Southern Shore of the Conquest Sea, Port of Kankdal. In a hospital located within the foreign district of Kankdal, inside a spacious and sunlit room with its own balcony, Robert, dressed in patient attire, was sitting upright in his hospital bed, gloomily reading the newspaper in his hands. The more he read, the deeper the heaviness in his eyes grew. What he was reading was the major breaking news from the previous day’s incident at Kankdal Station. “Breaking: Bloodshed at Sister Vania’s Welcome Ceremony Leaves Multiple Casualties” “On the morning of the 20th, a sudden incident occurred during the welcome ceremony held at Kankdal South Station to receive Sister Vania, a special envoy of the Church returning from her mission in Addus. During the event, several gunmen emerged from within Sister Vania’s entourage and opened fire on the dignitaries present, causing widespread panic. The total number of casualties from gunfire and trampling reached 14. “Of those, four were directly wounded by gunfire: Mayor Robert, exiled Addus Royal Prince Mazarr, Director Jack of Rift Mining, and Miss Marianne, daughter of the chairperson of White Pearl Shipping. Among them, only Prince Mazarr tragically died of his injuries; the others survived thanks to timely emergency treatment, in which Sister Vania participated. “It is known that the two gunmen involved in the assassination attempt were a bodyguard from the envoy group and a train crew member. Both had traveled to Addus and had contact with the heretical revolutionary army there. They shouted heretical slogans during the attack. Public information suggests neither had shown signs of heretical behavior before, leading many to speculate they were corrupted by heretical ideology during their time in Addus and manipulated into committing the crime. “According to Prince Ma’ad, one of the exiled Baruch royalty residing in Kankdal, the deceased Prince Mazarr was the first in line to inherit the throne of Baruch following the disappearance of King Mahad. He was a key figure rallying the exiled Baruch nobility overseas. His death is a severe blow to the Baruch royalists. “In an interview, Prince Ma’ad stated that Prince Mazarr was humble, diligent, and an outstanding heir to the throne. After the fall of Addus, Mazarr took up the mantle of leadership, uniting fellow countrymen exiled by the tyrannical regime of Shadi, encouraging them to persevere and resist until their homeland was reclaimed. Ma’ad reportedly wept several times during the interview while speaking of the prince. “Several Baruch nobles in Kankdal have also expressed deep sorrow, saying Prince Mazarr played a critical role in helping exiles from Baruch find housing and security. Losing him is unbearable to them. “Reportedly, Prince Mazarr’s importance to the exiled community made him a marked enemy of Shadi’s regime. His death is seen as a major benefit to Shadi’s government. City Guard Captain Hajetta stated that during the investigation of the Desert Arrow train, they uncovered crucial evidence linking the assassination attempt to Shadi’s regime. “Captain Hajetta further claimed that based on current leads, the popular theory that Shadi infiltrated and corrupted Sister Vania’s envoy group is entirely plausible. He suggested that Shadi may have used vile means during the peace talks in Addus to influence the envoy’s entourage and orchestrate the attack using them as cover. Whether Sister Vania herself was affected remains unclear. Since the event, she has yet to accept any official interview, and her stance remains unknown. “For a deeper analysis of Sister Vania’s possible involvement and the hidden truths behind the assassination, see the full commentary on page four…” After carefully reading the entire front-page article, Robert let out a slow breath, set the newspaper aside, then picked up the teacup on the bedside cabinet and took a couple of sips before putting it back. He turned his gaze to the side, to the tall, uniformed figure standing respectfully at his bedside—Captain Hajetta of the Kankdal City Guard. “Sir… this is the media coverage of yesterday’s assassination incident. I selected a representative piece—other newspapers reported pretty much the same. Do you find this satisfactory?” Hajetta asked respectfully, watching Robert finish the paper. Robert didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he lit a cigar from the table, took two slow puffs, and finally spoke through the curling smoke. “Given the circumstances… it’s acceptable. But frankly, this report could’ve been better. It only hints at a connection between the little nun and the heretic Shadi, without making any firm conclusions. They couldn’t even pin the responsibility for the deaths squarely on her. And even though it’s a long article, in the end, only one person died. The casualty count is too low… so the public outrage will be, too. Especially among the local elite here in Kankdal—none of them died, so they won’t fully align with the Baruch exiles. At best, they’ll issue a few token statements of support…” As he spoke, cigar between his fingers, Robert’s tone remained slow and deliberate. Hajetta’s face darkened as he listened, his expression turning increasingly tense. “Hajetta,” Robert continued, fixing him with a penetrating gaze, “if I recall correctly, this isn’t the outcome we were aiming for. This situation… it’s quite far from our original plan, isn’t it?” At this, Hajetta hesitated, then answered with a tone of anxious remorse. “I apologize, sir. Things really did deviate far from our expectations. We… we made too many mistakes during yesterday’s operation, and it spiraled out of control. Most of that was because we underestimated the little nun. Her performance yesterday was completely beyond our predictions! “We never imagined she’d break free from the possession, let alone cause that level of disruption. Our misjudgment of her is the main reason for so many errors in the operation. We all thought she was just a figurehead…” Robert was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh. “You’re right. The little nun’s actions yesterday were beyond what we expected. The willpower it takes to remain conscious under possession and resist control… her use of poison scripture to drive out spirits… and that strange blood mist device… It seems the Redemption Faction gave her far more defensive measures than we anticipated.” Upon hearing this, Hajetta blinked, then asked in surprise, “Sir… do you mean the Redemption Faction assigned secret bodyguards to her? That yesterday’s disruption was caused by these hidden protectors?” “That’s the most plausible explanation for now. From what we saw