Westminster Bank

Chapter 36: Chapter 33: Black Moon Church

Baron, who was in the middle of chewing, froze. Sister Teresa gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "This flower is called the Virgin Flower. Did you not know, Mr. L?"

Baron paused for a moment, thinking he must have misheard the name.

But Sister Teresa continued her gentle explanation. "This flower comes from Far North Suluka. It only grows beneath the ice pinnacles of snowy mountains.

They say that in Suluka, when a girl fancies a boy, she will go up the mountain to pick a bouquet of these flowers and give it to him on her way down. It represents a love that is pure and passionate."

Sister Teresa suddenly smiled again. "Of course, this is a very ancient custom. I only learned about it from a book.

I imagine Miss Hira doesn’t know about any of this. Perhaps she gave you these flowers simply to express her gratitude..."

Just then, Teresa saw the young man’s dazed and confused eyes suddenly light up. "I get it!"

The Nun asked, puzzled, "Mr. L, what is it that you get?"

Baron didn’t answer. He just picked up his tray and the flowers, called over the Little Nun, Olivia—who had at some point become his little shadow—and left the church.

Sister Teresa watched their two figures, one large and one small, disappear into the light. Though she had many unspoken questions, she ultimately just gave a helpless smile, one that was both gentle and wistful.

...

In the library, after Baron finished giving the Little Nun her instructions, she blushed and asked in astonishment, "Mr. L... do we really have to ask Dr. Ron that kind of question?"

Dr. Ron was the physician responsible for the autopsies of the girls killed by the Blood Demon.

"Your question just reminded me of something. Take this with you, too."

As he spoke, Baron took a small, black fruit from his pocket. It was the same berry he had tossed into his mouth at the Baron’s house the previous night.

Baron instructed the Little Nun, "Remember to ask Dr. Ron what specific medicinal effects this berry has, and who it’s primarily meant for."

Then, he took out a piece of paper and, from memory, wrote down the names of the known medicinal herbs he had seen in the room with the broken window. He told the Little Nun to take this to Dr. Ron as well and ask about their specific effects.

"But..." The Little Nun looked troubled. "Sister Teresa put me in charge of this afternoon’s main sermon."

"Haven’t you been wanting to thank me?" Baron said earnestly. "Then express your gratitude with your actions."

Watching the Little Nun’s receding figure through the window, the smile on Baron’s face vanished.

’He hadn’t actually wanted to resort to guilt-tripping a kind girl like Olivia, but there were some things he had to verify to be certain.’

’Why was it that in the basement last night, all the herbs were neatly arranged by type, except for that one storeroom with the broken window, where all sorts of herbs were piled together?’

’Why was the Baron’s wife always in bed, her body wrapped in a blanket so no one could see?’

’Why were there so many childlike scribbles in that storeroom with the broken window, but not in any of the other rooms?’

’And that bunch of Time Grass that Hira mentioned...’

Baron remembered that when he saw it, it wasn’t stored with the other herbs. It was just placed simply in the storeroom for cured hams, a room filled with the smell of nitrites and some kind of metal.

He gave a wry, self-deprecating smile. ’My own life was nearly forfeit, and here I am still thinking about all this nonsense.’

’Perhaps this is the fate of a prisoner.’

He pulled the book he’d been wanting to read, but hadn’t yet had the time for, from the shelf.

It was the *Prole Sects Encyclopedia*, compiled by some fellow named Finn—the same author as *Finn’s Notes, Fude City Edition*, which he’d read before.

The book primarily introduced the major religious sects and factions currently in Prole, covering everything from local customs and church structures to the deities they worshiped.

’He recalled Sister Teresa mentioning that the Blood Race and the Blood God were intricately linked, while the Blood Demon was merely a lesser substitute created by the Blood Race.’

He planned to see if he could find any information about Blood Demons in the section on the Blood Sect.

...

Around noon, Baron closed the book. He now had a basic understanding of the Blood Church’s general religious structure and its various dissenting factions.

