The capital of the Hupper Kingdom, Cohen.
Morgan II asked Reed, who was sitting on the other side, in an excited voice.
"Have you heard about the situation in Barchan?"
"Yes. I've heard that merchants and nobles are visiting frequently."
There was a boom in mining resource investment, so many nobles were visiting.
Even if they were not interested, they pretended to ride the trend to show that they were on board.
"It seems they are interested in the items from the Tower, as expected."
"Isn't it a joint production? Half of it was all built by Your Majesty."
With the compliment, Morgan II smiled.
"How is it on the side of the Silence Tower?"
"They show interest as you'd expect, given that we want to showcase our products... But there are more love calls than I imagined."
Their simple request was to inform them if there were any future products being made.
'A device that frees you from the hands of a mage and makes things easily and conveniently.'
That was the purpose of magical engineering.
Knowledge is more important than money.
And influence is more important than knowledge.
If they show their influence, they will gradually dedicate their knowledge to them.
A satisfied smile spread across Reed's face.
As time went by, it proved that he was not wrong, so he couldn't help but smile.
"How is the Hupper Kingdom?"
"Thanks to you, our national wealth is accumulating. Oh! Today, the saintesses are visiting."
[T/N: Will be referring to holy maidens as saintesses from now on, as it fits well in the sentence.]
"The saintesses... You must be referring to the twin saintesses."
"Yes."
"Perhaps they are flattering the Hupper Kingdom because the conversion in the Orc Alliance is going smoother than expected?"
"Well, a strong financial line is needed for a pious mindset."
"You say it without hesitation."
"Since I achieved this not alone but with the Tower Master, I can say this much with sincerity, can't I?"
Morgan smiled faintly.
Although he smiled maturely, he still seemed like a child in Reed's eyes.
"However, it seems to be mainly due to a cult religion."
"A cult religion?"
"Do you know about the Eternal Church?"
"I don't."
The very mages of the Tower avoided discussing religion.
If Morgan II hadn't mentioned it, he would have never known about it.
'Eternal Church? What is that?'
Considering it was never mentioned even once in <Disaster 7>, it must be one of the countless cult religions that briefly flourished and then collapsed.
There were always quests involving cults, and he had seen countless cults destroyed through those quests, so he assumed it was one of them.
"Their religion is that death is not the end, and they will be reborn to lead everything correctly."
"Rebirth... It wouldn't be welcomed by the Althea Church."
"It seems they are trying to interrogate to find out their headquarters."
"Don't they have separate interrogators?"
"As I mentioned, we are in a position where we are making a lot of profits lately..."
Since they both knew the content, they didn't repeat the words and finished with a smile.
Reed stood up from his seat.
"Then it's best to end the meeting here. I'll take my leave."
"Are you leaving already? The saintesses will be here soon, wouldn't it be good to exchange greetings at least?"
"Originally, mages and priests are on bad terms with each other. Although mages of the workshop have the best relationship with religion, the mages of the Tower will be hostile."
"Ah, I see. I'm sorry."
"It's something you wouldn't know. Just like I don't know about religion, this is a matter of mages."
Having a close relationship with religious organizations is a different dimension from being friendly with the mages of the workshop.
Collaborating with the Hupper Kingdom also required setting certain conditions and limitations, and only sharing a certain amount of information. However, if Reed became entangled with the Althea Church, even his position as the Tower Master could be in danger.
"Helios, the chairman, always judges everything fairly and justly."
He was definitely not someone who would favor Reed.
"Then I'll be on my way."
"Yes, please be careful."
Reed left the reception room and walked down the corridor.
As he walked down the corridor, he saw a knight escorting someone coming around the corner.
'The saintesses.'
The ones they were escorting were the twin saintesses.
A woman in black inquisitor's clothes.
And a woman in white priest's clothes walked side by side.
'Black is Rachel. White is Isel, right?'
Since they were the most useful companions and NPCs, they were deeply engraved in his memory.
As useful as they were, they were also dangerous figures.
'They don't like mages...'
Reed tried to pass them by, pretending not to know them.
A white handkerchief fell to the floor where they had passed.
With a golden thread, the handkerchief with the symbol of the Althea Church embroidered on the corner was unmistakably the saintess's handkerchief.
As it was noticeably there, Reed, who had to be a gentleman, couldn't ignore it.
Perhaps it could be an opportunity to build goodwill?
"Please wait."
With that thought, Reed spoke to the saintesses as he turned to look at them.
The saintesses, who were moving with their escort, stopped in their tracks.
Reed walked towards them with the handkerchief and handed it over.
"You dropped this, Saintess."
Reed handed the handkerchief to the woman with the black cloth around her eyes, Isel.
Whether it was the correct answer or not, Ihel touched the corner of her mouth with her hand and said,
"Oh dear, it seems I accidentally dropped it. How embarrassing."
Isel took the handkerchief Reed handed her.
"...!!"
Reed was taken aback.
Contrary to his expectation that she would take the handkerchief, Isel wrapped her hand around the white cloth and held his hand.
Holding his hand tightly as if in prayer, she spoke with a sweet voice,
"Thank you very much, Tower Master."
