"I think you've guessed correctly, Marguerite. Cristante is most likely the biggest intelligence chief of your Church of the Storm!" Connor replied bitterly, "That old bastard, I still don't know his identity. You've already guessed it. He's still talking to me as an official Magus priest, but I can feel that he's hiding some sort of powerful magic artifact on him. That's definitely not something a regular official Magus priest can carry!"
Hearing Connor's last words, Marguerite, who was watching the opera "Camellia Amour", seemed to have thought of something. Her expression couldn't help but change slightly. She asked Connor tentatively, "Connor, do you mean that Cristante has a rank 3 magic artifact on him?"
"That's possible, but I'm not sure what it is yet. As an alchemist, I can vaguely feel a powerful aura from Cristante's body that only belongs to a magic artifact!" Connor nodded and replied telepathically, "That's possible, but I'm not sure what it is yet.
Hearing Connor's words, Marguerite nodded secretly. Then she asked Connor again, "Connor, what did Cristante talk to you about in the Durst Tavern?"
In response to Marguerite's question, Connor recalled his conversation with Cristante and muttered, "When we first met, Cristante purposely put on a strong front. It seemed like he wanted to control the situation, but it also seemed like he wanted to intimidate me and make me obedient. When I felt the power of a powerful magic artifact on him, I tested him a little with words."
"Cristante was obviously a little angry at my testing, but he restrained himself and didn't leave in a huff. This showed how important this meeting was to him. Then he threatened me to do something for the Church. If I didn't agree, he would put me on the wanted list so that I wouldn't be able to become Count Ferguson and would never be able to return to Flosinone. But after I agreed to his request, he didn't tell me what he wanted me to do. He only told me to go back and wait for the delivery!"
"The next day, I received a delivery from Cristante at Ferguson's mansion. The contents of the delivery were the things I asked you to investigate, Marguerite!"
After explaining the entire sequence of events to Marguerite, Connor, who was sitting behind Marguerite, couldn't help but glance at Marguerite. Connor couldn't make heads or tails of some of the details of what Cristante wanted him to do, so he was looking forward to learning more from Marguerite.
Marguerite was obviously aware of Connor's expectations of her. After deliberating over her words, she explained to Connor, "Because Cristante is very likely to be the Chief Intelligence Officer of Blake's agency, using the Church of the Storm's intelligence network to investigate would easily alert Cristante. So this time, I didn't use my connections with the Church of the Storm. Instead, I found a reliable friend and used the channels of the Religion of the Earth to investigate the man named Ruiz that Cristante wanted you to kill!"
"This man named Ruiz is the same as you, Connor. They are both members of the Secret Society, but the strange thing is that although Ruiz has the cultivation of an advanced Sorcerer-Apprentice, he only joined the Secret Society five years ago. However, he has never been able to squeeze into the core circle of the Secret Society. He can only be regarded as a dispensable small fry on the periphery of the Secret Society."
"Ruiz's identity was exposed three years ago, and he was targeted by the Religion of the Earth. However, because of his identity as a member of the Secret Society, the two major churches and the ninth department didn't touch him. Everyone was planning to cast a long line to catch a big fish. From the results of my investigation, other than the possibility of him being a member of the Secret Society, I can't think of any other reason why Cristante wanted you to kill him!" Marguerite's tone became a little doubtful at the end. Obviously, this Ruiz had brought her a lot of confusion.
Connor thought about the information given by Marguerite for a while, then asked Marguerite again, "Marguerite, do you know why Ruiz joined the Secret Society?"
"Ruiz's identity in the secular world is the owner of a pawnshop, but in fact, he has some connections in selling stolen goods. Three years ago, the Secret Society needed to distribute a batch of goods. Ruiz helped a lot and was very outstanding, so he was taken in as a peripheral member of the Secret Society. The Religion of the Earth has surveillance records of him, and the surveillance records show that the Secret Society rarely contacted Ruiz other than when he was distributing goods!" Marguerite explained.
After listening to Marguerite's explanation, Connor frowned. Apart from the fact that Ruiz was a member of the Secret Society, he did not detect any problems with this Ruiz.
Two days ago, he received a courier from Cristante. When he found out that Cristante wanted him to kill a man named Ruiz who lived in the Malaga community in Iprua, which was 200 kilometers away from Flosinone, Connor realized that Cristante had set another trap for him. That was why he did not go to Iprua, but instead contacted Marguerite immediately to find out who this Ruiz was. But now, it seemed that he really had to go to Iprua to find out!
All in all, Connor was certain that Cristante was the biggest intelligence chief of the Church of the Storm, the Director of Intelligence of Blake's Organisation. Cristante had concealed his identity and disguised himself as a priest to meet him, but it was definitely not just for Connor Ferguson. But now, Connor Ferguson did not have the ability to do so.
Cristante must have a deeper motive for doing so, and in Connor's eyes, this deeper motive was undoubtedly the Secret Society and Reyes. Only a huge organization like the Secret Society and a rank 2 Magus like Reyes could make Cristante, the intelligence chief, travel thousands of miles. He took a train for a few days and nights from the imperial capital, Bernabeu, just to meet with Leylin in Flosinone.
Now that he found out from Marguerite that Ruiz was a member of the Secret Society, Connor's thoughts were undoubtedly confirmed!
While Connor was deep in thought, Marguerite transmitted her voice to Connor during the break in the middle of the opera, "Connor, Firo is missing!"
Connor, who was immersed in his thoughts, was stunned when he heard the news. He then asked Marguerite, "What happened?"
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