Having ascertained the Church of the Golden Bough's stance, Isaac expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you for your insightful guidance, Cardinal."
Vilka nodded slightly, then looked at Carlo: " Schuster."
"Yes--" Carlo drawled.
"Yesterday, the church received a report from Banbury's estate. A group of workers went to the monastery seeking refuge, claiming they had encountered Calamity Sequence No. 83, ' Shepherd ' Mary, in the wilderness."
Isaac thought to himself, "As expected." The workers followed Carlo's advice and reported the names of the Calamity Sequence directly. The church immediately took it seriously and reported it to the cardinal.
Since Vilka came here specifically to bring this up, she must have guessed who had alerted the workers to the " Calamity Sequence " that they were unlikely to know about before.
"A calamity has appeared in the border region of Vista; we should be wary," Vilka said. " The Joint Investigation Bureau, the Church of the Golden Bough, and the city defense forces were originally planning a joint operation to hunt down ' Shepherd ' Mary."
Carlo raised an eyebrow. "You came all this way to tell me this, just so you can get me to do some work? But your use of 'originally' is quite interesting."
"Because I rejected the original encirclement and suppression plan."
Isaac was taken aback. Carlo shrugged. "So you're just letting Mary wander around the wilderness with her lamb? If you don't explain in detail, Asa already thinks you're a monster who disregards the safety of civilians."
Isaac helplessly, "I didn't..."
"Look, you denied it so quickly, you're feeling guilty."
Isaac also had a bit of an urge to smash Carlo's head in.
Vilka glanced at Isaac, seemingly deciding it was best to explain, and asked, "Mr. Lessing, how much do you know about the current situation of the Vista nobles?"
Isaac thought for a moment, and combined what he had heard Carlo say yesterday—the repeal of the Corn Laws, the advancement of the railroad project, and the expansion of the Joint Investigation Bureau's authority—all of which were weakening the power of the traditional nobility. "At this stage, the Grand Duke seems to be trying to suppress the nobility."
Vilka nodded. "Yes. If a siege operation were to take place now that would require the cooperation of nobles, it would send them a signal that the Grand Duke still needs to rely on their strength. Once this illusion is created, the attitude of those nobles who are watching will become even more hardline."
Isaac understood her concerns: if the operation to hunt down the Shepherd Mary were to be carried out on a large scale, it would inevitably require coordinating the passage and logistical support of the noble territories along the way.
Therefore, those nobles might use the cooperation as political capital, or even deliberately sabotage the operation to cause the encirclement to fail, in order to weaken the Grand Duke's prestige.
Although their territory is on the front lines threatened by calamity, and eradicating calamity would also benefit them, we cannot underestimate the shortsightedness of some individuals or their astonishing wisdom in engaging in internal strife.
"So the encirclement and suppression still needs to be completed, but it won't be a large-scale campaign; it will be carried out in a different way," Vilka said.
Carlo tilted his head. "So you came all this way to ambush someone, just for your sneaky plan to wipe them out, right?"
Vilka stated directly, "My plan is for me to personally travel to the area where ' Shepherd ' Mary is located, deliver Vicania's judgment, and directly eliminate her."
Isaac couldn't help but admire Vilka's martial spirit, personally venturing into the calamity-ridden area to carry out the kill. This didn't sound like something a cardinal should do; it was more like a mission for a frontline Templar.
" The Shepherd won't just stand there and listen to your chanting."
"Therefore, I need a certain level of protection; this can be considered a commission."
"You've come here because you need my help, then why were you so tough just now?"
"Because you really are infuriating, and besides, this isn't something that absolutely needs you to do; it's just that it would be easier if you did it."
"Tsk, that makes it sound like I'm some cheap commodity you can just grab anytime." Carlo stroked his chin. "But since you've come to me, I guess your plan isn't going through the Grand Duke or the Pope, is it?"
Vilka remained silent. Carlo continued, "Because your safety is too important, those two old men wouldn't dare take the risk. They'd rather have the Grand Duke's personal guards or church knights take your place."
"That's why," Vilka sighed softly, "I hope to reduce unnecessary sacrifices and avoid mobilizing too many resources. But the Grand Duke and the Holy See are overly concerned about my safety and unwilling to use my power."
Isaac listened from the side, a new idea popping into his head.
Vilka's position is special, and the fact that the two highest-ranking figures in Vista are so concerned about her safety suggests that her value is not limited to simply maintaining the connection between the Ogway Family and the Church. She may carry some more important significance, which is why the Archduke and the Pope are unwilling to put her in danger.
The fact that Vilka approached him directly, rather than issuing the mission to Section Nine through the Joint Investigation Bureau, indicates that this was a private commission, bypassing official procedures and thus circumventing the Grand Duke and the Pope.
"So you planned to sneak out and kill Mary without their knowledge, and by the time those two old men found out, it would be all over," Carlo concluded.
That's roughly it.
"If I agree to help, and those two guys find out later, I'm afraid I'll get into trouble."
"You still care about this?"
"That's true." Carlo shrugged. "Alright, we're just killing time anyway, let's treat it as a picnic. But I don't want to do any of the dirty work for you, so bringing an assistant along, is that alright?"
Vilka's gaze shifted to Isaac, Carlo pointed, "Besides, he's already met Mary before."
Does he have the ability to protect himself?
"You're worried he'll hold us back? No problem, we can just throw him out to feed the sheep and buy us time to escape."
Isaac: "..."
Vilka: "..."
"However, since it's a commission, we need to talk about the commission fee," Carlo said.
How much money do you want?
"Your family prints money. If I talked to you about money, you could give me any amount I wanted. Wouldn't that make me seem petty? I want something I can't normally get my hands on."
"... so?"
"First of all, I haven't decided yet, I'll leave it at that for now, and I'll talk about it when I come up with something."
In other words, it's a favor that can be repaid later.
"Not only that, but also another Wonder."
When did you start becoming interested in Wonder?
"There's no other way. Since it's a commissioned process, and I even brought an assistant, it's considered a commission from the firm." Carlo shrugged. "The firm operates on a profit-sharing basis, and you can't split favors 30/70, so I have to ask for something in return to avoid being accused of withholding wages."
Isaac was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected the so-called Wonder to be given to him, but...
Vilka looked at Isaac: "What kind of Wonder do you want?"
"Well..."
Can Isaac say he doesn't even know what Wonder is?