Chapter 683: The Nuns (4)
The smallest nation in the world, the Holy See State.
True to its title, the population residing in the Holy See State barely reached a thousand. Among these thousand were priests, holy knights, and nuns, leaving the number of civilians without official roles within the church well under several hundred.
Still, several hundred was several hundred. It was by no means a small number, and the Holy See State had allocated a residential district for them.
Although it was adjacent to the Sisterhood’s grounds and on the outskirts of the Holy See State—a far from ideal location.
But for this very reason, some high-ranking officials of the Saint Hall would occasionally use this residential district as a secure house for clandestine meetings.
Just like the two Archpriests, formerly Holy Knights, and a Red-skinned warlock who were gathered here now.
“The nuns started behaving strangely a few years ago. It all began after that fissure appeared in the Land of Ice.”
It was Archpriest Roderick who spoke, a man who had drawn Zenon into the center of the continent and possibly the instigator of all that had transpired.
Kevin listened quietly to his words.
Roderick gestured at Armand with his hands as thick as cauldron lids.
“Armand, you’ve noticed too, haven’t you?”
Perhaps because this was a private setting, Roderick’s tone was more casual.
“...The influence of the nuns has grown to an uncanny degree.”
Armand not only agreed but also precisely identified what had changed.
“To the point where you’d willingly take their hand.”
Clap. Clap.
Roderick clapped his hands twice in appreciation.
“Correct. Their influence has indeed grown astonishingly, to the extent that it’s hard to refuse the hand they extend.”
“I have a question.”
The red-skinned warlock, Kevin, who had been listening silently, raised his hand slightly to interject.
“Go ahead, Professor Kevin.”
“I understand that the nuns’ influence has strengthened, and that it led Your Excellency Roderick to take a nun as an attendant... However, I don’t understand how they gained such influence. Although they perform menial tasks, structurally, it should be difficult for them.”
Roderick slightly opened his eyes at Kevin’s keen question.
It was a question that could only come from someone who knew the situation in detail.
As expected, Archive had not sent him here as an interim representative for nothing.
“Professor Kevin is right. Structurally, it is challenging. Even if the nuns handle menial tasks, they have no authority to participate in decision-making, nor is there anyone to speak on their behalf.”
Indeed. The nuns performed numerous tasks for the Pater Church, but they lacked any means of voicing their concerns or friends to speak for them.
The ones the nuns interacted with were the lower classes of society, people with nothing to offer other than their numbers. Unless they gathered and revolted, there was nothing they could do.
“Recently, however, the nuns have gained many allies willing to represent their voices—thanks to a series of incidents.”
Surprisingly, these incidents involved treating and comforting the sick.
It was work the nuns had always done. The difference lay in whom they were treating.
Instead of serving the lower classes, as they traditionally did, the nuns had started serving those of higher social standing who could influence the Pater Church.
“A mysterious illness began spreading sporadically among the upper class who had a voice within the Pater Church, mainly centered around the continent’s middle region.”
“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
“It wasn’t exactly news worth sharing. The illness was so insidious that neither doctors, nor warlocks, nor even priests could touch it.”
“And it was the nuns who healed them.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Kevin pinpointed the core of the matter.
“You understand quickly. Some of these individuals had been abandoned by their own families—horrid old men whose only possession was money... Consequently, those who were brought back from the brink by the nuns expressed sincere gratitude and repaid them generously. Over the past few years, the nuns have gained indirect access to their own voice.”
He understood roughly what that meant.
Thanks to its unique policies, the Pater Church could exert influence across the world, but conversely, it could also be influenced in return.
After all, that’s the nature of influence.
It might seem like a one-way channel, but in reality, influence flows in both directions. It’s an undeniable fact.
Just as tomato sauce came about through influences from colonial cuisine, it was a natural and inevitable phenomenon.
Likewise, the priests dispersed across various nations and regions often needed local support, and if some of these supporters happened to advocate for the nuns, then the priests would, by necessity, require the nuns’ assistance in turn.
If you receive something, you must also give back.
“So Your Excellency Roderick maintained a close relationship with the nuns to the point of appointing one as an attendant?”
