Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 370 - 81 Indulgent Confession_1

Chapter 370: Chapter 81 Indulgent Confession_1

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"How does it feel to almost have the bread you’re eating snatched away?" Everyone seemed to breathe easier once Suspicion and Elegance left the room. Events had transpired quickly, and despite most having already left, everyone was left with the impression that a conflict could have erupted at any second. Indulgence knelt over Passion, who was feigning emotionless like a piece of decoration, and was examining Passion’s wounds with a frown. Pannis’s voice suddenly chimed in from behind her: "Isn’t it interesting, this feeling of gaining and then losing, then gaining again?"

"Not in the slightest." Indulgence didn’t turn around, instead forcing a smile and saying: "We were overly confident and bit off more than we could chew. If it weren’t for the timely appearance of several of you, we would’ve suffered a miserable defeat."

"Really?" Pannis suddenly leaned in close to Indulgence’s ear and whispered, "I can’t help but think that, had we not appeared just in time, the ones with burn injuries would have been someone else, and that other person might’ve suffered injuries that were more than just burns."

"They’re all aware now," Passion groaned as she forced her eyes open and weakly grasped Indulgence’s hand. "Tell them... everything."

"But..." Indulgence hesitated, "Don’t you still want to..."

"Let her decide that for herself," interrupted Passion, who wasn’t used to talking so much. After forcing out those words, she closed her eyes again.

"Oh, you can see the intestines through this wound. They have a unique aesthetic appeal." Indulgence turned around only to find Pannis squatting beside Passion, resting his chin on a hand as he examined Passion’s exposed viscera as one would admire art. "Pity about the color though, a bit too dark. However, the liver over there has a...uh!"

The three girls from the adventure team stepped over Pannis one by one, grinding into him with their feet as they passed. Ignoring Pannis’s cries of pain, Vivian stood on his back and suggested, "Let’s begin treating her. It’s better not to delay with such severe injuries."

"Yes, leave it to me," Lina said as she carefully lifted Passion onto several chairs that she arranged brace. As she started examining the wounds, she said, "The wounds are deep and the internal organs are damaged. Even the intestines have been severed in two places. You’ll need to stay in bed for three days. Even after that you won’t be able to move too much; you’ll need at least ten days to recover."

"That fast?" Passion thanked Lina with a nod after cracking open an eye.

"Captain Indulgence," Catherine began, "I’m sorry that we weren’t able to fulfil all of the tasks you assigned us. We could not successfully identify the traitor."

"Wait a moment." Indulgence said, pausing mid-sigh. To the room at large, she said, "Everyone, my clients and I need some privacy to discuss something. Could we have a moment to ourselves?"

"We’ll wait downstairs then," Muir agreed. "When you’re done, come find us."

"It seems we’ll finally have beds to sleep in tonight." The clergy from the Temple Faction sighed a breath of relief. Accustomed to comfort, they had found outdoor living to be difficult. Now, they looked forward to a night of peaceful sleep.

"Also, you." Indulgence turned to Madness: "You should return first. We’ll come find you when Passion’s wounds have healed. You stabbed me from behind today; it hurt quite a bit. We’ll settle accounts with you later."

"Really?" Excitement flashed in Madness’s eyes. "You’re going to punish me? Will it happen in the execution chamber?"

"As you wish." Indulgence sighed at Madness’s reaction: "You wait and see."

"I will definitely get ready," Madness promised, looking eager to get started. Worried that Indulgence might change her mind, Madness leapt out of the window without looking back and disappeared from view.

"Alright, it’s just us left. Let’s sit down and have a good talk." Indulgence sat back down at the messy dining table, setting aside his usual charm and frivolity. He addressed Catherine seriously, "Passion and I want to apologize to you. It is indeed as you suspected that we used you under the guise of a commission. If this has caused any unpleasantness, I hope to express our remorse. To make up for our misuse, I will tell you everything. At the same time, if there’s anything you would like to clarify, you can ask me. As long as I know, I won’t conceal anything. I hope that this can demonstrate my sincerity."

"Can I ask something?" Catherine was the first to speak up, "What I want to clarify the most is, who is the mole?"

