The Shadow of the Crown of Snow [Western Fantasy]

"The Legion of the Holy Light will stay here to help you rebuild, but it won't be long. After the news of the end of the war reaches Wilton, the Church of Light will call them back."

"They can help us, and I'm already thankful."

The Nord Kingdom, which was originally sparsely populated, is now more aware of the pain caused by the shortage of labor. If it weren't for the tall people in the North, most of them are very good at this kind of physical work. According to the current number of people who can be invested in rebuilding, I am afraid that even Selene They all feel helpless.

The help from the Legion of Light made the Northlanders a little relieved, and it also made Selene start to think about one thing.If they succeeded in killing Hussein, what would happen to the Hindley Continent?

Naturally, Selene would not choose to mobilize troops to attack the Nagrand Empire. The current Nord Kingdom is a scarred beast, and what is urgently needed is not expansion but rest.But Hussein has no descendants and no other relatives. He is gone, and Nagrand's orthodox heir is Joshua.Joshua has always been in the Nord Kingdom, but no one can tell what he is doing in the Nord Kingdom. It can be said that Joshua was forced to push him to the throne of the Nagrand Empire. Nagrand is tantamount to becoming the territory of the Nord Kingdom.

Even if Selene does nothing, Hussein's death will inevitably cause chaos within Nagrand, causing the Nagrand Empire to be eliminated in the battle between the four countries, and it is almost impossible to catch up again However, the Sindley Continent's situation will be completely reshuffled, which is both good and bad for the Nord Kingdom.

The good thing is that there is no Nagrand to interfere with Nord anymore. The bad thing is that in front of Wilton and Tallis, Nord is nothing as a country.

This time they went to the Holy Church of Wilton, and Selene and Hecate saved a lot of trouble on the way.Before leaving, Phoebe had reserved a magic spell for herself in the Church of Light in Museg City for herself to use when returning. Now, as long as it is triggered with the power of faith, they can immediately appear on the streets of Musseg.

"Welcome to the capital of the Holy Church of Wilton, Museg City. This is the place blessed by the God of Light." Phoebe read in an aria-like tone.

Phoebe took Selene and Hecate to a guest room in the Church of Illuminati. She was about to go out to the altar to hear God's will, but she turned back and asked Hecate: "By the way, I heard Selene say that You want to find out the origin of the crescent blade. I can confirm that it is not produced by Wilton, but I know many craftsmen, and they may know more about this. If you don't mind, before I go to listen to the light Before God's new order, I can take you to ask them where this knife might come from."

"Okay, then I'll go with you alone, Selene, you can take a good rest here."

Selene nodded in agreement. She has been busy rebuilding the Frosted City these days, and she is indeed a bit too tired. She hurriedly embarked on the journey before taking a good rest. It would be nice to have a chance to take a nap.

Less than a few minutes after Phoebe and Hecate left, three priests appeared at the door.

"...You are?" Selene could clearly feel that these three people were different from the priests she met in the church corridor.

"I want to have a good talk with you." The priestess standing in the middle replied.

As soon as she finished speaking, the two priests had rushed towards Selene. Before Selene could draw out her sword, the two priests rushed to her side, clamped her wrists and cut them behind her, controlling her. Actions.

The strength of the two priests was stronger than expected. After struggling a few times, Selene realized that she had no advantage in force in front of them. She stopped resisting and looked at the white robe of the priest in front of her. Church misfits.

The tailoring and style of the white robes are almost the same as those of the Illuminati Church, the only difference is that the ones worn by this person are lighter and easier to move around.Compared with the ceremonial ornate scepter of the Illuminati Church, the scepter in her hand is also much shorter. Like Selene's long sword, it is hung by her side and can be easily drawn out at any time.

"No matter who you are, this is not the proper attitude for conversation." Selene cautiously looked at the two priests holding her wrists from the corner of her eyes. Unable to break free, it seems that he is not prepared to threaten Selene's life safety for the time being, "Also, I don't think I will say anything to someone who doesn't even reveal his identity."

"Don't reveal your identity? Ah, that's right. You are from the Northland, so you shouldn't be able to tell who I am. But I think, as a believer of the God of Light, you should know this." The man raised his hand and patted Twice the symbol on the sleeve, "However, I can tell you my name first, Udulla."

