Chapter 41: The Grim Situation

Inside the church’s reception room.

“Mr. Lucas… you see… Mr. L’s intention…”

Fen and Elena sat side by side.

The man opposite them sat upright, hands resting flat on his knees, eyes slightly closed, as if praying inwardly.

Fen hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

The priest finally looked up, slowly scanning the surroundings.

“Alright… there’s no one else here… no need to call that old thing by his initials—“

The man before them let out an old but hearty laugh.

“Let’s be straightforward…”

After exchanging glances, Elena and Fen nodded at the man.

‘Is he really an old friend of the Pope?’

‘In all of Eseriel, there should be few who dare to call the Pope “that old thing.”’

‘But since he’s close with the Pope… why does he choose to stand by and do nothing about the Church’s investigation?’

Elena felt a subtle strangeness in her heart.

“I understand what Leor means.”

Lucas pushed yesterday’s letter back to them.

“Mr. Fen… what is the name of the young lady beside you?”

The letter only mentioned Fen’s name, not the girl beside him.

“Her name is Elena. She’s my assistant.”

“I must admit, the rumors are true—you two must have seen along the way that Novalis has been unstable recently…”

He knew what they were wondering and sighed.

“But rest assured, since it’s Leor’s request… I can guarantee your safety with my reputation.”

“If you don’t mind, how about staying at Sacred Heart Church for the next few weeks?” Lucas suggested.

“It’s not as good as an inn, but it’s safe… and more convenient.”

“If you want to get familiar with the surroundings of Novalis, you can ask Sister Martha to guide you…”

“That would be perfect.” Fen nodded gratefully.

“By the way… speaking of that, about the case—“

Elena suddenly remembered the task of persuading Lucas.

“I’m sorry… everyone…”

The priest paused, as if anticipating what she was going to say.

“The details of the case… we ordinary people know very little—“

“The Enforcers seal off the scene and collect the clues…”

“Even the eyewitnesses… are accordingly required to ‘keep silent’…”

Hearing this, Fen and Elena frowned simultaneously.

Sealing off the scene and storing clues is fine.

But cases keep appearing one after another, and the authorities have been investigating for nearly a year with no progress—that seems very strange.

This is almost an open cover-up for the murderer…

Yet most people in Novalis remain tacitly silent about this…?

Don’t they see it?

What are they thinking?

“You see… I’m just a church priest…”

“I really can’t help with this part.”

Lucas shrugged.

Fen realized this old man was polite on the surface…

Seemingly kindly listing all the difficulties for them…

But in reality, he was trying to persuade them to give up.

“Thank you, Mr. Lucas.”

The girl beside him finally spoke.

“Even so, we will still investigate.”

Lucas opened his eyes wide in surprise, looking at the stubborn girl before him with considerable astonishment.

“Why…? Don’t you know what kind of task you’ve taken on?”

He hoped it was just the girl’s naive ignorance, then turned to look at Fen beside her, but his face showed the same fearlessness.

They were serious.

“By the Goddess… children, you should understand what I mean, right…?”

The priest’s voice began to tremble slightly for the first time, unlike the steady control he had just maintained in the conversation.

Why weren’t they afraid?

A sense of absurdity rose in his heart.

Knowing full well this was an almost unfair battle, a nearly impossible victory, why could they still face it with such composure?

“They have many people… and great power… you can’t win—and there’s no need to go this far for that old thing Leor.”

“You misunderstand, Mr. Lucas.”

Fen took over Lucas’s words.

“This is not just to complete the task assigned by the Pope—“

“It’s to give an account to those who died tragically.”

“To give an account to Novalis, to Eseriel.”

His tone was full of determination and sincerity.

“And to give an account to the distorted justice.”

Elena nodded slightly in addition.

“So you’re set on investigating…”

The priest rubbed his brow with his fingers.

“Then go ahead… children… may the Goddess protect you…”

“Good luck to you…”

Lucas finally slumped back in his armchair and let out a deep breath.

“Oh, and—“

The conversation was over.

Seeing the two had stood up, Lucas finally spoke again.

“Don’t delude yourselves into thinking you can get clues from the Enforcers…”

“When you encounter people from the Enforcement Bureau and the government, try to avoid them… never let them know you’re ‘interested’ in the case—“

“If that happens, I won’t be able to protect you either.”

Lucas had expected to see a trace of hesitation in their figures.

But he was wrong.

“Thank you for the reminder.”

The boy and girl answered in unison, their voices without any hint of timidity.

bang

Half an hour after the reception room door closed, Lucas finally recovered.

He then realized that Leor had not sent some naive greenhorn, nor some timid coward…

Was it really something to call youth?

He himself had once been so full of passion and drive…

But after seeing the harshness of reality… how long could such momentum last?

His knuckles tapped lightly on the wooden armrest, making a thumping sound.

‘Good luck to you… my child…’

‘I hope you don’t end up like me.’

He lamented inwardly.

—

“The priest really wasn’t easy to persuade, was he?”

“Fen…”

“Where do you plan to start investigating next?”

After walking out into the corridor, Elena asked softly.

“Although Lucas still maintains a neutral stance… his warnings should be trustworthy.”

“Expecting to get already found clues from the Enforcement Bureau or the Knight Order sent by the Church is unrealistic.”

After analyzing the situation for a long time, Fen had to admit the difficult circumstances.

“We have to start from scratch…”

“But two unfamiliar faces searching for clues related to the case around the city—the authorities will definitely notice.”

Elena reminded gently.

“Yeah, it seems we’re facing the same predicament as the colleagues who were sent before…”

Fen rubbed his temples.

“However… since the authorities won’t talk, colleagues can’t help, and we know nothing about previous cases…”

“Then why not go ask the witnesses?”

“Do you mean… is it?”

After two years of friendship and a month of close companionship, Elena could already understand Fen’s way of thinking tacitly.

“Exactly. Thank the Goddess—we encountered a ready-made case yesterday.”

Fen looked out the window, as if looking back at the road they came from.

“Get ready… let’s go to Chris Mine again.”