Conspiracy

The journey from the fortress in the north of the Telvis Empire to the trading city of Seton takes about a day. Plus, the Church spared no expense in providing Cross and his companions with a special carriage, not your ordinary horse-drawn carriage, but a large one pulled by unicorns, creatures that only dwell in the Elven Forest.

Instead of a simple carriage, it was more like a room with three compartments for the Knights, Priests, and Judges, and their respective entourages. Shortly after leaving the Telvis Empire, several high-ranking officers from different factions gathered in Cross's carriage.

The interior of the carriage had a beige color scheme with luxurious seats and a conference table. Bookshelves filled with books surrounded them, all carefully chosen based on Cross's interests. Sitting opposite Cross was Melanie Hayes, the Captain of the Holy Knights who had worked tirelessly to get to that position, to her left was Tabitha, a fighting nun sent by Harlan to protect Cross, and to her right was the Priest team leader, Norn.

Since there were no extra seats, Cross held Eve in his arms. Although it was a little too casual to hold her in such an important meeting, no one objected. Everyone could see how important she was to Cross, even if he didn't say it outright. It was evident from his every move.

After handing out the investigation materials to everyone, Cross also picked up a copy and began to read it carefully. These materials were sent to him by Harlan through other priests after he left the altar. They contained reports of the activities in the trading city in recent days.

The reports recorded the activities of the priests from the moment they entered the city to their disappearance. The information stated that ever since they entered the city, their every move seemed to be monitored by some invisible eye. No matter what they did, there would always be "unexpected situations" that would hinder their investigations. These unexpected situations seemed to be arranged on purpose, and during this period, one priest after another disappeared.

In addition, there was some hidden information in the file given exclusively to Cross, which the priests had managed to obtain. It contained information about the flame manipulator and the "Moonstone."

After quickly reading through the file, the golden-haired knight Melanie sitting across from him exclaimed, "Various unexpected situations obstructing their path? Isn't that too coincidental? It's like everyone in the city is deliberately trying to stop them, as if it were a pre-rehearsed play."

As a commoner-born knight, Melanie would probably have such thoughts if she only read through the file superficially. However, as a "magician," Cross thought that "if anything 'coincidental' happens more than once, then it must be a pre-arranged 'play.'" The city's inhabitants could not have united on such a large scale to obstruct the actions of the priests. It was possible that the purpose of their mission had been detected by the "Society." But how did the "Society" launch such an interception?

As Cross was about to speak, the captain of the priests beside him spoke up first.

"That city is a vassal state of the Telvis Empire. Even though there aren't many church forces stationed there, there are many people who believe in the Church. They would never do anything to obstruct the actions of the priests unless someone with more authority than a priest forced them to... It is very likely that the person responsible for the disappearance of the priests is connected to the group of aristocrats or even the royal family."

"Oh?" Cross nodded, urging him to continue.

"That city is a vassal state of the Telvis Empire. Despite that, it is an autonomous region with its own laws. Although they may appear to be submissive, the nobility and the royalty are not on the best of terms due to their interests and their relationship with the Holy See."

The captain of the priests, a middle-aged man in his fifties, made this guess based on his knowledge of the city. "I think that the disappearance of the priests is not a simple case of them going missing, but rather a deliberate cover-up to avoid legal repercussions. In reality, those priests were probably already killed. This is probably just a warning from the nobles or the aristocrats: do not get too involved in investigating this city. The implication is probably that, as a vassal state, they may be considering rebellion."

As someone who was unaware of the existence of the "Society," he expressed two opinions: first, that the culprit was connected to the aristocrats or the royal family, and second, that the purpose of the disappearance was murder.

Cross combined this information with what he had obtained from Harlan and thought that the priests who had gone to investigate had encountered the "Society." Although this was not explicitly stated in the file, Cross was clear that, according to the theory of this middle-aged priest, the "Society" had colluded with the nobles of the trading city and had done something in secret. The group of priests may have encountered an accident due to discovering some clues.

Tabitha, who had been silent all along, looked at Cross and spoke up with her curiosity: "Do you think that if that city rebels for the sake of its own interests, they would issue such a blatant warning? The city doesn't have the strength to fight against the Telvis Empire, which means they must have found reliable external support."

She had been silent because she had noticed this strange detail, and even if their interests didn't align, that city would not do something so self-destructive unless they had external support powerful enough to match the Telvis Empire.

"Reliable external support?" Cross quickly understood Tabitha's question, combining it with the information about the "Organization" that only a few people knew about. It was highly likely that the external support Tabitha was guessing was the "Organization."

"Tabitha's guess is correct. The information obtained secretly from Lord 'Saint' confirms that there is a force lurking in that city, and they are a very troublesome group."

However, simply knowing about the collusion between the "Organization" and the high-level officials of that city was not enough. If they continued down this path, Cross and his group would encounter the same troubles as those priests. At this moment, Cross, who was lost in thought, saw an article about a trading city with a background in commerce.

"The symbol of the trading city is the moon, just as Telvis's history has deep roots with rain, that city has a very close connection with the moon."

"What does this have to do with what we're discussing now?" Melanie asked, puzzled.

"The trading city's geographical location is very close to the red moon in the Twin Moons, and the appearance of the red moon once every six months amplifies the effect of magic."

The middle-aged priest seemed to have thought of something.

"Ley lines."

Telvis Empire has ley lines containing a large amount of magic power in all four directions. Among them, the trading city of Seton, which is considered a ley line due to its proximity to the red moon's geographical location, is also a city rich in ley lines.

Ley lines are places full of magic power. Humans who live on ley lines naturally possess a large amount of magic power in their bodies. If it is a particularly high-quality ley line, such as the Elf Forest, only the elves with high magic power can live there, and ordinary humans cannot withstand the concentration of magic power for more than a few days without getting "infected."

"Are those people who are willing to support the trading city interested in this spiritual vein? Indeed, if the spiritual vein is controlled by hostile forces, it will have a huge impact on the Telvis Empire. And most of the people who understand this information are not ordinary 'warriors', but..."

"Magicians."

Everyone thought of the same answer in their hearts. Although the concept of "magicians" has not been mentioned for many years, and there have been no incidents caused by magicians in recent years, there are still a group of people who exist in the world. After all, even the Church has dozens of magicians.

In this regard, Cross felt very impressed. With just these data and some basic knowledge, these people found the center of the problem. He had not even told them about the existence of the "Society," and they had almost reached here.

However, with the existing intelligence, they can only make such deductions.

If they don't personally investigate the trading city of Setton, they won't understand what those magicians who made so many priests disappear are really up to.

Whether it's human experimentation or large-scale rituals, it can't be allowed to continue like this. As the "Saint" said, magicians who are not under supervision are a threat and must be eliminated.

Moreover, this time, the enemy is not only "magicians," but "magicians" from the "Society."

The "remnants" of the "Dark Age" tyrant.

As they were preparing to continue their discussion, Cross felt a very powerful magic power, and the people around him frowned.

Before they could walk to the window to look outside, they heard a large number of human screams not far away.

This kind of pressure...

Could it be...