Chapter 148. Spies! Spies Everywhere!
Although there are still nine days left in Cedric’s one-year holiday plan, he realised the situation in the Crystal Cube world had become extremely serious and immediately returned.
The moment he returned, the first thing Cedric did was to get to the heart of the problem.
First, he used Past Observation to look at Juliana’s past.
After spending some time watching Juliana's past back and forth, Cedric commented, “Except for some areas, most of them are normal.”
‘It's just that the first human to survive a kraken attack and meet the mermaids is a human princess is quite a coincidence.’ Cedric checked Juliana's past once again and gave up after finding no suspicious clues.
Except for the coincidence, there's another thing that makes Cedric concerned as he watches Juliana's past.
“Aren't there too many spies from the Temple and the demon cult in her court?”
Because Cedric also focused on suspicious people who had come into contact with Juliana, he found that there were at least three people from the Temple or the demon cult among Juliana’s ministers.
If even a casual check revealed three, there must be more spies than that.
Cedric saw those three because they were among the ministers who supported Juliana’s attack on the neighbouring kingdom.
When he checked the weaker kingdom’s court, Cedric found that, just like Juliana’s court, there were also quite a lot of spies from the Temple and the demon cult.
“There is definitely a conspiracy here!” Cedric’s gut immediately warned him.
“Something is incredibly wrong. I am not sure, but something is absolutely wrong. These people are definitely planning something big!”
Because it's related to the Temple and the Demon Cult, Cedric immediately suspected Lacius and used Past Observation to check what Lacius has been up to.
It’s not that he's targeting Lacius, but that guy simply has too many criminal records.
After using Past Observation, Cedric saw that Lacius mostly spent his time in petrification.
The few times he recovered, Lacius either spent them studying new technologies and knowledge, learning how to use a computer, listening to the Temple's situation from the High Priest, and giving the Temple some basic commands.
Cedric has checked Lacius's commands, and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with them.
He either asked the High Priest to gather more knowledge, check on Catherina and Elisa, state the Temple’s overall goal for the next decades, or something similar.
Cedric pushed Past Observation to look further into the past.
When he reached the period shortly after Catherina's internet project began, Cedric finally saw the moment when Lacius issued a command to the High Priest to send people to infiltrate the human kingdoms and empires, and other forces, while at it, after learning that the demon cult had begun infiltrating the upper ranks of the kingdoms and empires.
Although it seems there's nothing wrong, Cedric still suspects Lacius.
After all, this guy's trouble-making ability is simply off the charts.
Any suspicious movement from Lacius must be examined from several viewpoints to ensure it won't suddenly cause a disaster of apocalyptic proportions while he isn't looking.
Cedric used Past Observation to check Lacius's past once more and finally found a clue about Lacius's plan.
Through Past Observation, Cedric saw Lacius sensing his faith energy income, frowning as he looked towards Catherina’s Great Dragon Academy.
When he saw it, Cedric felt everything click. “It seems Catherina's project has been affecting Lacius's faith income.”
Once Cedric realised it, he shuddered.
Lacius's bottom line is his lifespan, and his lifespan is related to his faith energy income.
Now that Catherina has touched Lacius's bottom line, Cedric can only wish he won't do anything insane.
“Wait, actually, he has already done something insane. On the surface, it seems he only sent a spy, but I dare bet 100 GP that Lacius is definitely involved in planning the war of conquest between two kingdoms.”
Since the founding of human empires and kingdoms, although there are often skirmishes between them, none of the six kingdoms and two empires has ever fallen.
The most they ever do is take resources from the loser, leaving the losing party in decline for a few decades at most.
But this time, incited by the spies from the demon cult and the Temple, Juliana, who has risen to Level 4, actually wishes to expand her territory by occupying a kingdom.
Cedric feels he needs to make a move as soon as possible. Otherwise, there’s a risk of a massive war involving most of human territory.
After learning why Lacius got involved in the mess, Cedric checked the situation within the demon cults.
Unlike with Lacius, Cedric easily found the demon cult’s plan.
At the moment, the demon cult is at the peak of its power.
Somehow, they have successfully produced three Level 4 blessed among their ranks.
With the confidence brought by those three Level 4 blessed, they wished to create a new empire, sabotage it to cut off their line of succession, and secretly control it from the shadows.
Once they controlled an empire, they planned to start wars all over the place to create demons, and finally use the empire’s army and demons to overthrow the Temple and become the ruler of the human races.
Honestly, Cedric feels a bit of déjà vu when he hears their plan. “Somehow, this plan reminds me of Lacius. Isn’t controlling things from the shadows his favourite thing to do?”
With most of the puzzle pieces in place, Cedric began to ponder whether to make a move or just watch the event.
While scratching his head, Cedric decided to seek inspiration from other places in the Crystal Cube world.
He first checked on Elisa and saw she was calmly watching her drama while managing the elves, dwarves, and the mermaid community that the elves had met.
