Outside Indo Harbor, within the hot spring manor on Mount Tamik.
"His Grace the Duke of Graycastle, Wimbledon Einhorn, and His Excellency Ivan Andronik, Archbishop of the God of Combat Church, have arrived in Indo and will soon attend the 'Twilight Day Celebration' at the Pitt Grand Hotel." While having afternoon tea together with the two ladies "Greed" and "Sloth," Ebner casually flipped through the Indo Morning Post in the living room.
Hearing Ebner's low muttering, "Sloth" Clossfia turned her head and asked Miss "Greed," Ksenia, "If I remember correctly, the Duke of Graycastle is the father of your student?"
She was wearing a loose beige bathrobe and looked as if she had just finished bathing in the hot springs.
Countess Ksenia, also wearing a bathrobe and with her long hair coiled up behind her head, nodded and said, "That's right. Nashalie is indeed Wimbledon's daughter."
"That Duke of Graycastle is also a Beyonder, right? What level?" Ebner also looked over at this moment and asked curiously.
"Wimbledon Einhorn himself is an 'Iron-Blooded Knight,' but he seems to have very close ties with a certain organization in secret and has received their strong support. He acts as an intermediary between that organization and the royal family, which is why he was conferred the title of a duke with real authority," Countess Ksenia thought for a moment and then added, "However, he probably also feels that his current position is rather awkward, so aside from his eldest son, he has deliberately distanced himself from his other children, letting them find their own paths and only providing necessary support.
"That's precisely why Nashalie became my student."
Hearing this, Clossfia's lips curved slightly, revealing a dimple, as she said with a half-smile, "Sounds like the organization he's colluding with isn't anything proper."
"Greed" Ksenia considered her words and said in an uncertain tone, "There are rumors that the ones in contact with him are very likely the 'Demon' family."
The "Demon" family… Andrealad, after Amon's integration?
Mm, judging from the memories I obtained from Chesiah and other members of the Belial family, Andrealad was indeed lurking within Feysac's territory.
According to the contents of that adventurer's nightmare—the one Dunn and I awkwardly acted out a 'hero descends from the heavens' script to save outside 'Twilight Castle' last time—the Demons' base was very likely in the Antars Mountains.
And "Graycastle" lay right at the southern foothills of the Antars Mountains!
Seeing Ebner reveal a thoughtful expression, Clossfia untied her hair ribbon, letting her beautiful brown hair cascade down, and asked, "Did you think of something?"
"I think this 'Twilight Day Celebration' is probably not going to be simple," Ebner answered seriously.
Every time Amon appeared, a major incident followed… Compared to him, my so-called 'disaster magnet at gatherings' physique almost seemed undeserved.
And now, in Indo Harbor, aside from myself, four members of the Psychology Alchemists, the former Evernight Church archbishop Ince Zangwill, high-sequence existences like Azik the 'Death Consul,' and others had all gathered here for various reasons…
On top of that, there was a person behind the scenes who guided Leonard's Red Gloves squad here step by step using that 'Black Blade,' as well as the faintly looming presence of Amon behind the Duke of Graycastle…
Even though, as a 'Cognizer,' I hadn't detected changes in the River of Fate, I still had a strong premonition of a storm gathering on the horizon.
"Of course it won't be simple… According to some information I've obtained, the royal family and the church seem to be planning to publicly commend a 'Black Blade' who just returned from a mission in Loen," "Greed" Ksenia picked up the conversation and then sighed, "It seems war will be hard to avoid…"
Publicly commending a 'Black Blade' who did dirty work—there was an eighty-percent chance they would also expose the ugly deeds of that murdered viscount… That was a slap in the face of Loen and the Evernight Church!
Were they really that eager to provoke friction?
Thinking this way, Ebner could somewhat understand why the Feysac side was staging such a large-scale "celebration" here in Indo.
As one of the port cities with the closest trade ties to Loen, Indo Harbor did not wish for war, and there were even quite a few people here who had come from Loen and still retained faith in the Goddess… so naturally, a wave of "smearing" was needed.
After nodding slightly, Ebner pointed at another name printed in the newspaper—"Ivan Andronik"—and asked, "Why haven't I heard of this Archbishop of the God of Combat Church?"
At the very least, this person hadn't appeared on the list of God of Combat Church archbishops that "Iceberg Admiral"'s "learning space" had once provided him.
The countess also shook her head and said, "I don't know his background either. He seems to have popped up out of nowhere… I'd never heard of him before."
At this point, she changed the topic slightly and said in a speculative tone, "However, this isn't without precedent… I think archbishops who suddenly appear like this are very likely from the 'Inquisition'!"
The "Inquisition" was an institution that did not exist in other orthodox churches. Only the God of Combat Church—which monopolized all faith within the Feysac Empire and only allowed the Earth Mother Goddess Church to proselytize on a small scale—had established such an organization to punish heretics.
It was worth mentioning that although the Earth Mother Goddess Church also monopolized faith within the Feneport Kingdom, the religious atmosphere there was not particularly intense.
Only half-giant bishops like Utravsky, who came from Feysac, were enthusiastic about preaching and expanding believers. Most others were "slackers" like Miss "Sloth."
Suppressing and smearing the Evernight Church—bringing out a demigod from the Inquisition to hold the line was indeed necessary. No wonder it was this Ivan who came to Indo Harbor instead of another archbishop.
Still, understanding it was one thing, but watching you smear the Evernight Goddess like this really pissed me off… Maybe I should help Leonard out and secretly take care of that 'Black Blade'?
Just as Ebner was pondering whether to "curse" or spread a "disease," a three-headed python suddenly emerged from the void.
It was as thick as a bowl, over five meters long, with a pattern on the back of each of the three necks.
The pattern on the middle head's neck was a blood-red spear.
However, none of the three paid attention to its appearance. Instead, they focused on the letter clenched in the mouth of its middle head.
—This was "Greed" Ksenia's messenger.
The countess took the letter, opened it, scanned it a few times, then handed it to "Sloth" and said:
"'Gluttony' wants me to wait for someone at the entrance of the Pitt Hotel, and he even specifically pointed out that this person has an opportunity to advance to 'Cognizer'…
"Is he trying to exploit my 'greedy' nature? But then why didn't he give the name of the person I'm supposed to wait for?"
Ksenia snorted at this. She was now already on "Sloth"'s side. When major matters arose, she had to obtain "Sloth"'s consent first, so she naturally wouldn't be influenced by the "Greed" mask anymore.
After Ebner took the letter and read it several times, a trace of sudden understanding arose in his heart:
"Gluttony" was probably nothing more than a chess piece in the scheme of some existence…
It seemed this game in Indo Harbor… far exceeded my imagination.
(End of the chapter)