Chapter 332: A Dilemma
"The shop only contains holy artifacts meant for sale, so there's no need to worry about anything being discovered here..." William thought to himself.
The last time he went to the Land of the Holy War, he had brought along all the items obviously associated with evil, such as the Smiling Face Mask and the Mountain Man's Heart.
This was precisely to prevent the current situation from happening.
And when selling holy artifacts usually, William also consciously controlled the number of high-tier artifacts on display.
Therefore, simply from the perspective of a shop, the inventory on display was within normal parameters, just that compared to other nearby shops, the goods at the House of Rest were a bit more "premium."
But looking at the methods of these Church people right now, they would probably manufacture problems even if there weren't any.
Seeing Lorraine and her daughter being bullied, William didn't show himself immediately; otherwise, it would "confirm" their relationship with him.
During the time he was pondering, a new development occurred in front of the shop.
"Seal these pieces of evidence and bring them back to the Vatican. Leaving them at Dei Seminary wouldn't be very safe," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member said pointedly.
As soon as he spoke, someone immediately stepped forward to apply the seals.
The crowd of Dei Seminary students watching had terrible expressions.
They looked at Archbishop Matthew, but the latter just lowered his head and remained silent.
On the other side, the white-robed Holy Clergy Member waved his hand, and a subordinate quickly ran over.
"Follow that mother and daughter."
"Yes."
Only then did the white-robed Holy Clergy Member smile and walk towards Matthew: "Respected Archbishop, shall we change locations? There are still some matters I need to consult you about."
Dei Seminary, Archbishop's Office.
"Impossible! I will absolutely not sign this! You are fabricating evidence!"
Matthew's chest heaved violently as he slammed a document onto the desk.
The moment they walked through the door, this Vatican envoy had taken this thing out.
The contents were related to William—
During his tenure at Dei Seminary, this guest professor used his position to repeatedly impart evil ideologies to the academy's students and attempted to guide them into changing their views on evil spirits.
These were, of course, complete nonsense!
Matthew never expected the Vatican would actually dare to go this far. Was there no one in charge up there?!
"I will personally report this matter to the Curia!" He stared at the other party.
"Hehe... That is, of course, your freedom," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member smiled slightly.
"But can you really be sure there are no issues here? After all, in the Land of the Holy War, this guest professor did indeed cooperate with a demon. And during the time it takes you to report, the Church's orders remain in effect. At the same time, that person has yet to show himself, so any suspicions must be thoroughly investigated. This being the case, I will have to take those students to the Holy See for interrogation to ensure there is no evil mixed among them."
Hearing this, Matthew narrowed his eyes tightly.
After the Land of the Holy War incident ended, he had sought out Jolan to understand the situation back then, and he also knew that William had not truly colluded with evil.
But given the shameless behavior of these guys, if they really took the students away, who knows what would happen.
They might even use the same method to purge some so-called enemies.
Therefore, he absolutely could not let this happen.
But to ask him to sign such a piece of evidence...
"Archbishop Matthew, there is one more thing I must remind you of," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member said calmly.
"Do you really think I could take away students from a parish-level seminary all by myself? You are not young anymore, and you still have to manage St. Peter's Cathedral next door. It's not easy for you to sit in this position. If you were gone, then the people below would truly be left without anyone to look after them."
Matthew clenched his fists, even trembling slightly.
"Can you guarantee... that after I sign this document, you will immediately withdraw from Dei Seminary and no longer harass the students here!" He looked up.
"Of course."
Matthew closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and picked up the pen on the desk.
Thud.
After stamping the document with his Archbishop's seal, Matthew seemed to age ten years.
He slumped in his chair, the light completely fading from his eyes.
"Thank you for your cooperation," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member smiled, stood up, and picked up the document.
"Since the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I will take my leave."
When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around.
"By the way, Sister Flora from your academy's commission room must come with me."
Hearing this, Matthew immediately sat up: "Didn't you promise..."
"I wasn't asking for your opinion," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member said, clapping his hands.
Subsequently, the office door was opened from the outside, and a Holy Clergy Member escorted Flora inside.
The latter's hands and feet were shackled with iron chains, her eyes full of anxiety.
"This is not what you promised just now!" Matthew stared dead at the other party.
"Oh? Among the conditions I mentioned earlier, when did I include the seminary teachers?" the white-robed Holy Clergy Member retorted.
