It's just past breakfast time, and Rieham, which stands on the shoreline, is basically in a busy atmosphere.

Especially the clergy who live in Oak Street, who have already gone out to work before dawn—

The aftermath of the Blood Moon has not yet been dealt with.

In the row of empty houses in the streets, only a few servants stayed to clean or trim the flowers.

Not everyone is busy, though.

In the middle of Oak Street, in a modest three-story house, the brown-haired and black-eyed Bernie was leisurely listening to a "stranger" talk about "conspiracy theories".

"Because Bishop Rhodes is not a descendant of the Archbishop of the Kingdom of Legalos, he is not from the local church. Because Bishop Rhodes has no personnel power, he cannot remove those who have offended him. Because he has provoked a lot of people in recent years, and even recently held a large-scale trial...... Do you really think that these things are the reason why the local church has excluded the bishop and the lineage of you, the bishops? ”

The speaker sat across from Bernie, wrapped in an ordinary coarse cloth robe, his features three-dimensional but slightly stiff, and his voice low and hoarse, as rough as a bellows.

"At least on the surface." Bernie replied with interest.

He turned into a bird and explained to the other party that he was going to have a deeper revenge, and the direction was very clear, and it was a bit unexpected for the other party to come to him.

"Let me tell you the truth, kid."

The middle-aged eccentric with a pale face who called himself Gort couldn't imagine the true identity of the young man sitting across from him, and said with a sneer: "The real reason is that they are afraid that you will come into contact with their secret secret, and that secret will destroy everyone in the local church!" ”

"Everyone?"

Bernie was surprised when he heard this.

The other grinned at this, "Do you know where the holy water comes from?" ”

"Do you mean the holy water that comes with the supernatural skill, or some other holy water?"

"Sequence holy water, the holy water that is usually used for exorcism, healing, and specific rituals, is also the kind of holy water that you can receive every month."

"Said to have been produced in a monastery?"

"Yes, the Abbey." Gort said this in a somewhat mocking tone,

"The monks of the monastery spend most of their day in prayer, and their prayers receive the feedback of the Holy Spirit in our kingdom of heaven, and the holy water becomes so."

But what is the amount of holy water given by the Holy Spirit? No one can be sure of that. We often say that it may depend on whether and how devout your prayers are......"

"So it's a loophole?" Bernie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You guessed it right."

Gordon nodded: "No one can be sure how much holy water the monastery produces each month, but there is a rough assessment range, and this makes many people see the opportunity......

He then recounted how that opportunity turned into action.

From the most basic level, the monks who are responsible for managing the holy water in the monastery, to the abbots of the monasteries, and then to the black market merchants who are in charge of selling the holy water.

"Nobles, pirates, traders, folk witchers, and even caravans from the outer continents...... Holy water is a scarce commodity, and there is an endless stream of buyers, and the port of Neham has become the best medium for this, and it has allowed each of those involved to have a huge amount of wealth in their hands. ”

"Speaking of which, when we investigated Amos a while ago, we did see a lot of treasure."

Bernie nodded, "At that time, I was very curious, where did an ordinary monastery get so much money. ”

These words made the face of the person opposite tremble unconsciously, and a trace of flesh pain flashed in his eyes.

But this look disappeared in a flash, and then he spoke in an indignant tone:

"All these blasphemous acts are in the hands of a few, hidden under order. It is widely believed that the holy water circulating in the market is purchased by those bold black market merchants who secretly contact the clergy, but they do not realize that it is completely sold by the church insiders for a long time! ”

"So this chain of interests is in the hands of the local church?" Bernie asked.

"Bazel, Bazel West, he is the illegitimate son of Jerome, vicar of the diocese."

The self-proclaimed Gort-de-eccentric affirms that "he is the one behind it all, and that the priests of Neham are his lackeys and accomplices, covering for him to keep the business going." ”

"Is that the real reason they reject outsiders like me?"

"Yes, especially someone like you, who was once a judge and could more easily perceive the truth, they will certainly not let you stay."

Bernie touched his chin when he heard this.

"Well, I'm sure everything you said is true, so what is the purpose of your coming to me? Want me to inform Bishop Rhodes to break this chain of interests? ”

"I'm sure the bishop behind you would be happy to devastate the local church."

The other person replied, "And now, in fact, there is a good opportunity to come!" ”

"What's the opportunity?"

