Chapter 222 (2): The Offense and Defense Reverse

“How dare he? I’ll teach him a lesson later. Don’t worry, Wayne. I won’t believe a word out of his mouth.”

“You’re the best, Master.”

Wayne looked touched, while Veronica gave him a derisive look.

Yes, Trash Sr.’s words were bullshit and should be disregarded, but so were Trash Jr.’s nonsense. Mother was being led around by two scumbags. When was she going to become mature like Veronica?

“Forget that bastard. Let’s get back to the auditors. I’ll deal with the known ones, but you’ll have to convince the secret auditors on your own. I’m guessing that the church will assign you a mission recently. Do well and show your best.”

Silvia added a warning, “Flora, the former Holy Maiden, has been trying to get a quota from me. She won’t let this chance go. Behave yourself and don’t give the auditors a bad impression.”

“You, especially, need to control your temper, Veronica. Don’t get easily riled up by others’ nonsense.”

“How about Wayne?”

“There’s nothing to worry about him. He’s a remarkable candidate, so he only has to keep a lower profile and try not to be too perfect.”

(Ծ‸Ծ)

Just tell me that you and Trash Sr. gave birth to him, and I was adopted. You only raised me to marry me off to Trash Jr. so that he can inherit the family legitimately, didn’t you?

“Don’t worry, Master. Veronica won’t be eliminated with me keeping an eye on her.” Wayne patted his chest and promised. “The former Holy Maiden has stayed at the church’s headquarters for more than ten years. Does she know the auditors? Is there a risk of Veronica and me getting dropped in the preliminary selection because she exploits her connection?”

“Don’t underestimate your master. She has connections, but I do, too.” Silvia smiled mysteriously. Today, she received a call from the master she had not heard from for years, asking about the two candidates she was recommending.

Silvia had complicated feelings about her master. It was her master who had given her the dragon blood, and her master who brought her up and taught her with care. When she pulled out of the selection and married Auston, it struck a heavy blow to her master and the faction her master represented.

Silvia hadn’t chosen marriage simply because she was in love and impulsive. It was also a choice out of rebellion.

Her master had put so much effort into training Silvia, not because of some tight bond between them as master and student, but because by making Silvia the Holy Maiden, her master would gain a greater voice at headquarters. As a tool, Silvia felt no guilt about pulling out of the game; she had found someone else to invest her emotions in.

That someone was Auston, who was far from an honest man.

The master and student had lost contact until now, twenty years later. Her master thought that by fighting for years to climb the ladder to the High Reverend, Silvia would surely have come to understand her master and become just like her. Thus, her master extended the olive branch.

During the call, her master learned that Veronica, a Dragonblood, had incredible talent and promised to step in. As long as Veronica didn’t give up at the last moment like Silvia had done, they would all get what they wanted.

As for the other genius Silvia mentioned, her master subconsciously thought of him as the real candidate’s bodyguard because he was a man, blatantly disregarding him.

“Master, should you really set your master up for failure?” Wayne’s face twitched. Neither he nor Veronica would become the Anointed One or Holy Maiden. Just like Silvia had twenty years ago, they would choose love in the end. With that knowledge, Silvia still recommended them to her master... Did Veronica’s unfilial tendency come from Silvia?

What about Auston’s genes? Did the maternal influence overwhelm the paternal one? How sad, Dad.

Wayne was snickering inside.

“The old woman only sees me as a stepping stone for promotion. She wants nothing but to become the Pope. Just ignore the madwoman.” Silvia huffed. “She’s an extremist and a war hawk. If she becomes the Pope, it’ll be a disaster for everyone.”

Wayne shrugged, remembering Kristen’s adoptive mother, Dorrin. He understood what Silvia felt. Kristen wasn’t completely apathetic toward her mother, but there was little love lost between them. Quite the contrary, with the source of her stress imprisoned, Kristen had been smiling more.

Or she might be smiling because of all the sweet words she had been hearing from Wayne.

The older generation’s relationships were too complicated for Wayne. He raised his hands to cover the ears, pretending to hear nothing.

Whose ears do you think you’re covering?

Veronica hurriedly pushed Wayne away, worried that her mother would realize that they had gotten to first base. Still, Silvia immediately realized that she was being the third wheel since she had been through the same experience.

“I’ll just say a few things, and we’ll be done.”

Silvia got right to the point: she had done the necessary work to ensure that the auditors would treat Wayne and Veronica fairly, so they only had to be wary of Flora’s underhanded scheme.

“I know, a honeytrap!” Veronica raised her hand and said, shooting Wayne a frosty look.

You’re the one the warning is meant for!

“Yes, honeytrap is a threat,” Wayne said worriedly. “You may have done the work, Master, but Flora can undo it. What if she seduces the auditors? As a former Holy Maiden, she will be tempting enough by showing her thighs.”

“What, should I show my thighs, too?” Silvia rolled her eyes. Damn bastard, corrupting her innocent student.

That won’t be necessary. If you do that, the Darkness Knight will wipe out the team of auditors that night. The Death Knight might be there, too. Your thighs aren’t simple thighs, but a knight summoning trigger. Whoever sees it will die. It’s more effective than the goddess’s oracle.

Wayne swallowed his comments, asking a few more questions to indirectly warn his master about the possibility of the enemy pulling despicable tricks. As he expected, she dismissed every concern.

Silvia confidently expressed her belief in the integrity of the knight order. “I’ll have someone keep an eye on the auditing team so that they will behave. Don’t worry about the secret auditors. The members of the knight order are devout followers who will not tolerate trickery. If Flora dares to seduce them, they will break every one of her legs.”

Speaking as if Flora had a third leg!

Wayne snorted.

After that, Silvia took down the soundproofing barrier and headed to Auston’s study to educate the misbehaving bastard. He had been a bad influence on her good-hearted student!

Although Wayne would sooner or later become corrupted because Veronica lacked talent in dirty work, and it was a good thing for Wayne to become as bad as Auston so that he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage in the real world, the corruption was progressing too quickly. Couldn’t Auston have gone about it more slowly?

Veronica walked out of the study right after Silvia, but made her way to her mansion instead. When she noticed Wayne following her, her heart fluttered. She walked faster and faster while worrying her lip between her teeth.

When she realized that Wayne was heading to the same destination as she was, she panicked.

“Why are you following me, bastard?”

“Really? It may be a coincidence. I’m visiting my fiancée.”

“Wake up. You don’t have a fiancée.”

While they were bickering, they heard a loud noise. Shattered glass and a window frame fell from above, and a black shadow streaked into the grove.

“So high!”

“Yeah, our father’s flying high and far.”

Both of them looked up and tracked the shadow until it hit the ground, moving their heads up and then down. Wayne even provided the sound effect with his mouth.

His joy was soon replaced by crocodile tears. What was going on in the world? Nature’s High Reverend sent the Darkness Knight flying with a punch, but his ally, the Death Knight, could do nothing but grin and laugh out loud in anger.

When did the religious landscape become like this? Is it going to get better?

Wayne lamented. He had no chance of defeating Nature’s High Reverend, so he decided to go after her daughter to avenge his ally. What a loyal ally he was. The Darkness Knight was lucky to have him.

Touched by his own devotion, Wayne quickly caught up with Veronica, chasing her to the young lady’s mansion.

Thud!

He trapped Veronica between himself and the door, lowering his head to breathe in the fragrance of her hair. The dragon-blooded girl froze and curled into herself like a quail.

The offense and defense were reversed!