First Contact with The Church

Holy Light Envelops the World.

According to legend, this was the first divine decree issued by the omnipotent God at the founding of The Church. During that war-torn age, the first Pope silently recited these words, cradling the faintly glowing Holy Light in his hands and raising it into the night sky of humanity's dark era.

Over a thousand years of development, The Church had grown from a charity organization for the poor in the eyes of the public into a colossal force that dominated the continent. Three hundred years ago, the Hori Kingdom, founded around the Holy See, had become the most powerful nation on the continent. Though the kingdom had a royal family, everyone knew that it was merely a puppet in The Church's hands, forever forced to bow at the feet of the gods' statues.

It could be said that every child born in this nation was a child of God. From their hundred-day baptism to their marriage vows and finally their funeral after death, divine will permeated every stage of their lives. This was how The Church controlled everyone's lives.

No one doubted God's will, and no one refused to submit to The Church's authority.

And as the original divine decree, "Holy Light Envelops the World" was engraved into every corner of every church.

As the royal capital of the Hori Kingdom, Havenlight's only church—and the heart of The Church—St. Peter's Cathedral, was naturally no exception.

At that moment, Benjamin sat inside one of St. Peter's Cathedral's confessionals, staring at the words carved into the wall.

"Holy Light Envelops the World."

Of course, he had not come to confess. As a mage who had only just stepped through the door, he was, according to The Church, one of The Fallen tempted by demons—a defective castoff abandoned by God. Confession held no meaning for him.

He had come to see the bishop.

To ordinary people, the bishop of St. Peter's Cathedral was the administrator of The Church's daily affairs. In reality, however, he was also responsible for hunting and purging heretics, and commanded The Church's most elite force—the Purifiers.

Benjamin wanted to talk to him about Michelle.

He was not planning to tip off the cathedral, nor did he want to help The Church capture Michelle. Honestly, Benjamin could not care less whether Michelle lived or died now. As a mage who had only just entered the halls of magic, the one thing he needed to do was strengthen himself.

How did mages become stronger?

Neither Benjamin nor the system knew anything about that question. The only clues to everything related to mages were Michelle and The Church.

He could not possibly throw himself back into Michelle's arms, so The Church was his best option at the moment.

The Church surely possessed extensive records on mages. Naturally, it would never hand those things over to him. His purpose in coming here was to ask the bishop about Michelle's whereabouts and the places where she had once stayed.

He still remembered what Annie had said before she went to her death: "Michelle, beneath the third tree at the old place, I buried all my precious things there. Remember to dig them up." Although the two women had previously schemed against each other with false affection, he instinctively felt that Annie had been telling the truth.

He wanted to find the place where Michelle had once stayed—the "old place" they had mentioned.

Quite a few of Annie's "precious things" had to be related to magic. While Michelle was still lying low, he wanted to find the place where they had stayed, locate that "third tree," and dig up Annie's belongings before Michelle could get there.

That was why Benjamin had come to the cathedral. Annie's words might have been a lie, and it was unlikely that he could get any clues about Michelle from the bishop, but he had to try no matter what. If this method failed, he could think of something through other channels.

In short, he was the kind of person who could not resist trying as long as there was even the slightest hope. Otherwise, that tiny hope would keep circling in his mind and leave him unable to eat or sleep in peace.

He was not worried that The Church would become suspicious of him. The Purifiers had already extracted his memories, so The Church's people surely had no guard against him. How could they possibly imagine that he possessed two sets of memories, one from before and one from after his transmigration?

"Lord Riser."

Suddenly, a deep voice interrupted Benjamin's thoughts.

Benjamin snapped out of his reverie and turned his head. Through the thin curtain separating the confessional, he vaguely saw a middle-aged man with a hooked nose sitting on the other side.

"Your Excellency Bishop," he called respectfully.

He considered using the Water Element Sensing Method he had comprehended when facing the assassin to probe the bishop. But remembering that this was a cathedral, and that these people might know strange divine arts, he held himself back for safety's sake.

"I am no bishop. I am merely a priest willing to listen to the confessions of the people, delivering God's tolerance and grace to every repentant young soul." The man's voice held an inhuman calm, as though he had cast away even his humanity. "You say you have received news of a demon apostle and wish to warn God, is that correct?"

These religious types really talked in such mystifying nonsense. Benjamin could not help grumbling inwardly.

Naturally, he did not show it. Instead, he said with utmost respect, "Yes."

The bishop paused for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Then it seems the demon apostle who planted the curse within you has begun contacting you?"

Benjamin frowned at those words.

Planted a curse?

The bishop's casual remark filled him with doubts, immediately shifting his attention away from Annie's belongings. Though the man's wording was somewhat exaggerated, he understood the meaning: someone had cursed him.

What was going on? Had he missed some part of the story?

A bad feeling suddenly rose within Benjamin.

"Oh, right, I seem to have forgotten to tell you." The system popped up and explained at the perfect moment. "Before Michelle escaped, she recited a rather complicated spell at you, and then a dark red light flew into your chest. I didn't know what it was at the time, but now that I think about it, it was probably the curse he mentioned."

"..."

Having been screwed over by the system again, Benjamin was speechless.

He wanted to yell, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner?" But he had said that far too many times already, and it had never done any good. The system would still malfunction whenever it felt like it. Benjamin could not even be bothered getting angry anymore. He merely felt that this was exactly as expected.

Besides, this was not the time to bicker with the system.

A curse...

Of course. He had known Michelle would not let him go so easily. He had already been puzzled by her strangely generous behavior before, but now everything made sense. Michelle had not given up. Like a venomous snake, she had merely hidden herself in the darkness for the moment, patiently waiting for the chance to deliver a fatal strike.

