Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 177 Lamb
Holding the Heart Nightmare Candle in her hand, Claire walked out of the small prayer room. Bishop Utravsky was waiting devoutly in front of the Holy Symbol of Life. Upon seeing Claire come out, he turned around and said slowly, "From your appearance, it seems that you haven't solved the problem... Do you want to try again?"

"No thanks." Claire smiled and declined the other party's suggestion. "Can I borrow this Nightmare Candle again in the future?"

Claire planned to try to solve the problem of her latent personality on her own first, but she had to stick to the five-minute limit of once a day. Otherwise, the negative effects of the Nightmare Candle would affect her enjoyment.

Bishop Utravsky said gently, "The Mother Goddess arranges everything. Your finding this place must be arranged by the Mother Goddess. You are always welcome here."

Although the Goddess Church recognized the missionary rights of the Harvest Church, fortunately Claire was not a fanatic, otherwise she would not be able to set foot in the church. The pious words of the Mother Goddess were too irritating to the fanatic's sensitive nerves.

Claire is the type who "seeks common ground while reserving differences".

This type of believer is not uncommon in the Goddess Church. In other words, this trend of thought accounts for the majority of Beyonders in the three major churches of Loen, including the violent Punishers.

Otherwise, the three major churches would have fought each other over their beliefs long ago, and would not be able to cooperate relatively closely like they do now in dealing with incidents involving evil spirits.

Thinking about missionary rights, there was another thing that concerned Claire.

According to her understanding of gods and divinity, since gods need believers, they do not adopt more efficient methods such as dividing up land to confine believers and brainwashing them. Instead, they maintain the stability of the secular world to a large extent and give people the right to freely choose their beliefs.

At least that's the case in the Kingdom of Loen.

I don’t know whether it is the mercy of the gods or there is something else going on.

After bidding farewell to Bishop Utravsky, Claire returned to the team and continued to participate in Daly's investigation.

When Claire found Daly and the other two, they took advantage of their break to rest in a cafe in the West District.

The cafe in Loen served as a venue for gatherings of all sizes, and even various thoughts were raised and discussed there. It was not a place for couples to check in like on Earth, so their combination of one woman and two men did not seem out of place in the cafe.

When Claire came over, Daly and the others were enjoying coffee and dessert while listening to the discussions and even arguments about current Loen politics in the cafe.

Seeing Claire coming back, Dunn put down his coffee and asked Claire, "How's the situation?"

Claire smiled and said, "I met the bishop and successfully borrowed the magical item. However, my situation hasn't been resolved yet. I plan to go back tomorrow."

Dunn nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Claire looked around and asked, "What are you all listening to here with such gusto? Why don't you go investigate the case?"

Leonard slumped back in his chair, yawning. "This is our lunch break. We have to rest. Even someone who can't sleep can't stay awake forever... and the discussions in this cafe are quite interesting."

"Oh?" After Claire came in, she also heard what was being discussed in the cafe. The official list of the Kingdom's Air Pollution Investigation Committee had been announced.

Leonard pushed a newspaper over. "This committee is quite impressive. Here's the official list of members."

Claire glanced at the newspaper on the table. Most of the names she had seen at Stuart's place were on the newspaper.

In addition to the most eye-catching committee chairman Des Shaw and chief secretary Hibbert Hall, Claire saw the names of Jessica Meazza and Viscount Press on the committee list.

Dunn also spoke at this time:

"Backlund's smog has reached a point where it must be addressed. The extremely poor air quality has severely damaged the lives and health of the citizens. Even Her Excellency Cecima has mentioned that the Church has repeatedly raised the issue of smog control with the King."

Daly also interjected, "Since arriving in Backlund, I've heard about this committee and that committee, and I thought they were all cheap. But this Air Pollution Investigation Committee is so high-end! I thought it was just another empty shell."

Dunn nodded and smiled:

"The Kingdom's Air Pollution Committee is no mere figment of the imagination. Their investigations will directly impact upcoming laws like the Anti-Pollution Act and the Smoke Emissions Reduction Act. It could even shake up the structure of the energy and steel industries. They truly hold a powerful position."

