Not long after, another smaller group arrived outside the city gates.
As soon as Jaemar recognized them, he immediately went out to greet them warmly.
After a round of cordial greetings, Jaemar pointed to the man standing beside him and smiled. "Bishop Saphir, allow me to introduce a friend of mine—Charles.
He's in charge of anti-cult operations back in the Mardain. His work is highly covert, so not many know of him, but make no mistake—he's a genuine expert. His understanding of cultists is second to none—almost as if he knows them better than he knows himself.
I brought him here specifically to analyze the existing intel and help identify the locations within the city where cultists are most likely to be hiding."
"Oh?"
Saphir, who had originally been indifferent, showed a flicker of curiosity after hearing Jaemar's introduction. He turned his gaze to Charles.
Meeting his eyes, Charles stepped forward and extended his hand to shake Saphir's. His expression was one of barely restrained excitement. "B-Bishop Saphir, it's an honor. I've long heard of your great name. I never imagined I'd get to meet you in person—this is all a bit overwhelming!"
He sounded so thrilled it was as if he were meeting a personal idol. His words stumbled from his mouth in excitement.
Saphir was momentarily taken aback by the man's enthusiasm, then chuckled and replied, "You're far too kind. I never expected the Mardain Principality to have someone so knowledgeable about cults. Mardain is lucky to have you."
Charles immediately looked humbled. "No, I dare not take credit. When it comes to dealing with cultists, you're the true authority as the head of the Inquisition. I'm honored that Prince Jaemar would even consider bringing me here. I wouldn't dare presume…"
Listening to their overly polite back-and-forth, Jaemar—who was well aware of who these two men really were—could only feel a headache coming on.
'A cult-hunting executioner and a former cult leader singing each other's praises… Seriously?'
Unable to bear it, he interrupted, "Gentlemen, let's leave the small talk for later. We have more pressing matters to handle first."
The two exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement. "Very well," they said in unison, both looking like they'd found kindred spirits—men who fully intended to sit down for a long and deep conversation once the work was done.
The sight made Jaemar feel a chill down his spine.
He quickly gestured to Charles. "Charles, hand a copy of the map to Bishop Saphir."
"Understood."
Saphir took the map Charles handed him without hesitation, immediately opening it and examining it with a serious expression.
The map was covered in color-coded circles of various sizes. The most prominent of these was a large red circle drawn around the royal palace at the center of the map.
Even Saphir couldn't help but freeze in surprise. It was clear that the colors represented levels of difficulty—three colors, three tiers. That much was easy to grasp.
But to see a big red circle drawn right over the royal palace? That was another matter entirely.
He hadn't expected Jaemar to include the palace in the search. After all, the prince hadn't even been crowned yet. His father was dead, yes—but his mother was still alive and currently in charge of palace affairs.
By tradition, only after the crown prince's coronation would she step aside.
For Jaemar to order a search of the palace so openly was, at best, overstepping—and at worst, a political provocation that could easily be seen as an attempted coup.
Such an act would undoubtedly damage his reputation among the people and give his siblings ammunition against him.
After a moment's hesitation, Saphir asked, "Hmm… there are quite a few marked locations. But why is the royal palace among them?"
"I had no choice," Jaemar replied evenly.
"My mother is not well-versed in statecraft, and morale within the palace has grown unstable. There's a real chance that cultists could have slipped in unnoticed. That makes it absolutely necessary to search the palace thoroughly.
I'll personally explain the situation to my mother afterward—so you needn't worry."
In other words, not even his own mother knew about this planned search.
Clearly, Jaemar had his doubts about her too.
Realizing the implication, Saphir could only acknowledge what a ruthless character Jaemar truly was—someone who wouldn't hesitate to distrust even his own family, and who clearly suspected more than a few nobles marked on the map.
This was someone willing to offend anyone to achieve his goal. No wonder he'd been able to crush all of his siblings' ambitions and secure his position as heir.
But to Saphir, such a person wasn't an ideal partner for long-term cooperation. Someone like Jaemar could turn on the Church at any moment and kick them out once they were no longer useful.
The Church's ideal political ally was someone with mediocre talent—strong enough to maintain order but not ambitious enough to pose a threat.
Saphir's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned the thought over. Finding no good alternative for the moment, he decided to let the matter rest—for now.
After all, only once this operation succeeded would the Church be able to officially establish its foothold in the principality of Mardain. If they failed here, everything else would be meaningless.