Her intentions were obvious enough. She wanted to use this curse to threaten him into obeying her orders and obtaining the Riser Family's Treasure Vault for her. With the curse on him, Benjamin would have no choice but to serve Michelle like a slave to save his own life.

She was really impossible to get rid of!

However, Benjamin quickly came back to his senses. Learning this from the bishop was actually an unexpected gain—if he had found out any later, things would only have become worse.

Thinking that, he glanced at the bishop's hazy silhouette next door, and an idea immediately formed in his mind.

He composed himself, adopted an extremely panicked tone, and began his performance for the bishop in the adjacent compartment.

"Yes, Y-Your Excellency Bishop, please, you have to save me! This morning, I... I found a letter from that witch in my bedroom. It said... it said... Oh, my God! Your Excellency Bishop, she said this curse will take my life! Please, you have to save me!"

Benjamin felt that his suddenly unleashed acting skills were quite convincing. The bishop did not seem suspicious in the slightest.

"Do not panic. God will protect you." The bishop continued unhurriedly. "Take a deep breath, then slowly tell me what was written in that letter. The Lord will listen to your voice."

Following the bishop's instructions, Benjamin took a deep breath and continued acting. "The letter... the letter only told me that I had been cursed by her, and that I had to obey all her instructions or I would die horribly. Then... then she told me to wait for further instructions. She said nothing else. Your Excellency Bishop, I don't want to die at her hands. Please, you have to save me!"

The bishop still did not respond to Benjamin's "panicked" plea for help. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What about the letter? Did you bring it with you?"

Benjamin had prepared for that as well. "No. After I finished reading it, the letter suddenly caught fire on its own. Not even a trace of ash was left behind. It nearly burned my fingers. It was terrifying."

The bishop fell silent at once. Even he seemed to find the matter difficult.

Benjamin watched the bishop for a while. He felt that the groundwork had been laid sufficiently, so he finally revealed the true purpose behind his entire performance.

"Your Excellency Bishop, God's power is limitless. Could I pray to God to lift this evil curse from me?"

Though a mere curse had left him at his wits' end, he knew The Church surely had the ability to remove it. More than that, as the protector of the worldly masses, The Church had an obligation to lift his curse. Otherwise, its credibility would surely suffer.

As long as The Church removed the curse on him, every problem would naturally be resolved.

Did Michelle think a mere curse could make him obey her every word? She was dreaming!

Yet the bishop's answer greatly disappointed Benjamin.

"This is no ordinary curse. It contains an immensely powerful demonic force. You know that countless people across this continent still languish beneath the demons' shadow. God has always fought for them and cannot spare the effort to remove your curse. As for servants such as ourselves, we are even less capable of saving you from such an evil curse."

"..."

It sounded nice enough...

Benjamin still refused to give up and pressed on. "But is there truly no way at all? I serve God with all my heart. I do not wish to be manipulated by that evil witch!"

But the bishop said, "You need not worry either. God will always watch over you. As long as that witch continues contacting you, sooner or later she will reveal a flaw. When that time comes, we will naturally appear and purify the evil witch, and you will have nothing to fear."

Benjamin suddenly understood.

It was not that they could not remove the curse. They simply did not want to. The Church wanted to keep the curse and use him as bait to hook a big fish like Michelle, which was why they were pretending to be helpless.

These hypocritical brainwashers really were cut from the same cloth as Michelle.

Thinking about it, that was probably Michelle's scheme as well. She knew The Church could remove the curse, but she also knew that, in order to hunt her down, The Church would never lift Benjamin's curse. With both sides restraining each other, she had been able to let Benjamin go without any concern.

Because she knew that everything remained under her control.

These old foxes! Every last one of them was shrewder than the next!

Benjamin had completely given up hope now. The Church would never remove his curse; he could only find a solution himself.

"Then, Your Excellency Bishop, may I ask whether you have any clues about that witch? My family is also furious with her and hopes to join the pursuit, contributing our share to God's cause."

Setting aside the matter of the curse for the moment, Benjamin returned to his original purpose for coming here—finding Michelle's "old place," digging up Annie's "treasures," and taking his first step toward learning magic.

If he gained nothing from this trip to the cathedral besides the bad news that he had been cursed, he really would cry himself unconscious in a bathroom.

"Once the power of The Fallen is involved, this is no longer something you can participate in. For your own safety, it is best to leave everything to God's servants." Even while refusing him, the bishop made his words utterly flawless. That was a talent in itself.

However, Benjamin was not disappointed by those words.

The bishop's refusal had been well within his expectations. Rather than giving up, he further refined the excuse he had prepared.

"Although no one in our family can compare to The Church's Paladins, we do have some private channels among the common people and can uncover certain hidden information. We will definitely be of help. That witch is focused on guarding against God's pursuit, so she may lower her guard around ordinary people like us instead. Rest assured, Your Excellency Bishop, I will notify you immediately the moment I receive any news."

Benjamin's firm attitude seemed to surprise the bishop. After considering it for a moment, the bishop finally nodded.

"Since your family's resolve toward the Lord's will is so firm, then I shall accept you on the Lord's behalf."

Perhaps because he still needed Benjamin to lure out Michelle, the man was remarkably agreeable. Benjamin guessed that, from the bishop's perspective, offering Benjamin a few insignificant clues would reassure him further, making him obediently serve as The Church's bait and hook a big fish like Michelle.

Of course, the bishop certainly would not provide any important clues. He could only tell Benjamin about outdated sightings and other trivial information—things that would not possibly allow ordinary people like them to come into contact with magic.

But from Benjamin's perspective...

Magic, here I come!

Suppressing his intense joy, he laughed wildly in his heart.