Chapter 2293: Poor Condition
“Saintess, Saintess!” A voice rang out not far from me. I realized I had drifted off and opened my eyes, finding myself before a familiar long table laden with a dazzling array of fruits and meats.
But the usual scene of everyone wolfing down food was absent. Many people were looking at me, making me even more bewildered. “Eat, everyone, why are you looking at me? The dishes are all served, why aren’t you eating?”
“Saintess, you seemed to be in a daze just now. Everyone is very worried about you, so we haven’t started eating. And what about the other one, the Maid? What’s going on with you?” the Pope asked loudly, sounding displeased.
Across the table from me, Karina stared blankly at the table, her haggard face revealing the immense blow she had suffered. She hadn’t even bothered to wear her mask or conceal herself with dark magical mist as she usually did.
Most importantly, one of her hands was broken, which immediately drew everyone’s attention to her abnormal condition.
Unlike me, who snapped back to attention when called, Karina only reacted after being called several times. She awkwardly replied, “Oh? I… I’m fine. I just had some unfinished business in reality.”
“What kind of business? Your hand is even broken. If you had urgent matters, you could have notified me in advance to take leave, and I wouldn’t have included you in the meeting, so as not to jeopardize your safety in reality,” the Pope said.
“It’s nothing, just routine supply and food procurement issues for the sect,” Karina mumbled vaguely. But I could already guess. She was likely working tirelessly for those Glutton believers in Origin Stone Town.
Before I left, Karina had already begun searching the surrounding areas for other potential Glutton believers. Baal had been sealed here for so long, and the repercussions were definitely more than just a single mine.
For instance, those who saw scenes of Hell and demons in their dreams, infants corrupted by leaked Demon God power, or troublemaking miners who had been expelled—any of them could potentially spread the worship of the King of Destruction.
Karina wanted to gather these people and re-establish the sect of the King of Destruction. However, the immediate problems to solve were funding and supplies.
For the families of those missing miners, they had lost their breadwinners and their family’s income. Some might even be driven out of Origin Stone Town. Karina had to support these families, providing them with the food and shelter they needed to survive.
The issue was, her subordinates were mostly Glutton believers. Setting aside whether they would be willing to work for the common believers of the King of Destruction, their sheer appetite alone would further strain the already impoverished church.
Think about it, cults usually deceive ignorant commoners with their charades and magic, then start extorting money. Those who were slightly more humane would use divine spells to cure illnesses or fight attacking monsters—and that would be considered exemplary morality. They all made a fortune.
Yet, Karina was in such a state, not only decadent but also having to support her subordinates. Fortunately, the believers of the King of Destruction weren’t as voracious as the Gluttons. Otherwise, even with the help of my high-yield crop germs, she’d be too poor to even make ends meet.
“Um, it seems that recently the Saintess and the Maid have been asking me for a lot of material aid? And they said they were going to do something big. Is everything really okay?” the Princess asked cautiously.
The Princess was our major benefactor. Since we began preparing to infiltrate the Infinite Obelisk Research Society with the Maid, we’d frequently asked the Princess for material assistance.
With the tacit approval of the Hessian Grand Duke, the Princess could maintain minimal contact with us. In return, we agreed to teach her Glutton magic and help her control the Glutton divine power and germs within her body, without any risk of future outbreaks, as long as it didn’t affect her health.
Therefore, as long as she was within the Holy Roman Empire, the Princess could provide us with identification, passes, and intelligence. Not only Karina but also my ventures in the North required the Princess’s help.
However, the Princess couldn’t go too far. At least she still knew that the Duchy’s wealth was off-limits, and the treasury, which was overseen by courtiers, was absolutely forbidden. She could only take things from her personal savings or, at most, from the family treasury, and she had to record it in her own accounts.
But this had already been a great help to us. Without the Princess, we would be completely stuck. I was extremely grateful to her.
Unexpectedly, a careless remark from the Princess drew the Pope’s suspicion again: “Something big? What were you doing again?”
“Uh, it’s nothing. Just a minor conflict with an organization that collects Sealed Objects,” Karina still answered vaguely. She couldn’t possibly say that she had used the power of her Glutton believers to establish the sect of the King of Destruction, and she hadn’t applied for permission beforehand.
But in her current state, without any preparation, she became flustered the moment she was questioned. Anyone could tell she wasn’t telling the truth, especially since the logging camp incident had already been discussed last time.
“I wasn’t asking you. I was asking the Princess, what were they doing? And what did they ask you for?” The Pope turned to the Princess.
Compared to the unwell Karina, the Princess was even less guarded. She could only timidly reply, “I don’t know either. It seems they asked for travel permits, and the identity of a grain merchant. They also needed medicine, food, and weapons. They seem to have gone to some mine again.”
“Speaking of which, I mentioned it last time too. The Saintess took some of my followers. According to those who returned, the Saintess built a secret harbor on the north shore, gathered a group of Undead pirates, and is now working with people from the Qing Empire as pirates,” the General revealed all my secrets.
The Pope frowned more as he listened. These matters had already been discussed at the last meeting, and no one had paid much attention. But now that both the Saintess and the Maid were in poor condition, he couldn’t help but ask, “Saintess, what exactly are you and the Maid up to?”
“The North Sea matter involves some of my personal grievances. I was also trying to acquire some supplies and funds. That area is almost completely separated from the church. Even if it’s encircled and suppressed, the church won’t be implicated. Please rest assured,” I said.
Since Karina was in poor condition, I had to explain. It was rather coincidental. I was just worried about Older Brother Jayad, and then got distracted the moment I entered. Actually, Karina and I weren’t worried about the same thing; it just happened to coincide, making them think we were still acting together.
“This has nothing to do with the Maid. We heard that the Research Society has its sights set on some very powerful magic artifacts sealed in a certain Origin Stone mine, so we infiltrated the Research Society together. Unexpectedly, a Witch Society that worships Outsider Demons and an assassin organization got involved. After a chaotic battle, the Maid was injured and is currently recovering.”
I wasn’t lying. Anyone could see her hand was broken; she was quite badly injured.
