Chapter 326: Tail Tag (2)

“The Mediff County has been defeated. It seems only a matter of time before our connection to him is exposed.”

Cardinal Atroc remained silent for a while at the unexpected report delivered by his subordinate. It signified that the anger he was currently feeling was quite immense.

After a moment, Cardinal Atroc barely suppressed his rage and asked, “How did this happen?”

“He got into a quarrel with Kai while spying on Kai’s territory.”

“Him again.”

Cardinal Atroc muttered the name of the adventurer who repeatedly obstructed his plans.

Then, he asked again in a suspicious tone, “But the territory of Count Mediff should have several Dark Knights we supplied, so he shouldn’t have gone down that easily.”

“The Solarian Church intervened. It took less than two hours for the paladins and inquisitors to relocate to the temple in the Mediff territory to destroy the land.”

“Wait. The Solarian Church intervened? Do you mean the Holy Blood Order?”

“No. Three thousand paladins and inquisitors of the main church visited the Mediff territory.”

“

Oh?

” Cardinal Atroc’s hollow eyes briefly gleamed.

“We are still investigating how someone who is supposedly just a paladin could wield such authority over the main church.”

“Foolish. You still don’t understand?” Atroc scolded his subordinate’s ignorance. “Not a mere paladin or priest, not even an archbishop could issue such a command.”

“I’m listening.”

“Since ancient times, there have been those who held all authority within the Solarian Church in their hands. Do you know who they were?”

The subordinate thought for a moment and replied, “Wouldn’t it be the high priest?”

“Wrong.” Cardinal Atroc shook his head. “High priests were nothing more than puppets shown to the public. There were only three true masters of the church. They were the ones known as the Apostles.”

“Apostles! Are you referring to the Solaric Cleric?” the subordinate asked back with a shocked expression.

He was so surprised he even raised his head from looking at the floor.

“If that’s not the case, there’s no way he could have ordered the church like that.

Ah

, now it all makes sense. I should’ve suspected it sooner...”

He had always wondered how someone believed to be just a paladin could interfere with the church’s plans so often. He not only saved the merfolk, the elves, and the dwarves alone, but also killed Aosa and Zatan. Recently, he had even slain the Sea Serpent Harley.

I see. If he’s an Apostle, it makes sense.

They were monsters who wielded the power of the gods in human bodies. In fact, just three Apostles had once made the Church of Solaris the strongest organization on the continent.

Who would’ve thought an adventurer would be an Apostle...

Cardinal Atroc realized he felt better.

Better to have learned it now than later.

Count Mediff was a regrettable loss, but not a card that couldn’t be discarded. If they had uncovered the Apostle’s identity by sacrificing him, it wasn’t much of a loss. The real problem started now.

“Who else is connected to Count Mediff?”

“He led a secret society in the Kingdom of Rashion, called The Pure, where only nobles of pure bloodline were allowed to join. Considering that the majority of its members were those our order had contact with... it’s probably only a matter of time before it’s all exposed.”

“

Tsk

, the damage is greater than expected, and the day of the grand operation isn’t far off, either.”

The operation proposed by Goliath was to use members of The Pure to turn the Kingdom of Rashion into a battlefield.

In truth, it had been extremely easy for the Church of Muldine to approach Count Mediff and several other nobles. They held deep resentment toward the current noble system of the kingdom and believed they alone were the true aristocracy. Thus, when their ego was stroked and a few incentives were offered, they reached out to grasp the hand of the Church of Muldine.

“The tower we spent so long building collapsed in an instant.”

It had been the sixteenth head of assassins, Kakun, who had been in charge of manipulating the nobles of the Kingdom of Rashion. He, too, had suddenly vanished one day and was suspected to have been killed by Kai.

"If things go this way, Goliath’s plan to assassinate the king and turn the Kingdom of Rashion into an unclaimed territory would fall apart from the start."

Of course, the plan had originated from Sting, not Goliath.

“

Hmm.

There’s no way to cover this up.”

The traces of the Church of Muldine had been uncovered by none other than the Church of Solaris. They would now investigate anyone even slightly connected to Count Mediff with blazing eyes.

“If our identity is going to be revealed anyway, it’s better to bring the grand day forward. How far along are preparations?”

“All fourteen assassination squads have completed preparations and infiltrated the Kingdom of Rashion. Additionally, we’ve recruited forty-two nobles from the kingdom. Within their territories are 140,000 Dark Knights. If they were to begin operations simultaneously across the nation, the Kingdom of Rashion will fall into chaos in an instant.”

Cardinal Atroc’s bony fingers tapped the armrest of his chair.

After calculating the odds of victory in his head, he said, “Not bad. But 140,000... we are still far from ready. It’s unlikely we’ll see favorable results.

“What do you mean...?”

“With that force, assassinating the king would be realistically impossible. It’s time for selection and focus. Now then...” Cardinal Atroc, who had been studying a map of the Kingdom of Rashion, nodded. “Most of the nobles we've recruited are located in the east and west. In that case, we’ll shift our objective to the destruction of the north.”

If the north were to be annihilated, the border holding back Aldebaran and the Haran Kingdom would collapse, which meant additional chaos could be triggered.

