After school, Mil went to the Tribunal of the Church, preparing to start his work report.
However, upon entering the meeting room, he felt the atmosphere was a bit off;
Everyone sat on both sides of the long table, waiting silently with their arms crossed, the entire hall was eerily quiet…
The chandelier on the dome cast a dim yellow glow through the dark red curtains, and the scent of parchment and ink permeated the Tribunal's meeting hall.
After Mil took his seat, he loosened the silver chain collar button of his black and gold double-breasted uniform; his relaxed posture was out of place among the sternly seated white-robed Adjudicators.
Adjudicator Kramer sighed and spoke in a heavy voice:
“Mil, we still have some doubts. Are you truly putting your heart into this investigation?”
Upon hearing this, Mil became a bit displeased:
“Investigating such incidents definitely takes time. I’m not some miraculous cure that can instantly resolve everything.”
“When you went yesterday, three more villagers disappeared in that village. Did you not notice anything at all?”
Klama frowned deeply, Mil took a sharp breath, and shrugged helplessly:
“This… I really didn’t know. We were there to investigate, not to patrol.”
“When Paul returned yesterday, he reported to us that you were derelict in your duty and weren’t focused on the investigation at all.”
Hearing this, Mil sneered:
“Tch… What was the situation yesterday? Why not ask the people who were with me? Paul himself snuck away early.”
After speaking, he looked at the others present, but the four people who were with him yesterday all lowered their heads and remained silent.
Klama stood up, his withered fingers digging deeply into the walnut wood grain, his aquiline nose casting a sharp shadow on his aged face, his hands propped on the table, speaking righteously:
“The Church needs to provide a sense of security to the populace, especially the villages near the Holy City! For villagers to disappear even with Church personnel present will severely undermine the Church’s prestige!”
“Can you blame me for this? How was I supposed to know people would disappear?”
“Mil, you are still too young! Your slow, unhurried way of doing things won’t accomplish anything. You simply don’t understand how to make a statement to the populace!”
As he spoke, Adjudicator Kramer slammed the oak long table, making the holy water in the bronze inkwell ripple. Mil, however, sneered and said mockingly with his arms crossed:
“You understand? You all understand? Is it enough to just spout empty words and shout slogans like Paul?”
As he spoke, his tone rose several notches as he scanned the silent crowd.
Klama’s veined palm pressed heavily on the dossier, sweat beaded on his graying temples, and the Tribunal robe embroidered with the scales of justice pattern rose and fell with his heaving chest.
He let out a long sigh, calming himself, and patiently said:
“Last night, Paul proposed a new capture operation, using the Iron Lily Squad as bait to capture that Hero-level Goblin at the village entrance. This morning, 30 Holy Knights were organized and dispatched.”
Upon hearing this, Mil was instantly enraged and slammed his hand on the table:
“That was my original plan!”
Clearly, Paul had overheard his conversation and rushed back to report the work early;
Of course, if he couldn't catch it, then so be it, but if he really did catch it, there was a high probability it would be executed on the spot!
Wouldn’t that make all his efforts for naught?
Klama, however, said with his arms crossed:
“Alright, the team already departed very early. If successful, news will be relayed tonight. Such actions must be swift and decisive! To demonstrate the Church’s prestige and the Lord God’s benevolence, you should learn more from this!”
After listening, Mil scoffed and said through gritted teeth:
“You’re being swift and decisive with a plan I set? Such a hasty action, looking only at the front and not the back, you’ll regret it when something goes wrong!”
However, no sooner had his voice fallen than the messenger knight from outside rushed in hurriedly…
“Lord Klama! This is bad!”
With that, he pushed open the meeting room door and shouted loudly:
“Paul… and the more than 30 Holy Knights he took with him…”
At this point, he suddenly took a deep breath, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes as he said with difficulty:
“Not a single one returned…”
In the meeting room, there was a deathly silence, and everyone’s faces were ashen.
Only Mil’s face was flushed…
He pressed his lips together, biting his lip hard, recalling all the saddest things in his life.
“What do you mean not a single one returned? Where are the people?”
“Paul, with over 30 Holy Knights, pursued that Hero-level Goblin all the way into the mountain cave. They entered around ten in the morning and didn’t come out until three in the afternoon. It is said that in the end, only a few…”
At this point, the knight paused and lowered his head:
“A few Goblins wearing Holy Knight helmets appeared at the cave entrance.”
After a long while, Mil finally let out a long sigh, a hint of sadness barely showing on his face:
“Ah… my swift and decisive action! Lord God be merciful, may their souls return gloriously to the Holy Country!”
The situation had become very grim…
Catching one Goblin, and losing over 30 Holy Knights, even the Pope would be furious enough to vomit blood.
The key was the humiliation!
“Bang—!”
Adjudicator Kramer slammed his fist on the table, breaking through the tabletop.
Seeing the situation, Mil quickly comforted him:
“Teacher Klama, you are our backbone. Aren’t you going to make a statement at this critical moment?”
“Mil… I’ll ask you one question: Can you solve this?”
“Yes… but I’m afraid you won’t trust me, after all, I’m still young?”
Everyone’s faces showed a hint of fear as they secretly looked up at Mil. In the entire Holy City, he was the only one who dared to speak to Klama like that.
The Adjudicator suppressed his anger, swallowed, and asked:
“How long will it take you to resolve it?”
“Today is Saturday… We will act on Monday, at one in the morning.”
One in the morning on Monday meant the operation would already begin on Sunday night.
After listening, Klama nodded:
“Alright… As an Adjudicator of the Tribunal, I officially designate this incident as a Level Five Exorcism Event. Now, full authority is entrusted to Mil. If anyone has objections, submit them to me before nine tomorrow morning!”
After speaking, he made a series of specific preparations before announcing the meeting adjourned.
But to be honest, Mil was truly worried they wouldn’t agree to his plan…
Over 30 Holy Knights didn’t return, and him bringing those six people, it just didn’t seem like they could win?
He could only try to think of other ways.
After the meeting, Mil first went to the Adventurer’s Guild and proactively initiated an initial quest—
Goblin Cave Extermination, specifically assigned to: Iron Lily Adventure Team.
They might not accept, but he could arrange to talk to them then, to see if he could find some reason to trick them into going?
As for the Holy Knights, they had just been annihilated, and the detailed investigation report would probably only be out by tomorrow morning…
After doing all this, Mil went to Paradiso Mansion again.
The manor was brightly lit in the twilight, with crystal chandeliers illuminating the foyer as if it were daytime. The spermaceti candles on the gilded candelabras burned quietly, casting a warm, flickering light on the Persian rug.
Duke Charles was mostly not in the Holy City, but in the capital of the Duchy; Lilith remained here because she was studying at Sibyl School.
Walking into the magnificent manor again, Mil was already familiar with the way, and the manor’s servants treated Mil as half a master.
After arriving in the living room, he waited five minutes before hearing Lilith’s voice from the opulent spiral staircase:
“Didn’t I have the maid tell you to come find me?”
Mil’s peripheral vision caught Lilith emerging wrapped in a bath towel again…
Rose vine carvings entwined the gilded handrail of the spiral staircase. Lilith’s bare feet stepped over the rose petal-strewn steps, and her toes, painted with pearlescent nail polish, gently kicked away the roses on the steps;
Water droplets dripped from her auburn hair, soaking into the camel-colored velvet carpet, leaving dark marks.
Mil didn’t dare to look up, he just drank his tea and said profoundly:
“We’ve only announced our engagement; the formal engagement ceremony hasn’t even begun. Are you so eager to turn this fake engagement into something real?”