The Blood Church primarily worships the Ancient God, Blood God Aisley, who wields the First Law: the Blood Law.

It became famous during Prole’s first war of faith against the Withered Church for using Blood Therapy to heal soldiers wounded in battle.

After the Pure Church withdrew during the second war of faith, following the capture of the Forgotten Witch, the Blood Church gradually took its place, becoming the second-largest Church on the Continent, surpassed only by the Black Moon Church, which worships the Old God, the Lonely Silver-faced Goddess.

Within the Church, believers who wished to use divine power to heal the unfortunate and who advocated for Blood Therapy were generally known as the Blood Sect.

The followers of the Blood Sect generally considered themselves the orthodox members of the Church.

Where there is orthodoxy, there are schisms.

Prole has thousands of faiths. Political struggles, geographical separation, and differing interpretations of doctrine have caused the Blood Church to fracture into several factions besides the main Blood Sect:

The Mad Blood Faction, which worships both the Ancient God, the Mad Lord, and the Blood God; the Fanatic Blood Faction, which believes blood is the source of all power; and the Blue Blood Faction, which espouses an extreme theory of bloodlines.

The Fanatic Blood Faction and the Blue Blood Faction were the ones that most captured Baron’s attention.

The doctrine of the Fanatic Blood Faction focused on believers liberating the power within their own blood. It encouraged followers to drink more blood whenever they could and cut themselves, using ’bleeding’ to deepen their connection with the Blood God.

Baron’s summary: the emo landmine faction. freēwebnovel.com

The Blue Blood Faction, on the other hand, believed the Blood Race were incarnations of the Blood God. If a believer wanted to get closer to the Blood God, they had to find the scattered remnants of the Blood Race, who had been driven to god-knows-what corner of the world during the Blood-Purge War, and sign a contract to become their retainers—Blood Servants.

Among the Blue Blood Faction, some radicals argued that since the Blood Race had been almost completely wiped out by the Emperor’s armies during the Blood-Purge War, finding a living member was next to impossible. ’I’ve got an idea,’ they’d say, ’why don’t we just collect the corpses of the Blood Race and become them ourselves?’

The book’s author, Finn, speculated that the Blood Demon—a deformed creature highly related to the Blood Servant—was very likely the failed product of a Blue Blood Faction alchemy ceremony intended to replicate the Blood Race.

Baron’s summary: the banana faction.

However, it was precisely the proposals and experiments of these Blue Blood Faction radicals that led to the birth of an organization within the Blood Church that could be ranked among the top three evil cults in Prole.

The Sisterhood of the Blood of the Lamb, a group that moves from region to region committing crimes to collect virgin blood, all for the purpose of resurrecting the Golden Blood Race’s Bloody Empress.

Having researched this far, although things were a bit different from what he’d expected, the information had certainly become clearer.

’The Blue Blood Faction, and this Sisterhood of the Blood of the Lamb... based on their methods and motives, they are prime suspects for these serious crimes.’

And now... Baron looked out the window. The Little Nun was hurrying toward him, her face flushed. It was time to see if his theory was correct.

...

Baron thoughtfully poured the Little Nun a glass of water, told her to speak slowly, and periodically interrupted her to question certain parts of her story.

By the time the Little Nun left, the bold and speculative theory in Baron’s mind had begun to solidify as the evidence mounted.

But the news that followed made that solidifying theory rapidly fall apart, like a gunsmith learning the war has ended before he’s even finished forging a rifle.

A man dressed as a Demon Hunter ran hastily into the library and said to Baron:

"Mr. L, Miss Yarilan sent me to inform you! They’ve caught the Blood Demon... The Blood Demon is... Lady Camberra!"

A chill went down Baron’s spine.

CRASH!

The sound of a tray shattering came from the corner. A maid who had been cleaning the library ran out in a panic.

Baron turned to the Demon Hunter, his voice grim. "What exactly is the situation? Tell me everything, down to the last detail!"