Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 444 Demon Judgment
Elizabeth was woken up by Katie.

The little girl couldn't be woken up, so they went up and started slapping Elizabeth across the face until she opened her eyes.

I can't keep my eyes closed either; my face is burning with pain, it feels like my skin is about to be slapped raw. Even demons wouldn't be this inconsiderate.

"Phew... Miss Elizabeth, you're awake."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Elizabeth open her eyes.

“Miss Katie…”

Elizabeth felt dizzy and disoriented, unsure whether it was from the previous torment or the beating.

"Are you OK?"

“I… um… I’m sorry…”

Elizabeth took a deep breath, which made her feel a little more awake. Then she looked up and around.

The church was the same as always, basically unchanged from before. The only difference was that the All-Knowing Eye that used to hang on the church wall was smashed to pieces, and a bench was leaning against it. As for where the bench came from... Elizabeth glanced at Katie, who was scratching her head and giggling beside her, and said nothing.

"What's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

At this moment, Levi also came over and looked Elizabeth over carefully. Upon hearing Levi's voice, Elizabeth felt a surge of excitement and instinctively tensed up. However, she quickly realized that the voice she had heard before was quite different from Levi's.

It's not that the voices are dissimilar; in fact, that voice also sounds like Li Wei's. It's just that the Li Wei's voice in front of me... how should I put it? It sounds more pleasant.

Even when he's just speaking casually, it feels like listening to beautiful music, easily drawing you in. And your mood changes with Li Wei's tone; like now, she feels calm, without the unease she felt before.

Elizabeth calmed herself down and then spoke.

"I may have been attacked by a demon."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"I was hallucinating."

Elizabeth's thoughts had calmed down, and she spoke in her usual manner. She briefly recounted her previous experience to the two of them and finally made her judgment.

"I believe this place has been defiled by demons."

"So sure?"

Hearing Elizabeth's words, Levi was somewhat surprised. Before this, Elizabeth had always denied what was happening here, but now she seemed to believe it directly.

Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"Yes, demons often use illusions to attack people and distort beliefs to attack the Holy Lord. So when it attacks my faith, I think it is very likely that it is a demon."

"Um……………"

Li Wei nodded. Elizabeth's idea was logical. According to the Holy Bishop's narrative, the demons were actually the gods who were defeated by the Holy Lord. In other words, this was a battle between two armies, with the Holy Bishop's army winning and the demons losing.

From the devil's perspective, ordinary people might be like civilians in a war—they can be ignored, recruited, or eliminated.

As for clergy members like Elizabeth, they would be considered regular soldiers, and they certainly wouldn't let them go if they encountered them.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was somewhat surprised to see Levi so calm.

"You have no objection?"

"Why should I object?"

Li Wei looked at Elizabeth with curiosity; it was the first time he had ever met someone who wanted others to question them.

"Because the devil's methods are very cunning."

Elizabeth then began to explain.

"Their common tactic is hallucinations. These are very difficult for others to verify, and even harder to prove. I've encountered victims before who claimed to be possessed by demons and experiencing hallucinations, but even then, I couldn't determine whether they were truly possessed by demons..."

At this point, Elizabeth's mood became somewhat downcast.

"Perhaps this is the cunning of the devil: when no one around you believes you, you no longer have any attachment to this world."

Hearing Elizabeth's sentiments, Levi glanced at her. Clearly, the nun was also moved by what she was saying; perhaps she had encountered similar cases before.

"Actually, I can't verify whether your hallucination is real or not."

Li Wei then spoke up.

"However, there is definitely a problem with this place."

"How to say?"

Hearing Levi's answer, Elizabeth became curious, and Katie blinked, looking at Levi with curiosity.

"It's simple reasoning."

As Li Wei spoke, he looked around.

"We'll know once we look at the evidence."

"evidence?"

"Yes."

Li Wei stretched out his hand and pointed to the murals in the church.

"Here's the proof."

"???"

Seeing their bewildered expressions, Levi shrugged. Elizabeth, though also a strategist, was ultimately more of a stream-of-consciousness thinker, while Katie clearly preferred action to thought. In Levi's view, the problem was practically obvious, but neither of them had noticed it.

“Okay, let’s start from the beginning.”

As Li Wei spoke, he picked up a teapot from the campfire beside him and poured himself a cup of tea.

