Book 5: Chapter 235: The Secret Meeting Held By The St. Louis Church Academy
Book 5: Chapter 235: The Secret Meeting Held By The St. Louis Church Academy
In the southern area of Olsylvia Academy, St. Louis Church Academy, which was directly under the Radiant Church, also had an infamous forbidden area listed in Olsylvia Academy’s Midnight Unbelievable Tales – that is, Scripps Cemetery. Legend had it that this nameless cemetery was discovered by Scripps, the Radiant Church’s priest back in those days, which was why it was named “Scripps Cemetery”.
Originally, no one knew who was buried in this nameless tomb, but there was no doubt that the tombstone was engraved with the symbol of the Radiant Church. The only strange thing was, who was the one buried in this tomb? There were no clear records in the historical documents of the Radiant Church.
There was also a legendary midnight unbelievable tale about the Scripps Cemetery. It was said that when a watchman was stationed in Scripps Cemetery, he had seen many frightening things.
Later, the Pope of the Radiant Church of that generation ordered the cemetery to be closed, and this lasted for thousands of years. The author of the “Olsylvia Academy’s Midnight Unbelievable Tales” was familiar with the Knights the Church stationed there, so he once secretly took a look at it.
The records were blank after that, skipping to talking about another place. The pages had been torn out. What the author saw had become an unsolved mystery.
“Bella, this is the information I’ve obtained. That’s right, your close friend Lola discovered a few days ago that the security level of St. Louis Church Academy has improved a lot. Something must’ve come up!”
“Mmm, it seems that the Radiant Church is going to do something to reorganize St. Louis Church Academy’s school spirit and discipline.”
Somewhere in the central area of Olsylvia Academy’s campus, Bella and Noreya were discussing the information they had collected over the past few days. The President of Frank Civilian Academy’s Student Union, Archer Britney, was already one of Bella’s. Bella had the key to this office, which was why she used this place as her base of operations.
President Britney, as a good Student Union President, was still in class. Bella had a “shadow” to take her place in class, while Noreya had directly skipped classes. Anyway, those assassin teachers had nothing to teach her.
According to the latest intelligence, the Radiant Church had sent a large number of the church’s secret guards to surround the entirety of St. Louis Church Academy. It looks like St. Louis Church Academy wasn’t that strictly supervised previously, resulting in many girls from the nun department and boys from other divisions getting too close.
In order to be serious about the school spirit, the Light Pope ordered for the academy to be completely closed from now on, refusing any foreign students who wanted to visit St. Louis Church Academy.
“Bella, things don’t seem that simple! Recently, a group of church members came to my academy to recruit outstanding students from the assassin department to do a secret mission. They originally wanted to invite me, but I refused. “
The secret meeting between Bella and Noreya had just begun. Ivy, the Student Union President of Olivia Wizard Academy, who was also the number one assassin in the school, also came to attend the meeting. Like President Britney, she was also one of Bella’s people.
The intelligence brought by President Ivy made Bella even more puzzled about what the Radiant Church was going to do. They sent people to invite students from the Assassins’ Department and requested for those who were experts at destroying mechanisms and stone doors.
Assassins specializing in destroying stone doors and mechanisms were generally useful in underground maze explorations. To be direct, they were only used for grave robberies. In Bella’s opinion, the Radiant Church didn’t lack money. When did it end up developing a side job of grave robbing?
Bella, President Ivy, and Noreya discussed for most of the day but still didn’t know what the Radiant Church was going to do. There weren’t many ancient tombs in the whole of Olsylvia City. Did the Radiant Church want to dig up Scripps Cemetery? It was the Radiant Church’s own “ancestral grave.” Would they really dare to do such a thing as digging up their own ancestral grave?
At noon, Bella went to St. Louis Church Academy, the southern part of the campus. It had been a long time since she had sneaked into St. Louis Church Academy. That time, Bella had taken down the successor to the Radiant Church, President Maria, and the four Holy Maidens of the Radiant Church.
This time, she had visited in the daytime and didn’t bother to hide her identity. She wore the ceremonial attire of the Duchess of the Gabriel Empire, which was more appropriate, and the armband of the Rose Society’s Vice President on her right arm, swaggering into St. Louis Church Academy.
“Honorable Duchess, pleasure to meet you. Our academy is temporarily closed for the moment. Please go back. If you want to invite a priest, you can go to those churches outside the city.”
At the gates of St. Louis Church Academy, several members of the Radiant Church’s law enforcement team politely stopped Bella. Because Bella was a Duchess, their tone was much more polite.
The Law Enforcement Team of the Radiant Church functioned like the Disciplinary Committee of Olsylvia Academy. Its members wore uniforms different from those of ordinary members of the Radiant Church. The most obvious one was the red priest’s cassock.
Bella didn’t know much about the Law Enforcement Team of the Radiant Church. Before this, she had only heard Holy Swordsman Cynthia mention something about them. These Law Enforcement Team members were said to be the most devout believers in the Radiant Church and were only loyal to the Light Pope. They didn’t take part in the infighting among the three major factions within the Radiant Church.
