Chapter 188 - A Certain High Priests Two Sides (Side: Nelgliffe)
While Abel’s group was traveling to the mountains along the border to capture Live Fogg, the High Priest of Levi Church, Nelgliffe, and his assistant, a young girl named Chloe, were talking in a room in the churchyard.
This room had wards built into it, which had the effect of preventing sound and vision from being picked up by magic from the outside.
Chloe calls out to him in confusion.
“Nelgliffe-sama…… Um, why did you tell to outsiders information about Live Fogg? That’s something that’s only been told to a few in Levi Church……”
“Ho-ho-ho-ho …… the great Levi is a forgiving one. He doesn’t care if you deviate from discipline to save lives.”
Nelgliffe replied with a laugh.
However, Chloe had a face that didn’t look happy.
“I don’t want to talk about those kinds of constructive things. What in the world do you have in mind, Nelgliffe-sama? Nelgliffe-sama already knows that that man Abel is not just a traveler. Could he be Baron Lark or a spy planted by the Dinrat Kingdom? Why did you tell that man about this and that? It’s about time you told us the truth about it……”
Nelgliffe put a hand to his chin and then looked around the room with just his eyes, once again making sure there was no sign of an outsider.
“I knew you had grown up during your time away, but …… on this kind of thing, you still have a long way go. Well, …… now you can take your time and learn from them. I believe that Chloe is the only person who can follow in my footsteps.”
Nelgliffe lightly tapped Chloe twice on the head.
Chloe’s mouth bent into a muffle, crouch in embarrassment.
“Abel-dono is undoubtedly first of all on a scouting mission that Baron Lark has set up. I’m sure that the sudden arrival …… of a person who has a mastery of sorcery is first and foremost a mistake, as I have lost contact with Marias-dono and the siege of the magic beasts that Marias-dono must have created with the help of the demon’s power has been broken. It is also too lame a lie to say that they came to this remote village of Pargas as a priority within the Fage territory. However, for the elite of the Royal Capital, they are not cautious and have many gaps …… Even while we are talking, every time I withhold information, he makes an understandable and apologetic face.”
“If, if you’re so sure about that, why……!”
“Calm down, Chloe. Abel-dono is a reasonably skilled magician, but he doesn’t appear to be used to this kind of situation…… It’s hard to find someone more manipulative than that. I’ve already laid the groundwork for my previous contacts with Abel.”
Nelgliffe laughed, his shoulders shaking as he kept his kind face intact.
Nelgliffe was unusually good at earning the trust of people.
Helping them where they were entangled by their followers, disclosing unfavorable information, excessive praise for them.
All of these were traps to gain Abel’s trust.
Revealing his past as a church hall priest was part of that.
The fact that he prioritized Chloe, with whom he had been associated in the past, as his assistant, is also part of that calculation.
Nelgliffe knew what to say to get the other person to loosen up, and he had the acting ability and circumspection to do so thoroughly.
Normally, he would at best turn his subordinate followers into a turnaround and help himself after getting him entangled, but based on …… previous contacts and hypotheses, he had decided that Abel was worth using and should be taken in, even if he had to work hard.
“So, then, have I dragged Nelgliffe-sama down ……? Quite a bit, I’ve probed him …… and I’m sure I’ve made him wary.”
“That is within my line of thinking. You can be at ease. If you’re from the Fage territory, you’re not likely to be impressed with us. In fact, Chloe’s disliking of us has made things go much smoother. Chloe is doing a great job.”
“Is, is that so…… that’s good to know……”
Chloe exhales as if relieved.
“I’m sorry I pushed you into a role that was a loss.”
Nelgliffe said, reaching for his head again, as if he was concerned about Chloe.
“That’s fine! …… Jeez. I’ll admit that my growth is a little slow because of the blood, but on the inside, I’m already an adult. Please don’t treat me like a child.”
Chloe twists her head a little and avoids Nelgliffe’s hand.
Nelgliffe laughs, then takes a breath and return the tension.
“The reason why I did this is because I wanted Chloe to learn my methods quickly……”
The story is true that before Nelgliffe was chosen by Levi as High Priest, he was a priest in the church hall, and Chloe was an orphan raised there ……
Chloe had taken over the church hall after Nelgliffe had left and served as a priest, but just recently the opportunity arose and she had volunteered to assist him.
