The Priestess was upset about what happened earlier, so she summoned the two penetrators to know their reason. The set of the meeting was her private room located on the fourth floor of the Church's dormitory.
Sitting on her bed with puffed cheeks, her two trusted personal attendants who conspired to disturb her private moment earlier - Ylla and Mambo - were in seiza position on the floor.
Her outfit had changed from her clerical clothes to her sleeping dress after she took a bath.
Her sleeveless cloth revealed her soft and silky skin.
Her long skirt covered almost her legs, and only her feet in her teddy bear slippers were showing off.
Her clothes were very fit, every man would undeniably flustered by looking at her figure, and she would inadvertently turn them into her fanatics.
Only those people who had a high resistance wouldn't get affected.
"Ylla, Mambo, please explain," Venus asked, angrily.
She pouted and folded her arms across her chest.
"High Priestess, there's a reason for all of this," Ylla started to speak when she raised her hand.
"Yes, there is, master. Please hear us out," Mambo begged.
The priestess folded her arms tightly and crossed her legs.
"I already gave you permission to speak, so explain everything! I know Mambo won't get involved in this matter without a good reason, so please make sure there's a valid explanation for this. Little Ylla, you go first," she demanded.
"But I'm older than you, milady. Calling me Little Ylla is a little bit too far, but whatever," she muttered.
"What did you say?" she asked, calmly.
Her smile made her shiver in fear, and so, Ylla made no other choice but, to tell the truth.
She lowered her head in apology first before she raised up her head.
The Priestess and her eyes exchanged glances.
"I heard from our source that the chief asked your crush, Aljen the merchant, to become their escort in the Dark Scily Forest tomorrow," she said in a quick tone.
The Priestess' eye turned blank and she shivered when she said the name, 'Aljen', inaudibly.
"Pardon?" she hung her head and her face turned blue.
"Ahem, I heard from a great source of intel that the chief asked your crush, Aljen the merchant, to become their escort in the Dark Scily Forest tomorrow. Monday and the time of his arrival were estimated around or before 6:30 in the morning," she said in a quick tone.
The Priestess' eyes tremble and her lips closed to cover her happiness. However, she couldn't hide her delightful face to her attendants.
"Is that true or you're just making fun of me?" she asked, calmly.
Ylla and Mambo nodded.
"Yes, the main source has exclusively given us this free package to maintain a good relationship with you. Here's the proof of the photo that shows the secret conversation between your crush and the chief," she pulled out the photo from her pocket and handed it over to her delighted leader.
"Oh, my gosh. This is legit. Who might be this source?" she clasped her hands and tilted her head on the side. "Please tell me."
"A very intelligent and high-talented source of us who also belongs to the Al-Ven faction," said Ylla, gravely.
The Priestess' head tilted on the other side and she pressed her lips while thinking about it.
"Al-Ven faction? Never heard of that organization. What's that?"
Ylla stopped Mambo when she realized he's about to leave. She made it clear through eye contact that he wouldn't be able to escape this time.
"I guess the truth shall be revealed tonight. It can't be helped," she sighed.
The Priestess blinked her eyes several times before she honestly asked, "Reveal what? I don't understand."
Ylla looked at her straight to her face.
"Milady, I know this would be a shocking revelation but hear us out first. The Al-Ven faction is composed of the people who were secretly aligned together to support the Aljen-Venus ship. It is a hidden fan club and the church of Neue Fiona is one of the secret meeting places of all fans."
The Priestess's body shivered with cold sweat.
"D-d-don't tell me. Ev-everyone knows?" she asked in a stumble tone.
Ylla simpered, "I'm afraid I don't need to spell it out. All the girls here are supporting you for your love behind the scene. In short, they are your fangirls."
The Priestess covered her face to hide it from them.
"Oh, my goodness. So, everyone is shipping me with Mr. Aljen. Kyaaa, I can't believe it. I thought no one would even notice it. But how?"
'How? It is undeniably obvious that you're deeply in love with him,' both Mambo and Ylla said inside their mind with an exhausting face.
"Our main source revealed that the subject would arrive in the place and picked up the children tomorrow. There's no doubt that he would be babysitting them all alone," said Mambo, briefly.
"Oh, my gosh. That's cute. Little Ylla, Mambo, you really did your best to help me out," said Venus, smiling.
"There's no great honor than to see your happiness, milady," Ylla lowered her head in respect.
Mambo seconded, "To see your smile every day gives me hope and delight, master. By assisting your lovelife is the only way to show my deepest respect."
The Priestess snivelled.
"Milady!"
"Master!"
She raised her right hand to stop them from panicking.
Her silk and smooth hand pulled out her white handkerchief with a logo of a fluffy bear, and she wiped out her tears before she sneezed.
