Ximengsi Continent’s southern region, Steinbeck Fief’s capital, Stanley City.
The terrifying rumors about the Needham Plains being filled with a large number of ghosts and undead circulated due to the words of the defeated Cromwell Principality’s deserters. Because the rumors had spread to too many people, Light Church decided to dispatch an investigative team to dispel these rumors.
They originally hadn’t wanted to send anyone because the nearest human settlement to the Needham Plains was just Steinbeck Fief, which was still in the process of rebuilding. After all, the infrastructure was not settled yet, so the reception conditions would be poor. Moreover, there were already two Light Church’s saintesses present who were preparing to build cathedrals there. With “Punishment Saintess” Tiffany and “Light Saintess” Maria there, if undead had truly appeared, it would have already been reported.
Because Clyde had signed a special contract with Valkyrie Cynthia, she had placed her fate idol here, so Steinbeck Fief was imperceptibly shrouded by a Valkyrie’s brilliance, concealing the evil aura here. This made Saintess Tiffany and Saintess Maria unable to detect ancient Demon King Andrisno, this giant of the dark living next door, even though they were physically close. Light and Darkness were in a delicate balance in Steinbeck Fief.
In the end, Light Church still dispatched an investigation team, mainly because of Bishop Nichols. He was too impressed with Clyde, this bankroller. He just wanted to come and see if there were any kinds of business he could promote here. In order to ensure fairness and make the nations of both Victor Alliance and Clark Alliance accept the findings, Light Church’s investigative team was composed of members from both sides.
Bishop Nichols was the person in charge of Light Church’s branch in Adrian Empire and represented the nations of Victor Alliance. “Radiant Saintess” Suhiya represented Clark Alliance. Suhiya held a post in a church within Franconia Empire, so she could be regarded as the representative of that alliance. Originally, Bishop Garfield, the person in charge of Light Church’s branch in Franconia Empire, had been responsible for coming, but that bishop had despised Steinbeck Fief’s condition. Thus, he had casually found a reason to push this matter to Saintess Suhiya.
The investigative team of Light Church directly arrived at Stanley City. They didn’t go to Peacock Forest Area. After the large fire, everything had been burned down, and there were not many things that could be collected for evidence. In addition, Bishop Nichols himself didn’t truly want to investigate anything. Even if there truly was an undead calamity, as long as it was in a remote place, Light Church could adopt isolation tactics. They wouldn’t waste their energy to wipe them out unless it approached an unmanageable degree.
It was not that Light Church was heartless. In the history of Ximengsi Continent, the current Light Church was actually its the third iteration. The first generation of Light Church had been almost completely destroyed while resisting Demon Kings’ invasion. Before its destruction, Light Church had had the strength of the entire Human Race, uniting them for once. After paying a heavy price, most of the Demon Kings were then driven away from the human continent.
During the second generation of Light Church, Light Church had led all the human nations to suppress the undead calamities left behind by the Demon Kings. They also paid a huge price to suppress the undead calamities. However, after defeating these undead calamities, the human nations took advantage of the time when Light Church’s strength was weakened to abandon Light Church. They demolished cathedrals and took back imperial power from religious rule. After this, Light Church fell into disgrace for a time, and a large number of believers became fugitives.
The second generation Light Church’s Pope, with resentment blooming in his bosom, ignited his own life and broke the seals he had personally arranged, letting undead calamities return to Ximengsi Continent. Afterward, when the human nations were unable to hold their own, Light Church’s remaining forces took advantage of that occasion to reorganize itself, forming the current third generation Light Church. The history of the third generation Light Church was not light at all. Compared to the previous two generations of Light Church that had selflessly contributed to the Human Race, this generation of Light Church was very materially oriented. They resisted the undead calamity while attacking the nations of Human Race.
Facing repetitive battles on two front, the imperial power eventually compromised with the religious rule. Under the pressure of both the undead calamities and the third generation Light Church, all human nations agreed to grant Light Church privileges that had continued to this day. Nevertheless, the undead calamities weren’t completely eliminated. Light Church deliberately sealed several comparatively large undead calamity eruption areas and isolated them without solving them. Once the human nations went back on their words, they would imitate the method of the second generation Light Church’s pope to destroy those seals without any hesitation.
Clyde had learned about the disgraceful history of Light Church from Saintess Maria and Saintess Tiffany. Towards this dark history of Light Church, these two saintesses seemed comparatively open. They didn’t believe that what Light Church had done before was wrong. Since the palace of Steinbeck Fief was filled with naked girls, it was inconvenient for Clyde to welcome Light Church’s investigation team in the palace; thus, he arranged a new suitable dwelling for them, Karazan Inn, located at the east side of Stanley City. It was the best inn of Stanley City at present, yet it could still just barely accommodate all of them.
“Your Excellency Clyde, we meet again. We truly are fated!”