“What’s the matter? Are there more insignificant boys here to harass… Hmm, it’s a girl… Honorable Duchess, my apologies!”
Before Bella had decided whether to stay or not, a girl with a bell-like voice caught her eye. A girl dressed in a red priest garment came out of the gates of St. Louis Church Academy.
This beautiful girl was most likely a member of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team. The armband on her right arm was only worn by the Captain or Vice Captain.
“Captain Mathilde, you’re here. The Duchess would like to visit our academy. We were just about to ask her to leave…”
“No, let her in! I want to speak to her about something. “
Bella didn’t know Captain Mathilde of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team. This girl with her long blond hair tied up in a ponytail was a beauty in all aspects, except for her slightly flat chest. That pair of pure sky-blue eyes had especially left a deep impression on Bella.
“Um… Captain Mathilde, do we know each other?”
“You’re Duchess Bellina, right? If you are, then I guess you can say that we know each other. Daisy said that I can come to you about this sort of thing.”
Daisy was one of the four Holy Maidens of the Radiant Church and was a representative of Salo’s faction. Among the four Holy Maidens of the Radiant Church, she and Bella were the closest. Bella was a little confused. Salo’s faction had always advocated the use of dark demonic power! How can they be related to the Law Enforcement Team of the Radiant Church? The two should be sworn enemies!
“It’s no big deal. I just wanted to ask you a favor. Just help me go through the motions. When you’re free, I’ll invite you to Cabran Cottage.”
“What’s the matter, Duchess Bellina? Can’t you lend a hand! If you really can’t, I can switch to another place. We can go to Greenton Cottage too. I’ll be paid in a few days…”
“It’s fine. Anywhere is okay!”
“Really?! That’s great… Daisy wasn’t lying to me.”
Bella looked at Captain Mathilde, whose eyes were filled with gratitude. She didn’t know what to say. Cabran House and Greenton House were small restaurants located in the Franks Civilian Academy. A meal was only a few dozen copper coins at most.
Among the nobles, perhaps only Bella, an “offbeat aristocrat” who looked at the person and not the place, would accept a ridiculous invitation to a restaurant like that.
Mathilde was very happy inside and finally completed the task above. The present Law Enforcement Team was much worse than the original one. Many members of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team were making “extra money” in the name of law enforcement supervision.
Captain Mathilde was probably the only “ray of sunshine” in the entire Law Enforcement Team for often helping homeless children in the towns and cities with the meagre salary she received every month.
Bella and Mathilde chatted as they walked. Listening to the innocent voice of Captain Mathilde made Bella very unhappy. The Radiant Church was terrible. The monthly salary of the Law Enforcement Team had hardly increased since the establishment of the Radiant Church.
Nearly 10,000 years had passed without any salary increment. Compared to the Radiant Church, those black-hearted enterprises from Bella’s previous world seemed to be a lot more conscionable in an instant. When the Radiant Church was first established, the salary of the Law Enforcement Team was set at the highest level. Now, nearly 10,000 years had passed and prices had risen, yet their salaries were based on the living standards of 10,000 years ago.
The Clerics of the Radiant Church were basically provided with food and shelter by the church. They could still get by on that pitifully low salary.
Captain Mathilde was too innocent. She didn’t even think of making extra money outside. Bella seriously suspected that she had starved herself into having a flat chest. In the present Radiant Church, corruption was rather serious. The meals provided by the church were often misappropriated, and sometimes they were even inferior to the meals provided for prisoners.
Mathilde enviously told Bella that her colleagues often went to restaurants and ate better than her. She didn’t know how they managed to save so much from their salaries. The more Bella listened, the sadder she grew. She didn’t have the heart to tell Mathilde the truth, that nine times out of ten, her teammates were making extra money without Mathilde’s knowledge.
Bella was holding several pieces of colorless gemstones commonly used by great nobles when directly exchanging gold coins. One of these diamonds could be exchanged for at least a thousand gold coins. Several times Bella wanted to give them to Mathilde. But after seeing Mathilde’s innocent look, she hesitated.
According to Mathilde, the Radiant Church held a secret meeting at St. Louis Church Academy, but she didn’t know what the meeting was about. The organizer was Gralen, chief of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team. He had asked Law Enforcement Team members, regardless of whether they were the Captain, Vice Captain or a team member, to bring a rich or powerful person to attend the meeting. If they failed to accomplish the task, he would deduct several months of salary.
The secret meeting was held in a very hidden meeting place in the St. Louis Church Academy. Looking at the windows covered with black curtains, Bella wondered if she had come to an underground trading meeting place. What sort of tricks were the Law Enforcement Team of the Radiant Church up to here?
Mathilde only sent her here but didn’t enter. Chief Gralen had told her to send her in alone. The Law Enforcement Team guarding the door looked at Bella and Mathilde in shock.
