Chapter 812: Chapter 304 Opening (Two-in-One Chapter)
Rein looked out the carriage window, seeing rows of closely packed houses lining the streets.
Most of these houses had various sizes of exquisite reliefs on their external walls, as this area was the administrative district, where most administrative offices were located.
This was also Rein’s second time ascending Levinworth Street.
Last time, Rein had walked up leisurely with Vinica.
Thinking of this, Rein’s mind conjured the image of the twin-tailed girl’s charming figure. He wondered how she was doing on the Fishing Port Town frontline. When could she smoothly return to the branch?
“By the way, Lady Olena, how is the situation over at Fishing Port Town?” Rein asked.
“Not very good. Currently, the branch has arranged numerous assignments and has deployed a considerable number of Sword Holder Teams to Rosby County and Meister’s coastal areas for missions,” Olena said, slightly furrowing her brows.
“Hmm?” Rein raised his eyebrows, quite puzzled.
This situation was indeed outside his expectations.
Initially, he thought that after the ‘Red Queen’ Prince Meinya severely damaged the Magic-tailed Three-headed Sea Dragon last time, the subsequent situation should be one-sided. How come the situation has experienced fluctuations again?
“How could this happen? Isn’t Prince Meinya over there?” Rein couldn’t help but ask.
“Well… Prince Meinya actually left secretly a week ago and returned to the Imperial City.”
“Moreover, the entire South Sea Fleet has now strategically contracted. Lord Reine, this information is still confidential, so please keep it secret,” Olena said, lowering her voice after considering.
After all, such a contraction in defense, involving tens of thousands of navy officers, can’t be truly concealed. It’s merely a matter of controlling the spread speed.
“What? At such a critical time, Prince Meinya returned to the Imperial City? Did something happen over there?” Rein was slightly taken aback by the news.
Such movement or self-return is too unusual, which made the not-so-good premonition in Rein’s heart grow even stronger.
He felt like a storm was brewing, with dark clouds pressing down.
“Well… I’m not too sure,” Olena shook her head slightly and said.
“Since that’s the case, why haven’t I received any assignment?”
“Uh… Admiral Edward’s idea is that since Lord Reine has just completed so many Gold Level tasks, naturally he needs a relatively longer rest period.”
Before Rein could say anything, Olena continued:
“Lord Reine, there’s another piece of news that might interest you.”
“After the oil painting evil spirit incident exploded last time and went silent for a week, it began to erupt again in multiple County Towns within the province a few days ago, with casualties increasing each time.”
“Currently, any form of art exhibitions has been banned within the entire Mingster Province scope, and we’ve dispatched Gold Level Sword Holder Teams and Goddess Church elites to pursue the whereabouts of that oil painting jointly.”
“Has it appeared again? Have any giant evil spirits shown up?” Rein frowned.
“Not yet, the current reports only mention normal-sized little boy evil spirit incidents,” Olena shook her head and said.
He had been the first to face off against that evil spirit’s avatar, so he naturally knew its troublesome nature.
If that little boy evil spirit does not fuse, even he would find it difficult to completely destroy it unless he found the mysterious oil painting in reality.
Moreover, since he learned that the Goddess Church’s Archbishop Gomez was also assassinated almost at the same time that night, linking both events made the underlying intentions quite clear.
Behind the oil painting evil spirit, the Black Flame Church must be scheming.
They used the giant evil spirit to attract part of the Goddess Church’s high-level strength, thus seizing the opportunity to assassinate the Archbishop, catching the Goddess Church completely off guard.
Now they frequently stir up trouble using the oil painting in various counties, seemingly accumulating strength.
“A storm is brewing, the building is shrouded in winds!” Rein mused internally.
At this moment, the carriage had arrived at the temple dedicated to the Seasonal Wind and Ocean Goddess, where Rein had once gazed distantly.
As a grand cathedral at the provincial level, the temple before him surpassed the grandeur of the church in Meist County Town.
The towering and majestic temple tops had multiple pointed dome designs, though the main entrance still had several Ionic columns supporting it, the number was much fewer than the Level 1 temple in the county.
In contrast, it featured a large number of reliefs and statues for decoration, adding to its elegance.
Following the line of sight from the temple’s steps downward, the base of the plaza also housed an elliptical fountain.
At the fountain’s center stood about a five to six-meter high female statue holding a conch, surrounded by statues of knights, clergy, and others, either praising, bowing, or kneeling, in various postures.
The trickling spring water unceasingly flowed from the goddess’s conch, forming a small waterfall cascading down.
The surrounding security was quite severe, with guards stationed every five steps and sentinels every ten, clearly reinforcing protective forces following the Archbishop’s assassination incident.
Upon notification and confirmation, Rein and Olena were soon led by a guardian to the temple’s audience hall.