Chapter 261 (2): In Terms of Beauty, You Can’t Beat Me

“There’s one more thing. I failed to become the Anointed One, unsurprisingly.” Wayne spread his hands.

“It’s only natural. You’re a man. How could you become a vessel for the Goddess of Nature in the human world? Even if the goddess could accept it, the followers wouldn’t.” Filomina laughed at the Church of Nature’s expense since it had no bearing on her.

“But the High Prophet noticed my excellent talent, and I almost became his successor.”

“Almost?”

“Someone more formidable intervened. I became his successor instead, and the High Prophet left in dejection.” Wayne spoke mysteriously.

“Who could’ve done that?”

Filomina bit the bait, guessing it was the Pope. Getting a negative, she told the riddler to hurry up and stop keeping her in suspense.

“Moula, the Nature Knight!”

“...”

“Say something, Mina!”

“How could it be the Nature Knight? You shouldn’t become the Anointed One, much less the chosen knight...” Filomina covered her mouth and chuckled coyly, pointing at his chest. “You do have great talent, but you have a wicked heart. You couldn’t have been so good at deceiving women that you deceived the goddess, could you?”

“No, I didn’t meet the goddess at all. Mr. Moula said that I’m strong, handsome, young, and polite, so I passed the assessment.” Wayne omitted a billion details when telling the truth.

“That...”

Please make up another joke. This is ridiculous. You’re making the Goddess of Nature sound so shallow.

Filomina was rolling her eyes when she saw Wayne reaching into the void, drawing a white two-handed sword. Surging vitality rippled out, and he turned into the Nature Knight.

=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞(Ő‸Ő|||)

So being strong, handsome, young, and polite qualifies one to become the chosen knight? The Goddess of Nature is too shallow!

Then... what about the Goddess of Moonlight, whom she worshipped?

Wayne struck a pose with Elemental Mantra in his hand, looking incredibly smug. He had anticipated Filomina’s shock. She reacted just like Kristen and Vera. Self-pity would surely follow.

“Bastard! That woman stole the chosen knight of the Church of Moonlight!” Filomina said indignantly. She would avoid naming the woman for Wayne’s sake.

Then she made the same complaints Kristen had made: about the Church of Moonlight having first claim, about their allies, and crossing lines. The air was permeated with her resentment at their ally for the backstabbing.

Wayne dispersed the knight armor and placated Filomina quietly, “Look at the bright side. You’ve tamed the future Nature Knight. Doesn’t that count as the Church of Moonlight’s victory?”

“Nonsense. It’s clearly a crushing defeat for the High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight to be violated by the Nature Knight!” Filomina furiously grabbed Wayne by the collar and left the dark domain. In her bedroom, she pushed him onto the bed, yanking her bathrobe loose.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Today, she would seek justice for the Church of Moonlight on the goddess’s behalf. She would make Nature’s chosen leave with a limp.

Filomina had overestimated herself and underestimated Wayne. After a few rounds, the representative of the Church of Moonlight suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Nature Knight. After begging for mercy, she passed out.

Love changed women. Filomina, for example, had become even more beautiful. Her eyes were bright, and her appearance radiant and charming. Her grace seemed to have been elevated, too, her dignity greater than before.

The flower had bloomed fully under the nourishment.

The next day, the twins guarding the door brooded. They had failed their duty of protecting the High Reverend, allowing the Church of Nature and the Ministry of Magic to infiltrate and claim the nexus. It only took one look at Filomina for them to figure out that the pair had gotten even more intimate last night.

The conflict had escalated!

Moreover, Filomina made no effort to hide anything. She acted like she was delicate and weak, speaking softly and unable to even lift her hand to eat on her own. It was as if her bones had been taken apart.

That was impossible, of course. Filomina was putting on an act. She wanted everyone to know that she had consummated her love, finally crossing off the last item on the list of things to do before thirty.

Mages who could reach Legendary rank all had a bone of lunacy in them, Filomina being no exception. If Wayne hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve published a newspaper article with a photo of her and Wayne being couply.

“Don’t. I’m a public figure—an idol, you know? If the fans know that I have a girlfriend, I’ll no longer get any acting gigs.”

“Aren’t you a capitalist?”

“Capitalists should follow market rules even more!”

Filomina huffed, giving up on announcing her relationship with an advertisement. Since she was in a good mood, though, everything seemed wonderful through her rose-tinted glasses. She soon put aside the matter.

