RNP Chapter 246 Forced to Stay
Chapter 246 Forced to Stay
Chapter 246 Forced to Stay
Anne opened the door, and Seth was there.
She hurriedly asked, "How is it?"
Seth shook his head: "It's still the same. The entire Gregory is under a high-pressure atmosphere, and no one is allowed to leave the city."
"How long will this last?"
"Who knows," Seth said. "If we can find the prisoner, martial law can certainly be lifted in no time."
But if it can't be found.
So—Annie's Eyebrows—its deadline is unpredictable.
"But I have to get back quickly," Anne said anxiously, taking two steps toward Seth. "I've been away from Herald City for months, and the New Year is approaching. I can't afford to waste any time!"
“As an apprentice in heraldry, you must understand better than I do that this is no small matter,” Seth replied. “The Pope will not let the murder of a member of the Papacy go unpunished, especially since it happened during the ordination ceremony of a new cardinal.”
"In the eyes of those white-hatted individuals, this was undoubtedly an insult to the duchy and the Papacy, and even for the sake of their image, they would certainly investigate to the end."
"But so much time has passed, and they've made almost no progress," Anne said. "It's a complete waste of time!"
“People often act recklessly when they’re enraged,” Seth shrugged. “But they are indeed investigating, and even suspecting us.”
Anne knew about this.
The Unswearing Knights are a powerful organization, and every member of it is an elite.
This means that each of them is capable of carrying out an assassination, and if they work as a team, it will undoubtedly be much easier.
Two days ago, a group of paladins came to their residence and took everyone except Seth away for investigation.
After all, Seth was sitting in prayer at the time of the incident and did not have the opportunity to commit the crime.
Seth said that if the paladins had taken him away that day, a conflict would have been inevitable.
Their mission was to protect Anne's safety.
We swear an oath to the Knights, and we will not return until our mission is accomplished.
Therefore, they would never allow Anne to be without guards.
Fortunately, the paladins did not do that.
The interrogation lasted only one day, and yesterday, all members of the Unsworn Knights returned.
Anne asked, "Do you think they can find the culprit?"
?
“I can’t tell,” Seth shrugged. “I don’t know how many clues they have.”
"What if we don't have any clues at all?"
"That would be very difficult," Seth said. "The Unsworn Knights often deal with tricky cases, so we have quite a bit of experience in solving them."
"If we can't get valuable clues, no matter how much time we spend, we won't be able to find out the truth through normal means."
"You mean there are other unconventional methods?"
"For example, psychic abilities and divination—this world is full of fascinating powers," Seth said with a smile. "Miss Anne, if you ever have the chance to experience some of these, I think you'll understand what I mean."
Anne had been exposed to all sorts of strange and unusual forces since she was a child, after all, Aaron's library was full of such books.
However, there's no need to ask Seth, who's right in front of him, "What if they did that?"
"Then at least we've found some useful clues, but catching the culprit will be no easy task," Seth said. "Miss Anne, do you remember what happened that day?"
Anne nodded; of course she couldn't forget.
As the ordination ceremony reached its crucial moment, a patriarch descended from the sky, his body splattering with blood and flesh at the feet of the statue of God, watched by guests from all over the world.
Seth said, "The time when the patriarch fell from above was less than fifteen minutes after he last appeared on the stage."
"However, it is already incredible that the murderer was able to move the patriarch to the top of the church in just fifteen minutes without anyone noticing."
"I remained vigilant throughout the entire church, yet I failed to detect any clues beforehand, which is enough to show that the other party is not simple, and I have two guesses."
"What guess?"
"Either the killer is exceptionally skilled, or he is an internal staff member of the Vatican who has a thorough understanding of the building's structure."
Or perhaps both, Anne thought to herself, and the possibility was quite high.
Seth continued, "However, the marks the criminals left on the statue of God did remind me of something."
Hearing Junzi mention this matter, Anne couldn't help but feel nervous.
The patriarch fell from the top of the church, but marks were carved on the head of the statue of God.
