Declaration of War!

In the morning, Karen pressed a hot towel against his face. After a long while, he pulled it away and looked in the mirror at the bloodshot veins in his eyes, brought on by a lack of sleep. This place truly was a prison; the longer one stayed, the more haggard one became. Fanny and Peige were dressed in yesterday's attire; today, their figures remained remarkably voluptuous. So, even though they occasionally subjected him to workplace sexual harassment, Karen found it hard to feel any aversion toward them. After all, stuffing a massive amount of food under one's clothes was definitely not comfortable, yet they took the initiative to pack plenty for themselves so Karen didn't have to stuff food into his own clothes. Straightening his clothes, Karen opened the door and found Derius standing in the corridor. Usually, Karen would knock on his door and wait for him to come out. Derius was the one truly serving prison time, because without Karen and the others accompanying him, he couldn't even enter the elevator, making it impossible to leave this floor. "My Lord, are you ready?" Karen asked. Derius nodded. Karen led the way, and they entered the elevator. This morning, Richard wore a silver mask over his face. Though his expression couldn't be seen, the tension in his muscles made it clear that the mask had him feeling even more excited and pumped up. Reaching the conference floor, they entered the meeting hall. The time was seven-thirty. Derius walked straight toward the negotiation table, while Karen sat down in his usual spot with Fanny and Peige. Personnel from both sides trickled in. Karen noticed that many people's clerical robes were bulging, and for quite a few, the bulge was around the belly—making it look as though the conference had caused several attendees to get pregnant, regardless of gender. Clearly, two straight days of harsh lessons had taught everyone to adapt. There were many ways to meet God, but starving to death was undoubtedly far too uncouth. Leon and Lore entered carrying document boxes, which definitely held far more than just paperwork. After taking their seats, both pointedly looked over at Karen with knowing smiles. In short, the finer details of the whole hall felt rather comical: up on the stage, the negotiators for both sides had to fight tooth and nail over the life and death of the Church of Pamires, while down below, everyone had to scramble for their own survival. The root cause of this phenomenon lay in the unbalanced situation created by the simultaneous enforcement of various regulations, such as security protocols and conference rules. Adequate food couldn't be delivered to this floor, yet no one on either side—save for the archivists—was allowed to bring in cases or backpacks. In the end, sneaking in a bite to eat felt like thievery, saddling everyone with a heavy mental burden and ruined appearances. Had the big shots at the negotiation table up there truly not noticed the problem at all? They surely had, but they had catering provided for them. Since it didn't affect them, they couldn't be bothered to adjust or amend the regulations mid-conference; after all, they might not be the ones attending the next negotiation anyway. Karen even suspected that sitting up there and watching their hungry entourages with stomachs stuck to their spines might give them a petty sense of satisfaction. Approaching eight o'clock, personnel from both sides were all present, and the meeting was about to begin. Right then, however, Derius rose from the negotiation table and walked toward the entrance of the conference hall. Karen and the two women immediately got up and followed him out. The protected target enjoyed the right to be undisturbed only in his own room. Once he left it, the close-protection personnel had to follow; they could not let him out of their sight. Many inside the hall looked bewildered by the sight. Leon said to Lore beside him, "Where's he going?" Lore said, "Right before the meeting, he realized he forgot to use the bathroom?" ... The direction Derius headed wasn't the restrooms, but the opposite way. Here lay two smaller auxiliary conference rooms, which were not meant for meetings, but housed communication arrays. Both doors were shut tight, but Derius walked straight up to the one on the left. After his form warped slightly, he sank right through the door. Karen, Peige, and Fanny followed inside. Upon entering, Karen saw an array inscribed on the floor, with over a dozen blue gems floating above it. Several Church of Pamires personnel were organizing documents at a table beside the array. Seeing Derius enter, they immediately bowed to him, and their leader stepped forward: "Lord Holy Child, we have just activated the array and were preparing to receive feedback on the preliminary draft submitted last night. The array over at the council should be fully running by now as well." "Send a request to the Lord Hierophant. I request a meeting with him." "Yes, Lord Holy Child." The Pamires priests began adjusting the communication array. "Lord Holy Child, the request has been sent." A moment later: "Lord Holy Child, the Chief Executive has approved your request." "Very well. You may leave." "Yes." "Understood." The Pamires believers withdrew from the room. Karen and his two companions remained where they were. Most of the time, such an awkward situation wouldn't arise, as the protected target could have subordinates handle communications. But this time, Derius wished to confer in person. He could dismiss his own subordinates, but he had no way of dismissing Karen's trio—no matter how inconvenient and unreasonable it was, bordering on stripping one's pants just to fart... Yet just like the people starving in the hall for two straight days, when security protocols and conference rules collided, such bizarre scenarios were bound to happen. At the center of the array, the gems radiated blue light, coalescing into the figure of a woman. Her projection was somewhat blurred, revealing only her general physique and clothing. Long hair, a long dress, tall stature, a slender waist, and an