"I'm so sorry about shouting your people. I'd appreciate everything. I'll definitely listen to your advice this time."
The lower part of her eyes turned red when she declared it clear.
"Thank you, milady. With your full cooperation, the plan will be a hundred percent succeed," Ylla made guts with a delightful face.
Mambo did the same thing and exclaimed, "Nailed it."
'With this, the future of the Church would secure a better future.' Ylla said inside her mind.
Unbeknownst to them, Ylla planned to use the love affection of the Priestess to subdue Aljen. He's a dangerous foe, an untrusted man, and full of mystery. His background ain't easy to uncover and he's hiding his true identity from the public. Thus, she couldn't let this opportunity to activate her trap card to secure the foundation of their church.
She's eyeing his assets and unlimited resources. Despite her unfriendly relationship with him, she could be used his money to support their financial problem and with the honeytrap of her liege, he won't be able to opt to disagree with her requests.
'Love conquers them all. Men are beast and I know he'll fall for her. They are all the same kind and I'll make it to happen,' she declared.
Before the meeting of the Priestess and her attendant, Hermes experienced a bad omen earlier. He tried to breathe steadily and it worked. His body temperature returned to normal when his butler gave him a coffee. His collar was button out that showed some part of his chest.
"What happened to you, my Don?" asked Justin, worrying.
Hermes gulped the last drop of his coffee before he put it down on the table.
"I have no fuckin' idea. Maybe the weather is affecting my body or somethin'. Nevermind," he replied.
'Even the slime power ain't helping from this. I feel like somethin' terrible will happen to me. How odd. What was the meaning of this?' he asked himself.
He scratched his head and brought out the subject matter to his butler.
"By the way, Chief Zamor offered me a job."
Justin blinked twice and his eyes turned sharp. Behind that mask, he's mad when he heard that the chief gave his master a quest without his consent.
He didn't want to make an argument, so he decided to play safe for now.
He asked, "Oh, really? What kind of job are we talking about?"
"Escort mission," a direct reply from Hermes.
"Mission? What kind of mission are we talking to, sir?" He cracked one finger behind his waist.
"Naah, my mistake. It's a favor," the young Don corrected.
Justin cracked another finger behind his waist, and his smile turned darker than before, "A favor, huh. What kind of reward you will gain from that f-a-v-or? Y'know, boss. I'm not against anything you desire to get, and I'm very pleased to be at your service anything and anywhere, but are we forgetting something very important? Didn't I advise you not to accept any quest for the time being, hmm? Please remember we still have the second root case on our hands. Taking a secondary quest will only hinder our activity and it'll divide our attention to our main objective."
"Oh, well. Calm down," the young Don asked with cold sweat. "Let's take it easy for now. We're still in the briefing process."
"How can I calm down, sir? You literally make a decision without asking for my consent, and not only that, you didn't even tell me everything when we're still on the road. Am I that unworthy of your trust, my Don?" the butler inquired.
Hermes blinked several times and tilted his head on the side.
"I have no idea what are you talking about, but there's no one who I could fully trust but you. So, don't ask a lame question," he demanded.
Justin cried in happiness and he bent his upper body in ninety degrees to show his utmost respect.
"My beloved Don, thank you very much. But sir, please remember to take care of your body. Too much burden on your back will put your body in a terrible state. Please think twice before you accept something from a stranger," he advised.
'He's not a stranger, you moron.' Hermes's face turned disappointed when he said it.
"Yeah, yeah, forget about it. How's the prisoner in the dungeon?"
The young Don quickly changed the topic to settle down.
"He's, uh, okay. I guess? Nah, he lost four fingers and his upper body suffered a first degree of fractures on his limbs yesterday, so we can still mark it as a half-okay. Umm, yeah, nevermind."
Hermes's body trembled when he heard those terrible words.
"Lost a finger? Fractures? Nevermind. I don't want to hear somethin' delirious."
The butler clasped his hands together and he exposed, "By the way, he confessed a lot of things when I gave him a lot of special treatment."
"Hmm, now we're talking. What do we get?" the young Don asked, gravely.
Justin raised up one finger, and he revealed, "The hand dog gang originally came from Naples. They are founded by Renzo who was a former henchman of the theTatsulez family. This clan is a powerful clan that experienced a coup five years ago."
"Tatsulez family, huh."
Hermes closed his eyes when he said their family name.
The Tatsulez clan was one of the minor households that set to be one of the bases for the players who selected it for their gameplay. The female playable character here was a power contender to unite Italia. Her stats had extremely high firepower, and with her fire attributes, Hermes won't be able to stand a chance when she unlocked her skills.
Thankfully, she won't make a move for a while because she's having a hard time dealing with the family problem within her territory for the past five years. In the next three years, however, she's going to slaughter his mercs when she decided to expand her territory to the west.
