Ronan and the others had not yet returned.
After returning to the Daylight Cathedral, Olivia Melianne found an Administrative Priest named Gareth Pierce and reported her encounter.
Every week, the church assigned a priest-level clergyman to serve as the Administrative Priest, responsible for handling various miscellaneous affairs on a rotating basis.
A priest was one rank higher than a deacon, equivalent in rank to a chanting nun!
Gareth Pierce, who was in charge of administrative matters this week, listened to Olivia's report with a very solemn expression.
The elderly priest, who had short curly hair and the refined manner of a gentleman, said in a deep voice, "I understand the situation. Sister Olivia, you need to suspend your current mission. I will also send someone to call back your colleagues, Deacon Ronan and the others. We need to deliberate on this matter again before deciding how to proceed."
Olivia had no objections.
...
An hour later, Ronan and the others returned one after another, learning the details of the situation in the Administrative Office.
Everyone was somewhat surprised that a member of Dreamland Paradise had approached Olivia, but they were even more astonished by the words Misty Dream had conveyed.
"Why does he think we would believe him?" Raymond Zeller was completely baffled.
Misty Dream asked the church to stop targeting the Paradise—could the church actually stop?
No matter how one looked at it, that was impossible, wasn't it?
"Regardless, you should all rest for now," Administrative Priest Gareth said seriously. "The person behind the Paradise has appeared, which means the danger has escalated. You can no longer conduct investigations separately as you did before. Of course, this doesn't mean you're on vacation. We will provide you with new arrangements as soon as possible, but we need to deliberate on a conclusion based on investigations from other sectors."
Ronan's team had been responsible for investigating the identities of visitors and dissuading them from entering the Paradise.
But that was only one part of the Paradise incident. There were others responsible for various other aspects, and the scope of the matter was incredibly broad.
"I know. Perhaps I'll receive a new mission tomorrow. Or even today," Ronan knew it wasn't time to relax yet.
He led his team out of the Administrative Office.
Just as they stepped out, he saw a familiar figure running toward them from not far away.
"Ronan, I heard you're taking a temporary break. Why don't you come help me out? My business isn't entirely unrelated to yours." The person walking over was Gray Campbell, a smile on his face.
...
When Ronan and the others returned, Olivia was in the meditation room focusing on her practice, drawing in magic particles to gather within her body.
Every day, she could clearly feel her progress, and she could sense that the rate of improvement was not small.
'The Pilgrim class rank allows one to mobilize the magic within the body to perform transcendent abilities. The more magic one can mobilize, the further one has progressed. I can't mobilize all my magic yet, but I can manage more than half. Perhaps it won't be long before I can prepare for my second advancement.'
Olivia thought to herself.
Because of the magic mirror, she naturally knew the second advancement ritual for an Ascetic. However, simply knowing it wasn't enough. As a member of the church, she had to learn about the second advancement ritual through official church channels.
Furthermore, besides the ritual, she needed the corresponding spiritual materials.
All of this required merit.
'I wonder if the merit I've accumulated during this period is enough. My biggest contribution should be from the Soltu Statue Gallery, resolving the incident with the uncontrolled-grade forbidden artifact, the Seed of Awakening. The investigation into the Paradise probably hasn't accumulated much merit.'
But was that enough?
Olivia thought about it and felt it might not be. The merit required for a second advancement was clearly much higher than that for the first.
As Olivia was lost in thought, a knock sounded at the door.
She ended her meditation, stood up, and opened the door to find Raymond.
"Olivia, we have work to do," Raymond quickly explained the current situation.
...
The matter wasn't complicated; it was still related to the Soltu Statue Gallery.
For the past few days, Gray had been leading his people to investigate everyone who had come into contact with the Soltu Statue Gallery, searching for the mastermind who might have placed the Seed of Awakening. After several days, he had narrowed it down to a few suspects.
At this stage, Gray was actually afraid to continue the investigation alone, because once they confronted the culprit, a battle would likely be unavoidable.
Therefore, Gray needed help—he needed backup!
When Gray returned to the cathedral today to look for assistance, he heard that Ronan's team was on temporary leave. Wasn't that his first source of backup right there?
Ronan didn't refuse.
After hearing Raymond's recount, Olivia had no intention of refusing either.
'Actually, refusing wouldn't matter. Since we're free now, if the church were to make the arrangements, they would likely send us to handle this anyway.'
Olivia had some understanding of how the church operated; after all, the church was currently very short-handed.
Over the past few days, many novice nuns from the monastery had been transferred to help, let alone full nuns and deaconesses who held higher positions.
Yesterday, she had seen Mirabelle again and learned that teaching at the monastery had been suspended. Even the nun teachers responsible for instruction had gone to different cathedrals to assist, let alone everyone else.
The church was currently at its busiest.
When Olivia arrived at the cathedral entrance, two carriages were parked there. One held Gray's people, and the other held Ronan's team.
Seeing Olivia approach, Gray walked over with a smile. "Sister Olivia, I assume you already know what we're about to do? I'm looking forward to your performance."
"Does Deacon Gray mean you want to be defeated again so I can reap the victory?"
"...I didn't say that."
Gray's smile stiffened for a moment before he said helplessly, "Actually, a battle might not even break out. There are several suspects, and we have to investigate them one by one. We might not be able to pinpoint the real mastermind so accurately."
Olivia glanced around. "If we really find the mastermind, are there enough of us? Do we need to request help from someone at the level of a priest or a chanting nun?"
Gray waved his hand. "No need, no need. According to our investigation, when we were fighting at the statue gallery a few days ago, the mastermind was likely observing from the shadows but didn't dare to act. This is enough to prove that the mastermind's own strength isn't as terrifying as one might imagine."
He smiled, indicating that he only needed some backup to ensure there would be no accidents.
"So, let's set off. To the first suspect—they are currently living on Baker Street." Gray pointed into the distance, looking quite energetic.
Rate on N.U.