"Bazel had crept into the city, and every time he arrived, his lackeys would gather to discuss important matters. Some of the decisions you make during this time will turn into actions, and these actions will make it easier for you to see some clues. ”

Bernie nodded slowly, then suddenly asked, "And what do you want?" Wouldn't you just do good deeds, or look at those people unpleasantly, right? ”

The corners of the strange man's mouth twitched when he heard this, and then he pretended to be gloomy and said: "I only hope for revenge, my wife was killed by Bazel, and my children also died indirectly at his hands, so I want to see him fail, see him suffer, and see him ...... But it doesn't matter. ”

"It doesn't matter to you what my purpose is, and you won't be interested in the tragedy of a little man like me. ”

"Indeed...... It's a pity that you overlooked an important aspect. ”

Bernicha made up for the gaps, and as he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed to the roof.

"If this chain of interests exists, will some people at a higher level not know about it? Or, how dare these people do this without a bigger backer? ”

"I had guessed that Bazel's father knew this, and even was behind it." Gort the Weirdo replied.

"A mere vicara?"

Gort was silent.

A mere vicar...... District?

The vicar is already a big man, okay......

Maybe the person in front of you doesn't want to get involved in this?

But then he saw Bernie suddenly stand up, pull one out of the stack of parchment pressed on the fireplace floor in the living room, pick up the quill and ink beside him, and write on it at a rapid pace.

"What are you?"

"I don't know if anyone else knows, but I know very well that Bishop Rhodes doesn't."

Bernie replied as he wrote, then raised his eyes and smiled at the other party, "As for what he will decide when he finds out, then I don't know, and it may not be your idea." ”

After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued to write, clearly writing about this matter, including the situation that the strange man had explained before and after he came to the door.

Eventually, he dropped the pen and paper, pulled the necklace off his chest, and whispered some obscure incantations to him.

Then I saw that the necklace, which looked like a ring with a silver chain, began to twist and melt, and finally turned into a silver large-mouthed bird.

Of course, this is not a real bird, it is a kind of rescue relict issued by the church, and it is also a special benefit that every deacon, even assistant deacon, has, and the effect is similar to that of activating paper into a bird message.

So after the form was formed, the bird opened its mouth and swallowed the rolled letters, and then flapped its wings and flew out through the narrow window of the living room.

Seeing this, Gort secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that the "revenge" demanded by his master was almost halfway there.

However, immediately after that, his whole body suddenly became nervous.

Just because the other party said a word.

"But speaking of which, as a necromancer, you dare to come and meet a clergyman, it's really bold enough."

“…… Are you ready to subdue me? Gort squinted and asked, staring at the other party, and did not quibble, but was ready to burst out at any time.

"Not really, if you dare to come, it proves that you don't think I can keep you, and I don't want to try that, after all, it's the witcher's job to clean you up."

Bernie said, "I'm actually curious about your real name compared to this, and I think that might add credibility to something?" ”

Gort was silent for a moment, then asked slowly, "How did you find out?" ”

"I propose that you take some of the skins of silver leaf oranges with you next time, it has a good disguise effect on the stench of decay in the human body."

Because of the smell......

Gort was speechless.

Eventually, he opened his mouth and changed the subject.

"Boswell, my name is Boswell. I think you should know the name, but if you can't-"

As he spoke, he grinned at Bernie, revealing a mouthful of rotten yellowed teeth.

"I'm sure everything that happens in this house will be seen by the Bishop behind you."

Bernie smiled as well, then nodded.

"Well, thank you very much for the clues."

……

As Bernie said goodbye to a necromantic creature, several carriages slowly drove up from a manor built on a dense wooded hill outside of Neuham.

Under a gloomy sky, these modest carriages drove down the road to the manor gates.

Some servants had been waiting outside the door for a long time, and when they saw this, they rushed forward to answer.

Out of the carriage came a number of sneaky men, dressed in plain wool robes of primary color, with silver masks on their faces that showed only their eyes and noses.

After arriving, the men made their way to the main hall of the manor, and finally arrived at an airtight underground conference room.

Everyone remained silent as if they were familiar with everything around them, and no one opened their mouths to greet the people next to them.

It wasn't until a man dressed like them walked in that they got up and bowed to each other.

"Time is limited, so let's try to speak as quickly as possible."

The latecomer sat on the throne, his voice low and as if he were physically and mentally exhausted.

"This trip was not originally part of my plan, so there was nothing new to explain. But I need to emphasize again that you need to speed up the handling of the aftermath of the large-scale trial in Rhodes, and release the key people who can release them, and let them never open their mouths if they can't. ”

Hart was a little reluctant, and he said that if he continued, if Rhodes did it again next time, he couldn't guarantee that he would not be exposed. Someone stood up and reported.

"Tell him that it won't be long before Rhodes leaves, and that no one else will use his supernatural powers to judge Rhodes so rudely."

The gray-robed man on the first one said: "If he is still not at ease, then let him shut up forever, a person who is discouraged cannot guarantee loyalty." ”

The reporter nodded, and after sitting down, another gray-robed man stood up.

