Work Prophet
Chapter 626 - 58: The Funeral on the River

Chapter 626: Chapter 58: The Funeral on the River

Miss Rabbit, though eager to return and develop the steel industry, still stayed an extra day in Rock Snow City to attend the funeral of Marquis Kuren.

The next day, as dawn just broke, Hels led the nobles out of the city gates, heading north to the White Pine River, about ten miles from Rock Snow City.

The guards of the Figrola family pushed the ash wooden boat carrying Marquis Kuren’s body into the river and piled it with pine resin and branches.

Quintus the High Priest from the Silver Moon Church presided over the funeral for this lord of the western borders himself.

He placed an amulet on the corpse’s chest, then began to pray aloud.

The nobles on the riverbank stood in solemn silence, no one speaking.

When the High Priest uttered his final word, Hels stepped forward, took a torch from a guard, and lit the boat, watching it drift downstream.

Under the effect of pine resin and branches, the flames quickly spread and soon engulfed the entire small boat.

Lady, watching the blaze on the river, felt a faint sadness arise. She remembered the first time she saw Marquis Kuren, seated at the other end of the long table, his spine rigid, his face majestic.

Then Miss Rabbit thought of her stepmother Vanessa and her half-brother Blanco.

She hadn’t seen these two for close to two years, during which, as they contested for the headship of the Arias family, tensions mounted high, even to the point of armed confrontation.

The young lady once harbored a deep dislike for this mother and son, but she wondered if it was due to the passage of time that this animosity had begun to fade, and she started to reminisce about the times they had spent together.

She and Vanessa were not particularly close; Vanessa clearly favored her own son over her stepdaughter, but to be fair, Vanessa was nowhere near the evil stepmother of fairy tales.

Although she sometimes couldn’t resist throwing a few sarcastic remarks, she had never shortchanged her concerning food, clothing, or other necessities.

And instead of saying Vanessa disliked Ireya, her stepdaughter, it would be truer to say she detested everything associated with her.

Miss Rabbit also realized later that in the heart of her father Ruse, his greatest love would always be for her mother Yolanda.

Until his last moment, Ruse always wore the brooch Yolanda had given him.

This could certainly be considered deep affection, but for Vanessa, it was maybe too cruel.

The Lady couldn’t help but sigh; when she looked up again, she found the boat was gone, and Hels and the other nobles were preparing to return to the city.

Therefore, Miss Rabbit also planned to leave, but then she saw Quintus approaching.

"Sir Ireya, it has been a long time since we last met."

"Quintus the High Priest, indeed, it has been a long time. Have I yet to congratulate you on becoming the High Priest?" The Lady looked curiously at the man standing before her.

Quintus, although wearing the silver robe of the High Priest, seemed to have an even darker complexion with wrinkles that appeared deeper.

"Actually, I still prefer missionary work in the countryside to being the High Priest," said Quintus.

This statement sounded somewhat insincere, but Miss Rabbit could sense that Quintus was heartfelt when he said this.

"Unfortunately, the western border has been increasingly disturbed recently, and the Church has suddenly undergone great changes. At a time of crisis, I was chosen to stand out. I had no choice but to grit my teeth and continue. By the way, isn’t Prophet Merlin here?"

"How so, does your Silver Moon Church still intend to send someone to challenge the Double Rest Sect?" the Lady raised an eyebrow.

"How could we," Quintus shook his head, "when it comes to performing miracles, no one in the West is a match for Prophet Merlin; the Church should have never arrogantly pushed Adelle forward only to be humiliated."

"Not to mention trying to cover up one mistake with another afterward."

Quintus paused, "Actually, my visit to Prophet Merlin is to hope that the Double Rest Sect and Silver Moon Church can coexist peacefully in the West."

"Coexist peacefully... what do you mean?"

"It means not infringing on each other and, if possible, to exchange some information," said Quintus. "After all, we now have a common enemy."

"You’re referring to Hirodod?"

"Exactly. He has distorted the original teachings of the Church to establish the Blood Moon Association, inciting hatred in the West and gathering a large number of fanatical followers. With poisoning and assassination as his main methods to eliminate dissidents and threaten more people to join them, he is becoming increasingly dangerous."

"Hmm, I’ve heard about the things he did recently, and the Blood Moon Association even made a move on me once, during my birthday banquet. However, I was protected by the blessings of Saturday, and they ultimately failed," the Lady said.

"Of course, I also want to capture Hirodod, but it is said that his movements are very elusive, and he rarely shows his face in public. It is his subordinates that carry out his orders. Many nobles in the West hate him to death, yet can’t do much about him."

"We are aware of this of course..." Quintus stopped here, glanced around, and then continued.

"To eliminate the Blood Moon Association, we must capture Hirodod. As early as half a year ago, we sent a group of insiders to pretend to join the Blood Moon Association.

"Now, some of them have gained Hirodod’s trust and collected a lot of important information. Among them is a piece related to you, and to show our willingness to cooperate, I will share this information with you now."

"Related to me?" Miss Rabbit furrowed her brows. "Does Hirodod want to try to assassinate me again?"

"No, to be precise, it’s related to your family. Your brother Blanco, you remember him, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Our insiders with the Blood Moon Association have sent back a message that Hirodod is recently plotting a crazy plan, and your brother, along with several other nobles, will play a significant role in it."

Upon hearing this, the Lady gasped, "Are you saying that Blanco is now with Hirodod?"

Quintus nodded, "Just a week ago, they kidnapped the Welch Family Head, Pepp."

"Pepp?" Miss Rabbit remembered, when she had just returned to the West, she seemed to have received a letter from the Welch Family Head.

In the letter, Pepp disclosed that Vanessa had contacted him again, wanting to borrow money, and to curry favor with Ireya, the rapidly rising star of the West, and to make up for the unpleasantness at the previous birthday banquet.

Pepp also hinted in the letter that he would take the opportunity to help the Lady quietly deal with this hidden danger.

As a result, Miss Rabbit replied to him not to meddle in affairs that weren’t his and that at the time, the Lady had no intention to eradicate her problems at the root.

Now, after hearing Quintus’s words, the young woman realized that it might have been a trap.

Pepp was still dreaming of killing Vanessa and Blanco to claim credit with the Lady, but he probably didn’t expect that he was also the target.

Yet Ireya remembered telling Pepp not to act rashly. Did he not take her advice, or did something else happen subsequently?