"That's why there's such a heated debate in the cafe... And I imagine that not only here, but also other places where people who care about political affairs gather must be debating this committee list."

Leonard said lazily, "Is this Chief Secretary so hated? While there are various topics of discussion, the most talked about topic is doubts about whether Hibbert Hall is competent for the job."

……

Meanwhile, in the office building of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee, Chairman Des Shaw left Chief Secretary Hibbert Hall alone and offered him some words of encouragement:
"...The committee list was personally reviewed by the King. This represents the King and his ministers' expectations and trust in you. As for the outside voices, they are a form of questioning, but also a form of encouragement. As long as we do our job well, the citizens will change their prejudices."

This handsome gentleman with shining blond hair always had a faint smile on his face. No matter from which angle you looked at him, he had the beauty of a classical sculpture, without any rashness or imbalance in his mentality, as if it was not him who was being discussed or even scolded by the citizens outside.

Facing Des Shaw's probing, Hibbert responded firmly, "Chairman, combating air pollution is my responsibility, and it's the unstoppable trend of the times. Anyone or any force standing in my way is foolish. There's no doubt about that."

To Des Shaw, Burt's tone was even more resolute than those of the representatives from Anthracite and other companies who had come to support him. Des Shaw said, "I'm pleased that you have such an attitude. I look forward to your performance."

Watching Hibbert's tall figure disappear through the doorway, Des Shaw rubbed his head and sighed softly, "It's great to be young... As expected of the Earl of Eastchester's eldest son, young lord."

Hibbert returned to his own private office from the chairman's room, where his subordinates were already waiting for him.

"Mr. Chief Secretary, are you looking for me?"

Opal Hawthorne, a middle-aged man, had worked with Hibbert in other departments and was a loyal supporter of Earl Hall. This time, he followed in Hibbert Hall's footsteps and came to assist Hibbert Hall in his work after obtaining the qualification of a committee member.

Opal was very good at guessing Hibbert's thoughts. After learning about the Air Pollution Investigation Committee, Hibbert preferred to be called "Mr. Chief Secretary" rather than "Lord Hall".

Hibbert smiled faintly and said, "Mr. Opper, public opinion and newspapers seem to be hotly discussing whether my identity as Earl Hall's son will hinder the committee's investigation?"

Opal quickly said, "This is all their misunderstanding."

Hibbert shook his head and said calmly, "It's more than just a misunderstanding. Someone is eyeing my position. In recent years, many small companies have relied on clean energy like anthracite and have rapidly grown thanks to the environmental protection trend, with their value skyrocketing more than a hundredfold... These people didn't get the position of chief secretary, and fearing that I'm not on the same page as them, they want to play it safe and get rid of me and replace me with their own people."

Opal's expression was filled with indignation, and he cursed, "These upstarts are truly despicable. Should we retaliate?" Hibbert, still laughing, waved his hand to block Opal's thought, saying, "Combating air pollution is an unstoppable trend. Taking action against them would be exactly what they want and what they've planned. If we act today, even before tonight, we'll face even more intense attacks."

Opal's expression changed slightly when he heard this, and he lowered his head and said, "I was too superficial."

Hibbert smiled and said, "You always put yourself in my shoes, so your thinking is inevitably biased. That's why I often advise you to broaden your horizons."

"Then... what should we do? Are we just going to let them go on like this?" Opal asked worriedly.

Hibbert calmly took out the committee list. His gaze paused briefly on Jessica Meazza's name before finally settling on Mary Gale. He said, "Oper, I have something to entrust you with."

Opal quickly listened.

Hibbert pointed at the list and said, "Find someone reliable to write a threatening letter and send it to Mary Gale's home."

In order to better serve the Hall family, Opper had already conducted a superficial investigation and memorized everyone on the committee list. When he saw this name, he thought of Mary Gale as someone related to the anthracite industry.

Mary Gail's father was the founder of Coim, and after his death, he left the company's shares to Mary Gail and her husband.

And Opal also learned that Mary Gale's husband had recently cheated on her.

With the help of a private detective, Mary Gale obtained physical evidence of her husband's infidelity, successfully divorced her husband, and kept most of the property from her father, becoming a major shareholder of Coim Company.

