Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1007 Clues and Prayers

Unlike most villages in southern Intis, Belon Village has almost no traditional agriculture and animal husbandry as its main industries are grape cultivation and winemaking. Therefore, what Angel saw was not large tracts of farmland or pastures, but vineyards and houses scattered among them.

This makes the whole village compact and neat, unlike villages that grow traditional crops or raise sheep and cattle, where you can't see the end but there are also few people in sight.

This place is a bit like the town of Chaillot in the western suburbs of Trier, but without the hustle and bustle of a big city. It presents a sense of relaxation as if the passage of time has slowed down.

With this vacation-like feeling, Angel and Bernadette set out on the dirt road leading into the interior of the village of Belon.

After walking a few steps, a cart loaded with wine barrels was pushed past. The creaking sound of the axle friction accompanied by a mixed smell of fermenting wine and the aroma of aged oak barrels rushed towards the two.

The man pushing the cart had rough skin and dull eyes, and it was obvious that he had exhausted his mind due to too much physical work. But when he passed Angel and Bernadette, he still stared at them closely, wondering if he was obsessed with their disguised faces or because their clothes were extremely rare in such a rural village.

After the man pushing the cart walked and stopped, and finally reluctantly entered a wooden house, Angel whispered:

"Let's go to the church in the village of Belon and find out the situation from the local priest."

Before coming, Angel had already obtained basic information about the village from Julian of "Dawn of the Elements", but in order to avoid missing anything, it would be safer to go to the local church.

As for Intis's other major church, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, its churches are often built in cities with factories and schools. Although most villages have some steam believers, they do not have corresponding churches.

"That's exactly what I'm curious about... Why is Steam, one of Intis's beliefs, limited to preaching in cities, leaving most of its believers to the Church of the Eternal Sun?"

As they walked towards the most magnificent building in the village, Angel glanced at Bernadette who was following him and asked.

"There is no public reason, and both churches seem to be satisfied with this distribution... But I think this is probably related to the fact that the God of Steam and Machinery ascended to the throne too late, and because of the issue of the 'Hidden Sage', His ascension to the throne seemed to have been affected to a certain extent."

Bernadette replied.

The Hidden Sage, the hidden deity believed in by the Moss Ascetic Order, is likely the true god of the Mysterious Peering Path, or at least a Sequence 1 being... Angel recalled the relevant knowledge in his mind and knew that He was adjacent to the Universal Path where the God of Steam was located, so he was not surprised by the conflict between them.

The most important thing is that Bernadette also chose the path of "Mysterious Peeper", and the extraordinary people on this path often hear the mumbling of the "Hidden Sage", which contains a lot of knowledge, some of which is useful to extraordinary people, and some is tantamount to pollution!

According to the "Hermit" lady in the Tarot Club who is also a peeker, most of the time, it is not them who are chasing knowledge and peeking into secrets, but knowledge that is chasing them and secrets that are targeting them.

Thinking of this, Angel asked:

"Have you ever been influenced by the Hidden Sage?"

"I used to be, but now I won't be affected by Him unless I actively accept it."

The Sequence 3 "Master of Prophecy" replied calmly.

Is it the legacy of Emperor Roselle, or the result of her creation of the "Elemental Dawn"? This organization is committed to fighting against the "Moss Ascetic Order", and even deliberately broke with the "Hidden" Cattleya and let her infiltrate the other party, just to fight against the influence of the "Hidden Sage"...

Angel nodded thoughtfully and turned to another topic:
"What we are facing this time may be more terrifying than the 'Hidden Sage'. It involves pollution from the 'Starry Sky'. Once it is contaminated, even the gods may be helpless."

In order to prevent Bernadette from forming a complete concept of "The Old Ones" and "Outer Gods" in her mind, Angel could only give her vague hints to let her be mentally prepared, or simply stop there and let Angel, as an angel who can resist the corresponding pollution, continue the operation alone.

