Chapter 245 - 240: Going All-In Is a Form of Wisdom
Late at night, Mia retrieved the booklet from the hollow of a dead tree.
She returned to her stall in the stables and made out the numbers by the moonlight.
"Design a plan to entice the target to consume the potion."
The mission was simple.
She had opportunities to get close to Fabian, which was easier than infiltrating a heavily guarded noble’s castle.
By the next morning, Mia had an idea.
Mia carried a wooden cup.
The water inside was clear, drawn from the well in the chapel’s backyard, a well reserved for the clergy.
She was heading to Fabian’s room.
It was the most direct way she could think of to administer the drug.
Under the pretext of delivering water.
The corridor was quiet.
Deacon Philip was polishing the wall sconces.
He saw Mia.
"Stop."
Mia stopped, her body shrinking in on itself as she adopted a subservient posture.
Philip walked over, not looking at her, but staring at the wooden cup in her hand.
He pulled a pristine white linen cloth from his clothes and gently wiped the side of the cup.
A faint gray smudge was left on the cloth.
"Unclean."
Philip’s expression didn’t change.
"Nothing unclean is permitted near Lord Fabian’s room. Your hands, your clothes, this cup—they are all unclean."
He took the wooden cup from Mia’s hand and poured the water onto the stone-paved floor.
"Go back. Wash your hands ten times. And do not come near the lord’s room again without my permission."
Mia stared at the puddle on the floor, then lowered her head and turned to leave without a word.
First attempt: failure.
She turned her attention to the kitchen.
She tried to get near where Fabian ate, but the fat Priest in the kitchen blocked the door with his body.
"Lina, your job is to sweep the courtyard."
She tried to enter the inner chamber while Fabian was praying, using the excuse of delivering a new candelabra. Deacon Philip stopped her.
"The candelabra must be purified by my own hands. Your hands are unclean."
She even tried feigning a fall in front of Fabian, hoping to discreetly drop the sand hidden in her sleeve into his boot.
Holy Knight Connor was faster. He caught her and pulled her up, putting distance between her and Fabian.
"Careful, child."
Every attempt was a dress rehearsal.
And every rehearsal ended in failure.
Mia came to a realization.
As Lina, she was a symbol, put on a pedestal to be seen in any public place, to be the focus of all eyes.
But she couldn’t enter any of the core areas.
Fabian’s room, his food, his water—all were protected by an invisible order.
An order comprised of Philip’s obsessive cleanliness, the fat Priest’s rigid rules, and Connor’s omnipresent vigilance.
She couldn’t get to Fabian at all.
That night, Mia lay awake on a pile of hay in the stables, her eyes wide open.
The dry hay pricked her back, the sound of horses snorting echoing in her ears.
’How can I possibly complete this mission?’
She climbed out of the hay and slipped out of the stables. The moonlight was cold, the courtyard empty.
She sat on the stone rim of the well in the center of the yard.
During the day, everyone came here for water.
The workers from the construction site came with their wooden buckets.
The kitchen helpers came carrying water jugs.
Deacon Philip would use his personal silver cup to draw a cup of water for polishing the Holy Emblem.
Even Fabian himself would occasionally draw water from here to wash his hands during his walks.
The well water was communal.
Water drawn from the well ended up in everyone’s cups, everyone’s pots, everyone’s stomachs.
Mia stared into the deep darkness of the well’s opening.
A simple, brutal, and utterly diabolical idea popped into her little head.
She couldn’t manage to drug just one person.
’So why not... drug everyone?’
Turn the entire church into one big, wild party!
Mia’s eyes lit up.
She hopped off the well’s rim and ran back to her stall.
Before dawn, she placed the booklet back in the hollow of the dead tree.
...
Kael placed a booklet on Velin’s desk.
"Mia’s latest report."
Velin opened the booklet, his fingertips coming to an abrupt halt on the page.
The study fell silent.
Kael stood to the side, remaining silent.
He had seen the message as well, but he couldn’t evaluate the plan.
Poisoning the well—an indiscriminate attack.
It was a plan only a madman would conceive.
For a moment, Velin was dumbfounded.
’What is this?’
’You can do that?’
But after the initial sense of absurdity...
...came the feeling that it was actually feasible.
He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
’You really have to hand it to the specialists. When it comes to throwing a proper orgy, a succubus knows best.’
The original plan was just to get some personal leverage on Fabian, to force some simple compromises.
But Mia had escalated the initially mild plan step by step, taking it to a level he had never anticipated.
An opportunity to take down the entire senior leadership of the Mi Port church in one fell swoop.
Deacon Philip, Prelate Elmsworth, Holy Knight Connor... Mia didn’t know that these Divine Art users all had implanted foreign organs.
If they were all to have an "episode" at the same time...
...then the church in the Grey Marsh Territory would never be a problem again.
Velin’s fingers tapped gently on the desk.
"She’s requested a large quantity of ’The Last Knightly Tourney’ and a potion to restore her strength."
"She’s thought of everything."
Velin picked up the booklet.
"Approve her plan."
Kael didn’t move.
"My lord, this plan is risky. The well at the church likely connects to a groundwater source that feeds more than just that one well. If the dosage or effects of the potion are off, it could cause mass riots."
"It won’t." Velin shook his head. "’The Last Knightly Tourney’ is a formula I developed myself. For ordinary people, it has no side effects besides excess energy. But for those with foreign organs in their bodies..."
He laughed.
"The foreign organs amplify emotions and desires. And this potion is an amplifier for desire. When the two are combined, the effect will be... very interesting."
Velin looked at Kael.
"Mia has created an opening. We can’t waste this opportunity."
"Have the ’GPU’ prepare for action."
Kael’s posture straightened.
"This will be their first mission."
"I want the most detailed records. I’ll have the Golden Sail Commerce Association send over Memory Crystals as soon as possible. I need to know how the clergy’s foreign organs will react under the potion’s stimulation. Every detail, every individual’s distinct reaction, must be recorded meticulously."
Kael understood.
’The lord’s old quirk of needing to get to the bottom of everything was showing itself again.’
"Tell Mia," Velin’s voice returned to its usual calm, "to give her everything she requested."
"Yes, my lord."
"Go," Velin waved his hand. "Let our ’lost little lamb’ deliver a grand gift to that flock of Priests."
Kael bowed, and his figure vanished from the doorway.