Too Many Guests

After confirming that the environment was indeed safe, Freya began to report the recent situation of the three archbishops to Ansu.

Aside from Paul, who came to the academy to teach, Terry and Archbishop Leonard usually stayed at the Holy Dome Cathedral, living in seclusion and only leaving to handle Church-related matters.

"But ever since Lord Ansu told me that there might be a villain within the Church, I've been staying in the cathedral under the guise of official business, secretly recording their daily movements..."

Freya seemed to have truly discovered some abnormalities, as she recalled thoughtfully,

"I've been keeping watch until midnight every day. At one o'clock yesterday morning, I was just about to fall asleep when I suddenly heard some movement outside..."

Freya not only had a keen sense of smell, but her hearing also naturally inherited the excellent talent of the Staya Tribe.

"I saw... a clergyman in plain clothes sneak out of the cathedral's back door. I felt something was wrong, so I followed him quietly, and it turned out..."

"That person was actually Archbishop Terry!"

"Archbishop Terry?" Ansu thought that this guy indeed had issues, so he quickly asked, "Where did he go?"

Freya whispered, "Archbishop Terry is very powerful, and I was afraid he would notice me if I got too close, so I could only follow from a distance."

"I lost him after a while, but he crossed that bridge leading to the south, so I'm certain his destination was the Black Harbor District!"

"The Black Harbor District..." Ansu mused. This was the district where he lived, a place where all sorts of people mingled.

Archbishop Terry was clearly in secret contact with someone outside the Church, so choosing such a place for a meeting made perfect sense.

"Aside from that, there's nothing else." Freya clenched her fist, her tone certain. "The villain lurking inside the Church that you mentioned must be Archbishop Terry!"

"That guy is always at odds with me and Archbishop Paul, and he always has that cynical attitude... It's definitely him!"

Archbishop Terry fit her image of a villain or a scoundrel perfectly.

"Thank you for the information." Seeing the faint dark circles under Freya's eyes, Ansu's smile was filled with gratitude. "Go back and rest. Get a good night's sleep, and I'll handle the rest."

"It is my honor to serve Lord Ansu." Freya shook her head. "Please don't be so polite with me. Didn't I say? I'm willing to do anything for you..."

Having finished her report, Freya prepared to leave.

The moment Ansu opened the door, he saw Vera in the living room staring intently at his bedroom door, her little ears practically twitching.

Seeing the two appear, her expression shifted to one of surprise, and she quickly turned back to continue her studies.

"Little Vera is studying very hard!" Freya said with a smile.

Vera pursed her lips. How could she possibly be in the mood to study?

Her brother and this beautiful lady from the Church had gone into the room and closed the door to chat for so long...

What on earth were they doing in there? There was no way she could focus on her schoolwork!

"Brother..." Vera looked up, eyeing Ansu and Freya suspiciously. "What were you two just talking about in the room? Is there some secret that even I can't know?"

Before Ansu could speak, Freya instinctively tried to cover for him.

"It's grown-up business! Little Vera shouldn't ask too many questions!"

"G-grown-up business?" Vera's deep blue eyes slowly widened.

"Alright, alright, stop giving weird explanations!" Seeing the misunderstanding grow, Ansu shot a speechless look at Freya. "You should head back now. Don't you have things to do?"

"Ah, right..." Freya nodded and bid them both farewell.

Vera forced a smile as she watched Freya leave.

Once the front door was closed, she finally couldn't help but lean in toward Ansu, her small face set in a serious expression.

"Brother! That friend of yours... she isn't just a normal friend, is she?"

"Uh..." It seemed she really wasn't. Ansu found it hard to describe his relationship with Freya.

Lord Chosen One and his loyal divine servant? That didn't seem quite right either...

Ansu and Freya currently had a superior-subordinate relationship, somewhat similar to his relationship with Celia...

"Brother, you haven't been studying properly lately..." Vera began to lecture Ansu as usual.

