Chapter 48 - 43: Prelude
```
Malin naturally understood the mayor’s family’s shock and anger—if it was said that there was no conflict between the authority of the Church and that of mortals, then the whole world would laugh.
After all, the very fact that the Church had its own private armed forces, such as the guardians, was an indirect strike at mortal authority because, in any case, there would always be some people who would not kneel to the king.
But in this world, unlike in other fictional stories, there weren’t many who liked to incite discord between the realms of mortals and the Church—because there were always too many dangers and threats in this world, such as spirits and those of a different kind, which made the world so terrifying that mortals would invariably choose to band together for warmth, whether they were kings, protectors of the realm, leaders, or anything else, they all communicated well with the Church.
For those without good communication had already been swept into the dustbin of history.
The Church did intend to save the world, but they were certainly not in the business of saving fools.
So when the fat man’s brother-in-law and sister heard about the Church coming over to offer warmth, describing them as genuinely frightened was no misuse of words, for in such affairs, no one would favor them, and any person in their right mind, upon hearing of such matters, would choose to support the Church—if you turned out to be associated with chaos, it wouldn’t just be your family that would die.
Moreover, if such an investigation turned up nothing, it would be for the best, but if it did, it would mean a death sentence, and nobody would plead for them.
And having been cleared by the investigation, the family had no complaints—they had confirmed that their relative had publicly transformed into a living person in the square; in the face of such compelling evidence, they did not allow themselves any criticism of the Church’s actions, and in fact, they even had to be thankful to the Church for proving their innocence.
"Perhaps we should turn our investigation to his circle of friends; I have heard he had only returned for a week’s time. If he is the source of contamination, then the scope of contamination over that week does not seem extensive," the old mage said to Malin, not issuing orders over Malin’s head, but rather in an inquisitive manner.