absurdly large chest. Looking closely, Karen realized that a blue gem was likely floating before her as well, positioned right against her chest, and its projection effect had layered over her silhouette. "Holy Child." "Lord Chief Executive, please wake the Hierophant. I need a private audience with him." "The Hierophant has only just gone to sleep. Is it urgent?" "Yes, extremely urgent." "Very well, one moment." The woman in the array stepped away. After roughly five minutes, an elderly man's figure appeared in the array. Oddly enough, his projection was incomparably sharp, as if he had descended in the flesh. Startled, Karen instinctively clenched his fists. Peige and Fanny did the same. "Holy Child, I have reviewed the preliminary draft. You have done very well. Pay no mind to the opinions of others; simply remain true to your heart and do what you believe is right." "Hierophant, I must report to you: someone is attempting to destroy the cage space. I believe there is a spy from the Church of Order among the team maintaining the cage space's array." "Is the source reliable?" "Completely reliable. They plan to destroy the cage space." "Their purpose?" "I do not know." "Understood. I will have the Chief Executive replace the maintenance team immediately." "Hierophant, it is also possible that the spy is within the replacement team." "Is that so..." "Because it is very likely that my reporting this matter to you was also factored into the other party's calculations." "What do you suggest?" "Withdraw the maintenance team entirely." "Then we will lose control over the cage space. Without our shroud, the Church of Order's Seventh Knights trapped inside will be able to contact their people. When that happens, they can easily construct an array and teleport out of the cage space. Our bargaining chip... will be gone." "Hierophant, our Church of Pamires never truly held any bargaining chips to begin with. Now that the preliminary draft is complete, it is time to let the Seventh Knights go." "But if it is only a preliminary draft, won't the Church of Order refuse to honor it and demand a fresh round of revisions?" "Even if a treaty were finalized, repudiating it would be trivial for the Church of Order. For we have always been at an absolute disadvantage." "Mm, you speak truly. I will order the maintenance team to withdraw at once. As for the negotiations, I can only trouble you to continue your hard work." "I will. For Pamires!" Derius dropped to one knee. "I am deeply gratified. Your piety shall be woven into a letter, ultimately coming to rest before great Pamires." The communication ended, and the old man's figure vanished. Derius stood, walked toward the door, and Karen's trio followed close behind. The group returned to the conference hall. Derius went up to the dais, while Karen and the others resumed their seats. At the negotiation table, Wolflen held a document, presumably feedback from Order's upper echelons regarding the preliminary draft. However, because Derius had occupied the communication array earlier, nearly ten minutes passed after his return before the Pamires priest seen in the communication room delivered the feedback document to Derius. Derius began reviewing the feedback. Once finished, he handed it to the other delegates on his side. When the review and note-taking were complete, Derius looked at Chief Bishop Wolflen of the York City Region and said, "We may begin." Wolflen cleared his throat, raised the document, and said, "Then shall we go through it clause by clause once more to see where our feedback drafts align and differ?" Derius's gaze swept over the delegates seated across the table, lingering slightly longer on Bishop Bern, before he replied, "Very well." Next came the clause-by-clause review. After listening for roughly an hour or so, Karen saw Leon and Lore stand up and head out toward the restrooms, both casting a glance Karen's way. Hungry this early? Karen figured they must have skipped breakfast. Though Karen had no burning urge to fawn over these two young masters and clearly understood the disparity between them made genuine friendship unlikely, for the sake of the future, deepening their camaraderie as "cellmates" couldn't hurt. Perhaps it would prove useful once they were "released." So Karen stood and walked out of the hall. No one was near the restrooms. Karen walked over to the storage room and pushed open the door. The two were sitting inside, several packages of fragrant food laid out on the table before them. These were all high-end foods purchasable only with point coupons, dishes Karen had only tasted when crashing two banquets. They definitely weren't part of Ankara Hotel's standard reimbursable provisions; the pair had without doubt ordered them out-of-pocket using point coupons. Thus, though Karen had already eaten breakfast and wasn't hungry, out of respect for the food, he sat down and dug in alongside them. Once this mission concluded, he would have to spend some point coupons on high-end ingredients like these to cook for Richard. After all, Richard was his little cousin, and as the older brother, he naturally had to look out for him. Once he spoiled the boy's palate, he'd get Richard to buy the ingredients himself and beg Karen to cook. Karen recalled that during his last visit to Richard's home, Richard had gone out late at night to buy fried chicken and chicken wraps for a midnight snack... That was far too rustic, hardly befitting his noble status as a young master of the Guman family. "What did the Holy Child go to the communication room for?" Lore asked in a seemingly casual tone. Karen noticed Leon slow his chewing, fingers brushing against a napkin prepared at his side, as though ready to jump in and smooth over the awkwardness once Karen hesitated or looked troubled for too long. "He conferred with their Hierophant to report that there is a spy in the team maintaining the cage space trapping Elder Sidi and the Seventh Knights. The spy is planning to sabotage the maintenance array and trigger the collapse of the cage space. He advised the Hierophant to recall that team without