Chapter 185: So Secretive!

While Albert and I just listening, I remembered something else.

"Hey. Have you found an inn?" I asked Veronica where she will stay.

"Not yet."

"Then you should go and quickly find one. You can't use the governor's palace again, you know? It's being taken over by the king and the princess."

Then Victoria suggested an idea.

"How about staying in our hotel?" Victoria asked.

"That's a bad idea. There are some other cult members who will arrive, and possibly, they wanted to pick the same inn as Veronica. And Veronica's place might be used for their meeting place. Once you're done here, you should quickly go find an inn. But before that, we need to finish our discussion first." I said.

After saying that, everyone returned to their own position from before and listened closely to our discussion.

"Alright then. what is the cult planning to do now that the stampede is over? Are they planning to have another big event?" Albert asked.

The big event he mentioned is something like the stampede, or something else that might cause trouble for the kingdom.

"Not within the next few years. The lord said that after the stampede, we will focus mainly on improving our strength, research, and getting more people to join." Veronica answered.

"But that's before we realized their existence, right? Now that we will spread their existence to everyone in this kingdom, do you think your lord will make a change in plan?" Albert asked.

"Hmm… I don't know, but I don't think he will care about it. But that's a different story with the Archbishop. He is devoted to the lord. So, when things go wrong like this, he might send some people to take care of anyone who is possibly be a danger to the cult. Which is why he's sending me here."

"Then let's say that most of the monsters are defeated by Shirley's bodyguard. That way, they will start concentrating on the royalty instead of the people. And since we know their goal, we are also better prepared."

So, Albert choose to let himself be the bait. Looking at how confident he is, he must have prepared this in advance. Probably ever since I told him about the cult. And that's the reason he's sending his own daughter and sister to me. To make sure they are safe.

"Then, when the people from the cult arrive, they should be looking for you, right?" Albert asked Veronica.

"Yes. We're planning to meet in three days whether everyone arrives or not." Veronica replied.

"Then…"

Albert looked at me. Then everyone followed suit.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me it's another job? Then I won't do it!" I said.

"Don't worry. Your job is just to kill some people. You and Victoria will kill those cult members travelling here. It's a good chance for you to improve your summoning level as well, right? If you're using Victoria as weapon, it will be faster to improve. Who knows if you can breakthrough before going home?"

"…"

I blanked for a few seconds there. Raising summoning element? Killing mages works as well? What the hell!

Did I just killed the expert level mage, Luiz, without using Victoria!? Did I just let that stalker kill himself instead of stabbing him with Victoria as a sword? Did I just let those people die without getting any benefits!? How could I be so stupid!?

After finishing the Giant Salamander, I know that my summoning element started to increase. After that, I thought that since the monsters nearby are gone, Victoria and I can't go out to hunt monsters. That's why I never get my summoning level improved after the stampede.

And I just let Luiz die without trying it!? He's such a diamond! An expert level mage! Even more, in two elements! I should be able to improve my summoning element by a significant amount! It should be no surprise if I actually have broken through intermediate level!

"…Roy? What the hell is wrong with you?" Candy is worried about my state.

"Ah! He must be shocked! He has a chance to kill an expert level mage to improve his summoning level, but he didn't do it. I mean his decision was correct at the time, but he didn't consider about improving his summoning element one bit. And there were even eight mages chasing after us and he just let two of them kill themselves. While the others, he didn't have me kill them. Now he remembered all of that, he went into shock." Victoria explained.

"…he's stupid, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is."

"There's no doubt about that."

Shirley, Sonia, and Victoria agreed to the same thing. Even Candy and Albert nodded as well.

"Forget it. I'm not the kind of man who clings into the past." I said.

"That's the problem! You have to cling to the past instead of forgetting it! We have so many difficulties just because you don't remember much about your past! Anyone can say that but you!" Albert shouted in anger.

Everyone who knows about me coming from the future looked at me in disdain. As for Veronica, she doesn't know it yet so she is curious about what happened.

"You don't need to know yet. I'll tell you once you leave the cult. Now that we have planned a story about how the stampede is over, let's talk about her leaving the cult. Any ideas? If not, then Albert and I will make up some stories about it and it will take a lot of time once we start our discussion." I quickly change the subject. But still, it's good that I remember a few things rather than not remembering at all, right?

"Just have her die. We can fake her death and when the other cult members arrive, we can let them return to their headquarter to report to their boss." Albert said.

This time, it seems like we're not playing around and he just quickly make a sound suggestion.

I'm confused. Does he want me to kill those cult members before they arrive, or does he want to let them come?

"Anyway, I don't think I can leave so soon. They will be suspicious if I didn't return. I think it will be best if I have a safe place to go to once I faked my death. Maybe after the clan was built? Then I would need a disguise so no one from the cult will recognize me." Veronica said.

She can't leave the cult at the moment so she suggested to leave once the clan is established.

As for her disguise, she can dye her hair later. Maybe put on some fake scars on her face if she doesn't mind it. The problem is her hip. That area is something that we find it hard to be disguised.

"We'll think about that later. For now, about their headquarter. Where is it located?" Albert asked.

"We don't have any real location for it. Every once in a while, the lord suddenly disappears from his chamber with a letter left hanging on his door saying where the next headquarter will be. The lord himself has never shown his face to anyone. Probably even the Archbishop himself never seen him even though he's the only one allowed to enter his chamber. As for us, we only ever heard of his voice coming from the door of his chamber." Veronica answered.

What the hell!? So secretive!

"I see. Then how did he build the cult? It has been there for a long time, right?" I asked.

"All of the members of the higher ups select their successor once they choose to retire. As for the Archbishop himself, he said that he was appointed by the lord just before the previous Archbishop died. But no one knows if that has ever happened or not, so there's a chance that the current Archbishop is different from the Archbishop I first met." Veronica answered.

"Then shall we charge into their current headquarter and destroy them right away? It's faster that way, right?" I suggested.

"The Archbishop is a master level mage in at least one element. If you think he can be killed, then please kill him right away." Veronica said with a serious expression.

"Master level!"

Everyone is shocked hearing that someone has actually reached a master level. Just Luiz alone, an expert level mage in two elements prove to be difficult to handle. What about a master level mage?

"Let's scratch that idea. We'll do what we can for now. Roy, you will be our strongest card for the war against the cult. That's why we need you to get stronger. Two years. After our works in Melk is over, I'll give you those two years you always wanted so much to grow stronger, without giving you any job. I can delegate Miguel, or maybe Hill, Oleg, or Kron to do those jobs. They already agreed to help us to the best of their abilities. For now, you will be patrolling outside the city and find the cult members who are coming here. Then once Veronica's mission is over and she will return, confront her with Victoria and fight. We need evidence to prove that Veronica is fighting against someone who killed the rest of the cultists." Albert told everyone his ideas. I think that is a good idea.

"Then I should pretend I'm losing and retreat, right? And Veronica will report everything that happened truthfully." I said.

"Right. Among everyone here, you are probably the only one who can endure her expert level wind magic. We need it to be a real fight between a tamer who tamed a Living Armor, and Veronica, the expert level wind mage."

"Make me a tamer and also a wind element mage. That way, they won't be suspicious why I can escape from you." I said to Veronica.

Then after our discussion is over, I return to the hotel so I can get a good sleep since I probably won't have enough sleep for the next few days.

Although I wanted to improve my summoning level quickly, I hope the cult members who are coming here are not expert level mages.