The name, along with the symbol on her sleeve, revealed her identity to Selene.

It was the same pentagram as the church used, only enclosed in a circle, and embroidered with black thread instead of gold—the symbol of the Inquisition.

And Udulla is the current "supervisor" of the Religious Arbitration Institute.

In the Holy Church of Wilton, the balance reached by the Religious Arbitration Office, the court, and the Church of Light is actually equivalent to the balance reached between the Overseer, the Pope, and the Holy Maiden of Light.

"I know you are Phoebe's guest, but I don't know why Phoebe is trying so hard to please a barbarian king." Udulla approached Selene, squinted her eyes and looked at her carefully, "It stands to reason , she is not someone who likes to do superfluous things."

Selene had heard Phoebe mention her relationship with Udura—but only very superficially.

Both Udulla and Phoebe were once candidates for the Holy Maiden of Light. Both of them showed amazing talents in divine arts. The last Holy Maiden of Light did not make a decision for a long time, but in terms of attitude, more The ground is biased towards Udulla.However, on the day when the results were announced, the name said by the Holy Maiden of Light was "Phoebe". Of course, Udura was not reconciled, and asked the Holy Maiden of Light on the spot, but only got one answer.

"If I had to choose, I would choose you, Uudura. But this is God's will."

With Udulla's personality, Phoebe had expected that she would definitely not go back to her hometown. After losing to Phoebe, she stayed and became a priest. In less than half a year, she asked to be transferred to the religious arbitration office. A few years ago, Phoebe heard the news that Udulla was going to be promoted to the supervisor of the Arbitration Institute.

When telling Selene about these things, Phoebe didn't say anything about the emotions of the two of them on this matter, but just narrated it as if it had nothing to do with her, so that Selene couldn't judge Udura's intention for coming.

The best possibility is that Uudra is not actually hostile.

This is actually very easy to explain, just like if Selene somehow invited a "guest" to the Nord Kingdom without revealing a word to Hecate in advance, Hecate would probably take advantage of the guest's order Come to the door to find out the situation in person, and when you find that the other party has no conflict of interest with you, you will stop.

The worst possibility is that Udulla has been hating Phoebe.

If that's the case, and with the dislike of the Northlanders revealed in her previous words, then she will not tolerate anyone who has anything to do with Phoebe, nor will she care about Selene's life.

"You... Selene from the Kingdom of Nord, right? I should remember your name correctly. Tell me now, what are you and Phoebe planning?"

"No comment."

"So, what benefits did you promise Phoebe? I don't think anyone would rush around like this without benefiting themselves? Even that Phoebe."

"No comment."

"Northern people are indeed the same as the rumors. They will always be the nightmare of interrogators. You can smash the bones of northerners, but you don't want to see the information flying out of them." Udulla pulled out her short scepter and hung it down. He waved his hand casually a few times, "Since you are not going to answer me at all, then there is no need for me to waste time in this way."

"If you refuse to take the initiative to cooperate, I will unfortunately use some extraordinary means. I think you can guess this." Udura sat on the table and looked at Selene, sighing exaggeratedly. "According to my investigation, you are an official follower of the God of Light, right?"

Selene subconsciously wanted to back away from Udulla.She felt that as long as she got closer, Udulla could feel the power of Hecate's faith in her.

Then it's not hard to guess what kind of means the Religious Arbitration Institute, which specializes in sanctioning apostates, will use.

"I think you have just arrived in the Holy Church of Wilton, and you don't know the situation here? Let me help you analyze it. Now that you are in a foreign country, let alone asking for help, will you get lost if you go out alone? There is no guarantee, and the only person who can protect you here is Phoebe, and now Phoebe is out with your sister... who else can come to save you?" Udulla kept smiling at Selene, " Of course, I usually don’t just walk over to confront Phoebe like this, but when she’s not around, I can take the person I want to arrest directly to the Religious Arbitration Office. The Holy Maiden of Light is not eligible to enter that place, Let alone saving people from inside."

She waved her scepter, and Selene's eyes were immediately covered by a layer of darkness, so she had to let the two priests escort her forward.

"I hope that guy Phoebe can find out quickly, otherwise it will be too boring."

