The next morning, Elin arrived at the Holy Light Cathedral. As he approached the large doors, he noticed the meticulously cleaned stone steps, showing no signs of any disaster. On the night of the great earthquake, over six hundred nearby residents flocked to these steps seeking the cathedral's sanctuary, causing severe stampedes and resulting in twenty-four deaths, including a two-year-old baby in its mother's arms. If they had stayed on the square in front of the cathedral, they might have been unharmed. To investigate whether someone had incited this incident, Elin was the first agent from MI7 to arrive at the scene. At that time, the steps were stained with blood, vomit, torn clothing, and hair. It was not only a microcosm of the disaster but also could be considered another bloodbath—a completely avoidable one. That night, death and the fear of death surrounded the cathedral for the first time.
The preliminary investigation results indicated it was a completely spontaneous event. Those who survived on the steps felt very lucky. They believed that if they had stayed home or remained on the square, they would have surely died. They prayed for the dead on the steps, firmly believing they had passed away peacefully under the Light's blessing. Although the stampede resulted in some horrifying corpses, no one seemed to remember stepping on bones and entrails.
Now, Elin reached the top of the steps and approached the large door. Several paladins stood guard at the entrance. After identifying himself, Elin was allowed inside. The interior of the cathedral was more austere than before: all colorful drapes had been replaced with pure white ones to continue mourning Archbishop Benedictus, who had died a week earlier. However, dazzling objects like gold and silver utensils remained—they were concrete symbols of the Light. Elin passed through several rooms and arrived at the door of a meeting room. He informed the guard of his purpose; the guard opened the door and entered the room. During a brief wait, five or six clerics passed by in the corridor, each quickening their pace when passing Elin. Elin thought that many clerics in the cathedral probably remembered him: a one-eyed MI7 agent who had once picked up a severed finger on the steps—easily recognizable.
"How rude." Elin said to the back of the last person who passed by. "I'm here to solve your problems."
The door opened. Jorgen stepped out. Before Jorgen closed the door, Elin glimpsed Bishop Lindy Lortleek sitting inside. This wasn't easy, as his chest barely rose above the table.
"What are you discussing with him?" Elin tapped Jorgen's shoulder with his curled right index finger. "At least put a cushion under his butt."
Ignoring him, Jorgen walked straight to a large pillar across the hallway. Elin followed.
"The cathedral is very sensitive to outsiders now," Jorgen said. "The only reason you're here must be to report something important. Lindy and I are expecting someone, and we have about ten minutes before they arrive."
"Yes... of course, it's important. I've captured someone. The tailor I mentioned last time, the one spreading rumors."
"About the Archbishop?"
"Yes, that one. You wouldn't believe it; he tricked twelve silver coins out of me with his stupid story. I haven't done undercover work in a long time, and you know I'm not up for it anymore. But I thought, since he hasn't committed a serious crime, it might be worth the risk to see if I could get some real information out of him..."
"What did he say?" Jorgen interrupted.
"In short, the plague. He claims he came to the cathedral to tailor for Benedictus. Then he spun a tale... suggesting that Benedictus had the plague. He also tried to connect this to the earthquake, but I didn't catch all of it."
"The Archbishop never let outsiders make his clothes."
"Of course, but some people will believe him. I think he might be connected to other groups stirring up trouble."
"'You think'? What were the results of the interrogation?"
"I haven't started questioning him yet."
"Why not?"
"Because... I'm here to inform you. I thought you'd be interested and might want to handle the interrogation yourself."
"I'm not interested, Elin. At least not now. You've only discovered someone spreading rumors. Without understanding the extent of the harm, whether there are accomplices, or any further plans for sabotage, you disturb my work. I don't know where your judgment has gone. As you said, this man is willing to repeat his fabricated story for a dozen silver coins without considering the consequences, and seemingly without scrutinizing his audience. I highly doubt such a fool is worth investigating. If you want to interrogate him, do it yourself. If you find anything valuable, notify me tomorrow."
Without waiting for a response, Jorgen walked towards the meeting room door.
"Alright," Elin said to himself.
