This Is Not Avalon

Shortly after that, the Pure White Saintess arrived with a full squad of twelve Pope Guard —arguably the highest military force in the entire Theocracy at present.

But Iver wasn't given any trouble. With Pure White's help, Iver went straight home.

According to her, the investigation will be completed soon.

Whatever the outcome, she would have Yanis inform Iver of the result before sunset today.

Even if the item can't be found, Iver can simply pass a lie detector test and repeat what Loki told him. So it's not a big problem.

Iver even suspected that the information Cardinal Loki had given him before he took action was to prevent Iver from being targeted after killing him.

While some of it may be lies, at least the "intelligence known to Iver" is indeed this; it accurately and completely constitutes Cardinal Loki's chain of motives.

He's quite considerate.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Lily returned with Freya.

"Isn't Oswald here?"

Upon seeing Lily return, Iver, who was reading a book on the living room sofa, closed the book and casually asked.

"No. Is something wrong on your end, young master?" Lily replied.

She didn't seem too worried, after all, Iver had returned safely.

As long as Iver is safe, she doesn't really care what happens to Cardinal Loki.

"How did you know?" Iver, somewhat surprised.

Has news of Cardinal Loki's death already reached Oswald so quickly?

"I guessed."

Lily shook her head and replied softly, "When I came back just now, I noticed that some people on the street looked a little uneasy."

"The Fifth Ring?"

Iver nodded with interest. "Interesting."

After the incident at the Eleventh Ring, the Pope Guard quickly cordoned off the area. The other priests, however, were imprisoned in place by the Night Demon... even after the battle ended, they had not yet recovered.

Iver's biggest mistake here was probably attacking these innocent elven priests.

Although it was intended to prevent them from getting involved in a more intense battle, and the injuries could be fully healed with the sacrificial fire, it did cause them trouble.

Lily returned about three hours later. By then, the Fifth Ring was already in a state of visible chaos.

The Fifth Ring already had a small population, and most of them were Short-lived Races... So where did they get this information from?

"We didn't go to you immediately because Oswald mentioned it."

Freya placed the half-eaten, packed lunch she was carrying on the table and said to Iver, "He said, 'Things will eventually end peacefully in the Moriarty Style.' What exactly happened?"

"... I guess Father told Oswald that, didn't he?"

Iver narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke.

Freya nodded.

Moriarty Style —that statement is packed with information.

Does this refer to Professor Moriarty's spider-like wisdom in manipulating people's minds, or to Iver's style of elevating his social status every time he defeats an enemy?

It's worth noting that both James and Iver are Moriarty.

However, speaking of spiders...

"Lily," Iver's heart stirred, recalling something he had forgotten, and he suddenly asked Lily, "I remember when you saw Cardinal Loki and Bram, it seemed like you saw something?"

He remembered that Lily had reacted strangely at that moment. Although it was only for a moment, Iver remembered it.

Bram uses gray spider silk, which is somewhat similar to Lily's style.

"...ah."

Lily thought for a moment and remembered part of it, "I think so. But I can't remember..."

But soon, her expression changed. "Wait, I remember now! That fleeting illusion—it seems very similar to the feeling I had when reading ' The Silken Grimoire '!"

Upon hearing this name, Freya's eyes flickered slightly.

Lily even felt a sense of dread—she had completely forgotten about it somehow! This was not natural.

Normally, Lily would have hinted at it to Iver immediately. But she herself couldn't remember it at all, and two days passed without her mentioning it.

The feelings I had then were like a moth in the corner of a wall; they vanished the moment I looked away.

"... Are you sure Cardinal Loki has one too?"

Iver opened his eyes in surprise.

Lily tried to recall, but wasn't quite sure. "It was probably the same feeling... but it seemed more intense."

"Bram's words are easy to understand..."

Iver fell into deep thought.

Bram was known for his rebellious nature when he was in Avalon. It's also rumored that he used Grimoire... It's possible that the one he used was the same "The Silken Grimoire" that Lily later obtained; or it's possible that he obtained a version of "The Silken Grimoire" in another language overseas.

But Cardinal Loki —isn't he a giant?

It sounds strange that a giant who is either "brainless" or "unhappy" possesses the "Silken Grimoire" manual, which is themed around the power of "lies".

