The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)-Chapter 671: But what if the fish want to fish you to?

"Damn...he really is predictable," I scratched my neck after listening to the report coming in the middle of the night.

How do I say this? I got second-hand embarrassment from the way he acted like a typical young master villain. I was glad that he did everything as we envisioned, but I got the same feeling I did when tricking Jade--I giggled for a bit, and then felt pathetic and childish for feeling glad about taking candy from a child.

I mean...he didn’t even bother to scrutinize the spear or study the ’relic’ more before stuffing them in his own pocket. Didn’t he know that if he tried to take full credit for them, he would also have to take full accountability if there was something wrong with those items?

But then again, what did he know about accountability? He did not receive any blame for the explosion that killed his own soldiers or crippled Valmeier. Anything bad happened during the missions and the war always got twisted as the demon’s doing, including the time they accidentally poisoned the lake that became the source of water for the whole region, causing the place to be unfit for habitation.

That poisonous lake was still unpurified until now, by the way.

"It’s not our fault that he’s stupid," Natha scoffed. "If it wasn’t for your ability, the war would have ended in a flash."

"...sorry?"

Natha smiled teasingly and kissed me. "It’s not your fault; it’s the king’s," he shrugged.

Anyway, from how impatience he looked, they probably would move Qu’en in the morning. "How long it takes to reach the Holy Empire?"

"There’s no portal in Sareah, so they would have to go to the nearest magic tower," Natha stroked his chin. "It would take two days of continuous riding, but if it’s that prick..."

"He’ll refuse to sleep outside, so they’ll have to make several stops," I chimed in.

"So it’ll be three to four days at the fastest to reach the magic tower," Natha continued the calculation. "Magic tower only connects with another magic tower, and there’s none in the Holy Empire. The closest one is in one of the three kingdoms bordering it, so it might need five days in total to reach the Holy Empire."

"Is there no portal in the Holy Empire? I mean...can’t they use a portal that isn’t owned by a magic tower?" I asked curiously.

Considering magicians’ not-so-good relationship with the church, I felt like the church would have another way to go around without employing magicians’ devices.

"They could try to borrow the portal at the palace, but the process itself could take days," Natha explained. "Unless they are a part of the High Order, they won’t be given any special treatment."

Apparently, the relationship between the palace and the church was also not as buddy-buddy as it seemed. Unless the royal family was exceptionally devoted, no figure of authority wanted to be seen as lower than another structure of power. At most, the palace treated the church as a business partner. Naturally, they didn’t want to bow themselves to a mere business partner.

It would be different in the past, when the church was still a proxy between the humans and the Goddess. But after banishing their own Goddess? The palaces that were involved knew that the Holy Empire was just another state with the churches as their embassy.

Kind of ironic, wasn’t it? The church might be able to spread its hate propaganda and practice sins as much as they wanted, but at the same time, its legitimacy within ruling powers was depleting.

The only thing keeping them afloat was the devotee, which was probably why wars against other realms had been happening. It was all to rally the church’s power in the end, by strengthening their cause.

I wondered why they wanted the relic. If they didn’t want the Hero to find the Goddess, they should just try to destroy it, or hide the relic in the Holy Empire’s basement or something. Why bother looking for it? As long as they had one or two, the set would never be complete.

Oh, well. We could think about that later. freёweɓnovel.com

"Is there a portal in the Holy Palace? Uhh...what was it called?"

"Holy Light Church--such a corny name," Natha rolled his eyes, definitely filled with bias. It wasn’t like your castle had any name other than Castle of Greed, my Lord. "But I don’t know about that," Natha shook his head. "It’s too dangerous for us to sneak anyone to the Holy Empire. The border wall itself is already mounted with an anti-human detection spell."

Eww. "Oh, but then, how do we...?"

[We had established communication with both the Templar and the Golden Link belonged to Midas] Heraz said. [Instead, we will be stationing our agents in the three kingdoms bordering the Holy Empire]

Oh, so it was those people’s turn this time. Well, well--it was time the Templars showed their usefulness. So far, we have received nothing from them.

Gotta make sure my investment was worthwhile, you know?

