Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 199 Alger

"The nobles are the group that is most adept at following the trends of the times. Now that the Kingdom of Loen is cracking down on the slave trade, they will assess the situation..." Tessa, who was once a noble girl, showed a puzzled expression.

Hearing this, Claire raised an eyebrow and said, "But in fact, in Backland, the criminal gangs that traffic in human beings are basically jumping on the table to eat people."

Tessa fell silent for a moment, then sighed, "A considerable number of powerful individuals must have been corrupted by the evil god, including some of very high status."

Claire was not surprised by this. The Industrial Revolution and the colonization of the southern continent had not been able to feed Loen's own people. The greed of the powerful class who wantonly squandered the hard-earned money of male and female workers, and even child workers, was simply the perfect breeding ground for the arrival of the evil god.

When Claire learned about the alienation and persecution that factory labor brought to people, she had believed that the Industrial Revolution was a breeding ground for evil spirits, but now, her thoughts have changed slightly.

What alienates people is not the birth of new technologies, but the difficulty of adapting the old production relations to the rapid development of productivity.

Regarding this social problem, Claire could only sigh. She didn't think that time travelers like her could change the status quo, especially since this was a world overlooked by gods.

Although she couldn't solve this fundamental problem, she could still find and judge the scum who sold their souls to the evil gods.

As the goddess's butler, it is my duty to eliminate evil spirits.

So Claire asked Tessa explicitly, "By corrupted...are you referring to the conservatives, or the royal family?"

Beth Lyonnes is a conservative political broker on the surface, but Tessa once mentioned that Beth Lyonnes is actually a royalist.

Judging from all the signs so far, Beth Lyonness was acting purely under Alicia's inducement or even orders. In other words, Alicia was actually working for the Loen royal family.

Tessa shook her head and said, "Perhaps it's not divided along party lines. In this situation, I'm afraid there are people with problems in the Conservative Party, the Royal Family, and even the New Party."

Then, Tessa asked Claire, "So what are you going to do? Turn a blind eye, or conduct an in-depth investigation?"

Claire rubbed her forehead behind the mask and decided:

"Let's first conduct an in-depth investigation using Kapin's murder as a clue... Whether the one who killed everyone in Kapin's mansion was a righteous man fighting evil, or someone behind the scenes trying to silence them, remains unknown."

"Also, on your side...if the person behind this is connected to Alicia, and we're proactively investigating Kapin's case, who knows, someone might come looking for you."

Tessa's eyes rolled slightly, and she smiled faintly. "The Church of Evernight asked me to replace Alicia. It seems that this is their intention... It also proves that the Church of Evernight has noticed something and intends to clean up those pests in Loen. And I am the bait."

Tessa joked, "Loen, which is controlled by the royal family and the nobles, should be handed over to the church... The church's concept of protecting civil rights is quite similar to the ideas you once told me."

Claire rolled her eyes at this. Changing the reform to a religious one was a complete step backwards in history...

But Claire suddenly thought that there was no religious organization with true God, and its bottom line was even more despicable than that of secular regimes. But here, the Church of the Seven Gods had true Gods behind it.

The teachings of the Church of Night, in particular, were quite advanced for their time. Consequently, the thoughts of the vast majority of church members, from top to bottom, could be considered a beacon of civilization for this era...

Thinking of this, Claire gave up the idea of ​​refuting Tessa's joke and brought the topic back to the mission:

"The Capin case probably involves the mission entrusted to us by Saint Anthony. I will report this to Saint Anthony first and use this opportunity to find a way to get the case out of the hands of the Mandated Punisher."

"Don't act rashly. Just be the bait and wait and see if anyone contacts you."

Tessa smiled and nodded: "This is what I am good at."

Claire tugged at the cloak that enveloped her body and said one last thing before leaving: "Also...you must be careful and save your life first."

Tessa pursed her lips, her smile growing a little brighter.

After coming out of the Night Watchman's office area, Claire returned to her office and changed back into Galadriel's appearance and attire before going to report to Saint Anthony.

Claire told Saint Anthony everything about the Capin case and the inferences drawn from it, and asked the Backlund chief her own question: "Has the church discovered that there are serious problems within the kingdom?"

