Chapter 245 04.0244: "United Front to Eliminate Traitors"

"At that time, when we were investigating in the lower nest, we happened to see a priest of the state religion communicating with a group of unidentified mysterious people in a building. I still remember that the priest said that he would provide them with many boys and girls."

"Provide... boys and girls?" Horatio wrote down the key words.

"Yes, we later sent a few people to search the nearby rooms, and we actually found some evidence of their plot to assassinate the planetary governor and his dignitaries, as well as the corruption and rebellion of those state church priests. Moreover, they were not far from taking action, so we hurried back to the Ministry of Justice base and tried to send a message to alert the authorities. During the retreat, we made a big noise and were surrounded.

After so many years, it is difficult for me to describe the specific appearance of the priest, but if I could see the guy in person, I would be able to identify him to you. "

"It's like this, Arbitrator Javert. In order to delay the increasing pressure of the pilgrimage petition brought by the pilgrims, the Imperial Navy plans to join forces with the Holy Rose Sisters and the State Church to expand the originally planned small triumphal ceremony. According to the information we received, someone wants to attack me during the Saint's coronation ceremony."

"This is outrageous, this bunch of lawless bastards! How dare they attack us during a triumphal ceremony?! Ugh!" Arbitrator Javert became agitated upon hearing this, and the broken bones that had been repaired with great difficulty began to ache again.

"So, I hope you can lend us a hand then."

"Happy to oblige."

"Excuse me for disturbing you, Mr. Horatio and Your Excellency the Inquisitor. Please come in for a moment." Sister Arabella knocked on the door gracefully and interrupted the conversation gently: "The head sister hopes to see you."
-
In a circular holy chamber, a battle sister with black hair, silver armor and a pure white hood stood in front of a tall and majestic statue of a winged nun. She held a candlestick with a lit prayer candle in her hand, lowered her head and murmured prayers, wandering in the closed holy chamber in a whisper.

“Who do we serve?”

"We dedicate ourselves to the Emperor." The ceremonial sisters around held smaller candlesticks in their hands and stood barefoot in the clear and pure water. Every time the head sister recited a prayer, they would quickly recite the supporting verses.

It is noteworthy that they did not adopt the rhetoric of the state religion, pronounced as 'God Emperor'.

This is because their teachings see them as the messengers of the Emperor's will, the Emperor's daughters, rather than the apostles of God.

In order to win public support, they will follow the mainstream and pronounce him as God Emperor when preaching.

“What are we fighting for?”

"We fight to spread the Emperor's good."

“What are we dedicating our lives to?”

"We dedicate our lives to spreading the Emperor's Word."

Horatio and the Inquisitor followed Sister Arabella and stood in front of the door leading to the Water Chapel, waiting for them to complete the ceremony.

call!
The prayers stopped, and all the nuns blew out the candles at the same moment, and the holy room suddenly fell into darkness.

Suddenly, the icon began to emit a hazy light, which became brighter and brighter. As the light dispelled the darkness, the nuns began to sing melodious and solemn hymns again.

Until the last wick of the candle in the head nun's hand burned down, the last note of the hymn fell at the same time.

The ceremonial sisters stepped in the water, turned around collectively, and slowly retreated with the sound of tinkling water.

"Come in, four of you."

[Four?] Horatio looked around and saw only three people.

Just as he was wondering where the fourth person came from, he saw the wide brim of the hat protruding from behind the icon.

There is no mistake, that is the hat of the Inquisition.

The woman in the wide hat came from the other side of the road.

"Long time no see, Sister Sister." The female inquisitor walked forward and nodded.

The head nun is on the same level as the inquisitor, but under the empire's unique unspoken rules, faith is more important than the secular world. Therefore, in the public's perception, among people of the same level in theory, the clergy are half a level higher than secular people.

"It seems that this time, your Inquisition has its own ambitions to achieve in Abyssal Port." The head sister looked calm, and continued to offer sacrifices to the statue with her back to the crowd: "Since everyone is here, in the name of the Emperor, why not talk about it together."

The statue of the saint unfolded an invisible barrier, covering everyone inside.

As the barrier swept over, Horatio could feel the surging power of faith coursing through every inch of his blood vessels, making him feel warm all over and all the fatigue that had accumulated in his body in recent days dissipated a lot.

But if a corrupt person stood inside, he probably wouldn't be so happy.

"I am here to investigate whether the copy of the Book of Slaanesh and the Book of the Dead still exists."

Seeing the consecration barrier unfold, Inquisitor Ravenno spoke directly to the point.

[Um? ]
If Horatio wasn't a time traveler, he would have been completely confused.

Although he had expected that the Inquisitor must have some other mission, otherwise he would not always talk about the Empire's top secrets.

But I didn't expect it to be about the Book of the Dead.

"I am investigating whether a certain inquisitor who claims to be a pure-minded Holy Hammer Order has committed a heretical blasphemy by summoning and using a demon host," said witch hunter Adlatia.

"I haven't found clear evidence yet, but I heard that he and you are not on good terms."

The witch hunter narrowed her eyes and looked at the Inquisitor of the Heresy Order in front of her: "I was thinking, since he is racking his brains to deal with you, if the matter of raising a demon host is true, he may use the power of the demon to deal with you."

"Don't rule out this possibility, colleague."

"Mister Sister, I would like to borrow a troop of combat sisters to assist me in exiling the demon after finding conclusive evidence."

"No problem, Inquisitor, but before that, we have to find a way to protect the safety of this future saint."

The head sister obviously had no interest in the Inquisition's mission and just agreed as a matter of routine. She then turned around and looked at Horatio with her sharp eyes.

"I have seen your feat, young saint, son of Corelia (the name of the mother of Sister Horatio), and on behalf of the Sisters of the Holy Rosary, I thank you for your protection of our holy land."

The head nun actually saluted him on her own initiative, with three torches behind her burning with flames.

"I am just fulfilling my duty. Abyss Harbor is the anchorage of our Gothic Fleet. We have the responsibility to protect every inch of it."

“We originally wanted to wait until you had resolved all crises before responding to the Emperor’s will and having the Holy Rose Sisters hold a grand coronation ceremony for you.

However, you also know the current situation. We have to hold this ceremony before you can completely resolve the crisis. The time is next week's Sabbath, only ten days left.

Moreover, the state church system claims that it needs help to stabilize the pilgrimage group and hopes to intervene in the canonization ceremony and co-organize it with our order. "

The dignified and majestic head nun approached him and said, "Although this means a higher recognition of your sainthood and a grander scene, the presence of many people also means greater risks.

Especially when you step into the Anglican Church, which is not under the control of our order, if the bad guys want to do something, then the place must be in the Anglican Church. "

“We will speed up the investigation. As for William Carter, I might use his past deeds as bait to fish out clues.

Change the password in the near future. When you are ready, I will increase the frequency of communication codes. If there is a demon host, a certain suspect will definitely sabotage us."

[I don't know how the code of Yin Shuyao's machine-assisted encryption is going. If it doesn't work, I'll ask Miss Tei and Miss Lina to help improve it. Although it's a rush, it's the result of everyone's wisdom. At least it's enough for an experiment.]
"No problem. Next, our actions will target the heretic meeting that has been exposed, especially the part about the enemy of joy. Success or failure depends on whether we can unite in the next action."

　The decisive battle is coming! After finishing this volume, the next volume will go to the front line, and fight a series of naval operations such as the Imperial Navy's fleet battle against a fallen planet - attacking the port - transporting the Imperial Guard - landing the guard - the navy void alert and providing close air fire support - void interception of enemy reinforcements, etc.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)