Movents of the Holy See
On the other side, in "Sedis City" at the junction of Otto Kingdom, empire of Ailera, and Corrupted Jungle, a "chapel" dominated by white and gold stood proudly in the center of the city.
And to be able to build such a grand chapel in such a prosperous location, the words "Holy See" were practically self-evident. As the largest religious organization on the Eastern Continent, the Holy See had chapels built in cities both big and small across almost every country. Naturally, Otto Kingdom was no exception.
At this mont inside the Holy See, "Preacher Aster Kuman," who had been busy all day, had yet to rest.
He clutched a letter bearing the "Holy See's seal" tightly in his hand as he anxiously walked into the conference room. Already inside sat a cocky young man waiting for him. Upon seeing Aster walk in, the young man finally put down his crossed leg.
"Go ahead, old man. What did you call here for?"
The youth spoke with arrogance, and in the chapel, the only one who dared to speak to a Preacher like that was the leader of the Sedis City chapel's "Inquisitors."
"Sir Manshir, naturally, there's sothing important to notify you about. Take a look at this and you'll understand."
Aster placed the letter in front of Manshir, who picked it up and began to read.
But after reading just a few lines, the relaxed, carefree expression on his face vanished, replaced by a grave look similar to Aster's.
"The Undead plague in the Ailera Empire has spread further, and now it's reached the western Corrupted Jungle... That's impossible!"
"It's not impossible. Besides, 'headquarters' clearly said in the letter that we are to appraise the situation imdiately. I think this mission was ant for you, sir Manshir, so I called you over."
Aster spoke as Manshir tossed the letter onto the table with evident reluctance.
"Heh, this rotten city isn't big, but there's no end to its troubles. How did I get transferred to a godforsaken place like this as an Inquisitor?"
Noticing Manshir getting irritable, aster sat down calmly across from him.
"You shouldn't say that. Like you, I've had enough of this hellhole too, but the chance to transfer back to the 'Holy Empire' is finally here. Now's not the ti to slack off."
Aster spoke, and hearing this, manshir caught onto a key detail.
"Transfer back to the Holy Empire?"
"Didn't you read the end of the letter? This matter is of great importance, but Otto Kingdom and the Ailera Empire do not accept the stationing of 'Holy See armies.' They only agree for their own country's 'clerics' to assist. To ensure the disaster doesn't worsen, the higher-ups are sending a big figure."
"A big figure? His Excellency the Bishop!"
"Close, but not quite."
"Not the Bishop, then... the Saintess!"
"That's right."
"Which candidate Saintess?"
"It's the one you've all been talking about for the past few years, the genius princess from Otto Kingdom who recently beca a candidate Saintess."
"It's her!"
"Indeed. The Holy See values her greatly. I guess she's coming here to earn rit. So you understand what's at stake—if we perform well, the chance to return to the Holy Empire may be ours."
As Aster spoke, manshir broke into a knowing smile.
"Exactly! If the Saintess really cos and we do well, maybe we can really go back. Besides, if the Saintess herself cos... Tsk tsk, such a beauty, maybe I'll get a taste of that fragrance, too."
As Manshir spoke, aster, who had just taken a sip of water, spat it out.
"Pfft."
"What's that supposed to an?"
"Nothing, just pretend I didn't hear anything. But let warn you—don't drag down if you ss up this rare opportunity for your own fun."
Aster said, truly at a loss for words toward soone like Manshir, who always thought with his lower half.
"I was just joking, don't take it so seriously."
"Anyway, just be careful."
"I know how to behave. When should I set out?"
"The Saintess will arrive in Otto Kingdom in five days, but you have to leave imdiately. It's best if you can appraise so useful information before anyone else gets there."
"Alright, I'll have soone prepare tonight. I'll depart tomorrow morning."
"That would be best."
"Anything else?"
"That's all."
"If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave—I have a date with a beauty tonight."
Manshir flashed a aningful smile. Aster ignored him, and after hearing the footsteps fade, aster got up, locked the door, and retrieved a black prismatic gemstone from a hidden compartnt in the bookshelf.
It was a communication device!
He used the communication gemstone to send a ssage. After sending, the gemstone's magic was depleted. Aster clenched it tightly, and under the holy light's power, the gem was crushed to dust.
"Saintess, hehe..."
Unlike before, at this mont, a hint of cunning flashed across Aster's face.
......
"Achoo."
Serea sneezed and had a feeling that so sort of malice was directed at her.
"Caught a cold again?"
"No, just feels like soone's thinking about ."
Serea said, and by now they had returned to the camp. Doluka personally led people to greet her. Serea imdiately asked upon eting.
"There haven't been any problems at the camp, have there?"
"Thanks to the Queen's blessing, everything is just fine. Those humans daring to invade have already paid the price, and the remaining rcenaries have been controlled by us."
"Good, you did well."
"Thank you for your praise, My Queen."
The two conversed. Hearing the conversation, Lola and the others sensed sothing was off. Looking at the battle marks on the ground and the pile of corpses nearby...
"This..."
"It's just a bunch of second-rate slave-hunting squads hoping to launch a sneak attack while we were away. They underestimated us far too much."
Serea said, then walked to the already accumulated pile of corpses.
Blood Absorption, Soul Harvest.
After gathering the materials, Serea called out to Little Black.
"Store these corpses in the graveyard. They'll be useful later."
"Yes."
Little Black led the Skeleton Warriors to carry out the task.
"Let's go. Let's see those humans. I bet they have so interesting information for us."
Saying this, everyone entered the wooden prison.
Upon entering, they saw a group of people tied up with ropes, fastened to several large pillars and watched by Skeleton Warriors. The severely injured were placed to one side alone, but their wounds seed to be healing, likely due to being treated.
As soon as Serea brought the group in, the groggy rcenaries imdiately sobered up. Especially Morlock, who looked to the entrance and first laid eyes on Serea.
So beautiful...
Seeing the others standing around her like stars encircling the moon, morlock understood—she must be the Queen the other races spoke of.
(To be continued)
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