The next day. In the Nation of the Holy Church's chapel in Norland.
"I believe this to be a mistake."
Messai was sitting at the bench located at the chapel's main hall. Before her was the statue of Monicar, the God of Holy Light and Righteousness, a peaceful yet imposing god.
It was all due to Monicar's protection that Messai was able to survive through her difficult childhood. Since the day of her birth, Messai's life was destined to be devoted completely to her Lord, Monicar.
"What…? Mistake? Lady Messai?"
The adjutant was carefully sweeping the chapel's hall. Recently, it was not only his immediate superior, the female knight of the Ecclesiastical Templars, that was acting elusive the entire time. Even the person with the greatest authority in the chapel, Archbishop Desireless, was nowhere to be seen.
Could it be that the teacher and student were undergoing some sort of secret training?
Messai's adjutant didn't dare to make too many guesses.
"Squandering money. Absorbed in a game created by the demons. Those are all wrong!"
Messai was recalling what she had done in the period that was almost a week. Since the time she came in contact with Hearthstone, she had practically spent all the savings she had.
If this was to continue, if she was to successfully decide to get married, she would most likely end up spending her entire dowry into the game.
Thinking back to what she had done, the female knight once again realized her mistake. She began to reflect upon her life. This was all because a Sin Demon had appeared in that tavern.
Messai was able to accept the low-level succubus and the Chaos Demon being in the tavern. Succubui were so weak that she didn't need to show any fear. As for Chaos Demons, they were so mysterious that she had never interacted with them on the battlefield.
But, Sin Demon was different. Messai had personally participated in crusades against the powerful Sin Demons.
With a wave of their hands, those Sin Demons were able to send forth Flames of Sin that could scorch the earth to nothingness. To take on a Sin Demon, a Legion Commander would have to personally lead an army of Ecclesiastical Templars. Even Messai herself was not confident in being able to defeat a Sin Demon.
Yet, such a moving natural disaster actually openly appeared at the heart of Norland.
Should that Sin Demon start unleashing destruction, hundreds of innocent lives will be lost in an instant.
Messai's heart was unable to stay at ease because of that. Even when playing Hearthstone, she was unable to do so calmly.
"With Archbishop Desireless's consent, I've written a letter to the Church seeking for assistance."
In the end, Messai ended up telling her adjutant what she decided to do.
The demons dwelling in this city were simply too treacherous and deceitful. They were much more deceitful than the demons she encountered before.
"Assistance? Even Archbishop Desireless is unable to handle this?"
Messai's adjutant didn't dare to believe his ears when he heard the word 'assistance.' In the Nation of the Holy Church, there were a total of six Cardinal Archbishops. They were the other power of the Holy Church apart from the Legion Commanders. Should they be in Norland, their status would be akin to being beneath only the Council of Seven.
Desireless was an existence standing at the forefront of the mages of the Nation of the Holy Church. Should he be placed in Norland, he would be classified as a rank seven mage. As for rank seven mages, they were able to jointly construct a strategic-level magic capable of affecting a battle of a thousand strong.
"I think… the situation is already out of our control."
It wasn't that her esteemed teacher was unable to handle this situation. Instead, her esteemed teacher didn't want to take care of this situation.
Unfortunately, those were words that Messai cannot say. With how Desireless has been behaving so peacefully, even Messai, his disciple, found the situation to be amiss.
That demon was evidently gathering his demon army and power in Norland.
The templars stationed in Norland were incapable of shaking up that demon. As such, Messai must call for reinforcements.
She had a feeling that the demon by the name of Joshua was not staying in Norland for a 'leisure trip.' He must be planning some sort of terrifying conspiracy.
In order to prepare for the upcoming danger, Messai must make ample preparations.
"Adjutant, you continue on with the gospel distributions. Continue to alert the people of Norland the threat of the demons."
"Then… Lady Messai, what about you?"
The adjutant stopped sweeping the floor and looked to the fully-armed Messai. It was not Messai's turn to patrol today. But, she was donned in her knight's armor. No matter how one looked at her, she doesn't seem to be planning on resting today.
"I will continue to monitor those demons' movements."
As she spoke, Messai finished sorting out her equipment. She concealed her sword with a piece of cloth. Then, without hesitation, she left the chapel. As her adjutant watched her walk away, her back view seemed to be that of someone who was prepared for death.
If someone didn't know what was going on saw her behaving in this manner, they would think this female knight was planning to enter a battlefield of no return.
Unfortunately, Messai's adjutant was able to guess where his superior was going and what she was planning to do.
He was a smart fellow. He knew that the enticement presented by that demon was not something that could be settled by sending over templar reinforcements. The reason for that was because that 'enticement' does not possess any side-effect.
The adjutant took out a letter from his missionary robe. On the surface of that letter was the symbol of a white flower, the Weissenasche symbol.
That was something the adjutant received from an ordinarily-dressed little boy while distributing the gospels this morning.
Being in Norland year-round, the adjutant knew that the little boy was merely a paid dispatcher. That said, he had no idea who it was that paid the little boy to hand him the letter.
He opened the letter and took a glance. The contents of the letter was roughly 'You're extremely lucky. You will have the chance to meet with Belle and the Demon Prince at the Weissenasche Theater tomorrow.'
Oh God of Holy Light and Righteousness! The instant the adjutant read the contents of the letter, he wanted to toss it into an open fire.
To him, that letter was an invitation from the demons. If he accepted the invitation and proceeded to watch the performance, he would be betraying his doctrine.
But, a strange sort of power was urging him to keep the letter.
Perhaps, in the depths of his heart, the adjutant wished to meet with the actor and actress for 'Beauty and the Demon.'
But, the teachings he was brought upon does not allow him to accept the demons' invitation.
The doctrine that he believed in and his instinctive desire were currently clashing with each other in the young missionary's head.
He was not the only person who received the invitation. Thousands of invitations from the Weissenasche Theater were spreading through the city of Norland.
The people receiving those invitations were from all social classes and all different countries, Norland citizens included.
The largest theater stage in the Weissenasche Theater was only capable of holding close to three thousand spectators. As such, it was destined that they will not be able to invite all the fans of 'Beauty and the Demon' to partake in the live performance.
At this moment, the young missionary realized how precious the invitation letter in his hand was.
Since he had decided to devote his entire life to the god he believed in and this was his life's only opportunity to meet Belle, he soon justified himself with 'I'm going to investigate the enemies for the Ecclesiastical Templars,'
With that, he hurriedly placed away the letter back into his robe and began to quietly wait for the arrival of tomorrow afternoon.
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