Chapter 315 (2): Frequent Fires at the Ministry of Magic

After some consideration, Wayne said, “I need a copy of the data from Frank’s research in Hell and Bourne’s research in Astral Beasts. Construct a new base for me so that I can study the Grey Space.”

“Have you found anything?”

“I have theories.” Wayne raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice. “The fallen deity seems to have been a great dragon. Aunt Megan’s birth may be connected to the Grey Space. If you don’t want anything to happen to her, I suggest you look into it thoroughly.”

(눈_눈)

The next time something like this comes up, tell me privately, not just inside a soundproofing barrier when Megan can hear.

It was silent outside, as if Megan had heard nothing.

Wayne gave Auston an encouraging look. “For her sake, you’ll investigate properly, won’t you?”

Speaking of a fallen great dragon, Wayne immediately thought of Dragonheart Island. The knight order of the Goddess of Sun had invaded a Draconic Realm and had a heart-to-heart with the great dragon.

The dragon fell, and its heart fell onto Dragonheart Island. Its collapsed Draconic Realm shattered into pieces, slowly dissipating in the Void. Due to its proximity to Londan, a part of the Grey Space overlapped with the space that Londan inhabited, resulting in the thick mist that enveloped the entire city every night.

It all fit together with no logical flaws. In the absence of a confirmed answer, Detective Wayne declared the case closed. He had even come up with an explanation for the Law of Death within the Grey Space: the great dragon had survived for a while after losing its heart due to its formidable vitality. As its life was approaching its end, it actively approached the Law of Death, hoping to prolong its existence.

Then it died!

Wayne wasn’t sure whether the dragon was fifty percent dead or a hundred percent, and whether it could be revived. He entrusted the Darkness Knight to continue the investigation.

Auston, you don’t want your secretary, lover, butler, and the young wife you raised yourself to become a vessel for an evil dragon’s reincarnation, do you?

Auston frowned deeply. There was merit to Wayne’s theory. When the Ministry of Magic created Megan, there were indeed unexplainable coincidences—many of them, in fact. Moreover, all subsequent projects to artificially create great dragons had failed, making Megan a unique case.

“Times have changed. Megan has become the Darkness Knight’s mount. She’s evolved into a black dragon and now carries the mark of the Goddess of Darkness...”

“That great dragon was slain by the Goddess of Sun’s knights. Even if it has any plans, it wouldn’t dare make a move against the Goddess of Darkness...”

Auston paused. He had wanted to reassure Megan, but as he spoke to the butler outside the door, he grew nervous. It was better safe than sorry. He should look into the matter.

He thought of another possibility: “If the Grey Space is related to dragons, could it affect Silvia and Veronica?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

Maybe it’s affected their intelligence!

Wayne swallowed his grumble. While Senna was also a Dragonblood, she was highly intelligent. When Wayne first met Master Silvia, she had been a strong, capable woman, but she seemed to have gotten less sharp after inhaling too much mist.

It wasn’t impossible.

If that were the case, Wayne would have to take care of the dragon blood in Silvia and Veronica soon. He had to deal with not only their curses, but also any risks related to the mist.

The two trash cans exchanged glances and settled on a date for the surgeries.

“There won’t be problems, will there?”

“I’ll make sure the operations succeed no matter the cost!” Wayne bit out.

Auston nodded, pointing to the vacant positions at the ministry on the list. “We still need two vice ministers. I’ll take one myself. Do you have any candidates to recommend for the other vacancy?”

“All the legendary mages I know are from the churches. They won’t be appropriate...” Wayne was thinking seriously when he noticed Auston’s strange expression. He said blankly, “What, you want me to be the other vice minister?”

“Someone has to share my burden!” Auston said through clenched teeth.

Wayne laughed awkwardly and deflected, “That won’t be a good idea. I’m a child with no proper education or the capability for the role. If I hold such a high position at this young age, what will the others think? They’ll talk about you sleeping with the Queen behind your back.”

“You have nepotism on your side!”

True enough. Who needs education? I just need to smile.

Wayne considered for a moment. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea to be the minister’s Vice Minister. He needed to research Hell and the Void, and going through Auston every time would be too troublesome. If he had barged in while Auston was doing nightly exercises with the Queen, everyone would lose face.

As Vice Minister, Wayne would be able to conduct the necessary work on his own, especially creating warehouse fires that never stopped despite the prohibitions. He had wanted to follow the local traditions for quite some time.

“Fine, you’re my father after all. I’ll share your burden as your son.” Wayne patted his chest, but then he warned, “I’ll be up front, though. You know how my only strong suit is eating everything. If the Ministry of Magic experiences frequent fires in the future, don’t blame me for being greedy.”

I won’t. The Queen used to set fires, too, and no one said anything about her.

