Hidden Secrets

Qin Ran's offer to help drew completely opposite reactions from Sister Mony and Gonglansen.

"Thank you, Detective Qin Ran!"

"But this is our matter. Dragging you into it will bring you a great deal of trouble!"

Sister Mony declined Qin Ran's offer with a smile.

"Hmph, if you're sorry, then act like it. Don't think a few words are enough!"

After hearing Qin Ran, Gonglansen nodded with a smile.

Then, he began persuading Sister Mony.

"Mony, I think highly of him. He has both solid skills and good character!"

"Besides, didn't you say he was the best detective in this city?"

"Finding those people is exactly what he does best!"

Gonglansen's tone gradually became serious.

He said, "Although we have gathered people, those people are hiding in the shadows while we are out in the open. Once they lose their patience and a conflict breaks out... I cannot leave this place because of my oath, and Lidd and the others will surely suffer heavy losses! More importantly, no one can guarantee when those people might break in—if it happens during class... that would absolutely not be an outcome we want!"

As Gonglansen continued persuading her, Sister Mony began to hesitate.

It was not only because Gonglansen held considerable standing in Sister Mony's heart, but also because what he said was true.

If something like that happened...

Sister Mony quickly shook her head.

She would never allow those greedy thugs to harm her students.

"Detective Qin Ran, please!"

Sister Mony turned around and looked seriously at Qin Ran.

"Although I don't have enough money to hire you..."

"Sister Mony, I already said this is my compensation to you—since it is compensation, of course I won't charge you!"

Qin Ran interrupted Sister Mony, then said, "However, please tell me everything that happened in as much detail as possible! The more detailed, the better!"

"This is quite a long story. I'll get some stools!"

As he spoke, Gonglansen brought three stools out of the wooden cabin.

After each of them sat down, Sister Mony began her account.

"Saint Paul School was known as Saint Paul Church fifty years ago. It was the church where the Dawn Goddess first bestowed a miracle—roughly a thousand years ago, though people regard it as a legend. In truth, even Gonglansen and I do not know whether it is real. However, my teacher, the last Pope of the Dawn Church, firmly believed it was true and awaited the goddess bestowing another miracle!"

"Unfortunately, nothing happened until my teacher passed away. On the contrary, the Church's power continued to weaken. Not only the small Dawn Church—even the largest Radiance Church was not spared! People placed greater faith in gunpowder, steam engines, and electricity. Knowledge was no longer held solely by the Church; more and more people possessed it as well!"

"However, I consider that a good thing, because everyone broke free from the shackles of darkness and became more prosperous and peaceful! That is precisely the doctrine of the Dawn Church! Therefore, from the beginning, I opened the books collected by the Dawn Church to several respected scholars and joined with them to transform Saint Paul Church into Saint Paul School!"

"And I changed from the Dawn Saintess into Sister Mony, the headmistress. Gonglansen, my guardian knight, became the final knight of the Dawn Church as well!"

In a calm tone and a quiet voice, Sister Mony described the changes Saint Paul Church had undergone, as well as the changes in her and Gonglansen's identities.

Her calm tone and quiet voice made it seem as though she were speaking of strangers unrelated to herself.

Yet Qin Ran, seated beside her, could sense a faint sorrow from the two of them.

It was not merely a shift in their emotions.

It was also the change of history.

The wheels of history could not be stopped; one could only drift with the current.

When there was will but no power, sorrow was all that remained.

Because anyone who tried to block it would inevitably be crushed to pieces beneath history's wheels.

Gonglansen being the last knight of the Dawn Church was enough to explain everything.

Where had the remaining knights gone?

Even accounting for death by old age, illness, accidents, and the like, there should not have been only one knight left.

Moreover, judging by Gonglansen's vigor, which rivaled that of men in their prime, it was clear that these Dawn Church knights lived far longer than ordinary people.

Changes of an era were inevitably accompanied by bloodshed!

The conservative camp being broken by reformists...

Was not something that could be achieved with a few simple words.

Qin Ran could already picture those old-fashioned knights refusing to accept the changes of the new era and charging forward.

Facing rank after rank of muskets and cannons, they rode their warhorses and launched the most brilliant charge of their lives.

Brilliant, yet fleeting.

And those were merely a small group of the purest people.

