Chapter 441

The members of the Sacred Order, suspecting that the kidnapping incident was related to the Grimnir Church Order, attempted to investigate the church directly.

It would be a far more dangerous task than staging a kidnapping in the slums, but they couldn’t just abandon the lead they had worked so hard to obtain.

However, their investigation plan was doomed to be scrapped before it even began.

“We never expected Cardinal Walter Rübitz to show up.”

The Grimnir Church Order’s headquarters, having fled from the Holy City, had taken over Nasiriya entirely.

They had “peacefully” eliminated the Keres Church Order in Nasiriya and began controlling the entire city according to their own agenda.

“Rübitz said that having slums in a city where a cardinal resides is an embarrassment, so he started sealing off the slums and ‘re-socializing’ the poor, transporting them to the church.”

“Re-socialization?”

That sounds pretty suspicious.

I remember someone who wanted to brainwash criminals and use them as frontline troops using similar terminology.

“They said they would teach the poor appropriate skills to reintegrate them into society, provide them with jobs, and even offer material support until they were firmly established. Those with exceptional talents might even be ordained as priests…”

“But in reality, it’s probably different, right?”

It sounds like a great policy on paper, but anything that sounds too good to be true should always be questioned.

If it were just free meals, that would be one thing, but to actually carry out what Meyer described, the church would have to drain its resources. And with the Grimnir Church Order busy expanding its military, where would they find the means to do that?

Ah, maybe it’s like this?

“Appropriate skills” mean killing skills, “jobs” mean the Sacred Order, and “material support” refers to soldiers’ equipment and meals.

If that’s the case, it makes sense.

Just like that guy who used to preach about re-socialization theories in the old world, if they’re planning to conscript the poor and use them as troops, then they’re not exactly lying.

Or, as I initially suspected, the Grimnir Church Order, which had been kidnapping the poor for experiments, might have started openly rounding them up after the cardinal’s arrival.

We wouldn’t know until we checked.

“From what I know, not a single person transported to the church has ever returned. Whatever is happening inside the cathedral grounds… just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.”

“…We’ll have to find out now. Good work, Sir Meyer. And to the other members as well.”

Lacey offered words of praise to Meyer, who had just finished his report.

He bowed his head as if deeply moved, his heart pounding twice as fast.

Wait, how touched can you be by a simple compliment?

Why are they so loyal…?

—

After Meyer finished his report, Lacey and I left him for a moment to discuss our impressions of the report.

“Those Grimnir bastards are way too suspicious.”

What are they up to, gathering all those poor people?

Call it intuition, but they’re definitely doing something horrifyingly gruesome and disgustingly unethical.

That’s just how mages are.

“Indeed. There’s something… heretically ominous about it.”

Lacey nodded in agreement.

“Heretically ominous, huh…”

…You can’t actually sense that, can you? Unlike Agnes.

Though even Agnes can’t sense it unless she’s really close.

“Maybe they’re collaborators with Isabella or something?”

“Hmm. I can’t say for sure… but that’s definitely a possibility.”

Lacey also frowned suspiciously, looking toward Nasiriya.

The city of mages, shrouded in the darkness of night.

If they really were Isabella’s collaborators… then that city was already enemy territory.

…So we have no choice but to investigate, right?

Originally, we planned to announce our visit openly or send a letter to Cardinal Rübitz to enter quietly…

“But now that the Grimnir Church Order itself is suspicious, we can’t do that. If they’re really our enemies, they’d set traps or destroy evidence as soon as they learned of our visit.”

“Right. We’ll have to sneak in. Whether it’s possible or not is another matter.”

I glanced at the city walls.

They were still in the process of reinforcing the defenses, so the walls weren’t that high yet.

Climbing them wouldn’t be too hard… the problem is not knowing the level of security.

Since it’s a mage’s church, they must have taken some magical precautions on the walls.

“Meyer, any ideas on how to get over that wall? Any good thoughts?”

“The wall…? Hmm… The Grimnir Church Order has priests deploying barrier magic to defend the walls. If they spot us, we’ll be bombarded with magic.”

So, entering through the wall is difficult…?

This is troublesome.

“But the priests can’t monitor the entire wall without gaps, and the barrier magic has limits in range and duration. Unless they’re in a combat situation, there must be some openings.”

Oh, so it’s difficult but not impossible.

I can’t be sure, though.

“So if we avoid the patrolling priests and time it when the barrier magic is down, we might be able to sneak in. The problem is figuring out when that is…”

“Ah, then it’s fine. I think I can figure that out.”

If I sharpen my senses to detect the priests’ movements and use my anti-magic to sense the flow of mana, I should be able to figure out the barrier’s timing.

Then sneaking in shouldn’t be a problem.

I’ll carry Lacey, and the others can carry Agnes and Rana.

A master-level knight shouldn’t take long to scale the wall.

—

“If that’s the case, I can help. If I use ‘Veil of the New Moon,’ we can move undetected for about thirty seconds.”

Agnes, hearing the plan, smiled confidently.

“Veil of the New Moon? What’s that?”

I tilted my head, speaking on behalf of the group. In informal speech.

Since we started traveling together, Agnes had asked me to drop formalities with her.

Given her status as a candidate saint of the Menes Church, I had been using polite speech with her… but she said it felt too distant.

I had no reason to refuse.

Though she still uses honorifics with me.

“It’s a miracle that lets you blend into the darkness like the moon hiding in the night sky.”

“Wow, that sounds really useful.”

So it’s like a night-only invisibility miracle.

Despite her young age, she’s really capable, fitting for a candidate saint.

“Lacey, don’t you have anything useful for this? Any miracles or something?”

“Um, Elpinel’s miracles all emit radiant divine light…”

…So, no.

“Each church has its own specialties, so it’s only natural.”

Agnes defended Lacey, but Lacey, embarrassed to be defended by her junior, blushed.

“Anyway, with six people, my limit is about thirty seconds… but during that time, unless someone’s paying really close attention, they won’t notice us.”

“Seven, actually…”

Hersh timidly corrected.

Oh right, there are seven of us.

“Ah.”

Agnes looked at Hersh with a “you’re here too?” expression.

A rather sharp look.

“You already blend into the darkness just by your appearance. You don’t need it, do you?”

Her tone, usually polite, was now cold and informal.

With a hint of disdain, Hersh shrank back a step.

At first, Agnes had been curious about Hersh’s skin color, but after learning she was a member of the Dream Paradise Society, her attitude changed completely.

It was only natural. The Dream Paradise Society was a heretical sect designated by the Menes Church.

A former member like Hersh wouldn’t be viewed favorably.

I hadn’t planned to tell Agnes about Hersh’s background, but Rana accidentally brought it up during a conversation, and it slipped out.

It wasn’t Rana’s fault.

I should’ve told her to keep it quiet, but I forgot.

Rana probably just thought Hersh was a former criminal who had repented and converted.

Given Rana’s age, it’s natural she wouldn’t know about the bad blood between the Menes Church and the Dream Paradise Society, especially since it’s not her religion.

“I’ll just hide on my own…”

Hersh’s timid, almost servile attitude made Agnes click her tongue in annoyance.

“Ugh, seriously… With one more person, it’ll drop to about twenty-five seconds. Is that okay?”

“Five seconds less won’t be a problem.”

Whether it’s thirty or twenty-five seconds, it’s enough time to scale the wall.

For me, Damien, and Milia, at least.