Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Chapter 108
Cult Apophis (3)
On the way, Rudian asked the branch manager:
"What kind of person is the Countess of Southwood?"
"To be honest, she's quite greedy. After the previous lord, Count Southwood, passed away from illness, she has been temporarily ruling the city in place of the young heir. Since she took power, taxes have become quite tight."
However, Heidi's rule wasn't unreasonably harsh enough to be called a tyrannical lord.
A typical aristocratic image of someone who moderately pursues their own greed and doesn't hesitate to spend money.
"It doesn't seem like she'd cross any major lines, so why would such a person join hands with a cult?"
"You never know from the surface."
There are few cases where nobles join hands with cults.
Luciella, who had been the guild master of the Information Guild, enumerated the facts she had learned from history one by one.
"Either they've been caught with a weakness, offered unimaginably huge benefits, or the noble was originally a cultist from the beginning..."
"All three are possible. It's not strange for those in power to sell everything except themselves for greater power."
The reactions of Luciella and Gray, who were relatively familiar with power compared to Elvin who wasn't used to it, were quite different.
After all, they had experienced types like 'Captain Pruna Silent' who sold even her soul for power.
"If she had inherited the Count position, she should normally have gone up to the capital to work for the family's interests."
"The Southwood family hasn't sent any representatives to the center since the Count passed away. It's certainly suspicious when connected this way."
Southwood City and its surrounding territories were overall wealthy places.
As such, there was no reason for the family ruling this area to be troubled by financial difficulties.
"If they're demanding tribute that's burdensome to the trading company, it naturally means there's somewhere money is leaking."
One of the reasons the branch manager increased security personnel was because requests for blatant bribes and tribute from the castle had increased recently.
CREAK, CREAK!
The rusted metal friction sound echoed as the inner castle gate opened.
The person at the front who recognized the carriage's emblem raised his voice.
"It's Seoris. Huh? You're not Sir Hans?"
"Oh, isn't it the guard captain?"
The branch manager got off at the gate and approached the approaching guards.
"Well now. Sir Hans sure has it tough, a gentleman of branch manager status unable to get away from work even this late at night."
The branch manager handed a few silver coins to the guard captain he'd been acquainted with for a long time and said:
"Sigh, it's the lord's request, so what can I do? Fortunately, thanks to the new president, I'm able to 'lend' like this."
As soon as the silver coins touched his hand, the guard captain's tone instantly changed to respectful speech.
"Hahaha, but is it okay when you don't know when you'll be paid back?"
"I have to accept it as fate. That way we're both comfortable, aren't we?"
"Hahaha! You speak truly."
The guard captain skillfully stuffed the silver coins into his pocket and shouted for passage.
Rudian, who had been watching from inside, made a brief observation.
"Quite a subtly toned conversation."
The branch manager, who got back into the carriage, scratched the back of his head and laughed.
"Originally, you have to put it in little by little like this to avoid trouble. Something like a small token of appreciation, you could say."
While Rudian had no intention of criticizing the branch manager's method, it wasn't exactly a pleasant sight to see either.
'I roughly understand the atmosphere.'
The branch manager who entered the inner castle asked Rudian:
"So what do you plan to do now?"
"We'll infiltrate inside and look for traces of the cult. Depending on how much the Countess is involved with the cult, we'll impose appropriate punishment."
The branch manager was shocked at Rudian's words.
"Are, are you sure that's okay? No matter how much you're the president and your companions, without an Imperial decree..."
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that. We've already received permission in advance."
This was true.
Of course, executing innocent nobles wouldn't do, but at least if clear evidence came out that they were breaking Imperial law, Rudian had received confirmation that it was okay to act first and report later.
"Then that's fortunate, but..."
Still, the branch manager's anxious expression didn't fade.
There were nearly a thousand soldiers stationed in the inner castle, and over fifty knights.
No matter how justified they were, if all of them drew swords and spears, there would be no answer against such numbers.
Moreover, the cult's strength was also unknown.
"Don't worry and just tell the lord that I haven't been president for long, so this is a gift, and please treat me well."
"Ah, understood."
The branch manager had no choice but to nod at Rudian's command.
As soon as Rudian saw people coming out from inside the inner castle to escort the branch manager, he gathered his party and began their activities in earnest.
"Conceal."
As Diablo's power was activated, their presence and appearance immediately blended with the surroundings.
Seeing Rudian's party, who had been right in front of him, disappear, the branch manager widened his eyes and gasped.
"Huh!"
***
The direct visit of the Seoris Union Trading’s branch manager was a matter significant enough for the Countess, the owner of the city, to move personally.
"Hmph, have those heavy-bottomed ones finally lowered their tails?"
The Countess of Southwood, Heidi Southwood, was a typical noble lady adorned with luxury goods and jewels all over her body.
"Damn bastards, when the owner of this city - myself - makes demands, they should immediately bow and crawl over."
The reason Heidi, who maintained such an attitude, hadn't collapsed yet was because she followed exactly the same governing style as her deceased husband.
"Of course, Your Excellency. Lowly merchants shouldn't go against the mood of great nobles."
But now, even that was beginning to lose balance due to her greedy nature.
"As expected, the Archbishop knows what's what, hohoho!"
Heidi's gaze turned to the strange figure holding a staff sitting in front of her.
"They say the wealth they brought is enough to generously fill five cargo wagons, so it will be quite helpful for the Order's events."