Coim was one of the beneficiaries of the fortunes that had grown from anthracite coal over the years.

However… although the Coim Company was one of the top ten companies in the anthracite industry in Backlund, it was nothing compared to the Hall family.

Not even as wealthy as Opal himself.

"The content of the threatening letter is..." Opal asked hesitantly.

Hibbert said calmly, "She is required to treat the factory smoke fairly when conducting air pollution investigations and acknowledge their contributions. Otherwise, she will be threatened with death."

Opal was stunned, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and advised: "But if this matter is exposed, you will lose more than just your position as chief secretary."

"That's why I asked you to find someone reliable." Hibbert glanced at Opal and chuckled. "After this, I will comfort the frightened Lady Mary and declare war on those 'intimidators who polluted Backlund's air' in the newspapers."

Hibbert advised Opper, "Public opinion is a tool. We must master it, not fear it. By using intimidation, we can guide public opinion and get newspapers and magazines to repeatedly publicize the horrors of smoke pollution."

Opal's eyes lit up when he heard this: "By then, not only will public opinion no longer criticize you, but it will actually praise you for being at the forefront of the fight against pollution!"

"But..." Opal said with some frustration, "If this happens, won't those who are slandering you behind your back also benefit and not receive the punishment they deserve?"

Hibbert was amused and confused by Opper's frustration. He shook his head and said, "I'm the chief secretary of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee. When I gain a huge reputation for opposing pollution, these people will all be our own."

Hibbert paused and continued:
"These people are lucky. The industries they chose align with the kingdom's political direction... But as long as I do my job as Chief Secretary well, these people, for their own benefit, will eventually become my strength and transform into my own influence."

"They are not my enemies, but foolish lambs waiting for me to shepherd them."

……

In the secret room of the "Eye of Wisdom" gathering, after Xio got the clue of the pharmacist's formula from the fat pharmacist in front of him, he couldn't wait to leave the gathering and go to the Harvest Church to find Bishop Utravsky who had the formula.

But Hugh was pulled by Tessa.

Tessa chuckled at the fat pharmacist and said, "Why go so far? We have a friend who wants to become a pharmacist. Can he be your student?"

Through contact, Tessa had already determined that the pharmacist in front of her was probably a member of the School of Life. The members of this secret organization believed in fate and worshipped the moon, but did not believe in the goddess of night.

They mainly rely on master-disciple inheritance, and it seems that due to the different approaches to potions within each faction, they were only a barely-assembled alliance a long time ago.

However, under the coordination of the "Parliament of Destiny", the interests of different factions are protected, and different factions within the organization have been actively integrating with each other, so this organization has the potential to become stronger and more stable.

But according to the Witch Cult's sources, there seems to be some kind of drastic change happening within the organization...

"I'm sorry, I don't have any intention of accepting a disciple at the moment." The fat pharmacist said without hesitation.

Tessa continued, "As far as I know, every pharmacist has a way to make money quickly. But your assets don't seem as wealthy as the rumored 'pharmacists'."

The fat pharmacist's mood turned sour, and he snorted coldly, "Are you mocking me?"

Tessa shook her head and said, "No, our friend is a young viscount. If he becomes your student, he will open up a wider market for your potions, which are often mistrusted by others. After all, the circle of nobles is very exclusive, but at the same time, they also trust their own people. You should have experienced this."

Tessa knew from the records that when these pharmacists were mixing extraordinary potions for various purposes, they would always produce potions that stimulated mating desire or enhanced mating ability under unexpected conditions.

Furthermore, the records speculate that this "accident" seems to be somehow related to the extraordinary characteristics of the Pharmacist Path and is an inevitable phenomenon.

The fat pharmacist hesitated when he heard this. Although he had earned a lot of money with his extraordinary abilities, the recipes, materials, and mission commissions on the extraordinary road all required a lot of money.

Although his medicine was very good, it was difficult for it to enter the aristocratic circle with stronger spending power.

Just like what the woman in front of me said, the nobles are an arrogant and xenophobic group, and they have no business at all without a guide.

A Viscount as a student...

The fat pharmacist admitted that he was a little moved.

(End of this chapter)