But still...I was curious about the portal situations in the Holy Empire, so I asked someone who might know about it.

[Of course, there’s a portal] Zarfa scoffed. [But it does not connect to any portal that others use, so you don’t have to worry about that bastard using it]

"Why have a portal that is not connected anywhere?" I tilted my head in confusion.

"Because of security, sweetheart," Natha chimed in. "They are a bunch of paranoid people who think the kingdoms might stab them in the back someday--a normal occurrence, since they loved stabbing people in the back."

Oh, so...they didn’t want others to hijack the portal and sneak into their sanctuary? Got it.

[In the first place, the portal in the Holy Empire wasn’t meant as a transportation method] Zarfa said.

"Then?"

[An emergency exit] Zarfa whispered, as if we were discussing conspiracy theory. [The portal is heading to their safe house. Only the church’s high order has access to the portal--you know them, so full of elitism]

Aha! But...wait!

"But that means they could escape with the relic if we attack the Holy Empire!" I gasped.

But Zarfa replied nonchalantly. [Then...we just have to welcome them in the safe house, right?]

"...you know where?!"

[Nope]

"What the hell?!"

Zarfla laughed as I grumbled at the communication orb. [As long as we know there’s one, can’t we investigate it from now on?]

Huff--so, in the end, it was a chasing game again.

[Also--as a precaution, when we did attack, we should secure the portal location in the Holy Light Church first] she continued. [That, I know where]

I stuck out my tongue, even though she couldn’t see it. "At least you know."

[Hey, it’s not like I have the say in what part I could see from the Goddess!] she protested.

"Yes, yes," I rolled my eyes and waved my hand. Again, even though she couldn’t see me. "So--you said you have an update on your own?"

[Yep] Zarfa made a knocking sound on the communication orb. [Some kind of invitation]

My brow arched as I glanced at Natha. "Invitation?"

[A Grand Auction is to be held in the Holy Empire

For a relic]

I paused for a few seconds. "What the hell?!"

"They are trying to bait you, huh?" Natha tapped on his armrest.

[Right? The information came out just an hour ago] Zarfa snickered. [That’s basically an invitation, right?]

"Isn’t that...rather crude?" I crossed my arms and tilted my head. The timing was so precise that it couldn’t be seen as a coincidence. "Do they think you’ll just eat the bait?"

[I think...they might be in a hurry because of your--I mean the Valmeier’s--appearance] Zarfa mused. [Just like how we want them to gather in one place, so did they]

"And it’s a good excuse to gather their allies from other kingdoms, as representatives for the auction," Natha added.

"Ah-ha!"

[Wow...it sounds like a final showdown or something] Zarfa laughed and clapped, and I had no idea whether it was due to excitement or nervousness.

Perhaps both.

"We can make it so," Natha said in a low tone. "We can turn it into a real final showdown."

Whoa, whoa, whoa...I knew it would happen eventually, but...whoa...

"When will this auction happen?" Natha asked further.

[In nine days] Zarfa chuckled. It would take them eight days of normal travel from where they were currently. [I guess they calculate the time we’ll have to take to reach the Holy Empire]

"I see..." Natha nodded and, for a while, stared at the empty air before turning toward another communication orb. "Heraz, find a way to delay the replicas’ arrival as much as possible," he ordered. "It would be perfect for them to arrive right during the auction."

"Oh--because Qu’en might have to disappear?" I asked.

"Yes," Natha clicked his tongue. "We don’t want them to realize something and cancel the auction."

[Yeah. It would also be bad if they realized the items were fake] Zarga agreed.

[I will try my best] Heraz replied from the other orb, before it dimmed and shut down.

[Well, we’re going to move tomorrow too, so...good luck to us all!]

"Be careful," I told her before the orb died down.

After the call, I leaned my head back and exhaled slowly. We still didn’t know if the church really had the relic, but...there was no need to recalculate at this point. Even if they didn’t have it, as Zarfa said, it seemed like a showdown was inevitable between the church and the Hero.

In that case...we were just a fisherman passing by a bunch of clashing fish. Ready with a net.