Chapter 179.
There was a priest uniform in the bag that Hillis brought.
"Why a priest’s uniform all of a sudden?" I asked.
Hillis proudly puffed out her chest. "Huhuhu! There’s a saying to hide a tree in a forest. We’re going to wear these and participate in the dawn prayer meeting.”
So that’s why she asked me to bring my goddess statue. I needed the goddess statue to attend the service.
"So you’re saying we’re going to wear that and sneak into the great temple?"
"Yep!"
I was flustered by what Hillis said. Did you come up with this thinking that it was a plan? No, let’s first listen to the plan until the end.
"So, we’re participating in the dawn prayer meeting, and then?"
"In the middle of the dawn prayer meeting, we’ll sneak out and infiltrate the archbishop’s room.”
Well, it wasn’t that different from what I expected.
"We infiltrate the archbishop’s room, secure some kind of evidence of corruption, and threaten the archbishop?"
Hillis flicked her finger at my assumption. "That’s it!"
Lisbon applauded and was in admiration of Hilis’s plan. "Oh! So that’s it!"
What the hell do you mean ‘So that’s it!’ What a sloppy job! To threaten the archbishop, if Hillis or Albatoss does it, it could be fine. However, I don’t know if she did any preliminary investigation into the evidence of corruption’s location. No, before that-
"And how about something to cover your face?"
Unlike Hillis, Lisbon and I were not in a prominent enough position where they would just pass over an incident we caused. Of course, Hillis probably thought that she would take full responsibility in the worst-case scenario, but as a civil servant, there was no way I wouldn’t be affected in some way.
“I brought something, of course."
Hillis took out a veil for worship that could cover one’s face from her bag. The veil also had simple recognition interference magic. However, it was not without problems.
"This is for women.”
Worship veils were usually only worn by women.
"Yep, so I brought priest uniforms for women too.
Looking closely, the priest uniforms that Hillis brought had lace and were for women.
"Are you going to dress us up as women!"
At my yell, Hillis gave a thumbs up. "That’s correct!"
"Oh, my God." I frowned. To make me seek God when I don’t even have an ounce of faith, is this the power of a saintess? How frightening.
"No, I won’t wear it.”
"Ayy, it’s going to be cute. I even brought you a wig.” Hillis took out a slightly wavy blonde wig and shook it.
I took the wig and beat it to the ground. "I’m not wearing it! No, what about Lisbon in the first place? You want to dress up that bulky body as a woman?
"Of course not; I’ve got a separate one for Brother Lisbon-nim." Hillis took out a large men’s priest uniform from her bag.
"If you have a men’s uniform, bring one for me too!"
Hillis shrugged at my shout. "At first, I was going to bring you a men’s version, but there was no priest near me who had a thin body like you. Brother Lisbon-nim is tall and muscular, so I secretly borrowed Albatoss’s clothes."
Wait, does that mean the female priest’s uniform that Hillis is holding is hers?
That question arose, but I put it aside for a moment and asked, "How are you going to cover Lisbon’s face?"
"I thought hard about that too and brought several things."
Hillis took out a paladin’s helmet from her bag. "This is Albatoss’s helmet. With this, most priests probably won’t even approach us.”
Surely no one would come near us if there was a madman wearing a priest’s uniform and a consecrated paladin’s helmet.
"No, it’s too noticeable."
"It really is, right?
With my opposition, Hillis put the helmet back and took out something else from the bag. "It’s a washcloth.”
Hillis took out a towel for washing made of black cloth. It was better than the helmet, but it was not something you could wear for worship. Most importantly, it was not enough to cover his face completely.
Sighing, I took out my one-eyed glasses from my pocket. "Let’s have Lisbon wear this."
"Uh, but with this, the face... Oh!
Hillis pondered while looking at the one-eyed glasses before looking closely and exclaiming, "Wow, this little pair of glasses have this level of recognition interfering magic? How much did it cost to make this? It must have cost at least one bag of gold coins."
Hillis’s words pricked my conscience, but I pretended not to be bothered. "I don’t think you know the price very well because you probably aren’t too active in the economy, but it costs less than what you think.”
If I had asked the magic tower to produce the glasses, it would have cost as much as Hillis said, but the price was lower because I made it.
Hillis nodded. "Oh, really? All right."
It was fortunate that Hillis grew up sheltered and was in the dark about economic activity. I wasn’t expecting her to guess the market price at a glance.
Feeling relieved inside, I handed the one-eyed glasses to Lisbon. "It’ll work a lot better than most masks. From now on, I’ll call him Kaitou Kid." [1]
I wish I had prepared a white hat and a cape, but I was too lazy to go that far.
"Thanks. But why Kaitou?"
I ignored Lisbon’s question and handed a huge ribbon to Hillis. Of course, the ribbon was lathered with recognition interfering magic.
"Hillis, you are Kaitou Angel Girl Netty." [2]
Hillis smiled playfully at the name I gave while tying her hair with the ribbon, and she said, "Angel girl, huh. You were looking at this noona like that?”
"I like devil girls better than angel girls. However, since I’m a clergyman, I always pray to God to be a righteous thief."
Hillis burst into laughter at my deft words. "Puhat, does it make sense for a thief to be just?”
"I don’t think that’s something you should say when you’re about to rob the archbishop’s room for the Angel’s House’s sake."
"Oh, is that so?"
I looked at the convinced Hillis and put on a pair of nerdy non-prescription glasses. These glasses I paid particular attention to and made with more care. Not only was it blocking face recognition, but it also had clairvoyance magic, see-through magic, and location tracking magic to track these two people’s locations. I was planning on adding more magic to it later.
"If I’m Netty and Brother Lisbon-nim is Kid, then what about you?"
