Cult Expert

"Not even the slightest chance?"

Hearing Shire speak so absolutely, Jem Woz asked somewhat unwillingly.

Shaking his head, Shire answered bluntly, "There really wasn't. My strength might not have ranked among the world's very best, but I was still a rare powerhouse. In any country, I could be considered first-rate. When facing Orsagar, even when he had just descended and had not yet had time to familiarize himself with this world, the power within him was at least several hundred times greater than mine...

And not long after that, my link with him was completely severed. Before it broke, I could still feel him growing stronger—or perhaps recovering? All I knew was that the gap between us was constantly widening."

After a moment of silence, Jem Woz said, "We still have to think of something, don't we? Neither of us is the sort to sit and wait for death..."

Shire did not refute him. He merely sighed helplessly. "That may be true, but there is no opportunity right now. The spells he placed on us have yet to be lifted. We do not even have the right to resist.

In fact, even now, we do not know what his purpose is. He has barely paid us any attention, never taking us seriously at all. He merely treats us as tools for handling trivial matters."

Watching his companion speak such disheartening words, Jem Woz involuntarily smacked his lips. The taste of wine in his mouth seemed faintly bitter, and he too felt somewhat dejected. "That is exactly why I feel uneasy. I do not know what he is plotting, but it cannot possibly be anything good. Once the outcome is revealed, it may be the moment that costs us our lives."

"Alas..."

After another stretch of silence, Jem Woz felt that their meeting was about to turn into a complaint session. He steadied himself, set down his wineglass, and his expression returned to normal as he said to Shire, "Actually, your arrival came at just the right time. Something major may happen here before long, and I need someone to help."

Shire asked in puzzlement, "What is it? Something that makes you feel short-handed?" As he spoke, he took another sip of Red Wine.

Meeting his gaze, Jem Woz smiled awkwardly. "Reliable information says that people from the Wailing Spirit Society are hiding in the Royal Capital..."

Upon hearing the first half, Shire immediately realized that this was no simple matter. The cult organization was all too familiar to him, and not long ago he himself had been a cult leader. His expression turned grave as he silently set down his wineglass, intending to swallow the wine in his mouth.

"They intend to secretly hold a ritual to Summon Demon..."

"Pfft!!"

The moment Shire heard that dreadful news, the Red Wine in his mouth immediately went down the wrong pipe and shot out through his nostrils!

As though he had an unstoppable nosebleed, his expensive clothes were instantly stained.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Seeing the scene before him, Jem Woz helplessly handed him a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"...That is the situation. I am deeply troubled now. I think the Duchy of Maldon may perish in my hands."

"Gasp..."

That really was possible—and not even unlikely.

Shire wanted to say those words aloud, but in the end he merely thought them and did not truly speak them to discourage Jem Woz.

After wiping his mouth and hands, Shire asked with some discomfort, "In that case, do you not have even a single clue about where they are hiding?"

He had only just changed identities; he did not want to immediately become an exiled noble.

What he meant was that they ought to get rid of the Wailing Spirit Society as soon as possible.

Spreading his hands, Jem said helplessly, "I want to as well, but the key is that even the information about the Wailing Spirit Society preparing to hold a Summoning Ritual in the Royal Capital was disclosed to me by the church. It seems even they do not know much more specific information. So there may be influential nobles within the Royal Capital covering for the Wailing Spirit Society—and not ordinary influential nobles, either.

Even the royal family would find it difficult to locate what those people have hidden.

Because you could never know how many hideouts a noble family with a legacy spanning centuries had accumulated over time!

If there were enough time, it would be one thing. But if there were not, by the time we searched them one by one, the Demon would already have been summoned. By then, everything would be too late. So, after paying a certain price, I obtained the church's promise of assistance."

Shire frowned slightly. "The church? They are not easy to deal with, but when it comes to handling cults, they truly do have professionals..."

"There is no choice. However unpleasant they may be, it is still better than a Demon descending. Even if the church overthrows the royal family someday, when they hang me, they will at least leave me an intact corpse out of respect for my royal status. If it were a Demon instead, I would probably be reduced to scraps."

"That makes sense."

After hearing that, Shire immediately felt that it made perfect sense and could not refute him at all.

So he asked, "...In that case, how do you want me to help?"

"Just search for their hiding places on my behalf. You will not need to fight for now. On the land of the Royal Capital, as long as we know the exact location, unless a Demon descends on the spot, absolutely no one can evade the Maldon royal family's encirclement and extermination."