But Bernadette still maintained her calm expression, even smiled, and then said:

“I know, but this is also an opportunity. Perhaps through this operation, I can find more clues about my father.

"I suspect that his madness in his later years was related to this kind of pollution. The invisible pollution caused his temperament to change, and he became radical and extreme. He did many things that hurt innocent people and went against the trend of the times, which gradually alienated people around him and eventually led to bitter consequences.

“I still remember that he once said to me somewhat proudly that our future journey lies in the sea of ​​stars and in the endless starry sky.

"At that time, his tone was proud and proud, but his expression made me feel unfamiliar."

After hearing this, even if Angel was slow-witted, he could sense something unusual.

Roselle's words "sea of ​​stars" seemed familiar to her. Perhaps they were also plagiarized from some famous works in her previous life, but she knew very well what was in the "endless starry sky".

The "Old Ones" and the "Outer Gods" are all lurking outside the Earth's barriers, waiting to invade the planet and take away everything they need.

And Emperor Roselle actually wanted to go out on his own initiative?

Considering the Emperor's madness in his later years and his break with the Orthodox Church, this might not only be caused by the blockage of his path to promotion, but also by some kind of pollution from the starry sky... Angel took a deep breath, looked at Bernadette with some concern, and reminded her:

"You should know that if you haven't reached Sequence 2, some knowledge, even if you form a concrete concept in your mind, will lead to dire consequences."

“I know the boundaries.”

The princess replied immediately.

That's good. I don't want to watch you turn into a monster and be helpless. Even if I drag you into the "City of Disaster", it will only turn one kind of pollution into another... But Roselle actually mentioned the sea of ​​stars and the endless starry sky. Did he already know that the place under his feet was the Earth?

Angel stopped talking, but his mind was full of thoughts until they walked to the Eternal Sun Church in Belon Village, and then he put all his thoughts aside. Looking up at the golden dome of the church, which was the same as those of his "colleagues" in Trier, Angel was the first to enter the prayer hall from the main entrance, followed by Bernadette.

If it was in Trier, Angel would probably hesitate for a moment before entering the Church of the Eternal Sun. After all, there would probably be patron angels watching over it at all times, and one could pray to the true God to bring down divine punishment. But in a remote village, there might not even be a Beyonder in the church, so there was naturally no need to worry.

There were many believers in the church during the day, most of them were locals dressed simply, but Angel also saw several tourists or businessmen who were obviously dressed here from the nearby city of Olmir. They sat on the benches, facing the golden altar and the huge holy emblem above, lowering their heads and enjoying a moment of tranquility.

Next to the altar stood a middle-aged man wearing a white robe and with short, thick black hair. According to the information from "Dawn of the Elements", this man was Raymond, the priest of the Eternal Sun Church in Belon Village.

Seeing the two people enter the prayer hall, the priest's eyes lit up, and he took the initiative to walk from the altar to the door, stood up straight, and opened his arms as if hugging something:
"Praise the sun! Welcome to Belon, to the place where the light shines."

This is too enthusiastic. If he wasn't praising the gods, I would have thought he was a salesman... He used the "hypocrisy" ring to disguise himself, so that the not-so-outstanding Angel imitated him and praised the "Eternal Blazing Sun". Then he took out a holy emblem that he had prepared long ago and said in a low voice:

"Sir Raymond, I am from the Inquisition in Trier, and this lady is the priest of the Church of St. Siphus in Olmier."

Looking at the golden circle representing the sun and the lines symbolizing light on the surface of the holy emblem, and feeling the scorching breath inside the holy emblem, Father Raymond's smiling expression froze on his face.

"I, I..." He stuttered and repeated, "I confess, it was that woman who seduced me. She also made me donate last month..."

What the hell is this... Angel muttered silently, and found that many believers who were closer to the door had turned their heads to look here. He simply signaled the priest to come outside the church, put away the fake holy emblem with a "Sun" domain spell embedded inside, and continued in a relaxed tone:

"Ms. Beth and I are not here to investigate corruption here, and as long as you cooperate, I can pretend I don't know anything about these things."

