"The True Creator?"
Xialuote repeated the name in puzzlement. In Weiyefu's mysticism booklet, she had seen dangerous faiths such as the "Primordial Demoness" and the "Hidden Sage," as well as ancient organizations that still existed today, like the "Secret Order" and "Element Dawn." Yet there had not been a single mention of the "True Creator."
However, on her journey to Telier, she truly had visited a church consecrated to the "Creator" in that small town called Beimang. Though the blond-haired, golden-bearded priest had seemed thoroughly reasonable and hardly like someone who would incite believers to stage an attack, he had also mentioned that a faction of extremist Creator worshipers viewed the Seven Deities as false gods who had stolen divine authority.
Could Duonowan be referring to these very people?
Pondering this, Xialuote did not reveal her own experience. Instead, she asked measuredly, "When did this cult emerge? Why wasn't it recorded in the records in Suxite?"
With blond hair and golden eyes, the stern Feilikesi Duonowan seemed concerned about revealing too much information that an unofficial member shouldn't know. He answered slowly, "The name 'True Creator' appeared at least as early as the start of the Fifth Epoch, but those who worship Him do not belong to a single, unified organization. In different eras and regions, secret cults have used similar titles to refer to the entity they revere. Some depict Him as an eye behind a veil of shadows, while others believe He is an inverted, blood-stained giant. Most of these cults remained at the level of rudimentary belief, however, which is why the materials distributed to the local regions contain no detailed records."
No wonder there was no dedicated entry in the booklet for peripheral members. Perhaps only Beyonders at the level of Suxite's bishop or a Purifier captain knew the details... Rather than being the name of a specific cult, it was more like a banner shared by many evil cults, just like how on Earth there were people everywhere claiming to have grasped the ultimate truth of the universe... Xialuote nodded thoughtfully and asked again, "Then what is so special about the ones who have recently appeared in Telier?"
Duonowan let out a scornful scoff, then said, "They resemble those cults that emerged and died out in the past: all of them believe the ancient Creator did not perish, but merely dispersed His spirituality into all living beings, and that the remaining core is the 'True Creator.' But what makes them more radical is that they believe Beyonders with powerful spirituality are closer to that Creator, and therefore rightfully ought to be the rulers.
"In their eyes, wealth, bloodline, and existing laws are entirely meaningless; what truly determines status is the power one possesses."
Isn't that just Social Darwinism? But if they follow that logic, the believers of the True Creator should be all the more willing to acknowledge the authority of the churches, which possess powerful Beyonders. Why would they carry out terrorist attacks? Could it be because they feel the churches do not acknowledge the status of wild Beyonders? Xialuote pondered before immediately realizing that there probably was no Darwin in this world.
Yet she had to admit that such rhetoric truly held no small appeal for certain Beyonders. They were clearly capable of overpowering guards with ease and infiltrating places ordinary people could never enter, yet they were still expected to submit to nobles and officials who possessed no Beyonder power. Over time, it was all too easy for thoughts of "by what right?" to take root.
If someone guided them, such discontent would swiftly turn into open hostility.
With this in mind, Xialuote looked at Duonowan and asked, "What do you need me to do? Roam the streets every day looking for these cultists?"
"Not for now," Duonowan shook his head. "Currently, the attacks are concentrated primarily in areas overseen by the Craftsman Church. The Purifiers are still focusing mainly on defense and assistance.
"Originally, we wouldn't have even needed to worry about such matters. But over recent decades, the Craftsman Church has been actively expanding into the Luen Kingdom to spread their faith. They encourage men and women alike to study crafts and technology and engage in labor and invention, aligning relatively closely with the doctrines of the Church of the Evernight Goddess, which earned them a certain degree of support from them. Although the Storm Church was deeply displeased, they could not prevent the Craftsman Church from establishing churches in cities with large populations of workers and scholars."
Xialuote immediately grasped the problem.
Establishing churches and expanding the faith in Luen meant the Craftsman Church inevitably had to reassign a portion of their clergy and official Beyonders from Yindisi. The number of "Machinery Heart" members was limited to begin with; with their personnel thinned, the squads remaining in Telier naturally found it difficult to handle all Beyonder incidents in a timely manner.
Could this be considered having their home base backdoored halfway through an expansion? Isn't the timing a bit too coincidental...? Xialuote thought to herself as she listened to Duonowan continue:
"Of course, we won't let cultists act unchecked simply because of competition between the churches. What you need to do is keep an eye on noble circles to see if anyone has begun admiring and spreading such ideas.
"Even without involving Beyonders, the notion that power stands above law and tradition, and that ordinary mortals rightfully ought to be ruled by the strong, is equally alluring to some young nobles—especially those who have secretly dabbled in the world of mysticism and fancy themselves more special than everyone else."
Why does it feel like he's describing me...? Recalling that she had almost felt a pull toward the cult's rhetoric just moments ago, Xialuote shifted her gaze with a guilty conscience, pretending to be deep in thought.
"If you discover anyone promoting such ideas, note their appearance, the location, and whom they associate with, but do not recklessly tail them—especially not into private residences or underground areas.
