As the political center of the nation, a day in the Holy Capital is spent in bustle.
And the night in the Holy Capital always arrives quietly in the midst of the day.
Dusk fell from the horizon; the sounds of noise, prayers, and hymns gradually sank into silence.
The spire of the cathedral abruptly pierced the deep blue night sky, its silver-white stone body, baptized by magic, glowing with a warm holy light in the twilight.
The lights along the palace walls of the Church lit up in sequence, the warm yellow glow breaking the monopoly of the night.
The entire Church palace stood alone in the darkness, solemn and serene.
For most people in the Holy Capital, the day’s work had ended, and the night grew deeper, but from the Pope’s residence in the Inner Court, the faint sound of reviewing documents still came through.
Unlike on formal occasions when he wore magnificent and majestic papal robes, Leor was now dressed in plain white robes, wearing heavy reading glasses–but his eyes were still spirited.
The thick velvet armchair supported the aging body of this ruler of a nation, and the rustling sound of the pen in his hand proved he was still reviewing documents.
Beside him, the firewood in the fireplace crackled, casting light on a middle-aged man who was slightly bowing, waiting for instructions.
“Your Holiness.”
“The disappearances in Iron Pivot City… and the murders–“
The man, dressed in bishop attire, seemed to be reporting work.
“The new investigation team sent by the Knight Order still hasn’t made any progress… I’m truly sorry, Your Holiness–“
“Enough–I’m not blaming you.”
The old voice interrupted him.
Leor put down his pen and wiped his glasses, as if he had expected this.
“The city of Novalis… was taken over by our Church after the subjugation of the Demon King and the unification of the continent. The local customs and culture are different from the more solemn Holy Capital. It’s only natural for the Knight Order to encounter… obstacles in their actions…”
Iron Pivot City Novalis is located in the southern part of the Aetheriel Theocracy.
If the Holy Capital is the nation’s political center, then Novalis, nestled against mountains and by the sea, is undoubtedly its economic center.
Since it was taken over after the war, although it has the same organizations like the Knight Order as the Holy Capital, as the saying goes, “the heavens are high and the emperor is far away,” the Church’s management of the city is naturally looser.
Compared to “piety” and “righteousness,” Iron Pivot City values “freedom” and “exploration.”
Therefore, the local residents boldly combine machinery and magic, creating many novel inventions, which indirectly promoted the economic and cultural prosperity of Novalis.
“This matter… has been riddled with doubts from the start–“
The Pope put his glasses back on and sighed softly.
“What do you mean?”
“Regarding the serial murders in Novalis, the Knight Order has only identified one characteristic so far–that the victims died miserably, some even having their magic circuits drained. What ordinary thug would be so audacious?”
“You mean… it was done by remnants of the Demon King?”
“Why not be bolder?”
The Pope was not satisfied with this answer.
“No one has dared to openly oppose the Church in Aetheriel for a hundred years, committing such horrifying murders. Who can guarantee that this isn’t personally commanded by Demon King Zares himself?”
“Th-That’s impossible, right? Zares has already–“
The man’s face turned pale.
“Fers, aren’t we the most clear about this?”
Leor raised an eyebrow.
“The history books say ‘the Demon King was killed,’ but that doesn’t mean Zares is dead.”
Yes, according to the history books published by Aetheriel itself, in black and white: “In the first year of the Light Calendar, Demon King Zares was subjugated by the Saint and Hero dispatched by the Church, and was killed.”
But how he was killed, whether “killed” really meant dead–there was too much room for speculative writing here.
In fact, anyone who became a mid- to high-ranking official in the Church, combined with the Church’s occasional orders to “eradicate heretics” and maintain the stability of the magic array set up near the “Demon King Castle Ruins,” could deduce that the Demon King was merely sealed, not truly dead.
However, only Leor and the past Popes knew that it wasn’t that the Church was unwilling to kill the Demon King, but that the Demon King had hidden parts of his soul in other artifacts during his lifetime.
Although the soul within the Demon King’s main body was destroyed after the subjugation, his lingering will remained.
No matter how much the Holy Sword struck or the Holy Light Art cleansed, the Demon King’s body kept regenerating.
If these soul-hiding demons were not all destroyed, the Demon King’s physical body would never be erased.
Therefore, the Church had to resort to this inferior strategy–sealing and guarding the Demon King’s body while searching for the remaining soul fragments everywhere.
Leor’s right finger joints rhythmically tapped the wooden armrest of the chair, as if deep in thought.
“Anyway, nothing can be found out, so let them stop… Just maintain local public order–“
“Your Holiness! But–“
“As for the investigation… send new personnel another day… And I will personally choose them; the whole process must be kept confidential to avoid startling the snake.”
Fers was startled inside.
After all, having followed the Pope for many years, Fers understood the deeper meaning of the Pope’s words–Leor clearly did not trust the Knight Order; he thought there was a mole within the Knight Order!
Seeing Bishop Fers’s anxiety, Leor shook his head.
“Fers… you’ve followed me for twenty years–and you’ve been in the Church for almost thirty years…”
“You’re my trusted confidant too. What do you think… of the inside of the Church… of the Church’s Knight Order?”
“This…” Fers’s face turned pale.
Before the Pope, Fers felt he needed to be cautious with his words–after all, among colleagues, everyone was a benefactor… eager to see the other…
Ahem…
The old man understood Fers’s embarrassment and didn’t push further, taking the initiative to speak.
“I don’t need you to say it; even a blind person can see it…”
Leor smiled helplessly.
“Those fellows in the Knight Order now are used to being slack. Where is the spirit of the group that once subjugated the Demon King?”
“That kid Ref… ever since his wife died ten years ago in the battle to purge remnants of the Demon King… he’s never recovered…”
Leor dragged his aged body and slowly stood up.
“Now, he can’t even manage those people in the Knight Order…”
“The other day, wasn’t there a big uproar on the streets about Voss’s matters… It even reached these old bones’ ears–“
Being stared at by the Pope’s loving yet scrutinizing eyes was not pleasant.
Fers had no choice but to take over the conversation, playing the role of explaining the ins and outs to the leader.
“Y-Yes… Voss of the Aurelian family is entangled with three women of the Valcier family at the same time… This matter does damage the Church’s reputation–“
“Valcier?”
Leor heard a somewhat familiar name and frowned.
“Their family… isn’t there an only son named Elian?”
The Pope asked with some uncertainty.
The Pope naturally knew the famous Elian, but after all, he was old and a bit fuzzy about his surname.
“That’s right… Coincidentally, Elian was also a paladin of the Church, but–but after his family was disgraced, Elian couldn’t bear the humiliation and resigned from his position.”
“Is there any news of him now?”
“According to his friend Fen… after resigning, he disappeared without a trace… It seems he went into seclusion…”
The Pope remembered these two children–at that time, during the knighting ceremony, they both performed the old rite, which was particularly eye-catching.
“I never thought that among the generally dissolute nobles of Aetheriel, such a child could be born–“
Recalling Elian’s sincere face, Leor could only sigh regretfully, “It’s a pity. He would have been the perfect choice for carrying out this kind of mission…”
“Now…”
“We can only look for someone else…”
“…”
The sound of lament faded, and silence fell in the room.
The Pope sank into deep thought.
The only thing that could be heard was the crackling sound of the fire in the fireplace–as if it too was thinking with Leor, pondering the future of this nation.
……