“Tu…to.”
The moment Otto picked up the communication crystal, a voice full of gnashing teeth rang out from the other end.
The experienced Bishop Otto didn’t even furrow his brows.
He simply moved the communication crystal elegantly and calmly a foot away from his ear.
Only after the voice on the other side finally quieted down did he place it back to his ear.
Pretending as if nothing had happened, Otto spoke in his usual graceful and composed tone.
“My dear Sister Litt, is there something you needed from me so early in the morning?”
On the other side of the communication crystal, Letia took a few breaths before speaking to Otto.
“I say… What kind of medicine are you selling in that gourd of yours?”
“Oh?”
Otto’s voice was filled with just the right touch of surprise and confusion, as if he truly knew nothing about it.
“Sister Litt, your words have left me utterly puzzled.
Could you perhaps explain a bit more specifically?”
Seeing this man play dumb, Litt took a deep breath and spoke in a cold, gloomy tone.
“If you keep pretending, I’ll swap your black tea for safflower tea…”
“Ahem, ah ah…”
Otto coughed a few times, but there was no trace of embarrassment on his face from being exposed.
In fact, he even seemed a little amused.
“Sister Litt, you’ve held a position at the White Church for some time now. Though it’s mostly been in name only, as a registered clergy member, there are certain crucial occasions where you must make an appropriate appearance, to showcase your undeniable command of the Holy Light and your unique presence to the world.”
“So you stuffed me into the choral performance?”
“A performance is also a way to showcase one’s presence, isn’t it?”
“Tsk…”
Litt clicked her tongue to herself, then bluntly said to Otto.
“You think I’d believe that excuse? Otto, you’d better be honest—do you want a willing pawn, or an uncooperative one?”
“To me, Litt, you have never been a pawn.”
Otto smiled mysteriously and poured himself a cup of black tea.
As he gently swirled it, he spoke unhurriedly.
“Do you still remember what I told you about demonization?”
“Of course I remember.”
Speaking of demonization, Litt still hadn’t found the mastermind behind the incident at the White Sun Ascension Festival.
She had her suspects, but the evidence wasn’t sufficient.
“Perhaps you don’t know, but all along, there has always been another voice within the White Church—the Black Church.”
“They yearn for a restoration, longing to become the true orthodoxy.”
“The sacrificial ritual at the White Sun Ascension Festival was their masterpiece…”
“Can you cut the roundabout nonsense?”
Litt replied with dead-fish eyes.
She even wanted to scratch at her ears, which were getting calloused from listening to this.
“Keep it simple, say it simply.”
“Ah…”
Otto sighed helplessly.
“If only some of your overflowing arm strength could be transferred to your brainpower… To be direct, they haven’t given up yet, and are already moving in the shadows again.”
Hearing this, Litt seemed to understand Otto’s intentions.
“You want me to join the performance as bait, don’t you?”
Indeed, last time at the White Sun Ascension Festival, she had ruined that group’s—Otto’s so-called Black Church’s—plan.
They certainly harbored deep resentment and hatred toward her now.
“Having only you isn’t enough. We need even bigger bait,” Otto said with a fox-like smile.
“The choral performance is, at its core, a large-scale spellcasting chant. The excess magic power has no fixed form. For those eager to gather magic power to create conditions for demonization, it’s the deadliest temptation of all.”
“That’s why I’m entrusting this matter to you and informing Red as well.”
After hearing Otto’s explanation, Litt fell into deep thought.
Time passed by the minute, by the second, as Otto sipped his tea, waiting patiently for Litt’s reply.
No one knew how long the silence lasted, but finally, the girl on the other side of the line spoke up.
“Is there payment?”
Otto was only somewhat speechless at this answer, even if it didn’t really surprise him.
“Sister Litt… I always felt you were the kind of person who could be bought off with a hundred thousand Luen coins.”
“As if,” Lit replied with a forced smile, “Add another zero at least.”
“As for money, I don’t have any…”
“Then forget it.”
Litt was about to hang up the communication without a backward glance, but Otto spoke up again.
“I did prepare a special little gift for you, though. Interested?”
“…Tsk, that works too.”
After hanging up the communication crystal, Litt sighed.
She knew Otto had set her up, but what else could she do?
But, looking on the bright side, at least Otto had been honest about his scheming, hadn’t he?
And the information he gave her was indeed quite useful.
“The Black Church, huh…”
Litt began to ponder, recalling the time she was tailed by Molly.
Soon, a possibility came to mind.
Molly…
Could she be from the Black Church?