“Compared to Lacius and the humans, Elisa makes me much more at ease.”
Seeing there was nothing wrong with the elves, Cedric checked on Catherina.
Right now, Catherina is still at her Great Dragon Academy.
After several expansions, the Great Dragon Academy has been enlarged several times.
There are also many dragon V.2 who’ve joined under Catherina and stayed at the Great Dragon Academy to learn more about the world. Some of those dragons have even become professors at the Great Dragon Academy.
Cedric observed the situation at the Great Dragon Academy and found that many people were connected to the Temple.
This included students, teachers, and other non-academic staff. After randomly checking a few people’s pasts, Cedric found that around 10% were related to the Temple in some way.
Some had siblings in the Temple. Some had previously joined the Temple’s secret organisation, and some were orphans from the Temple’s orphanage.
Cedric took note of this before returning to handle the problem between the two warring kingdoms.
After Juliana’s kingdom won the war after a bitter battle, she began occupying the fallen kingdom’s territory.
The neighbouring kingdoms watched with trepidation as Juliana slowly stabilised the situation in the kingdom.
They feared Juliana would continue her conquest, with their kingdom as the next target.
Out of fear, two of the neighbouring kingdoms have begun to form alliances, with one empire secretly instigating them to launch an offensive against Juliana’s kingdom before it stabilises.
While fearing an external attack, Juliana is also dealing with internal problems.
The nobles from the kingdom she annexed have launched a rebellion. The surviving members of the royal family have also begun seeking support from all over to recover their kingdom.
This time, the surrounding kingdoms tacitly agreed to help the fallen royal family.
Previously, they thought the war Juliana initiated was the same as the usual unwritten rule of warfare, where the loser would only need to pay tribute and give up some unimportant land. That’s why they didn’t help the weaker kingdom.
But they never expected Juliana to actually destroy the opponent.
To restore the balance and ensure their family’s eternal rule, the royal family from other kingdoms feels compelled to help the recently fallen kingdom regain its standing.
After all, with a predecessor, everyone will realise the kingdoms and empire aren't exactly unbeatable.
Watching the chaos unfolding in the human territory, Cedric wanted to intervene, but he didn’t even know where to start.
“The situation is getting too complicated. Just the kingdom’s mess is hard enough, but the demon cult and the Temple must also get involved.”
Cedric tries to organise his thoughts. “First and foremost, I must stop the demon cult from achieving their goal. Second, I need to keep casualties as low as possible, so the one I choose must be a force that won’t start a war.”
Cedric falls into a dilemma about whether to support Juliana’s kingdom or the other kingdoms.
At last, after observing the world and seeing how many spies from the Temples are among the higher-ups of the other kingdoms and Empires, Cedric sighs, “Supporting any of the directly involved parties has a high chance of starting a war. It seems I still need to leave this matter to Lacius after all.”
Cedric moved his attention to the Temple’s secret room and messaged Lacius.
[Stop the war in the human territories.]
Lacius, who’d been petrifying himself, woke from his petrification and greeted him, “Greetings, creator.”
Cedric got straight to the point.
[I know what you seek. I will have a chat with Catherina later. For now, I want you to stop the humans from starting a war.]
Lacius bowed with a smile. “I understand.”
Cedric watched in silence for a moment. He left only after seeing Lacius command the High Priest to handle the situation between the human kingdoms and empires.
Once he left, Cedric went to fulfil his promise.
He directly placed his attention on the Great Dragon Academy and messaged Catherina.
[Long time no see.]
Catherina, who'd been reading a random romance novel in her room, immediately closed it and hid it under her body.
“Long time no see. What’s the matter? It’s been so long since the last time you talked with me.”
Hearing Catherina speak like a neglected wife, Cedric feels speechless.
[I am busy with something else. Right now, I am still busy, but I spare some time to tell you something important.]
“What is it?” Catherina asked.
[Try to maintain the god of magic’s religion while doing your project in the human territories.]
“Huh?” It takes Catherina a long time to realize who Cedric is talking about. “You mean I need to help that old guy in the Temple to raise his believers and fulfil his weird god complex? Why?”
[You can say I owed Lacius one. Anyway, just ensure enough people believe in the god of magic. Try to open a religious channel, start online propaganda, or something. This is also for your own good.]
[If this goes on, Lacius might target you. You haven’t seen him during his crazy phase yet.]
“I haven’t seen him in his crazy phase? Is he not crazy enough now?” Catherina’s mouth twitched.
[Yes. Compared to before, he’s much calmer now. But if you keep affecting the faith that worships him, I am certain he’ll go crazy sooner or later.]
[Currently, I am busy and can’t chat for long. Anyway, you definitely don’t wanna mess with crazy Lacius, and neither do I. I don’t want to see the world turn into hell on earth after a nap. So, just use the internet to keep people maintaining their faith in the god of magic. By doing so, you’ll also obtain his support. Probably]