The Church’s Departure

Thump-thump-thump!

The hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. Steward Ark, looking anxious, halted before the study door. After making a conscious effort to calm his racing heart, he knocked as usual.

“Patriarch, I have an urgent matter to report.”

“Come in.”

Granted permission, Ark pushed open the study door. He saw Reyn seated behind a mountain of stacked documents, his expression grave as he spoke, “Patriarch, something significant has happened. All the Holy Priests of the Church departed from the port last night by ship.”

Reyn’s gaze lifted from the documents, meeting Ark’s eyes.

“What about the Enforcers?”

Ark shook his head. “They didn’t leave with the Holy Priests of the Church. After all, Enforcers have always been expendable resources that the Holy Church can replenish at any time.”

“Moreover, the Enforcers working for the local church are almost all locals. Their homes are here; where else would they go?”

Reyn narrowed his eyes slightly. Though the Church’s withdrawal was part of his expectations, he hadn’t anticipated Bishop Carlos would be so decisive.

He tapped the desktop lightly, stating calmly, “There’s no need to panic. Focus on placating the public.”

Ark’s expression remained solemn. “Patriarch, the Church’s withdrawal means there’s no one left in this land to confront heretics, and no one to treat the sick among the populace.”

“Under such circumstances, it’s simply impossible to soothe their fears.”

Reyn’s eyelids barely twitched as he replied indifferently, “Aren’t there still those Enforcers? As for illness… the sick should see a doctor, not rely on some healing magic.”

Ark’s heart jolted, and a subtle shift appeared in his expression. He cautiously ventured, “Is the Patriarch referring to those Witches? But their power originates from the SS-rank heretic, the Old Man in the Mountain.”

Reyn suddenly adopted a serious demeanor. “But to my knowledge, that heretic has never harmed any human. The medicine refined using their power can indeed cure illnesses.”

Ark nervously rubbed his hands. “But they are heretics after all. If this is discovered later, the trouble could be immense.”

Reyn shot Ark a peculiar look, then abruptly asked, “What would happen? Could it be worse than the current situation?”

“Patriarch, some ill-intentioned individuals might seize this opportunity to use the Holy Church’s power to eliminate us.”

“Is that so? Then they had better hurry, or I might die at the hands of other heretics first. Don’t forget, it’s not just the Gluttony Witch now; the Voice of the Deceased is also targeting me.”

Reyn spoke nonchalantly, his gaze returning to the documents.

Regarding the recent patrols within the city, no missing persons or cases of individuals being drained of all blood had been discovered. Did this mean the Holy Church had taken the A-rank heretic, the Blood Fiend, with them before they left?

While he didn’t know how they had resolved the issue of blood sources, at least there were no victims within the city-state. Reyn had no intention of pursuing the matter further.

His gaze once again settled on Ark. “What kind of person do you think the current Chief of Security is?”

Ark had been diligently pondering the hidden meaning in Reyn’s words. Hearing a new question posed to him, he immediately snapped back to attention. After a brief thought, he replied, “Is the Patriarch referring to George Andrew?”

“While he outwardly serves as the Chief of Security, maintaining order, he is, in fact, the Rheinhebo family’s ‘black hand.’ His exceptional ability to accumulate wealth earned him the former Patriarch’s trust.”

Reyn lowered his head, scrutinizing the dense numbers on the documents—the Rheinhebo family’s ledgers. These ledgers were not kept openly; they recorded the flow of funds in the family’s shadows.

The so-called Chief of Security only maintained order in the Upper City.

Reyn looked at Ark once more. “Ark, is it possible to get rid of him?”

This time, Ark felt no ripple of emotion. Compared to the Holy Church, George Andrew was merely an ordinary man.

“If the Patriarch requires his life, I can send someone to take it right now.”

“What if I don’t just want to kill him, but to establish a new system of public order?”

Ark inquired cautiously, “Forgive my ignorance, Patriarch, but what kind of public order system does the Patriarch envision?”

Reyn’s eyes held a complex expression as he looked out the window, where the garden flowers bloomed vibrantly. “Ark, the security of this land should not be confined solely to the Upper City.”

Ark understood implicitly, yet he worried there might be a deeper meaning to Reyn’s words, so he prudently chose a straightforward answer.

“If that is the case, then simply getting rid of George Andrew will not suffice. Patriarch, the corruption within the Rheinhebo family is deeply entrenched. Eliminating one person is useless; even replacing the entire security bureau wouldn’t work.”

“This corrupt system has operated for centuries. Everyone has been born into it and lives by it. Hasty action could lead to a greater disaster.”

Reyn tapped the desktop lightly, stating calmly, “Then we’ll take it one step at a time. It’s impossible to do nothing. A bunch of inhumane individuals don’t deserve to sit in those positions!”

Inhumane?

Ark’s heart gave a sudden jolt, and he lowered his head, concealing a flicker of dread that quickly crossed his eyes.

Could it be that Reyn Rheinhebo had gone to such lengths to drive away the Holy Church’s people precisely to absorb the Enforcers left behind by the branch church?

Most of the current Enforcers were burdened by the Rheinhebo family’s student loans. Now, the entire Rheinhebo family had become Reyn Rheinhebo’s personal domain. Without the Holy Church as their backing, the Enforcers were completely at his mercy.

Currently, only a few relevant individuals knew about the situation of the branch church. The ignorant populace didn’t realize that the Holy Priests had departed, nor could they comprehend that the branch church was now merely an empty shell.

This meant Reyn Rheinhebo could fully exploit this empty shell, acting in the name of the Holy Church to carry out heretical deeds.

Thinking it over, what did the Holy Church typically do in the public eye? Nothing more than the Enforcers’ daily patrols and healing the sick. Most people never came into contact with heretics on that level.

So, would replacing healing magic with the Witches’ medicine be noticed by the public?

The answer was no.

People in the Lower City couldn’t afford magical treatment anyway, and in the Upper City, only sufficiently wealthy families could use it. But even these people were merely ‘leeks’ cultivated by the Rheinhebo family.

They might detect something amiss, but what if the Rheinhebo family preemptively branded them as colluding with heretics?

Heretics were inhumane.

Reyn Rheinhebo’s words subtly hinted at this very point.

Those who didn’t obey would be labeled as colluding with heretics.

As for the high probability of angering the Holy Church later?

Haha, if the Holy Church were truly omnipotent, then the heretics of this world would have been dealt with long ago. How could organizations like the Dreamweavers or the Witch’s Assembly even exist?

Coincidentally, Reyn Rheinhebo held a card that made him fearless of the Holy Church.