New Gods of North America

After Wayne returned from Richmond yesterday, he thought about it a little and had to admit that Bishop Corleone's words were indeed valuable.

For a priest, the most important thing is the ability to "stabilize" the parish. In this sense, as long as the parish remains stable, no matter how the priest himself is viewed, he at least has not "seriously neglected his duty."

Conversely, when the "Seven Deadly Sins" case happened before, the entire Georgeberg Church and the exorcism department located in the "Old Police Station" were almost temporarily "suspended." That's why Pastor Barzini didn't have any temper.

Bishop Corleone also specifically pointed out that "the fallen can be accepted in designated small parishes," combined with Tom Hagen's statement,

It seemed that the Bishop was both warning Wayne and almost teaching Wayne how to play this game step by step.

——If you want to harm someone protected by the church, you first need to find evidence of their crime. Since you want to accomplish things that are difficult within the rules, you will naturally introduce forces outside the church.

For example, conducting a survey of the "fallen" in the parish and then using the rights allowed within the rules to indirectly control the "wild fallen" might be a good way.

In a sense, the detective agency is now playing a similar role.

Seth Grayson's situation fits Wayne's judgment very well.

He knows his identity as a "fallen one," roughly understands the church's various restrictions on "fallen ones," and secretly works for "certain powerful people."

Who would believe that no one has ever "explained" or "emphasized" similar things to him?

Unfortunately, Seth Grayson's status on the other side is obviously not very high, and he may even be the kind of person who is "discarded after use."

If he hadn't been quite敏锐 in this regard and immediately came to seek refuge, once the things were submitted to the cathedral, the person the detective agency wanted to deal with most might have become him.

Therefore, Seth Grayson's answer was not very surprising to Wayne:

"If you are referring to other fallen people among the students, Mr. Wayne, I actually don't know who else there are. In fact, I am only required to report to the church every week and need to accept some additional related management."

"The people who privately commission me to do things are not from the church."

Wayne nodded, choosing to trust him for the time being:

"We need you to complete two things as soon as possible. First, we want to find out how many 'fallen ones' are 'accepted' in the academy, and it would be best to provide a relatively accurate list so that we can contact and confirm them."

"Second, if the contact person who arranges things for you contacts you again, try to arrange a private meeting with the other party and then try to control him."

"This…"

Seth Grayson seemed a little surprised. He still thought about it in his mind for a while before nodding, "I'll do my best."

Wayne felt that Seth Grayson's current performance was acceptable.

However, everyone is not familiar with each other yet, and it is hard to say that he is not a trap set by the other party for the detective agency:

"I didn't ask you to complete these two things independently. On the premise of ensuring secrecy, I allow you to temporarily command the detectives in the detective agency, but large-scale collective actions need to be reported in advance and approved by me or other partners."

"Remember what you said? You are willing to continue trying to enrich your resume. This is an opportunity for you to prove yourself, and I hope you don't miss it. I believe you will hardly get the same opportunity in Pastor Pachel's place or in Cohen Pharmaceuticals."

Seth Grayson did not hesitate this time, "I will do my best!"

……

Let Seth Grayson go out and become familiar with the detectives with preliminary permission.

The three partners continued to chat in the office.

Wayne didn't have the mood to tease Lena with that diary at this time:

"That Pastor Pachel doesn't seem to be Bishop Corleone's man and plans to harm our detective agency. In any case, we must at least get the bargaining chips that can counter him equally."

"I didn't expect you to trust this guy so much that you allowed him to command our people."

Lena saw Wayne rummaging around in the drawer, "Are you looking for that diary? I disposed of it after I finished reading it. Who knows someone would write things in a diary... and it's such a coincidence that they sacrificed recently."

Wayne stopped his movements:

"The main reason is that we can't directly attack the pastor of the academy church. If there are flaws in the evidence collection process, it may embarrass the cathedral. Otherwise, it would be nice to let you go directly. Seth at least knows the academy better for now, so let's see what he chooses."

"No matter which side he chooses to help, it's a good thing for us as long as we can confirm his attitude. So let's give him more autonomy and see how he plays it. You can also find opportunities to stroll around the academy when you have time and keep an eye on him with the detectives."

Inesa thought for a while:

"Your academy's church should theoretically be under the management of the Georgeberg parish. The number of clergy that small parishes can directly mobilize should not be very large."

"If a serious incident occurs, what they need to rely on should still be those in the Georgeberg Church and the 'Old Police Station.'"

"From the worst-case scenario, if we directly confront David Mills and his men, our detective agency does not have a numerical advantage."

"It shouldn't be that bad... but although it shouldn't be needed this time, we can still study the retreat plan by the way."

Wayne pondered slightly, "Have the letters contacting Kanx City been sent out yet?"

Lena nodded, "Willie sent them out the next day. But even if someone is willing to come, it will probably take a while."

"What about Doug and the others?" Wayne asked.

Inesa answered over there, "I received a pigeon from Doug before. They are also recruiting peripheral members along the way, and they may not be able to return to Georgeberg until next week."

Hmm…

Then if we confront the church in the Georgeberg parish, the detective agency will be very passive…

No.

Wayne realized that he was being led astray a bit.

Our detective agency is a legal organization that has been registered with the church… unless another strange diary appears, it shouldn't be necessary to have a hot war with the local church, right?

Wayne looked at Inesa, a senior hunter from the Windsor Kingdom Hunter Association, who also had the "restraint" added by the Holy Spirit Church.

Then he looked at Lena, an experienced agent who didn't know which side she was on before, and could summon the "Wise Sage," who was suspected of being an evil god, to play with.

Then think about himself…

Wayne took out a metal flask and took a sip of holy water to "aid digestion":

"I suddenly feel that... just in case, if there is an opportunity, we might as well consider finding a place to build a secret base for the detective agency like the 'Skinny Gang' before?"