Chapter 669 - Let’s All Keep A Low Profile
Chapter 669 Let’s All Keep A Low Profile
Stephanie’s guess was right.
Not only the First Princess’s manor but even many other nobles who had received outsiders were also harassed by the Inquisition.
Weaker nobles, whose guests were taken straight away, were furious, and if they dared to stop them, a fight would even break out between the two sides.
There had been a lot of incidents of bloodshed now.
Stephanie once again took Andonara into the palace, and having the same thoughts as her, a large group of noble officials who were eligible to enter the palace also came.
In their opinion, the Temple of Light was going crazy.
Roland, on the other hand, went to the Association of Mages.
He was a member of the Red Magic Tower and had a “spot” in the Fareins’ Association of Mages, so now that such a big incident had happened, the top management of the Association of Mages would naturally summon him.
The spacious conference room was filled with at least three hundred Mages.
The vast majority of them were elderly, and there were very few young Mages, only seventeen in total including Roland.
As such, they received a great deal of attention
—especially Roland, who was fresh-faced, was frequently glanced at from time to time.
They whispered to each other asking who this young man, who they had never seen before, was.
Roland sat at the very back and acted quite naturally under the gazes of the many old Mages.
This attitude made everyone regard him highly.
It was not uncommon for young people to be capable, but it was quite rare for them to be capable and steady.
Roland sat and waited for a while, and Alfred came in.
O
He saw Roland sitting at the back, smiled slightly, then looked around the conference room and said, “It seems that everyone’s here. The situation is urgent now, I’ll cut straight to the chase. In the Holy Realm, there is a fallen Saint Samurai; I think everyone is already clear on that. I can be sure that it’s the demon’s work. The Church of Light is going crazy now, and even the leash on the crazy Inquisition has been slackened. The situation seems to be somewhat out of control, and our biggest problem is to keep ourselves in the middle with a more detached attitude. But that’s hard to do.”
He looked at the people below him, and seeing that everyone’s attention was drawn to him, he continued, “So we, the Association of Mages, are now going to make a strategic contraction; try to stay at home, or in the Association, and if anyone from the Inquisition comes to your door, try to reason with them first. If you can’t reason, then take action. It’s okay to injure them, just try not to kill them.”
“Does the chairman mean that we should be afraid of the Church of Light?”
“Yes, you should be afraid.” Alfred pointed to himself. “I can’t beat the Pope, you can’t beat the Holy Lady and the Saint Samurai, so why not be afraid?”
“But we have plenty of Mages.”
Alfred slapped the table and scolded angrily, “Are you stupid? We have plenty of Mages? More than their combat priests, more than a billion followers of Light around the world? It’s good to work hard on magic, but don’t clog up your brain with research.”
The old Mage who spoke just now blushed.
The number of Light believers was only a little less than Life believers.
If it came to an all-out war, no one could stop the Church of Light and the Church of Life.
The worst part was that these two churches had a pretty good relationship.
After all, the goddesses of the religions were good friends.
“If it were a normal situation, the Association of Mages wouldn’t be afraid.” Alford sighed. “But this corrupt Saint Samurai involves too many things. An archbishop I know has said that the fluctuations in the divine power of light have been quite noticeable these past two days, and it seems that the Goddess of Light is aware of this in the divine realm. She’s furious, and may even have cast her eyes down to see how the Church of the Light handles this.”
“That bad?” Some old Mage clicked his tongue.
“If it’s not handled well, both the Pope and the Holy Lady may be replaced.” Alfred snorted. “So it’s not good to be a dog for the gods; you can’t even decide your own fate. We Mages are freer-Mystra is a clay sculpture as far as we’re concerned.”
“Hahahahaha!”
All the Mages in the conference room let out a hearty laugh.
Except for Roland.
When these people finished laughing, Alfred continued, “I’m saying this again, the current scene is very complicated, so you guys better not engage in any risky actions. Don’t think you’re smart and make a big show of political tactics, and if something does happen because you didn’t listen to my advice, the Association of Mages will not step in to save you.”
