Tome of Blood

Chapter 598 -97- "Coincidence"

At the junction of the 8th and 9th districts of the Holy City, there is a red-roofed tavern.

Ever since the "Priest's Apostasy" incident, the entire Holy City has fallen into a strange atmosphere, with less celebration and more depression and tension.

However, for a tavern where civilians spend their free time chatting, business here is still booming.

Rebellion belongs to the priests, chaos belongs to the church, and ordinary people have to live their lives as they should.

The drinkers drank low-quality ale mixed with water while chatting and bragging about their various experiences.

In the past two days, the most popular anecdote for the taverns in District 8 was undoubtedly the purge of the apostates in District 9 next door.

"Hey, have you heard? The Gray Swan in District 9 was seized by the trial!"

said a drunken drinker.

"Gray Swan? Isn't that the church's own orphanage? I remember that the dean was still a young priest, and there was a trial knight from the trial house behind him."

The other drinker's eyes widened.

"It is said that he was involved in apostasy."

"Apostasy? Is this impossible? I heard that the dean there is a devout holy believer. He distributes free bread to the poor children nearby every day, and 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 difficulty maintaining their own operations. Where do you get the funds to take care of others? It can't be the priests who provide the money themselves, right?"

"You mean..."

"Of course there is a secret financial source behind it! 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 there is money to maintain the operation of the orphanage. You can also take cover in the name of the donor!”

"Oh! This is so terrible! These traitors are so abominable that they use innocent children as a shield!"

"Innocent children? Haha, they are said to be children, but they are actually a group of apostate cultists. I heard that when they were seized, they even fought with the Judgment Knights. The dean also persuaded the gangsters near the block to join him, and even Saw blood!"

"Is it so scary?"

"Yes, it is said that the children there were trained by the cult when they were very young. They are all terrible killers! They kill people without blinking an eye!"

"Oh my God! It's really scary. What happened next?"

"Of course it was successfully seized! The ones sent out are the Judgment Knights. No matter how powerful these apostate cultists are, they are no match for the Judgment Knights!"

"Praise the Holy One! I really hope that all these apostates will be sent to the stake and accept the divine judgment! By the way, has the evil dean been caught?"

"Of course, she is a witch who can confuse people's hearts! It is said that she was arrested on the spot. Because she made a lot of noise, the trial court was furious. It seems that she will be paraded through the streets tomorrow!"

"Great! Where is it? I will definitely go and watch it then and throw a few more stones!"

"..."

The drinkers talked about the situation and the "rebellion" in District 9. After talking about the trial of the apostates, the topic soon turned to the parade and burning of witches.

In the corner of the tavern, in front of a small table.

A mage apprentice in robes and a tall knight's attendant were sitting opposite each other, listening to the chat of the drinkers.

"Tsk, it's been hundreds of years, but the Theocracy's way of dealing with heretical witches has still not changed."

The mage apprentice laughed, picked up the ale on the table and took a sip.

But soon, he sprayed out:

"Ah, bah, bah, bah! Is this water mixed with some ale? Master Cat, I have never drunk such a bad ale in my life!"

The knight's squire looked normal.

He drank the ale gracefully, which formed a strong contrast with the tall and mighty image.

"It's just that you're used to drinking royal wine. For civilians, the ale here is already pretty good. It was almost the same in the taverns under the Rose Society in the past."

said the knight squire.

Naturally, the mage apprentices and knight attendants disguised their identities to investigate Nice and Sebas.

Both of them are spellcasters, and they are very accomplished in magic, and small disguise magic is not a problem.

After receiving the investigation mission from Charlotte, the two have been secretly tracking the movements of the Sun Temple these days.

At first, they quietly investigated in the Holy Palace, but the Holy Palace was heavily guarded. Many eyes were staring at Charlotte as well as other people in Luo Xing. In the end, they had to leave the Holy Palace and pretend to be there. Identity starts from other aspects.

Fortunately, perhaps the "miracle" a few days ago really calmed down the situation, and the senior officials of the Holy Royal Court were also aware of the existence of the "Sun Temple". In the past few days, the Holy Royal Court has been purging The "apostate" 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 Sun Temple.

For several days, the two of them acted separately, using the sacred power "given" by Charlotte to disguise themselves as priests and sneak into the trial house where "apostates" were imprisoned. They also disguised themselves as nobles from other places to penetrate into the upper-class secret salons of the Holy City. He met with local societies and even disguised himself as an adventurer to participate in the underground black market and intelligence trading.

After a lot of hard work, it can be considered a small gain.

Today is the day the two of them agreed to exchange information and summarize and analyze.

"It is almost certain now that the forces that are purging Sun believers within the church are probably closely related to the Sun Temple. It seems that there is some kind of conflict within the Sun Temple. It cannot be ruled out that it is because the master is here and the senior management chose to sacrifice in order to prevent exposure. Some believers."

After ensuring that the soundproofing magic was complete, Sebastian said.

"No, it's probably more than that. Maybe it's also related to the danger that Zhen...nen, that one sensed. I'm most familiar with the routines of this secret sect. It's absolutely impossible to suddenly attack one's own people at such a critical moment. It can't be a simple power struggle, maybe... there are some special changes that forced them to do this. "

Nice shook his head and said.