The only person who would be the obstacle to her conquest was the Verdugo and Archnemesis.
"I guess it can't be helped," he sighed.
The young Don's plan still underwent massive progress but still, he's on the right path to topple his death flag.
His butler was still talking and he only heard the last sentence, "Originally, this family helped us during the Archnemesis-Corleon War, however, the former boss got abdicated by a coup de tat and his title got usurp by a girl."
"A girl, huh." He frowned, "Damn, this ain't good for us."
The plot was still moving to the same flow of the game.
"So far, they cannot be marked as a rival nor a threat to our business. This family is still far from our land and if the new leader of that clan set her eyes to our land, we will make sure to give them a hard time like the old times," his butler determined.
"Hmm, anything else?" Hermes skipped and asked, "Forget about them for now. Right now, what I want to learn is the information you gathered from that peasant."
Justin smirk, "A peasant, huh. As expected to my sadistic leader. The purpose of this gang is to control the village and they aim to make it their business hub."
"Which they now failed to do so," the young Don smiled.
"Indeed. That's how pathetic they are, boss. For a trivial matter, the method they did ain't acceptable in the eyes of the mafia, and the mafia council won't tolerate their trespassing. Taking control of the territory without the consent of their ruler will be undoubtedly a clear criminal act of robbery and treason. Thankfully, we easily uncover this outrageous act before it made a large hole inside our territory. That's all I got from that person."
'But, aren't we criminals too?' Hermes's face turned to anguish.
"Okay, fine. I want you to continue to do your work. Squeeze him dry until he reveals everything to us. Do whatever you can do, torture him to death is a must. What's matters to me the most is the information about their connections within and outside this island. Ask him if they are involved in any kind of activity behind the shadows and ask him if he has some ideas about the Second Root organization that is lurking in the village. That's my order, Justin," Hermes ordered.
His butler lowered his head and pressed his right hand on his chest in respect, "Yes, my Don."
Hermes stood up from his chair and moved closer to his butler.
"Good. By the way, I want you to do something for me," he handed down the papers in his hands and the emblem of the Camella family.
"Pardon, my Don. I don't know why are you giving me this emblem. But may I mind knowing what's this all about?" asked Justin.
Hermes tapped his shoulder, "I want you to come together with Chief Zamor in the meeting tomorrow, and make a deal about this problem alone. While you're doing your thing in that place, I'm going to stay with the children."
"Y-you mean the case? You're going alone?" he asked in a surprised tone.
Hermes tucked his fingers in his ears. "Yes."
"But, sir. Where is the place your heading to with the children?" he quizzed.
"That's a secret. Okay, no more questions to ask. Let's move on," the young Don clapped his hands together and turned around.
His butler was anxious. He's clearly sensed that his master was truly determined to do the job alone.
'Those imbeciles chidlren? They are commoners, my Don. It'll taint your reputation by guarding those insects.' Justin bit his lower lips, clenching his fist tightly with anger.
"This is outrageous. Those insects are taking advantage of your kindness, my Don. They deserve to die," he openly declared
"Hold your tongue. That's our client's child. Calm down. Chill. Just take it slow and relax. All of these are part of my plan. There's a reason for all of this. You know that, right?" Hermes tried to calm him down.
The butler tried to insist, "May I speak my opinion about this matter?" However, the young Don adamantly refused, "Permission denied."
"Boss, please," he ranted.
The young Don slammed the table to shut him down, "Enough. I don't want to hear anything but only 'Yes'. Capiche?"
Only this order made the butler frown. He gave in, "Yes, my Don."
"Is the dinner finally ready? I'm hungry," asked Hermes, holding his tummy.
His butler replied, "Yes, my Don. Dinner's ready."
The young Don exited the room first. The veins on the forehead of Justin showed up and his eyes and body trembled in anger.
"I won't let the commoners ruin his reputation. I won't let anyone dare to use him for their own gains. That bastard Zamor makes fun of my Don."
Justin cracked his fingers one by one.
"I have no other choice but to use my cards. My beloved Don, my God, won't stand a chance to his enemies. I need someone to replace me to protect him. Oh, I know someone who greatly admired his excellence. But, there's no way he would agree with me. I have to make an alibi. Oh, how about that? I should offer his master a favor she won't refuse. That girl is a good excuse to use her attendant. Not only that, that beautiful maiden is blessed with a pure heart that the children would surely like so much."
Justin's face turned dark.
"In other words, the children would turn their attention to milady. The boss would be able to stay still and watch them from a safe spot. These children of incumbent Zamor are the embodiment of stupidity and recklessness, turning every noble child into an abyss. And that one, I don't want my master to experience a sickening demise!"
That time, he secretly called Mambo by phone and told everything.