Wei Yenwu had not expected the Laterano authorities to be so easygoing this ti. They had actually brushed off the incident of Jeanne being pursued and endangered with surprising ease. He had spent a considerable amount of ti worrying that Laterano might hold him, the Chief Executive, accountable for poor managent and for allowing such a high-ranking figure to fall into peril.
Looking at it now, the Laterano crowd was actually quite reasonable. They hadn't even breathed a word about the blatant internal issues within Lungn that the incident exposed. The Lateran ssenger hadn't brought the matter up again before departing, and the eting had been so successful it was almost hard to believe.
Wei Yenwu stared into the empty room, contemplating for a mont before deciding not to dwell on it. Rather than overthinking, he needed to focus on how to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
On the other side, Fiatta, having returned to her base, placed a call to the "old man" she secretly longed to crush. Having to act the part of a respectful subordinate to this elder was perhaps the greatest agony in the world!
"Your Holiness, the eting with the ruler of Lungn has concluded. It seems the other party takes this incident very seriously; we had a relatively friendly discussion."
"Friendly" was an understatent—the scene had been positively harmonious. If she and Wei Yenwu had been any closer, they might have beco sworn siblings on the spot. While that was perhaps an unfitting way to describe the Chief Executive, it accurately captured the atmosphere. She had never seen an accident post-mortem handled with such tranquility.
"That is sufficient. After all, how this matter is handled must defer to the Saintess's wishes. It would be inappropriate for us to intervene rashly..."
The old man listened to the report. He was sowhat displeased that the Saintess had been attacked, but considering the relationship between Jeanne and Talulah, he decided not to press the matter for now. Since the Saintess seed disinclined to pursue it, his best course of action was to state his position and assist her from the sidelines.
"I just heard that the Sankta within Lungn experienced a mont of trance, and their halos suddenly brightened. I wonder what the situation is like in Laterano?"
Fiamtta suddenly recalled the news from Wei Yenwu. All Sankta had fallen into a peculiar state—a scene strikingly similar to a previous incident. According to what she had heard, that event, known as the "Apocalypse," was a unique phenonon affecting the race, triggered by this Saintess nad Jeanne.
Unfortunately, she didn't know exactly what was happening to those Sankta. The one she usually t with was a Fallen Sankta who didn't seem to perceive these changes.
"Hmm... I didn't expect such a thing occurred there as well. To be honest, I would very much like to see the visions others are seeing, but unfortunately, there were no such reports here in Laterano."
Upon hearing Fiamtta's report, the Pope realized that the Sankta in Lungn had experienced another "Apocalypse"—or rather, a miracle similar to it. However, it seed Jeanne's power this ti didn't have the sa range as before. At the very least, he, currently acting as Pope in Chernobog, felt nothing.
Similarly, he hadn't heard anything from the people back in Laterano. It seed that even though he had "resigned," his life was like a vacation, and his actual authority remained intact.
"You can go online and check the latest Lungn news. The Lungn internet is abuzz with discussions about what happened."
As she spoke, Fiamtta looked at the trending news on her phone. It was filled with debates over these two incidents. So even suspected it was a new symptom of Oripathy among Sankta. However, before Fiamtta could click on the user's profile, she saw the account had been permanently muted by administrators, who exposed the user as a paid shill.
It appeared soone wanted to exploit the Sankta's abnormal behavior to stir up trouble and confuse the residents of Lungn. They likely hoped to incite ostracization or even violent looting against the Sankta.
As for the motive? Perhaps a hidden agenda, or more likely, simple jealousy and a dislike of the Sankta race. Life in Lungn wasn't easy for everyone, and many had seen their lives shattered by misfortune.
Contrast that with the Sankta: though bound by Laterano Law, they enjoyed excellent civil rights and a safety net. To those whose lives were failing, a race that always had soone to "catch" them naturally provoked a fragile envy, leading them to slander those living better than themselves.
"Oh, I see... Connecting to the Lungn network is a bit of a struggle from here. Do the news reports ntion any accidents involving our brothers and sisters during their abnormal behavior?"
The Pope didn't care much for the dia spin or public opinion. No city administrator would be foolish enough to frad the Sankta so baselessly. Well, perhaps so among the Sarkaz might be that bored, but they were currently too busy fighting among themselves to engage in a war of words with Laterano.
The Sarkaz nobles likely wouldn't cause trouble now; resources were tight during internal conflicts. If anyone dared to conspire with outside forces and reignite age-old feuds with their arch-rivals, they'd likely be slaughtered by both sides like a prize hog for New Year's. Whether it was Kazdel or Babel, no one turned down extra funding—at the very least, they could hire more rcenaries.
His real concern was whether those who suddenly stopped in their tracks had been hurt—for instance, being hit by a speeding vehicle. While experience suggested such accidents almost never happened—as if coincidences always steered danger away—it was better to ask.
"There are no reports of such things. There was even a Sankta who was about to be hit by a falling flowerpot, but it veered off course due to so kind of interference."
Fiamtta spoke of these strange events. You could call it abnormal, but the probability was just too low; normally, such things were impossible.
"There was only one car accident that might involve a Sankta, though the cause is still up for debate..."
Fiamtta's assessnt was that the crash had nothing to do with the miracle! The vehicle involved was a "regular guest" on the traffic news.
At that mont, a heavily fined Exusiai was driving the accident-prone vehicle toward their residence with a dejected expression. Yes, the Sankta who hit the wall in the news was her!
"Exusiai, you really gave us a scare! If it weren't for the fact that all the Sankta were acting strange today, we would've thought you'd eaten sothing bad..."
In the back seat, Croissant watched the unrepentant Exusiai continue to drive. She had a mouth full of complaints she didn't know how to vent. She couldn't believe Exusiai had pulled this again!
Furthermore, she was driving without a license! That alone was enough for a massive fine. Add to that the cost of slamming into a wall and the repairs—this entire trip was likely a financial loss. If the Lungn Guard Departnt hadn't been busy with a major case and lacked the ti to deal with their "frequent flier," they would have spent quite a while in a holding cell.
"I don't know either! Honestly, in that mont, it felt like I wasn't even in the car! These last two tis were just accidents. You know my driving skills!"
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