Chapter 2336: Iluna’s Warning

“It’s fine, the Nun will come sooner or later. It’s more important for her to deal with her own affairs first.”

Shard said, and Miss Aphrola, hands behind her back, turned her head to continue looking at Shard:

“Actually, I don’t really understand just how important the ‘Fire of the Primordial’ really is, but His Excellency the Speaker values the Nun very highly. This time I’m accompanying Sister Delphine to the New World on her orders. At the time His Excellency the Speaker said, ‘Put down everything in your hands; the matter of the Fire of the Primordial is more important than anything else.'”

Shard frowned slightly. As for the “Fire of the Primordial,” all he knew was that this flame came from the beginning of Genesis, or even before that. And Miss Isabella’s attitude seemed to suggest that this flame had some connection with the Witch Council that he did not yet understand.

Miss Aphrola suddenly stopped, blinked at Shard, and said:

“My shoes got wet, it’s really uncomfortable. Can you help me take them off?”

“Of course.”

So Shard knelt on one knee on the beach. Miss Aphrola pressed her lips together and lightly lifted her right foot, lowering her head to watch as Shard took off her purple buckled low-heeled shoe, and then did the same for the one on her left foot.

Afterwards, Shard did not turn the shoes into toys. Instead, he took a piece of cord from his pocket—there was always everything in his pockets—tied the two shoes together and slung them over his own shoulder, then draped his coat over the same spot to cover them.

The brown-haired Witch showed a faint smile. Her bare feet were once again hidden beneath her skirt, and with her soles stepping in the gently warmed seawater, she continued forward beside Shard. Only, she quietly reached her hand out to Shard, hooking her fingers with his.

“When we were in the New World, we kept frequent contact with the Council as well, so we knew about John Flynn and the New World Mutual Aid Society. Before leaving the New World we conducted a brief investigation. The Council had had almost no prior dealings with the New World Mutual Aid Society; this time it was thanks to the Aphrola Family’s connections that we could investigate.”

“Is that John Flynn also quite famous among the Circle Sorcerers in the New World?”

Shard asked. The Witch whose hand he was holding nodded lightly:

“Yes. His Level is still only in the Inner Ring, but due to the Sword of the Wind King his actual combat strength is very high. People have a high opinion of him, and believe that he and his small team are true men of justice. They’ve carried out many missions together in the New World and helped many people; they’re quite capable.

The only recent failure was earlier this year, when he went alone to Tobesk to intercept an Angel-Level Relic being transported out of the New World, and ran into a very dangerous team.”

As she spoke she glanced at Shard, and Shard laughed:

“Yes, in Tobesk he ran into our group. At the time we’d accepted an Academy task to escort and guard that dangerous Relic. That was during the Green Lake incident; back then I didn’t expect I’d meet him again. But we can talk about John Flynn later. For now, keep telling me about your experiences in the New World—I like listening to that sort of story.”

That morning, before the two of them left the beach, they didn’t talk about anything serious again. Hand in hand, they watched the seascape; Miss Aphrola asked after Shard’s recent life, and Shard in turn asked about other stories from her time in the New World.

Thus, when at noon that day the two of them walked back hand in hand to Belindel Estate, the Countess, seeing their figures from the second-floor terrace, said to Miss Eles beside her:

“Look at the two of them… There is definitely something improper about their relationship!”

Miss Matilda behind her blinked, thinking the Earl was looking a bit out of sorts, while the Blue Dragon Girl curiously asked:

“But they weren’t just ordinary friends to begin with.”

“I mean, they went to the beach this morning; they must have… must have done something.”

Miss Eles only covered her mouth and laughed softly, while the Countess kept her gaze fixed on the two, who were still holding hands as they walked toward the house. Elsewhere she had no say, but this was her home, her property; she could not allow Witches to do “shameless” things here.

At noon that day Shard ate lunch together with everyone. At the lunch table they also discussed that piece of Green Dragon Scales and the other Dragon Scales. The nature of these scales was similar: they all contained extremely strong Miracle Elements, and each one could grant others the power of a Dragon. Even if they could not resonate with each other to produce Dragon Language Runes, those scales, which were suspected to be connected with the Ancient God known as the Dragon of Radiant Light, were in themselves very precious Treasures.

And during lunch, Shard announced another matter:

“Luviya will probably arrive in Moon Bay in the next few days. Miss Belindel, she’ll be staying here as well when she arrives, so I’ll have to trouble you to instruct the Miss Maids to tidy up a room in advance.”

The others didn’t react much; even Emilia and the Little Unicorn knew Luviya, but only the Countess suddenly sat up straight:

“Luviya Annette? Yes, I’ve heard you mention this lady many times. She’s also a Diviner—we’ll have a common language.”

The competitive Countess intended to make proper preparations this time. Back then, because she hadn’t known Shard’s true identity, she was caught completely off guard when Miss Sylvia and Miss Benanis arrived. But now that she knew their identities in advance, she was determined to prove that arriving early didn’t necessarily mean being the best.