"Special changes? Then there are only miracles caused by the master. There are also undercurrents in the black market these days. I investigated and found that someone seems to be buying extraordinary blood and various extraordinary materials on a large scale. There are more or less people behind it. The shadow of the church may also be related to the Temple of the Sun.”

Sebastian said.

"Extraordinary blood? Could it be that they want to give it to the imprisoned vampires?"

"It's very possible, and the transaction volume is extremely huge. Not only that, but there is also a very large transaction volume for a special extraordinary material. Nice, you should have heard of it, which is Black Cortex."

"Black cordyceps? Wait... isn't that the magic grass that the lunatics from the Blood Demon Cult like to use to activate their bloodlines when they are desperate? It is said that it can activate the bloodlines of the vampires and temporarily return to their ancestors. ...Why did they buy that thing? Did you report this to the vampires?"

"Not yet. I am still tracking the whereabouts of these black cordyceps. I secretly investigated the priests and church knights involved, and finally found that the source seemed to point to the Trial House in the Ninth District. This is the closest place to the Trial House in the Ninth District. tavern, that’s why I asked you to meet here.”

Sebastian said.

"Wait a minute...are you saying that the trial court in District 9 is also the target of your next investigation?"

Nice said in surprise.

Sebastian's heart moved:

"What? 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 arrest of the apostates this time, so I have been secretly investigating the trial these days. After investigation, I unexpectedly found that many of the arrested apostates had experience working in the Ninth District Trial House, so... the Ninth District Trial House is also the target of my next investigation. "

"What a coincidence?"

"It's such a coincidence."

Sebas and Nice looked at each other, their expressions gradually becoming solemn.

There are not so many real coincidences in this world. All coincidences are inevitable by fate.

"It seems...perhaps the trial court in District 9 is the real purpose of our investigation. The truth that the master is looking for may also be there. Looking back now, before setting off, the wisdom artifact had suggested that we leave the Holy Capital. Investigate the outermost city area, maybe... that guy already knows some information. "

Sebastian thought.

"Haha, I've long thought that artifact was a bit weird. I've been in the Holy Royal Court for so long but I've never heard of a guarding staff. However, Lady Charlotte seems to trust it quite a bit."

Ness said.

"No, not necessarily. The master probably doesn't fully trust that artifact. Otherwise, he wouldn't let us investigate the threat he feels alone. He doesn't even seem to have told the artifact the threat he feels."

Sebastian thought.

"It seems that we have to remind Lady Charlotte again when we report next time. However, he must have a better understanding than us. That wisdom artifact may have concealed something, but at least... it should Not an enemy."

Ness said.

While the two were communicating, they determined their intentions for the next cooperative action. Just when they were about to finalize the time for the investigation, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open, and a little girl in shabby clothes and a frightened face stumbled in.

She looked about twelve or thirteen years old, with a thin figure. She was holding a cross necklace in her hand and her body was shaking constantly.

The noisy tavern fell silent for an instant, and then quickly fell into an even more sarcastic commotion:

"Oh! Whose child is this? How did he come to this place?"

"Hahaha, little one, this is a place for adults to drink. Did you go to the wrong place?"

"You look quite cute. Come here and pour a glass of wine for uncle. Uncle will treat you to a candy!"

"Okay! Andrew, she's just a child! Little guy, where's your mother? Are you lost?"

"Eh? That dress... why does it look like it came from a church orphanage?"

The drinkers in the tavern were all attracted by the little girl who broke in. Some rude guys even whistled. Of course, more people were curious about the girl who accidentally entered the place and were attracted by the rude ones. The drunkard cast a disdainful look.

Looking at the smoky tavern, the little girl looked frightened and at a loss.

However, she did not leave, but walked in with her lips pursed. As she walked, she kept scanning the hall, as if she was looking for something.

Even though...she was already shaking so much with fear.

In the corner, the two people who were communicating just now also attracted attention.

When their attention was focused on the girl, they were almost stunned at the same time, and then their expressions became uncertain.

"Hey, Sebastian, did you sense it?"

Nice stared at the girl and asked.

"If you mean the breath on her body... Of course I sensed it, I'm not stupid."

Sebastian also stared at the girl and squinted his eyes.

"It seems that I didn't sense it wrong. She has a sacred power similar to ours."

Nice said.

At this moment, the door of the tavern was suddenly pushed open again.

The wooden door hit the wall, making a deafening crisp sound, which scared the nearby drinkers.

"Who is this?! Don't you know how to be gentle?!"

"Damn it! A bitch's son of a bitch!"

The drinkers cursed and cast angry eyes at the door opener.

But the next second, they all quieted down.

It was not someone else who broke into the tavern, but several tall, fully armed trial knights.

The drunkard who was cursing just now covered his mouth, and the drunkard who was drunk also sobered up instantly.

And those guys who were teasing the Inquisition just now were horrified.

"Mr. Inquisition Knight, welcome to our store. May I ask... do you want to have a drink?"

The owner of the tavern wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with a stiff face.

The eyes of the Inquisition Knight did not linger on the drinker.

They looked solemn, and after looking around, they finally fell on the inquisition owner who was smiling nervously.

"Did a little girl come here just now?"

The leading Inquisition Knight asked.

"Little... little girl?"

The inquisition owner was stunned for a moment, and then nodded quickly:

"Ah, yes... yes, there is one, she is... um? Where is she?"

The inquisition owner pointed to the place where the little girl was just now.

But there was no girl there.

...