From what they knew, Captain Mathilde was a captain without any powerful backers in the Law Enforcement Team. If it weren’t for the former Chief Captain’s repeated requests before retiring, the position of captain would never have been given to Mathilde.
Whether she would like to admit it or not, Duchess Bellina was currently recognized as one of the richest and most powerful people in Olsylvia Academy, and also a great aristocrat. If it weren’t for her being the wrong gender, there would’ve been a large number of female students coming to her door.
“Mathilde, come hang out with me when you’re free! This is my insignia, take it… “
“This insignia is so beautiful! Mmm, I’ll find you when I’m done with my mission!”
Mathilde naively took the insignia and accepted it without too much thought. If an aristocrat gave another their insignia, that meant that the two had a very deep relationship. Mathilde wasn’t yet aware that because of this badge, the other captains wouldn’t dare to ask her to help them with their shifts.
Mathilde already had a backer, and that person was really powerful. There was a big difference between those who had backers and those who didn’t. Before this, Captain Mathilde had often been tricked by her colleagues to help them work for nothing. Now, she could have some time off.
Besides Bella, there were also many great noble and rich people from Olsylvia Academy attending the secret meeting, among whom were Bella’s acquaintances, such as Rose Society’s bitter rival, President Carlos of the Golden Legend Society, and “fake loli” Charlotte, President of the Wronged Angels Society, which had friendly ties with the Rose Society.
The members of the more famous society of Olsylvia Academy, the Fraternity, were here as well. They were all handsome boys. It was a pity that Bella wasn’t interested in handsome boys, so she didn’t know anything about the Top Ten Academy Beaus, or much about the Fraternity either.
The seating was based on their titles. Naturally, as a Duchess, Bella sat in the front row. Carlos’ title wasn’t as high as Bella’s, so he could only sit dejectedly in the back row.
Charlotte and Bella were in the same row, which proved that her title was also Duchess. It was true that one should never judge a book by its cover. This “fake loli” was a hidden great aristocrat.
Charlotte greeted Bella with a smile. She was surrounded by several handsome boys from the Fraternity. It looked like they were Dukes as well. Bella quickly looked away. She hadn’t seen her for some time but Charlotte’s “lethality” was still amazing despite being a cross-dresser.
There was someone seated in the frontmost position. Someone who could sit in front of Dukes and Duchesses could only be royalty. The student who she suspected to be royalty didn’t wear any society’s badge and was wearing a grey cloak. For the moment, Bella couldn’t tell the gender of the other party.
Gralen, Chief of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team, wasn’t a devout believer in the Light. The eyes of this middle-aged uncle were full of greed. Even from a distance, Bella could see the bright, shiny rings on his ten fingers.
Not only did Chief Gralen wear a large gold ring on each finger, he also had a few gold necklaces as thick as a finger around his neck. His style wasn’t much different from the newly rich in her previous world.
“Bosses, let’s get down to business. There’s plenty of money in this project. As usual, we’ll split it fifty-fifty when it’s done.”
The VIPs who participated in this secret meeting had a document in front of them. Bella picked it up and glanced through it. Finally, she knew the reason he had invited these rich or noble people.
Just three days ago, the entrance to Scripps Cemetery, which had been regarded as a forbidden area, had suddenly broken open. Through that crack, the Knights of the Church guarding the periphery discovered a large number of treasures hidden inside.
The Knights of the Church had originally wanted to remove them privately. They secretly opened the stone slate of the seal gates and entered Scripps Cemetery. However, those people were gone forever. This was the real reason behind St. Louis Church Academy’s urgent school closure.
Later on, the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team took over the place. According to some ancient scripts found on the surrounding rock walls, Scripps Cemetery was likely to be the resting place of the previous generation Pope of the Radiant Church.
The first five generation Popes of the Radiant Church weren’t buried in the designated areas, and their whereabouts were basically unknown due to unknown reasons. Now, the current Light Pope had entrusted Gralen with this matter.
In the name of repairing the ancient tomb, Gralen planned to organize people to dig up Scripps Cemetery and return the buried treasure back to the Radiant Church.
In order to prevent outsiders from getting a piece of the action, the Law Enforcement Team of the Radiant Church did all this alone without informing the three major factions of the Radiant Church. However, the Law Enforcement Team didn’t have as much funds as the three major factions. As a last resort, Chief Gralen had to invite “tenders,” and also partners.
This was also tacitly approved by the current Pope of the Radiant Church. His only requirement was that Holy Weapons were to be returned to the Church. The rest of the treasure could be divided fifty-fifty between them. This was more profitable than cooperating with the three major parties. If they cooperated with the three major factions, it might end up being 30% for each of the factions and only 10% for the Light Pope.
Bella was speechless at the idea of teaming up with outsiders to dig up the resting place of a previous Pope. The Light Pope of this generation was truly open-minded. Bella decided to take part and have a look. The Pope buried in the Scripps Cemetery might be the first generation Light Pope who had sealed the transformed Goddess of Life. Bella had something to ask her.
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