Hearing this, everyone looked serious.
“Well, I’ve said what needs to be said, so decide for yourselves whether you’ll listen or not.” Alfred cast his eyes to the back of the room. “Roland, come with me.”
Roland got up and followed Alfred out.
The people in the conference room watched them disappear and then clamored.
Most people were asking who the young man was, to be in the chairman’s good graces!
Roland followed Alfred to the chairman’s study. Alfred sat down first, then he waited for Roland to sit down as well before asking, “I heard that someone from the Inquisition went to the First Princess’s manor to look for you not too long ago.”
Roland nodded. “Yes.” “And then your little queen attacked and cut a fanatic right in two?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a bit troubling.” Alfred crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the back of his chair. “Fanatics… even the higher-ups in their church don’t dare mess with them, so why don’t you take your woman and hide for a while?”
“Andonara still has to protect Stephanie,” Roland explained, “so we won’t be leaving the capital of Fareins for a while.”
“How can you help the First Princess when you can’t protect yourselves.”
Roland smiled. “Now Andonara is even stronger.”
Alfred’s expression froze. “Stronger? I heard that she was able to kill a Legendary Mage by herself before, and that was one against two, but now she’s even stronger, able to fight one against three?”
“I think she can fight five!” Roland said indifferently.
If it was a Legendary Mage like the ones from the Spatial Magic Tower, the current Andonara probably wouldn’t have much of a problem fighting ten of them. But he had to be humble.
And speaking only half the truth was beneficial for hiding one’s trump card.
“Hiss! Wouldn’t that be enough to beat at least six of me?” Alfred rubbed his head. “That’s a bit outrageous. How did you hook up with such a powerful wife? Is the king of Hollevin an idiot? To push such a powerful woman away? Is this his fetish?”
Roland’s face darkened a little. “Chairman, why is the focus of your concern on the word ‘wife’?”
“That’s the truth.” Alfred chuckled. “I can’t resist teasing you when I see your serious face.”
Roland was speechless.
And gloomy.
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“Well, no more jokes.” Alfred was, after all, an old man, experienced and with high intelligence; he knew what level of joke was appropriate. “Since you’re staying here to help Stephanie, and I have no problem with that, take care of yourself.”
“I know.”
“Actually, I’m not worried about you; after all, you are a Golden Son and immortal.” Alfred was a little envious. “And you have a friend who is also a Saint Samurai—it’s just a pity he went to crusade in the Realm of Devils. You are not in danger, so please take care of Stephanie. Now the situation is chaotic, and as the future queen, there is no guarantee that she won’t be targeted during the chaos.”
Roland nodded. “It’s only right. She is also my friend after all.”
Then Alfred waved his hand, and Roland bid farewell and left the Association of Mages.
When he returned to the First Princess’s Manor, he found that both the First Princess and Andonara had returned.
The two of them were drinking fruit wine with Lady Bluebird. Roland sat down in front of them and asked, “What did the king say?”
“He told all the nobles to keep a low profile and try not to get into conflict with the Church of Light.” Stephanie smiled bitterly. “He also made a point of criticizing me a few times, saying that it wasn’t wise for me to get into a fight with a fanatic.”
“Does he mean that you should hand over Andonara?” Roland’s expression turned a little cold.
“He didn’t mean it that way,” said Stephanie helplessly. “Roland, have a little faith in the royal family. There’s no reason for us to be afraid of a fanatic anyway.” “Then what does the king mean?” “What he means is that Andonara had better hide.”
At that moment, Andonara interjected, “But I have to protect you, and you are actually in more danger than I am.”
This was certainly the case.
Andonara was so strong that although she was targeted by the fanatics, she would hardly be in danger.
Even if the Pope were to strike, it was hard to say if he could stand in front of her for a minute.
Stephanie said happily, “Thank you, Anna.”
Lady Bluebird looked at Andonara with some envy.
The more powerless a woman was and the longer she lived in the noble class, the more she would learn that the so-called noblewoman is essentially no different from a prostitute.
