The Church's Purpose

After pondering for a while.

Jem Woz instructed through the door, "Tell them to wait for me in the conference room."

"As you command."

Listening to the footsteps outside recede, he casually took a set of clothes the maids had already matched from the wardrobe and put them on.

Unlike those nobles who needed others to dress them, he had grown somewhat accustomed to military life and was not particular about such things.

He preferred dressing himself. It felt more efficient that way.

The only problem was that everyone thought his taste in clothes was terrible, so he could only have others prepare matching outfits for him in advance.

After changing in just a few motions and tidying his appearance, he confirmed that everything was in order.

Then he pushed open the door and headed for the conference room. Along the way, he encountered another maid and casually instructed her to bring some food to the conference room.

Standing outside the conference room, he sorted through his thoughts. Only after confirming his line of thinking once more did he lightly knock on the door and walk straight in.

The first thing he saw was six people dressed in church attire, seated and waiting for him. Several maids nearby were serving them tea.

The oldest among them was clearly the leader.

A man with a stern expression, dressed most lavishly, who looked to be around sixty.

But judging from the lines of his muscles, he was probably a powerful warrior as well!

And after powerful warriors entered their prime, their apparent age was usually far younger than their true age. So even if someone said this fellow was eighty or ninety, it would be perfectly normal.

As it happened, Jem Woz actually knew him!

If he remembered correctly, the man was probably nearly a hundred years old.

After a slight pause, Jem Woz took the initiative to greet him. "Dear Bishop Safi, the last time I saw you was at a banquet in the Duchy of Torte a few years ago. You are still as distinguished as ever. May I ask what brings you to our Kingdom of Maldon?"

At the same time, a sense of foreboding rose in his heart, because he knew that this old thing was responsible for purging heretics within the Church, with blood staining both hands. Even a few centuries ago, men like him would have been executioners among executioners—the sort who would burn your whole family if they said they would!

In truth, even after several rounds of reform, these people could hardly be called good sorts. They had merely become much more restrained, and no longer looked down their noses at nobles like them.

Hearing Jem's greeting, the bishop named Safi immediately softened his stern expression. A smile squeezed onto his wrinkled face as he returned the courtesy.

"Good day, Prince Jem.

It has been four or five years in the blink of an eye since our last meeting. I did not expect you to still remember my name." Only then did he resume his earlier stern expression. "The reason I have come to the Duchy of Maldon this time is extremely important."

Seeing his grave look, Jem Woz cooperatively put away his smile and asked with an equally serious expression, "Uh... what reason?"

At the same time, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Since the man could greet him so pleasantly.

The reason he had come knocking was probably not that Jem's dealings with Demons had been exposed.

Now that he had cleared himself of that matter, he was genuinely curious about the man's purpose.

A bishop in charge of heretic purges ranked in power below only the Pope in the entire Church. Among the other twelve bishops of the same second tier, only three or five could wrestle with him. In practical standing, he was fully comparable to the King of a duchy.

Accordingly, the affairs he handled were no fewer than those of a King.

A man like this could not possibly abandon his own diocese and come here to amuse himself just because he had nothing better to do. There had to be something urgent important enough to make him travel personally.

Tell everyone about your troubles and let us have a laugh!

As the saying went, another person's troubles were one's own joy. So long as the sky did not fall on him, he would be happy all the same.

That was Jem's current state of mind. Though his face was utterly serious, inwardly he even wanted to eat while listening at leisure.

Unaware that Jem was only waiting to enjoy his misfortune, Bishop Safi was quite pleased by Jem Woz's earnest attitude. The people he least wanted to meet were the brainless sort. Whenever he was forced to communicate with them, Safi wanted to crack open their skulls with his warhammer and see just how much paste was inside.

Taking a light sip of tea, Safi gave Jem a meaningful look.

Jem immediately understood and waved at the surrounding maids, signaling them all to leave.

After watching them depart and seeing the door tightly shut, Safi spoke again. "According to information from our Church, traces of the Wailing Spirit Society have been found in the Royal Capital of the Duchy of Maldon."

"The Wailing Spirit Society? That cult you have been hunting for centuries?"

Jem frowned slightly. He realized that being a spectator enjoying the gossip might not be so easy. It seemed he was about to be dragged into this.

From what he knew, some sects were called cults merely because they preached that there were no gods in this world. They posed no threat to duchies or nobles, and aside from the Church deliberately targeting them, few people could be bothered with them.

But some cults were completely made up of lunatics. They fanatically worshipped who-knew-what evil gods, wreaked havoc without restraint, and carried out all sorts of blood sacrifices. They were extremely dangerous packs of madmen, and the Wailing Spirit Society was among the more dangerous ones.