After hearing about the Capin case and a series of inferences, and then hearing Claire's question, the old bishop's eyes grew deeper. "Maintaining a balance with the royal family is the goddess's oracle. But during my years stationed in Backlund, I've seen many things that are worthy of suspicion."

"What exactly do you mean?" Claire asked.

Saint Anthony did not answer, but said to Claire:

"It's not easy to compete with the punishment agent for the right to handle the case. In comparison, it's easier to cooperate in handling the case."

"And...Kaping's case is quite involved. Before the Substitute Punishers arrived at the crime scene, two people appeared at Kaping's villa."

Is St. Anthony also following the Capin case?
This thought flashed through Claire's mind, and she asked, "Oh? Who are they?"

"The Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese of the Church of the Storm and a director of MI9."

These are... two demigods? !

Claire was surprised. She remembered the Archbishop of the Church of Storms, one of the Cardinals of the Church of Storms, known as the "Singer of God", Ace Snake!
In addition, a demigod from MI9 was also involved!
Saint Anthony said pointedly, "I'm not the only one who has my suspicions about Backlund and even the entire Loen population... However, I can't tell where the Church of the Storm and MI9 stand on this matter."

Claire frowned and asked, "Your Excellency Saint Anthony, Capin is very likely involved with a cult... Putting aside MI9, which is controlled by the royal family, a righteous church like the Church of the Storm wouldn't be involved with a cult, right?"

Saint Anthony lowered his eyes, devoutly drew a crimson crescent on his chest, and said without emotion:
"The church advocates the elimination of all heretics, but in specific matters, there are occasional cases of cooperation with individual pagans. Of course, based on my personal understanding, I am more inclined to believe that the 'Singer of God' in the Storm Church has nothing to do with this matter."

After saying this, Saint Anthony pulled a black button from his sleeve and handed it to Claire. "According to the clues we have, the Capin case involves a number of missing girls, including some who are followers of the goddess..."

Saint Anthony sighed softly and continued to instruct Claire, "Use this as an excuse to ask the Church of Storms to intervene in the investigation. During this process, if you encounter the 'Singer of God', give him this button."

Claire took the black button. Even with her ability as an appraiser, she couldn't see any spirituality in it. It looked like an ordinary button.

Claire did not hide her doubts, and Saint Anthony added:
"This is just an ordinary button, devoid of spirituality. As a keepsake, it won't be recognized by others. But when Snake sees it, he'll know I'm paying attention to this, to those increasingly discordant dark corners of Backlund... This is a warning and a test for him, a form of communication without direct contact."

Claire put the button away, feeling more and more that Backlund was stirring up a hidden tide!
Not only those cultists and the nobles of the Loen Kingdom who had been seduced and corrupted, but also the church, at least the two big bosses of the church, seemed to be making some extremely secret arrangements... After giving these instructions, Saint Anthony spread out his palm again, and a deep and bright light like starlight flickered in his palm, and these starlights quickly formed into a medal.

The medal is crystal clear, as if it is made of black gemstone.

But when Claire turned her eyes away from the medal, she completely ignored its existence!

Saint Anthony handed the medal to Claire and said:

"This is my Night Emblem. It has no properties or powers of its own. Its only function is to establish a connection with me once activated."

"I will provide you with the power of secrecy, fear, or doom when you need it."

"If you need more immediate help, just say my name in the ancient Hermetic language, 'Anthony Stevenson,' while you're being stimulated."

This is the power of a demigod?!
Claire accepted Saint Anthony's asylum with emotion.

No wonder Sequence 4 and above are called demigods. This ability to respond to prayers from a distance is very similar to that of a god.

Having often observed the Tarot Club members' prayers directed to the "Fool" and the "Fool's" responses, Claire was no stranger to this power.

In fact, Beyonders who are skilled in ritual magic can also do similar things by pointing to their own altars and rituals.

But Claire also deeply understood that before her own spirit body had undergone a qualitative change and before she possessed divinity, she would be unable to respond to others from a distance!
Responding to the ritual can be called the authority of God!

With this Night Emblem, it was like carrying a demigod-level protector with her. Claire now had the confidence to delve deeper into many things she had previously been hesitant about.

