Chapter 302 Chapter 96 The Vigilant City
Ig exchanged a few words with the white-robed monk, which made Miss Verafia, who had been waiting for a long time, even more impatient. She stomped her little boots on the ground, almost dragging the dawdling Ig away.
Fortunately, the church priest was not an unreasonable cleric. Seeing the girl’s expression, he knew he didn’t need to linger any longer and bid farewell with a smiling prayer.
“Ah, no one will be holding you back to chat anymore!”
Verafia crossed her arms, her fair cheeks puffed out, and she turned her golden eyes to Ig with dissatisfaction, saying, “You humans are really boring. It was just a greeting, but you made it so complicated.”
Ig shook his head and smiled, wondering how to explain it to this little phoenix whose little head contained nothing but simplicity.
Suddenly, a faint girlish voice came. Dofiraia walked to the girl’s side, “Miss Vera, this isn’t just a normal greeting, it’s about ‘stance’.”
“Stance?”
Verafia wanted to ask further. However, at this moment, a middle-aged man in black servant attire, with the crest of the Landis Staufen family engraved on his epaulets, approached the young man with a pair of armored cavalry.
“Uncle Keith.”
Ig’s tone relaxed considerably, and a smile appeared on his face. It was clear that the man Ig called “Uncle Keith” was not distant from the young man.
“Young Master Ig. Lord Marquis asked me to wait for you here.”
Keith said, his gaze then shifting to the girls behind Ig: “However, I wonder about these ladies…”
“This is Count Lyon of the Aslandt territory, and Mrs. Dofiraia Belt. Miss Dofi is also a student of Lord Vicena.”
Vicena was not accompanying Dofiraia. Although Ig didn’t know how the Archmage had managed to conceal herself, he guessed that Vicena, who had not yet recovered her strength, didn’t want to show herself here.
But this was also fine. Ever since he learned yesterday that Vicena was connected to Ronald from six months ago, Ig had been afraid of being detected by a Saint-level mage.
Ig paused his speech slightly, then looked at Verafia and the other girls on the other side, a faint smile showing on his lips: “As for Veer and the others, they are all good friends I met on my journey.”
Ig’s words caused Keith’s gaze to turn. From the involuntary expression on the young man’s face and such intimate titles, one could see many things.
Keith couldn’t help but smile with relief: “Young Master Ig’s friends have arrived in Lorinc, and I believe Lord Marquis will also be very happy.”
“…Why happy?”
Ophi, who had been spacing out, happened to hear this word and looked around confusedly.
However, no one answered her at this moment. So, the little ice dragon princess simply wagged her little tail and attributed it to the human Marquis, Ig’s father, being a warm and hospitable human.
“Then, may I ask if Madam Dofi will also accompany us to Lord Marquis’s estate?”
Dofiraia thanked Keith for his words but still shook her head in refusal.
Ig understood the reason well. Although the “Vicena” currently in Lorinc was merely a false incarnation used by the “Azure Heart” to hide her traces, it would seem suspicious for her disciple, Dofiraia, to come to Lorinc without going to her side.
…
After getting into the carriage, Verafia, who had been holding back for a long time, finally couldn’t help it. She grabbed his wrist and asked, “Ig, you still haven’t explained clearly! Those people, what ‘stance’ is that?”
“Miss Vera, of course, it’s a stance of vying for power and profit. Although Uncle and the others have obeyed Father all these years, I don’t think they are as calm as they appear on the surface.”
“Now that I’ve returned to Lorinc, they naturally need to figure out whether or not Father’s will is involved… Of course, such questions can’t be asked directly, so they can only beat around the bush like just now.”
Ig shook his head and explained to the girl, “However, as for that priest… why did he use Sister Chrisis’s name to invite me to the church? Could it be that the Archbishop has also decided to take sides?”
“Just inviting you to the church and that’s considered taking sides?”
Verafia still blinked her big eyes somewhat confusedly. She pouted and turned her little face towards the carriage window, shouting, “I really don’t understand human affairs.”
The girl’s soft and delicate golden hair made one want to hug her and ruffle it, but Ig, knowing his status, certainly wouldn’t dare to do such a suicidal thing now.
Ig followed the girl’s gaze to the outside of the carriage window. Ophi and Flarn’s sweet voices echoed softly. Amidst the sound of the rotating carriage axles, the not-unfamiliar appearance of the entire Lorinc, the wide streets bathed in sunlight, and fully armed knights patrolled…
“Knights?”
Ig suddenly frowned, his raised gaze falling on the streets where the fully armored knights were passing.
Although there were no knights blocking the carriage emblazoned with the crest of the Marquis’s estate, Ig clearly felt the word “vigilance” emanating from them.
“Uncle Keith, why are there so many knights patrolling Lorinc? With so much vigilance, has something happened?”
Ig asked the middle-aged man in the black robe. Keith hesitated slightly, looking at the girls beside Ig.
Ig understood what he meant and couldn’t help but shake his head and smile, saying, “Little Fei and Flarn are both good friends of Veer and me. Uncle Keith doesn’t need to hide anything from them.”
Since Ig had said so, the middle-aged manager naturally had no reason to hide it any longer. He nodded and said:
“You are right, young master. Lorinc has not been peaceful recently… According to the news already released, several nobles have mysteriously disappeared or been murdered in secret. This is not limited by time or region, and there are even many innocent commoners.”
“Many people have disappeared and been murdered…?”
Verafia, who had turned her little face back, showed a look of curiosity in her big eyes. The girl shifted her delicate body slightly and asked, “According to you, could this be the work of one person or an organization?”
“Miss Verafia is correct.”
The middle-aged manager nodded, “According to our information, these people seem to be a group of heretics calling themselves the ‘Church of the Dead Word’, but Lord Marquis cannot determine their exact whereabouts, so he had to dispatch the personal guard knights to patrol Lorinc.”
“Church of the Dead Word…”
Ig murmured the name. It sounded like a heretical and evil entity.
Keith paused, hesitating slightly whether to continue, but he still spoke:
“However, if it were just this, with Lord Marquis here, such petty people wouldn’t cause much trouble. But, a month ago, the old patriarch was also injured by them.”
“What!”
Ig’s eyes widened, his expression incredulous.