Impressed by Cardinal Atroc’s wits, the subordinate bowed his head low. “All is as Muldine wills it.”

***

Kai headed to the Arkan Academy after receiving an urgent summon from High Priest Albert. More precisely, he visited the church where Albert resided.

“High Priest, what’s wrong?”

At Kai’s question, High Priest Albert let out a deep sigh and handed him a report. “Please read this first, then we can talk.”

Kai accepted the report and quickly read through it. “Hold on. A massive amount of essence of darkness was discovered beneath Count Mediff’s mansion? And most of the knights used the Church of Muldine’s divine power...? What does this all mean?”

“It’s exactly as it says. Count Mediff was associated with the Church of Muldine. Do you recall Baron Basker, the one you captured previously?”

“I remember.”

Baron Basker was the one who had targeted the Arkan territory while Kai was away in the past. He had been sucking up to the sixteenth assassination squad leader of the Church of Muldine while gathering up territories, and was currently imprisoned.

“Even then, the royal palace of Rashion was thrown into complete chaos because they had confirmed that the reach of the Church of Muldine had extended even to their own nobles,” Albert explained.

“And I understand they launched a massive investigation of the nobles afterward, correct?”

“That’s right, and one of the leaders of that investigation was none other than Count Mediff.”

“

Tsk

, it was like leaving a fish in the care of a cat.”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Yes. It seems that the royal palace is greatly shaken by this incident. I received a handwritten letter from King Beoruk himself."

“What did it say...?”

Honestly, he didn’t want to ask. He had a strong hunch that it would become a hassle for him.

Sadly, bad predictions never missed.

“The letter was a request to introduce the one who eliminated the infiltrators within the Solarian Church in the past. And as you know better than anyone, the one who uncovered the infiltrators within the Church of Solaris was none other than you, Kai.”

“

Hm

. But the situation now is very different.”

That wasn’t humility, it was simply the truth. When he had been rooting out the infiltrators back then, Helik had been an immense help.

Helik also has a surprisingly petty and obsessive side, so she's been diligently keeping track in her notebook when a believer betrays her, how many bribes they took, and how many acts of corruption they committed.

Kai instinctively shivered as a chill ran down his spine.

“Back then, the targets were priests, so I could tell if there was even a trace of the Church of Muldine’s energy. However... honestly, with nobles, I really don’t know.”

It was like a black dot on a white canvas versus a black dot on a black stone. Naturally, the latter was overwhelmingly harder to detect.

In fact, when Kai had visited the palace for Beoruk’s birthday not long ago, he hadn’t sensed any trace of the Church of Muldine.

“

Hmm

, then how should we respond—

huh?

”

With concern written all over his face, High Priest Albert suddenly blinked as he spotted the two girls hiding behind Kai’s legs.

“By the way, who might these young ladies be...?”

“

Oh

, well...”

There was no way he could say that was the god he worshiped, and that was precisely what Helik feared the most.

“My, the aura the two of them emit is truly pure. It feels as though you were high-ranking priests who have undergone long years of ascetic training.”

“Ch-children are usually pure, so of course their aura would feel that way.”

As Kai gave a vague response, High Priest Albert reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“That may be the case. So, what shall I write in the reply?”

“

Hmm

.”

Just as Kai closed his eyes in thought, someone tugged on his sleeve. It would be, of course, either Rashya or Helik.

Kai leaned down slightly and whispered, “Yes?”

The culprit was Helik. She looked quite pleased, as if struggling to keep her shoulders from lifting with pride.

Why is she so happy? Is it because of the cake she had earlier?

The reason soon became clear.

“

Oh,

Kai. Whatever would you do without me?” Helik crossed her arms, tilted her head at a forty-five-degree angle, and put on a deliberately coy expression. “I shall help you this one time.”

“You’ll directly help me?”

“

Yup

. Helik overheard what you and Albert were talking about, and the ones you’re chasing now are comrades of those who ruined our meal, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“That was really outrageous. So this time, I will specially offer my help. Though I’m not really supposed to do this.”

Of course she shouldn’t. Even if a god who belonged in the celestial realm had sealed her power, taking action in the middle realm was...

Isn’t that basically a cheat?

Kai tilted his head, but from his perspective, it wasn’t a loss.

If anything, it’s an overwhelming gain. And if Pegasus complains about it, I can just say fine and stop, then ask for something in return.

However, if there was one thing that worried him, it was her safety.

“Won’t it be dangerous? You have most of your power sealed.”

“You’ll be by my side protecting me, so what’s there to worry about?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

Besides, this wasn’t a full-on war against the Church of Muldine. They just had to observe the nobles and identify who were infiltrators. It was a simple task.

“I can detect anyone who has even the slightest trace of the Church of Muldine’s presence with them.”

Rashya, who was standing next to Helik, also raised her hand and began promoting herself. “I-I can also be helpful. I have a good nose, so I’m great at sniffing things out.”

Was this something one could find just by having a good sense of smell? Kai wasn’t sure, but if they insisted they could do it, what choice did he have?

“Alright. Then please help me just this once.” Kai stood straight again and said to High Priest Albert, who had been waiting for him, “Send the reply. Tell them I’ll go myself.”