Chapter 226 (1): Philosopher’s Stone

Londan Head Office, Church of Nature.

Silvia welcomed the team of ten auditors from headquarters in the meeting room. They were all well-dressed and behaved like typical bureaucrats. Clearly, they were used to being sent on missions like this.

They had come to confirm if the Holy Maiden candidates were qualified, scoring them based on their strength, appearance, morals, magical talent, devotion in faith, and other aspects. While they would be strict in scoring as the known auditors, all of their work would be by the book, and they would be staying in the office. They understood the unspoken rules of each branch and were more than happy to play along.

Basically, they were here to carry out a mission, not to step on anyone’s toes. As long as each branch didn’t cross a line, they would usually turn a blind eye and embrace the benefits that came with it.

What could be solved with money wouldn’t be a problem. Auston had made a friendly donation to the operation and bought the team of ten’s ignorance.

They reviewed the dossiers on Wayne and Veronica seriously and offered the two rising youths high praise. They also highly approved of Silvia’s perseverance and effort in cultivating excellent talents.

In the dossier, Wayne Lando was the heir of the Lando family with a father named Auston Lando, and he was also a student of Londan’s High Reverend. Since the Lando family was one of the Tulip Families in Windsor, enjoying incredible wealth and substantial influence in Londan, the fact that Wayne was the Lando heir was considered a plus. And since he was the High Reverend’s student, making him part of the Church of Nature, he would be worth cultivating even if he didn’t end up becoming the Anointed One.

In terms of power, Wayne was a Silver-ranked mage, meeting the requirement. And he wasn’t lacking in appearance. Although he wasn’t as handsome as a prince, he was good-looking and fair-faced, better on the eyes than most pretty boys. As for his morals, magical talent, and devotion to the faith, he also met the requirements.

When it came to contribution, Wayne was the Archdeacon of Cambrook County. He did his work diligently and had once destroyed a demon’s base. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a model member.

Clearly, Silvia had drafted the dossier personally. To make sure that he passed the preliminary selection, she had not only greased palms with money but also improved Wayne’s image with generous embellishment.

She didn’t think of it that way, though. She believed she was only telling the truth.

She didn’t care if Auston would object to becoming Wayne’s father all of a sudden. She would give her student that bonus score. Thus, in the Church of Nature’s dossier, Wayne was a member of the Lando family.

That, combined with Veronica’s dossier, meant that Windsor was recommending a pair of siblings as candidates.

Silvia left Auston to worry about whether the siblings would get engaged and how it should be explained. When the time came, the bastard should use his scummy brain to think of a solution. If he couldn’t explain it, give up. It wasn’t without precedent for nobles to dabble in inbreeding to ensure the purity of the bloodline. What other people thought didn’t matter as long as the family knew the truth.

In half a day, Wayne and Veronica passed the selection and received unanimous praise from the auditing team.

The five-star reviews were paid!

***

In the office of Nature’s High Reverend, Wayne stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and looked at the vast and mountainous landscapes, marveling at the view. It was his first time visiting the Londan head office. Judging by the scale of the architecture and the size of the land, the Church of Nature was much more established here than the Church of Moonlight.

It made sense. The Church of Nature had a high reverend in charge, while the Church of Moonlight had had only a priestess. The two churches’ presence in Windsor belonged to different weight classes.

But that wouldn’t be the case for long. The Church of Moonlight was undergoing a comprehensive upgrade. Filomina’s office would become as big as Silvia’s.

Wayne speculated that this space was built upon a Gold-ranked mage’s dark domain or something even more advanced, constructed at the headquarters before being transported to Londan through a special portal. The district didn’t have to go to the trouble of creating something from scratch; they only had to build a library to serve as the front.

The library he had funded for the Church of Moonlight was likely going to be its new district head office.

“What a large office...”

Wayne looked at the large desk and imagined visiting the Church of Moonlight’s head office one day, pinning Filomina to the desk. Someone as unhinged as she was would probably forgo even a soundproof barrier, relying only on the twins to guard the door.