Such changes in a new era would inevitably affect countless others.

In the end, the victor and loser became clear.

Qin Ran remained silent. The weight of history made it impossible for him to speak carelessly.

Even if... this was not a history he knew.

Sister Mony and Gonglansen were silent as well, seemingly lost in memories of those days.

After a long while, Sister Mony came back to herself.

"Sorry, I recalled some memories—I've been thinking about things from back then a lot lately!"

"And the trouble we are facing was caused by things from back then as well!"

With a sigh, Sister Mony continued.

"Although the Dawn Church was only a small church back then, not even one-tenth the size of the Radiance Church, it still had a thousand years of accumulated resources—both knowledge and wealth!"

"My teacher, the last Pope of the Dawn Church, hoped that the Dawn Church could rise again, so he hid that wealth!"

"But he hid it too well... even Gonglansen and I do not know where it is!"

"Or perhaps Gonglansen and I disappointed him, so he did not tell us and instead told someone else!"

"But in the end, that wealth completely vanished!"

"Just as Gonglansen and I were about to forget about it, a group of people suddenly came to me, hoping I could tell them where that wealth was—they promised they would restore the Dawn Church!"

"I refused them, but they persisted, and their methods became increasingly excessive!"

"That is why Lidd was so nervous when he saw you!"

As she spoke, Sister Mony apologized once again.

"So that's what happened!"

Qin Ran suddenly understood.

"What restoring the Dawn Church? They are just a group of people who learned some fragmentary secret about the Dawn Church from somewhere and were consumed by greed!"

"Never mind that we don't know—if we did know, we absolutely could not tell them!"

"If not for the oath preventing me from leaving this place, I would definitely make these greedy fools understand what it means to court death!"

Gonglansen angrily clenched his fist.

He was extremely furious.

Qin Ran did not doubt his words in the slightest.

Their earlier exchange had given Qin Ran a deep understanding of Gonglansen's strength. In Hand-to-Hand Combat alone, Qin Ran was absolutely no match for him.

Gonglansen's powerful physique and special techniques outclassed him in every way.

Furthermore, Gonglansen possessed more than physical strength and unarmed techniques. He was no stranger to weapons either.

At the very least, from the weapons Artilly Hunter had seen, Qin Ran knew that the final knight of the Dawn Church before him was no stranger to firearms.

In fact, he should have been quite familiar with them.

If someone with such powerful physical capabilities, fighting skills, and knowledge of firearms wanted to kill a few people, those people had better pray they were never found by him.

"What characteristics do these people have?"

Qin Ran asked.

"They sneaked in with their faces covered. Only two appeared before me, and I do not know whether there are more!"

Sister Mony shook her head, unable to provide more clues.

"All right, leave the rest to me! I guarantee that I'll find these people as quickly as possible!"

Qin Ran had not expected to obtain more information from Sister Mony. Since those people wanted to find the wealth left behind by the Dawn Church, they would naturally have made preparations.

But that did not affect Qin Ran's decision to accept the side mission.

[Side Mission Discovered: The Watcher!]

[Side Mission: A group of unknown people discovered the secret wealth left behind by the Dawn Church. They want to obtain that wealth through Sister Mony! You have promised Sister Mony to find these people and keep Saint Paul School safe from any mishaps!]

Qin Ran glanced at the side mission prompt.

Compared to the first side mission, the difficulty of this one had clearly increased by more than double.

Not only was the number of opponents unknown, their whereabouts were unknown as well.

Other than waiting for them to come, Qin Ran had no better method for now.

However, Qin Ran did not show any sign of difficulty.

He bid Sister Mony and Gonglansen farewell with a smile.

Of course, to avoid the trouble of meeting that school guard captain, Qin Ran once again entered Stealth.

This time was different from when he had entered.

He had received Sister Mony's permission.

After leaving Saint Paul School and the street where it stood, Qin Ran straightened his clothes, carried the case containing [Viper-M1] on his back, and emerged from the shadows.

Qin Ran did not call for a carriage.

Because this street was not far from where he lived.

Looking at the sky, which was about to grow dark, Qin Ran decided to walk home and buy some food along the way.

After all, he had not eaten anything for an entire day.

However, after Qin Ran had walked less than twenty meters, he suddenly realized that someone was following behind him.