“That’s right. Some of the hardline Archpriests who were pushing for greater influence abroad formed such ties with the nuns. As their leader, I had no choice but to go along.”
“If you acted differently, there’d be criticism from within.”
Armand, who was on the opposing side, spoke up for Roderick.
It was a sight that could only be described as ironic.
A leader of the moderate faction speaking up in defense of a hardliner. Though, in truth, that wasn’t entirely the case.
While there were those who clashed due to differing beliefs, there were also those who cooperated despite their differences.
The distinction lay in whether the path they followed was for a “purpose” or a “means.” Armand and Roderick were closer to the latter.
For them, the moderate or hardline labels were merely methods for confronting the end times.
This was also why they were now cooperating with Merlin to protect Oliver.
“To be honest, it’s unexpected.”
After listening to most of the explanation, Kevin suddenly spoke.
His tone was slightly inappropriate for a warlock speaking to an Archpriest, but Roderick and Armand didn’t object.
Given the unusual circumstances and Kevin’s position as Archive’s representative, they allowed it.
As if to affirm this, Roderick’s reaction was more pleased than displeased.
“What exactly surprises you?”
“It’s surprising that someone attempting to escape the end by using Zenon would say something like that.”
Kevin referenced Deus Ex Machina.
An ultra-secret project conducted solely by the hardliners within the Pater Church, aiming to avert the end times by artificially creating the son of an angel.
Roderick had targeted Zenon as material for this project, a fact Merlin had revealed to Kevin.
“Could it be that the nuns coaxed you into such a preposterous plan?”
“Yes, they did.”
Roderick admitted it straightforwardly.
Kevin used his Eye-opening ability to pierce through Roderick’s emotions.
He was being honest.
“They didn’t directly propose it, but they did reinterpret the apocalyptic prophecy to instigate some Archpriests. The Archpriests who fell for it proposed the plan, and it became an official project among the hardliners. I, too, began to seriously consider it.”
It was genuine.
Surprisingly, Roderick didn’t make any excuses that he was coerced. Instead, he admitted he had viewed Deus Ex Machina positively, regardless of the nuns’ influence.
“It wasn’t just empty talk. There was a clear method and objective. Most importantly, against the absurdity of the end, it seemed the only course available. So, I saw the project itself as favorable. Regardless of the motives or process, the outcome was all that mattered.”
A brazen claim, to say the least. Yet Kevin had nothing to say.
When one admits all their faults, what more is there to say?
What’s more, for all the problems this Archpriest had, he was still someone making efforts to confront the disaster of the end, rather than surrendering to it.
For that reason alone, he couldn’t wholly denounce him.
“That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped taking an interest in the nuns, of course. One matter is one matter, another is another.”
“As a result, you found traces of demon worship?”
“We were lucky. Or perhaps unlucky… When he arrived here, I kept a closer watch, suspecting he might be up to something. And it just so happened I caught him.”
In that instant, Kevin understood.
If it was indeed the nuns who had effectively proposed using Oliver as a catalyst for creating the Deus Ex Machina’s “son of an angel,” then they would hardly pass up the opportunity to act, especially now that Zenon was within the Holy See State.
“What’s more, we just confirmed that they attacked the Inspectorate and took Lady Joanna.”
“Joanna… but why?”
“I don’t know the exact reason. What matters is that the situation is urgent. The fact they’re recklessly committing acts they can’t even cover up means they no longer intend to hide. In other words, right now, the Holy See State... no, the Saint Hall itself is facing a silent crisis.”
“...And one that needs to be handled quietly.”
Armand added.
They were right.
Though they didn’t know the full details, the fact that the nuns had assaulted an official institution of the Holy See State meant they’d committed to a point of no return, signaling that an event large enough to shake the Saint Hall was imminent.
It wasn’t something they could publicly announce, either.
There simply wasn’t time, and any official disclosure would only amplify the turmoil in an already unstable situation.
It seemed increasingly unlikely the situation would improve.
“Therefore, my suggestion is that, whether we succeed or fail, we handle this ourselves. If we fail, it’s the worst-case scenario, and even if we succeed, it won’t be enjoyable. Can you accept that?”
