Aimoer swallowed.
She quickly ran through the current situation in her head and soon came up with a public relations plan to deal with it.
“Your Excellency Bishop is referring to the demonic aura?”
She didn’t play dumb or try to change the subject.
Instead, she directly stated what the Bishop was thinking.
“Oh, you’re quite straightforward?”
The Bishop showed a slightly surprised expression, leaned back in her chair, and a hint of curious smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
“So you already have an explanation ready?”
“Yes, the Dean asked me the same question when I first entered the Most Holy Abbey.”
Aimoer flicked her hair, putting on a thoughtful expression.
“I was born in a small border village in the Kingdom of Glory, a village that borders the Demon Race. When I was ten, the Demon Race attacked my village and killed almost everyone. Only I was lucky enough to survive…”
Aimoer gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and a raging fire of hatred flickered in her eyes—a look as if she wanted to tear the Demon Race apart alive.
Even she almost believed her own acting.
This story was something she had discussed with Ouluora beforehand.
To disguise that aura, she had fabricated a tragic background: her village was massacred by the Demon Race, and to survive and wait for revenge, she was forced to become a servant of the Demon Race.
That way, she could explain the source of the demonic aura as having long-term contact with the Demon Race.
To make the story more believable, Ouluora even dispatched a small troop of Demon Race soldiers disguised as bandits to create some border skirmishes, making it verifiable.
“So that’s why I have a demonic aura on me.”
Aimoer calmly stared at the Bishop.
Facing such a seasoned general, even the slightest hint of unnaturalness would be a flaw in negotiations—this was experience she had gained from countless negotiations in her past life.
The Bishop didn’t reply.
She just squinted at Aimoer, and an invisible pressure radiated toward her, but it didn’t shake Aimoer’s composure in the slightest.
‘Old hag, you’re still green when it comes to acting and negotiating!’
Aimoer sneered inwardly, meeting her gaze without flinching.
After about a minute, the Bishop sighed helplessly, picked up her cup, took a sip, and her expression softened considerably.
“Sigh, the Pope’s judgment is still sharp. It seems you really are fine.”
Aimoer was taken aback.
That was it?
No problem?
Before she could react, the Bishop continued to explain.
“As you know, the Pope would never let someone with a questionable background obtain the Sacred Inheritance. Although the Church has explicitly forbidden invasive privacy violations like body searches or installing eavesdropping magic in private rooms…”
The Bishop paused, and her gaze suddenly turned sharp.
Her voice carried a warning tone.
“…in other aspects, the Church has investigated you countless times. Now that you have received that token, it means we trust you completely. I hope you will behave yourself and faithfully serve the Holy Light. You have a bright future ahead.”
After saying this, she took another sip of water and put back on that warm, gentle smile.
‘What a chameleon that changes face faster than flipping a book.’
Aimoer grumbled inwardly.
She roughly sorted out the current situation.
Perhaps this woman had never truly trusted her; she was only forced to give her basic trust because of the Pope.
With that in mind, Aimoer nodded and replied sincerely.
“Yes, thank you for your trust, Your Excellency Bishop.”
Saying anything more at this point would be meaningless.
For someone like this, who had spent years guarding the border, only actions could truly move her.
“Mm, enough of the digressions. Now tell me about the attack in general.”
“Alright. We were attacked outside the City of Purification…”
Aimoer nodded and began to recount in detail, spilling every detail of the attack process, naturally omitting the part where she carried Senteli to the City of Purification.
“Mm, I understand the situation. As the involved party, what are your thoughts on this matter?”
“I think…”
Aimoer paused, resting her chin on her hand as if deep in thought.
She knew this was an opportunity to bring up the Demon God’s seal, so she needed to craft a story that wouldn’t arouse the Bishop’s suspicion but would smoothly direct her attention to the Demon God issue.
“Your Excellency Bishop, do you have a map? Just the most ordinary one of the area around the City of Purification.”
The Bishop frowned, but still took a simple tourist map from her drawer.
“Will this do?”
Aimoer nodded, then carefully scanned the map, tracing her finger across it as she asked.
“Your Excellency, may I ask you a question?”
“What do you want to ask?”
“How much do you know about the Apocalypse of the previous era?”
The Bishop pondered for a moment, looked into Aimoer’s serious eyes, and answered briefly.
“A little.”
“Mm, then do you have any concept of something like the Demon God?”
Aimoer guided step by step.
This question made the Bishop’s expression turn serious.
She looked at the map and spoke slowly.
“Are you saying the attack is related to the Demon God?”
“Yes. Judging by the attack methods and mental state, it resembles the heretics influenced by the Demon God as recorded in the books.”
The Bishop frowned, carefully recalling the details of the attack Aimoer had described, muttering to herself.
“A Demon God… how could there be a Demon God?”
Aimoer didn’t interrupt her thoughts.
At times like this, only a little guidance was needed, and the Bishop would fill in the rest of the details.
After a long while, when the Bishop looked up, Aimoer gave her a faint smile and took the initiative to speak.
“If Your Excellency has no more questions, may I take my leave?”
“Mm, go back and rest. I’ll look into this further.”
Aimoer made the sign of the cross on her chest and was about to leave when the Bishop suddenly added behind her.
“Oh, and one more thing. Don’t go to the western part of the City of Purification. If something happens, the Church won’t be able to save you.”
Aimoer recalled the mysterious girl picking herbs by the lake and felt a lingering fear.
She turned and smiled.
“Understood. Thank you for the reminder, Your Excellency.”
After expressing her thanks, Aimoer turned and left.
She didn’t think any more about the mysterious girl.
Compared to that, what was more important now was—
“That silly girl Senteli, she’s not going to ambush me somewhere again, is she?”
Aimoer didn’t dare relax this time.
She almost stuck to the wall, taking each step cautiously, afraid that Senteli would suddenly hug her and send her straight to heaven.
‘I feel like a thief.’
Aimoer mocked her own cautious demeanor.
She thought she had been careful enough until she moved to the medical room.
A door in front of her suddenly opened, and a blue figure as fast as lightning followed.
“El!”
Here it comes!
Aimoer tensed up with vigilance.
As Senteli ran over, she jumped back a step, just dodging Senteli’s hug.
Senteli pouted with an unhappy expression, clasped her hands in front of her chest, and twisted her body.
“Are you okay? Did the Bishop give you a hard time or anything?”
“Nothing happened. Don’t worry.”
Aimoer patted her head, then asked with concern.
“Are you feeling better? Why are you running around outside?”
“It was nothing anyway. I couldn’t sit still, so I requested a checkup. Now I’m free to move around.”
Senteli spun around in front of her, looking perfectly healthy.
“In that case, want to go check out the dessert shop here with me?”
Aimoer directly extended the invitation.
“Eh, really, really? Sure, sure! I wanted to look around too.”
She agreed just as expected.
Aimoer grinned inwardly with a knowing smile.
No matter how she looked at it, this attack was too strange.
Whether it was Senteli’s exaggerated defensive power or the mysterious girl picking herbs by the lake, both deserved careful consideration.
With this opportunity, she was going to have a good talk with Senteli.
Whatever it was, she needed to know everything about her, and never let her become a threat.