As one of the most devout nations in the world, this was undoubtedly an insult to their faith in the eyes of the Papacy and the parishioners of the principality.
But in Anne's eyes, it was by no means an insult.
Because Anne recognized the Chinese character "仁" (ren).
This is the language Aaron taught Anne; in this world, only the two of them can understand its meaning.
It's clear that the assassin couldn't have been Aaron, and Anne had once written "Ren" along with a few other words to Lola.
So that Laura could deal with the copycat killers.
Afterwards, Anne suggested to Lola that they lead these people to Aaron and let Aaron clean up the mess for them.
Therefore, Anne suspects that the murderer in this case is one of Lola's copycats!
Leaving large words at the crime scene was Lola's idea!
It was precisely because this matter might involve Lola that Anne inevitably became nervous.
Anne increasingly felt that her previous actions were too immature, and that she had not considered the possible negative consequences.
Unexpectedly, she herself has now been affected by this incident and forced to remain in the Holy City.
Anne asked, "What did you think of?"
"Leaving special symbols at murder scenes is not the first time I've heard of this," Seth said. "Our deputy commander has been directly involved in such cases before, so I'm wondering if there's a connection between them."
Anne became wary and tentatively asked:
What do you think?
"I think it's very likely not a coincidence."
Seth Road,
"According to my deputy commander's description, it was a serial murder case involving copycats, and similar incidents quickly spread throughout the western part of the kingdom."
"Before I received the letter of commission from my mentor Joseph and prepared to go to the Heraldry Academy, I had already heard that..."
It appears that an assassin organization has been established in that area.
"If that's true, and someone hired this organization to assassinate the patriarch, then the coincidence makes perfect sense."
An assassin organization?!
Anne was startled upon hearing this.
Lola hadn't told her about this, but you can't blame Lola, after all, she had lost half a year at the time, and perhaps she herself didn't even know that the assassin organization existed.
But the question is, is this assassin organization related to Aaron?
If so, did Aaron know about this assassination attempt?
Anne realized that things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
Now, she's more worried about something else than returning to the Herald Academy.
Assuming this assassination attempt was orchestrated by Aaron, Anne absolutely must avoid interfering with Aaron's plans!
Therefore, she had to avoid letting the Vatican learn of the existence of that assassin organization because of her.
Anne asked Seth, "Did you share this information with the Vatican?"
Seth spread his hands:
"Of course not. My mission is not to help the Vatican solve the case, but to send you back to the Herald Academy unharmed. Once I provide clues, our connection to the case will become deeper, which is not in my best interest."
"Yes, and also remind your men not to talk nonsense."
“The Unswearing Knights are all big mouths,” Seth shook his head self-deprecatingly, “but everyone knows what they can and cannot say, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Anne nodded, her tense nerves relaxing slightly.
In Anne's view, while career is important, family is the most important thing.
She has only two family members, Aaron and Laura.
Anne always puts the two of them first.
Since she couldn't leave for the time being, Annie didn't want to waste her time.
She plans to use this time to start writing her research paper and also to pick out gifts for Lola and Aaron.
Anne had already imagined Lola's gift: a pair of beautiful shoes with thick soles.
As for Aaron, what should we send him?
Anne asked Seth beside her, "What's a good gift to give a middle-aged man?"
Hearing this, Seth smiled, his eyes narrowing:
"Miss Anne, I will gladly accept anything from you."
Annie rolled her eyes at him: "You're quite confident—"
"I see," Seth sighed and shook his head. "Then I'm really going to be jealous. After all, he's a man."
Could I be lucky enough to receive your gift?
"Be serious, gentleman," Anne said with a serious expression.
"Then, please tell me first, what kind of person is the other party?"
What kind of person is he?
Anne paused for a moment: "A very classy and reliable person, but usually quite relaxed, even a bit silly—."
"I feel like you're talking about me," Seth said with a laugh. "After all, you know my nickname is 'The Gentleman'."