It just had the extra words “high class.”
And women like Andonara, who was very good-looking and yet in control of their own destiny, were way too rare.
She was the kind of woman that all women would admire.
The pride of women.
After thanking Andonara, Stephanie looked at Lady Bluebird. “Betty, don’t go home for a while and stay with me. Your man is too weak to protect you. You are too beautiful, and if the people in the Church of Light take advantage of the chaotic situation and carry out some ill intentions, it might be too late for us to rescue you when we receive any news.”
Lady Bluebird nodded repeatedly.
Although Stephanie was exaggerating a bit, there was some truth to it.
Human nature was something that couldn’t stand to be tested, and in chaotic circumstances, people’s evil desires were magnified.
Then Stephanie stared at Roland. “I heard that you went to the Association of Mages just now. What are their thoughts over there?”
“The same as the royal family. They all intend on keeping a low profile.”
Stephanie chortled. “As Father expected, even the great Mages wouldn’t dare to provoke the Church of Light right now.”
“So, the Association of Mages, the royal family, and the Church of Light don’t form an equilateral triangle.” Roland clicked his tongue. “Rather, it is a right-angle triangle. The Church of Light at the top.”
Although she did not understand what was meant by equilateral triangle, right-angle triangle, and other confusing terms, Stephanie still understood the general meaning.
She shook her head. “When the Church of Light isn’t going crazy, the strength of the three forces is indeed about the same.”
“Well, that’s without going crazy.” Roland took a sip of fruit wine. “But now they’re going crazy.”
Just like Roland said, everyone felt an oppressive aura throughout the Holy Realm.
The Pope, with three Saint Samurai in tow, strode to the conference building of the Inquisition.
Unlike the white and gold buildings that littered the Temple of Light, the building that was the Inquisition was gray.
The furniture was also mostly black, and just looking at it from the outside, it already had a depressing and rather uncomfortable aura.
And outside the building on the rocky square, there were many stretchers.
Some of those on the stretchers had been covered with a white cloth. This was a sign of death.
But more people were being treated.
The condition of one of them caught the attention of the pope and the three Saint Samurai.
It was an inquisitor who had been cut in two, but this man was not dead. People were casting Enlivening and Light Healing on both his upper and lower body.
There were a lot of internal organs spilling out and it looked terrible, but the medics around him, nevertheless, tried everything they could to resuscitate him.
They stuffed the man’s insides back in first, then carefully put the two severed body parts together, while the Light Healing carried on.
After the two body parts were joined together, flesh sprouted quickly from the contact surface under the effect of the Light Healing, and the body parts spliced themselves together.
On the inside of the body, the severed internal organs rejoined and were spliced, regenerated, and fused with great speed.
Soon, the man woke up from his coma.
Although his face was frighteningly pale, he was still alive.
As soon as this inquisitor opened his eyes, he said to the people around him, “Hurry up, carry me to the director. I found a demon spy, a Legend. The corruption and fall of the Saint Samurai is most likely related to the other party.”
Hearing these words, the people around him acted quickly, and at once two people lifted the speaker’s stretcher and trotted into the building.
The Pope’s face twitched and he followed close behind.
The Inquisition’s director’s office was on the fourth floor, and when the Pope went up here, he saw the inquisitor lying on the bed in the large conference room across from him, talking to his director.
“She smells like a demon, quite strongly in fact. Director, I can guarantee that is definitely one of our enemies.”
“The woman who smells like a demon from the First Princess’s manor, and she’s also a Legend?” The director looked up from his desk. His forehead was marked by five or six deep horizontal lines, and below his sharp eyebrows were a pair of cold and merciless eyes. “You’re not lying? The other party is really a Legend?” “Yes!”
“Thomas, take five hundred men with you, go to the First Princess’s manor, and help me take the woman.”
At that moment, the Pope stepped through the door. “You can’t do that, Macaron. That is the home of the First Princess, the future queen, and we must still give the necessary respect to the royal family.”