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The dark city walls are reflected in the lake’s water, and under the glow of the setting sun, reality and reflections, majesty and tenderness, all intertwine into a beautiful landscape.

When Colin arrived at Swan City with Baron Solin, he found that Countess Schultz was already patiently waiting outside the city.

The Countess, tall and well-proportioned, was dressed in a light blue court dress. With her jet-black hair and eyes, and exquisite features, there was no trace of aging on her.

Colin dismounted and bowed in a respectful greeting, “Countess Schultz, may your beauty persist and your youth last forever.”

“Honorable guardian of the North Territory, Viscount Angler, welcome to Swan City!”

The Countess radiated a warm smile, her tone amiable and gentle, apparently unaffected by Vera’s refusal to visit Swan City.

The Countess emanated an affable and amiable grace, capable of dissolving Colin’s reservations with her gentle and attractive smile, seemingly melting away his predispositions about the Schultz family.

“This is my husband, Lucien.”

The Countess introduced Lucien, a sturdy middle-aged man standing beside her.

With a half-hearted smile, Lucien appeared less than enthusiastic. It was unclear if this was due to some resentment towards Colin or just his naturally unsociable demeanor.

Colin did not mind, instead returning the courtesy with a smile and a nod of respect.

Lucien, as the most powerful visible entity in the northern territory, certainly earned his sense of pride.

The Countess subsequently introduced the important members of her family to Colin. Though he greeted everyone with a smile, he remembered only a handful of names.

After the greetings, Countess Schultz led Colin into Swan City.

For this visit, Colin only brought a dozen guards with him. However, unbeknownst to outsiders, there were over a hundred blood slaves secretly stationed outside the city.

Swan City, famed for being the most beautiful city in the North Territory, was adorned in uniform white, with roads laid in cobblestone and green belts adorned with towering phoenix trees.

However, to Colin, there seemed to be an affected air to Swan City’s beauty when compared to the natural charm of Silver Moon City. Nonetheless, among the cities in the North Territory, Swan City indeed stood out. It was more majestic than Winterfell City but lacked the latter’s subtle grace.

Looking at Swan Castle in the distance, Colin proposed with a smile, “Countess, why don’t we head directly to the Glorious Church?”

“Won’t you have dinner first?”

“Let’s first look at the place where Bishop John disappeared. The uncertainty keeps me from enjoying my meal.”

Countess Schultz did not press further. She smiled gently and praised, “Alright, your dedication is truly admirable.”

Nimbly, the motorcade altered its direction and soon arrived at the Glorious Church.

Four white-robed priests welcomed Colin into the prayer hall. Countess Schultz explained as they walked:

“According to the priests of the Church, everything was normal on the night Bishop John disappeared. After leading the last mass, he returned to his room to rest. However, the next morning, the servants who were supposed to help the bishop with his morning routine discovered that he was not in his room.

Then, the priests searched the church and found nothing, so they reported the matter to me.

I sent the City Defense Force to search the entire city, and even let Lucien personally lead a search party around Swan City, but we still could not locate Bishop John.”

Nodding, Colin turned to the leading priest, “Can you take us to Bishop John’s room?”

“Of course, this way please.”

The group followed the priest through the corridor into the courtyard.

“Viscount, this is Bishop John’s room. We’ve thoroughly inspected it and couldn’t find any signs of a struggle or anything unusual.”

After making a quick round of the room, Colin asked with a light laugh, “Could it be that Bishop John simply went on a journey and forgot to inform you?”

Countess Schultz also laughed: “That indeed appears to be the most reasonable explanation.”

Colin touched his nose, wondering to himself, could this be some kind of charade staged by the Church? Bishop John knew Vera was passing by Swan City, so he orchestrated his own disappearance to lure Vera into the city? But what purpose would that serve?

Colin swept his gaze across the faces in the room, then asked, “On the night of the bishop’s disappearance, did he come into contact with any strange individuals?”

“Strange individuals?”

“Yes, or someone you didn’t recognize.”

After considering for a while, one of the priests suddenly spoke up, “A strange knight did come to the church seeking confession from the bishop.”

“A stranger knight?” Count Schultz expressed his interest “Didn’t any of you recognize which family’s knight he was?”

The priest shook his head and said, “The knight seemed to be injured, his face was half covered with a white cloth, so I couldn’t recognize him. However, Bishop John seemed to know him and accepted his confession.”

Then Colin immediately asked, “Can you take us to see the confession room?”

The priest nodded, and then took them out of the bishop’s room, going to the confessional on the side of the prayer hall.

The confessional was quite small, its décor minimalistic, with two chairs separated by a wooden windbreak.

For the followers of the Glorious Church, this was the closest they could get to their deity, the only place where they could pour out their sins and seek repentance from the divine.

Count Schultz took a look for a while, seemingly not finding anything, then asked: “Did Bishop John show any abnormality after ending the confession?”

The priest thought for a moment, shook his head and said, “It didn’t seem unusual. He even presided over the mass afterwards, and his behaviour was the same as usual.”

Count Schultz told her husband, “Perhaps we should ask the city defense officer to see if any injured knights have recently entered Swan City.”

Lucien nodded, “Right, I’ll go ask later.”

Noting that Colin had been silent, Count Schultz asked, “Viscount, have you found anything?”

Colin paused, then shook his head and smiled, “No.”

Count Schultz gave Colin a deep look, then invited, “Let’s return to the Swan Castle for dinner first.”

“Good.”

Everyone then left the Church and entered Swan Castle.

As it was already late, a crystal chandelier had been lit at one corner of the banquet hall in Swan Castle. The attentive servants had prepared a table full of delicacies to entertain their distanced guests.

After the banquet, led by a young maid, Colin came to the room prepared by the Count for him.

After washing up, Colin didn’t go to bed immediately. Instead, he quietly left Swan Castle and returned to Glorious Church again.

In the prayer hall of the church, priests were directing the choir to sing hymns. One of the priests, seeing Colin, immediately walked up to him and asked,

“Viscount, is there anything I can do for you?”

Colin pointed in the direction of the side hall and said, “I want to go back to that confession room to look around, is there anyone in there?”

“No. Do you want to confess?”

“No, I just want to look around myself, you all don’t need to bother.”

“Alright.”

After dismissing the priest, Colin went into the confessional alone.

Closing the door, Colin sat down on the seat.

The confessional was very quiet, he could hear the faint singing of the choir from the prayer hall next door.

Colin took a deep breath, and once again smelled that faint smell of blood.

The smell was faint, very faint. The expressions of Count Schultz and the priests proved that they hadn’t noticed this smell of blood at all.

If Colin weren’t extremely sensitive to the smell of fresh blood, he might have missed this crucial clue.

It was this smell that made him return.

But just as Colin was preparing to look around more carefully, he suddenly felt something was off.

Swipe!

He pulled back the curtain in the middle and was surprised to find another person sitting in the seat opposite!

Colin’s heart trembled, showing a stiff smile, and greeted,

“Good evening, Your Highness the Prince!”