"You!" Matthew trembled all over. Recalling just now, the other party indeed seemed to have never mentioned it.
The white-robed Holy Clergy Member smiled slightly: "But out of respect for you, I haven't disturbed the other teachers. However, this Sister Flora is different."
He turned his head to stare at the nun as he spoke.
"Dei Seminary records show that during that priest's tenure as a guest professor, he accepted quite a few high-risk rated commissions. And according to the follow-up reports of the commission locations, most of those places had remnants of high-tier evil power. Therefore, we have reason to suspect that this Sister Flora used her position to proactively provide that person with opportunities to cooperate with evil."
As soon as he finished speaking, Flora looked incredibly disbelieving.
"You're lying! It was clearly the Church that pulled a lot of manpower away, causing a massive backlog of commissions! If Father William hadn't proactively accepted them, the people at those incident locations would have long since..."
Slap!
A crisp sound echoed in the room.
Flora's head turned to the side, her face feeling scalding hot as a handprint quickly appeared on it.
"Guilty!" the white-robed Holy Clergy Member shouted coldly. "What is your status? How dare you question the Church's arrangements!"
"Gag her mouth, so she doesn't spout any more disrespectful words and make us a laughingstock."
The Holy Clergy Member escorting Flora immediately complied.
"Mmph!!"
The nun shook her head desperately, looking at Matthew with pleading eyes.
"You... doing this, aren't you afraid the Lord will send down punishment!" Matthew practically squeezed these words through his teeth.
"You're asking the wrong person," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member looked amused.
"Cooperating with evil to murder Church companions, such wicked deeds are what should be punished."
"Alright, the business is done. I won't disturb you any longer."
He turned around and walked out of the office, and Flora was dragged out as well.
The white-robed Holy Clergy Member also closed the door behind him.
And before the door closed completely, through the crack, one could see Matthew limply collapse back into his chair.
In the corridor.
The white-robed Holy Clergy Member didn't leave directly but took Flora to another room in the seminary.
"Your Excellency, they have been brought," a subordinate proactively opened the door.
The former nodded, then entered.
Inside the room, seeing someone enter, Lorraine hurriedly pulled Judy into her arms.
The latter stared dead at the white-robed Holy Clergy Member, traces of blood still beneath her nose.
"Lorraine Warren, a former proxy exorcist, currently conducting supernatural safety propaganda at various high schools," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member stated, staring at the two.
During the time he had returned from Dei Commercial Street, he had already figured out their identities.
"Your Excellency... we haven't committed any crimes, you cannot forcefully bring us here," Lorraine frowned and said.
"Hehe... that's right. Apprehending criminals is the responsibility of the police, the Church naturally cannot do that," the white-robed Holy Clergy Member smiled.
"But you watched over the shop for that traitor. This involves the Church."
"This accusation is completely baseless," unexpectedly, Lorraine retorted immediately.
"I frequently take on family commissions, so I often have Judy help me purchase exorcism supplies at Dei Commercial Street."
"Moreover, that wasn't the only shop we visited. These are all just normal business transactions."
She then added: "I am also not a member of the Church, therefore I am protected by North American law."
"Before coming here, I already mentioned this matter to my husband Ed. If Your Excellency forcibly detains me, he will publicly raise a dispute with the relevant agencies."
Hearing this, the white-robed Holy Clergy Member narrowed his eyes slightly.
Lorraine was unafraid, meeting his gaze openly.
Everything she said was the truth.
When she arranged for Judy to follow William back then, she did indeed want to sign a contract with the latter akin to "volunteering as an apprentice."
But that Mr. Priest refused on the grounds that "it's unnecessary for acquaintances" and "suspicions of employing child labor."
Therefore, even if these people in front of her wanted to find evidence, they would only return empty-handed.
If the other party wanted to frame them, they would have to weigh the impact this matter would have on the Church's reputation.
Sure enough, the white-robed Holy Clergy Member thought for a moment and revealed a smile.
"You are absolutely right. I apologize for the rudeness of my subordinates earlier," he bowed slightly.
Then his topic suddenly shifted.
"But Mrs. Lorraine propagating evil defense knowledge in high schools... this must be true, right? And I heard you even use past Church commissions as case studies."
"If those students and parents knew that you repeatedly interacted with a Church sinner, entirely failing to realize he was connected to evil, and even let your own daughter befriend him..."
The white-robed Holy Clergy Member looked the mother and daughter up and down.
