The explosion site was strewn with corpses.
Clusters of citizens lay collapsed on the ground; some had broken limbs, others were drenched in blood—but they were considered lucky.
Closer to the epicenter, the scene was shrouded in a grim haze, littered with mangled organs and skeletal remains intertwined with fragments of flesh.
The entire Prosperous City resembled a battlefield.
“Lord Green, I’m sorry. We—we were careless.”
Julia, Green’s deputy temporarily acting as the Inspector, looked ashamed. “We didn’t expect that the cult leader would use his own life as bait…”
The cult leader.
The leader of the Withering Cult?
Green recalled a man wearing a top hat—seemingly refined, yet with eyes filled with madness and obsession.
“Is he dead?” Green asked.
“Yes, Lord Green.” Julia reported carefully, “Several of our squads surrounded him completely. With no escape, he detonated his own soul in desperation.”
That wasn’t his style.
Green knew that cult leader’s temper well.
Unlike the starving, desperate Outer God zealots who pinned their hopes on illusions, that leader was intelligent.
He had once been the youngest Doctor in the history of Scholars’ City, an expert in medicine who had fallen into the abyss pursuing the insane ideal of a “world without illness.”
But…
“The so-called ‘world without illness’ was just making everyone suffer through one great illness first, so they’d be immune to other minor ones.”
Tsk, genius and madman really are separated by a fine line.
“Take me to the scene.”
Green, who knew that cult leader exceptionally well, was not yet at ease.
“Yes!”
Though Green had long ago been suspended by the City Council, Julia didn’t take it to heart and immediately led her master to the scene without hesitation.
The cult leader’s final resting place was in a dilapidated warehouse in the lower city, where a few burnt rats emitted a foul stench.
The warehouse had been completely burned to the ground in the earlier blaze, but thick smoke lingered, as if the resentment of the dead had taken form—so dense that even strong winds could not disperse it.
“Father?”
Alice immediately recognized the cult leader’s remains.
In the only relatively intact section of the vast warehouse, several candles flickered with an eerie green flame.
A gust of cold wind swept through, stirring dust mites and blurring the already hazy vision.
Green felt a chill.
Something was wrong.
With his rich experience, he immediately came to a conclusion.
“There’s a conspiracy.” Green ordered Julia beside him, “Seal off the site immediately. Also, evacuate the surviving residents nearby and inform Archbishop Lawrence—we must hold a Sanctification Ritual.”
“Yes!”
Julia nodded and signaled the Judgment Court paladins around her to carry out Green’s orders.
Rustle, rustle, rustle!
Teams of people began working in an orderly manner—some rescuing victims, others maintaining order, and distributing relief supplies.
The chaotic and helpless scene was slowly replaced by a faint but very real sense of order.
Until a figure from afar shattered the calm.
“Who gave him permission to command the scene?” The shrill voice and affected posture belonged to the Prime Minister’s Envoy, who had arrived at the execution site of the Governor.
Dressed in an ostentatious outfit befitting his noble status, with a gray-white wig and thinly powdered face, the Envoy immediately called out upon seeing Green: “Ah, isn’t this the former Paladin Commander Green, who has already been dismissed by the City Council?”
The Envoy nodded slightly, as if merely acknowledging Green was a great honor.
“I say, Miss Julia, don’t you think it’s inappropriate to let a suspect, who has lost the Holy Light’s protection, command the glorious and noble paladins?”
The Envoy glanced at the gathering disaster victims nearby, a hint of disgust flashing across his face. “Also, who gave him permission to distribute the Grain of Grace bestowed by His Majesty the King?”
“But sir,” Julia took a deep breath and kept her voice calm, “these relief supplies were meant for the victims in the first place.”
“As for Lord Green’s suspension, yes, the City Council did issue the notice, but please don’t forget that Archbishop Lawrence and the City of the Holy Light have not formally revoked his Paladin status!”
Julia spoke firmly. “We are servants of the Temple of Light, not subordinates of your secular government.”
“…” The Envoy narrowed his eyes slightly, stroking his long beard that clearly belonged to a skilled barber’s handiwork. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Very well, Miss Julia, you make a reasonable point. Then I shall go meet the victims myself.”
With that, before anyone could reply, the Envoy quietly slipped from sight.
“Oh, poor victims.”