78. Religious Arbitration Institute

The artisans Phoebe mentioned were all experienced old people. Before they were too old to swing a hammer, some of them forged weapons and utensils for the court, and some made scepters for the Illuminati Church and religious arbitration.The person she wants to take Hecate to meet is the person who made the scepter for her back then.

"What is the scepter made of?" Hecate asked.

"Wood. The structure is the same as that of a long gun. The handle is made of wood, and the place where the gems are inlaid on the front end is made of metal. It is just a kind of wood that is much harder than ordinary wood. Otherwise, most priests may They can’t even hold a scepter.” Phoebe paused, then added, “As far as I know, only Udulla’s scepter is made of pure metal, and I don’t know how she can walk around with such a thing. go."

"Who is Uudra?"

"A very annoying friend of mine, she seems to have nothing else to do but make trouble with me every day - but you can't blame her, her job is to make trouble with me." Phoebe glanced at the full Hecate, who was confused, explained with a smile, "She is the supervisor of the Religious Arbitration Institute."

Hecate had lingering fears about the word "religious arbitration", but now she doesn't care when she hears it. She has truly passed the threshold of a god, and religious arbitration can no longer have any effect on her.

The architectural style of the Nagrand Empire is very similar to that of the Holy Church of Wilton, but the city streets of Wilton are more spacious and more complicated in structure. Came to a slightly narrow street, knocked on the door of the first family.

The house was very big, and there were several children running around in the living room. When they saw Phoebe, they stood in a row at the door and said hello neatly: "Good afternoon, my lord!"

"Good afternoon, kids. Where's your grandpa?" Phoebe asked one of them, bending down.

"They're all upstairs! I'll come calling!" The child quickly ran to the stairs and shouted, "Grandpa! The Holy Maiden is looking for you!"

An old man who looked old but not weak quickly came down from upstairs: "Ah, my lord, what can you do for me?"

"Yes, Mr. Julian." Phoebe handed him the Crescent Blade, "I want you to look at its origin, and it would be best if you could tell me who made it."

"Kids, get out of the way. A machete." Old Julian carefully drew the knife out. "It's just wonderful, but it's not my specialty."

"Mr. Julian, please don't be humble. Even if this is not your profession, you know it far better than some professionals."

"Excuse me, is this the weapon you use, my lord?" Julian's fingers trembled across the back of the knife, his eyes sparkling with admiration, "Or is it this lady over here?"

Hecate was stunned for a moment before realizing that Julian was talking about herself, and she nodded in affirmation.

"It works great, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

Hecate has never met a better weapon than her crescent blade in her life. She trusts the crescent blade as much as she trusts her own force. This is the only psychology that Nord Proton, who once lived in fear, kept herself alive. rely.

"So, can you tell me when and where you got it?"

"About... about ten years ago, in the Nagrand Empire."

"This is very strange, my lord," Julian said. "I can't tell who made this knife, or even which country it was made in, but I'm sure that the casting of this knife The raw material used for the knife comes from the Holy Church of Wilton, and it is called Oriha steel."

"Auriha Steel..." Phoebe was impressed by the name, "This material is strictly controlled and used by the Church of Light, and has never been leaked."

"Yes, Lady Saint. We can't rule out the possibility that Oriha Steel leaked in a certain link, but we can't rule out that it was actually cast by someone inside the Church of Light. It's just that I think the latter's The possibility is extremely small." Julian sighed, and slowly retracted the crescent blade into its sheath, "Forgive me for not being able to answer its specific origin, and there is only so much information I can provide."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Julian, these are very valuable to us."

Phoebe returned the Crescent Blade to Hecate and bid farewell to the old craftsman Julian.

"If Julian doesn't know, no one will. But let's ask everyone, and maybe we'll find the answer."

However, after knocking on doors all over the street, Phoebe and Hecate returned disappointed.

"Selene, let's go back to—Selene?"

When he walked into the empty room, Hecate already had an ominous premonition in his heart, and Phoebe rushed to the table and picked up the pentagram emblem she was very familiar with.

"Inquisition... Udulla has been here."

In the entire territory of the Holy Church of Wilton, only Udulla dared to face Phoebe so openly.

"Religious Arbitration Institute? Religious Arbitration Ownership arrests people from you?"