dispatching a replacement, lifting the shroud so that Elder Sidi and the Seventh Knights can contact our church and return via teleportation array." "..." Leon. "..." Lore. The two scions silently stopped eating, staring at Karen, who continued savoring the delicacies after casually dropping that bombshell. Leon chuckled. "You're a real stand-up guy." Lore nodded as well. "Yeah. A true friend." Clearly, Karen's forthright honesty had caught the two aspiring interrogators completely off guard. Lore looked at Leon. "Should you go tell your grandfather?" Leon shook his head. "No need. The negotiations won't change just because Elder Sidi and the Seventh Knights regain their freedom. At this stage, it counts as a goodwill gesture on their part. To overturn yesterday's treaty now would be even more improper." "True enough. Once Elder Sidi and the Seventh Knights are out, this side will be notified immediately. I noticed earlier that your grandfather has been deliberately stalling the pace of the meeting." Leon glanced at Lore. "Isn't the other side doing the same? The real question now is: which faction does the spy belong to?" Karen looked at Leon and gave a subtle shake of his head. He didn't mention that the "spy" was currently in the conference hall, sitting right beside Leon's grandfather. Soon, the three finished eating. Since Karen wasn't hungry, he merely tasted a bit of everything, while Leon and Lore ate plenty. "How should I describe today's atmosphere? Sitting down there, I almost burst out laughing," Lore said. Karen offered, "On the first day, they were newlyweds, eager to tussle and tangle all night long. On the second day, they were five years into marriage—squabbling, sure, but weighing the pros and cons, knowing neither could leave the other because neither could find a better match." Leon chimed in, "So today, they're preparing for divorce and dividing up the assets?" "Hahaha!" Lore laughed. "Ouch, if your grandfather knew you were making fun of him like that, watch your backside." Leon stretched lazily. "Alright, let's head back and see how far the divorce settlement has gotten." The three stepped out of the storage room together. Just as they neared the entrance of the conference hall, they saw two priests clad in Order robes sprinting toward them, letters clutched in their hands and fury written across their faces. Behind them, two Church of Pamires priests in blue robes were also running with letters in hand, their expressions laden with terror. The three exchanged glances, reading the same thought in one another's eyes: Something has gone wrong! Returning to the conference hall, they took their respective seats. Inside, the atmosphere had turned grave due to the undignified entrance of the messenger priests from both communication rooms. The negotiation had been abruptly halted. Both Wolflen and Derius were examining the letters delivered by their respective communication priests. Once finished, the letters were passed along to the other delegates beside them. Next, those seated below witnessed two starkly contrasting emotions, corresponding precisely to the expressions of the two groups of messenger priests who had rushed in earlier. Several negotiators on the Church of Order's side clenched their fists, their faces dark with wrath. On the Church of Pamires's side, every face was pale with shock, and a few even shed tears. How desperate must they be to weep like that? Karen noticed that Derius seemed dazed, yet the corner of his eye was fixed in one direction: his father, sitting right across from him. A second and third batch of letters were brought in. The crowd below could only whisper amongst themselves, having no idea what had actually transpired. "What's going on?" Peige asked in a low whisper. Karen murmured, "It's likely... something happened to the Seventh Knights." "Huh? Ah!" Peige's eyes widened. At that moment, the communication priests from both sides delivered yet another letter, handing them to Wolflen and Derius respectively. Having read his letter, Derius stood up and said, "I require an opportunity to explain and elaborate." Wolflen raised a hand. "No need." With that, Wolflen stood as well. His gaze was majestic, his expression stern, as he spoke: "The Church of Pamires has breached the good faith of these negotiations by deploying their spatial divine artifact—Silence—to trigger the collapse of the space housing our Seventh Order Knights." Once those words were spoken, the expressions of the priests on both sides underwent a dramatic shift. Nearly all the priests on the Church of Order's side rose to their feet in fury, glaring dagger-sharp looks at the Pamires delegation seated across the aisle. Had the bishops on the dais not been present, the Order priests below might have already drawn blood. Meanwhile, the priests of the Church of Pamires fell into total shock and despair. Quite a few slid straight from their chairs onto the floor, ashen-faced and utterly despondent. Everyone present knew full well what consequences this incident would bring. Once Order was truly roused to wrath, the Church of Pamires had zero chance of resistance. Derius spoke once more: "Regarding this matter, I need to elaborate and explain." "The status of the divine artifact Silence within the Church of Pamires... Holy Child, do I need to explain it to you?" Just then, yet another Order communication priest came sprinting in clutching a letter, which he handed over to Wolflen. Wolflen unfolded the letter and spoke: "A divine decree from the Order Senate!" Every Order delegate at the negotiation table and all the Order priests seated below rose, standing ramrod straight with both hands clasped over their chests. In unison, they cried: "We heed the divine decree!" Wolflen cast a look at Derius across the table and intoned in an overwhelmingly commanding voice: "In the name of Order: Effective immediately, the god Pamires is declared an evil god, and all worship is forbidden; Effective immediately, the Church of Pamires is declared an evil cult, and all preaching is forbidden; Effective immediately, Order declares war on Pamires!"