yesterday, the use of the exorcism sigils and the deployment of the blood mist—neither was executed by the nun herself. That means someone else was protecting her from the shadows. In our intel, we only had information on the formal guards assigned to her. But this hidden force… we knew nothing about. “I misjudged the little nun’s status in the eyes of the Redemption Faction…” Recalling the events of the previous morning, Robert sighed and spoke. Hearing his words, Hajetta’s expression grew even heavier before he spoke again. “Then… Mr. Robert, what should we do now? The execution of this plan was poor, with far too many errors. I’m afraid it may negatively impact the broader situation...” Hajetta said with concern. Robert took a puff of his cigar, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and slowly replied. “It’s bound to affect the bigger picture. Too few people died, and that little nun didn’t personally kill anyone—in fact, she even saved people. We can’t slap the label of collusion with heresy on her just yet… The outcome we wanted won’t show up for a while. “But fortunately, the most important person did die. The Church is already beginning to harbor suspicions toward the little nun. As long as they step in and investigate, we can still steer the overall direction. It’ll just take longer than planned.” In the curling haze of cigar smoke, Robert spoke slowly. Hearing him, Hajetta fell into thought for a moment before continuing. “If the Church gets involved in the investigation… it means we won’t have full control over it. What if they find some thread that leads back to us…” “Heh. No need to worry too much about that. For a case like this, the Church’s investigating body will be the Heresy Inquisition. Within the Church, Grand Inquisitor Kramar is the most extreme figure of the Interrogator Faction. Compared to the Knight Faction, he’s even more hardline. His conflict with the Redemption Faction runs deep. Regarding Addus, his stance has always been to annihilate the Shadi regime due to its ties with heresy—regardless of whether Shadi has truly repented or not. “If the Inquisition comes to investigate, the direction of their findings will be predictable. They’ll conduct the investigation with the conclusions they already want in mind. All we have to do is cooperate slightly and hand them a few decisive ‘pieces of evidence’… Heh, if our plan had gone off perfectly, we wouldn’t even need to bother with this part. “At the core of it, the whole point of this operation was to provide an opportunity—an opening for those in the Church who already dislike the little nun. They’ll use that opportunity to do what they’ve always wanted. And even though this opportunity is smaller than we planned, it should still be enough for them to seize it…” Through the haze of his cigar smoke, Robert spoke slowly. Hearing his reasoning, Hajetta nodded silently. Just then, Robert turned his head toward the door of the hospital room. A knock soon followed. “Mr. Robert, the journalists with today’s scheduled interview have arrived downstairs. When would you like to see them?” “Oh, understood… Give me another fifteen minutes.” Saying this, Robert stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray on the bedside cabinet and turned to Hajetta. “Bring me the bloodied bandages. Also, tidy up the ashtray. And open the window—use a sigil to clear out the smoke.” “Understood,” Hajetta responded without hesitation and immediately began carrying out the instructions. … Elsewhere, in Amanda’s office atop Holy Mount. In the spacious office, Amanda, dressed in red vestments, sat behind her desk, her expression grave as she read the report in front of her. Across from her stood a translucent, ghost-like nun. “Brazen… utterly brazen. That group in Kankdal actually dared to do something like this…” Amanda muttered, her seemingly calm tone laced with uncharacteristic fury. The nun across from her spoke slowly. “According to Sister Vania’s most recent report, yesterday’s assassination is riddled with suspicious details. It is highly likely that it was a setup orchestrated by local powers in Kankdal, led by Robert Brown, targeting the envoy group. Given the influence Robert represents, this incident may have been carried out with the implicit approval of major mainland powers such as Falano…” Hearing this, Amanda exhaled heavily and continued speaking. “Falano… Ivengard… Cassatia… Pritt… These countries all have vested interests in Addus and across North Ufiga. They’re afraid the Addus revolution will spread and disrupt their parasitic exploits elsewhere. So they pulled this stunt—shameless and insatiable… to place their own interests above the Lord’s work of spreading the faith in North Ufiga… A pack of leeches…” “According to the latest information, His Excellency Kramar has already dispatched a special investigative unit to Kankdal within the past half hour. Their mission is to investigate the assassination, and they’ve been granted high-level authority to carry out summary judgments on-site. It appears they intend to conclude and classify the case swiftly.” The ghostly nun continued calmly. Hearing this, Amanda scoffed. “Summary judgment authority? Hmph… Impatient, are they? Not surprising—they’ve been waiting for a chance like this for a long time. Now that it’s arrived, of course they’re going to make full use of it. “If the Holy Seat were still here, the cardinal archbishops wouldn’t have such unchecked power. But now that the Holy Seat is absent, power has tilted. The gap between the cardinals is growing. Even the Church’s internal conflicts are beginning to intensify. Situations like today’s internal power struggles—this kind of thing never used to happen.” “…Your Excellency, what should we do now?” the nun asked directly. Amanda remained silent for a moment before speaking. “We can’t just sit here. Ivy, head to Kankdal. Protect Sister Vania. Make sure she is not arrested or interrogated by the Heresy Inquisition’s investigative team. As for the rest of the envoy group, protect them if you can. If not, it doesn’t matter. But Sister Vania must not fall into their hands.” “Understood,” the translucent nun nodded and seemed ready to leave. But Amanda spoke again, as though remembering something. “One more thing… Once you’re in Kankdal, keep a close eye on Sister Vania herself as well…” At those words, Amanda’s eyes toward the nun were filled with deep meaning. =================== T/N: Tribunal > Inquisition Also, the next few chapters are a frustrating bureaucratic slug fest. God, I hate it. I wish Vania would cut herself off from Radiance Church asap. The power play around her became annoying.