New Gods of North America

After chatting with the head of a local monastery, Wayne weighed things in his mind and felt like he might have "chosen the wrong side."

It was true that the priests were all "Southerners," but the "Southerners" could be further divided internally.

The priests generally acknowledged that Priest Tyrrell had higher status and seniority than Priest Bazini, but if they had to choose between the two, they seemed to lean more towards Priest Bazini than the old geezer.

Honestly, if Wayne had to choose, he also felt that Priest Bazini had more ability and skill to become a bishop.

For example, regarding the "misunderstanding" tonight, Priest Bazini only moved his lips, and the old geezer arranged for someone to take action.

If someone interfered halfway, Priest Tyrrell might end up taking the blame.

Moreover, Priest Bazini's influence in the local area was clearly deeper.

This could be seen from what Wayne had gleaned; if they had to offend someone, the priests would rather say some harmless little things about Priest Tyrrell than discuss Priest Bazini's affairs.

They probably thought that Priest Tyrrell, the old geezer, was easier to fool.

Realizing this, Wayne quickly went to Priest Tyrrell again, trying to "borrow" some of his personnel.

—The local priests were all "Southerners" from families with high status, money, and connections. With the priests' corresponding status and authority, it was not a problem at all for them to privately raise some "private soldiers" or "own people."

Since they could fool Priest Tyrrell, they might also try to fool Tom Hagen.

Tom Hagen might not be in danger, but the detective agency might not be able to defend against those potential "armies"—even if they did, it would be an "unplanned expense."

The reason Wayne gave was reasonably justifiable and "well-founded":

"Priest Tyrrell, theoretically, all the personnel under your command should now be temporarily under the command of the people sent by the cathedral. Conversely, even if there are any new discoveries in the recent investigation, they are completely unrelated to you."

"Then why don't you arrange for your people to come and assist me temporarily, and tell others that they are the personnel found by our detective agency. If our detective agency can make any contributions to this investigation, a large part of it may be attributed to your guidance and suggestions."

"To take a step back, with your people watching by my side, you don't have to worry about me doing anything detrimental to you during the investigation. I think this is a good thing for both of us."

Priest Tyrrell seemed to agree more with Wayne's last sentence.

After hesitating for a long time, he handed Wayne the previous ring and a note written on the spot.

Then he told Wayne an address, "Take this to this place. After they confirm it, they will cooperate with you in the investigation of the Radiant Heresy."

After Wayne left the room, he repeatedly scrutinized the note against the light for a long time.

He didn't know what kind of ghostly玩意 it was written with, but he couldn't see the contents, and he wasn't sure if there were any bad things written about him inside.

It was all so mysterious, there definitely was.

After giving Tom Hagen a subtle greeting, saying that he had private matters to attend to, Wayne followed the address and found a carriage house.

Wayne discovered that old foxes like Priest Tyrrell had their ways.

In this day and age, carriage houses sometimes provide or recommend coachmen in addition to renting carriages, or rent more vehicles according to customer needs. Therefore, the flow of people is sometimes large and sometimes small, and it is not too suspicious for different faces to come and go. It is a good cover.

Priest Tyrrell's men formed their own faction in the carriage house. As long as the boss and employees in the carriage house did not question them, others would probably think that they had been assigned work, or were extra hands hired by the customers.

Moreover, this group of a dozen people was not the same group that was responsible for framing the detective agency before.

The leader also looked well-trained. It seemed that the old geezer Priest Tyrrell had a lot of resources. Wayne now knew that the private personnel he had hidden were almost enough to start another "detective agency."

No wonder even a sinister guy like Priest Bazini had to honestly sit in the "second seat" in front of him.

The leader confirmed the ring and secretly looked at the note in the room, and when he came out, he said that they would follow Wayne's instructions recently.

But at the same time, he also said that all orders here needed to be relayed through him, and he himself needed to act as a temporary bodyguard to protect Wayne closely.

Wayne didn't care about this. Anyway, if he really didn't want people to follow him, there were plenty of ways.

However, it was really useful to have personnel located in the "dark" at this moment:

"I plan to go to the academy tomorrow and meet some students. I feel that the situation of one of the students is still very suspicious, and I need your cooperation to confirm it."

The other party nodded, "Then our people will be responsible for tracking and investigating him later?"

"Tracking and investigation are certainly needed."

Wayne smiled, "I hope you can assassinate him. Not a real 'assassination,' but it's best to create a sense of crisis for him. And tell him the reason, saying 'This is the punishment for desecrating the holy image.'"

There was no other way.

No problems could be found in the priests' residences, and torture could not be used. Mr. Weismann and the murderer responsible for the extermination were now nowhere to be found.

Then he could only try to make the "dorm manager" suffer a little.

According to Miss Ovelia, the "dorm manager's" inner world suddenly became "rich and colorful," which looked very suspicious.

If he was really involved with the Radiant Church or Priest Pasil, there might be a chance to scare him out.

Assuming it was the former, then he might try to contact that Mr. Weismann, and assuming it was the latter, then he might contact the murderer responsible for the extermination.

Tom Hagen's men could actually handle this kind of thing, but most of the church's people felt like they were doing things properly, and it was estimated that they would not be more professional in this regard than the hidden personnel of others.

The detective agency's agents might also be able to do it, but they have been appearing in public quite a few times now, which is easy to expose flaws, and may even make the detective agency's not-so-good reputation worse. It is more cost-effective to outsource it.

The leader asked roughly about the time, and gave a few instructions to his subordinates, and then took two people to follow Wayne to start "bodyguarding."

Fortunately, they had their own carriage, so they didn't have to squeeze with Wayne, and Wayne didn't pay much attention to them, at most he would take care of their meals these days.