court and even the 'justice and sanctity' of the executive officer—a tactic that would be disgusting to ordinary people, but used by an eight-ring member, is all the more intriguing.

Very simple.

He was unwilling to clash with Enid Judea by force, yet he wasn't afraid of her ramming him. "...We were originally grateful to her, grateful to Lady Fonseca for returning our child of nature, the ancient and glorious Westevik. But Collins, she manipulated the rats, shamelessly attacked my people, and loudly insulted our gods in the sanctuary, polluting our land with her filthy power..."

"Excuse my bluntness, but as a follower of the 'Tree Mother,' a child of Eve, I cannot accept such an insult."

Roland had met Gilles Fonseca many times.

He was certain that Gilles, in a conscious state, would never do something so foolish—therefore.

Horn wants to prove that she is an infected person who is 'unconscious'?
“Either she’s…you know, during this disaster, many citizens sensed the ‘mystery’ and became ‘apprentices’—I mean, either she’s ‘unqualified’ and is an infected person who’s directing rats to kill people everywhere…or…”

thump.

The fingers paused.

"Either she herself has an unclean faith, Mr. Collins. What do you mean by that?"

Roland didn't rush to answer; instead, he turned his head toward the silent knight beside him.

The golden ash he brushed off no longer shimmered in his hair, and he looked like a silent, cracked piece of glass.

He clearly showed his disapproval of Horn's words—after all, he had personally witnessed Florian and Gilles return to the Maelstrom's base...

But when Roland asked him...

“…I don’t know, Mr. Collins, I…actually…I don’t know.”

slander.

They are all lies.

Gilles Fonseca relentlessly squeezed out her 'divinely bestowed' power, a power she had never known before. She suffered many injuries, enduring the pain to send them back to the cult—the shrewd mistress almost always greeted every priest of the Beast Fangs with a smile…

She could not even possibly see the Tree Mother's green robe in the Sanctuary of the Beast Fangs.

Theodore knew it all.

I know it perfectly well.

but…

He was a ritual performer of the "Great Vortex." He was a follower of the Lady.

They are His natural children.

Axioms, justice, truth.

None of that compares to the word 'identity'—he cannot betray his sect, the oaths he swore, the promises he made to Westevik…

But is it still needed now?
Theodore was torn.

Horn, however, didn't give him a chance to speak, gently 'patching up' the flaw in his words: "I'm afraid Thackeray won't see that scene, Mr. Collins. Gilles Fonseca was transferred from the Beast Teeth to the Tree Mother's prison—she did something earth-shattering here. What can you possibly get from questioning a Beast Teeth?"

Roland gazed at the soft, floating flames above Theodore's head.

"traitor!"

"You saved his life!"

"That traitor! He doesn't deserve to be our friend!"

Roland sighed inwardly.

"So, Mr. Horn, what 'how' do I need to take Ms. Gilles Fonseca away, and my friend away?"

Roland emphasized his words, implying that the other party could make their request.

however…

Horn put on a helpless expression, spreading his hands with a wry smile: "Alas, I'm afraid nothing I do will work, Mr. Collins."

(End of this chapter)