"Levi, the heir of House Cambore, would like to see you, and he says he has something important to discuss. I guess this is because of the disappearance of his brother Mitchell, the pressure that the old earl of the Cambore family has put a lot of pressure on him lately, and the younger son of his brother who hates him and thinks he is behind Mitchell's disappearance. ”

"Where is he?"

"Waiting outside."

"I'll meet him later." Thus saith the grey-robed man on the throne.

"That group of pirates in the Gulf of El has been getting more and more rampant lately."

A gray-robed man then spoke, "They actually robbed the Black Swordfish Chamber of Commerce's transport ship...... Maybe we should teach them a lesson. ”

"Those pirates are our big customers, why should we do this?" Someone immediately refuted this, and it seemed that the interests were at stake.

"The Black Swordfish Chamber of Commerce is also a big customer of ours, and it's much bigger than those pirates."

"So in order to protect the interests of the big customers, we have to go and crack down on our small customers?"

"The pirates broke the rules, you need to figure that out! If we can't maintain order, then why does the Black Swordfish still buy goods from us? ”

"Really? Are they breaking the rules? Or did you take the rotten money from the Black Swordfish merchants? ”

"You-"

"Shut up!"

The man on the throne suddenly reprimanded, looking a little annoyed.

This is a little inconsistent with his usual patient and steady character, and even everyone's eyes are looking over.

"I'm sorry, I haven't slept well for a few days, and I can't control my emotions."

The person concerned sighed helplessly, and then turned to say: "Our principle is to remain neutral. The pirates rebelled, and the Black Swordfish group paid for their own helpers to fight back. It's a matter between them. We only sell goods and nothing else. ”

The argument in the conference room ceased, and there was a brief silence.

Until a gray-robed man on the left spoke.

"What the hell is going on in Ibiza? Recently, there have been a lot of spies over there, and I heard that even the archbishop has been alarmed? ”

This question is also very curious to everyone, and they are holding their breath and eager to know the answer.

But the man on the throne didn't want to say much about it.

"It's not good, it's going to be troublesome to get into trouble, so it's best not to ask."

So everyone stopped talking and began to mention some trivial things.

Including the maintenance of the supply of goods, the transportation of goods, sales, whether there are new customers and so on.

And just as the meeting was about to end, a chubby gray-robed man suddenly said, "As for the people who Rhodes have inserted, I think we need to get them out of Neham as soon as possible." ”

"I heard that those people are very honest during this time, so there's no need to be in such a hurry, right?" Someone said in confusion, and one of the people next to him also nodded.

"Yes, it's Rhodes' people, if we go too far, we'll anger him and hold him accountable."

"It's better to be angry than exposed, and I always feel that it's a big hidden danger to let those people stay......"

As soon as the fat gray-robed man said this, he was ridiculed.

"You need to understand that this old fat man is not a bold man, even though he is facing a big boy who is not yet eighteen years old."

"What do you mean to be bold? I feel like I have more say in this matter than you do. And you don't know anything, you just talk cool things. ”

"Everyone knows that you are cowardly, and it is useless for you to quibble. And isn't that something obvious? That little guy has only been there for a few days, and you can't sit still? ”

"Do you have to wait until the seed takes root and sprouts, and then pull it out with more effort?"

"Alright, alright."

The man on the throne impatiently interrupted their rivalry, "I'll take care of this, you don't have to pay attention to it." ”

Then, without waiting for the two men to speak, he changed the subject and asked if there was anything else to discuss.

The crowd shook their heads.

So the spy ended, and the gray-robed people left in carriages.

The man on the throne beckoned to the servant and brought in a young nobleman.

The young nobleman looked to be about thirty years old, and although his face was mediocre, his appearance was very heroic.

It's just that it seems that he has encountered a lot of serious life pressures recently, which makes him look quite decadent.

"Do you have something to discuss with me?" The gray-robed man was the first to speak.

"Yes."

The young nobleman said in a deep voice, "My father is old, and I don't think he is old enough to be the head of the Cambore family. ”

"So?"

"If I get on top, we will work together even closer."

"What kind of support do you want from us?"

"I have a hunch that my father will stumble and die in the family castle after a while, and I hope that no one will investigate this in the future."

The young man said with an unchanging face, "If this can be done, I will offer a member of the Nerham City Council, and a third of the Docklands' taxes." ”

"Hmmm......"

The gray-robed man pondered for a moment and said, "With one more, you have to find a way to get the new clergy out of Nerham." ”

"New here?"

The young nobleman thought for a moment, then nodded, "No problem, I'll do this next." ”

The gray-robed man was pleased with his simple consent, and said equally simply, "Then I will offer you my blessing when you become the new Earl of Camboray." ”

The young nobleman secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then stroked his chest and bowed and left.