Suspicion

Inside Hui Dun Cathedral, beneath the statue of the God of Light standing with arms spread as though embracing the world, Jamir, clad in a bishop's robes, held the Light Church scriptures and offered a devout prayer to the God of Light.

Behind him, at the doorway to the prayer room, Wisdom Shield stood in armor, leaning on his sword with an icy gaze.

All the worshippers who had come to pray had already been sent away. At this moment, the temple of the God of Light was completely empty.

After Bishop Jamir finished praying, he closed the scriptures in his hands and turned to look at Wisdom Shield.

When he saw Wisdom Shield simply standing there with his sword in hand, he froze slightly. Then he closed his eyes and put on a devout show of prayer before finally bowing slightly to Wisdom Shield.

"Please forgive me, my lord Count. You know that clergy cannot be interrupted while praying.

"Please come in, my lord Count."

Seeing Jamir invite him inside, Wisdom Shield sheathed his sword and replied in an even tone.

"That is why I did not barge in directly."

Jamir let out a bitter laugh upon hearing that, then invited him in.

Jamir led Wisdom Shield to the reception room, where the two sat facing each other.

"My lord Count, I am truly delighted to see that you have returned safely. I simply wonder what sort of danger you encountered this time."

Seeing the sincere expression on Jamir's face, Wisdom Shield narrowed his eyes slightly. Then he assumed a sorrowful expression.

"The fiend we encountered this time was far too powerful. My teacher, along with those loyal and valiant knights, all died in battle."

Hearing his answer, Jamir was briefly stunned. Then his eyes reddened, and he too showed a look of grief.

Yet no one knew how much of that sorrow was genuine.

At that moment, Wisdom Shield casually asked another question.

"If not for the Knight of Light you sent, Bishop, I fear I would not have returned this time either. I simply do not know how you learned of my whereabouts."

Wisdom Shield needed to confirm whether the one who had set this trap for him was the old man before him. He knew he had many enemies, especially among his brothers.

Jamir, who was still covering his face and pretending to weep, was slightly taken aback by the question. Then, with a choked voice, he said,

"For that, we must thank Governor Tofis. He came here specifically to visit this useless bishop who knows nothing but reading.

"This is all my fault. As the bishop of the territory's cathedral, I did not even know that such a powerful fiend had appeared within the territory. I truly deserve to die."

After saying that, Jamir burst into tears again, while Wisdom Shield learned what he needed to know.

So it had been his territory's governor, Tofis, who had revealed it. At the same time, he recalled the agreement he had made with Tofis before.

Still, he needed to question Tofis himself. Perhaps that man knew something.

Afterward, he mourned along with Jamir for a while. Before Jamir could begin spouting mystical nonsense, Wisdom Shield went straight to the prayer room, prayed devoutly, and left the cathedral.

After Wisdom Shield departed, Jamir's mournful appearance swiftly vanished, replaced by a ruthless and decisive expression.

He summoned an attendant and ordered him to bring the captain of the Knights of Light. He needed to understand every detail of how Wisdom Shield had been rescued.

He did not believe that Wisdom Shield and the handful of worthless rabble around him could have escaped alive from the Vine Dragon Withered Wood.

When he had first discovered that Vine Dragon Withered Wood, he had considered refining it into a staff. However, after truly fighting that Demonic Beast, he understood just how formidable it was.

With his current strength, he could not subdue that Demonic Beast at all. Much less could Wisdom Shield possibly escape from it.

Wisdom Shield, who had left, was much the same. His grief for his mentor and mourning for the fallen knights had already passed earlier. What he needed to do now was find the person behind the scenes who had framed him.

Naturally, his greatest suspect was this bishop.

Because of his identity, the cardinals in the Royal Capital had regarded him as filth from the day he was born, believing that, for the purity of the royal family, he had to be executed while still an infant.

He also knew that this talk of filth was merely a slogan and an excuse for these people to meddle in the kingdom's politics and fight one another.

Tofis, was it?

"Bring Tofis to me. I have an important administrative order for him to carry out."

The moment Wisdom Shield returned to his castle, he ordered someone to summon Governor Tofis.

At this time, Wisdom Shield recalled his governor's past.

Tofis had originally been an overlooked clerk in the southern province. His ability to handle administrative affairs was quite high, but because he had refused to become a noble's retainer, he had been suppressed. Later, Wisdom Shield's mother took notice of him and transferred him to Hui Dun City as governor.

From what Wisdom Shield understood, Tofis was a capable man who did not fear power and influence.

Although his Huidun Territory could not be called prosperous, its peace and stability were also Tofis's achievement.

