Endless Silver Machine

The cathedral in the sanctuary had just finished the meeting with Augustus' dignitaries. After the visiting nobles left by car, Sethis left the cathedral.

He wore a purple cross shawl, which is the formal attire worn by the pope on formal occasions.

The Holy See divides the classes of subordinate knights by the colors of their uniforms, such as red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, indigo, and purple. The classes increase step by step, and the number of knights belonging to the class also decreases step by step. By the time of the Blue Knights, there were only eight people.

"Knight" used to symbolize the eight virtues of humility, integrity, mercy, bravery, justice, sacrifice, honor and soul.

Hundreds of years ago, human organizations that practiced virtue were called "Knights", and this name has continued to modern times.

Today's knights do not have clear dividing conditions. Most of the knights are state magicians, and there are also many people who hold other important positions.

The number of knights of the Holy See and the knights of the Bis Empire is basically the same, but the Bis Empire also has an army. Judging from the number of people, the latter seems to have the advantage.

However, the strength of the Holy See is recognized as rivaling that of the Bis Empire Chamber. The reason is that the Knights of the Holy See have been given the "protection of the Saint."

It was a baptism performed by those who were granted the knighthood by the Holy See. The ceremony could only be performed in the sacred place, the land where the legendary saint slept.

The Vatican Knights with the "Saint's Protection" are as powerful as an ordinary knight order in the Bis Empire.

It is precisely because of their ability to fight one against a hundred that the Holy See and the Bis Empire have been in a state of mutual restraint for a long time.

This protection does not come from the Holy See, but is given by the saint who sleeps in this land. According to legend, this is the case.

——Evil people cannot be illuminated by light and can only hide in the darkness under the light.

This is recorded in history books.

Therefore, even if you no longer serve as a knight of the Holy See, as long as you still hold a pure faith, the "Saint of the Saint" will not disappear.

After Seth returned to his room, the figure of a man in a tuxedo quietly appeared.

"Arcas, is there anything you need to say?"

Arcas is not a knight of the Holy See, nor is he a man who easily impresses others.

"Your Holiness, the robbery in Thebes Prison has been confirmed to be the work of Gurli."

Arcas bowed slightly and reported the recent work progress to Sethis.

"Really? He really likes to make such big noises."

"It is said that there was a young girl who was traveling with him. He may have established a relationship during his absence."

"... Let's not discuss this issue for now. The Imperial City Defense Bureau will handle it. Is there any more detailed information?"

"The people he contacted were two people from the Nemesis Society, who were captured when they invaded the Imperial City Defense Bureau. Miss Cocona has already gone to the underground of the Imperial City Defense Bureau to investigate, and I believe she can get more information. "

"The kid shouldn't care about such things."

It was precisely because he knew this that Sethis did not entrust this task to Cocona, who had personal access to the underground facilities of the Imperial City Defense Bureau.

"As you said, she has her own rules of conduct. But are you prepared to entrust them all to the Chise family and the Heinz family?"

The Holy See has no right to know what kind of secrets are hidden underground in the Imperial City Defense Bureau. If it weren't for Cocona's strength, they wouldn't have gotten such an opportunity.

Despite this, Sethis still didn't say anything to Cocona. He trusted Cocona's judgment. Even if what she knew would not be reported to the Holy See, those around her would definitely know it.

"They can no longer continue to be flowers in the greenhouse. August will not make any big moves now. This is because they are bound by the history they have modified."

"Is the opportunity only now..."

Although Arcas could understand Thetis's intentions, he still hesitated.

"One year has passed, and you still can't worry about Wei Xi."

After pondering for a long time, Arcas finally got the answer in his heart.

"...No, she has grown up."

Arcas knew everything about what happened during the year Wei Xi left the Holy See.

Liuyin knew that she was in danger in the Tebiri Kingdom because Arcas spilled the beans in front of Liuyin.

It is undeniable that Wei Xi no longer needs the Holy See's protection for her.

During this year, she found her own answers and found someone she could rely on.

After Wei Xi returned from the Tebiri Kingdom, she told Liuyin her answer and asked Liuyin to tell Arcas.

"The task of investigating the northwest district is only assigned to Liuyin. Is it also for this reason?"

Liuyin was semi-forced to temporarily leave the Holy See. Arcas, who had just returned to the Holy See, heard about it from other knights.

"Not only was it left to her alone, the children of the Qianze family were also here yesterday."

"Two people..."

Arcas's superficial task in the Holy See is to take care of the youngest Liuyin and Weixi on behalf of Sethis when things are busy, until they can become independent knights.