“Forgive me, but why even ask?”
Kevin turned the question back on Roderick.
“After all, you only sought assistance because you thought I’d agree, didn’t you?”
“...To be frank, I believed Armand would accept and that Archive would, too. But, Professor Kevin, I wasn’t certain about you.”
Roderick spoke directly.
“No matter how I think about it, you don’t have any reason to be involved in this matter. Even as Archive’s student and a professor of the Tower of Magic, you’re ultimately Red-skinned… I don’t mean to make a discriminatory remark, but you don’t have any personal reason to be deeply involved, do you?”
While it was a potentially offensive observation, Roderick’s question hit the mark.
As a Red-skinned, Kevin truly had no particular reason to throw himself into this matter.
Being a disciple of Archive, a professor of the Tower of Magic—these seemed like sufficient reasons on the surface. But that was only if one overlooked the treatment often afforded to the Red-skinned.
And anyone who knew the circumstances of Kevin and Merlin’s mentorship would have had even greater doubts.
From any perspective, Kevin seemed more fitting for the side that wished for the end.
To this, Kevin responded.
“You’re not wrong. I have no personal stake in this.”
Kevin admitted that even if the world were to end, he wouldn’t be overly concerned.
Armand and Roderick remained silent—not out of respect for Kevin, but because he was simply being realistic.
Considering what had happened to the Red-skinned, an apocalypse wouldn’t be so unwelcome.
“But at the moment, I am Archive’s disciple and a professor of the Tower of Magic. Right now, I’m just doing my job.”
Short, clear words.
In them, Roderick and Armand discerned Kevin’s resolve.
It was a simple but difficult determination, a resolve not to neglect the task at hand out of personal emotion.
“Would you tell me where these demon worshippers are? We seem to be short on time.”
Roderick immediately spread out a map. It was a map of the Holy See State’s city layout.
At the center of the map were the hill and the Saint Hall, and surrounding them were a vast park, temple, theological academy, the holy knight school, and more.
Roderick pointed to a large but run-down building on the outskirts, the convent.
“The heart of the Sisterhood, the convent. They’re preparing something there right now. Lady Joanna was taken there as well.”
“A demon summoning, perhaps?”
Armand speculated.
Youth, wealth, power, a cure for baldness... Demon worshippers sought many things, but for an incident of this scale, there was only one likely cause.
It was deeply troubling news.
Summoning a demon was bad enough, but with Zenon in the city, the implications were even worse.
The situation was far too coincidental to dismiss as mere chance.
However, in the midst of it all, Roderick remained focused solely on what needed to be done.
“We have forty Holy Knights we can deploy discreetly—twenty from my command and twenty from Armand’s. With this, we can raid the convent and stop whatever they’re doing there. We’ll gather evidence of demon worship and rescue Joanna as well.”
“Do you have a plan?”
Kevin asked.
“I intend to use a hidden passage in the convent to infiltrate the inner sanctum and finish this swiftly. The most reliable strategy is to overwhelm them with power as quickly as possible.”
Roderick replied. Coincidentally, this was a strategy Kevin preferred as well.
If one had the capability, that approach was the most straightforward and dependable.
“However, I’m opposed this time.”
“What’s the reason?”
“If the nuns truly are demon worshippers, they’ll be more than prepared for that. In fact, they might be waiting for us to arrive that way.”
Roderick didn’t argue.
It was not only reasonable but highly probable. Yet, this strategy was chosen because it was the best they currently had.
On the other hand, it meant they were open to alternatives if a better one was proposed.
“Do you have another plan?”
Roderick asked. Kevin was about to answer when...
Squeak...
A Holy Knight dressed in plain clothes burst into the room urgently.
“Your Excellency…”
“What is it?”
“...Please, just a moment outside... I have something to report.”
Roderick, Armand, and Kevin all stepped outside, their expressions concerned by the Holy Knight’s unease.
Then, they saw it.
And understood why he was so disturbed.
The residential district of the Holy See State was small but impeccably kept. In the middle of the main crossroads stood a fountain.
A fountain that should have been flowing with crystal-clear water now ran red, filling the air with a sickly, metallic stench.
It was blood.