"You could say that everyone is actually a mole." Indulgence did not hide or evade this time and answered directly, "The followers of the Divine Servant have been in contact with each of us seven team leaders. The other team leaders probably thought they were the real moles themselves. If I hadn’t found out through other channels that they had contacted everyone, I might have thought I was the real mole as well."

"Through other channels?" Pannis pondered, "So it must have been the mages from the Sands of Time."

"Forget it, it’s too much trouble to explain that way." Indulgence said, "I’ll just start from the beginning."

"Three months ago, the followers of the Divine Servant suddenly approached Passion and me. They claimed they were living underground in the sewage maintenance corridors and wanted to take care of some affairs nearby, hence they came to give us a heads up. They promised us many benefits, even tempting us with the opportunity to be revived after death. Although Passion and I weren’t particularly interested in rebirth, we didn’t think their request was a big deal, and the benefits they offered were quite substantial, so we agreed. Later, we found out that they had negotiated like this with every team leader, paying the same price. Whether any team leader was tempted by the opportunity for rebirth, I don’t know."

"Not long after, the city began to experience sinister sacrifices. Passion and I immediately thought of their request. However, as death is quite common in the city and their occasional sacrifices wouldn’t make a big impact, we didn’t pay it much mind, tacitly allowing their behavior. The other team leaders probably thought the same. No one mentioned the issue, everyone acted as if nothing had happened."

"However, the sacrifices continued for more than a month, becoming more frequent and eventually exceeding fifty occurrences. Initially, they were only confined to the back alleys. They’d quietly skip people from other districts and sacrifice from the back alleys, but this eventually extended to the whole city, with a few sacrifices taking place in other districts. Unquestionably, the sacrificial sites became exposed, impacting the unsuspecting tourists visiting the City of Innocence. I don’t know what the other team leaders did, but Passion and I issued a warning because of this issue, after which their acts of sacrifice definitively lessened, with a much lower frequency."

"But, it was somewhat too late. I’m not sure if the presidents knew about their existence before, but after the issue blew up, one of the presidents, Thorn, stepped in, warning the team leaders to be cautious about this issue and to avoid causing too much commotion. Moreover, he assigned Passion and me to thoroughly investigate the matter."

"Why did they have to assign you two?" Catherine asked, "It couldn’t have been a random assignment."

"No." Indulgence glanced at Pannis with a strange look, "Some things had happened before, so Thorn had some consideration for Passion and me. However, the things that happened might involve Thorn’s personal matters, and they’re irrelevant to the current situation, so..."

"It’s okay, that’s not important," Catherine didn’t press Indulgence, "As long as there’s a reason, you can continue."

"After receiving this task, Passion and I suddenly realized that this might be an opportunity, a chance to get rid of some competitors. So, we developed this plan to strike at our opponents and expand our influence. Once we had a basic outline of the plan, we came to you with the commission, and that’s what led to the events that followed."

"Why did you choose us?" Catherine had asked this question twice before, and she asked it again, "Tell me the truth."

Indulgence gave a bitter smile and countered, "Do you think people like us have anyone else to turn to when we need help? Besides you, we couldn’t find anyone else we could depend on."

"But why didn’t you just tell us?" Catherine complained, "Why did you deceive and use us with layers of lies?"

"Because you are a knight, Catherine." Indulgence’s smile grew bitter, "It seems like this issue has been resolved perfectly now. But if things hadn’t gone smoothly, it could very likely have involved framing and plotting. If we had told you directly, there’s no way you would have agreed."

This response left Catherine taken aback for a moment. It had not occurred to her that this would be the reason. After a while, she shook her head and sighed, "Please, continue. What happened next? I still don’t completely understand the subsequent events."

"We originally targeted three individuals in our plan: Elegance, Insanity, and Cruelty. Elegance was too cunning, Cruelty constantly had minor conflicts with us, and Insanity was unpredictable. Insanity was also close with Cruelty, so those were our targets. But Elegance was too mysterious, no one knew who he really was, so reluctantly, we replaced Elegance with Curiosity. To achieve our goal, we intentionally requested at the seven-person meeting for Suspicion to step aside, giving him an opportunity to extricate himself. We had figured out that once he extricated himself, he would venture into the sewage pipes in search of Catherine and Vivian, using you two to eliminate those cultists and cover up the fact that he had been in touch with them. This also added a layer of protection for the two of you in the sewage pipes."