The atmosphere in the room fell silent.
The two stared at each other, neither seemingly willing to back down.
Finally, the Cardinal sighed, a headache evident in her expression…
That junior from her school days, after all these years, still had the same stubborn temper!
Or rather, most of the nuns from the Inquisition who fought on the front lines against anomalies were quite stubborn… and someone like Mabel, with such a prominent family background who still joined the Inquisition to fight to the death, was even more extraordinary.
It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Mabel’s concerns, after all, they had a vampire more terrifying than alchemical explosives in the campus.
It was perfectly normal to have doubts and confusion… it was somewhat expected.
After all, eliminating danger was their duty, and these warriors of the Inquisition, even when caught in life-threatening disasters, could advance with their noble faith.
The Inquisition tolerated no speck of heresy in its eyes…
But not everything in this world could be solved by force alone! This reckless woman really only had developed muscles, and didn’t think things through much!
Did this woman not know that those of us on the front lines only needed to think about how to fight, while I, sitting in the rear, had too many things to consider…
Of course, that was just a joke…
These warriors, who would even sacrifice their lives for the sake of all beings, were most worthy of respect.
At a time like this, the Cardinal couldn’t push the powerful executive of the Inquisition, who commanded significant military force, to be her opponent.
It’s difficult…
Sure enough, she still had to find a way to persuade this stubborn mule.
So, the Cardinal chose to play the victim.
“Mabel, please try to understand me a little… I’m really being driven crazy by things inside and out lately.”
“You know that when Her Royal Highness the Saintess was still here, no one else dared to have any other ideas.”
“But now, not to mention the external situation, just the internal affairs… it’s difficult for me to keep the various factions inside and outside the monastery in check.”
“Putting aside the monastery for now, the noble faction at the academy has been causing trouble again recently! Things like not allowing commoner students and noble students to dine at the same time, or that the proportion of commoner students in this year’s new batch is too high, demanding higher tuition and miscellaneous fees for commoner students to subsidize academy expenses.”
“The students and teachers from humble backgrounds are increasingly at odds with those teachers and students from prominent families.”
“When Her Royal Highness the Saintess was still here, they wouldn’t even dare to fart, but as soon as Her Royal Highness the Saintess is gone, their minds become muddled, and they’re so quick to want to overturn Her Royal Highness the Saintess’s past policies.”
“I don’t know how some people’s brains are wired… Do they think Her Royal Highness the Saintess isn’t coming back?”
“Things at the central institution here are also troublesome; recently, the seals on various foreign lands in the city have shown unusual signs, and outside the city it’s even worse, with new anomalies appearing one after another.”
“Your combat personnel from the Inquisition’s executive branch should know this all too well.”
“Externally… from the intelligence sent by other churches in the Federation, there have been abnormal disturbances of varying sizes in various places.”
“Other city churches have already raised considerable objections to us still dispatching personnel to Florencia during this period.”
“But Her Royal Highness the Saintess has already ordered the mobilization… and with good reason… in these years of investigation, there has indeed been some unsettling shadow stirring in the dark in Florencia… but because of the Ideal Kingdom, Her Royal Highness the Saintess took away a large number of elite confidantes… Do you know about the Western Church being attacked by fanatical believers of the Ideal recently?”
“So, in addition to the vampire assault cases, we also need to support the central defense of the Eastern Church.”
“Among the populace… our previous failures in the vampire cases have also put us under great public pressure.”
“Although Her Royal Highness the Saintess is not here, if a huge problem that we can’t control arises,”
“Those competitors who were already in various parts of the Eastern Region, waiting for Her Royal Highness the Saintess to make a mistake… those reserve Saintesses who were once supported by various forces, are also a big problem.”
“Mabel… how many more recent messes do I have to tell you about?”
“All these things are on my shoulders now…”
The Cardinal’s face was full of exhaustion; the pressure during this period… had made her once smooth long hair quite dry.
Every morning when she got up and grabbed her hair, a large handful would come out.
She felt that if the Saintess was tied up with the affairs of the Ideal Kingdom on the world’s frontier for a year or two, she would most likely go bald.