Wonderful, that’ll be the Church of Nature’s victory!

It would also be a win for the Church of Death, Darkness, Heavenly Father, and Sun—well, the Church of Sun’s victory was debatable, but the Church of Moonlight’s defeat was for certain.

Considering that all forces came with a counterforce, though, Filomina only had to flip them around for the Church of Moonlight to come out on top.

Picturing it excited Wayne, but the thought could only stay as a fantasy for now. The Church of Moonlight’s library hadn’t been built, and Filomina didn’t yet have a desk this big.

“Wait, what about...”

He turned to Veronica, who was reading a book on the chair while humming a tune she had just made up, her legs swinging back and forth.

Sensing his despicable intention, she shuddered and shot him a vicious glare. “What are you looking at, scum, jerk, scoundrel? I’m warning you not to try anything.”

Her vocabulary still left much to be desired. It only made Wayne feel proud. Those were compliments!

“Muhaha...”

Rubbing his hands together, Wayne went up to Veronica. She held the book to her chest with both hands, knowing full well what the scumbag was planning to do. She hurriedly said, “Don’t mess around. This is the High Reverend’s office. The auditing team for the Holy Maiden selection is still in the meeting room. This is dangerous.”

“Ah, so we can do it at home.”

“Not at home. Not anywhere!”

Veronica punched him in the face, but he pulled her along into his arms and kissed her until she was lost in it. It took a while for her to recover and break out of his hold.

Wiping her mouth, she snapped, “Are you mad? What if someone finds—”

“Won’t that be more exciting?”

Veronica rolled her eyes, picking up her glass of water to rinse out the lingering taste of trash.

Rat-a-tat.

Someone knocked. Three seconds later, Silvia carefully popped her head in. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

Veronica’s face became bright red. She claimed that she had been reading and nothing had happened, stammering.

Wayne blushed, too, looking bashful like a boy in love for the first time. He stumbled over his words. “You’re overthinking, Master. Veronica and I are conservative. The next time, you can just open the door... unless we’ve turned the light off.”

Why are you blushing?!

Veronica punched Wayne in the face, amusing Silvia. She was reminded of how she used to punch Auston twenty years ago.

“Alright, stop being lovey-dovey. The auditing team asked to see you. You’re going on a mission.”

Although Silvia was pleased by their progress, their apparent intimacy was a little hard to watch. She warned, “I don’t care how you behave in the future, but control yourselves in the meantime. Many pairs of eyes are watching you. Do you understand?”

“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll keep an eye on Veornica and keep her under control.”

“I’ll entrust her to you.”

Then we’ll be doomed!

Exasperated, Veronica said sarcastically, “Mother, in Wayne’s dossier, his father is Auston Lando. What about his mother? Why didn’t you put it in? It’s a glaring omission.”

“I know. It’s Martha,” Wayne said. He hadn’t thought so, but after acquiring the Darkness Knight disguise, he would bet twenty sillings on his mother turning out to be a Martha[1].

“Seriously...?” Veronica wondered if the scumbag was lying to her again.

“Alright. Get ready. The auditing team is waiting for you in the meeting room.”

Silvia led her daughter and student out of the office, introducing them to the ten members of the auditing team in the meeting room. They had ticked most of the boxes save for one: the evaluation of candidates’ talent through real action.

It didn’t refer to a fight in an arena, but a mission. Wayne and Veronica would be scored based on the mission’s completion, which would serve as a test of their magical power and intelligence.

Since the auditing team had tailored the mission for them, the candidates would face a series of difficulties during it. The process of solving the problems was crucial to the final scores.

“You have fifteen days, more than enough time. On behalf of the team, I look forward to your performance.” Charlotte, the head of the auditing team, handed them a document.

Wayne took it with both hands respectfully, demonstrating the perfect etiquette that Veryl had drilled into him. He behaved himself with impeccable control and polite humility, setting an example for proper gentlemen.

Veronica barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

1. Bruce Wayne’s mother is named Martha. His father is Thomas rather than Auston, though. ☜