"Damn it!" This was Agneda's first reaction upon hearing that some Paladins had gone to "visit" the orphanage. By the time she received the news, it had already been twenty minutes since the Paladins had headed there.
She did not believe it was a coincidence, especially considering the current lockdown of the entire city.
The president of the Aesthetic Society had no choice but to immediately take a carriage from the headquarters to the orphanage.
"Hurry up!" The sound of the carriage's bearings turning went gululu, and Agneda anxiously kept urging the coachman to go faster. However, the orphanage outside of town was some distance from the Temple University District of Marinburg, and with Marinburg's constant hustle and bustle, the roads were congested. Agneda knew she would need to spend more time.
Obviously, if it were anyone else, the guards could stop them with various excuses until she arrived. But the guards and staff of the orphanage had no reason, nor could they stop the Paladins' visit. The Paladins' intentions were impeccable, and they had already obtained permission from the Marinburg Upper House. In this time when the entire city was in lockdown, and everyone was doubting whether others were part of the Chaos Sect, the staff of the orphanage couldn't, and didn't dare, refuse the Paladins' visit. This would undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of the rulers. No matter how much the nobles or merchants in Marinburg disliked the Paladins, they could not deny the necessity of their existence.
So was this an intentional probe, or a strange accident?
Or has the Justice Church already obtained evidence?
Agneda felt as if she were sitting on a burning stove.
Few people knew that Agneda, the president of the Aesthetic Society, was already over a hundred years old.
Agneda used her beautiful appearance to conceal her decadent and depraved interior. She had undergone countless surgeries to change her appearance and figure, ultimately becoming an even more alluring beauty. Over nearly a century, through replacing her organs, skin, and the blessing of dark rituals, countless poor souls allowed her to surpass time and appear stunningly beautiful. Her evil followers kidnapped innocents from the streets for wicked experiments, skinning skin from still-living bodies, removing still-beating organs, and performing even more disgusting perversions.
The orphanage was her largest live organ repository and factory of evil experiments.
She was so eager to continue being beautiful; her beauty was the only thing she cared about. She felt her brain was filled with tension and madness, and she couldn't allow anything to touch her beauty!
The anxiety in her heart had already made her somewhat disoriented. Unable to ascertain what the Paladins had done, she couldn't make a judgment based on the current situation. She could only keep imagining various outcomes and look for ways to respond.
Amidst endless torment and worry, the orphanage arrived.
Agneda rushed out of the carriage, her high heels clicking sharply on the ground. The orphanage's guard saw her arrival and hurriedly opened the gate. Googlᴇ search novęlfire.net
Even before the gate was fully opened, Agneda quickly stepped into the orphanage. She first cautiously asked the guard, "Where are those Paladins?"
"The Paladins have left, President." The guard replied, his eyes blinking and expression filled with confusion.
"Left???" Agneda exclaimed in disbelief. "Did they really leave?"
The president of the Aesthetic Society found this result unbelievable. She thought these foolish guards knew nothing, so she immediately rushed into the interior of the orphanage.
The inside of the orphanage was very clean and even somewhat luxurious. Various sculptures and famous paintings adorned the interior, with exquisite patterned carpets covering the corridors and rooms. This sharply contrasted with the simple clothing and gaunt faces of the orphans.
"Watske? Watske?" Agneda called loudly for the director of the orphanage, her confidant.
"Lady Agneda!" Soon, a man wearing a high top hat and a beautiful tailcoat came out. Seeing Agneda, he quickly took off his hat and greeted her, "Good afternoon, President."
"Good, my ass!" Agneda waved and slapped Watske's face, causing a bruise to swell immediately. "I ask you, where are those Paladins? What did they find out?!"
The top hat fell to the ground.
"They... they didn't find out anything. They just came here, delivered some food, and clothes, and then visited the orphanage. We told them we were busy, and they politely said sorry for the disturbance and then left." Watske's face was bruised, but he didn't dare resist.
Agneda's expression was strange and hideous, the muscles in her face seemed twisted into a knot, warping her beauty into something monstrous. She signaled for Watske to walk to a corner with her for a private conversation, "Did they really do nothing else?"
"Really nothing else. They just visited some of the experiment subjects, delivered food, told a couple of lame jokes, and the Temple Knight even lifted that Anna, a proposed experiment subject, onto his shoulder, asking if she was eating well and how she was living. The subjects' responses revealed no flaws," Watske detailed the visit by the Paladins. "I stayed by their side the whole time; they visited for about twenty minutes. When I thought it was enough, I told them we had things to do, and they perceptively left."