From her previous investigation, Litt could tell that Molly was very unlikely to be someone close to the real Litt.
And she couldn’t possibly be one of Otto’s people either, so the Black Church remained the most probable.
But there was another issue now.
As the vessel for the demonization ritual, Tessaia was now under complete protection.
Her grandmother had also been moved to a secret location outside Nightbright Town.
So… how did they plan to continue their research into demonization?
That was something Litt truly couldn’t figure out.
“Forget it, I’ll go to the monastery and see what’s going on first.”
After thinking it over, Litt eventually gave up on figuring it out.
Just as she always said, she was never the type to overthink things.
If anything comes up, just talk to my cross about it.
***
Molly rolled a plain, even slightly worn silver coin between her fingers, examining it over and over with her brows twisted into a knot.
Judging by the feel alone, it seemed no different from the common coins in circulation.
“This thing…”
She couldn’t hold back any longer and cast a suspicious glance at the Black Church priest shrouded in shadow beside her.
“…Is it really useful? No matter how I look at it, it’s just an ordinary silver coin, isn’t it?”
Molly’s tone was filled with distrust.
The priest next to her only responded with a cold laugh.
“Are you underestimating a Demon Artifact from the underground city? This silver coin is a Demon Artifact Silver Coin.”
Molly paused, holding up the coin and scrutinizing it up close, almost pressing it to her eyelid, trying to spot even the slightest hint of something extraordinary.
Inscriptions?
Faint glow?
Unusual patterns?
Nothing but the wear of age.
“Doesn’t look like it?”
“Heh… If Demon Artifacts were so easy to spot, they wouldn’t be called Demon Artifacts,” the Black Church priest beside her seemed very confident in his artifact.
“If what you say is true, and that Sister Lit from the White Church is truly an important figure there, so what if you use a Demon Artifact Silver Coin against her?”
“You’re right, priest!”
Molly carefully put the Demon Artifact Silver Coin away.
“Is there anything I should watch out for when using this thing?”
Whether or not others knew, Molly herself was well aware:
Demon Artifacts were powerful, but always came with obvious side effects.
Like that one called the Springwater Spirit—wearing it meant a short exposure to large amounts of cold water would instantly change your gender, and to turn back, you’d have to soak in water over seventy degrees for a full-body bath… that scene… was like slaughtering a pig.
So Molly was worried, worried that this item might have strong side effects on the user.
“All Demon Artifacts have side effects to some extent, and this one is no exception,” the priest warned Molly in an earnest tone.
“This silver coin can hypnotize people weaker than you, but if the target is stronger than you… they can turn the tables and control you. So be absolutely sure the target is weaker.”
“How do I judge strength? Magic power?”
“Yes.”
Seeing the priest nod, Molly breathed a sigh of relief.
She couldn’t vouch for other things, but as far as she could tell, Litt… didn’t have much magic power at all!
So with this Demon Artifact Silver Coin, taking down Litt shouldn’t be a problem.
“A White Church executive, only with secret watchers and not even a decent bodyguard at her side—just wait, I’ll snatch her away for you, let her find her own way out!”
“Don’t get too cocky,” the priest said with a sigh, watching the pleased Molly, “Litt is important, but now those above are also paying more and more attention to Red. If you do manage to capture Lit, why not take the chance to test things and see if Red might also be… persuaded to serve our Lord—He has seen his potential.”
“Don’t worry, Red can’t get into the monastery right now. At the very least, he won’t be able to enter until after Open Day. Just focus on your own mission.”
The Black Church was strict in its hierarchy, acting like precise gears—tasks were strictly divided and isolated.
For absolute secrecy, operatives often knew only their own assignments, nothing about others’ plans, and sometimes didn’t even know the true identity of their own comrades.
Now, with the Demon Artifact in her possession, Molly felt much more at ease.
She pushed open the door and returned to the monastery.
Maybe it was fate, but just as Molly pushed open the door, she ran into Litt, who was on her way to work at the monastery.
Looking at this dazzlingly angelic girl, the sinister smile that had been hanging on Molly’s face vanished instantly, replaced by her usual lively and friendly expression.
“Litt, why are you a bit late today?”
“I accidentally overslept at home. I’m not late, am I?”
Litt was still her flawless self, so much so that even when admitting a mistake, one couldn’t bring themselves to blame her.
Seeing this, Molly also smiled, blinking as she spoke casually.
“Who would’ve thought even you would oversleep, Litt?”
Its funny how well she can pretend being flawless.