But seeing Claire's eagerness, Saint Anthony warned, "This connection isn't absolute. For example, if you place my Night Emblem in the Holy Coffin, it will sever this connection. So, when you encounter a danger clearly beyond your capabilities, don't act rashly."

Claire nodded solemnly and expressed her gratitude to Saint Anthony.

After finishing the report with Saint Anthony, Claire, who had gained a lot, took a short rest and then led Daly to the "Holy Wind Church" in the Cherwood District in the afternoon.

Due to advance telegram communication, Claire and the others did not need to enter the Holy Wind Church. Instead, they were taken to the third floor of a nondescript building not far away.

This was obviously a base set up by the Mandated Punisher outside the church.

A lean, middle-aged man walked out from the inner room, came to Claire, and greeted her, "Hello, Ms. Galadilla."

Since Galadilla sent the telegram as the captain of the Red Gloves, the person she met and communicated with at this time was a "Manufactured Punisher" deacon.

The middle-aged man had an anchor-shaped blue-black tattoo on his neck. His demeanor made him look more like a captain sailing on the sea than a priest.

Claire had heard that most of the Deacons of the Mandated Punishers had carried out missions at sea as captains. It seemed that their experiences at sea had deeply influenced the temperaments of these Storm Deacons.

Claire explained her purpose in person: "Mr. Welling, since the Capin case involves the goddess's followers, please allow us to participate in the investigation."

Roy Welling laughed heartily, without any embarrassment on his face, and said:
"Before you arrived, the church had already approved this cooperation. I'll introduce you to the Mandated Punisher handling this case later. However, I didn't expect that this case, which currently has no known extraordinary involvement, would attract the attention of the Red Gloves."

After a brief pause, Roy Welling inquired, "Do you have any clues related to this case?"

Claire, well prepared, shared the intelligence she had obtained from Tessa with her: "Before Capin's accident, we detected a Beyonder with him, suspected to be the 'Lawyer' path."

"A Beyonder from the 'Lawyer' path?" Roy Welling asked in astonishment.

If we were to ask which organization in the Kingdom of Loen has the most Beyonders through the "Lawyer" path, it would undoubtedly be MI9!

Of course, unlike paths like the "Sleepless" and "Sailor" that are strictly controlled by the Orthodox Church, Extraordinary people of the "Lawyer" path are distributed in other countries and on the seas far away from land.

Roy Welling asked, "Did you fight?"

Claire shook her head and said, "Before we could make any arrangements, the massacre at the Capin Mansion occurred. That's why we proposed to intervene in this case."

Roy Welling nodded slightly when he heard this.

He had been puzzled before. Although he had found clues to several missing girls in the dungeons of Capin's mansion, the faith of these murdered women was not uniformly the Goddess of Night; some also involved the Church of Steam and Mechanics. So why did the elite team "Red Gloves" intervene...

However, since the Vatican had agreed to this matter, he did not dwell on it any further. After listening to the new information shared by Claire, he felt that the reason why the "Red Gloves" wanted to intervene in this case was more reasonable.

After a brief moment of thought, Roy Welling asked Claire, "Have you communicated with MI9?"

"Not yet." Claire shook her head, pushing the question to the other party, and said, "After all, this case still depends on the Mandated Punisher to take the lead... Mr. Welling, do you think we should contact MI9?"

Roy Welling's tone stagnated, and he didn't respond. He simply said, "Then let's continue our investigation. If we find any concrete clues related to the 'lawyer' route, it won't be too late to contact MI9."

The Mandated Punishers naturally did not fear MI9, but they were also unwilling to rashly commit crimes without solid evidence.

Afterwards, Roy Welling discussed the investigation and work assignments with Claire. Meanwhile, the Punishers handling the case also gathered after receiving the order.

To Claire's surprise, she actually saw an acquaintance among them.

That rare dark blue hair was as messy as seaweed.

It’s the “Hanged Man” in the Tarot Club!
Roy Welling introduced the Mandated Punishers involved in this case to Claire, saying:

"...This case involves human trafficking. The Archbishop takes it very seriously. Those involved are all elites withdrawn from the church."

"...This is Alger Wilson."

(End of this chapter)