Before Tofis arrived, the Hui Dun City region had been synonymous with chaos. Because of poverty, bloody knife fights took place here every day, while petty theft was beyond counting.

After he arrived, those conditions quickly changed. Though the territory remained poor, the people's morals rose in a straight line. Not only did brawls and bloody knife fights disappear, petty theft became almost unseen as well.

Without all that filth and disorder, Hui Dun City's trade improved considerably. However, the government's yearly finances still could not make ends meet, and every year Wisdom Shield, as Count, still had to provide subsidies from his own pocket.

Before long, Tofis, who had been waiting for Wisdom Shield's summons, arrived at Wisdom Shield's castle.

At this time, Tofis already knew of Wisdom Shield's losses in this incident, and the matter was inextricably linked to him as well.

Seeing Tofis drenched in sweat, Wisdom Shield's thoughts turned. Then he revealed a smile.

"Governor, why are you sweating so much? If I remember correctly, summer has already passed."

Those words frightened the seated Tofis so badly that he sprang to his feet.

Seeing his shifting gaze, Wisdom Shield said nothing further. He merely watched him quietly with a smile.

No one knew how long passed before Tofis finally could not bear it any longer. With a thud, he dropped to his knees before Wisdom Shield.

"My lord Count, I am guilty! I am guilty..."

The man repeated that he was guilty several times, yet he never said what he was guilty of.

However, Wisdom Shield's patience was nearly exhausted by then. The smile vanished from his face, and his gaze grew increasingly cold and sharp as he looked at Tofis.

It seemed his guess had indeed been correct. This matter really was connected to him.

"Speak. Who ordered you to do this?"

Wisdom Shield asked with a chilling gaze.

Only then did Tofis realize he had just spouted nonsense. He immediately began weeping as he explained everything.

It turned out that Tofis had given Wisdom Shield the information about the Vine Dragon Withered Wood because he wanted to repay Wisdom Shield for giving him such a stage upon which to display his talents.

Yet he feared Wisdom Shield would misunderstand and think he was trying to curry favor with him, so he told Wisdom Shield by spreading the information indirectly.

He had discovered that information in a report submitted by one of his subordinates.

The document stated that a runaway serf from Baron Fisher's territory had fled into the forest after killing someone to evade the law. There, he discovered a dead vine bearing the shape of a dragon, and that dead vine could even move.

The man had then fled the forest in terror. After being captured, he confessed the entire matter under interrogation.

Naturally, Tofis was different from those worldly ignorant minor clerks and runaway serfs. The instant he saw that description, he knew it was Vine Dragon Withered Wood, a rare treasure sought by mages for crafting high-grade magic staffs.

He even went to the prison to see the runaway serf. When he saw that the man bore no injuries caused by the Vine Dragon Withered Wood, he became even happier.

That meant the Vine Dragon Withered Wood had only just grown. Although such Vine Dragon Withered Wood was not the finest of the fine, it was the easiest to capture. Moreover, with Wisdom Shield's status, he could capture it and raise it until his level became higher before harvesting its wood.

The man had originally wanted to report it directly, but he feared that doing so would make it seem as though he was deliberately currying favor.

Who knew how his mind worked, but he actually came up with the idea of gradually leaking the matter to Wisdom Shield through rumors.

Then, after Wisdom Shield captured the Vine Dragon Withered Wood and rewarded the person who had spread the rumor, that person would reveal Tofis's identity. In that way, Tofis would no longer seem to be deliberately currying favor.

Furthermore, so that Wisdom Shield would not later have something to hold over him, he had written a report and tucked it beneath the monthly documents he submitted.

After hearing the man's explanation, Wisdom Shield truly did not know what to say. The man before him was a fool among fools when it came to dealing with people and the world.

Though he wanted nothing more than to kill him, he thought of how every official in the kingdom had such bizarre ways of thinking.

And this man had made some achievements in internal administration. Wisdom Shield could not possibly find someone to replace him immediately.

In the end, Wisdom Shield merely ordered him to bring over the confession document, then told him to get lost.

Meanwhile, in the cathedral's rear courtyard, the captain of the Knights of Light arrived with a shabby, wretched-looking man.

The instant the wretched man saw Jamir, he immediately fell to his knees and banged his head repeatedly against the ground before him.

Even as he kowtowed, he kept reciting prayers without pause.

Jamir looked toward the captain of the Knights of Light beside him, his gaze seeming to ask whether there had been any mistakes and whether everything had been properly handled.

The knight captain nodded. Then, the instant the man raised his head, he seized his hair, exposed his mud-stained neck, and without hesitation sliced off his head with a single stroke.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so the wretched man felt neither fear nor pain. He died directly amid his excitement.