"Your lordship's faith is like the sun in the sky, so His Holiness will never forget this matter."
The strange figure respectfully bowed while making a holy sign with one hand.
"However, Your Lordship, you shouldn't underestimate the trading company's new owner too much."
"What do you mean by that?"
"According to the Order's intelligence network, the trading company's new owner is known to be Count Rudian Belstad, a distant relative of the former president Gude Belstad."
"I know that too."
"But there are more than one or two suspicious points about this part."
The fact that the Belstad family, which had been a Viscount family, suddenly rose to become a Count family after Rudian took over as head of the family.
The fact that when the owner of the massive trading company Seoris changed, there was no particular disturbance inside or outside.
Above all, the massive battle that occurred near the capital, which many secret forces noticed and were shocked by.
No matter how much the Imperial family blocked information from going out with central power, they couldn't prevent exposure of that battle where Marbas had rampaged.
"Certainly, in the war between the demon race and the imperial family in the capital, the imperial family won. Probably that Rudian fellow helped the imperial side and gained that position. If so, there's a high possibility that the Emperor is backing him."
Though the focus was slightly off, the Archbishop's words quite accurately penetrated close to the truth.
"So what?"
But from Heidi's standpoint, that was just someone else's business.
"Whatever they do in the capital, this is Southwood, and the owner of this place is myself. Moreover, if as the Archbishop says, turmoil recently occurred in the capital, they probably don't have the leisure to pay attention to this remote region, do they?"
The Archbishop's expression flinched at Heidi's unexpectedly sharp words.
"That... Is correct."
"Hmph, it's probably something like a bribe saying let's get along well. Don't worry too much."
Moreover, Heidi had something she believed in.
Information that the eastern region facing the border with Kingdom of Rohans had suffered a massive enemy invasion had already reached her ears.
As such, there was no reason for the imperial family's attention to be focused on the completely unrelated southern region.
"Still, completely ignoring them isn't good. Especially now when we're rushing things because of the recent unbelievers threatening the Order..."
"Ah, I know that. You think I wouldn't know even that?"
Watching Heidi wave her hand dismissively as if annoyed, the Archbishop couldn't hide his anxious expression.
'The utility value is still sufficient though...'
The flaw was that her arrogance and vanity were large enough to dim that utility value.
'If watching shows she's becoming harmful to the Order, I'll have to consider replacing her soon.'
When the Archbishop was thinking such thoughts inwardly, Heidi gestured to the butler.
"Have him brought in."
"Hmm, then I'll be going..."
Since there was no reason to reveal himself to outsiders, the Archbishop rose from his seat and hid himself.
'What is this anxiety...?'
The Archbishop stopped walking due to a suddenly striking ominous premonition.
Though there were no signs or causality, the divine power granted by god was telling him that the current situation was not ordinary.
"Seventh Bishop, Twelfth Bishop."
"Yes, Archbishop."
When the Archbishop quietly called their names, two strange figures in similar attire appeared behind him.
The Archbishop asked them:
"Did that branch manager come alone by any chance?"
The bishops were puzzled by those words.
"We didn't confirm. As you know, that fellow frequently comes and goes from the inner castle and has a clear identity, so we judged there was no need to monitor him, didn't we?"
"Go check right now. Whether that fellow brought companions. And tell the believers dispatched to raise their guard to maximum."
In the Order, a superior's command was absolute.
"Yes!"
"I'm going to the Offering Room. It seems like today will have more misfortune than fortune."
The 'Offering Room' referred to the altar prepared in the underground of Southwood inner castle for offering tribute to their main deity.
Though it was created with the active cooperation of Countess Heidi, due to the nature of the ignorant, there were aspects difficult to understand, so except for those dispatched from the Order, fewer than five people knew the room's true identity.
The Archbishop quickly went underground and temporarily disabled the barrier.
'This barrier also needs more thorough maintenance.'
This barrier was made by threatening low-ranking magicians who worked as mercenaries, so it wasn't particularly excellent in security.
As the Archbishop thought such thoughts and crossed the barrier line...
"Gasp!"
The Archbishop felt a thick smell hitting his nose.
This smell was the kind you could only smell when something was burning - not objects, but blood and flesh burning.
He wasn't foolish enough not to know what this meant.
"What kind of rat bastards have snuck in?"
The deeper he went inside, the fiercer the smoke and flames became.
It was the result of all the offerings prepared in the offering room for the god burning up.
The Archbishop screamed in great anger.
"Aaaaah! In the name of Apophis, I will never forgive this!"
The Archbishop pushed through the flames and quickly descended into the underground interior.
Such flames couldn't even be an obstacle to him.
WHOOSH! CRACKLE!
The deeper he went down, the more the Archbishop's anger began to burn like an active volcano.
The intensifying flames seemed to represent his fury.
"How dare, how dare, how dare!"
The Archbishop ran toward the center, half out of his mind.
And when he reached the altar not long after.
"Ah! No, no!"
The Archbishop saw that the altar and offerings for the god had all turned to ash and screamed while grabbing his hair.
The devout believers who had been guarding this place were already annihilated by those heretics visible before his eyes.
"You came?"
The abominable heretics who dared to burn the sacred place that served god.
And there wasn't just one.
The total number was four.
The heretic in the center among them cast a cold gaze toward the Archbishop.
"Welcome, trash."