So after lunch, Shard followed the plan and returned to Tobesk to attend this year’s Holy Prayer Day at the Dawn Chapel. He was arranged to give a speech, and together with a host of Tobesk’s prominent figures toured the church and made a collective donation.

In the evening, Shard also joined Priest Augustus in the distribution of Holy Communion, and only took his leave of the church party when the lanterns on Dawn Square were just being lit.

Priest Augustus saw Shard off to the carriage. After Shard stepped into the compartment, he still reached out to shake hands with the priest outside:

“Priest, I wish you a pleasant journey ahead.”

“I look forward to our next meeting, Detective.”

The Holy Prayer Day in the Tobesk Parish passed peacefully, but the Moon Bay Parish wasn’t so fortunate. Early Tuesday morning, when Shard met Iluna at Belindel Estate, she brought new intelligence:

“Right now, aside from regular religious services, all other activities at the local Dawn Chapel have been halted. The Dawn Church has sent a new team from the Papacy to quarantine and investigate all local Circle Sorcerers.”

“Does that also include that ‘Radiant Hand’ Joshua Brooklyn? He’s Thirteen Rings, right? He wouldn’t betray them, would he?”

Miss Aphrola asked curiously from the side, and Iluna shook her head:

“No idea. Even I can’t find out that gentleman’s current situation. Some say he’s already returned to the Papacy, and the Dawn Church will send a new Thirteen Rings to sit in Moon Bay. But there are all kinds of rumors. Before I came to Moon Bay, I heard from Shard that the clergy members in the City of Wealth might have some minor issues; I didn’t expect it to turn into this.”

She lifted a little biscuit to her lips and took a bite:

“Also, Shard, you need to tell those Vampire Kind friends of yours to be careful. For ordinary folks, Sunday night’s attack is being explained as a large-scale city fire and a pirate raid, but in the Church’s eyes, Vampire Kind and Cultists have now been placed at the same level of danger.”

She waved the little biscuit teasingly in front of the cat watching her. The cat, whose tail flame had already gone out, turned away in disdain and shifted to another lounging posture. Iluna laughed and shook her head:

“Last year’s Divine Descent Event in Milestone, even though that Evil God’s arrival ultimately had no impact on Milestone and Sicarl Mountain, the Church still believes the Vampire Sect must be plotting something. Now that something similar has happened in Moon Bay, the Church strongly suspects that some Vampire Kind intend to tear up the secret covenant that’s been maintained for nearly a thousand years.”

Shard fed the half biscuit in his hand to Mia:

“I’ll tell them to be cautious, but in fact my friends are more inclined to think it’s the Vampire Kind from the New World who pulled this off. You know, the Blood Spirit School also has quite a few Vampire Kind in it.”

“The Church doesn’t care about that much nuance. Right now, as long as a Vampire Kind Circle Sorcerer dares show their face, they have to go live in the church for a month first. Oh, Miss Aphrola, the Church is looking for you as well, wanting to talk about intelligence on Vampire Kind. Of course, they also want to find the God Summoner and ask whether her ability to turn into a Dragon and Call the Moonlight Greatsword is related to this Chosen One Ceremony.”

The eighteen-year-old girl then turned to the brown-haired Witch. The latter pointed at Shard:

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Shard shook his head:

“It’s best not to talk too much about the Dragon Roar, and I don’t actually know that much about Vampire Kind either. I’ll go see my friends later and hope to get something useful… Iluna, what’s your next step?”

“To take part in the investigation of the Holy Sword and the investigation of the Seven Great Families. The Church is pushing for ‘cooperation’ with the local Seven Great Families, which basically means going into each estate to search it. The nobles are opposed, but as you both know, if the Church truly wants to do something, the nobles can’t stop them.”

“Then how much does the Church currently know about the Chosen One Ceremony for the seventh The Chosen?”

“They’ve basically figured out the sword-drawing part. The True God Church naturally keeps several ‘Holy Swords’ of its own, and they’re currently coordinating their transport here as backups. But I feel that these Swords, which haven’t really taken part in Moon Bay’s ‘story’, probably won’t be much use.

In addition, the Fragment of Poem Chapter preserved by Zaras Literary Academy mentions the number seven. The Church believes the candidate for The Chosen may also come from the local Seven Great Families. In short, they’re the current focus of the investigation.”

Iluna swallowed the last bite of biscuit, clapped her hands, and stood up:

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head back. I have to lead a team to the countryside to investigate the local Dragon legends. Tonight I also need to attend a seminar on ‘Unusual Glow’. The Church is trying to find a method that can be widely promoted to guard against those dangerous glimmers. Now that Light Fusion and light-related natural phenomena are frequently appearing all over the Material World, we can’t just sit back and ignore them.”