Volume 2, Chapter 14 – Devil or Snake, Let’s Find Out

“Organized crime syndicates, you mean?”

Chris-san raises her voice in surprise at my deduction.

“I mean, it’s about the only possibility I can think of. If they’re an organization that acts as the ‘boss’ of the underworld in this country, it wouldn’t be strange for them to have pipes leading to the higher-ups in the government or the Grand Cathedral. Besides, if it got out that a Saint-sama rumored to be involved with ‘anti-social forces’ was meeting someone, it would cause a huge scandal.”

“That cannot be! It’s unthinkable in the Kingdom! And for the Temple to join hands with such riffraff…!”

As expected, this seems to be an unforgivable notion for our pure and innocent muscle-brained Holy Knight-sama.

But we’ve already seen nobles who weren’t exactly squeaky clean ourselves.

“Even in the Kingdom, we had examples like Count Maynard and those idiot sons of the Viscount Alhony family. Besides, this is a Republic, so the leaders are chosen by elections. A villain with enough money, a good public image, and a silver tongue could easily be elected, don’t you think?”

“That… that may be true, but…”

Besides, religious corruption was hardly uncommon in the Middle Ages, whether in the East or the West.

“However, the fact that they didn’t come to see me directly in this room suggests they aren’t able to bypass the security of the State Guesthouse as a whole.”

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“I see! So that’s why they resorted to the method of delivering a letter.”

“I think that makes sense too, but what should we do?”

Yes, that’s the problem.

In Illumi City, of all people, the eldest son of the Count’s family where we were staying turned out to be one of the culprits, and I had a painful experience after being attacked in the middle of the night.

This time, the opponent has had plenty of time to prepare, so there’s a high possibility that a trap has been set.

“The thing is, I don’t understand their objective in going out of their way to give this to me.”

Indeed, we have been declaring the liberation of slaves everywhere we go.

And we’ve publicly stated that Lu-chan, an Elf, is my attendant and is searching for her family who were taken as slaves.

This is the first response we’ve had to that.

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But it’s a headache.

Assuming it is an organized crime syndicate, things change quite a bit depending on whether the sender is directly involved in the slave trade or one of their rivals.

If it’s the former, it’d probably be for reconciliation, a payoff, silencing us, or throwing us off the trail. If it’s a rival faction, maybe they’re aiming to weaken them by snitching? Is there anything a third party would do?

Hmm, I can’t really think of anything.

“What do you think, Lu-chan?”

“Eh? Me? Hmm, for now, I think we should just go listen to what they have to say and then think about it.”

“Fiene-sama, I am of the same opinion. If it is a trap, I shall cut them all down.”

Yep, Chris-san is the same as ever. It’s almost refreshing.

However, no matter how much I worry, it doesn’t seem like it’ll solve anything. In the worst-case scenario, I can just rely on Chris-san going into musou mode. ¹ Musou mode refers to the primary story or campaign mode in hack-and-slash video games developed by Koei Tecmo. It allows players to experience the game’s narrative from the perspective of different characters, hacking and slashing their way through hundreds or thousands of weak enemies at once.

Surely, the Saint’s party, who are such a hot topic right now, wouldn’t end up floating in a river. I’d like to believe that.

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“Understood. Then, let’s do that.”

Alright, the plan is set. Whether it’s a demon or a serpent that appears, let’s dive straight into the enemy’s lair.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, while being warmly welcomed and doing some sightseeing along the way, we arrived at the Grand Cathedral.

“Welcome. Lady Fiene. And Holy Knight Christina. And your attendant. I am Paulo XIII, the Bishop here.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bishop. I am Fiene Argentata. This is the Holy Knight Christina, and this is my companion, Lumia.”

The man called the Bishop greeted us at the entrance. I knew the Pope was the head of the religion, but is a Bishop someone important?

I wish they’d stop changing the titles depending on where you are when it’s all the same religion.

After being guided through the Grand Cathedral by the Bishop, we were shown to a reception room.

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As I entered the room with a bit of nervousness, I saw a statue of an angel in front of me, and to its right stood a woman wearing a habit.

The woman’s eyes met mine, and she gave a gentle smile.

I intended to smile back, but I wonder if I Managed to do it properly?

◇ ◇ ◇

And so, the meeting with the Bishop ended peacefully.

There wasn’t really anything new to talk about; we just discussed the slave trade organizations and the Mummy Disease as usual, asked for cooperation in finding Lu-chan’s family, and that was it.

The Bishop apparently had urgent business afterward and left the room, apologizing for not being able to see us out.

For the Bishop to have urgent business at such a convenient time… it must be as I thought. I steeled myself and spoke.

“You there, could you tell me about the matter in the letter?”