Could this be the point where Bram and Cardinal Loki met? What do Loki, Bram, and Lily have in common? They are three completely different people... Why would they be recognized by the same Grimoire? Unable to think of anything more in the short term, Iver gathered his thoughts and explained the situation to the two, "To put it simply, Loki did steal the Tears of Time, and he did indeed have malice towards the Saintess."

"... So, those two dead people have nothing to do with Cardinal Loki?"

Freya only heard the first half of the sentence before guessing what Iver was trying to say, "Actually, Father found out about this and tried to frame Cardinal Loki by killing him. And because Cardinal Loki did commit another crime, he became untraceable... something like that?"

"Almost."

Iver nodded.

Although the details are slightly different, this is basically the same idea.

— Clearly, Freya was somewhat familiar with their father's style of doing things.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Iver, are you there?"

The Saintess's pure white voice came from outside.

Although the door was no obstacle for the Saintess, and Chunbai could easily push it open and enter, she still knocked very politely.

Lily immediately went to open the door and welcomed Pure White and the two accompanying Pope Guard inside.

Upon seeing this, Freya retreated to a corner of the room.

She stood quietly to the side, arms crossed, without uttering a word. Freya breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that the Saintess's expression was not serious or sorrowful, but rather quite relaxed.

The blindfolded Saintess seemed to sense Freya's gaze, and after entering the room, she slightly tilted her head in Freya's direction.

She then looked at Iver and nodded slightly. "The investigation results are in."

"How?"

"Iver asked."

Before Chunbai could answer, he glanced at the two guards and said with a smile, "It seems the situation is quite optimistic."

Ultimately, the Eternal Saintess is just a support class. Although she can wield the Advanced Divine Arts of the Nine Pillar Gods, it's clear that practical combat knowledge wouldn't be taught in the Saintess's curriculum—intense combat can easily agitate the mind and shatter the tranquility that approaches eternity.

This is why the Saintess is always accompanied by the Pope Guard whenever she travels. Even the Eternal Pope is the same... The biggest difference between the Pope and the Saintess is that the Holy Maiden possesses a set of divine armor passed down through generations, but in terms of their divine spells, they are actually quite similar. Ultimately, they are still support classes, proficient in protection, healing, dispelling, and buffing, but not adept at intense combat.

These Pope Guard are essentially professional henchmen assigned to these two of the world's top support professions.

From this perspective, the Eternal Saintess and the Eternal Pope could even be considered a kind of summoner—except that these "summoned beasts" are all elite extraordinary beings.

The more formal the occasion and the more dangerous the area, the larger the size of the Saintess's bodyguard. A team of twelve is the maximum standard.

Because with the Saintess's buffs and protection, a squad of Pope Guard could break through any organization in the world without taking any damage.

The Saintess came to see Iver with only a minimum of two people. This indicates that her visit to Iver was definitely not a bad thing, and there would be no trouble or danger involved.

Freya still needed to observe the Saintess's expression... but Iver only needed to look at how many people had come to know that the matter was over.

Pure White clearly understood what Iver meant.

She teased, "You know a lot, Archbishop Iver."

"I know a little, Your Highness."

Iver placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his head in greeting.

"That's certainly good news—we found the Tears of Time he kept very easily. The composition has been verified, and it's certain that Loki is the culprit."

Pure White's expression turned serious. "For this reason, I am temporarily stripping Loki of his title of Cardinal until the results of the in-depth investigation are available and the Cardinal Hall Council votes. Now that the Eleventh Ring has stopped turning, Loki is no longer Cardinal Bishop... therefore, you have not committed the crime of attacking Cardinal Bishop."

"...I remember, I fought Cardinal Loki first, and then you stripped him of his identity, didn't you?" Iver tilted his head.

"This is not Avalon, Iver."

Chunbai reached out and patted Iver's head, casually replying, "The Theocracy doesn't adhere to 'rules' as strictly. Here, rules are meant to prevent people from acting recklessly, not to punish them afterward—punishment afterward depends primarily on the specific actions of the person in charge. As long as something generally follows the procedure and no one raises any objections, then the matter can be concluded."

To put it more clearly... as long as no other Cardinal Bishop stand up against me, then I have full authority to handle this matter.

"Because Cardinal Loki is dead."