She used some "instigative" power in this sentence, which immediately softened Raymond's expression. He smiled flatteringly and took the initiative to ask:
"What can I do for you?"

Angel looked at Bernadette, who took out a picture from the wanted poster but omitted the reward amount and other information, and showed the picture of Nast Solomon to the priest:
"Have you seen this person?"

Raymond did not dare to neglect it. He took the portrait and looked at it carefully in the setting sun. After a moment, he nodded hesitantly:

"Last month, a stranger came to Belon. He claimed to be a descendant of a villager from more than a hundred years ago. He came back here to rebuild his ancestral home and bury a relative... I couldn't find any relevant information from the administrator's files, but he said he could donate 5 Fergin to repair the church, so I decided to accept him... He looks a bit like the person in this portrait."

A few points are enough. The picture on the wanted poster is not so accurate... Angel thought about it and asked:

"Is he still in the village?"

"His ancestral home is in the forest to the west. There were indeed some people living there more than a hundred years ago, but because of inconvenient transportation, they gradually moved to the current village location... He rarely appears after entering the forest. Occasionally, he will come to hire some young people to help him dig foundations and build walls. The most recent time was probably two days ago."

Raymond replied as he recalled, pointing to the west side of the village.

He lives a secluded life and even employs laborers. Could it be that Nast is really building a tomb for his father?

Angel looked in the direction Raymond pointed and discovered a dense forest not far from the vineyards of Belon Village. He could vaguely see a path leading into the depths.

While she was observing, Bernadette asked:
"Has anything unusual happened here since he came to the village?"

"Unusual things..." Raymond was stunned for a moment before answering, "This gentleman is very generous. Many young people don't want to do farm work after helping him. There always seem to be wild animals wandering outside the village at night. This has not happened in recent years... In addition, the harvested grape vines have begun to grow again. It's winter now!"

Listening to the other party's somewhat confusing words, Angel quickly caught the real "abnormal" thing:

The vines are starting to grow!
According to previous speculation, the pollution on Nast came from the "Fallen Mother Goddess", and this outer god was related to the source "Mother Nest" and the "Moon" and "Mother" pathways, and might have some power to promote plant growth. As a result, after Nast stayed here for a period of time, the nearby vines began to grow excessively.

Thinking of this, Angel did not delay any longer. She put on a serious expression and said to Father Raymond:

"We will continue our investigation. You are not allowed to leak this matter, otherwise your name will be on the list of the court!"

These words made Raymond's face turn pale. He nodded hurriedly and watched the two ladies leave the church door and head straight for the forest in the west. Their figures soon disappeared between the vineyards and the low farmhouses. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and returned to the prayer hall tiredly, and then went back to his own lounge through the door behind the altar.

After locking the door, he lifted the mattress on the bed, opened a secret compartment underneath, took out the wooden box inside, poured a stack of gray and blue banknotes and gold coins onto the table, counted them carefully, and put them all in his pocket.

Then, Raymond opened the window of the room and looked out. His eyes stayed on the path leading out of the village, and his expression changed again and again.

Finally, he sighed, closed the window, sat back in his chair, and slumped over, half lying on the table, muttering:
"Great Eternal Sun, the Inextinguishable Light, the Incarnation of Order... I apologize to you..."

His voice grew deeper and deeper as he continued to ramble on.

A faint shadow on the glass window behind him disappeared, and the deep yellow sunlight setting in the west seemed to become a little stronger, shining into the room, making Raymond feel warm.

This gave him the illusion that a god had come in person to listen to his prayers. His heart was lifted, and he prayed even louder:

"The great eternal blazing sun..."

Immediately, Raymond's expression changed.

"Great Mother, your followers have discovered foreign enemies, and they are about to enter the forest..."

(End of this chapter)