As a city where merchants and people from different regions and races gather, Diadel City was a place with great cultural diversity. It was normal to see people eating food and wearing clothes from different parts of the continent.
This diversity was also seen in religion. In Diadel city, there were more than twenty chapels belonging to different churches. But only three of these churches had enough power and weight to influence the development of the city.
The Church of Fate, with branches in every corner of the continent. This church did not care about races or origins, accepting demons, elves, beastmen, and humans as its adherents. There were even rumors of some intelligent monsters accepting the faith of the Goddess of Fate.
The Church of the Sun God, the main church in the human lands. This church preached human supremacy and was not well-received in non-human territories. In fact, even some human kingdoms did not like it, such as the Kingdom of Alterna, which was constantly trying to reduce the church's influence.
Lastly, there was Moonlight Glow.
Different from the other churches, Moonlight Glow was more like a point of gathering for beastmen. It was a rather lax church whose purpose was to protect the beastmen people.
Almost every beastmen believed in the moonlight goddess, and even some elves, demons, and humans shared that belief. The rather lax nature of the Moonlight Goddess was perfect for people that sought the protection of a god but had a free and adventurous personality.
Its nature also meant that this church was very trusted by the beastmen countries. Many beastmen countries and gods received the support of Moonlight Glow on repeated occasions, so they kept an amicable relationship with this church.
The next day after Bloed killed the slavers, a commotion happened between the higher-ups of these churches.
In Moonlight Glow, a stern woman was holding a letter on her hand while looking at the church's personnel in front of her.
"Tell me about your opinions. Do you think this information is true?"
"We don't know, hallowed one. The information in this letter is too incredible. We will need to confirm it first."
"I see. What about the people we sent to investigate? Any results?"
"The case was taken by the city lord's personal men. We were unable to get valuable information."
The stern woman's expression turned grave. "Very suspicious. Perhaps, the words in the letter are true. Contact the headquarters and tell them about this. Also, mobilize all our men to investigate this situation."
"But hallowed one, we don't even know the origins of the letter. Don't you think we are exaggerating too much?"
The stern woman scoffed. "Exaggerating? This letter appeared on the desk of my office! Nobody noticed an intruder, and nobody knows how it reached there. How is that possible? Even if there is no demigod guarding this church, the number of A-Ranks can be counted in two hands. What kind of person will take the effort to hide from their senses and arrive at my office only to make a bad joke? Furthermore, even if it's a joke, it's a joke related to the Blight. We can't afford to be careless!"
The church's personnel looked at each other with grave expressions., finally nodding.
"Understood, hallowed one."
"Also, send someone to the city lord's state. Tell him I need to meet him as soon as possible."
…
In another part of the city, in the Church of the Sun God.
The archbishop in charge of the city was holding a letter with a serious expression.
"The Blight…"
He then looked at the desk where the letter appeared.
He had stayed in this office the entire night and never left. Despite it, though, the letter appeared suddenly and did not manage to see the person who brought it.
A term appeared on the archbishop's mind when he thought about such a level of skill.
"Demigod…"
…
In the Church of Fate.
The Knight Captain of the Order of the Guiding Light was holding the letter the archbishop passed him.
He was passing by Diadel Duchy on the way to Calice City, following the guidance of the saintess. However, he was not expecting to get a clue even before reaching his destination.
"What do you think, captain?" The archbishop asked with a frown.
The knight captain's expression changed several times before finally sighing.
"I will not hide it anymore, archbishop. My mission this time was a direct order of the saintess. She sent me to Calice City to find traces of the Blight."
"… Calice? Not Diadel?"
The captain nodded. "It looks like things are much more complex than we thought. I'll contact the saintess and inform her of the situation. Meanwhile, I want all the information you can find about the people that were killed in that building."
The archbishop nodded without hesitation.
…
Later that night.
Bloed and the girls went to the red light district. The group of three was using Bloed's disguising devices to disguise their features while wearing long robes to cover their bodies and faces.
Last night, Regina had infiltrated the three biggest churches of the city and left a note telling them that the slavers he killed were related to the Blight.
And just like he expected, these notes caused a commotion.
This morning, the city entered a partial lockdown state. Even although you could still leave the city, you must go through a very rigorous inspection in the process. Moreover, if you seemed slightly suspicious, you would be detained.
Moreover, city guards and knights of the different churches were patrolling the city with grave expressions, stopping each suspicious person they saw. Bloed's group had been stopped on several occasions.
"Are you sure it's around here?" Bloed asked.
Regina nodded. "According to the information I heard in the inn, it should be nearby."
"Speaking about the inn, Bloed, do you know how the slavers managed to get our information?"
"It was probably the owner. Either he is cooperating with the slavers or he was threatened to reveal the information. Either way now is not the time to deal with him."
"Huh?"
"The entire city is tense about these killings. If the owner is killed now, we will be unable to avoid the suspicion of the churches and the city lord. Moreover, if there is someone else that knows about the owner's relationship with the slavers, that person perhaps can connect the dots to reach us."
Liu Ying sighed. "So complicated."
At that moment, the group of three arrived at an establishment with a dubious façade.
"It's here, master."
"Animal paradise, huh."
"This is that kind of place, right?" Liu Ying asked.
Bloed nodded. Just the name and the atmosphere were enough to recognize what kind of business this was.
A brothel.
"Master, don't get separate from me."
Bloed looked at Regina with a speechless expression. "What are you insinuating? You know the reason we are here."
"I'm just saying in case master is tempted by these women."
Bloed was too speechless to retort.
When they entered the establishment, a seductively dressed rabbit-eared woman walked towards them.
"Welcome, dear customers. Do you require an individual service, or will you play together?"
Regina's expression turned ice-cold instantly.
Bloed sighed and took a step forward. "I'm sorry, miss. We are here for your other bussiness, information."
The rabbit-eared woman frowned and observed the three of them carefully. After five seconds, she nodded and turned around.
"Follow me."
...
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