bookrandom Chapter 598 97 "Coincidence"
Chapter 598 97 "Coincidence"
Chapter 598-97- "Coincidence"
The Red Roof Tavern, at the junction of the 8th and 9th districts of the Holy City.
Ever since the "apostasy of the clergy" incident, the entire holy city has been plunged into a strange atmosphere, with less celebration and more depression and tension.
However, for a pub where civilians go to relax and chat in their spare time, business is still booming.
Rebellion is the priests, chaos is the church, and ordinary people have to live their lives as usual.
The drinkers chatted and boasted about their experiences while drinking cheap beer diluted with water.
In the past two days, the hottest news in the taverns in District 8 is undoubtedly the purge of apostates in District 9 next door.
"Hey, have you heard? The Gray Swan in District 9 has been sealed off by the Inquisition!"
A drunk drinker said.
"Gray Swan? Isn't that the church's own orphanage? I remember the director was a young priest, and he had the Knights of Inquisition behind him."
Another drinker's eyes widened.
"It is said that he participated in apostasy."
"Apostasy? That's impossible. I heard that the dean there is a devout believer in the Holy Spirit. He gives free bread to poor children in the neighborhood every day. His reputation has spread to the Holy City."
"That's the problem! Think about it, it's just a small church orphanage! Many orphanages have a hard time maintaining themselves, so where do they get the money to take care of others? It can't be that the priests pay for it themselves, right?"
"You mean..."
"Of course there must be a secret source of money behind this! How could a real orphanage have so much money? It is precisely because it is not a real orphanage, but a den of apostates, that they have the funds to maintain the operation of the orphanage, and they can also use the name of donors as a cover!"
"Oh! This is horrible! These apostates are so despicable that they use innocent children as shields!"
"Innocent children? Haha, they are called children, but they are actually a group of apostate cultists. I heard that when they were closed down, they even fought with the Knights of Judgment. The dean also instigated the local hooligans in the neighborhood to join in the fight, and there was even bloodshed!"
"Is it so scary?"
"Yes, it is said that the children there are trained by the cult when they are very young. They are all terrible killers! They kill people without blinking an eye!"
"Oh my God! That's terrible. What happened next?"
"Of course it was successfully sealed! The ones dispatched were the Knights of Judgment. No matter how powerful these apostate cultists are, they are no match for the Knights of Judgment!"
"Praise be to God! I really hope that all these apostates will be sent to the stake and face divine judgment! By the way, has the evil dean been caught?"
"Of course, she is a witch who can bewitch people! It is said that she was arrested on the spot. Because of the noise she made, the court was furious. It seems that she will be paraded through the streets and executed tomorrow!"
"Great! Where is it? I will definitely go and watch and throw a few more stones!"
"..."
The drinkers were talking about the "rebellion" in District 9, and after talking about the trial of apostates, the topic soon turned to the parade and burning of witches.
In the corner of the pub, in front of a small table.
A mage apprentice in a robe and a tall knight squire were sitting opposite each other, listening to the drinkers' conversation.
"Tsk, hundreds of years have passed, and the way the Theocracy deals with heretical witches has not changed."
The wizard apprentice chuckled, picked up the beer on the table and took a sip.
But soon, he burst out:
"Ah, bah, bah, bah! Is this beer mixed with water? I have never tasted such terrible beer in my life!"
The knight's squire looked normal.
He drank the beer gracefully, forming a sharp contrast with his tall and mighty image.
"You are just used to drinking the royal tribute wine. For common people, the beer here is already very good. The taverns under the Rose Society used to have similar beer."
The Knight Squire said.
The mage apprentice and the knight squire naturally disguised their identities to investigate Nice and Sebastian.
Both of them are spellcasters with high attainments in magic, so a little disguise magic is no problem for them.
After taking over the investigation mission from Charlotte, the two have been secretly tracking the movements of the Temple of the Sun these days.
At first, they were investigating quietly in the Holy Palace, but the security in the Holy Palace was tight, and many eyes were staring at Charlotte as well as the other people in Luoxing. Eventually, they had to leave the Holy Palace, disguise their identities, and start from other aspects.
Fortunately, perhaps the "miracle" that happened a few days ago really calmed the situation, and the top leaders of the Holy Royal Court also realized the existence of the "Temple of the Sun". In the past few days, the Holy Royal Court has been clearing out the "apostates" in the Holy City.
This gave the two of them a lot of inspiration and channels.
That is to follow the Holy Royal Court, follow the traces of these "apostates", and investigate the secrets of the Temple of the Sun.
Over the past few days, the two of them acted separately, using the divine power "granted" by Charlotte to disguise themselves as priests and sneak into the inquisition where "apostates" were imprisoned. They also disguised themselves as nobles from other places and went deep into the upper-class secret salons of the holy city and local community gatherings, and even disguised themselves as adventurers to participate in the underground black market and intelligence transactions.
After some hard work, I have achieved some small results.
Today was the day the two of them had agreed to exchange intelligence and conduct summary analysis.
"It is now almost certain that the purging of the Sun believers within the church is probably closely related to the Sun Temple. It seems that there is some kind of conflict within the Sun Temple. It is not ruled out that because the master has come, the top leaders chose to sacrifice some believers in order to prevent exposure."
After ensuring the soundproofing magic was complete, Sebastian said.
"No, it should be more than that. Perhaps it is also related to the danger that Zhen... Nen, that person sensed. I am most familiar with the routines of this secret cult. For example, suddenly attacking one's own people at a critical moment like this is definitely not a simple power struggle. Perhaps...some special changes have occurred, forcing them to do this."
