Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 237 The Mourning Bishop
"Please sit down, um."

"'The White Pope'."

"It is an honor to meet you, Mr. White Pope."

At the old man's direction, Ritas entered the dilapidated mansion and sat down on the sofa in the hall.

However, he still had no interest whatsoever in being assigned the role by "the company that brought the grand finale to the world".

On one hand, the goddess of bathing discovered her "wife." On the other hand, the old man, Ritas, was somewhat familiar with him, so he went in to find out what was going on.

If Ritas's memory is correct, the old man's name is "Sim," and he is a nobleman with a knighthood but no land.

His first meeting with Sir Jim was at the Mograine Art Appraisal Meeting.

At that time, Sir Jim Himm, as a painter, participated in the judging panel. Moreover, he had already achieved the feat of participating for ten consecutive years, although he had never received the highest score.

Those years seemed to be Sir Jim's most promising years, only to coincide with the sudden emergence of "Yicai".

On one side is a maverick genius who has almost perfectly integrated magic into his art. On the other side is an old painter whose skills are superb but lack distinctive features.

The results are self-evident.

Perhaps because he felt despair at the "magical art" that was steadily suppressing him, and after participating for several years in a row, Sir Him announced that he would no longer participate in the Spring City Art Appraisal Meeting.

Ironically, the year after Sir Simm announced this, "Brilliant" quietly chose to retire. Furthermore, the quality of the judging panel that year, without Master Brilliant, was shockingly low. In other words, Sir Simm only needed to persevere for one more year to win the coveted gold crown at the judging panel.

It was precisely because of these past experiences that Ritas felt a pang of sadness upon seeing Sir Sim again.

However, it was just a sigh of regret. Because at the time, he participated in the judging meeting simply to participate, without any ulterior motives, and he certainly didn't develop any personal relationships with the other participants.

While Ritas sighed, the goddess of the bath was explaining the facts about her three wives.

"It really is my third wife! Although I don't know why she seems to have shrunk a lot, I can't be mistaken, she is definitely 'Bishop of Mourning Colors'!"

".?"

Fortunately, Ritas is wearing a white mask, otherwise he might have been unable to resist showing a strange expression.

Did he mishear, or did the languages ​​suddenly become incompatible? "Bishop of Mourning" or something like that, is that the kind of name a "wife" should have?
"Well, to put it simply, in the 'Star Emblem' game, she's a member of the 'Darkborn.' Don't get me wrong, Rihanna, even though I'm easily swayed by beautiful girls, I can still tell right from wrong! So, no matter how beautiful a villainous opponent is, I won't marry her!"

There were so many things to complain about in the goddess of bathing that Tass didn't know where to begin.

Moreover, he was skeptical about the veracity of these statements.

"However, 'The Mourning Bishop' is different. She is the only character in the 'Star Mark' game who first appears on the battlefield as an enemy boss and can then be recruited into the party. Moreover, unlike those characters who are redeemed and weakened, she is strong even in the party! Furthermore, she has a special storyline in the 'Bedtime Reading' battle of the Darkin route. Once triggered, it will make the entire battle much easier."

While the goddess of bathing was once again conveying useless messages, the future "Bishop of Mourning Colors," who had gone to make tea, returned to the hall.

After pouring two cups of light, clear black tea for Ritas and Sir Him, the young girl stood quietly beside the sofa.

The "Mourning Bishop" had gray hair, whether naturally or not, and was very thin.

Unlike Noah and Charlotte, whose bodies were naturally petite, the girl looked more like she was severely malnourished, with many parts of her body only able to be described as skin and bones.

Therefore, although she looks like she's eight or nine years old now, she's actually probably older. Otherwise, she wouldn't have appeared as a villain in the "Star Pattern" game world in less than three years.

Ritas had two particularly strong impressions of his first meeting with the "Bishop of Mourning Colors".

One thing was that although her clothes were somewhat worn, they looked clean and tidy, without any sense of dirtiness or mess. Another thing was that between her sparse hair and prominent cheekbones, her red eyes were exceptionally bright.

“I have some things to discuss with this gentleman. So, Maud, could you give us some space?”

Sir Sim said tactfully.

The girl named Mord glanced at the suspicious-looking Ritas with some concern, pursed her lips, and then reluctantly left.

"Morde! So my third wife is named Morde!"

"."

It seems that the goddess of bathing really didn't know the real name of "Bishop of Mourning Colors" before.

To actually "marry" someone whose name he doesn't even know—the Goddess of Bath is definitely the most casual, no, the second most casual person among all the people Ritas knows.

"It's not my fault! Mord used a code name throughout the game, and there were no storylines or setting materials that revealed his real name."

As if she could guess what Ritas was thinking, the goddess of bathing defended herself.

On the other side, after seeing Maud leave, Sir Himm resumed his conversation with Ritas.

"Excuse me, Mr. White Pope. May I ask why the gentleman who has been in charge of my case is not here today?"

Although he felt that things had come to this point, Sir Himm still tried to confirm Ritas's identity.

"He has some things he can't get away from. Please don't worry, I am indeed an employee of 'Grand Closing Company'."

As Ritas spoke, he took out a company business card.

However, this business card was different from ordinary ones; in one corner was a pattern that looked as if it had been cut in two. Upon seeing the card, Sir Sim took out the same one. After piecing the two together, he looked at the complete pattern of the coat of arms and breathed a sigh of relief.

Xinge was very dedicated to her first official job assigned to the Third Market Development Team. Even though she skipped work today.

In short, to avoid any emergencies, the carrier pigeon had left Ritas a spare name tag as a keepsake.

"Now that I have paid the remaining balance, I hope your company can expedite the process."

“I’m very sorry, Sir Sim. Since I was assigned this job at the last minute, I’m not entirely clear about the prior communications between you and the other staff. And before that, may I ask why you made this request to our company?”

