Chapter 19: Who’s Trapping Whom?

“Have Eve and Phoenix already made contact with those two?” Komer, with his hands behind his back, gazed at the scenery outside the window.
“Yes, they have. As Lord expected, those two indeed asked to go to Leon with Miss Eve and Miss Phoenix.” Mahagumi had to admit that his master was far better at reading people’s minds, especially those in the church, than he was—this wasn’t his strength.
“Has it raised any suspicions?” Komer asked softly, lowering his head.
“Probably not. Both of those guys are very cautious, but Miss Eve and Miss Phoenix’s identities are perfectly matched, so they must believe in their identities. The fact that they volunteered to go with them is proof of that. It seems they want to use what they consider outsiders to understand the true situation in Caucasus and Leon. It also looks like they doubt the information they’ve received.” Mahagumi nodded.
“I hope Eve and Phoenix don’t make any mistakes,” Komer sighed lightly.
“Lord, there’s no need to worry. Miss Eve and Miss Phoenix are both very smart. I was actually worried that Miss Eve might refuse Lord’s request, but once she agreed, she’ll surely do her best to complete it, and she has the ability to do so well.” Mahagumi seemed quite confident.
“Hmm, Mahagumi. Even I wasn’t entirely sure at first. As you said, since she agreed, it means this task is already half done.” Komer agreed with Mahagumi’s view. Beneath Eve’s delicate appearance lay a stubborn and strong heart, something Komer had fully realized after all this time of interaction.
“With Miss Eve and Miss Phoenix’s help, I think even if those two are suspicious, it won’t be easy for them to find any flaws. As long as their preconceived notions change, I believe they won’t be able to uncover anything in Caucasus.” Mahagumi analyzed it from a psychological perspective. If Eve and Phoenix could successfully change those two’s views, many problems could be easily explained. With preconceived notions, many non-problems would be exaggerated, not to mention the existing problems beneath.

After spending a day in Banasha, Karu and Boriz had to set off for Izmel together with Eve. Banasha yielded no valuable discoveries either. In this land dominated by half-orcs, although there were many mortals, most of them were merchants or thuggish hybrids. The appearance of Karu and his three companions stood out sharply here, a fact even Karu and Boriz were aware of.

Infiltrating Banasha’s not-so-bustling town at night brought little result. Those thuggish half-orcs and workers of other races were reveling wildly in the bars, while mortal merchants mingled with them, creating a chaotic scene. Yet the two also found no particularly serious security issues. The formidable figures of the half-orc self-defense patrol soldiers effectively deterred the miners, who were nearly driven mad by the strong liquor.

Almost no one here spoke of faith, seemingly having completely forgotten its existence. It was a true wasteland of faith. In Karu’s eyes, no kind of faith could take root in such places. The half-orcs’ worship of Mars was merely a simple psychological habit, far from genuine respect or admiration.

Even Boriz had to admit that the claim that this area might be under the influence of dark forces was pure nonsense. For dark forces to survive here, they would need to add more complexity to the simple-minded half-orcs’ minds, making them more thoughtful and refined—just like the Light Church had done. Telling them about kindness, honor, fraternity, and mercy was like speaking to cows; they pursued only practical things every day: coming out of the mines to fill their stomachs with coarse bread or black bread, and then, if time and money allowed, drinking in bars or at home, telling vulgar jokes, or using alcohol to vent their unspent energy by fighting with fists and sticks before the self-defense forces arrived.

This was a pure wasteland, a wasteland of faith—worthless to stay in. Karu and Boriz concluded this after carefully observing Banasha.

If Izmel was the same as this place, it at least proved one thing: Leon would not be a place any religious sect would want to settle in. It was pure waste of time.

“Miss Eve, have you been in the Caucasus for a long time?” Both Karu and Boriz hoped to get some information from these two girls, as time was limited. Even if they rushed to the Caucasus at full speed, it wouldn’t be easy to obtain anything valuable in such a short time. The kindness and compassion shown by these two girls over the past two days had already given Karu and Boriz a very good impression of them. Whether it was advising people to work hard or maintain family harmony, opposing alcoholism or encouraging them to keep love in their hearts—everything suggested that these two girls, especially Eve, would be perfect candidates for recruitment by the Church of Light. Karu even thought that even if this trip to the Caucasus yielded nothing, guiding Miss Eve to the Tribunal would still be a great achievement.

