Chapter 81
81: The Holy Church's Saint, Jasmine
"Ah, well... I never expected that Lord Gabriel's personality would be so... unconventional... cough cough, cough cough cough..."
Hey, is it really okay for you to completely ruin your teacher's image in a bishop's mind?
Evelia glanced at Amya. Look at how awkward the bishop was. What kind of student sells out their teacher like that?
In response, Amya just grinned and gave her a look that said it didn't matter.
However, the one pity was that Teacher Gabriel's statue probably wouldn't be remade.
『Tsk…』
"Bishop Sauron, have those two young ladies arrived? My apologies for being late."
Just then, a sweet voice that sounded somewhat familiar to both Evelia and Amya rang out from behind them. The two turned around and saw a white-haired girl wearing a white and gold nun's habit, walking toward them with a gentle and kind demeanor.
Wait, wasn't she the foreign girl from earlier on the street? The one who got scammed by that immoral older woman?
Evelia's brain instantly crashed.
And when that white-haired girl clearly saw Evelia's and Amya's faces, she also recognized them. The warm, gentle smile on her face instantly froze.
"Miss Evelia, Miss Amya, let me introduce you. This is the 'big shot' I mentioned in my message, our Holy Church's Saint, Jasmine. Lady Saint, these two are the angel Miss Amya and that extremely gifted mage Miss Evelia. They are the ones who defeated William of the Descent Faction."
Sauron smiled as he introduced Jasmine to Evelia and Amya. However, both parties' brains were still in a crashed state. None of the three spoke, all standing there somewhat at a loss.
"Cough... Miss Evelia, Miss Amya, we really... have quite a connection..."
"Um... indeed... haha..." x2
"Oh? It seems you've already met? Hahaha! That saves a lot of trouble then. You young people chat slowly. Since I have some matters to attend to, I'll take my leave now~"
With that, Sauron smiled and left the altar room, leaving only the three of them in silence, somewhat unsure of what to say.
『Sigh... Just as Bishop Sauron said, I am the Holy Church's Saint, Jasmine. Miss Evelia, Miss Amya, thank you both again for extending a helping hand to me at that time.』
Finally, Jasmine took the lead in breaking the silence. As the Church's Saint, she had received considerable training in etiquette and knew well that as the host, making guests wait like this was a very impolite gesture. So even though the atmosphere was somewhat awkward, she still took the initiative to break the silence.
"Um... it's nothing, Miss Jasmine... but... as the Church's Saint, shouldn't you be spending most of your time in the Church? Why would you appear there alone?"
"It's rather embarrassing to say... This is actually related to one of the reasons I invited you both here today. However, that is my personal request, so I'll leave it for later."
"So... the purpose of Miss Jasmine inviting us here is..."
"You two must have guessed that the black-robed man you killed wasn't simple, correct?"
"More or less... it's related to a cult organization called the Descent Faction, right?"
When it came to serious matters, Evelia's and Amya's expressions couldn't help but grow more solemn. The midday sunlight passed through the stained glass on the cathedral dome and fell on Jasmine's profile, making her originally warm and gentle smile appear inexplicably dignified.
"Then you two... must have also noticed that the black-robed man had something belonging to our Holy Church... Please don't misunderstand. Our Church has absolutely no connection to the Descent Faction. In fact... we noticed the existence of this sect quite early on and have always wanted to eliminate them. But their whereabouts are simply too well hidden. So even though we want to destroy them, we are completely powerless."
"But from what we can see, although the Descent Faction's movements are hard to detect, their actions are too bold. It shouldn't have reached the point where even the Holy Church is completely helpless against them, right?"
Amya raised her question.
"Please forgive my poor expression. You're right. Their every action is indeed quite bold, almost as if they have no intention of hiding at all... But the problem is that the time span between their actions is simply too long... In fact, this is the only trace of the Descent Faction discovered in the human world in the past ten years."
"Hah?" x2
Ten years. For long-lived species like angels, demons, and even elves, this time might be just a fleeting moment in their lives. But for humans with an average lifespan of less than a hundred years, acting only once every ten years was indeed an exaggerated time span.
"Not only that, but the number of personnel they dispatch for each operation is also extremely small. Like this William, the black-robed man who pursued you. More than ten years ago, when he was still in his youth, he also had a direct confrontation with the Holy Church. And at that time, he didn't seem to be just an ordinary member of the Descent Faction. The only pity is that although a Cardinal personally took action back then and severely injured several Descent Faction members including him, they ultimately failed to keep them... Those people can be said to be quite bizarre."
Evelia and Amya nodded. They had experienced this firsthand. Putting everything else aside, they still hadn't figured out the spatial array that had transported Amya without the angel noticing anything.
"However, you two need not worry. To be honest, on that night, after you two killed William's body, I had just arrived in Wangyou City and happened to encounter his soul, which was about to be sacrificed to something unknown. So I purified it as a matter of convenience."
As she said this, the smile on Jasmine's face remained as warm as a spring breeze, but Evelia felt a trace of faint chill. Purifying the soul was just the Holy Church's beautified way of putting it. To put it more plainly, it meant the soul was completely obliterated.
"Then... what does Miss Jasmine want us to do?"
"...Based on my inference, since William had items related to our Church, this means... there may be Descent Faction moles who have infiltrated our Church. As the Church's Saint, my actions attract too much attention. Catching a mole who has been undercover for who knows how many years is no easy task. Therefore, Miss Evelia, on behalf of the Church, I formally request that you…"
Jasmine looked directly into Evelia's eyes and said earnestly, word by word:
"Join the Holy Church and become a nun. Help me root out that person hiding in the shadows!"