Linde opened the door a crack and looked out.
It was three church members dragging an old man in tattered clothes.
One of the church members shouted to those around him:
"This person is tainted by evil spirits, everyone please disperse, disperse."
He spoke while driving away the surrounding crowd.
Lind and Leonis exchanged a glance, realizing that this matter was not simple.
The two discussed it and decided to use this opportunity to extract some information.
The two came down from the second-floor room, walked to the group, and made a gesture of prayer and blessing.
When the church members saw that Linde and his group were preachers of the Holy Church, they became slightly more respectful, but still insisted that the old man was a carrier of evil spirits.
"Brothers and sisters, please don't get involved in this. This is a private matter of the local church. Please don't interfere."
Linde carefully observed the old man and found that his eyes were clear, not like he was possessed by evil spirits.
The old man pleaded desperately.
"I...I'm really not an evil spirit, please, please don't arrest me."
He was about to speak up for the old man when he sensed a strange smell emanating from the church members.
Lind felt a chill run down his spine. Damn it, they're cultists again, and they're even posing as church members!
Lind quietly gestured to Leonis, telling her not to alert the enemy and to observe the situation first.
After knocking the old beggar unconscious, the group gave Lin De and his companion an awkward blessing gesture and then hurriedly left.
"What do you say, Lord Linde? Should we chase after them? These cultists seem suspicious."
"Chase, of course we should chase."
At this moment, Linde had already turned the activation sensor to its maximum, and the cores of several cultists stood out conspicuously in the crowd.
“They are cult members of the Dedication Society.”
"ah?"
Leonis was shocked. Had things really come to this?
"We are still unclear whether the church has been completely corrupted or whether these cult members are acting in secret by impersonating church members."
"They headed towards the church, and we followed at a distance."
"yes!"
…………
The two followed at a distance, and as they approached the church, Lind sensed more and more cultists.
They were all dressed in church robes and busy with church-related tasks.
Everything was as harmonious as before.
"Mr. Lin... are all these people...?"
"……yes."
Leonis took a deep breath to calm herself down.
With so many cultists, if that's the case, then there must be at least two people in charge here, and Viscount Swift must have faked his death!
Just as the two were about to get closer, a person dressed in church attire suddenly appeared from behind and warmly stopped Lind and his companion.
"Oh, brothers and sisters who have come from afar! The church is very busy today, please come and visit me at my home."
Without saying a word, the man grabbed Lind's hand and led the two away from the church.
The man led Lin De and his companion through a maze of left and right turns until they reached a back alley. After looking around and confirming that no one was following them, he opened a hidden door on the side of the street and led the two men inside.
Leonis didn't react until she sat down inside, because Lind gestured for her to calm down, and she had followed him there without thinking.
After the three were seated, the man removed his hood, revealing that he was a nun.
The nun was relieved and said:
"Hello, my name is Rune, and I am a novice nun from the Church of the Fortified City. I hope I did not frighten you."
Lin De calmly said:
"Of course not, we have great faith in our sisters who belong to the same church."
Linde switched into acting mode, intending to extract some information from this "novice nun".
"You're from out of town, aren't you? You probably don't know what's going on here yet..."
She said mysteriously:
"The church here has apostasydid!"
Linde:
"..."
Rune found it a little strange:
"Aren't you going to give me any response? Do you mean..."
Rune suddenly tensed up, immediately pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, and kicked over a chair in an attempt to escape.
But Linde grabbed him and pinned him to the ground.
The girl beneath him struggled with all her might, trying to break free from Linde's grasp.
Seeing the normal white light emanating from the girl's body, Linde knew she was a normal nun, so he said:
"Don't be afraid, we're here to help you. We're not cult members."
The girl beneath him stopped struggling and instead burst into tears.
"?"
Linde looked completely bewildered. What was going on?
All that could be heard was the girl crying and shouting:
"You...you've finally come! Please...please save Father Reed..."
Lind released the girl, and Leonis stepped forward to comfort her, saying:
"Stop crying, stop crying, tell us what happened."
…………
Through the girl's intermittent narration, Lin De and the others learned the ins and outs of the matter.
Several years ago, the priests here were tempted into depravity and planned to corrupt the entire church. Father Liddell, whom the girl mentioned, accidentally discovered this and was caught by the priests. The entire church then began to slide uncontrollably toward depravity.
Now, apart from her, almost everyone in the church is a cult member.
For the past two years, she has been hiding and running away as a novice nun. Finally, she managed to find a way to send the message out.
Linde and his companion exchanged glances. They hadn't come because of the girl's plea for help; her plea had most likely been blocked. The church's arrests were probably related to this matter.
After confirming that the girl was alright, Lin De and his companion revealed their identities.
“Hello Rune, I am Priest Lind of the new church in the northwest, and this lady beside me is my deacon sister Leonis.”
"Priest...?"
Rune was utterly shocked by Lind's identity, unaware that the man beside her had once been a powerful Holy Knight.
If she found out, who knows what would happen.
"Yes, we came here to investigate the current situation in the Fortified City. The Holy Church is very worried about the situation here."
Linde had completely immersed himself in the role, treating himself as a genuine old priest, and speaking with a persuasive and guiding tone.
Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope ignited in Rune's eyes.
“Your Excellency, you must save Father Reed. He is a good man, and he has been tortured by those cultists for a long time.”
Linde nodded.
"Don't worry, now that we're here, we won't just sit idly by. The main question now is, what are the cultists plotting?"
What they just encountered at the inn was definitely not an isolated case. Cult members are going around arresting these homeless people; they must be doing something shady.
"I...I think I know. Do you know about the explosion in the east before?"
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