Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 111: The Bad Intelligence Dealer
In a small conference room at Saint Samuel's Church, most of the middle and senior leaders of the Backlund Diocese of the Church of Evernight sat.

Saint Anthony Stevenson, wearing a black and red archbishop's robe, spoke calmly and slowly, "Qilingos's death can only be confirmed to be caused by a high-sequence Beyonder of the 'Corpse Collector' pathway. We can confirm that it wasn't someone he knew, nor was it someone from the 'Spiritual Cult'..."

A Red Gloves captain in his forties asked, "Could it be that guy who defected? He should have been promoted to Sequence 4 by now."

Anthony Stevenson shook his head and said, "That person used the stolen relic to change his path and ascended to Sequence 4, Night Watcher, on the Sleepless Path."

Claire, who was also sitting at the conference table, clenched her fists upon hearing this news. "A demigod who controls a Level 0 Sealed Artifact... I still need more power."

Anthony Stevenson added, "And the High-Sequence Beyonder that appeared in Backlund is even more powerful."

Even more powerful? That means he must be at least a Sequence 3 Saint or above? Claire thought to herself.

"So, please don't pursue this matter any further. I will personally report this to the Holy Temple."

After Anthony finished speaking, Alicia said, "Your Excellency Saint Anthony, I would like to conduct the assessment of the holy object in advance. This incident has made me truly realize the huge gap between me and the powerful ones."

Anthony Stevenson soothed her, "Alicia, you possess sufficient talent. Don't rush to increase your Sequence. However, the Holy Relic Examination can be expedited. I will submit a request to the Holy Temple."

Alicia nodded and fell silent.

Claire looked at him. This man, the head of the Night Watchmen of the Backlund Diocese, no longer had the sense of danger he had when chasing Qilingos, and was slightly silent.

But feeling Claire's gaze, Alicia looked up and smiled gently at her.

Claire thought of the reputation Alicia had received from the Nighthawks: she was gentle most of the time but occasionally violent, seemingly suffering from mental problems left over from her rapid promotion.

After the impromptu meeting, Claire took a rented carriage to meet Audrey at Earl Hall's Mansion.

Audrey prepared 2000 pounds in cash in advance, all in 10-pound notes, neatly placed in a black suitcase. She handed it to Claire and said,
"Since Qilingos is dead, Ms. Galadilla doesn't have to stay by my side. This is the agreed amount. You can count it."

Audrey confirmed Qilingos's death from her father, Earl Hall, early in the morning. Unfortunately, Earl Hall refused to reveal more details, leaving Audrey's curiosity unsatisfied.

Claire opened it, counted out 500 pounds, and put it directly into the inner pocket of her windbreaker. Under Audrey's puzzled gaze, she smiled and said, "I'm not going to say it anymore."
"2000 pounds is the price for protecting you for a week. Only one day has passed. I'll take a deposit first, and the rest will come after I fulfill the contract."

Audrey looked at Claire in surprise. "I thought you would take the money for granted."

Claire smiled and said, "It seems that in Miss Hall's impression, I am a very shameless guy."

Audrey gave an awkward smile.

But Claire felt that the other party actually wanted to roll his eyes, but was stopped by his noble manners.

Audrey felt that it was difficult to maintain her composure in front of this woman. She sighed and said, "Did you catch up with Qilingos?"

Claire looked at Audrey with a smile in her eyes: "You want to know what happened back then?"

Audrey had been in a scratchy mood all morning, so she naturally nodded and said, "I want to know who killed Qilingos?"

Claire looked at the money in the suitcase and said, "The information fee is 100 pounds."

Seeing Claire asking for money, Audrey felt for the first time that spending money was also something that made her uncomfortable. Audrey sighed helplessly and pointed at the suitcase and said, "You take it yourself."

Claire unceremoniously selected 10 photos from the box and said with a smile, "It's an unknown strong man." "?" Audrey's expression was as if there was a question mark on her forehead.

Before Audrey could explode, Claire continued:
"We can't find out the identity of this expert, nor can we guess his purpose in killing Qi Lingos... But you have to understand, there are not many high-sequence experts like this in this world, and it is even more unlikely that they would suddenly appear... Therefore, many of our officials speculate that this is a powerful and secretive new organization."

Could it be our Tarot Club? An accomplice of Mr. Hanged Man? Or even Mr. Fool or one of his followers?
Audrey thought a lot at once. It was she who revealed Qilingos's identity, and she only told the Fool and her father the news.

The official confusion can be seen from the reactions of both the father and Galadilla.

Although the possibility of information leaking in the middle link cannot be ruled out, the most likely people who have the motivation, preparation and ability to take action are the Tarot Club members!
A secretive and powerful organization whose purpose is unpredictable to others!

Thinking of this, Audrey's eyes lit up slightly, and she almost couldn't control her expression.

Audrey realized that she was getting too carried away with her thoughts, so she suppressed her guilty conscience and glanced at Claire who was leaning on the sofa.

Sure enough, Claire was smiling.

"It seems Miss Hall knows about some powerful and secretive new organization. Could it be that this is the organization that led you on the path to becoming a Beyonder?"

Audrey pretended nothing happened, "Did you see what that strong man looked like?"

Claire didn't delve into it and just extended another finger.

Audrey reluctantly made a gesture of invitation.

Claire took out ten ten-pound notes from the open suitcase and replied as she did so, "I didn't actually see the strong man's face."

Audrey had experience this time and waited quietly for the follow-up.

Claire shrugged and said, "I only saw two hands. One was a giant skeletal hand over three meters tall, and the other was an even larger, transparent, pale hand."

Audrey waited a little longer, and when she saw that Claire had no intention of saying anything else, she blurted out in an unladylike manner, "That's it?"

Claire smiled as she stuffed the bills inside her windbreaker. "Yes, it's not much, but it's all firsthand information I witnessed at the risk of my life. Unless you can find the other two people who were present, you won't be able to get any more details."

After hearing the new clues Claire revealed, Audrey didn't question the other party's information because it was too simple. She quickly asked curiously, "Besides you, there are two other people who caught up with him?"

This time, Claire consciously took out 200 pounds of banknotes from the box.

Audrey's lips twitched stiffly, acquiescing to Claire's action, and then she heard Claire say:
"One of my colleagues, or should I say, a leader... a powerful figure in our church. She must have been urgently summoned here by your father or another noble who knew about the situation."

"The other is a blue-haired man wearing Storm Church clothing."

Storm Church, blue hair...

Audrey was stunned for a moment, then looked thoughtful.

Claire picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip from the swirling hot steam.

(End of this chapter)