He actually understood that this was not the kind of work a senior agent should prioritize. The tailor was just a third-rate scammer trying to profit amidst the chaos. However, before coming here, he imagined that if Jorgen agreed to return to MI7 to interrogate the tailor himself, he could say, "Hey, doesn't this remind you of ten years ago, back in Auberdine? Catching those Twilight cultists who talked big." This thought made him feel it was worth coming to the cathedral to try. Now, it felt like someone planning a prank on a friend, believing it would surely work and be amusing; but the result was disappointing.
He didn't like the air in the cathedral. It was cold, mixed with an incense smell that would never dissipate, along with the scent of books. Since coming here was a mistake, it was best to leave early.
Before leaving the corridor, Elin saw a dozen paladins marching towards him in neat formation. He recognized their leader: Nehari Charlostu, the "Bishop of the Warhammer," commander of Stormwind's forces stationed in the Plaguelands. Of course, Elin didn't think Nehari would remember him.
All the clerics in the corridor quickly stepped aside, clutching their holy books, with the lower-ranked ones bowing their heads. Elin leaned against a pillar, waiting for the procession to pass. If Nehari was the one Jorgen and Lindy were waiting for, it would be interesting—Elin thought, and his prediction soon came true. Nehari, with two paladins, entered the meeting room, leaving the others outside. Elin had a fleeting thought to eavesdrop but quickly dismissed it.
He roughly understood what was happening and knew it was beyond his control.
With Benedictus dead, the three candidates he had designated would compete for the Archbishop position. This couldn't be delayed, as the king had publicly stated that for the nation's stability and the people's welfare, choosing the most suitable successor to represent the Holy Light was more urgent than post-earthquake reconstruction—"Without firm faith, rebuilding efforts would be difficult," he said. Among the three candidates, while Lindy Lortleek, who spent his days with medical texts, was relatively friendly to MI7, it wasn't because Lindy had chosen a political stance. Instead, it was due to his hospital care for Dalia for many years, which closely tied him to MI7. Lindy, being excessively kind-hearted, avoided provoking others to ensure he could quietly research medicine. Even out of a doctor's duty, he couldn't abandon Dalia, thus not placing himself against MI7. The problem was, beyond medicine, Lindy lacked ambition—a quality his opponent, Nehari Charlostu, prided himself on.
Nehari disliked MI7. Even without the West Plaguelands expedition six years ago, Elin knew this. It wasn't that Nehari disliked intelligence organizations; as a successful military leader, he understood their importance—he just disliked disobedient intelligence organizations. If such a highly combative anti-Section Seven figure became the new Archbishop, Elin would expect countless high-stakes secret missions, exhausting him.
However, Nehari's title was also his weakness. Benedictus fell ill after returning from the Western Plaguelands. Nehari was entirely responsible for the Archbishop's safety there. While no one had proven Nehari's negligence causing the Archbishop's illness, it was impossible to prevent people from discussing it.
The third candidate, Hylan Ludwig, a long-time hermit, was unknown to Elin, except for rumors of his vast theological knowledge and age comparable to the elder. The church hierarchy highly respected him, but the general public knew little. It seemed it would be either Lindy or Nehari. We can only fully support Lindy...
Elin halted his impractical, simplistic analysis. The Light and politics had nothing to do with him. It was Jozen's business, not his. The one to negotiate with Lindy, Nehari, and other church dignitaries under the elder's orders wasn't even Mardias, but Jorgen. In fact, since returning from Stromgarde, Jorgen had almost ceased independent tasks. Not to mention Jorgen, even Elin himself rarely handled homicides now. Elin's current job was mainly maintaining social stability after a series of disasters—of course, through acquiring and controlling intelligence. For this purpose, he had to avoid violence as much as possible.
It was time to return to MI7. The tailor's interrogation was necessary. After leaving the cathedral, he walked through a street where at least half the houses had collapsed. He heard some prisoners escaped from Stormwind Prison during the earthquake. In contrast, Section Seven's detention and dungeon remained intact. In fact, the earthquake caused minimal damage to MI7 headquarters; he would continue working there without worrying about the ceiling collapsing in aftershocks.
He still couldn't fulfill his promise to resign.