The Envoy slowly walked to the center of the street, suddenly shedding a few tears.
Then, sniffing and crying, he raised his voice beside the victims: “Loyal subjects of His Majesty the King, I am truly heartbroken over your current plight.”
“Unfortunately, as a non-cleric, I am no match for those despicable, shameless cultists.”
Though his voice wasn’t loud, the sight of such a distinguished figure in extravagant clothing arriving in the lower city naturally drew the attention of all the disaster victims.
Those who had been orderly evacuating under the paladins’ arrangements stopped what they were doing and instinctively approached, eager to hear what this important person had to say.
“Sir, who are you?” An elderly man, his skin wrinkled and gray-haired, shakily stepped forward.
“Sir,” the flamboyant Envoy removed his hat and bowed slightly, “I regret that I cannot protect you. I am the Prime Minister’s Envoy.”
“Envoy… Envoy?” The old man’s face flushed red with excitement, “Children, come quickly! His Majesty the King has not forgotten us after all!”
One by one, the refugees who respected this elder in the nearby community followed and gathered around the Envoy.
Suddenly, the previously orderly evacuation halted.
“Envoy, please, you must catch those hateful cultists! My mother and brother died in that explosion.”
“Thank you so much, Envoy! Ever since you came, the tax collectors have dared not act up in the market.”
“Yes, and our inn—before, the guard would come regularly to collect fees, but thanks to you, noble official, we can finally live peacefully.”
The victims spoke in turn, treating this impressive Envoy as their savior from suffering.
The Envoy smiled with satisfaction, then sighed dramatically: “Ah, I will truthfully report your hardships to Duke Montagu, the Prime Minister. He will surely help the townsfolk live better lives, but alas…”
This Envoy, a master of manipulating hearts and minds, deliberately paused.
“Alas?” Of course, the victims immediately bit the bait.
“Alas, there are corrupt officials within the upper echelons of Prosperous City.”
The Envoy shook his head mournfully. “Though I represent the Prime Minister, I’m not in charge here. Some things are hard for me to handle.”
“Corrupt officials? Wasn’t that corrupt Governor already sentenced by Archbishop Lawrence?”
A curious victim asked.
The Envoy’s eyes flickered. After a moment’s thought, he said slowly, “Prosperous City’s problems aren’t caused by just one governor. Others, for example… the clerics, also have their issues.”
“Clerics?” A victim spoke in disbelief. “With the iron-faced and impartial Lord Green here, which cleric would dare break the law?”
“Indeed, Lord Green is a good man. When our family was starving, he personally paid for our winter supplies.”
The victims voiced their disapproval of the Envoy’s words.
Seeing their resolute expressions, the Envoy’s eyes darted as he came up with a new explanation: “Ah, indeed, Lord Green is an impeccable good man. But as an inspector, sometimes he is too merciful, too easily deceived by surface virtue.”
“Have you forgotten? Lord Green lost the Holy Light because he adopted that cultist’s daughter and tried to train her as a paladin.”
The Envoy pointed at the collapsed houses ruined by the explosion, lamenting with pity: “And the cultists are not new—they never dared act under Lord Green’s paladin patrol.”
“But once Lord Green lost the Holy Light’s protection because of that cultist’s daughter, they immediately began to wreak havoc. Alas, I fear Lord Green will not keep his reputation intact.”
The Envoy shamelessly lied, but faced with his “moving” speech, the victims’ expressions changed.
“Yes, Lord Green is indeed a good man, but his adopted daughter…”
“Besides, our lower city is not the countryside; security has always been good. How did those cultists sneak in?”
“Like father, like son; like dragon, like phoenix. The children of rats will dig holes. Could the Temple of Light have withdrawn its protection over Prosperous City just because that cult-tainted Alice joined the paladins?”
One doubt after another rose like a roaring tide.
“By the way.” Seeing the atmosphere had matured, the Envoy feigned casualness, “I just happened to see Lord Green and that Alice at the cult explosion site. Rest assured, folks, I will try to persuade Lord Green.”
“Envoy!” The respected elder spoke up, “I will go with you. Lord Green is a good man and will surely listen to our advice.”
Whoosh—
Another gust of cold wind swept through.
Just as Green and the others busied themselves dismantling the remnants of the Withering Cult leader’s formation, a new storm was stirred up by someone else.