"No—this still exposed a bit of intention after all." Isabella's heart tightened;

she realized she had been too hasty. This immediate move to inspect the grid revealed her distrust of the old priest. It was something she would not have done before. If the old priest truly was the mastermind behind everything, then her distrust would become a thread that could make the old priest suspicious. Fortunately, the old priest still wore that same gentle old-man demeanor and told Isabella to go ring the bell hanging above the church. The clanging sound drew most of the villagers' attention. The church bell rarely rang unless there was a funeral or a major announcement. So the people naturally gathered toward the church. As news spread that there might be witches and Whale Transformation Disease patients in the village, many villagers began to panic. However, with Naimes stepping forward to direct the village guards and some strong villagers to search the area in an orderly fashion, even though nothing was found, people's nerves calmed a bit.

On the other side, Isabella moved with the search party, but she deliberately deviated from their route and headed toward another prearranged meeting point. There she met Jacques. They had already agreed that, during the day, if anything unusual happened they would meet here. "Why are so many people suddenly searching around the village? Did something happen?" Jacques asked, anxious. "Jacques, listen to me first—make sure you calm down." Isabella told him to steady himself. Only after Jacques calmed did she lay out her suspicions and the signs she had noticed. "Impossible!" Jacques instantly exploded. One of the main reasons he had decided to delay his return to Wavetail Town was to come here and take revenge on Naimes, to wash away his humiliation. Now he was being told that Naimes might very well be innocent, and that the one he had always respected—the old priest—might be the problem? After his outburst, Jacques quickly regained composure and began to consider the possibilities Isabella had presented.

"I still don't want to believe it. The family has some files on the old priest. The old priest used to have a very good relationship with the Dartmanley family. When they learned I was coming here, the family told me to obey the old priest." "A man like that wouldn't—" "The likelihood that the old priest is involved has just gone up," Isabella interrupted;

she didn't wear any rose-colored glasses about the Dartmanley family. She didn't assume something was good just because the family said so. "Don't forget, Nael reported the family's illegal bloodline experiments and was exiled here!" "The old priest exiled himself because of bloodline experiments, too." "From the timeline, the Dartmanley family's bloodline experiments could very well be a continuation of the old priest's experiments..." "Nael is very likely an experimental subject," Isabella concluded calmly. "The old priest has spent decades here and never let go of the failed experiments;

he's been quietly pushing the research forward." "Those experiments were most likely still illegal, so the old priest couldn't openly obtain resources. That's why he sheltered Op." "Op sold whalehide ore, and most of the profits might have been turned into experimental materials and funneled into the old priest's hands." Given the current situation, this was the only reasonable explanation. Nael, an exiled holy knight, honestly didn't need to smuggle whalehide ore. After all, holy knights at most use some life-supplementing medicines, which cost money, but their consumption level is even behind wealthy ladies and young misses. Sustained illegal profits for a long time usually support either a large organization or experimental research.

Jacques' face turned ashen as he stood there, tightly furrowing his brow, seemingly turning Isabella's theory over and over in his head. If he could, he felt like crying. His emotions told him this was all false—Naimes' provocation and division;

everything here was the doing of Naimes' family's traitor. But his reason told him it could be true. As his filter cracked, more disturbing memories surfaced. He realized his status within the family had been different since childhood. Although his parents died early, the family had always taken care of him;

when he fought with peers, the family usually backed him. That preferential treatment even sparked jealousy in some. Jacques had often been proud—that was the Dartmanley family way. But looking back now without the filter, it felt strange. Also, when he first came to Beiqi Village this time, the householder had summoned him and scrutinized him for a long time before letting him come, warning him to obey the old priest and not to disgrace the Dartmanley family's honor. Now he saw it more like a "shipment"—presenting a finished product that had been developed for a long time and asking him to perform well. The more Jacques thought about it, the more terrified he became. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novᴇlfire.net

"No, I have to ask Nael! I have to find out what the family's illegal bloodline experiments really were!" Jacques' unease flared up again. He had once thought Nael had betrayed the family purely out of selfishness. Most families conduct bloodline experiments;

it's normal—like discussing eugenics—everyone wants their bloodline to improve. Occasional violations happen. So he had labeled Nael a traitor who complained after being satiated. But now, thinking it through, questions emerged: if those experiments were merely minor violations, why had the Dartmanley family been forced to move from their family center in Breathspring City to Wavetail Town in recent years? That didn't look like a trivial infraction. It's like what he's doing now—delaying his return to Wavetail Town would be a violation, but he believed the Dartmanley family would shield him from severe punishment.

"Don't act rashly. If you rush back now, you'll only make us more passive. Everything we've set up will vanish in an instant." Isabella continued to urge Jacques to hold back. Even if their enemy might no longer be Naimes, the overt and covert arrangements were not useless. Luckily, after being thoroughly beaten by Naimes, Jacques still had impulses but no longer lost all self-control. At least now he could calm himself enough to think. "I'll contact Nael for you. It seems he might know something." "And Jacques, you have another task," Isabella said, pausing slightly. The situation had already far exceeded their initial understanding, and even Isabella found herself hesitating. Were they really going to continue meddling in this matter?