“Over a year, I think. I came to the Caucasus with the immigrants from Melen, Main, and Sosor, as they needed our help. At that time, the Caucasus was still a wasteland.” After two days of interaction, Eve’s attitude toward the two monks had improved significantly. At least their elegant speech and courteous, chivalrous behavior were quite appealing.

“Oh, tens of thousands of immigrants moving here was indeed a massive effort. These followers of the God of Light were fortunate enough to be blessed by Him and escape the oppression of those orcs.” Perhaps feeling awkward discussing this topic, Karu quickly changed the subject: “Were Priest Belan and Pastor Kustav here at that time?”

“No, Priest Belan and Pastor Kustav arrived later. There wasn’t a proper church in the Caucasus back then. It was only later that the primitive beliefs of various races began to spread, and the Church of Light started raising funds to build churches here. I remember they came around that time. Unfortunately, the Caucasus is a place where many races live together. Although the God of Light is highly respected here, those half-orcs, dwarves, elves, and barbarians don’t seem to have the habit of changing their beliefs easily. Perhaps the gods they worship don’t even exist or are just a source of comfort; they still prefer their own deities.”

Eve’s tone carried a hint of kind mockery, which made Karu and Boriz smile. Indeed, the beliefs of these non-human races are innate, and it’s difficult to change them. But that wasn’t important—what concerned them was the movements of ordinary people.

“Well, Priest Belan and Pastor Qustaf should be doing fairly well in their missionary work in the Caucasus. After all, the vast majority of those over a hundred thousand immigrants are mortals who have a tradition of believing in the God of Light. Even though their homeland no longer exists, their faith remains indispensable.” Karu interjected in a seemingly casual tone.

“Well, I’m not too familiar with the specifics, but it seems that lord over there does support Priest Belan and the others. He even asked the treasurer to allocate funds specifically for building churches. As far as I know, the lord’s estate in the Caucasus owes a lot of money to material suppliers for roads and canals, and they’ve even started to default on their payments. I’ve never seen such shameless nobles before,” Eve said, her voice filled with disdain and anger. “How can someone like him be given the title of lord? I really don’t know what the Kingdom of Nicomedia and Lord Homer are thinking.”

“Hehe, Miss Eve. I heard that lord in question is an illegitimate son from Homer, and his behavior in Cyprus is absolutely outrageous,” Boriz added appropriately. “It seems Miss Eve doesn’t have a very good impression of him either.”

“Sir monk, this man has none of the dignity or grace expected of a noble. He even defaults on the money he owes those merchants. It’s said he extorts money from the barbarians in the south, using local food to trick them into giving up their gems and magic crystals. The barbarians also despise him greatly,” Eva seemed to understand the two monks’ intentions and amplified Boriz’s criticism of Komer.

“Well, such behavior indeed goes against noble conduct. But I heard that some dark forces might also be infiltrating through the barbarians and operating in the Caucasus. Could it be that they have the tacit approval or support of Lord Komer?” Seeing that they hadn’t gotten to the main topic after a while and noticing Eve’s strong dislike for Lord Komer, Boriz ignored Karu’s disapproval and quietly tried to get the truth from Eve.

“Dark forces? What dark forces are you talking about?” Seemed stunned by Boriz’s words, the white-robed priest took some time to react, looking utterly puzzled. “Sir monk, where did you hear that there are dark forces in the Caucasus? Barbarians never worship human gods. That place is even more desolate than Lyion—who could possibly pass through there? Dark forces?! How ridiculous. Not even the Church of Light has managed to establish a firm foothold in the Caucasus yet—how could dark forces do it? I’ve never heard of dark forces showing interest in the Caucasus. I’ve never heard such a ridiculous joke.”