Chapter 440

After heading towards Nasiriya, we arrived at a small village about half a day away from the city a few days later.

We planned to wait here for the Sacred Order members we had infiltrated into Nasiriya.

Although the Grimnir Church Order had occupied Nasiriya, they weren’t controlling the comings and goings of ordinary people, so leaving the city shouldn’t be too difficult.

First, we’d check their reports and then decide how to proceed. Whether to boldly enter through the main gate or sneak over the city walls under the cover of night—things like that.

—

The villagers seemed bewildered by our sudden visit.

We hadn’t revealed our identities or shown our faces. If we had, it would’ve caused quite a stir.

But just the fact that we arrived in a large travel carriage, or that one boy was accompanied by five women, was enough to catch their attention.

“Who are those people? Why are they all covering their faces?”

“I don’t know. Maybe priests from the Holy City? I heard it’s trendy there to cover your face.”

“What a weird trend. Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

…Stuff like that.

After parking the carriage at the village inn, we stayed inside, but by now, there was hardly anyone in the village who didn’t know about our visit.

The chatter from the first-floor dining area and outside the inn could be heard all the way up to our second-floor room.

Still, the good thing was that the villagers only gossiped among themselves and didn’t approach us directly.

That was a relief. If they had, it would’ve been a hassle to deal with them.

If this were the Empire, some creep might’ve tried to hit on a group full of women… No, actually, someone definitely would’ve.

But the Holy Kingdom, rotten as it may be, still seems to have more moral commoners than the Empire.

“Shh. Don’t pay attention. If they’re priests, they might get angry if we’re disrespectful.”

“Right! What if the paladins show up?!”

…Or maybe they’re just forced to act morally.

Still, if that’s what it takes to maintain ethics, it’s better than nothing.

In the Empire’s rural villages, travelers were sometimes kidnapped and treated like livestock.

—

Late in the evening, a Special Operations Unit member arrived with news of Lacey’s arrival.

“It’s been a while, Elmain. I’m Meyer.”

The young man, who introduced himself as Meyer, knelt on one knee in greeting.

Tall and well-built, he gave off the vibe of a knight rather than a merchant, despite his disguise.

“It’s good to see you well, Sir Meyer.”

Lacey, sitting on the bed, greeted him in return.

Agnes, Milia, Hersh, and the others were in the next room, so only Lacey and I were there to receive him.

Special Operations Unit missions often involved sensitive information, so the fewer ears, the better.

“I was worried since it’s such a dangerous mission, but I’m glad to see you safe. You’ve done well.”

“Thank you. Thanks to Elpinel’s protection, we’ve had no major issues so far.”

Fortunately, according to him, there had been no casualties among the members sent to Nasiriya.

After a brief exchange of greetings, they quickly got down to business.

“What’s the situation in Nasiriya? I’ve received written reports, but not the latest developments.”

“Yes. As reported, we were investigating the disappearances in the slums. At first, we thought it was just crimes among the poor, but the deeper we looked, the more suspicious it became. The lack of any traces was too professional for ordinary slum dwellers. Convinced it wasn’t a normal crime, we continued our investigation…”

Meyer began detailing the report, covering everything from what we already knew to new information we hadn’t heard.

—

=======[ Special Operations Unit ]=======

Convinced that a professional human trafficking organization was hiding in Nasiriya’s slums, the Sacred Order members tried every method to track them down.

First plan:

One member disguised themselves as a defenseless slum dweller to lure in the kidnappers. Unfortunately, it failed.

Whether the kidnappers were overly cautious or had some unknown criteria, they completely ignored the Order members.

A female member tried, but only rapists got caught, and interrogating them revealed nothing about the kidnappers.

“…This method seems wrong.”

They abandoned the first plan when the number of dismembered and castrated rapist corpses exceeded ten.

—

Staking out the slums for days also failed, and randomly capturing and interrogating criminals yielded no useful leads.

The enemies were too professional—almost like ghosts.

Of course, they couldn’t give up, so they eventually took drastic measures.

“Why don’t we just kidnap everyone first? That’ll force them to come out to stop us.”

“Hmm… That’s…”

Becoming kidnappers to catch kidnappers—it was a crazy idea.

“…That’s a great idea. Let’s start immediately.”

But, true to Lacey’s elite selection, they preferred crazy plans.

The Order members began kidnapping slum dwellers.

Of course, being subordinates of a Saint candidate, they didn’t sell the kidnapped as slaves or process them into food.

They treated the innocent poor well, providing good meals and care. If a kidnapped person had family, they kidnapped the whole family to avoid worrying the remaining members.

Truly considerate kidnappers.

Of course, exceptions were made for criminals.

Murderers, rapists, fraudsters, and assaulters were dealt with accordingly, becoming fertilizer for the back alleys.

A week passed.

And then.

“Who are they…?”

After reducing the slum population by a fifth, the Order members finally noticed something suspicious.

—

“They started searching the slums thoroughly, as if looking for us. It was clearly unusual. We halted all operations and hid, observing them. And we confirmed that they were using both magic and holy power.”

“…The Grimnir Church Order.”

Meyer nodded at Lacey’s words.

“That’s right. They’re the only ones who wield such ominous power.”

Originally, magic and holy power were opposing forces.

That’s why the Holy Kingdom’s clergy shunned mages as heretics.

Yet, the existence of a god of magic among the Eleven Great Gods was possible because Grimnir’s priests were different from ordinary mages.

They claimed to serve the God of Wisdom, unlike other mages, and insisted that their magic was a gift from Grimnir, making them no different from other priests.

As proof, they demonstrated magic using holy power instead of mana.

Eventually, other orders had to acknowledge it.

Magic was blasphemous, but the magic used by Grimnir’s priests was an exception.

…To me, it didn’t seem any different from other orders’ miracles.

Whether it’s Elpinel’s paladins creating lightning spears or Grimnir’s priests summoning lightning with holy power, the result is the same.

But apparently, to experts, the methods are distinctly different.

Since I’m neither a mage nor a priest, I wouldn’t know.

“So, Grimnir’s priests suddenly started searching the slums? That’s why you found it suspicious?”

“Exactly, Sir Median.”

…Isn’t that just obvious?

From the sound of it, these guys kidnapped over a hundred people. If a hundred people disappeared in a city under their control, anyone would investigate.

“For Grimnir’s priests, who care about nothing but their own affairs, to investigate slum disappearances—that’s suspicious beyond measure.”

But Grimnir’s priests were different.

Though called priests, their mindset and behavior were as self-centered as ordinary mages.

Unless they were high-ranking officials like cardinals or archbishops with ties to other orders, the average Grimnir follower cared only about their magical research.

“So… it is pretty suspicious.”

These guys weren’t kidnapping slum dwellers for magical experiments or something, were they?