They were practically synonymous with madness. Wherever they went, people would gather to suppress them.

The moment Jem heard that those lunatics were operating within his territory—and had hidden themselves so deeply that even he had detected no movement, yet had drawn a bishop from the Church here—

It was obvious they were planning something enormous!

He immediately felt a heartfelt ache in the balls.

I only just finished dealing with the Duchy of Yar!

He felt he was bearing hardships he should never have had to bear.

Seeing Jem Woz's furrowed brow, Bishop Safi smiled faintly and asked again, "Do you know the history of the Wailing Spirit Society?"

Jem shook his head. "I don't..."

"The Wailing Spirit Society has existed for 679 years. Does that year sound familiar? It was the year the third Magic Disaster erupted in history. With that said, you should have guessed something by now..."

After hearing the hint and considering the Church's tense reaction, Jem's face darkened slightly as he asked, "The Demon Cult?"

The Demon Cult was a sect formed by people who fanatically worshipped Demons. They believed the world was destined to perish, and that Demons were the gods who would lead them to another world. Thus, they had always regarded summoning Demons into this world as their foremost mission. They were madmen through and through.

Safi nodded solemnly. "I believe you are well aware of what those lunatics seek to do. They are targets that must be eradicated. If they successfully summon the Demon they worship, it would be entirely normal for the whole Duchy of Maldon to be destroyed."

Jem asked with an extraordinarily ugly expression, "Didn't you already wipe out those lunatics?"

Safi could only shrug helplessly. "You know, madmen and ambitious schemers are two breeds that can never be completely killed off. And we were not actually lying. The Demon Cult is divided into several branches, each worshipping different Demons. Our Church has indeed eradicated over half of those branches. Groups like the Wailing Spirit Society are merely among the very few that remain."

And the most cunning part of them...

Clutching his head tightly, Jem groaned in a low voice, "My heavens, why..."

Seeing Jem Woz looking as though he had suffered a crushing blow, Bishop Safi beside him was also stunned. He could not understand why the Crown Prince who had defeated the Duchy of Yar and was considered the Duchy of Maldon's chance at revival would become so dispirited merely upon hearing the word Demon.

He immediately felt that things were not proceeding according to plan at all!

He hurriedly comforted him. "In truth, you need not worry too much. Since I have come personally, it is enough to show how seriously the Church takes this incident. So long as the Demon has not truly descended, the matter is not too severe. According to our intelligence, there should still be a few days before that time. As long as we find them within that time, everything will be fine!"

Even as he spoke, he complained inwardly, Friend, what is wrong with you? I have not even frightened you yet or discussed the benefits afterward, and you are already like this?

The Demons worshipped by the Demon Cult, aside from those few who had caused great disasters in history, should not include anyone else.

Recalling the records about them in history, Jem felt that any one of them would be enough to make the Kingdom of Maldon, which had only just shown signs of rising, suffer the pain of national destruction.

And on top of that, Orsaga had already been squatting in the Royal Capital for months.

Jem could not imagine what would happen if two Demons met here...

The Royal Capital might vanish on the spot...

Looking at Safi, who was comforting him, Jem felt that if the bishop knew there was already a Demon squatting in the Royal Capital, he would probably turn around and prepare to flee without another word.

But could Jem allow fighting strength delivered right to his doorstep to leave?

Thus, with a forced smile, he said, "I merely find it difficult to accept. Our Duchy of Maldon has only just begun to rise, yet someone is trying to summon a Demon here. They are truly unforgivable villains. I swear I will slay them!"

Bishop Safi immediately expressed great gratification. "Exactly, that is how it should be. Crown Prince Jem, as the future King of the Duchy of Maldon, how could you fear such difficulties?"

"And faced with such a crisis in the Duchy of Maldon, our Church will not stand idly by. We will naturally lend our aid!" At this point, a trace of difficulty appeared on Bishop Safi's face. "But you know, our Church's..."

Before he could finish, Jem Woz grasped both his hands, his eyes brimming with sincerity. "Say no more, Bishop Safi. I understand! Since your Church also has its difficulties, our Duchy of Maldon cannot be stingy. So long as it is not something too important, everything can be discussed!"

This boy knows the way of things!

Bishop Safi was immediately delighted inside and nodded in satisfaction.

Old thing, if something goes wrong, we die together. Do not think you can hide from it!

Seeing that Safi had been coaxed along, Jem Woz also nodded in satisfaction.

Thus, both sides smoothly reached an agreement!!

Thanks to Yuanshan Chungu Huamei Fei for the 1,000 Qidian coins!