New Gods of North America

The next day was Tuesday. Wayne spent the morning investigating at the academy, and in the afternoon, he took his little follower to Inessa to check on the progress of finding the fugitives.

Tom Hagen, as the authority of the cathedral and its representative in Georgeberg, had already helped Wayne apply for an indefinite "leave of absence" from the academy.

The academy wasn't too strict about the studies of some special people—for example, some young masters or young ladies might run back halfway to inherit their family business or get married, and they couldn't be stopped.

Wayne also had some fantasies and tried to negotiate, "If I fail the course assessment this academic year, what will the academy do?"

Tom Hagen's answer to this was rather cold and ruthless: "Retake the course, or choose to give up the graduation certificate."

Okay,

The "gold content" of the academy is indeed still there.

Inessa, with Conner and "Shockwave," two hunter-born agents, and a mixed team of exorcists, had been searching in Georgeberg for a few days.

Now the two fugitives are not easy to find.

The killer who had been eliminating people everywhere before has already had a bounty of 500 US dollars placed on him internally. The charge is naturally multiple murders, but even his name and appearance have not been confirmed yet. The investigation team can only temporarily search according to the characteristics of Anton Ziegler, the missing coachman of Pastor Parish.

Mr. Wiseman, on the other hand, was officially put on the wanted list, with a bounty of 700 US dollars. The crime was not specified, but it was hinted that this person was extremely dangerous, requiring citizens to report to the police in time after discovering him, instead of trying to arrest him privately to avoid accidents.

In comparison, Mr. Wiseman's situation seems even more tragic.

Once the wanted order was issued, many of his original connections were probably cut off directly, and the related bank accounts were naturally frozen.

When he first escaped, he was naked. A team of exorcists almost caught his tail, but his extraordinary ability was too bizarre, and he quickly escaped the pursuit.

When Inessa led people to track the traces again, the starting point could only be from the place where Mr. Wiseman stole clothes and robbed, which was similar to finding a needle in a haystack.

There was no place to start the control, so they could only follow the clues and guess, and then hope to find new clues.

However, there are some benefits to running like this for a while. After realizing the danger of Mr. Wiseman, the church provided Inessa with a special holy emblem-shaped rune.

The material looks a bit like a fragile chocolate block. It is a one-time consumable. The usage method is similar to a plaster. Just tear open the package and pat it on the skin.

It is said that only the headquarters of the Exorcist Association knows how to make the semi-finished product. After the exorcist priests bless it with extraordinary materials through specific methods, the validity period can last for about one or two months, and then it cannot be blessed again.

It will also burn the flesh and blood of the "fallen" when used, but it can temporarily invalidate the "binding" of the Exorcist Association.

Wayne took advantage of his good relationship with the exorcist priests at this time and secretly inquired about it.

It turns out that the Exorcist Association's binding is quite insidious. The history can be traced back to the era when the Holy See first established the Inquisition. Under the premise of voluntary acceptance, this thing also has the characteristic of "using the power of the bound person himself," which is equivalent to the stronger the bound person, the stronger the binding itself will be as long as it is not untied.

Moreover, the prototype of this thing does not seem to be "binding," but was used by the Holy See to maintain the state of certain "God-chosen people," and then people's hearts deteriorated and the world collapsed, and other uses were gradually developed.

How should I put it, it is very in line with Wayne's stereotype of the Holy See.

There was no new progress during the day. After Wayne secretly pointed out the target to the little follower, he waited for the little follower's men to "assassinate" the building manager, and then confirmed his subsequent reaction.

In the evening, he took some time to return to the detective agency to take a bath and change clothes. At the same time, he also treated the team of exorcists who followed him to a good meal. In fact, he also took Tiel's follower back to show his face to Lina and the detectives at home, maybe he would want to find him again sometime.

Wayne originally wanted to call the chef Parker to set up a stall at the church, but Lina didn't want Parker to show his face too much in front of the clergy unless necessary, so it became "takeout," which was also a souvenir.

Compared to the Holy See of the Old Continent, the Holy Spirit Church has relaxed a lot in the management of many daily customs, such as "fasting."

The fasting required by the Holy See is divided into major and minor. Major fasting refers to eating only one full meal a day on designated days, while minor fasting generally refers to every Friday, abstaining from the meat of warm-blooded animals, but fish, eggs, and dairy products are not limited. About one-third of the year requires fasting.

Because the majesty of the Holy See is inviolable, but the health of the clergy and believers is sometimes also a rigid need, the Holy See has also created many seemingly bizarre regulations, such as many birds, rabbits, and some animals in the New World—including the famous capybara—are considered "fish" in the definition of the Holy See, just to be "both loyal and filial."

The Holy Spirit Church does not force this. Although the clergy and monks also have dietary requirements, they are roughly based on the content of the "Holy Book" and the branding of "simplicity." It is "possible" to fast, but not "necessary."

Wayne returned to the church, and on the way, he found Inessa and sent a takeout. Seeing that everyone's feedback on the special burger was good, he could consider secretly screening internally.

Tom Hagen mixed the local church personnel, which is also a good thing for the detective agency. Lina can start tomorrow to get close to everyone in the name of delivering meals, and initially identify the priests' private relationships in batches.

Some overly private things are certainly not detectable, but their origins and experiences, the objects and frequency of their usual interactions, may not be a secret to their subordinates. Even if they are "cliques," there must be distinctions between closeness and distance within them. Knowing yourself and your enemy is never a bad thing.

Late on the second day, good news came.

The little follower's men do sound more professional, at least they have talent in acting.

They assassinated the "building manager" McCane Reeves twice in a row. The first time, they pretended that the cry for help would attract the rescue of passers-by before stopping. The second time, they simply pulled him into the bushes by the roadside and stabbed a knife fiercely next to his twisted head. McCane Reeves resisted desperately, and really attracted the academy security personnel who were originally prepared to patrol, and then fled.

After nightfall, they found that McCane Reeves secretly delivered two letters.

One was sent to a local newspaper, with cash attached, and the content was to ask the newspaper to publish a missing person notice.

The other was to be sent to South Carolina. It looked like a letter of recommendation from an academy student. There were no flaws on the surface, but the recipient was a blood relative of Pastor Parish, and it was not his real name.