The sky was just beginning to brighten, and the morning mist had not yet dissipated.
Ansu and Celia strolled through the streets of Limestone Town.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street were already open for business. Occasionally, a merchant caravan would drive past in a hurry, and townspeople appeared in small groups at the street corners, their gazes occasionally sweeping over these two strangers from out of town.
Ansu observed his surroundings without a word and lowered his voice. "Celia, do you feel... anything strange about this town?"
"You noticed too?" Celia looked at him with a slight surprise, then inadvertently glanced in a certain direction.
"I can sense the presence of casters nearby, and more than one... These mages have been peering from the shadows ever since we stepped into town."
At this distance, even the slightest mana fluctuation could hardly escape her perception. However, what intrigued her more was that Ansu's perception of magic was also quite sharp.
"Yeah, I noticed," Ansu chuckled. But the reason he noticed was different from what Celia thought.
It was because he already knew that Limestone Town had been secretly infiltrated by demons. Barcas was secretly funding the neighboring lord in an attempt to annex this territory with its strategically important terrain.
"You're quite impressive now, Ansu~" Celia suddenly felt a sense of newfound respect.
She still remembered when she first met Ansu; he was just a layman who thought black magic was 'cool.' Yet, in such a short time, he had grown into a mage who could hold his own.
Ansu didn't explain much, merely responding to her praise with humility. "No matter how impressive I am, I'm still not as impressive as the Miss Witch."
"Hmph, naturally~" Celia's lips curled up slightly, a small hint of pride in the corners of her eyes.
"I discovered them much earlier than you! When it comes to mana perception, you're still far behind, Ansu!"
Ansu was already used to the proud and show-offy Miss Witch. He turned back to the previous topic. "However, those guys watching from the shadows... might not necessarily be coming for us."
Celia blinked, waiting for his analysis.
Ansu's gaze shifted toward their destination.
A white church built in the center of town—the Church of Holy Light's outpost in the wasteland territory.
"In the eyes of outsiders, we're just ordinary members of the Inquisition squad. So what they want to find out must be the purpose of this team's presence here."
The two of them chatted as they approached the church, and the feeling of being watched weakened considerably.
"So, what do you plan to do?" Celia looked at Ansu curiously.
"Let's catch a monitor first and see." Ansu looked toward a restaurant outside the church.
The captain and the others were sitting by the window eating breakfast. Seeing Ansu and Celia appear, they smiled and waved them over.
Ansu nodded to the captain and walked into the restaurant with Celia, sitting at the table next to them.
Because he had eaten the substantial late-night snack Celia had prepared for him, Ansu wasn't hungry at all, so he ordered a mug of malt liquor.
The captain looked as if he had plenty to say. Seeing Ansu sit down, he leaned in mysteriously. "Mr. Ansu, you actually guessed right!"
"The situation in the wasteland territory is very similar to the northern territory you mentioned. The Viscount's merchant caravans and grain caravans have been attacked by large groups of monsters, and this has happened more than once or twice..."
He frowned and said in a low voice, "The neighboring lord has a big problem. He's definitely colluding with black mages in private. That heretical scum who abandoned his faith... the Church of Holy Light will never forgive his crimes!"
"Is that so?" Ansu showed a surprised expression. "I was only speaking from hearsay. I didn't expect... it to actually be like that? The neighboring lord is too wicked!"
Hearing Ansu's simple and righteous tone, Celia, who was eating a pastry, suddenly felt like laughing.
She suppressed the urge to laugh and glanced at the solemn Ansu. He was currently trying to persuade the captain to request reinforcements from other church outposts to arrest the heretical lord colluding with black mages.
"I will certainly request support, but right now... the churches everywhere are short-handed." The captain sighed. "Reinforcements definitely won't be able to arrive for a while."
Ansu asked in confusion, "Why is there a lack of manpower?"
"Because many senior clergy members have been sent to the Royal Capital." The captain looked at Ansu. "Don't you know? A major event has happened in the Royal Capital recently!"
Ansu and Celia silently exchanged a glance.
"I don't know," Ansu shook his head. "Why don't you tell us about it?"
"Hmm..." The captain thought for a moment. "This happened after we set out, so it's understandable that Mr. Ansu wouldn't know..."
His expression turned serious as he patiently explained to Ansu, "The largest cult organization on the continent, the Echoes of Truth, is infiltrating the Royal Capital in a big way. They intend to throw the Royal Capital and the Church of Holy Light into chaos after the Pope's death! To achieve some sinister purpose unknown to outsiders..."
Seeing the captain explain the situation to Ansu so earnestly, while the mastermind of the entire event was sitting right across from him... Celia's shoulders trembled slightly, and she finally couldn't hold back her laughter.
And because she was eating a pastry, she coughed while laughing, her small face turning red from the effort...
"What... what's wrong with her?" the captain asked in confusion. Why did she burst out laughing while he was talking? Wasn't this a very serious matter?
"Uh, Hailey is just like that. She's always careless when eating." Ansu glanced at Celia and gently patted her back to help her catch her breath. "Captain, please continue."
The captain spoke more about the current situation in the Royal Capital. After the cult leader Samantha was exposed, all the clergy in the Royal Capital, from archbishops to monks, launched a tight manhunt for her, causing the cult organization to suffer great losses.
The strongest member of the Church of Holy Light, the Pope's guard Seance, even directly wounded Samantha. Samantha and a few confidants could only flee miserably into the slums and didn't dare to release magic easily, because as long as there was a mana fluctuation, Seance could instantly lock onto them.
"That's good news!" Ansu felt happy the moment he heard the old witch had fallen into such a miserable state.
However, this Pope's guard, Seance, really had some skill... It seemed he still couldn't underestimate the foundations of the Church of Holy Light.
"Those damn cultists!" The captain wished he could also participate in the operation to surround and suppress the cult organization and personally bring that cult leader to justice. "The Holy Light will surely protect us. Their plot will never succeed!"
"So..." Celia suppressed her laughter, but her fair cheeks were still flushed. "That sinister purpose of those cultists... what exactly is it? Captain, is it convenient for you to disclose?"
"I don't know that..." The captain shook his head. "That's highly classified internal information. Someone of my level is definitely not qualified to know."
"Oh, alright then." Celia looked slightly disappointed. "I didn't expect so many things to happen. It's really scary..."
Ansu silently watched the Miss Witch, who was also a great actor. When the captain wasn't paying attention, she winked at him playfully.
"I hope your Church of Holy Light gets its wish."
The captain chuckled, not wanting them to stay nervous, so he comforted the two of them:
"Don't worry, you can rest assured. With those big shots in the Royal Capital, that cult leader Samantha won't dare to act rashly! She's as good as dead!"
While chatting with the expedition squad, Ansu and Celia didn't forget to pay attention to the outside.
Celia's gaze fixed on a passing merchant caravan, and she suddenly narrowed her eyes.
"Ansu."
Ansu turned his head and leaned close to Celia's cheek. She whispered quietly in his ear:
"There was a surge of mana just now. The watcher has revealed himself; he's eavesdropping on our conversation..."
Ansu sneered in his heart. Finally.
The other party must think the expedition squad is gathered here to plot something, but that was exactly his goal.
"Captain, we'll step out for a moment." Ansu and Celia stood up together and quickly left the restaurant.
And just as they chased out of the restaurant, the merchant caravan stopped in the busy district. The morning market had become lively by now, with people crowding everywhere.
"He's blended into the crowd." Celia quickly locked onto a figure walking away quickly among the people and sneered. "Trying to run?"
"After him!" Ansu strode into the crowd, in hot pursuit.
Rate on N.U.