"An expert of this caliber... I'm afraid it would be very difficult for people to trust you anymore, right?"
"I imagine you two would not only have to replan your career paths but also face massive compensation claims."
"Of course, to avoid any accidents, the Church would also have to recommend... that your daughter undergo relevant psychiatric evaluations. Even facing the police, this proposal is completely reasonable."
Lorraine bit her lip: "You people are truly shameless."
The white-robed Holy Clergy Member smiled: "Therefore, I actually have another suggestion."
"As long as you can provide intelligence related to that sinner, you can obtain material authorization from the Vatican."
"Not only will you have more authentic Church cases, but we are also willing to provide you with business outside of North America, and your daughter will not appear on the investigation list this time."
"Otherwise..." his tone turned cold.
"If you remain as obstinately foolish as this nun, that wouldn't be good."
"Mmph!!"
Flora shook her head desperately, signaling Lorraine with her eyes.
"You'd better consider carefully, otherwise, even if you walk out of this room, the Church has plenty of ways to make you agree."
The room instantly fell silent.
Lorraine's face turned incredibly pale.
"I am rather curious, what methods do you plan to use?"
At this time, another voice suddenly echoed in the room.
"Who? How dare you sneak into the seminary!" The white-robed Holy Clergy Member looked alert, scanning his surroundings.
But apart from him, the eyes of the three women lit up.
"Sneak in?" William sneered.
"I walked in openly and honorably. It's just that your eyes, and those of your subordinates, aren't very good."
As soon as he spoke, the white-robed Holy Clergy Member instantly realized a young man had appeared in front of him.
"You are..." he narrowed his eyes tightly.
William raised an eyebrow: "Haven't you been looking for me all along? How come you don't even know what I look like?"
"William..." The white-robed Holy Clergy Member, Frey, changed the subject, "You actually dared to show up personally."
He immediately looked toward the door.
"If you're wondering why there's no movement from the people outside." William said, snapping his fingers.
The next moment.
Bang!
The room's door was suddenly smashed open, and two Holy Clergy Members tumbled onto the floor.
Their faces were flushed red, their limbs tightly bound by a chain, making them completely immobile.
"This is... an Emotion Chain!"
Shock flashed through Frey's eyes, and his gaze towards William turned perplexed.
"You've actually mastered even this kind of Holy Art."
William rubbed his chin: "Looking at your reaction, it seems you never considered that I would appear here."
"Does this mean... the manpower you brought is limited."
"Even so," Frey snorted coldly. "This is a parish seminary. Once you make a move, you won't be able to leave yourself."
"Is that so?" William's eyes were cold.
The next second, the former noticed his body's movements becoming sluggish, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.
Thud!
Frey was instantly sent flying, crashing against the wall.
When he got back up, he felt a heaviness in his nose.
He reached up to wipe it, finding a large patch of bright red staining his robes, with liquid continuously dripping onto the floor.
"You actually dared to lay a hand on me!" He looked up in disbelief.
William's tone was weird: "You're not my son, do I need a special reason to beat you up?"
"You!!"
Judy beside them couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Someone! Help! Come quickly!"
Frey shouted, covering his nose.
Lorraine and Flora were momentarily flustered.
But William remained calm, letting the other party yell.
A full minute passed, and the corridor remained perfectly quiet.
Only then did William speak: "You could scream yourself hoarse, and no one would come to save you."
Frey turned his head, his face looking terrible: "What did you do."
"Just some necessary precautions before taking action," William said. "Right now, nothing happening in this room will be heard by anyone."
At the same time, in a certain room down the corridor.
Over a dozen white-robed Holy Clergy Members lay on the floor, their eyes tightly closed, seemingly unconscious.
And a figure was standing at the doorway.
At this time, footsteps came from the other end of the corridor, and a squad of white-robed Holy Clergy Members walked over.
"Archbishop, do you know where Lord Frey went?" one of them asked, looking at the person at the door.
"I know." Matthew turned around. "He told me he needed to interrogate a prisoner, and that you shouldn't disturb him."
"I see. Thank you for clarifying." That squad quickly left.
Only after the other party walked far away did Matthew lower his head, tightly crumpling the slip of paper in his hand.
Inside the room.
"What do you want to do? Are you going to kill me?" Frey frowned tightly.
"Kill you? That would be letting you off too easy." William said as he crouched down.
"There are many things to do. How about... we start with you apologizing to these ladies."
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