"Afterward, report the situation to us. We will contact the local police and have them conduct preliminary investigations on an ordinary level."
"Understood."
Xialuote nodded in agreement.
Neither matter sounded like a genuine mission; rather, it was more like using her noble status to keep an eye out for abnormalities during her daily routines. It wasn't much different from her role as a peripheral member in Suxite, reporting regularly to the church.
Of course, Saint Weiyefu Church was the most important church of the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun in Telier, second only to Sacred Heart Cathedral in the suburbs. Responsible for handling Beyonder incidents in the heart of the city, the Inquisition situated directly beneath it was surely far grander in scale than that of Saint Luoke Cathedral. It might well house several Purifier squads, and its Hall of Holy Radiance would contain higher-grade Sealed Artifacts. It was a pity Xialuote had no opportunity to go down and look around.
Carrying that regret, she returned up the stairs to the main nave just as the church bell tower began tolling slow, resonant chimes.
It was already nine in the evening... Glancing at the dwindling congregation, she quickened her pace and exited the church, intending to hurry back to the residence before her father noticed she had slipped out of her room.
The night wind blew in from the Sailunzuo River. The citizens who lingered in the plaza before the church and the foraging pigeons had both vanished without a trace. As Xialuote crossed the square, she suddenly felt the back of her neck prickle; a gaze seemed to be fixed upon her.
She did not look back, continuing forward at her original pace. After crossing the ancient stone bridge flanked with houses on both sides, instead of taking King's Avenue back to the northern residence, she made a natural turn to the right. She moved along the north bank of the Sailunzuo River and stepped into a pitch-black alley, her footsteps fading into silence.
A moment later, a young man wearing a gray coat and linen trousers appeared at the entrance of the alley. Peering inside, he grew visibly anxious upon realizing he had lost his quarry, and swiftly hastened his steps into the alleyway.
Yet the moment he passed the empty wooden crates stacked against the wall, a hand reached out from behind him, gripping his shoulder and yanking him violently inward. Before the man could react, he lost his balance; his shoulder slammed hard against the wall, and a leg hooked before his feet tripped him up, sending him tumbling headlong into the shadows.
Before he could scramble up from the filthy ground, a slender hand pinned the nape of his neck, a firm knee pressed against his back, and a sheathed dagger was held across his throat.
"Why are you following me?"
Xialuote demanded in a low, pressing voice. By the moonlight and the dim yellow light filtering from an upstairs window, she could see that the person pinned beneath her was a dark-haired young man of around twenty. The profile of his face pressed against the ground was unremarkable, bearing only sheer panic.
"I... I didn't..."
Seeing him still stubbornly denying it, Xialuote pressed down slightly harder with the scabbard, releasing the Majesty that belonged to an Arbiter:
"Answer honestly!"
The young man shivered and immediately changed his tune: "I—I just saw you going in and out of the church alone, and you didn't dress like an ordinary person. I figured you might be a young lady who snuck out of some household, and wanted... wanted to get some quick cash."
So it was just a mugging? Or perhaps a kidnapping... Xialuote scrutinized him. His clothes were worn, with visible mending on the cuffs; his appearance indeed matched that of a young street criminal scouting for a target.
Is public security in Telier this bad? Suxite only has patrol squads and night watchmen, yet hardly anyone gets targeted for robbery right after stepping out, whereas more than half of the kingdom's formal police force is supposedly concentrated in this city—yet here I am, shadowed on my very first day...
The young man waited tremblingly for her verdict, not daring to struggle or flee with a dagger pressed to his neck. After a stretch of silence, the sheathed dagger was finally pulled away from his throat.
"Scram."
The short command from the woman behind him sounded like an order impossible to disobey, prompting the man to scramble out of the alley on hands and knees and sprint eastward along the riverbank.
Only after running across two streets in one breath and ducking into another narrow alley did the dark-haired man slow his pace, the panic on his face gradually fading. Catching his breath, he looked back to make sure she wasn't pursuing him. Then, hunching his shoulders, he deftly wove through the alleys between blocks of houses, continuing toward the eastern part of the city.
Near the edge of a small square close to Saint Ma'er Prison, the man stopped once more, glancing left and right and scratching his head, seemingly looking for someone he was supposed to meet.
Not far behind him, Xialuote concealed herself within the shadows, closely observing his movements.
It seems to have been an impromptu decision, not a royal secret agent tailing me from home, but more like a peripheral member of some organization looking for a contact... Analyzing the situation in her mind, her gaze followed the man's line of sight, searching alongside him for that handler.
Right then, Xialuote's spirituality flared with a sudden warning, and a faint rush of wind stirred behind her.
Without turning to verify, she instantly bent her knees and lunged forward, planting both hands on the ground and rolling half a turn across the flagstones on her momentum, glancing back as she did.
A hand reached out from the shadows, a reverse-gripped dagger slashing through the exact spot where she had been standing an instant before.
Only then did a figure, almost completely hidden in the darkness, slowly materialize.
Chapter 56