Chapter 912 — Anomaly

Fernanco pondered briefly—as a regional bishop, he very much did not wish this affair exposed to eyes beyond the church, and above all did not wish it to draw the attention of the royal house and its vassals. After all, ever since Royan Augustus's coronation, the Typhon royal house had been steadily tightening its policies toward the various churches; after countless contests waged in the open and in the dark, today's Church of the God of War had lost a great many of its privileges, and the War God's priests in the army had gone from independent representatives of the divine authority to "battle auxiliaries" who must obey noble officers. Such was the state of things in ordinary times; should what had happened here today leak out, it would likely soon become a fresh pretext for the royal house to tighten its grip further...

But the matter could not be kept hidden forever; the administrator of this region would have to be given some account.

"Clean the scene thoroughly; burn these twisted things away with holy oil and flame," Fernanco instructed those beside him. "A soul-devourer took possession of a human and infiltrated the church. Priest Kosto discovered it and fought it to the death, and in the end both perished. But because the priest's remains were corroded and corrupted by the soul-devourer, they are unfit to be shown; to preserve the dignity of a fallen priest, we purified his remains before daybreak and returned him to the Lord's kingdom—that is the whole truth."

The priest beside him bowed his head. "Yes, Your Grace."

Fernanco grunted in acknowledgment, then cast one more glance at the gruesome scene in the room. A vague unease and revulsion welled up once more from the depths of his heart, and unconsciously he laid his hand over his chest, his right fist loosely closed as though gripping a sword, and prayed silently in his heart: "The God of War protects me; my heart is as steel; through a hundred battles undying. Flesh is frail, only steel endures; I shall not fall into hell. I have converted..."

As he prayed, his heart gradually grew calm, and the power of the god descended in silence, once again bringing him peace.

...

That afternoon.

A secret report, delivered by the relay tower and copied out by an intelligence officer, was brought to the desk. Royan Augustus tore it open and glanced at it, and upon a face long accustomed to looking somber and severe there at once appeared an even graver expression.

Matilda, sitting beside him and helping to handle affairs of state, noticed the change in her father's face at once and asked instinctively, "Has something happened?"

"Another War God's priest is dead, cause unknown," Royan Augustus said. "The local church reports that a soul-devourer infiltrated the church, and the priest who died fell in the course of fighting the monster—but no one has seen the priest's body, no one has seen the soul-devourer's ashes, only a battlefield that may or may not be genuine."

Matilda's rather lovely brows drew together slightly, and her tone grew grave: "This would seem to be the sixth time in half a month..."

"Yes, the sixth time," Luo Yan said gravely. "Death by unknown causes, the body destroyed in advance, the evidence steeped in suspicion..."

"Those churches must be hiding something!" Matilda could not help saying. "Six divine officials dead under strange circumstances in a row, and spread across different churches at that... Word has already leaked out to some extent, yet they have never once responded directly to the royal inquiry. What in the world is the God of War Church playing at?"

"Indeed—six churches, scattered across different places... the two farthest apart even sit on the empire's northern and southern frontiers. This is no ordinary 'attack'... There is no power within the empire capable of carrying out an assault spanning such distances, nor could it plausibly be coincidence brought on by a monster raid."

"The most suspicious thing is that those churches are clearly concealing something," Matilda said, then shook her head at once. "It is only a pity that under the empire's current laws, we cannot search a church on mere suspicion..."

Luo Yan nodded. "We must uphold the laws we ourselves have made—that is the foundation of the crown's authority. Still... the necessary investigation remains indispensable. Go to the Grand Cathedral soon and make contact with Malm. He likely will not tell you anything—after all, as pontiff of the God of War, he has not to this day taken the initiative to discuss with me anything about the strange deaths of the divine officials. But I believe that with your keenness, you may be able to observe something."

Matilda nodded. "Very well, Father."

Luo Yan then mused for a moment, curled his fingers and tapped lightly on the tabletop, and said in a low voice toward the empty air: "Dailan."

A dignified woman in a black maid's uniform promptly stepped out from some corner no one had noticed, her face placid as she looked at Luo Yan Augustus.

The latter nodded to her. "Send out the wanderers to probe the places mentioned in this secret report—remember, move covertly, do not clash with the church, and there is no need to contact the local officials."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The woman in the black maid's uniform bowed slightly, took the slip of paper Luo Yan handed her, and then returned as soundlessly as she had appeared into the depths of the shadows.

Once the room had fallen quiet again, Matilda broke the silence. "Father, what do you think... this is about?"

Luo Yan Augustus sat quietly in his high-backed chair, sinking into thought amidst the slowly descending sunset. Only after half a minute did he sigh softly. "I do not know. But I hope all of this is nothing more than an 'attack' aimed at the God of War sect..."

Matilda glanced at her father in surprise.

In her memory, the occasions on which her father had shown such an almost powerless posture could be counted on one hand.

Yet in the end, she said nothing either, only nodding gently.

...

Toward evening, Daniel returned to his mansion.

The young apprentice Mary was tidying the parlor; seeing her mentor appear, she came up to him at once with a hint of a smile. "Mentor, you are back so early today?"

"There was nothing to do in the laboratory for the moment, so I came back," Daniel said, glancing at his apprentice. "Did you not take the technicians to the God of War Grand Cathedral for the magic net renovation? Why are you still at home at this hour?"

"I did take them there at first, but the divine officials of the Grand Cathedral suddenly said the area where we were working had to be sealed off for the time being—so the project has been postponed to next time."

Hearing his apprentice's words, Daniel frowned at once. "So they suddenly drove you out?"

"More or less..." Mary said offhandedly, but soon noticed that her mentor's expression seemed to carry a deeper meaning. "Mentor, is there... some problem?"

Daniel mused for a moment, his expression somewhat grave. "Not certain yet, but I have lately heard some rumors that something seems to have gone wrong with the God of War Church... Perhaps I ought to report this to the master."