"That is... the organization responsible for restricting the Church of Light. If I had been in the Church of Light at that time, Udulla would never have taken her away in front of me. But as long as I entered the Religious Arbitration Office, there would be no room for me to intervene .”

"According to what you mean..." Hecate pulled out half of the Crescent Blade, "The only way is for me to go in and save people myself, right?"

"Yes, I will take you to the Religious Arbitration Office. But as the Holy Maiden of Light and a citizen of the Holy Church of Wilton, I beg you not to kill innocent people indiscriminately."

"I won't, after I've made sure Selene is safe. And I won't strike anyone who isn't in my way until I've made sure she's safe."

Seeing Hecate's eyes, Phoebe decided not to say anything about it.

Selene was an official follower of the God of Light before. She joined the Sect of the God of Light, prayed for the God of Light, and used the magic of the God of Light. In any way, she could not get rid of this identity she once had.If she had always been a believer in the God of Light, Udulla would not be able to attack her—as a supervisor, she could not harm any believer except the judge.

But Hecate, whom Selene now believes in, is a true god.

For Udura, Selene was an apostate who had no resistance in front of the religious tribunal.

The Religious Arbitration Institute is much lower-key than the palace and the Church of Light, and they do not want to expose their existence to the world, so few people know that the church-like building on the outskirts of the Holy Church of Wilton is not an ordinary church .

Underneath this "church" are hidden the countless interrogation rooms of the Inquisition—and the execution ground.

Selene was in one of the interrogation rooms at the moment. She was staring at the light condensed by divine magic in the corner, waiting for the moment when Hecate's mood fluctuated.

"I'm tired of being kept in the dark by Phoebe." Uudra walked back and forth in front of the chair where Selene was tied, the heavy metal scepter dangling from her waist, "Honey Queen Nord, if you are willing to share with me the little secret Phoebe heard from the God of Light, I really don’t mind letting you go. One more apostate is not a loss for the God of Light. It doesn’t even matter to me.”

Selene never spoke.Phoebe, who was also a candidate for the Holy Maiden of Light, was so frank that people were surprised when she was selected. Udura, who came to the Religious Arbitration Office, was not like this. For many years, even if he was originally trained as a pious priest, now he should know how to pry the enemy's mouth to obtain information.

"I think...you are a smart man, Selene, you didn't try to deceive me with some clumsy lies." Udulla leaned over and looked at Selene, "I really don't mean anything, I just hate Fei Bea doesn't always tell me anything - but to someone like you who doesn't matter."

Selene didn't answer, but Udulla continued on her own: "Don't worry, my relationship with Phoebe is better than you imagined. I won't do her any harm. I just want to know. Satisfy me." Curiosity, I think you can understand."

Udulla talked for a long time, and Selene remained silent until Udulla finally lost patience with this method.

She took off her short scepter from her waist, and pointed the bright red gem at the top at Selene.

"I regret to say that I show no mercy to apostates who refuse to cooperate with me." Udulla shrugged.

Selene knew that the methods used by religious arbitration would definitely not be gentle, but what she didn't expect was that the pain was so unbearable.She is also a person who has been on the battlefield and has been on the verge of life and death, but in the face of the pain that tears her soul, she still screamed in cold sweat, and subconsciously grabbed the armrest of the chair with her fingers, expecting Hope this pain will pass quickly.

"We call this torture of the soul." Udulla put down the scepter, let Selene take a breath, and raised it again, "Unlike other tortures, this directly affects the soul level, so congratulations You've experienced the deepest, most overwhelming pain in the world."

After another moment—for Selene, an eternity of time—Uudura lowered the scepter again: "Now are you willing to tell me?"

coming.

The moment the pain disappeared, the connection between the god and the believer made Selene feel Hecate's emotions, and she began to enter a state of anxiety and anger more than usual.

Seeing the smile on Selene's face, Udulla frowned.

"You northerners like to bluff. Your people are like this, and you will be like this."

"I'm not bluffing, Ms. Udulla, the 'supervisor' of the Religious Arbitration Institute." Selene looked up at her, still with a smile on her mouth, "I just thought that Hecate would come to rescue me later I can't help but want to laugh about how you will be beaten."