Now, this task seems to have come to an end.

…………

The building Liuyin took Aika to find seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. The street lights had lost power because they had not been used for a long time, and the surroundings were completely dark.

"I didn't expect that there would be such a big facility at my feet..."

According to the information Liuyin received when he received the mission from the Holy See, 80% of the underground area in the northwest district was filled with factories.

After hearing about it from Liuyin, Aika understood why there were only high-rise office buildings along the way and no roaring machinery manufacturing factories.

"It is said that the purpose of moving the factory underground is to alleviate the problem of environmental pollution."

“It really doesn’t look like an industrial area here.”

"But the main reason is that it is more concealed underground and is not easily monitored by instruments. It is also very convenient when it is abandoned."

With the faint light emitted by magic power in the palm of his hand, Liuyin found the completely rusted mechanical lock on the warehouse door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

She tried to break the rusty lock ring with her hands, but although it was rusty on the surface, it was still well preserved inside.

"No, it can't be opened."

If she didn't have to worry about causing commotion later, she could just destroy the door.

Aika recalled that Lolo once used alternating hot and cold to destroy the steel robot in the Moon Festival, and that method must be applicable here.

"Liuyin, I'll heat this lock, and then you can freeze it when it's about time, so it should become brittle."

Liuyin immediately understood what Aika was going to do.

"Well, let's give it a try."

The fireball summoned by Aika using basic fire magic focused a little on burning the iron ring. Gradually, the rust turned up became bright red.

"bring it on."

"Um."

The moment Aika stopped using magic, the red rust was wrapped in silvery ice.

In the silent space, the sound of the lock cylinder breaking was clearly audible.

"Successful..." Liuyin's voice was slightly surprised, "I didn't even think there was such a method. You are really amazing."

"I just saw Luo Luo using this method before, and now I'm learning it and selling it now."

"If I came here alone, I might have to find another way."

"I only use basic fire magic, you should be able to use it too."

"If you use two types of magic alternately, there will be a short period of time and this effect will not be achieved."

"I see……"

Other magics in the same series have great similarities in the construction of magic formulas, so they can be quickly switched.

The opposite is true for different types of magic. There will be a minimum interval of about two seconds when rebuilding the basic magic formula.

The lock cylinder is originally protected by rust, and the temperature caused by basic magic will drop rapidly in these two seconds.

Aika only remembered this kind of theoretical knowledge after being reminded by Liuyin. Looking back now, wasn't Luo Luo, who had achieved this by himself at that time, very powerful?

"Hurry up, it would be nice if you could go back tomorrow morning."

"If they saw us suddenly showing up at home in the morning, they would probably be shocked."

Aika easily kicked off the mechanical lock with her foot, pulled out the latch, and pushed open the old iron door that made a "squeaky" sound.

"Aika, have you never been afraid?"

"Everyone is afraid sometimes."

"Yeah……"

Aika didn't understand why Liuyin suddenly asked this.

"Are you afraid?"

"...There will always be a little bit of fear."

In the darkness, her voice seemed weak.

The first time she performed such a task, she would naturally feel very uneasy.

If it was just about fighting, Liuyin would still be confident, but this situation was completely unsuitable.

She never expressed this feeling, and Aika thought she was used to this kind of situation.

But as long as you think about it briefly, you should doubt that pretended maturity cannot break through psychological immaturity.

"You just need to look in front, and I will guard your back, so there is nothing you can't see, right?"

In the dark space, it was not enough just to be by her side. Only in this way could she get rid of the uneasiness in her heart.

Fear stems from the invisible darkness. In this case, he becomes the eyes behind her.

"I, I'm not afraid of that kind of strange thing, I'm just worried that if the mission fails..."

"Don't say such words before it starts," Aika put her hands on Liuyin's shoulders from behind to help her suppress her trembling. "There are only success and failure in the outcome, so let's make it a 50-50 split."

"Um……"

"This is the result for one person. Now that we have two people, success will be a hundred percent result."

"...This is a fallacy!"

Liuyin finally discovered Aika's twisted theory.

"No, this is the correct theoretical value. We just need to make the theory become a fact."

"...Weird person." For some reason, Liuyin felt that his body no longer trembled, and his voice also contained a smile, "Xiao Xi was deceived by your fallacy, right?"

"cheat……"

"After I go back, I will definitely correct Xiao Xi's misunderstanding of you."

"Please don't say unnecessary words!"

"snort!"

As a spice before the mission begins, this is enough.

…………