Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

In a specially prepared spare room, Ron once again saw the Priest, who had yet to fully recover from the cold and hunger.

”I must protest the way you do things,” Shadow Spirit Yelena grumbled listlessly from the edge of the bed when she saw Ron arrive. She set the empty porridge bowl and spoon aside, making room for him and the others. ”Forcing her to live in my home is bad enough, but why do I have to take care of her? I’m a Warrior, you know!”

”Whose fault is it that you skip work all the time? Ivendel told me that in a whole week, you spend two hours in the office at most!”

”That’s because I have another employer! It’s not like you don’t know. I can’t refuse her missions.”

”Miss Yelena, didn’t you just say you had left the Shadowfall Netherworld?” Having received treatment and eaten a bowl of oatmeal, Pergrande had clearly regained some of her energy. For a Shadow Spirit, their innate master was, of course, the Crow Queen. But if Pergrande hadn’t been hearing things just now, she was sure Yelena had said she’d already left that place.

”Which Deity do you worship?”

”If I must say, I’m a member of the Order Camp, more or less,” Yelena answered vaguely. Facing an unfamiliar True God Priest, she certainly couldn’t just come out and say she had a contract with Gracia. ”Lord Ron, you can go about your business now.”

Pergrande turned to Ron, her heart involuntarily starting to race. ”Lord Ron, what about O-Old Lei and the others?”

”Are you planning to give me...” The Priest made a gesture as if presenting a gift.

”Sorry,” Ron said with a shrug. ”Even if I wanted to hand you over now, it’d be difficult. They’ve already left. You should be safe, at least until your Archbishop arrives.”

”Really?!” Pergrande was so overwhelmed by the sudden happiness she felt faint. ”Oh, my God... Thank you! I—”

”You should be thanking me, not your God, Lady Pergrande. Your Deity doesn’t seem to have voiced any opinion on the matter. As for me,” Ron looked into her eyes, ”I don’t mind taking you in, but on one condition: you have to tell me the truth.”

”Raymond Aron mentioned that you stole classified intelligence from your Religious Order. What was it, exactly? You can refuse to answer, but if you do—”

”No! Lord Ron, I will tell you everything I heard, down to the last detail! In fact, that’s the very reason I came here!” Pergrande quickly cut Ron off, pouring out everything she knew in a single breath.

”Lord Ron! I never imagined the Religious Order would one day be corrupted by devils! Their obsession with fighting the Abyss has twisted the faith of the Archbishop and the others. It’s led them to use the rules to act unscrupulously, to do whatever it takes. And you are the target of their next plan!”

”I couldn’t accept such actions. I had to escape and expose them!”

Ron and the others exchanged glances, and everyone could see the shock in each other’s eyes.

On one hand, they were astonished that Hell’s corruption had penetrated so deeply into the Molten Iron Barrier Religious Order. On the other, they were amazed by Pergrande’s faith and righteousness. She had taken such a great risk to bring them this warning, exposing the evil deeds of her own colleagues and superiors.

Of course, this was perhaps the difference between Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral. The latter only cared for maintaining the rules, whereas to the former, demons and devils were equally evil. The only mercy a Priest of Tyr would offer them was the choice of how to die—and sometimes, not even that level of ”humanity” was granted.

’But, Bishop Pergrande, how can you be so sure that we here in Delusional Land don’t have our own dealings with devils?’

Yelena turned her head away, all but plugging her ears to pretend she hadn’t heard Pergrande’s declaration.

”Do you know specifically which of the Nine Hells Monarchs they’re cooperating with?” Ron asked, a little nervously. He prayed it wasn’t either of the two worst possible options.

’If they’re working with Gracia, it could mean the Desire Demon Queen is trying to replace her point person, and we’d face an unprecedented challenge. But if the Molten Iron Barrier is working with Asmodis... getting dragged into that father-daughter conflict? That would be even worse than the first possibility!’

”I didn’t dare listen any further,” Pergrande said, shaking her head with a bitter smile. ”But if I had to guess, it’s either Zarell or Dispart.”

”Zarell was once an Angel, but her nature and her love of war led to her fall. After throwing herself into the Blood War and dying in battle, Asmodis resurrected her to fight the Abyss. She would surely be very keen on the Religious Order’s cause.”

”She’s powerful, but she’s not skilled at political maneuvering. Because of that, many in the Nine Prisons oppose her and covet her position,” Yelena said, turning her head back to interject. ”Besides, she’s on the front lines. How could she have the excess Energy to focus on matters over here?”

”You’re very familiar with the Hells, Miss Yelena?”

”There are Soul Merchants among the Shadow Spirits who specialize in trading souls with the Hells and the Abyss,” Yelena nodded slightly. ”I’ve heard a few things here and there.”

”So in my judgment, it’s more likely that Dispart is involved. The ruler of the second floor is a manipulator and conspirator who is used to hiding behind the scenes,” Yelena explained, directing her words mainly at Ron. ”Most importantly, he’s the chief arms dealer of the Nine Floors of Hell, and perhaps the biggest weapons supplier in all the planes. And as for us here...”

’That Abyssal Silver ended up in Gracia’s hands. To a Duke who’s been suffering from severe paranoia ever since Zarell came to power, that would seem like a prelude to his own overthrow. He’s definitely one of the most likely candidates to stir up trouble.’

”Of course, we can’t rule out other possibilities,” Yelena added. ”In fact, if we’re talking purely about motive, almost every Duke has one. Zarell craves war, Dispart fears conspiracy, Mammon haggles over every last coin, Philena and Belial are lost in their infighting, Levistus schemes to escape his prison, Balzeb excels at deception... Corrupting a mortal Religious Order would be nothing to any of them.”

”In fact, I’m a little worried about that Archbishop of yours, Miss Pergrande,” the Shadow Spirit said, raising a hand to stop the Priest, who looked like she was about to ask why Yelena hadn’t mentioned Gracia. ”Is it possible your Archbishop, who’s in his seventies, has grown senile? So much so that he’s been deceived by a high-ranking devil, rather than actually serving a Duke of Hell?”

”That...” Pergrande was left reeling by Yelena’s words. After a long moment, she finally managed to choke out, ”That... shouldn’t be possible...”

She wanted to explain the faith of a Priest to them, to make them understand that it was incredibly difficult for someone of the Archbishop’s standing to be swayed by simple trickery and temptation, for the grace of a Deity protected them at all times.

But as she thought about it more carefully, the hairs on the back of Pergrande’s neck stood on end. ’The Archbishop... has it been many years since he last cast Divine Magic?’

’If he’d actually lost his Deity’s favor long ago, then where did the ”Oracle” concerning Delusional Land a few months ago come from?!’