“So… at a time like this, even you are going to come looking for trouble with me, Mabel?”
“That vampire is indeed an existence recognized by the Central Papacy and the Saintess, a true special envoy! The official document for that vampire’s identity authentication is among these files, you can go through them yourself.”
“I know you’re worried about that dangerous vampire… after all, she is indeed powerful and uncontrollable, and having her among the children at the academy is certainly concerning.”
“But think carefully, does that vampire truly harbor any ill will towards you?”
“If she did, I might be placing a flower on your tombstone today.”
“Even if she has some suspicion of seducing female students into depravity, didn’t you also check that those students were not forcibly defiled by that vampire? Those girls even said it was consensual, what more can you do?”
“It’s not as if it never happened in the academy before, two girls getting into a relationship amidst their tedious studies…”
“At most, it’s a warning, or at worst, expulsion.”
“After all, those children are not clergy who have sworn allegiance to our God; if they fall in love with a blood relative, are we going to hang them?”
“So stop dwelling on the vampire in our monastery; if anything goes wrong, I’ll definitely take the blame first… be responsible… your Inquisition should quickly continue investigating the vampire outside who hasn’t been caught yet.”
“Also, pay attention to recent signs of personnel movement in the city, and if any strange individuals with malicious intentions appear.”
“My dear junior, please do your part!”
“…”
Mabel was silent.
She was overwhelmed by the boundless resentment and the mountain of pressure from the Bishop before her, leaving her unable to utter a single word of rebuttal.
Hearing her speak like this… Mabel felt as if the city of Florenca might explode tomorrow.
However, she also realized at this moment that there were indeed more important matters waiting for her to handle than that vampire, who seemed to only think about lewd things all day.
At least that vampire wouldn’t be crazier than those fanatical believers who blew up half of the Western Church’s headquarters…
Mabel took a deep breath, thinking that perhaps she had been a bit irrational.
Perhaps the psychological shadow and humiliation caused by the vampire tying her up and messing with her on the ground that day had made her somewhat agitated…
However…
Under the Cardinal’s surprised gaze, Mabel began to search through the piles of documents.
“What are you doing?”
“You told me to find the documents about the Central Papacy’s special envoy myself.”
“Me! Don’t mess up the documents I’ve organized!”
The Cardinal was truly exasperated with this meticulous person, so she flicked her finger lightly, and a piece of paper, previously pressed under many other documents, floated into Mabel’s hand.
Mabel took the remote document, which bore the Central Papacy’s holy seal, and read it carefully.
Hmm… the aura on the holy seal… was not fake…
The Special Envoy’s appointment is real.
It’s just that the date on this document is from this morning.
It feels a bit like acting first and reporting later.
However, since the document is genuine, Mabel’s last doubt was dispelled.
“Satisfied? If you’re satisfied, get out of my office! I’m swamped!”
“Hmm, I apologize, Your Grace. I lost my composure.”
“Hmph! Good that you know! You need to understand! If I weren’t in this position, you’d have been thrown into the isolation cell for daring to disrespect a superior like that!”
“But I will still send some people to keep an eye on that vampire. Even a special envoy cannot engage in immoral acts within the pure monastery.”
“…As you wish…”
Watching the Bishop’s chest heave with anger, Mabel bowed slightly, then turned and left.
“By the way, regarding the full night patrol of the Inquisition.”
“What? You don’t want to work overtime?”
“No… I have no issue with that. The blood relative, whoever is sheltering them… perhaps only with this level of patrolling can we protect the populace and catch the person colluding with the vampire… I’m just concerned about the monastery’s morning defense.”
“Don’t worry… I am now the master of the divine barrier; I will arrange it.”
“Then, please, Your Grace Bishop Ella, do get some rest…”
“You don’t need to tell me. Oh, right! You just cracked my desk! Compensation will be deducted from this month’s offering!”
“…”
The Cardinal watched the retreating figure leave her office, then slumped back into her chair.
Her argument with Mabel couldn’t help but make her recall their past days in the seminary, when she was student council president and Mabel was the disciplinary committee member.
