The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

In the previous simulation, nearly an entire day had passed between Captain Nolan’s death and the Mobile Unit’s arrival.

That was more than enough time for General Jerome to escape the city, yet he had not done so. Instead, he had moved through the city, doing who knew what, until the Mobile Unit pursued and surrounded him, ending in his death.

The logic was simple.

General Jerome had not run last time.

That meant he would not run this time either.

Hearing Freya’s words, the female captain in glasses frowned and asked, “Why are you so certain? Do you have a reason?”

Freya froze for a brief moment.

Then she pressed her hands together and spoke in an extremely cute voice.

“The gods told me. This disaster won’t end that easily.”

She was the Saintess of the Earth Church now.

Using this reason was completely fair.

The female captain’s mouth twitched slightly. Her face showed clear speechlessness.

Euphemia, however, immediately joined in.

“That’s right. Faye is the Saintess of the Earth Church, you know. If the gods told her, then it must be true.”

In reality, from their time together, Euphemia knew very well that this particular “Saintess” did not have much reverence for the gods at all.

As for whether a god would personally come down and chat with Freya about this matter, that possibility was close to zero.

But just as Freya had once played along with Euphemia without hesitation, the situation had now reversed.

Euphemia did not know Freya’s reason either, but she chose to trust her.

Playing along was enough.

The female captain fell silent for a long while before finally saying, “In any case, all we can do now is wait. We wait for the other Special Affairs teams to gather, and we wait for the Mobile Unit to arrive.”

Freya did not plan to sit idle during that time.

“How about I go notify the Earth Church now and ask them to come help? More people on our side can only be a good thing.”

The female captain suddenly said, “I’m sorry, Saintess, and I do appreciate your help in this matter. But from here on, please leave this to Special Affairs. This is our responsibility.”

Freya looked confused.

“Why? We already know how powerful the enemy is. The more allies we have, the better. Earth Path practitioners are extremely strong support specialists. Bringing the church in could greatly reduce casualties among Special Affairs, couldn’t it?”

Before this, Freya had already asked Pantheon about the matter.

The Earth Church did not reject the idea of cooperating with Special Affairs.

The main reason both sides had maintained their “stay out of each other’s way” arrangement until now came from Special Affairs.

Freya asked, “Why not cooperate with the church?”

The female captain looked at the adorable white-haired girl before her and listened to Freya’s sweet voice.

By all appearances, Freya should not have seemed threatening at all.

Yet the captain felt a deep pressure from her.

After a while, the female captain finally said, “It is an order from above. We are to distance ourselves from the church, forbid all official personnel from excessive contact with the church, and forbid the church from participating in any city affairs. Naturally, that includes handling supernatural incidents.”

“Huh?”

Freya was left full of question marks by that order.

It was like having a perfectly good weapon sitting right beside you, but being told you were not allowed to use it. Instead, you had to charge into every crime scene empty-handed and fight the criminals with your fists.

Wasn’t that just asking to be laughed at?

The female captain sighed and said, “Saintess, over the past few days, Demon Path practitioners bound by plants have been appearing throughout the city. You did that, didn’t you?”

Freya nodded.

The female captain did not seem surprised.

“When Special Affairs first encountered that situation, we should have gone to the Earth Church immediately to protest and demand that the church stop interfering and taking action. But we didn’t. Because, frankly, you helped us a great deal.”

“Special Affairs teams all over the city were already overwhelmed by the endless Demon Path practitioners causing trouble everywhere. Your help truly gave many of us room to breathe.”

This was not an exaggeration.

By the time Special Affairs received a report and arrived at the scene, the criminal might already have fled. Then they would have to investigate, track the person down, make an arrest, and even then, they might not succeed.

It was extremely troublesome.

Freya, meanwhile, used Mind Sense like a citywide surveillance system and caught people directly. Her efficiency alone was not much slower than Special Affairs.

The female captain continued, “So pretending not to see it and allowing the church to help already pushed the boundary as far as it could go. If you now take the initiative to summon the church and have them act alongside Special Affairs, that is absolutely not allowed.”