"Your most important task right now is to study! That's the only way our family's life will slowly improve. You must never let yourself be deceived by these pretty girls!"

"Don't worry." Ansu couldn't help but chuckle. "It's not yet clear who's deceiving whom!"

As things stood, whether it was his superior Celia or his subordinate Freya, both were firmly under his thumb—aside from that "tiny" mishap in the simulation...

In reality, everything was progressing steadily for the better!

Ansu was already becoming quite experienced as a double agent.

He would win!

"Hmm?" Vera looked at her brother in confusion, not understanding what his last sentence meant.

"You're one to talk. You're the one who needs to study hard right now!" Ansu turned the tables and urged her on.

"If you master the next stage of the curriculum, you might be able to skip grades in middle school and pass the entrance exam for the Royal Academy before I graduate! Don't you want to be your brother's junior?"

"Of course I do!" Vera nodded.

She wished she could enter the Royal Academy immediately so she could see her brother every day.

And, more importantly, keep a close eye on those girls with ill intentions toward him!

"Then study hard and do your best!" Ansu smiled and patted his sister's head. Vera was very smart; she might actually be able to get into the Royal Academy in the future.

"Mmm... fine."

Vera seemed to forget her earlier unpleasantness as she lowered her head, immersing herself once more in the sea of knowledge.

But she hadn't been studying for long when another knock sounded at the door.

Unlike Freya's knock, this one was heavy, and the voice outside was cold.

"Ansu, it's me."

The two of them looked toward the door simultaneously. Ansu's face darkened with frustration. Seriously, is this ever going to end today...

"Brother..." Vera found the voice somewhat familiar. "Isn't that your... female boss?"

Ansu walked forward helplessly and opened the door.

A blank-faced Celia stood at the entrance.

"Did Freya come to see you?"

Ansu knew she never liked him interacting with that Holy Maiden, so he didn't dare mention anything else and reported in a low voice, "She brought some important information."

"Good." Celia walked into the living room as if she owned the place. She glanced at the studying sister, and without even a greeting, she headed straight for Ansu's room.

"It's not safe to talk out here. Let's go to your room."

Ansu could only follow quickly.

Hearing the sound of her brother's door being locked from the inside again, Vera's eyes widened in disbelief.

"???"

Again?!.

...

Inside the room.

Celia sat directly in Ansu's chair and got straight to the point. "What did the Holy Maiden say?"

Ansu quickly reported the news of Freya's secret investigation and Archbishop Terry's suspicious movements.

"Is it really this Archbishop Terry?" Celia frowned slightly.

"I have some impression of this archbishop. He's not very bright and has a fiery temper. If it weren't for his decent strength, he probably wouldn't have reached such a high position..."

Celia's reaction actually made Ansu curious. "Regarding the mastermind, all current clues point to this Terry, but you don't seem to think so, My Lady. Do you think it's someone else?"

"It's just intuition..." Celia shook her head slightly. "If I had to choose one of the three, I would choose Paul."

"Archbishop Paul?" The image of the Church's "nice guy" appeared in Ansu's mind. Almost all reviews of him were full of praise, and Freya also believed he was a trustworthy ally.

When Ansu shared this positive evaluation of the archbishop with Celia, she immediately showed a look of disdain.

"I don't believe anyone who can reach that position in the Church is a good person."

"Just a hypocrite." Celia sneered. "There are many such people in the Church who package their image through acts of kindness and piety, but in the end, it's all for power. The fact that Paul has earned so much praise only shows the depth of his schemes."

Ansu thought silently that it seemed Celia hated "hypocrites" even more than "blatant villains." However, he had some different thoughts on the matter.

Even if Paul really was a hypocrite, if he could keep up the act for a lifetime, then he was effectively a good person. Of course, there was another reason why Ansu didn't think Paul was the mastermind...

In the simulation, he had seen Paul's corpse. That archbishop had indeed stood with Freya and died protecting him.

As for the other two, he hadn't seen their bodies...

Thinking back, those two might have even run away, which only made them more suspicious.