New Gods of North America

The next morning,

Wayne, along with the exorcism team led by Tom Hagen, hadn't even entered Georgeburg's territory when they saw the lingering black smoke in the sky from afar.

They sped up their pace, and a small team even rode ahead on horseback to the manor.

But by the time Wayne arrived, all that was left was the burnt-down manor house and the scattered corpses of servants.

Georgeburg's police arrived earlier, and the local exorcism department was also present.

David Mills was handing over the work to Sheriff Bill Tench.

Tom Hagen didn't exchange many pleasantries with David Mills. After seeing the advance team members, he led his people directly towards the basement entrance Wayne had mentioned.

The manor's main house was a brick building, but it also contained many wooden components. The hall was now a collapsed mess, and some of the burnt and fallen logs hadn't completely burned out, still seeming to carry the embers of smokeless heat.

The exorcism personnel who arrived earlier had initially cleared a path in the ruined space.

Entering the downward steps, the original storage room was in a state of chaos, with varying degrees of charred blackness everywhere. The mixture of ashes and fire extinguishing water didn't accumulate on the floor but left mud-like black stains in the smoky and fire-scorched environment.

The original lamps in the small room had been destroyed. Now, church candlesticks were nailed to the walls.

The two stone platforms were still there, but the magic circles on the walls and floor had been deliberately painted over, disturbed, and burned.

Only the statue in the center of the room still stood in its original position.

It was clearly covered with black cracks and bore the mottled erosion of time.

Yet now, amidst the charred surroundings, it seemed strangely "clean" and "white."

The three exorcist priests were beside the statue, examining it with candlesticks and compass-like objects.

After seeing Tom Hagen arrive, one of them gave a preliminary conclusion, "It looks like something from those heretical Light Church, but no residual extraordinary power has been detected."

Tom Hagen immediately turned around and looked over, "Was it like this before?"

Wayne, having learned from experience, was still hiding outside the small room's door, which was strung with rune-covered cloth strips.

He confirmed the scene with his minimalist vision, and seeing so many exorcism personnel present nearby, he cautiously extended his toe into the room, then stepped into the room that had been sprinkled with spices and holy oil, continuing to look around:

"There should have been a magic circle here, or rather, it was more like an altar. This statue has also changed; at least it looked more like an extraordinary item back then."

Tom Hagen and the leading exorcist priest nodded after hearing this, and then almost simultaneously asked,

"Why didn't those heretics take this statue away?"

...

The so-called "evidence" had been confirmed,

But the names of the priests who had visited the manor, as mentioned by Wayne, forced Tom Hagen to respond cautiously.

Arriving at the Georgeburg parish church, the church personnel who had been notified to attend the meeting sat around the long table. Tom Hagen, representing the will of the bishop, sat at the head of the table.

Wayne obediently chose the last seat, casually looking around, searching for familiar-looking priests.

Of the church personnel qualified to attend the meeting, more than half had appeared at that manor. If the scope was limited to the so-called "priests," the proportion would be even higher.

Of course, not all of those attending the meeting and sitting at the head of the table were necessarily priests from a particular church. Some people's official positions might be something like the director of a monastery, but Wayne, as an outsider, called them all priests, which wasn't wrong.

For legitimate investigators, sometimes the most troublesome thing in their work isn't finding "evidence" but proving the connection between the "evidence" and the "criminals."

Wayne didn't think that "all the priests who had appeared at the manor" were members of the Light Church, but if he was told that there wasn't a single bad person among them, Wayne would feel insulted.

Tom Hagen probably felt the same way. An exorcism person leaned over and said a few words in his ear. Wayne guessed it was something like "Everyone is here," and then the meeting began:

"The cathedral has received clues about the evil god worshiping organization 'Light Church' and has investigated and confirmed that the situation is true."

Sounds of surprise and whispers arose.

The priest Tyrrell, sitting next to Tom Hagen, turned his gaze to Wayne's face with some surprise, seemingly asking, "Didn't you give me this clue?"

Wayne could only innocently spread his hands and shrug his shoulders, while also slightly shaking his head, trying to express, "That's a different clue."

Tom Hagen didn't ask everyone to be quiet but held up a letter. The paper quality was quite good, and even holding a corner could make the paper "stand" up:

"I have received the formal authorization of Bishop Corleone to investigate this matter. According to the usual practice in dealing with the Light Church, all church-related personnel within Georgeburg are temporarily under my command."

After saying this, his gaze turned to one of the two nearest seats, "Priest Tyrrell, what is your opinion?"

Priest Tyrrell always seemed to have that good-natured look, turning his head and nodding happily, "Since there is authorization from Bishop Corleone, I have no objection...嗯?"

Tom Hagen nodded, not waiting for the continuation of his words. Following Priest Tyrrell's gaze, he quickly turned his attention to the other side, "Priest Barzini, what about you?"

Priest Barzini's expression changed from frowning to smiling, nodding leisurely, "Even the Exorcist Association team with exception exemptions has agreed, so the Georgeburg parish will certainly fully cooperate."

Tom Hagen's gaze then crossed the long table and looked at Wayne's opposite side, "David Mills, the opinion of the local exorcism department?"

"Resolutely obey the command of the cathedral!" This guy's voice was a bit too loud, causing Wayne to shrink his neck involuntarily.

"Very good."

Tom Hagen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, his expression becoming more amiable, asking the so-called "everyone" in the air again, and then the meeting officially began.

Wayne was originally thinking of watching the fun, but unexpectedly, the next second, Tom Hagen actually looked over to his side:

"This is Wayne Constantine, the founder of a private detective agency, who also initiated the recent public duel. According to the Bishop's intentions, since this clue was discovered by Wayne and his detective agency, he will explain the situation to everyone."

No,

The Bishop he...you...me...

Facing the gazes that were all stabbing over, Wayne quickly regained his composure.

The unexpected discovery of those two Exorcist Association outer rim attackers felt not so good to tell, and the Bishop candidate sold the favor. If necessary, then turn back to “shoot first and then draw the target”,

The clue of that Mr. Wiseman was sold by himself, and now it feels not so good to expose it, and also shrink the front first.

Wayne quickly sorted out his thoughts:

"I believe everyone has heard recently about my public duel with Mr. Baker of Cohen Pharmaceuticals, right?

"According to our detective agency's unintentional discovery, he secretly visited a manor in Georgeburg. In order to confirm whether it was Cohen Pharmaceuticals' secret base, we investigated that manor..."

As Wayne explained, Tom Hagen had someone bring out a box engraved with holy emblems and runes and revealed the statue inside.

Then, one name after another was read out, along with the personnel Wayne pointed out at the scene.

In the varied expressions of the crowd in the conference room, Tom Hagen finally made a closing statement:

"According to our preliminary investigation—thanks to Priest Tyrrell's reconfirmation before the meeting—the actual long-term user of that manor was Priest Pasiel of the 'Academy' Church.

"He has been found dead in his residence in the city, and it is temporarily impossible to determine whether he was silenced or committed suicide out of fear of guilt.

"Wayne and his team discovered the evil god statue yesterday evening, and the murderer or instigator should still be in Georgeburg's territory—if he is sitting among us."

Recently this time, it's really a bit hard to describe...I'll try to update more from tomorrow and pay back the previous debts first. Thanks to all the masters who have been following.