The High Reverend bore heavy responsibilities. She could give herself three days off to be with her young boyfriend, but she couldn’t keep taking vacations. Under the twins’ urging, she remembered who she was and what she came to Londan for: to expand the church’s influence rather than lose herself in romance.

No matter. She could work during the day and date during the night!

Wayne was juggling so much now that managing his time had become increasingly challenging. Left with no other solution, Veryl suggested that Wayne move into the detective agency with work as an excuse.

He should recover his health in the meantime.

***

Wayne’s Detective Agency, Commercial Street.

Wayne spent half a day shopping and watching movies with his secretary. Then he used the remaining half day to handle the accumulated work.

He still had to go on a date with his secretary in the evening. He was always fair; he would never make the excuse that he didn’t have time.

Good men knew that one could always make more time. Only irresponsible scumbags constantly talked about being too busy.

Before that, he had to write his diary. He couldn’t stop updating. And he had to continue his intelligence work for the mustached man and Solar. Playing hooky for three months as a senior agent seriously affected his reputation in Franc. He needed some quality information to restore their trust in him.

Moreover, Auston had selected several asylum patients, trading with Planck in a private capacity and transferring them to his secret base. They were waiting for Wayne to study them in depth.

There were also a few thick envelopes containing information on several libraries. Wayne had to pick one as soon as possible.

“Luckily, my name gives me a buff so that I can sleep less, or I wouldn’t be able to keep up even with several hands...”

Wayne grumbled, patting Mona on the head. At critical moments like this, his secretary was most useful. She had taken on much of the workload for him.

“Mona, I’ll entrust you with selecting the library. Pick somewhere remote, away from the commercial districts. It can’t be too close to my place, but not too far either...”

“You’ll also handle the intelligence work from now on. Just say that you’re an informant I’ve trained...”

“...”

“Why aren’t you talking, Mona?”

After a long pause, Mona finally stood up and said, “Boss, there’s one more document you haven’t checked.”

“I don’t want to...” Wayne glanced at the document in a corner of the table. It was a commission from Juno, the Princess’s knight. She had offered a large deposit and specifically requested him to investigate a case. The location wasn’t in Londan, but somewhere so remote that Mona had to purchase a particular map to find it.

“Boss, Juno has been frequenting the detective agency recently. She seems quite interested in you and has been inquiring about you in different ways. Juno is Princess Elizabeth’s knight. It should be Her Highness who has set her eyes on you.”

The Church of Heavenly Father had made a similar request to expose Wayne’s true nature in a remote area. They had done so because they suspected Wayne of being an angel, which was a sensitive matter they couldn’t make public or inquire about openly. As for why the Princess was doing this, Mona couldn’t think of a reason immediately.

There were many possibilities: perhaps the Princess appreciated Wayne’s talent and wanted to recruit him; perhaps she needed the Lando family’s wealth and thus wanted to lay down the groundwork to secure their future head’s loyalty; perhaps the Princess fancied Wayne and was cheating on her fiancé.

The second possibility was the least likely. This was the Queen’s era. Even if the Princess wanted something, she had to be patient.

The third was purely Mona’s feelings doing the talking. Since she considered Wayne outstanding, she assumed that everyone would think the same, and thus the Princess would naturally want him.

“Eliminate the two correct answers, and the wrong one will be the truth. That’s how famous detectives work.” Wayne frowned at the commission. “Turn it down. I don’t want to get too close to the Princess. I’m only loyal to Her Majesty. When she becomes the Queen, I’ll obey her.”

Wayne followed Auston’s example. However Auston treated the Queen, he would treat the Princess the same. It was a proven answer he could copy without worrying about it being wrong.

Wait, Auston was the Queen’s first love. He even claimed her first night. I can’t copy everything.

Feeling inspired, Wayne reopened his diary and wrote about the kind young man’s father having an affair with his superior, even giving the kind young man’s fiancée a sister. That would be the theme for the next few days.

“Mona, has Londan been peaceful lately? Any new demons?”

“The cathedral hasn’t detected any unusual signs, so there shouldn’t be any.” Mona naturally sat on her boss’s lap as she reported to him.

“Silence is the biggest sign. Tell Gunther to be careful. With three familiars gone, the demons won’t just let things go.”

“As you command.”

***

Suburban Londan.

A dark portal opened. A black-robed figure slowly landed.

“Three knights alone cannot guard the Frozen Land.”

“Twilight Despair...”

“The goddess needs you!!”