“Get out here right now!”
Loren stomped hard on his own shadow several times, and soon Reflection Naclis poked her head out:
“What’s the matter, my most beloved person?”
“Did you leave this mark?”
“What mark?”
Reflection Naclis tilted her head, putting on an innocent and naive expression.
“You...”
This was something Reflection Naclis would dare to do, but Loren couldn’t even bring himself to say it out loud. He could only try to reach out and grab her.
But the moment Loren got close, Reflection Naclis immediately shrank back. Her guilty demeanor proved beyond doubt that she was the culprit.
Loren shot her a fierce glare. Now that Reflection Naclis was right beside him, he couldn’t even conveniently clean it up.
“What exactly happened?”
At this point, Reflection Naclis was actually pushing her luck. A smile lingered on her lips that she couldn’t wipe away, clearly enjoying teasing Loren right now.
In the end, Loren ignored her and walked straight out the door.
Before retreating back into the shadow, Reflection Naclis revealed a meaningful smile.
Right now, she was pretending to hide from Loren out of fear of getting beaten up. Next time Loren caught her, he would only hit her harder, and she could solidify her persona as someone afraid of being hit.
Hehe, the plan was a success.
...
“Master Mentor...”
The Bishop’s heart sank when he saw Loren’s grim expression.
“Let’s start with the Chailros Family.”
Ignoring the group of Scarecrows behind the Bishop, Loren yawned and headed toward the Chailros family’s territory.
“Yes!”
Hearing that they would settle accounts with his own family first, William felt a surge of excitement. Loren was going to back him up.
But Loren seemed to be in a bad mood right now, so William didn’t let his excitement show.
“Master Mentor... there are no Chailros family members on the list. Thanks to William’s efforts, the Chailros family has always stood by your side. Even after you left, they kept trying to find you...”
Faced with the Bishop’s doubt, Loren shoved the list Horn had written into his hands:
“This is another list I obtained. Everyone on it has participated in a certain gathering held in the God of Freedom’s territory. That gathering involved nobles from various countries.
“There, they operate without any legal restraints, committing all kinds of heinous acts that Heaven abhors and men resent. They even use children as ingredients...”
Hearing this, neither William nor the Bishop was surprised. William might not have known about the gathering, but he had long been aware of the perverse behavior of those High-Ranking Members.
“That’s not the most important part. For profit, they formed a small clique, betraying the gods they each believed in.
“I don’t care about other churches, but the Bountiful Church cannot have such rotten elements within it.”
Loren spoke with righteous indignation, and the Bishop realized the gravity of the situation.
He was already one of the highest-ranking people in this country; there was no way he didn’t know about the gathering. But he had always turned a blind eye to it.
Now that Loren was putting this matter on the scales, he had no choice but to handle it by the book. At the same time, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that, given his position, he only needed to accept a few benefits and didn’t have to go to the island as a token of allegiance.
Otherwise, Loren would have dealt with him based on this list.
There were plenty of people coveting his position. If Loren so much as said a word, those people would pounce and tear him apart.
One by one, the shocking names on the list flashed before the Bishop’s eyes. By the time he finished reading, he realized he was drenched in cold sweat.
The Bishop silently returned the list to Loren, struggling to calm himself down. He barely managed to control his hands, keeping them from trembling.
He had just been appointed Headmaster of the Bountiful Magic Academy on Loren’s recommendation. His good days had only just begun; he couldn’t die so suddenly.
“Master Mentor, some people ran away when they found out you were back.”
William explained the situation within the family to Loren. These people knew that once Loren returned, he would definitely back William up, and they wouldn’t come out of it well, so they had fled in advance.
“Then issue a wanted list and bring them back.”
Loren said it casually. In truth, wanted lists were mostly useless. Many nobles wanted by the Bountiful Church hadn’t even left the Church’s territory; they had just moved to another country to continue enjoying themselves.
But that was only if they weren’t being hunted by Loren.
“Alright...”
Now William had no more worries. His strength wasn’t great, and if some truly powerful person came to assassinate him, he might not survive.
But as long as he killed off everyone who wanted him dead ahead of time, there would be no more trouble.
...
Soon, Loren and the others arrived at the Chailros family’s territory. Although many members were scattered around the world, the vast majority of the High-Ranking Members were gathered here.
The Scarecrows blocked off all possible exits, and only then did Loren enter with William and the Bishop.
As soon as he stepped inside, Loren received the most grandiose welcome. Without wasting any words on these people, he pulled out the list and began calling out names.
In no time, these big shots were lined up before Loren like schoolchildren who had made a mistake.
They didn’t speak, because the old man who had tried to explain himself earlier had already had his teeth knocked out by Loren. He was still lying on the ground, twitching.
“Is everyone here?”
“Two are missing. They escaped.”
William knew two were missing without even looking at the list, because those two were the ones he had added himself.
The youngest among these people was at least in their forties, all seasoned veterans.
Most of them were utterly bewildered. They didn’t know about the list and simply assumed Loren had come to back William up.
So many of them had no idea why they were here; they had never targeted William before.
“Alright, put those two on the wanted list. We’ll deal with the rest first.
“You lot, do you know what you’ve done?”
Loren’s questioning only confused them further. Some knew perfectly well that they were here because they had offended William, but they couldn’t say that directly. They had to fabricate a more righteous reason for Loren.
Being falsely accused and then having to invent their own plausible crimes made them feel a deep sense of humiliation.
“Because we resold essential goods at high prices, harming people’s livelihoods...”
An old man quickly concocted a reason. Seeing this, Loren nodded:
“Not a bad excuse. That charge is now added to your name.”
“?”
Just as the old man was left dumbfounded, Loren clapped his hands and got down to business:
“All of you have been to the God of Freedom’s territory and participated in a special gathering, where you betrayed the God of Bountiful Harvest.”
As soon as Loren finished speaking, one of them hastily raised his hand. He knew what Loren was talking about and was certain he had never attended such a gathering. He was well aware that William had framed him:
“Master Mentor, I...”
But the moment he opened his mouth, William, disregarding all dignity, punched him square in the mouth, forcing him to swallow the rest of his words along with his teeth.
Loren nodded. Hit them in the mouth first—William had grasped the essence.