It seemed she often had no way of dealing with Mabel, that stubborn mule.
Get some rest…
None of them could rest.
Really… couldn’t Mabel be more direct and say she wanted to show some concern for her senior?
Bishop Ella pushed her slightly askew spectacles back into place and plunged back into the endless pile of documents.
Hmm… a letter of protest from the court?
Something about the Inquisition’s night patrols, claiming the noise disturbed the public’s normal routine?
Heh…
Bishop Ella’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she tossed the document aside.
It was good to scare those who harbored ill intentions in the city.
She believed it wouldn’t be long before those who dared to cause trouble in the city revealed their true colors.
If the attacking vampire was acting to achieve someone’s goal,
Then she would see how long they could endure.
Bishop Ella suddenly remembered that she still needed to forge an enrollment record for that vampire named Lilith.
Lilith…
Lilith…
That name reminded her of the legendary… name of the Blood Progenitor.
It couldn’t be… could it?
After all, blood relatives descended from that progenitor would also call themselves Lilith by surname.
Her curiosity piqued, Ella pulled out the blank sheet of paper she had been holding in her hand.
[Anomaly – Constant World Archive]
Through this anomalous item, Ella could directly access the Papacy’s database; a Bishop’s authority was incredibly high.
Well then, let me see!
What is the true origin of this vampire, who has such a significant connection to the Saintess and the Central Papacy!
Is she a Blood Count? Or a Marquis?
Surely, she couldn’t be one of the only two remaining Blood Archdukes in the world?
[Alarm! Alarm! |·#·￥ˉ｛=々『…@:』｝$$$& Alarm——Alarm————Explosion———]
Ella: “???”
Ella stared at the paper in her hand, filled with countless jumbled characters and growing increasingly crimson.
It looked as if blood was about to drip from it…
Ella suddenly sensed something was wrong.
Boom—
As if unable to withstand the shock of certain information, this anomalous item reached its breaking point.
It exploded in Ella’s hand with a bang.
“Cough…”
Ella sat dumbfounded in her chair, covered in ash.
The desk in front of her was utterly blown in half, and scattered documents fluttered and spread across the floor like a thick carpet.
Ella stared blankly at her blackened hands.
The archive was in tatters, a fragment floating to her fingertips.
A sharp sting.
The paper turned to dust, but the jumbled characters were branded onto her skin.
Not just that, the jumbled characters were even imprinted on her clothes, the damaged desk, walls, floor…
It was as if, in that instant, this place protected by the divine had been invaded by an unknown entity.
And it left behind a chilling warning.
The characters continued to flicker.
[Alarm… Unsearchable…]
“What happened?”
“An heretic attack!”
Listening to the commotion in the corridor outside, seemingly caused by the incident here.
Ella slid helplessly from her chair, reaching out to adjust her spectacles, but they had long since been blasted away.
What in the world?
The Central Papacy and Her Royal Highness the Saintess…
What have they put into our monastery?
The disheveled Bishop looked at the damaged and chaotic documents in the room, a wave of despair washing over her.
So she made a decision.
When the Saintess returned, she would resign, take responsibility, and retire to a small church in the countryside.
She couldn’t bear another day of this.
Lilith felt a slight itch on her back.
So she elegantly turned her head, her blood-red pupils reflecting the clear blue sky outside the window, and the divine barrier encircling the monastery above like a halo.
Who’s spying on me?
Or is some little girl thinking about me?
Hope she’s pretty.
Never mind, irrelevant.
Right now, she had so many little flowers in front of her, watching her, waiting to be plucked.
The women outside.
She wouldn’t think about them for now.
Turning back, Lilith continued to pretend to be a well-behaved student, feigning serious attention to the old nun on the podium, who was droning on with tedious clichés.
This morning’s class.
Was hymn chanting.
Listening to the girls in the classroom, singing sacred and solemn tunes with beautiful voices.
Lilith felt like she was being purified.
For a moment, it was as if she had become hundreds of years younger.
It’s so wonderful, my dears.
Living in the monastery is truly great!
Oh, the big-chested girl in the front row is secretly looking at me again.
Sigh…
Why am I so charming?