When Hillis asked, I said the name I had in mind, "Me? I’m Conan Doyle. Call me Conan or Doyle, whatever you want." [3]
At first, I was going to go by Arsene, but I decided to change the name since I was modifying my mask too. [4]
For your information, I was just borrowing the name from a novel, but it had nothing to do with the detective who regularly says, “there is always only one truth.” [5]
"And just in case, take these too." I handed out black masks and an inner map of the great temple.
"Where did you get this map?” Hillis was surprised to see the map.
The map was surprising because it detailed ventilation passages that could be used as secret paths.
"I bought it from the information agency that I know.”
I even got a discount because I’m a VIP. It would have been convenient to have such a map when I robbed the great temple in the past.
"Information agency? Is it perhaps the Big Mama Information Agency?"
I nodded at Hillis. "Uh. Do you know it?"
I never thought Hillis would know about the Big Mama Information Agency.
"I don’t know the details, but I remember Albatoss saying that the information agency with the most accurate information is the Big Mama Information Agency."
Hillis looked at the map, amazed. I asked for her understanding with a perplexed look on my face. "Actually, information agencies are illegal. And I’m a civil servant. Please keep it a secret that I used an information agency."
The only people Hillis would talk to would be the paladins, but there was nothing bad about being cautious. To be honest, if the paladins knew that I did something illegal, they would probably be happy and just tell her not to hang out with me. They most likely wouldn’t charge me with a crime. If by chance, they charge me, I’ll retaliate.
"Really? Sure." Hillis nodded without thinking and kept looking at the map as she continued, "Wow, it’s really detailed. Did you ask about the corruption ledgers as well by chance?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
I could guess what Hillis was aiming for, so while I was buying the map, I also bought information on the corruption ledgers.
"To be specific, I bought information about a place where there could be corruption."
Information about the archbishop was too expensive to buy, even with a discount. I didn’t have any money now except what was set aside for living expenses and some spare funds. This is because I used my entire savings to put every magic ingredient on the market into my pocket space. Of course, I was also thinking about plundering the archbishop’s slush funds while robbing his corruption ledgers, so my assets would be filled back up.
"So, we’ll go straight through the ventilation shaft to the archbishop’s room.”
Hillis complained after hearing me, "But if we do this, then we won’t need the things I prepared.”
Hillis looked at me with a sad face, holding up the female priest’s uniform.
"Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll never dress up as a woman."
While Hillis and I were squabbling, Lisbon was looking carefully at the map and asked, “Hey Den, on this map, aren’t all the ventilation shafts from the outside blocked?”
“What?”
What are you talking about?! I looked at the map. I remembered robbing this place before, so I didn’t really look at the map.
"That seems to be the case. According to this map, you can’t get in from the outside.” Hillis also looked at the map and agreed.
Damn, unlike the last time I visited, all the ventilation shafts connected to the outside were blocked or made so a person couldn’t pass by.
"This must have been changed because Lupin stole the golden goddess statue." Lisbon nodded and was convinced.
That goddess statue was wrapped in plaster and was doing well next to me. Hillis gave a sincerely happy smile and held up the wig and women’s priest uniform.
Damn it! There must be a different way!
* * *
The right-hand man of Cardinal Fernando and the person who unified the great temple’s paladins, Malive, sighed and asked, "Is the status of Cardo Fernando-nim still the same?"
The priest nodded with an apologetic face. "Yes, I’m afraid so."
Fernando had been injured by Lupin in the past, and since then, dozens of priests had been assigned to heal him for months, but they only barely prevented his wounds from becoming worse.
"Did you say it was a curse to prevent His Eminence, the Cardinal, from getting better?”
"Yes, I’ve never seen such a terrible curse. This kind of curse seems like something that would only appear in legends."
When the priest shook his head with a sad face, Malive bit his lips and asked, "What you found is that it’s a curse that makes you die with certainty?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Is there no way we can resolve this?"
The priest shook his head. "I have told you before, but to resolve a curse of this level, the person who cast the curse must come. Or if it was the famous great madosa, the curse magician, he may be able to resolve it.”
Malive could not hold back his sigh at the priest’s affirmation. "Haah, this is the worst scenario.”
As his psychological pillar collapsed, Malive missed his close colleague with no equal, Mario. Vibrio had lost her mind after Mario died and was gradually recovering with the care of her sister, Hillis, but it was still too much to help Malive with his work.
Knock knock!
When a knock came from outside, Malive gave permission to come in. The priest who came in carefully asked, "Pa, Paladin Malive-nim. This morning’s prayer meeting-”
"I’m not going," Malive cut the priest off sharply.
"But, but today the archbishop-nim himself will be hosting the prayer meeting...”
"That’s why I’m saying that!"
When Malive stared, the priest ran away, yelling that he understood. Watching the scene, Malive frowned. "You didn’t have to yell. I went overboard.”
"No, he was with the greedy archbishop’s party. Those bastards don’t even know what kindness is when His Eminence, the Cardinal, was so nice to them,” the priest complained.
Malive nodded weakly and looked out the window. The moon was clear today.
1. Also known as Phantom Thief Kid, in manga/anime Detective Conan. He wears one-eyed glasses, white hat, and white cape.
2. From Saint Tail (Kaitou Thief Saint Tail) manga/anime. She wears a big ribbon.
3. I think Conan Doyle here refers to the British writer who created the character Sherlock Holmes.
4. Arsene Lupin is the full name of the name Lupin that Den went by previously with the mask. It’s referring to the fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise.
5. Referring to what the main character of Detective Conan says. Conan Doyle has the same first name, but it is not the same name. Detective Conan’s full name is Conan Edogawa.
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