Daily News: Insect Girls' Heavy Dependence

Julia glanced at Louis.

Louis said nothing, but simply nodded sincerely.

Although he accepted the invitation, Louis never took his hand off his longsword.

He walked past Richard.

The tone was very flat:

"Protect your sister Julia when necessary..."

"good…"

Richard could only give a brief reply, his left hand resting on the belt of the Fourteen-Winged Killer Knight, his right hand ready to summon the Blade Insect Cocoon at any moment.

Louis followed the Storm Rider in front, Julia followed behind, and Richard brought up the rear.

The four of them left the place under the watchful eyes of the insectoid beings...

We arrived at a simple hall upstairs in the church.

There was an extremely ordinary square wooden table with a very basic candle lit on it.

There are also four glasses of water and four servings of vegetable salad on a plate on the table.

It's called a salad, but there's actually no peanut butter or other sauce at all.

Richard looked again at Father John's worn robes and gaunt face...

He must have been eating this simple food for a long time, rather than pretending to be someone else.

A priest who oversees the city's cathedral lives a remarkably simple life.

The possibility that Father John was a true saint in Richard's mind had surpassed that of the fanatical believers...

Louis glanced at Father John and found a seat closest to him.

This prince, who is usually so cheeky, showed no sign of frivolity at this moment.

I witnessed what happened today.

He himself wasn't sure if his old friend John was also an insectoid...

Louis chose to sit to the left of Father John.

This would allow him to draw his sword with his right hand at any moment if necessary... to capture John! Although he wasn't sure if he was a match for him.

Richard was about to sit to Father John's right when his katana cocoon was free from the restriction of his dominant hand.

However, Julia immediately expressed her dissatisfaction!

"What are you doing getting involved, you first-tier brat? Get out of the way."

Her Highness pulled Richard aside and sat down to Father John's right.

"Julia, you..." Louis began directly.

But Julia glared at him fiercely.

Even if Richard wasn't Asdallen's brother, as a member of the royal family, she couldn't possibly allow a younger brother with royal blood who was inferior to her in both rank and age to protect her.

Louis then thought about it: Julia is, after all, a third-tier...

Neither of them said anything more.

Richard could only sit opposite Father John.

Although the distance isn't that far.

But Richard still felt the protection his two cousins ​​were giving him.

He now felt the same kinship that Astelle had once given him from Louis and Julia.

The invited guests all sat down.

Father John remained silent, using his knife and fork to pick up the vegetables from his plate. He ate them slowly and deliberately, then wiped himself clean.

Then he looked at Louis and slowly spoke:

"Your Highness, thank you for giving me this opportunity."

Louis glanced at his uneaten salad, then looked at Father John.

His expression had softened considerably, but he remained wary.

"What do you have to say? Explain to me whether you're using royal funding to raise insectoids?"

Father John shook his head and did not react.

Moreover, given his middle-aged scholarly demeanor, Richard felt he wouldn't be able to lash out.

John took a tricolored feather from the Storm Rider beside him.

Richard recognized it as the true form of a third-tier Storm Demon Insect.

However, he is already dead...

Then Father John, looking at Richard's bandaged head, spoke again to explain:

"He lost control and harmed His Highness... According to the rules of the White Heron Church, that means he was consumed by malice and became an out-of-control demon..."

"We can no longer accept him, and he voluntarily donated his body to become Holy Communion... to cleanse himself of the sins he has committed and is committing now."

"I guessed that Your Highness Louis would come looking for me. So I prepared to hand over the remains of this Storm Demon Insect to you..."

"Although he is extremely dangerous and has a history of patricide, as far as I know, there is an alchemist in the Holy See. She possesses the ability to strip away the evil will of demonic insects..."

Richard, upon hearing Father John mention this, realized he had no idea. The alchemist the priest was referring to was none other than Gloria!

Clearly, Glolo is the greatest genius of the Holy See Knight Academy in five hundred years. Louis and Julia also know about her.

Julia looked at Louis:

"Was this something you and the priest agreed upon...?"

Louis shook his head, indicating that he was unaware of Father John's plans.

Father John pursed his lips, his tone pleading:

"We beg the three princes to spare the children downstairs. Although they committed the sin of turning against their host, they have not committed any other innocent killings..."

Now Julia and Louis understood Father John's intention.

He knew Louis would come knocking, yet he still chose to continue distributing communion. And he used that bastard who had hurt Richard as an apology…

Louis did not respond to Father John's request.

Although his right hand had already left the sword hilt, his tone remained cold:

"You've been sheltering these...special followers. How long have you been sheltering them?"

"When I was transferred from the idol district, I noticed many strange Papal Knights... They always looked like they were starving, and some even worked as bounty hunters on the black market..."

After hearing the beginning of Father John's story, Louis understood how things would unfold.

What a stupid and stubborn guy!

No wonder the Egret Church is still in dire need of funding despite all the financial support I've given it!

However, Louis chose not to say anything more; as the patron, he was not so strict as to interfere in everything.

Since Father John managed these insect-men for a year, it shows that this frail middle-aged man was quite capable.

Since he has the ability to manage these marginalized figures, His Highness the Prince does not want to interfere too much.

Louis then moved the salad he hadn't eaten to Father John.

Although this did not conform to aristocratic etiquette, it touched Father John's heart more than any other etiquette.

This subtly indicates that Prince Louis, who doesn't play by the rules, will continue to fund the Egret Church...

Father John lowered his half-gray hair:

"Thank you, Your Highness..."

"No need to thank me, I'm just giving you more time... I noticed earlier that some of the insectoids aren't quite able to control themselves very well..."

Louis waved his hand.

I seized a third-tier Storm Demon Insect and a series of auxiliary insects from Father John.

They were tossed to Richard, who caught them one by one.

"Don't say that I, as your older brother, have bullied you and haven't apologized or anything. You can either have these bugs auctioned off or ask your sister Julia to find that alchemist. It's up to you what you do with them."

Richard simply nodded. He knew Gloria too well to need Julia's help to find someone...

Louis had already gotten up and was preparing to leave.

Everyone knows about these things; it should come to an end.

Storm Knight returned the Message Conch Beetle to Julia.

Richard also glanced at his two communication conch beetles. He had tried to contact Yekaterin when he retrieved the Fourteen-Winged Devouring Knight Beetle... but there was no response.

Let's leave the reason for this aside for now.

Since Louis had already pronounced the final verdict, no one objected.

It's time to leave...

However, just as Father John also got up, preparing to see everyone off.

"ah---!"

An unusual roar came from downstairs!