Chapter 89: Report of Anomalies
In a bright hall, Cardinal Rhaenor was sitting on a golden chair and reviewing the reports he had received from all the Lightwatchers.
The hall shimmered with divine radiance, reflecting off marble pillars etched with celestial inscriptions. The faint aroma of incense lingered in the air, and the sound of flickering flames in the golden braziers gave the place a serene, holy ambiance.
A man clad in bright golden armour knelt on one knee before him. His armour bore the crest of a morning sun rising from the depths of darkness, and a bird with seven white wings was witnessing the miracle with a dazed look in its eyes—etched across the breastplate with divine precision.
He was Micheal, the Head of the Lightwatchers and also the Head Prosecutor of the Church of the Dawnfire Goddess.
In his right hand, he held a jade stone the size of a child’s fist. It was carved with numerous runes he couldn’t begin to understand, yet he knew its purpose well. Everyone in the Church did.
It was a communication stone—one that allowed them to transmit thoughts and voices through the Astral World, bypassing physical limitations and significantly reducing the chances of interception or magical tracing.
Micheal had just finished listening to the reports of his subordinates through the jade stone and sighed heavily.
"Your Excellency, the results are the same," he finally spoke. "Even after combing through the entire Valdon Wilds, we didn’t discover anything unusual."
He paused for a moment, glancing up to see if Rhaenor reacted in any way. The Cardinal, however, remained expressionless, his eyes calmly skimming over the scroll in his hand. Seeing no change in his superior’s demeanour, Micheal hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.
"May I ask... why we are carrying out this seemingly meaningless operation?"
Micheal was well aware of how thorough their search had been. They had deployed nearly all Lightwatchers across the region. It was, by all accounts, overkill. And still, they had uncovered nothing.