Everybody fixed their eyes upon her.
The Holy Lady explained casually and matter-of-factly, “All the Saint Samurai are directly watched by the goddess. If we test the Saint Samurai, won’t it be a sign that we doubt the goddess?”
She made a good point.
Doubting the Goddess of Light was essentially challenging the foundation of the church.
Everybody agreed with what she said, except Schuck.
“But, there has been more than one Saint Samurai who was corrupted, hasn’t there?”
He brought up something that everybody in the church wanted to forget.
Every corrupted Saint Samurai had wreaked havoc on the human world.
The Saint Samurai were always known as the Goddess of Light’s move beloved children, epitomes of integrity and bravery, and professionals who were as famous as the Heroes.
The corruption of a Saint Samurai felt no different from a Hero siding with a Devil King.
It happened several times in the history of the Church of Light.
Normally speaking, even a pope would’ve been criticized by others if he had brought up the subject in public.
However, there was nothing that they could do at this moment even though they didn’t want to hear it.
It was because Schuck, the most favored of the Saint Samurai, was the one who made the statement.
During the last descent of the Goddess of Light, she had kissed Schuck’s forehead and blessed him in front of everyone.
He was the first in the history of the Church of Light to receive such an honor.
His words represented the will of the Goddess of Light more than the Holy Lady’s and the pope’s did.
However, if the Saint Samurai were to take the test, it would contradict their faith.
While everybody was silent, the pope suggested, “In any case, let’s test me and the cardinals first.”
Then, the atmosphere of the meeting was greatly eased.
They knew that the pope tested those people first because the traitor was likely among the cardinals.
The pope instantly cast a large-scale alignment test, covering himself as well as all the cardinals.
His control was perfect, and the Holy Lady and the thirteen Saint Samurai weren’t affected at all.
Everybody was impressed by the pope’s skillfulness. They also looked at each other warily, trying to figure out who the traitor was.
However, under the alignment test, the pope and the cardinals had nothing but green over their heads.
Nobody had a different color.
The atmosphere got even more intense.
Anxiety and uneasiness roiled in everybody’s hearts.
The pope dared not look at the Saint Samurai. He could only focus his gaze on the Holy Lady.
He didn’t know how he should describe his feelings.
He was quite ambivalent about whether or not he wished the Holy Lady to be the corrupted one. Under everybody’s eyes, the Holy Lady uneasily raised her right hand and cast an individual alignment test on herself.
There was nothing but green over her head.
The Holy Lady looked desperate.
“I do hope that it’s me.”
She mumbled to herself with a pale face.
If there was a traitor, it had to be one of the thirteen Saint Samurai.
That was a dreaded scenario for the entire Church of Light.
Three evil invasions had already happened.
If a Saint Samurai turned out to be corrupt, it would be a fatal blow on the faith of the church.
Everybody was seething anxiously, including the Saint Samurai who had been poised.
At this moment, Schuck said, “Perform an alignment test on us too.” The pope didn’t say anything but simply stared at Schuck earnestly.
Who dared to cast an alignment test on the Saint Samurai as a whistle-blower in such a situation?
Normally speaking, a whistle-blower would only end up killed by heavy chariots on the street, or shot by seven arrows in the back.
Although it never happened in the Church of Light, similar things had happened in a lot of kingdoms.
As a result, nobody wanted to be the whistle-blower. After a moment of silence, Schuck said, “Let me do it.”
Everybody was greatly relieved. As the most favored Saint Samurai, he was protected by the Goddess of Light even if he became the whistle-blower.
Also, as a Golden Son, Schuck wouldn’t really die either.
At this moment, everybody looked at Schuck with approval in their eyes.
“Decree: Alignment Test!”
Schuck waved his hand, and everybody was enshrouded by an enormous alignme including the pope, the cardinals and the Holy Lady who had already been tested.
Of course, the Saint Samurai were no exceptions.
However… green glowed right above everybody’s head.
Everybody was greatly relieved to see that.
The enemy was not in the leadership at all. Thank god.
Even the pope wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead.
“Now that none of us is a suspect, we should start investigating the middle-level clerics.” The pope squeezed the sweat in his palm and continued, “Schuck, I hope that you can talk to the royal family. We have to apologize and compensate for the queen’s severed hand. We can pay a price as long as the queen isn’t too outrageous.” “Why do you ask Schuck to go?” asked the Holy Lady in confusion. “You should know how influential Schuck is to the women out there.”
Everybody chuckled in comprehension.
Looking at the Holy Lady’s demanding eyes, the pope explained with a bitter smile, “Don’t worry. Queen Stephanie isn’t interested in Schuck. I want him to go there only because the queen’s man is a Golden Son and seems to be Schuck’s good friend. For the sake of their friendship, Stephanie might not be too hard on us.”
That was a good reason.
The Holy Lady had no objection to that
Then, Schuck led about twenty diplomats of the church to the royal palace.
After they introduced themselves, the guards reported the situation, and a maid came out. Her eyes glittered when she saw Schuck. Then, she took them to the right wing of the royal palace where the queen often received foreign diplomats.
In the eyes of the royal family, the Holy Realm was a foreign organization even though it was based right in the capital.
Schuck had expected to meet the queen who had lost one arm. However, he met his old friend.
Roland was eating fruit and reading books in the living room.
After a shock, Schuck rushed to him in delight and punched Roland’s shoulder, before he shouted in delight, “When did you come here? Why didn’t you tell me?”.
“Easy, easy.” Roland rubbed his shoulder. If he hadn’t acquired Legendary Physique from Andonara, he probably would’ve been bordering on death, as a normal Mage was very fragile. “I came yesterday and spent the night in the royal palace.”
