Chapter 23: Witness |
Nemus watched as Jacques prepared to say something else. Unwilling to waste any more words, he simply offered this piece of advice and turned away to get back to work.
This time, alongside Jacques and Isabella, more than a dozen people had arrived—migrants looking to join Finback Village.
He needed to thoroughly inspect them to ensure there were no wanted criminals, demon associates, or Warlocks hidden among their ranks.
Left standing in his spot, Jacques did not quite understand what Nemus meant by eating more meat while he still could.
Although he did not understand, Jacques felt a sudden chill rise from the bottom of his heart. A lingering sense of nausea accompanied it, causing him to involuntarily furrow his brows.
Filled with indignation, Jacques was about to chase after him to continue his confrontation with Nemus.
However, right at that moment, Opper arrived.
He looked exactly the same as always, wearing that long robe that seemed entirely unsuited for the environment, his forehead seemingly perpetually stained with sweat.
The handkerchief he used to wipe his brow remained tightly clutched in his hand.
Next, everything from their accommodations and assigned work to their daily living supplies in the village needed to be properly organized and distributed.
More than a dozen people did not seem like a lot, but for a small village of just over five hundred residents, they represented a significant addition to the population.
Opper''s behavior showed absolutely no abnormalities; he acted just like a typical, somewhat wealthy village chief.
For a brief moment, even Jacques, who had come specifically to investigate, felt slightly bewildered.
Especially after looking at the welcome gifts he had just received, a thought even sprouted in his mind: ''This man is so warm and welcoming, he might not necessarily be a lawbreaking villain.''
The welcome gifts were not particularly valuable. They were just some herbs gathered by the villagers on Finback Mountain. According to Opper, when brewed as tea or boiled in soup, they enhanced a woman''s beauty and youthfulness, and if a man drank it, his renewed vigor would leave his woman glowing just the same.
However, Nemus noticed that when Opper glanced at a specific person in the crowd, there was a profoundly hidden fluctuation in his emotions.
If Nemus were not a demon with an instinctual perception of emotions and desires, he might not have detected that tiny flicker of feeling from Opper at all.
''So, this person is the state witness?''
''But how did Opper identify him?'' Nemus felt slightly puzzled. Since the man had walked in so openly without any disguise, he must have been confident that Opper would not recognize him.
Yet, looking at the current situation, Opper had recognized the man with just a single glance. That made things quite interesting.
While pondering this, Nemus began to conduct a basic inspection of the newcomers.
When he examined the man who had triggered Opper''s emotional shift, Nemus astutely noticed a faint fluctuation of some invisible entity clinging to the person''s body.
''It must be a restriction placed on him by the Church.''
''Probably something like a Sin Nail.'' Sin Nails were similar to the Holy Nails embedded in Nemus; both were special constructs formed from intangible power.
Except their purposes were completely opposite. They were a countermeasure used to imprison and restrain the Church''s criminals.
''Could this be how Opper noticed him?''
Nemus remained somewhat perplexed, but he pretended that nothing was out of the ordinary and continued inspecting the others.
Aside from that, the rest of the group had nothing remarkable about them, and with that, the inspection was complete.
Opper took the people away to settle them in. Nemus bid farewell to the old pastor and left immediately. Isabella and Jacques mentioned they wanted to scout the surrounding environment and departed as well.
In an instant, the previously bustling cathedral fell completely silent. The old pastor cast a complicated look at the departing group, then turned around and entered the cathedral. He cleansed himself with Holy Water before kneeling before the Divine Idol to whisper his prayers.
On the other side of the village, Jacques found something truly unbelievable: the vast majority of the villagers were speaking highly of Nemus.
In their words, Nels was a dutiful and responsible Holy Knight, always approachable and polite, and had never caused a single disturbance.
As for the village chief, Opper, the evaluations were also overwhelmingly positive.
For instance, the village paths had originally been made of dirt, but Opper had personally funded their conversion into cobblestone roads.
Judging by these actions, Opper was a man of practical deeds who maintained a fair amount of respect for capable talent.
Whenever a household faced difficulties and sought out Opper for help, he would always extend a helping hand to look after them.
"This won''t work. We won''t be able to uncover anything at all by investigating like this," Jacques quickly realized.
Their current identities were Intern Clerics. In the eyes of the villagers, they were in the exact same faction as Nemus.
Even if the locals did harbor negative impressions of Nemus, seeing that they were Clerics would cause them to swallow any bad words they might have wanted to say.
"You are too impatient, Jacques," Isabella advised, seeing his frustration. "This kind of questioning is merely meant to lightly probe the local rumors and get a feel for the situation within the village."
"We were never supposed to glean any hard evidence from this."
Of course, Isabella also understood exactly why Jacques was in such a rush.
The old pastor was advancing in age, which was the only reason the position for a Trainee Priest had opened up.
However, Nemus was still in his prime. Under normal circumstances, there was absolutely no need for an Intern Holy Knight.
Therefore, Jacques''s arrival this time was actually the result of the Dartmenerly family exerting their influence. Even so, they could not conduct their investigation out in the open. At the very least, they could not just start arresting people before they had secured a single piece of evidence.
The Church held immense power, but that authority could not be abused. Otherwise, it would severely impact the Faith and the stability of the region.
For some unknown reason over the past few years, the Church had grown increasingly concerned with these matters that they had once largely ignored.
A month ago, Isabella had needed to seek out the old pastor for personal reasons. Once Jacques learned of this, he took the initiative to gather intelligence on Finback Village.
By pure chance, he discovered that a Sinner caught selling contraband had implicated the village chief of Finback Village during interrogation.
The Sinner claimed to have sourced their goods directly from members of Opper''s merchant caravan, and had overheard the supplier admit to working for Opper.
Normally, such hearsay accusations would only require contacting the old pastor for clarification. Even if the answer provided was vague, the Church would not bother dispatching personnel to investigate.
However, Jacques remembered Nemus''s existence. Partly to cause trouble for Nemus, the Traitor of the family, and partly to accompany Isabella, he orchestrated the arrival of the two Intern Clerics.
"If the people here really are illegally mining Whalehide Ore, then they must be hiding it exceptionally well."
"We have a key witness in our hands right now."
"Benjamin said he has personally seen the smugglers. After spending some time getting familiar with the villagers, he will be able to secretly point them out and assist us with our investigation."
"Once we secure concrete evidence of their crimes, it will be much easier for the Church to officially intervene."
"Faced with the Church''s inquisition, those people will have nowhere to run." Although Isabella had no desire to get involved in the rights and wrongs of the Dartmenerly family, Jacques had, after all, been pursuing her for a long time. Seeing his passionate devotion, she did not have the heart to just let him run around blindly like a headless fly.