“Cough, cough. Bishop Nicholas, Suzerain Saras is very busy. She has no time…”
“No need to trouble your Suzerain. We are going to investigate Needham Plains, not your place.”
Clyde welcomed Light Church’s investigative team that had come from afar. Bishop Nichols had a crafty smile as if he had some trades he wanted to promote to Clyde. Those Light Church investigators with Bishop Nichols were all his trusted aides. These people wouldn’t actually run to Needham Plains and investigate; they would just stroll around Stanley City for a few days and casually write a falsified report. It was quite easy to deal with them: giving them money was enough.
The relatively tricky person was “Radiant Saintess” Suhiya. Unlike Bishop Nicholas’s group, she couldn’t be bought with money. The people she had brought were also well prepared. It seemed that they truly planned to investigate the Needham Plains. Needham Plains had that lost Murmans Regal Pyramid Region sealing evil creatures from a different world. If they truly discovered that place, Light Church was doomed to have bad luck. Even if they gathered their entire combined strength, they wouldn’t be able to seal that place.
“Hello, Mister Clyde. I heard Maria and Tiffany are building cathedrals here. Can you take me to see them?”
“Of course, I can. Miss Suhiya, I will take you to see them.”
“Radiant Saintess” Suhiya was a model elegant aristocrat lady. She had long silvery hair that was lustrous like platinum and matching silvery pupils. Suhiya’s facial features were also exquisite like a meticulously carved work of art. Clyde couldn’t find any flaws. In addition, Suhiya’s fair and clear skin was just like the best quality white jade. Under the illumination of the light, she seemed to emit a holy light. Perhaps, this was the reason why she was named “Radiant Saintess.”
Although Suhiya wore conservative type Light Church priest attire, Clyde, who had already seen a lot of beauties, could roughly draw the outline of Suhiya’s figure in his mind. Her figure matched the standard for the golden proportion. Although Light Church’s saintesses had no requirement in terms of attractiveness indexes, choosing beautiful women was clearly an unwritten rule.
“Mister Clyde, it would be best if you don’t maintain a deep friendship with Bishop Nichols. His Excellency the Bishop is… Anyway, stay as far away as possible.”
“Eh, many thanks for the warning, Miss Suhiya.”
“You don’t have to call me Miss. It’s fine to just call me by my name.”
Clyde somewhat admired Bishop Nichols. All the saintesses he had met had had terrible impressions of Bishop Nichols. As for what specifically was not good, they couldn’t say, so it was probably just a woman’s intuition. However, when he thought about that mysterious trade name list given to him by Bishop Nichols when they had met last time at Adrian Empire’s banquet, Clyde felt that this old fox was not a fool. He had clearly marked a price for all the saintesses behind their backs.
“By the way, Mister Clyde, have you been to the Needham Plains? In the past, I heard Kruft Kingdom’s people had gone there, but there was no news of them afterward.”
“I am unclear about that. You should ask the people of Kruft Kingdom.”
Along the way, Clyde walked beside Suhiya. This saintess would never imagine that she was now strolling around with an Evil God. The effect of the contract with Valkyrie Cynthia had made it almost impossible for Light Church’s members to notice his true identity.
Saintess Maria and Saintess Tiffany were at the construction site, examining the progress on their own cathedrals. Compared to most other aristocrats, Clyde’s side rarely supervised them. The church could use the land as they pleased. This was most likely because of the Strong’s confidence and magnanimousness.
“Maria, Tiffany, you two are truly using this land as you please. It’s a bit much, no?”
“Suhiya, you came! What? Envious? We can use the land here as we please, unlike other places where we have to discuss everything with the Suzerain.”
“I am not envious. Really, I have come for a proper business.”
Suhuya’s eyes slightly turned to one side, attempting to conceal her Tsundere attribute. Although her mouth claimed she wasn’t envious, Clyde could practically feel her envy. However it was hard to admit this in front of her two colleagues. Maria and Tiffany knew those little thoughts of Suhiya, but they also didn’t point them out, simply leading her to the rest area.
Clyde followed the three saintesses all the way to the rest area and took a seat. Steinbeck Fief was still in the development phase, so there was nothing delicious. The table was filled with a wild boar offered by the fief’s hunters as tribute. Although the fragrance of the roasted pork was delctable, for these Light Church’s saintesses who were used to eating delicacies from all the land and sea, it was clearly inadequate to stimulate their appetites. They just symbolically ate a few pieces, nothing more.
In order to not waste the kind intentions of the fief’s residents, Clyde finished off the roast meat while listening to the discussions of these three saintesses. He could enjoy good food while appreciating beauties in passing. For Clyde, this was a kind of enjoyment. Especially since these three saintesses’ target of suppression was actually the side he belonged to, this scene made him experience a kind of taboo feeling.
“Maria, Tiffany, in the vicinity of Needham Plains…”
“Suhiya, there are no problems with the Needham Plains. We have never sensed anything. If you don’t believe us, then we can go with you and take a look.”