As such, Chloe had little experience with assignments like this one, which required dirty means, and she was not yet comfortable with Nelgliffe’s unique ways.
She was too tense from guilt and nervousness and was somewhat distrusted by the villagers.
He was also looked at with suspicion by Abel.
In that respect, he was completely accepted by the villagers, and unexpectedly, Nelgliffe’s interpersonal skills were overwhelming, as he even outwitted Abel when he came to scout the area.
Rather than spouting out lies unintentionally, Nelgliffe was good at weaving in the truth to gain credibility while successfully grasping the inconvenient facts.
Even if you talk back and cheat, you will eventually fail somewhere.
On the other hand, hiding your identity for nothing could lead to distrust.
The adjustments in that area were exquisite, based on his long experience as the Levi Church’s priest.
That’s the kind of trickery that led to Nelgliffe’s subordinates talking about Nelgliffe’s past without a care in the world.
“I appreciate the sentiments of Nelgliffe-sama…… but I still don’t agree with the fact that you told Abel the secret of Live Fogg …… If Abel gets his hands on Live Fogg, we will be forced to make Livegrass. Then the balance of the Pargas village, which we have control over, would be thrown out of balance.”
“How will we be in a problem? We can keep it over here and use the old livegrass in our stash to dilute it. It won’t upset the balance of the Palgas village. In fact, we can use this incident to make the villagers more aware of the Livegrass. Besides, Abel-dono seems to be the type of man who is easily influenced by the current situation. If we can stir him up and make him a village hero, he will soon become dependent on this village.”
“I …… I see. …… Surely, we can fool him about any number of things, like the amount of livegrass.”
“And if they get the Live Fogg, we’ll get a lot of money. If they don’t get it, we can comfort them slowly after we’ve let the others humiliate Abel-dono to the hilt. The disdain and admiration of this isolated village can easily sway one’s normal judgment. Abel-dono’s grip on the world is as good as over. We have nothing to worry about.”
“I didn’t know you had that much in mind. …… But isn’t there a danger of him leaking Live Fogg’s secrets to the entire Kingdom of Dinrat in the future?”
“Ho ho ho …… there is no need to worry about that. If you find it difficult to hold them in, or if you find that they have a chance of escaping, you can kill them. That’s why I had those three men follow him. They wouldn’t let anything from them get away.”
The three Levi followers who accompanied Abel were the elite among Nelgliffe’s men.
Their association with Nelgliffe in the activities of the Levi Church is far longer than Chloe’s.
They were never chosen at random, nor were they chosen based on self-recommendation.
They are superb in combat and as a spy.
To begin with, all the Levi followers in the village are loyal subordinates of Nelgliffe.
Not a single one of them was brought here at random for the sake of numbers.
Even the rough ones are just acts ordered by Nelgliffe.
The three of them were ordered to kill Abel as soon as possible if he had any cause for concern.
It doesn’t matter how good Abel is at magic, they will never fail to do it if it takes the three of them to take him by surprise.
There is no one so naive as to hesitate to kill them when the time comes.
No matter what happened, all three of us had the cruelness to deal with it calmly.
When the time came, Nelgliffe thought, Abel would be killed without knowing what to expect.
“…………”
Chloe couldn’t help but look down when Nelgliffe said, “Just kill him”.
“You’re not used to this sort of thing yet, Huh.”
“Nelgliffe-sama is…… um, has changed a bit, haven’t you?”
Chloe said, somewhat sadly, muttering.
“It’s a small matter, for ………… important. Since Levi-sama has appeared, the Great Evil God Kudor will eventually awaken to destroy Levi-sama. Before that, we must conquer the Dinrat Kingdom and strengthen the seal on the Great Evil God Kudor, which lies dormant somewhere in the country. To do so, we must kill his…… mind. I don’t want you to cut it out, but don’t show it. There is evil in this world that must be contained, even if it defiles my hands.”
Nelgliffe clenched his fists tightly, with tears in his eyes.
“Nelgliffe-sama……”
While Chloe was taking out a handkerchief to wipe away Nelgliffe’s tears, Nelgliffe was thinking about something else.
(Hmm…… This woman, I thought I could use her a little more, but It’s no use. I’m sure she’s more deluded about me than most people, so I’m sure she’ll have some use for it).