Things might be hard to say elsewhere, but in the Royal Capital, Jem Woz was fully capable of dealing with any mortal. Whether they were Spellcasters or Great Knights, it was all the same. And if things truly went wrong, the church that had taken the benefits would have to lend a hand, would they not?

Shire said with some difficulty, "But I have no manpower. With just the few people I have now, how could I possibly search the entire Royal Capital for you? It would be more practical to simply have the army seal the city and conduct a carpet search."

Jem Woz merely waved his hand and said seriously:

"No! You are mistaken!

No matter how abundant our manpower is, we might not uncover anything at this moment. What I need now is something more professional—and you happen to possess it!"

Seeing his solemn expression, Shire asked in confusion, "What? I possess something like that??"

"Of course you do!"

"Shire, the Wailing Spirit Society has been a cult organization wanted year-round. For them to have existed for so long, they were naturally skilled at hiding, their tracks elusive. It is utterly unrealistic for ordinary people to find them through conventional methods—but you are different!

You are the renowned High Priest of the Myriad Secrets Society. You even managed to evade the church for more than ten years while allowing them to discover only scattered traces of you.

This proves that in the field of 'how to evade searches as a cult member,' you are absolutely an expert among experts, a top-tier figure capable of writing books on the subject!!

So now we need you to bring your professional expertise into play. Use 'Cult Evasion Studies' to identify the areas within the Royal Capital that you believe are most suitable for hiding, then search them one by one."

As Jem Woz praised him so fervently, Shire immediately wanted to give him a speech of thanks. "I, fuck..."

But on second thought, the other man was his superior. He would still need his favor in the future under this identity. Besides, he truly was a professional, an authoritative figure in that field. So he forcibly swallowed the profanity on his tongue and said calmly, "Very well. Later, bring me the most detailed map of the Royal Capital, along with all relevant construction reports. I will point them all out for you."

He bore himself with all the poise of a grandmaster, clearly brimming with confidence.

Though he had been so focused on clearing his name that he had nearly forgotten he possessed this specialty...

Jem Woz merely chuckled and nodded.

"Then I will trouble you. I will have my subordinates prepare the maps and materials first."

Sitting in the carriage, Hariga watched Bishop Safi, whose expression had been somewhat grave ever since they left the residence of Crown Prince Jem Woz of the Duchy of Maldon.

As a senior priest of the church's Heretic Hunting Department, Hariga sensed that something was unusual.

After hesitating for a while, he cautiously asked, "Your Excellency Bishop, is something wrong?"

Glancing at him, Safi lightly shook his head and sighed.

"There definitely is, but I cannot say exactly what it is. Our Crown Prince Jem Woz is hiding something from us..."

Everyone in the carriage was a trusted subordinate he had brought from his own diocese, so there was no harm in speaking plainly to them about certain matters.

"Originally, I merely wanted to use the imminent descent of a Demon to test Jem Woz's attitude and see whether there was an opportunity to reinsert our church's influence here. But Crown Prince Jem Woz was far too cooperative. It was as though he were simply handing us benefits.

I had not even had time to tell him much about the Wailing Spirit Society, or explain the stakes involved. Yet he directly agreed to our church's request to establish a diocese in the Royal Capital of the Duchy of Maldon.

That is truly wrong. For greedy nobles, it is simply inconceivable!

Back then, in order to drive out our influence and consolidate their royal power, the Maldon royal family did not hesitate to bleed themselves dry seeking aid from other duchies. Jem Woz has no reason whatsoever to destroy the achievements of his ancestors in one stroke..."

After hearing this, Hariga also felt that something was amiss. But having devoted himself to the great cause of hunting heretics, he did not understand politics. After thinking fruitlessly for a while, he casually replied, "Perhaps he offended the Duchy of Yar too deeply and wants to draw in an ally?"

Safi directly rejected that notion. "Impossible. Given the relationship between the royal families of various nations and the church, even if the Duchy of Maldon wished to win over another force as an ally, under normal circumstances the church would never be their turn. Therefore, he must be concealing something important from us, and the establishment of the diocese is the bait he has offered—a bait I would bite even knowing something is wrong with it."

Having said that, Safi told another clergyman beside him, "Send word to Yate later. When he comes to the Kingdom of Maldon, have him bring all the finest talents of the Heretic Hunting Department and every Holy Artifact. I would like to see what tricks Jem Woz intends to play on me. Since Jem Woz wants us to help him deal with the Wailing Spirit Society, then we shall let him witness the church's accumulation over thousands of years..."

Thanks: Eternal Holy Lord, for 500 Qidian Coins!