CA - Chapter 170

Chapter 170

The Inquisition once had its days of infinite glory.

Over a thousand years ago, after a traitor to the Holy See successfully seized power, he established the Inquisition and granted it the highest authority to eliminate his dissidents and consolidate his position.

But the Inquisition, as a sharp blade, had been fitted with a sheath long before it was forged.

As the Holy See gradually consolidated its power, the Inquisition's existence became insignificant. The "sheath" served its purpose; the Head Inquisitor's lack of rights to inherit the papal throne caused the Inquisition to slowly drift away from the center of power.

First went their power, then their location. The Inquisition, originally built next to the Central Church, was one day relocated to the border of the Holy See's nation for a reason that could hardly be called a reason.

Would the people of the Inquisition feel resentful for being treated this way? Tang Qiu thought they probably would.

From top to bottom, the Inquisition's attitude toward Holy See personnel was one of scrutiny and hostility. Otherwise, the people of the Holy See wouldn't be so wary at the mere mention of the Inquisition.

The room was spacious and bright, with walls as white as snow and a soft, large bed in the center. It was fully equipped with all sorts of furniture, and even the bookshelf in the corner was piled high with various types of books. The room where Tang Qiu was temporarily detained was almost no different from her bishop's bedroom in the Gosse Church.

Tang Qiu, who had expected to spend the next few days in a crude cell, was a little surprised when she saw the room Audrey had prepared for her. Still, she was naturally happy to have a more comfortable place to stay.

Aside from her restricted freedom, Tang Qiu's stay here was no different from being at Reese's manor. Perhaps Audrey had given an order, as the knights guarding outside showed no disrespect in their attitude toward Tang Qiu.

However, after bringing Tang Qiu into the Inquisition, Audrey had not appeared again.

An ordinary person facing this kind of cold shoulder would feel somewhat anxious or furiously angry, but Tang Qiu was quite at ease, reading books and practicing light magic, perfectly content.

When Audrey appeared, Tang Qiu was sitting by the window reading. A gentle breeze blew in through the half-open window, tousling the long golden hair that cascaded down her back. Sensing a gaze on her, Tang Qiu looked up slightly at Audrey, who was leaning against the doorframe. She curled her lips, glanced at the sky outside, and said with a smile, "Is the Head Inquisitor here to fulfill our promise of an all-night talk?"

Audrey stared at Tang Qiu for a moment before stepping into the room. She walked straight to one side of the long table and sat down, saying flatly, "I'm here to see how you'll talk your way out of this."

Tang Qiu closed her book, walked over to sit opposite Audrey, and shook her head with a light laugh. "I'm merely defending myself reasonably."

Two Inquisitors entered from outside. One of them, an Inquisitor with long, silver-gray hair, placed a thick stack of files on the table.

Tang Qiu lowered her eyes to the files and raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

Audrey picked up the topmost volume and tossed it in front of Tang Qiu, gesturing for her to open it.

The file was thick and densely packed with information. Confused, Tang Qiu opened it, turning directly to the page Audrey had dog-eared. It recorded the great fire at the Gosse Church several years ago.

Tucked inside was a personnel register from the Gosse Church. A name that the original owner of the body had deliberately erased from the Gosse Church's records now appeared blatantly on the register.

Tang Qiu stared at the characters for "Grace Augustine," and the hand turning the page paused slightly.

Her brief hesitation was caught by Audrey. Leaning back in her chair, Audrey spoke in a low voice to the two Inquisitors behind her, "You two may leave."

The Inquisitors nodded in acknowledgment. Liz deliberately lagged a step behind, glancing sideways at the golden-haired bishop before she left.

"What's wrong?" The Inquisitor in front noticed Liz's pause and asked with a puzzled look.

Liz shook her head. She closed the door gently, then thought for a moment and said to her companion, "I'll stand guard here. You can go."

Liz was deeply trusted by Audrey, so her companion had no suspicions, simply nodding before turning to leave.

The room was well soundproofed. Liz concentrated but could only catch a few words here and there. She frowned and slowly took a step back, leaning against the door.

"What is this?" Tang Qiu asked with a puzzled expression, holding up the parchment with the original owner's name and giving it a little shake.

Audrey replied in a flat tone, "The Inquisition's personnel register."

Every year, she would send people to each church to update the list of serving personnel. Only the people of the Inquisition knew about this.

"Did you find anything interesting on it?"

Tang Qiu shook her head calmly, a look of confusion on her face. "No." She thought for a moment and added, "This records information about the former clerics of the Gosse Church. Although I am now the Bishop of the Gosse Church, I'm not familiar with past events."

"Is that so." Audrey let out a derisive laugh. Her upturned eyes lent a touch of charm to her meaningful gaze. She picked out another file from the pile in front of her and tossed it to Tang Qiu. "Then take a look at this one."

Tang Qiu picked up the file and opened it. This one was quite old. At first, she didn't understand what Audrey meant, but then she spotted the clue on a personnel record sheet tucked inside.

The parchment was filled with names, but Tang Qiu only recognized two of them. One was Archbishop Vogt's name, and the other was, once again, "Grace Augustine."

Tang Qiu: "..."