“He never called himself a ‘gentleman,’” Anne said, “and he had an unfathomable calmness and composure about him.”
Seth smiled. "If such a person really existed, I'd like to get to know him. Is he that important to you?"
"Yes," Annie nodded.
"In that case, you can send him anything you like," Seth said. "He'll definitely understand what you're trying to say."
Annie was a little annoyed: "In the end, you still didn't say anything!"
Seth curled his lip: "Then why don't you find some specialties that only exist in this duchy? They can't easily get them."
The gift then seems all the more precious.
Anne thought that made sense: "What are the specialties of the duchy?"
"There are so many! Different regions have different specialties, such as statues of the Lord, magic scrolls,..."
A sacred artifact—? And this holy city is the only place where black and white parrots can be artificially bred.
A black and white parrot?!
Annie's heart skipped a beat when she heard the word.
She certainly knew what a black and white parrot was; the Herald Academy had many of them.
Anne also used a black and white parrot to send messages outwards for Joseph.
If she could own a black and white parrot, wouldn't that mean she would have a personal mail carrier to exchange letters with Aaron?
Thinking of this, Anne said happily:
"A black and white parrot!"
Seth was taken aback: "Misunderstanding? I was just saying—"
Anne didn't explain; there was no need to tell outsiders her reasons.
That same day, Annie went to the parrot farm and bought a black and white parrot.
Back in her room, Annie stared at the little parrot in its cage, feeling quite pleased.
She had already begun to fantasize about hearing what Aaron wanted to say to her.
Hmm. — Anne couldn't help but feel regretful. — If only this strange bird could imitate Aaron's voice.
Two more days passed, and Annie had already prepared the outline of her thesis.
Anne also discovered that there were far too many guesses in the paper.
The reasons given for retaining the lord system in Blazing City, in particular, are a bit too far-fetched and audacious.
Although Anne found the logic reasonable, the lack of concrete evidence made this part of the content seem...
It is extremely unreliable.
This also greatly reduces the seriousness of the entire paper.
This is precisely the starting point of Anne's research, so this part cannot be ignored.
Therefore, Anne had to find arguments.
Anne realized that since Sun City had survived to this day, it meant that successive popes had recognized its existence.
But this whole thing seems very suspicious.
The history of the principality is not lacking in radical individuals.
For example, the Iron-Blooded Bishop Armand Saint Bismarck.
This was a staunch practitioner of the doctrine, a man who could not tolerate any wrongdoing. It's hard to imagine that after becoming Pope, he would remain indifferent to the affairs of Lieyang City.
Therefore, Anne believes that there may be some important clues circulating within the Vatican regarding this matter.
In order to investigate this matter, Anne decided to visit the Pope.
Nicholas X received Anne and apologized to her:
"I'm so sorry, Miss Anne, for giving you such a bad experience. I never imagined that such a filthy, ugly, and blasphemous incident would happen in the most sacred place in the world. That criminal deserves to go to hell!"
"I understand, Your Majesty, that you wish to find the murderer as soon as possible and bring justice to the unjustly killed Patriarch."
"Well, of course, but until then, please understand that the Vatican must keep all guests in Gregory," Nicholas said. "So, Miss Anne, what is the purpose of your visit?"
Anne cut to the chase: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask about the City of Blazing Sun."
Upon hearing this, Nikolai narrowed his eyes:
"What do you want to ask?"
"Why was Lieyang City able to maintain its feudal system for a thousand years in a theocracy?"
Nicholas was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked Anne:
"Miss Anne, I heard that you suddenly left the Holy City and went to Sunfire City?"
Hearing this, Annie's heart skipped a beat.
It turns out that the Pope was aware of her every move.
She nodded: "Yes."
"So, that's why you went there?"
Anne nodded again.
"What did you find out?"
Upon hearing this, Annie immediately deduced that there was definitely a secret involved.
But her instincts told her that she was approaching danger.
Anne immediately analyzed the current situation and replied:
"Nothing was gained—."