Auston sighed yet again. “I still don’t understand how the country came to this point.”

“That’s simple. I know the answer.” Wayne raised his hand. “It all started on an evening last March. I was at my detective agency, making potato dishes. A magical girl walked in...”

Bang, bang, bang!

Wayne was going to describe the plot with five thousand words when someone knocked on the study door. Megan entered and said with an expressionless face, “Young Master, a call for you. Your lover is looking for you.”

“Be specific. Which one?”

“The High Reverend of the Church of Moonlight, Filomina Ursula. She has urgent business to discuss with you at the church’s base and asked for you to meet her quickly.”

“...”

It’s daytime. Why did you call the Lando Estate? Can’t you wait until evening?

Wayne stroked his chin and said to Auston, “The Vice Minister is going to discuss the religious landscape in Windsor with Moonlight’s High Reverend. Let’s end our talk for now. If anything urgent comes up, contact Veryl. He’ll know how to find me.”

***

Church of Moonlight’s base.

After the expansion, the Church of Moonlight’s base was on an entirely different scale. The phantoms of the four phases of the moon—dark moon, waning moon, waxing moon, and full moon—hung in the sky, illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime.

Sacred moonlight brushed past the black canvas like silk ribbons. The four moon phases each corresponded to four cathedrals. A waterfall separated the two mountains, with a tranquil, deep pond at the bottom, reflecting the four moon phases above.

In the center of the four hazy reflections—the heart of the pond, that was—a white cathedral rose from the surface of the water. It was the administrative center of the Church of Moonlight’s head office in Londan, Windsor, as well as High Reverend Filomina’s office building. The construction had been completed for some time, but Wayne rarely visited it.

It was for a simple reason: the lighting.

There were too many moons here. Though the place was sacred, the light pollution was serious.

Wayne had suggested once that warm light would be better than cold light, but Filomina ignored the comment and even chided him for not understanding faith.

Visiting the office today, Wayne saw four high-ranking priests outside the High Reverend’s office on the top floor. He had to wonder what serious matter had happened to warrant the presence of all of the church’s leaders.

The four priests knew about Wayne and Filomina’s relationship to varying degrees. Seeing Wayne open the door and walk right in, they wanted to say something, but ultimately chose silence since they were outsiders.

Inside the office, massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the entire headquarters. Above were the phantom moons, and below were their reflections in the water. The light pollution was still serious here.

Filomina and Kristen stood before the desk with grave expressions. Their expressions turned strange when Wayne arrived.

An important guest had visited today: Darienne, the Moonlight Knight. She had asked to see her successor, leaving Filomina bewildered. Then she learned that her successor was named Wayne.

Filomina felt like she had been struck by lightning!

She could already envision Wayne putting his arm around his sister, grinning like a loving big brother. Her heart sank.

Darienne was the Moonlight Knight and fit the calm, composed, aloof image that Filomina had pictured. Naturally, the chosen knight wouldn’t have lied. If she said that Wayne was going to be the next chosen knight, he had to be.

I’ve slept with the future chosen knight!

x2

Kristen, whom Darienne had asked to meet, also learned the truth. She wasn’t sure whether she should be happy or sad that the man who had been sharing her bed was the chosen knight. She should be happy, but she was sad that he hadn’t shared something this important with her.

Darienne wore a white suit with her long silver hair tied into a ponytail. Her face was blank as she sat in the High Reverend’s chair, embodying nobility, indifference, elegance, and assertiveness, living up to the rumors of her being an ice queen.

Once she opened her mouth, the rumors would be shattered!

Right now, she was sizing up the two stunning women before her, marveling at the amazing talents the church had cultivated. Even a district had recruited such impressive beauties. Unfortunately, the two of them together had failed to win the future chosen knight over. Darienne had had to do that through card games.

Speaking of cards, she was itching for a game.

Wayne entered the room then. He paused when he saw what was waiting for him. “Sorry, wrong place. I thought this was the Church of Nature.”

He turned to leave, politely closing the door. Darienne suddenly appeared behind him like she had teleported, grabbing him by the collar and shutting the door to trap him in a kabedon, a menacing grin splitting her face.

“My successor, how dare you think about the Church of Nature in my territory? Ha! Looks like I need to teach you a lesson today.”

Bro, you smell good!

Sir Knight, please control yourself. This isn’t how the Church of Moonlight does things.

x2

It might have been an illusion, but the moment Darienne opened her mouth, both Filomina and Kristen saw Wayne in her and suddenly felt like the two degenerates were a good match.

Wait, why am I thinking of them as degenerates?

x2

They shook their heads to dispel their disrespectful thoughts. The Moonlight Knight was pure and aloof, having no interest in men. Wayne... um... well...

Oh, no. They are a pair of degenerates!

x2