Over the next two days, Tyr made no move to hunt down the Abyss demons. Instead, he often took Sevira out for walks.
This worried Carlo sick. He had been looking forward to having someone in charge arrive.
On the first day, seeing Tyr's conduct, Carlo had thought he must be a responsible person. But now, it seemed Tyr was no different from those in the City Defense Knight Order.
Over the past two days, Carlo's face had been filled with bitterness. If a major crisis broke out in the city, he, as the mayor, would have to take the blame.
If there was only one thing that brought him a bit of relief during these two days, it was that the Abyss demons had not caused any trouble either.
Although he did not know if they were plotting something else, at least it allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief for now.
“Mayor, you called for me.”
The door to the mayor's office was pushed open, and a young clerk walked in.
“What is Young Master Tyr doing today?”
Carlo's eyes were filled with anticipation. He hoped to hear a different answer today.
“Young Master Tyr took Miss Sevira out shopping.”
“Sigh...”
Hearing this answer, worry clouded Carlo's face once more.
He stood up and paced restlessly around his office. What was he supposed to do?
Meanwhile, in Caslant's branch temple.
In contrast to Carlo's anxiety, Bishop Coos was absolutely delighted.
“You mean that kid has been wandering around Caslant with his sister for the past two days?”
Bishop Coos sat in the main seat, asking a junior priest kneeling below him in a joyful tone.
“Yes, my Lord. Over the past two days, we have been keeping an eye on them as you instructed. Young Master Tyr has been accompanying Miss Sevira shopping the entire time.”
The junior priest kept his head very low. Bishop Coos dared to call him “that kid,” but he certainly did not dare to do so.
“Haha, I knew it! What great things can these noble children, who have been pampered since childhood, possibly accomplish?
“It's already a blessing if they don't harass young girls, bully the weak, or run amok in the countryside. To think anyone actually expects them to deal with demons. If they ever faced a real demon, they'd probably wet their pants!
“That old fellow Carlo doesn't understand a thing. How could those high-and-mighty nobles ever truly care about the lives of commoners?”
Thinking about how that old man Carlo was probably worried sick right now made Bishop Coos feel incredibly smug.
He had clearly stated that the matter should be left to him, yet that old man still reported it to House Callis. It was a complete slap in the face.
Once this matter was over, he would definitely put that old fellow in his place.
He would make him realize who truly had the final say in Caslant from now on.
“How are the sales of holy water today?”
Holy water was produced using divine spells taught by the Aglaia Family. Any official member of the temple could learn this kind of divine spell.
Not only could holy water heal most illnesses and injuries, but it also had a powerful restraining effect on Abyss demons.
“Bishop, sales of holy water have increased significantly compared to yesterday. We need to produce another batch.”
Thinking of the temple's recent revenue, the priest could not hide the excitement on his face.
In just these short two weeks, they had earned more gold coins than they did in the entire previous year.
“Why waste so much Holy Power? Just dilute the holy water with more water before distributing it to them.”
Bishop Coos looked highly displeased, staring at the priest as if he were looking at an idiot.
If there wasn't enough holy water, they could just dilute it. After all, those commoners didn't know the exact efficacy of holy water against Abyss demons. They would only assume they hadn't bought enough.
“But, my Lord, this is against the rules.”
A hesitant look appeared on the priest's face. Selling diluted holy water was explicitly forbidden by the temple's prohibitions.
The Aglaia Family had always punished any clergy members who violated the temple's prohibitions with the utmost severity.
The members of the Temple Inquisition were not to be trifled with; they were not a single bit inferior to House Callis's Enforcement Squad.
Besides, the temple also possessed the even more powerful Holy Knight Order, one of the six great knight orders of the empire.
“In Caslant, I am the law.”
Bishop Coos glared fiercely at the priest, clearly displeased with the man's counterargument.
“Yes, yes, I'll get right on it.”
Feeling Bishop Coos's gaze, the priest did not dare to object further, nodding repeatedly in agreement.
“Get out. You had better handle the task I gave you well. If you waste my gold coins, you'll join the others in cleaning the stables.”
“Yes.”
Hearing the disdain in Bishop Coos's voice, the priest quickly bowed and excused himself.
“Fool.”
Looking at the priest's retreating, disheveled figure, Bishop Coos spoke in a contemptuous tone.
“It's exactly because of fools like you that the temple has never been able to grow wealthy.
“What kind of faith can those lowborn rabble possibly have? They only pray to the gods when they are beyond saving.
“If they are allowed to live in peace all the time, they will only view the temple as something dispensable, rather than being grateful for what the temple does.
“Only by letting them live in fear, under the shadow of the Abyss demons, will they realize the value of the temple.”
Before becoming the bishop of the Caslant temple branch, Bishop Coos had traveled to many places.
He had discovered a major issue: in places where people worked hard to exterminate the Abyss demons and prevent them from affecting the population, the locals actually cared less about the temple.
They did not take the temple's contributions to heart at all, and would even stand up to criticize and point fingers at the slightest mistake made by the temple.
On the contrary, in places where the branch temples had limited combat power and could not resolve issues before the Black Mages caused destruction—only managing to remain on equal footing with them—the people actually respected the temple greatly.
And in regions ravaged by Abyss demons and Black Mages, where the branch temples could only defend passively, both nobles and commoners alike would flock to the temple to pray.
From that moment on, he knew that one must not be too good to those lowborn rabble.
Only by keeping them living in constant anxiety and fear would they view the temple as their hope, and only then would more shiny gold coins flow into his pockets.
On the other side, at the Black Mages' gathering place.
“That noble hasn't done anything since he arrived these past two days. Do we really need to be this cautious?”
In the pitch-black basement, Cary, who was tall and thin and dressed in fine attire, spoke.
“Cary, I'm warning you, our Lord's plan is at a critical juncture right now. You had better not cause any trouble for me.”
Hearing Cary's words, the other Black Mages nearby instantly became vigilant.
“If things go wrong this time and we anger that lord, you know very well what the consequences will be.”
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