“Now we know that there is a monastery and thirteen churches in this place, right?” The two nodded.

"And then we also know that neither this monastery nor the church is on the holy bishop's list, right?"

Li Wei looked at Elizabeth, who took out the documents from her suitcase, checked them again, and nodded.

"Yes."

"So, here's the problem."

"What's the problem, Mr. Li Wei?"

Katie, holding her teacup, asked curiously. Levi shook his head, speechless.

"It's very simple, just one question—where do the clergy here come from?"

"ah………………!"

Upon hearing this, Elizabeth and Katie immediately understood, their expressions showing realization.

Religious institutions like monasteries and churches are not family businesses like farms that can be passed down from father to son. Those who hold positions there must be qualified clergy.

What is a legitimate clergy member?

Those who study, pursue further education, graduate from a seminary, and then receive certification from the Vatican are considered legitimate clergy.

And naturally, what they learn and promote are the official mainstream interpretations and views of the sacred texts.

This is only natural; otherwise, if you interpret the scriptures according to your own will, wouldn't that become a cult?

So Li Wei's question is actually quite simple.

The list of holy bishops doesn't include any monasteries or churches here, so it's quite obvious that no official clergy would be sent here. The fact that the churches don't appear abandoned suggests they've been operating all along. Therefore, who is here, and what scriptures are they preaching… is highly debatable.

"In other words, this is a cult stronghold."

Elizabeth immediately understood, and her gaze towards her surroundings became much more serious.

Li Wei nodded.

Many things, once you establish the process, you can find the problems. Especially with monasteries and churches, you can understand if they've been abandoned for years because no one is around. But if they seem to be functioning normally and don't appear to have been abandoned for many years, and they aren't registered or recorded with the bishop, then the problems suddenly become apparent.

It's like you go to a hospital and none of the doctors there have ever been to medical school, so how are they supposed to perform surgery?

If they don't know anything, that's fine; at most, they're just scammers.

But what if they could? Wouldn't that create an even bigger problem?
"Look at this mural again."

Li Wei pointed to the mural.

"Twelve knights and one priest, thirteen people in total, went in, and then thirteen people came out. Doesn't that seem strange?"

"What's weird?"

Katie stared intently, comparing the two paintings back and forth, seemingly treating it as a "spot the difference" game.

Li Wei sighed silently.

"Weren't those demons in the murals we saw before quite ferocious? Logically speaking, now that they've entered their lair, shouldn't even more people be dying? How come thirteen people went in alive and came out alive? Are those demons that easy to deal with?"

"Perhaps it is to prove the miracle of the Holy Lord."

Elizabeth was now following the train of thought.

"Because a miracle is something that was originally impossible, and it is only when such a thing happens that it is called a miracle. I think that's probably why the artist painted this scene in the first place."

“That’s right, but from a reconnaissance perspective, what we know so far is that thirteen people went in and thirteen people came out, but what happened in between, nobody knows.”

Li Wei stared at the blank space between the two paintings. In reality, there was no blank space, but according to the story, there was indeed a blank space.

"And what's even stranger is that there were thirteen people who built thirteen churches... There must be some religious explanation for that, right?"

"Of course there is."

Elizabeth nodded naturally.

“Building churches for saints is a very common way of commemorating them… Of course, they must be saints recognized by the Vatican.”

"But if someone wants to build it, it's none of your business."

Li Wei chuckled. He had seen a case before where a conman wanted to swindle money, so he found a place in the countryside and built a fake bank. Of course, this kind of thing was not under the jurisdiction of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, but most people could not tell the difference, and quite a few people deposited money into it.

"So, can we now speculate that the remains of the thirteen knights are in these thirteen churches?"

"That's the theory."

"Well."

Li Wei stood up and clapped his hands.

"Let's go take a look; perhaps we can find something interesting from the remains."

"Ok."

Elizabeth stood up and took a couple of steps instinctively, then suddenly realized something was wrong. Just then, Katie approached.

"Oh, Miss Elizabeth, I'm sorry, I took it off without permission. It's not comfortable to wear, but it'll be fine once it dries."

"Ah, um..."

Elizabeth looked at the bonfire not far away and the things set up on the shelf next to it with a complicated expression. Her face flushed slightly, and then she turned her head away.

"let's go."

Although I'm not used to this, there's no other way now.

(End of this chapter)