Nice shook his head and said.
"A special incident? That can only be a miracle caused by the master. There have been undercurrents in the black market these days. I found out that someone seems to be buying supernatural blood and various supernatural materials on a large scale. There is more or less the shadow of the church behind them, and it may also be related to the Temple of the Sun."
It's on the way.
"Extraordinary blood? Could it be that they are going to give it to the imprisoned vampires?"
"It's very likely, and the trading volume is particularly huge. Not only that, there is a special extraordinary material with a large trading volume. Nice, you should have heard of it, it's black smelling grass."
"Black weed? Wait... Isn't that the magic weed that those crazy people in the Blood Demon Cult like to use to cause their blood to run wild when they are desperate? It is said that it can activate the blood of the vampires and temporarily return to their ancestral state... What did they buy that thing for? Are they going to make the vampires run wild? Did you report this to that person?"
"Not yet. I'm still tracking the whereabouts of these black smelly herbs. I secretly investigated the priests and church knights involved, and finally found that the source seemed to point to the Ninth District Trial. This is the tavern closest to the Ninth District Trial, so I asked you to meet here."
It's on the way.
"Wait... Are you saying that the Ninth District Court is also your next target of investigation?"
Nice wondered.
In the middle of the day:
"Why? You too?"
"Yes, the chief of the theocracy is from the Temple of the Sun, and the Grand Inquisitor is most likely related to them. They are also the ones leading the operation to capture the apostates this time, so I have been secretly investigating the problems of the Inquisition these days. After investigation, I unexpectedly discovered that many of the captured apostates have worked in the Ninth District Inquisition, so... the Ninth District Inquisition is also my next target of investigation."
"What a coincidence?"
"It's such a coincidence."
Sebastian and Nice looked at each other, and their expressions gradually became solemn.
There are not so many real coincidences in this world. All coincidences are inevitable results of fate.
"It seems... perhaps the Inquisition in District 9 is the real purpose of our investigation. The truth that the master is looking for may also be there. Now that I think about it, before we set out, the wisdom artifact had suggested that we investigate from the outermost district of the Holy City. Perhaps... that guy already knew some information."
It's like a road.
"Haha, I've always felt that the artifact was a bit strange. I've been in the Holy King's Court for so long, but I've never heard of a guardian staff. However, Lady Charlotte seems to trust it quite a bit."
It's the way to go.
"No, not necessarily. The Master probably doesn't completely trust the artifact. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked us to investigate the threat he felt. He doesn't even seem to have told the artifact about the threat he felt."
It's like a road.
"It seems that we will have to remind Lady Charlotte again during the next report. However, she must have a better idea than us. The wisdom artifact may be hiding something, but at least... it should not be an enemy."
It's the way to go.
As the two of them were communicating, they confirmed their intention for the next cooperative action. Just when they were about to finalize the time for the exploration, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open, and a little girl in tattered clothes and with a frightened face stumbled in.
She looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old, thin, holding a cross necklace in her hand, and her body was shaking constantly.
The noisy tavern suddenly became quiet, and then soon fell into an even more mocking noise:
"Oh! Whose child is this? Why did he end up in a place like this?"
"Hahaha, little guy, this is a place for adults to drink, did you go to the wrong place?"
"You look pretty cute. Come here and pour uncle a glass of wine. Uncle will treat you to some candy!"
"Alright! Andrew, she's just a child! Where's your mother, little guy? Are you lost?"
"Eh? That outfit... looks like it belongs to a church orphanage?"
All the drinkers in the pub were attracted by the little girl who broke in. Some rude guys even whistled. Of course, more people became curious about the girl who accidentally came here and cast contemptuous glances at those rude drunkards.
Looking at the smoky tavern, the little girl looked terrified and at a loss.
However, she did not leave, but walked in with her lips pursed, constantly scanning the hall as she walked, as if looking for something.
Even though... she was already trembling with fear.
In the corner, the two people who were just communicating also had their attention drawn to them.
When their attention was focused on the girl, they were stunned almost at the same time, and then their expressions became surprised and confused.
"Hey, Sebastian, did you sense it?"
Ness asked, his eyes fixed on the girl.
"If you mean the aura on her body... Of course I sensed it. I'm not stupid."
Sebastian also stared at the girl and said with narrowed eyes.
"It seems that I was not mistaken. She has... a divine power similar to ours."
It's the way to go.
At this moment, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open again.
The wooden door hit the wall with a deafening sound, which startled the drinkers nearby.
"Who are you?! Can't you be gentler?!"
"Damn it! Son of a bitch!"
The drinkers cursed and cast angry glances at the person who opened the door.
But the next second, they all fell silent.
The ones who broke into the tavern were none other than several tall, fully-armed Judgement Knights.
The drunkard who was cursing just now covered his mouth, and the drunkard who was drunk sobered up instantly.
And those guys who were just chatting and teasing the Inquisition now looked horrified.
"Mr. Judge, welcome to our store. Would you like to have a drink?"
The tavern owner wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with gritted teeth.
The Knight of Judgment's gaze did not linger on the drinker.
They looked solemn, and after a scrutinizing look around, they finally landed on the tavern owner who was smiling nervously.
"Did a little girl come here just now?"
The leading Judgment Knight asked.
"Little...little girl?"
The tavern owner was stunned for a moment, then nodded quickly:
"Ah, yes... yes, there is one, she is... um? Where is she?"
The tavern owner pointed to where the little girl had just been.
But the girl was no longer there.
……
(End of this chapter)