Freya frowned.

“Then who exactly gave this so-called order from above?”

The female captain was silent for a moment.

“The very top. This is His Majesty’s order.”

Freya froze.

That really was the very top.

No, rather, was that not too high up?

How had this matter gotten connected to the king himself?

Euphemia, meanwhile, looked thoughtful.

“I see. I can roughly understand the king’s thinking. This is a very simple and blunt form of marginalization. He wants to push the Earth Church out of the Kingdom of Tarapaca’s power structure.”

That was not an exaggeration.

Because of all the good deeds the Earth Church usually did, it had a very high reputation among ordinary people.

If church members also began actively participating in national affairs and building good relationships with high-ranking officials in different regions, the church would undoubtedly become a voice that could no longer be ignored.

Its influence would expand rapidly.

The king most likely created this arrangement precisely because he did not want that to happen.

Freya soon understood this as well.

But understanding it was one thing.

She still could not accept it.

No matter how she looked at it, cooperating with the church should have been good for the country.

Earth Path practitioners could use Mind Sense to help Special Affairs investigate cases. Their plant-control abilities could help farming and increase food production. Their healing abilities could help patients in hospitals.

Then Freya quickly realized something.

Everything she had just thought of was a tangible benefit ordinary people could receive.

And that was probably exactly what the king feared.

Cooperating with the church seemed to offer no benefit to the king himself.

The more good the church did, the greater its influence became. In turn, it would divide the king’s authority.

Freya fell silent for a while.

Then she suddenly said, “Wait. In that case, the king also has no authority to order the church around, does he?”

The female captain did not answer.

But Freya could tell that the answer was obvious.

So she continued, “Then suppose Special Affairs gathers for an operation. At the same time, the people of the church, guided by the gods, just so happen to pass nearby. They just so happen to see a terrible villain, and they just so happen to see good people in need of help. If they decide to help, that wouldn’t count as violating the king’s order, would it?”

Cooperation?

What cooperation?

The church was just passing by.

Was there a problem?

The female captain hesitated for a moment.

“Would you need me to secretly notify you of our gathering point and operation time when Special Affairs begins moving? Of course, that would be my personal action and have nothing to do with Special Affairs.”

If the female captain did that, at most it would count as leaking information.

Even if it was discovered afterward, she alone would be punished.

But if that price meant they could have a group of healers supporting them in the coming battle against a Rank Five General, it would undoubtedly be an excellent trade.

Freya shook her head.

“No need. After all, we have divine guidance.”

In reality, Freya only needed to keep watching Special Affairs with Mind Sense.

The moment she saw Special Affairs move out, she could call the Earth Church to move as well.

Then they would simply have a chance encounter.

After saying that, Freya stood and prepared to leave.

Euphemia rose too, wanting to follow, but the female captain stopped her.

“When the other Special Affairs teams and the Mobile Unit arrive, we’ll need a witness. You have to stay and explain the situation.”

“Tch.”

Euphemia clicked her tongue and gave a helpless look before sitting back down.

“Fine, fine.”

Freya waved and said, “Then I’ll see you later.”

As she spoke, she left Special Affairs.

She stretched her small legs into a jog and disappeared into the night.

Some time later, Freya successfully arrived at the Earth Church.

Perhaps because it was already so late, the place was quiet and empty.

Aside from the believer on duty at the entrance and the Archbishop praying inside the church, almost everyone had gone to rest.

Freya had just entered and had not yet said anything when the Archbishop rose first.

“Your Holiness, I could sense your restless presence from far away. Has something happened?”

Freya briefly explained the situation.

She had already found the mastermind who intended to destroy the city, but at the same time, the mastermind had discovered her.

As a result, the boss fight had been forced to begin early.

They would have to fight before their preparations were complete.

The most fatal point was that Freya’s Rank Five advancement ritual was still not ready.

It was only four or five days away.

Yet under the current circumstances, there was clearly no way to wait those four or five days.

And in the coming boss fight, the difference between Rank Four and Rank Five would be enormous.