“Oh.” Schuck put on a sincere smile. “How is your job in reality?”
Earlier, they had always hung out with their friends during weekends, but now that Roland was missing, they felt that something was off, and the atmosphere wasn’t as great as before.
“Not bad. The job is easy. The salary and benefits are good. There’s also a fancy cafeteria where you can have as many in-season fruits as possible. There’s even a state-of-the-art gym.”
Knowing that Roland would never tell lies if his life were in trouble, Schuck was quite reassured. “That’s not bad.”
“Are you here to apologize to Stephanie on behalf of the Church of Light?” asked Roland.
Schuck nodded. “Yes, but since you’re here, it’s probably easier for us.”
“Just leave the things that you promised here,” said Roland with a smile. “Stephanie has given me the authority to deal with this matter. As your friend, I won’t ask for more compensation.” “Okay, sounds good.” Schuck gave a piece of paper to Roland.
It was certainly better to use a piece of paper than to use a parchment on such a stately occasion. Roland skimmed through the paper and put it down.
He had to admit that the Church of Light’s compensations were quite suitable.
They had offered both money and land.
They had even given away some of the local parishes.
Schuck was relieved to see that Roland was satisfied.
Then, Schuck said, “Roland, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“You know magic quite well. Do you think the alignment test can 100% tell someone’s goodness or stance?”
“It’s not absolutely effective at all.” Roland thought for a moment and continued, “Consider it like this. Your test is an attack, so it’s only natural that there’s a defense. I can even resist buffs with my willpower if I don’t want them, not to mention the alignment test. Are you looking for the traitor in such a way?”
“How do you know?” Schuck was rather surprised.
Roland chuckled. “I can easily figure it out even if I’m thinking with my knees.”
“You’re good. It never occurred to me.” After that, Schuck was deep in thought and mumbled to himself, “So, the enemy has methods to fool the alignment test?”
“Got it.” Schuck stood up and said to Roland, “Sorry, bro. I have to go back to the Holy Realm. I need to handle this immediately. I have a bad feeling.”
Roland stood up too. “Then forgive me for not escorting you out.”
“Tsk. You’re talking as if you’re the master of this place,” Schuck teased.
Roland chuckled, unwilling to argue with him.
After Schuck left, Roland returned to the bedroom with the paper, only to find that Stephanie was still sleeping in bed.
There was no audience today… In fact, audiences were unnecessary as the lords of every dominion could take care of their own matters.
It made little difference whether the queen was diligent or lazy.
“You’re back already?” Hearing the door open, Stephanie opened her eyes on the bed. “You didn’t catch up with your friend?”
“He left because of something urgent.”
Roland laid the paper on the pillow. “This is their compensation for you.”
Stephanie sat up lazily, her body vaguely revealed underneath her silk pajamas.
She glanced at the paper and smiled. “They’re quite fair, but I’m rather surprised that you’re not biased towards your friend.”
“You’re both dear to me. Why would I do that?”
“Which of us is dearer to you?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Roland squeezed her breasts with a smile.
Roland stayed in the bedroom for the next two days. Stephanie went to the palace for audiences during the two days, but she returned to the bedroom and never came out again when they were over.
She had maids deliver food and drink to her bedroom.
After two days, her hand had regenerated fully. Then, Roland went to the basement where the magic power bricks were manufactured. After collecting three magic power bricks, he created more simulated stellar systems.
Thanks to Magic Power Crystallization, the great talent he got from a Demigod, Roland had an unbelievably high mana capacity.
It wasn’t a problem at all for him to establish a few assembly lines for the magic power bricks.
“If it goes on like this, it will only take one year before I can create the core foundation of my floating city.”
Roland laughed in delight and then returned to Delpon.
After reading the journal on Mage’s Disjunction he got from the Red Magic Tower, he spent half a month perfecting the spell.
His odds of destroying mid- and low-level magic equipment rose to 70%. Also, the range of coverage had been significantly expanded.
In the meantime, he manipulated another three peripheral members of the anti-Roland organization to take his side exactly as he dealt with Galen.
Seeing the icon of Mage’s Disjunction that he had grasped lying on the system, he put on a mystifying smile. Andonara approached him and touched Roland’s face with glowing eyes. “I love your creepy and domineering side. It’s so manly and gives me a sense of security.”
Well… Then they rolled on the bed for a long time.
At the same time, there was a mid-sized city named Tarze three hundred kilometers away.
The city was most famous for its black ale.
The black wheat in this place had a high yield and a great quality. The ale made with such wheat was much more delicious than that from other places.
Also, it had been a tradition of the city to select the ten most beautiful fourteen-year-old girls of the city and then ask them to chew black wheat and spout it to twenty kegs that had been prepared in advance.
Then, the twenty kegs of ale would be the most expensive products that only nobles could afford.
At this moment, the most beautiful girls were being selected.
It was a show that people of different genders, ages, and social ranks could all participate in.
On this day, all the fourteen-year-old girls in the city would be dressed up and sent to the gala for the celebrities to review.
At this moment, Gardner, as a rich player and a streamer, was on the judge panel.
He had been living a thriving life in this place.
He was quite famous as a Golden Son, a professional, and a baron, a title that he bought with money. His life was easy and comfortable.
“Brothers, do you see the girl in the red skirt on the left side? She’s my type. I’m going to vote for her.”
While observing the girls in the arena, he interacted with the audience watching his stream.
Naturally, all the viewers were cheering to see so many beautiful girls at the same time.
Above his head, a huge cloud was drifting toward him slowly.
At this moment, Gardner didn’t realize the severity of the matter yet.