With that in mind, he asked, "So how do you plan to divide the targets?"
Jaemar, unaware that his nominal ally was already plotting against him, continued with a genial smile. "We'll save the red zone for last. As for the rest—let's split the city in half. Do you want the left or the right side?"
Bishop Saphir raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased. "Oh? But this is your territory, Your Highness. We're only here to assist. Isn't this division a bit… excessive? After all, we have only a tenth of your manpower, yet we're being asked to cover as much ground as you."
Jaemar replied calmly and frankly, "I understand your concern, but your Inquisition was created specifically to deal with cultists. You're seasoned professionals. You know their methods better than they do themselves.
My soldiers may be brave, but they lack your experience. If they were to go in alone, the casualties would be far greater."
Saphir, however, shook his head and refused firmly. "Even so, we can't afford to take on such heavy risk. I won't gamble with the lives of my clerics."
Jaemar wasn't surprised by the rejection. He simply smiled faintly and said, "We'll expand your district's jurisdiction by a third, and the Mardain will fund construction costs—six hundred thousand gold coins."
"Deal."
Saphir's expression turned solemn. He placed both hands on Jaemar's shoulders and said gravely, "When it comes to purging cults, our Church has always taken our sacred duty seriously. We've never slacked—not once. Your Highness, you're being too polite. My earlier objections were mere formality. There's no need to be so distant!"
'Old snake… you've got no shame!'
Perhaps sensing the bishop's true thoughts, Jaemar's eyes reddened as he hugged Saphir tightly. "Your words move me deeply. The Mardain and the Church have always been close—like brothers. This is just a small token of our appreciation. I insist you accept it!"
Saphir adopted a righteous look and declined firmly. "We couldn't possibly! Such arrangements violate Church policy!"
"No, I must insist!"
"No, truly, the Church—"
"No, you will accept—!"
Watching the two men perform their sickeningly noble pantomime, Charles silently turned his head and spat on the ground.
The whole charade had thoroughly disgusted him.
'These two bastards… talking about loyalty and righteousness like they didn't spend centuries at each other's throats. The Mardain and the Church went to war more than once over power. If the other factions hadn't intervened, they'd have destroyed each other centuries ago. What damn brotherhood?
No wonder politicians always win—these two are even thicker-skinned than I am, and I'm a damn warlock.'
Eventually, after much back-and-forth, Bishop Saphir reluctantly accepted the offer, agreeing to take the left half of the city. Jaemar even helpfully assigned a squad of soldiers to accompany them—ostensibly to assist, but in reality to keep them from slacking off.
As they prepared to depart, Jaemar gripped Saphir's hands and spoke with grave sincerity. "Take care out there. Completing the mission is important—but your lives are more important still!"
Once the Church's group was out of sight, Jaemar's smile vanished. He wiped his hands in disgust and spat on the ground.
Then he immediately took a bottle of wine from one of his men, rinsed his hands, and gargled thoroughly.
Even he found the words he'd just spoken nauseating.
"If I ever have to do that again, I swear I'll puke.
Fake allies… One day, I'll find a way to bury that old fox Saphir for good!"
Grumbling to himself, Jaemar walked away.
Meanwhile, Saphir—who was fidgeting uncomfortably like he had fleas in his robes—drew the concern of a nearby cleric.
"Bishop, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm fine. Just need to change my clothes."
Clearly, like Jaemar, he too had been thoroughly disgusted by the whole performance.
But in the end, he forced himself to endure. He removed his outer robe, shook it out, and put it back on.
Once everything had returned to normal, he turned to his clerics and asked calmly, "Has anyone here ever heard of this Charles fellow?"
"No."
"Never heard of him."
"Not once…"
Seeing the puzzled looks among his men, Saphir stroked his chin in thought.
He clearly remembered that several of the locations marked on the map matched the Church's own previously identified targets—sites they had specifically held back to use as bargaining chips.
And yet, Charles had marked them all without hesitation.
This doesn't make sense. If he really deduced all those targets just from scraps of intel, then his knowledge of cults must be frighteningly deep—so much so that it's hard to believe no one's ever heard of him.
Even if he was operating covertly, someone would've caught wind of his actions eventually. You can't purge that many cultists without leaving at least a few loose ends.
Glancing back at the soldiers trailing their group, Saphir leaned in and gave a quiet order.
"After today, I want a full report on that Charles. Everything there is to know. I have a feeling both he and our dear Prince Jaemar are hiding something…"
___
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