Audrey tossed several more files to Tang Qiu in succession. Then, she crossed her arms, a smile playing on her lips, but her eyes held no trace of amusement. "Isn't it interesting? I discovered this while looking through Archbishop Vogt's records."

"Grace Augustine isn't a particularly special name. With tens of thousands of personnel in the Holy See, it's not strange for a few to share the same name." Tang Qiu looked through the files Audrey handed her one by one. Though her face remained expressionless, her heart sank slightly.

This Audrey person was incredibly perceptive.

Without exception, the files she had brought all involved the presence of werewolves.

Just as she had said, with tens of thousands of Holy See personnel, one or two people sharing a name wasn't strange. But Audrey had actually compared countless records and picked out all the ones with anomalies.

"Sharing a name isn't strange, but what if, on top of sharing a name, these churches also experienced the same kind of attack?" Audrey stacked two files together and looked directly into Tang Qiu's eyes, her voice low and serious. "These are the ones that experienced werewolf attacks."

She picked up two more and placed them together. "These two, like the Gosse Church, were burned to ashes after being attacked."

"The only commonality among these churches is that they all had a priest named 'Grace Augustine'."

"And after the attacks, these Priests Grace all disappeared."

Tang Qiu slowly closed the file and met Audrey's gaze, her expression calm and composed. "So, what are you trying to say?"

Staring at Tang Qiu for a while without finding any cracks in her facade, Audrey narrowed her eyes. "What is this person's relationship with the werewolves?"

Tang Qiu blinked. "Yes, what is the relationship?"

Seeing Audrey staring at her expressionlessly, she said with some innocence, "Although my name is also Grace, my surname is Barton."

"I came from the Sevia Church and have no connection to the Gosse Church."

The Inquisition only recorded information on clerics serving in various churches. The nameplate she got from Abel belonged to a Light Believer, a category the Inquisition certainly wouldn't have the energy to document.

As for her official cleric nameplate, it was from the Bill Church.

Tang Qiu was certain that Audrey had no evidence to prove her connection to the werewolves.

Audrey had only discovered something was off about her based on her own outstanding intuition.

Just as Tang Qiu had thought, Audrey couldn't find any evidence to prove Tang Qiu's identity. The files she had found could only prove that the werewolves were plotting against the Holy See.

Having long guessed that the golden-haired bishop wouldn't admit to it so easily, Audrey leaned back in her chair with a frown and slowly began, "Have the excuses started?"

Tang Qiu chuckled. "What I'm saying is the truth."

Audrey placed her hand on the table and met Tang Qiu's gaze for a moment before suddenly saying, "Let's put the werewolves aside for now. Why don't we talk about your disappearance this time?"

"Dozens of miles of territory in the Gosse Empire were blasted into a desert. That was related to you, wasn't it?"

"The King of Gosse evacuated the civilians in advance. Before the explosion, the priests and clerics of the Gosse Church merged with the empire's knight squads to stand guard outside the blast radius. And there were also sightings of Vampires and Black Witches in the vicinity." Audrey said with a deadpan expression, "How do you explain this?"

The Gosse Church was not affected in any way during the golden-haired bishop's disappearance; order was so stable it was as if the bishop had never gone missing at all.

To be able to persuade the King of Gosse to evacuate hundreds of thousands of civilians and abandon a large area of land before the explosion, and to command the church personnel to merge with the empire's troops to prevent accidents—Audrey couldn't think of anyone else who could be pulling the strings behind the scenes besides the golden-haired bishop.

The commotion from blowing up Rose Manor was too great, and Tang Qiu never expected to be able to hide it from Audrey. She let out a soft sigh and explained, "The situation was urgent at the time. I had no other choice."

"A fourth-generation Vampire was entrenched within the Gosse Empire's borders, and for some reason, that Vampire provoked the werewolves and another clan of Vampires." Tang Qiu's tone was filled with deep helplessness. "I don't care if they kill each other, but the Light Believers are innocent."

Audrey keenly caught a suspicious point. "How did you know they were going to blow that place up?"

"There are some mysterious organizations on the Statu continent. As long as you pay a small price, you can learn some interesting news." Seeing that Audrey was about to say something, Tang Qiu cut her off in time, professing her loyalty, "I am loyal to the Light Goddess. I only sought out those organizations to protect her believers."

Her words were a mix of truth and lies, and at first listen, there didn't seem to be any loopholes.

But they weren't very credible either. In any case, Audrey didn't believe Tang Qiu was telling the whole truth.

She didn't hide her suspicious gaze, scoffing at Tang Qiu's words and questioning, "Then why didn't you return to the Central Church all this time?"

Why did she have to come back at this specific time, when the Black Witches were causing chaos across the Statu continent?

Audrey lifted her chin and asked sternly, "Are you in collusion with the Black Witches?"

Tang Qiu denied it. "No." She thought for a moment and decided to pull an ally in to share the pressure. "Actually, it was Archbishop Reese who told me not to come back for the time being."

Audrey was taken aback. "Reese?"

Tang Qiu smiled and nodded, explaining with a sincere expression, "She said you were in a bad mood during that time, and if I came back, you'd grab me to vent your anger."

Audrey: "..."

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