Chapter 180: Death

"Can't be completely sure?" Muria's face showed a trace of sarcasm, "You must be quite confident that Marquis Mendoza has fallen, right? But you don't have the key evidence to confirm it, do you?"

"Pretty much." The high priest nodded, then looked at Muria with surprise, "But how do you know we were quite certain?"

"A high priest from a remote small city knows that the lord of Valiant, the most famous city in the Baiye Duchy, might have fallen." Muria looked at the high priest, "Doesn't this show your Dawn Church's attitude towards this lord?"

"This is our church's internal speculation, not known by the general clergy." The high priest was silent for a while, then slowly nodded, "We are indeed quite certain that Mendoza has fallen, but lack evidence, so we cannot act against him. Thus, we need you to investigate him."

"Are you kidding me?" Muria scrutinized the man in the priestly robe, "You are a church that worships a true god with powerful divine might, yet you hesitate because of a duchy's marquis? You need evidence to act?"

"Our Dawn Church's focus and main force are not here. The church in Baiye Duchy is just a branch. We don't even have a Coffin Archbishop here, only a few Cardinal Archbishops. How can we have the confidence to act against a legendary mage's relative without evidence?"

"A legendary mage's relative?" Muria's expression shifted, "Who is he to the Baiye mage? As far as I know, the legendary mage of Baiye Duchy doesn't have direct descendants."

"Marquis Valiant's full name is Mendoza Inok, he is the grandson of the brother of the esteemed Baiye mage, one of the few relatives of the Baiye mage, so..."

"So, you dare not act?" Muria glanced at the high priest, "You really bully the weak and fear the strong."

"Hey, the legendary mage of Baiye is the founder of this duchy. He is the nation. Without decisive evidence, we dare not, and cannot, judge Marquis Mendoza.

Moreover, if we were wrong, everything our Dawn Church has operated in Baiye Duchy could face the wrath of a legendary mage, destroying centuries of effort."

"You are a church serving a true god with powerful divine might. Would a legendary mage really act against you for a distant relative? Nonsense."

"It's possible." The high priest said with a hint of helplessness, "Therefore, without decisive evidence, we cannot act."

"So, you are representing the Dawn Church of Baiye Duchy, entrusting me to investigate this Marquis Mendoza? To gather evidence?"

"Yes."

Muria's gaze flickered, "Am I not the first? Before me, how many have you entrusted to investigate this marquis?"

"According to our temple's records, a total of seventeen strong individuals have been entrusted to investigate Marquis Mendoza."

"What kind of strength did they have?"

"Sixteen of them were at the golden level, and the last one was at the first rank of soul intent."

"Any results?"

"Not a single message. After they entered Marquis Mendoza's castle, they never came out again, including that soul intent level strongman, who was a thief." At this point, the high priest's expression showed a trace of fear.

Their church, or rather, all churches in Elasia, regard the strength of soul intent as qualifying for a Cardinal Archbishop, in charge of a region's affairs.

Now, an existence equivalent to their Cardinal Archbishops has disappeared in Marquis Mendoza's castle, how could this not frighten him.

"Are they all dead?" Muria murmured.

"Just missing." The high priest emphasized.

"Do you think they have a high chance of survival after entering the castle of a duke who is 80% likely to have fallen into a demon?"

"..." The high priest was silent.

"So, your Dawn Church, in the interest of safety, sent so many to their deaths?" Muria's eyes showed a hint of sarcasm, "I suppose the conditions you offered were very generous."

"Friendship with our Dawn Church. In any of our temples, you can receive assistance."

"That's it?" Muria asked in surprise.

"Isn't that enough?"

"For such a deadly investigation, you offer so little. Truly stingy."

"What do you want?"

"At least a legendary weapon or two."

"..." The high priest was silent for a while, then slowly began to speak, taking Muria's casually mentioned conditions as a tactful refusal, "This investigation task is indeed too dangerous. I understand if you don't want to help.

Well, let it be. You can go. I won't pursue the matter of attacking the temple."

The high priest sighed, waving his hand to dismiss Muria. He had never intended to pursue Muria's fault, as no one died, just a bit of hardship.

Of course, the most important reason was that Muria might have a force behind him not inferior to the Dawn Church. Just this alone made the high priest not want to trouble himself.

"Go? When did I say I wouldn't accept this investigation task?" Muria looked at the high priest, "I just disdain the rewards you offered."

"Less?" The high priest's face twitched, "Friendship with our Dawn Church allows you to use our constructed teleportation circles for free, and, at a certain cost, you can use our cross-continental teleportation circles to travel to other sub-continents.

That's the first benefit. The second, you can access various information collected by our church, such as news of relic appearances, at the earliest opportunity.

The third benefit, you can have the privilege to purchase some unique resources from our temples."

"Access to the information collected by your church?" Muria's eyes lit up. He entered the human realms for this purpose.

"I'll take on the task of investigating Marquis Mendoza."

"Are you sure? Even a soul intent level thief disappeared in his castle."

"I'm not like those guys."

...

A familiar yet slightly strange dizziness came, and Muria rubbed his head, then looked around before focusing on the person in front of him wearing a white-based gold-embroidered priest robe.

This person, examining him, wore a robe identical to that of the high priest of Redleaf City. This was also a high priest.

"Are you the Dragonvein Sorcerer Muria recommended by Anro?"

"Yes." Muria tugged at the corner of his mouth. Anro High Priest really regarded him as a Dragonvein Sorcerer. But he nodded, acknowledging this identity.

"You're late."

"What? The investigation task for Marquis Mendoza has already been completed by someone else?"

"No, Marquis Mendoza... is already dead."

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