Ritas asked quite bluntly.

Unlike when he faced Platina alone before, although the situation was similar, Ritas was noticeably calmer now.

Because, unlike the "Starry Sky Inheritor" who can only intimidate, his identity within the Darkin and the company is real.

“If I remember correctly, your company’s policy is to simply complete the work and not delve into these matters.” Sir Sim frowned slightly, the doubts that had just dissipated resurfacing in his mind.

"This is just my personal curiosity. Of course, you may choose not to answer. However, please trust my professionalism as a company employee. Only by gaining a deeper understanding of our clients' needs can I provide more tailored service."

As Ritas finished speaking, his eyes darted around beneath the mask, and he casually added a hellish joke.
"To this day, none of the clients I have worked with have ever expressed any complaints or filed a complaint against me with the company afterward."

Opposite to Ritas, who was bowing slightly, Sir Himm could almost picture a sinister smile behind the "White Pope's" mask.

Actually, there wasn't any particular reason.

After a moment's hesitation, Sir Him slowly spoke.

"As you can see, even without entrusting the company, I don't have long to live. So, since I'm going to die anyway, I hope my death can have a very, very noble value!"

Sir Himm, who was just as emaciated as Maud, suddenly had a glint of light flash in his cloudy eyes.

"Something about that old man just doesn't seem right."

In the afternoon.

After finishing his discussions with Sir Him, Ritas found an alley where he could use detection magic to monitor Him's mansion.

Is it plausible that someone would hire a dubious company to kill their own person?

After taking the disc out of his backpack and holding it in his hand, Ritas breathed a sigh of relief and replied in this way.

"That's true. No, not really. How should I put it? It's just strange, especially with Maud's relationship. Although they really do seem like a very close grandfather and granddaughter. Maud also seems to be very dependent on that old man. But it's just..."

"I don't know what that 'Mourning Bishop' is thinking. But Sir Him probably doesn't value her much. Does the Goddess of Bath still remember the most basic conditions for commissioning the 'Grand Curtain Fall Company'?"

"Of course I remember, don't take me for a fool!"

The goddess of bathing was very dissatisfied and began to prove herself.

Simply put, if you entrust "Grand Closing Company" to hold a grand closing ceremony for you, you need to pay all of your assets.

Everything in the true sense.

However, not just anyone who invests all of their assets is qualified to entrust their affairs to others. Based on the approximate amount of their assets, company employees eligible to entrust their affairs are categorized into several levels.

The Third Market Development Team was undoubtedly the lowest level, but even at this lowest level, there were still specific requirements regarding the amount of property.
"Uh, how much was it again?"

"Yes"

Ritas stated a number, and the Bath Goddess, who had little concept of prices in Ritas's area, couldn't help but exclaim, "So much!"

"In other words, Sir Him, who is actually quite wealthy, has better conditions to raise Maud. If Maud is truly his precious disciple, like a granddaughter, as he claims, even if Sir Him has already paid off his entire fortune, that would only be a short-term matter. Short-term poverty would not have caused Maud to appear so severely malnourished."

Although Sir Sim was very gentlemanly and his terminal illness was pitiful, Ritas still felt a deep aversion to him, no matter how eloquently he spoke.

"Moreover, if you think about it normally, it's probably because Sir Him didn't leave anything for Maud after his death that she eventually joined the Darkin. In fact, her being taken away by the Darkin might even be the price Sir Him paid."

"Since that's the case, wouldn't it be better to take Mord away now?"

“Not good at all”

Ritas was speechless.

Taking Maud now would be nothing more than kidnapping or abduction.

Moreover, upon closer examination, there is no reason to do so.

They only met Him and Maud once, and Him's mistreatment of Maud was merely in their imagination. In fact, judging from Maud's attitude, she probably didn't feel mistreated and even respected and loved Him very much.

"Little Li, don't you think our church is missing something after I elevated you to the rank of Pope?"

"What's missing?"

"It's a bishop! Perfect timing, we have a perfect candidate for bishop right in front of us. In fact, Mord's future codename is 'The Mourning Bishop,' it's fate! To be honest, I thought I might never have the chance to meet my third wife. But just like that, we bumped into each other in a completely unexpected place! What else could this be but divine guidance!?"

Was it just a coincidence?

Ritas, however, felt that it was inevitable that he would encounter future Darkin members while he was currently infiltrating the Darkin ranks.

Ritas closed his eyes, calmed himself down, and kept his mind completely calm.

He couldn't help but think of Engel's matter.

Faced with the issues that Engri had already raised, Ritas chose to observe more at the time. He felt that simply avoiding the events within the "Star Pattern" game didn't require his excessive involvement.

However, the reality is that while the terrible consequences in the "Star Pattern" game may be avoided, some unimaginable and unpredictable terrible consequences will inevitably follow.

So, since the goddess of bathing really wants a "bishop," he should indeed put in more effort, since he can't keep stumbling over the same stone.

"With the departure of Carrier Pigeon and the others, the staff at the Baptistery Cathedral have become somewhat less busy. So, how about having White Cat and the others keep an eye on Him and Mord these days? If Mord's connection with the 'Darkin' is due to this 'Grand Closing,' then nothing unusual will likely happen while Him is still alive. I also need time to investigate their relationship."

"Hmm! That's a good idea. You're right. It's easy to get the third wife's 'body,' but we need to get her 'heart'!"

"."

What exactly is this woman saying?

While inwardly criticizing the goddess of bathing, Ritas couldn't help but sigh.

Quest accepted +1.

I really don't know how many tasks he can take on at the same time, or how many unfinished cases he can accumulate.

As for what happens next...
Ritas looked at the sky.

He should probably start preparing for his blind date tonight.

(End of this chapter)