"I'll go." Ethan volunteered. "If the opponent truly has a conspiracy, I can at least relay the message back."
Though he said this, the truth was that the rare injury he sustained made Ethan recall an old idea.
Ethan had yet to acquire a powerful healing talent or skill. With a large number of Fallen Angels and subordinate personnel arriving in Kuoh Town, perhaps the somewhat naive, blonde little nun was among them.
The Sacred Gear Twilight Healing (Holy Mother's Smile), in terms of pure healing ability, was a top-tier Sacred Gear. Furthermore, it was extremely convenient and the healing speed was rapid.
Moreover, the little nun possessed exceptionally high magical aptitude, making her perfectly suited for the Bishop position in Rias's peerage.
Ethan's act of stopping Rias from contacting Grayfia and taking on the investigation task himself were all aimed at finding out if Asia Argento had arrived in Kuoh Town.
If the little nun had indeed arrived, she needed to become Rias's servant before Grayfia was notified.
Since Yuma Amano's trio had already been taken in, bringing in another little nun, abandoned by the Church, was absolutely no problem.
The others exchanged troubled glances. If something amiss was discovered during the reconnaissance, and Azazel noticed, they wouldn't have time to react, let alone send back a message.
And so, the investigator was decided.
On March 9th, after a day of rest and bringing his body back to peak condition, Ethan began his investigation.
He was responsible for infiltrating and investigating the church, while also having Kasumi Takamine and Fuyuko Sakuramachi mobilize the girls living nearby to constantly watch for any priests or nuns appearing in town.
The Grand Church didn't have living supplies. It was impossible for so many people not to eat or drink, and the Fallen Angels wouldn't go to the trouble of bringing low-value supplies all the way from headquarters.
With Azazel restraining the Fallen Angels from going out, the task of procuring daily necessities fell to the subordinate personnel.
That afternoon, Ethan finished investigating the upper part of the church, then cast a concealment spell and hid in the nearby forest.
To thoroughly investigate the basement, he either had to wait for Azazel to go out, or play the waiting game, hoping some bored Fallen Angel would emerge, whom he could then capture and interrogate.
Even Ethan couldn't avoid being discovered by Azazel if he tried to sneak into the basement at such a close distance.
Taking out snacks and drinks from his personal dimension, Ethan lay on a sturdy, thick branch, scrolling on his phone while observing the personnel movements at the church.
Under the observation of his [Insight Eye], he could clearly see the faces of people entering and leaving the Grand Church, even from over a kilometer away.
However, knowing what they were saying was impossible.
Because Ethan hadn't learned lip-reading, even though he could clearly see the movement of the speaker's lips, he couldn't decipher what was being said.
Unable to investigate the basement directly, and to avoid missing any crucial intelligence, he could only monitor the Grand Church 24/7 from his position.
Fortunately, he no longer required sleep after reaching A-class. Otherwise, even with plenty of snacks and gadgets to pass the time in his personal dimension, Ethan alone couldn't have managed this task.
Time advanced to March 12th.
Ethan had spent three full days in the tree, exhausting all the snacks and drinks in his personal dimension, yet he hadn't discovered any specific clues.
Just as he was planning to return to restock supplies and report to Rias, he received a Line message from Fuyuko Sakuramachi.
[Found a blonde nun. She is carrying a suitcase and asking for directions. Destination is the Grand Church.]
When Ethan assigned the task, he had provided a rough description of Asia, even using his [Sketching] skill to draw her appearance from memory. However, since it had been so long, he wasn't sure how accurate the likeness was.
But now, it seemed that generally identifying a person was not an issue.
Ethan cleaned up the trash he had generated over the past few days and swiftly flew towards the location provided by Fuyuko Sakuramachi.
When he arrived, he happened to see another somewhat familiar person approaching Asia.
It was the white-haired Stray Priest, Freed Sellzen. He was once a direct Exorcist under the Holy See of the Vatican, having exterminated numerous stray Youkai and Devils since the age of thirteen.
However, he was actually a fanatical battle maniac with no true faith, who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice his own comrades.
After being exposed, he was handed over by the Church to the Fallen Angels to serve as a disposable asset.
"Asia Argento, come with me. Governor Azazel is waiting for you."
Freed spoke to the blonde little nun without emotion. "Afterward, Governor Azazel will need to study your Sacred Gear. He might even require you to serve him sexually, so prepare yourself."
The blonde little nun didn't react much to the first half of the sentence. The Sacred Gear she was born with had initially brought her some benefits, but ever since she healed a Devil, the Sacred Gear had become the beginning of her tragedy.
Just recently, the village church finally drove her out. As she wondered where to go and how to make a living,
The Fallen Angels contacted her, instructing her to come to this church in Japan to continue being a nun.
Naive, without family or marketable skills, Asia could only follow instructions and hurried here.
She was perfectly willing to cooperate with the research on her Sacred Gear, but the sudden mention of sexual service made her flustered and helpless.
Asia had grown up in the Church, but with modern information dissemination and the open atmosphere of foreign countries, she understood what 'sexual service' meant.
"Father..."
"Freed Sellzen," Freed said coolly. "Just call me Freed. Like you, I'm clergy who was expelled by the Church and joined the Fallen Angels."
"Father Freed, I'm only 16... Isn't that too early for sexual service?"
Asia, an orphan from birth, was accustomed to obeying others, but when it concerned a nun's purity, she couldn't help but care.
"Besides, I am a nun. I can't do things like that."
"You are a former nun. Governor Azazel is the Fallen Angel Governor. Being able to serve him is your good fortune."
Freed said impatiently, "I only said it was a possibility. With your plain figure, Governor Azazel might not even be interested."
The blonde little nun wanted to say something more, but Freed didn't give her a chance. He reached out a hand, intending to drag her toward the church.
Ethan saw everything. So Asia wasn't at the Grand Church all this time. No wonder I was squatting here for so many days. I saw Freed and other subordinates several times, but never Asia.
The blonde little nun frantically backed away, trying to avoid Freed's hand, but with her combat power of approximately zero, how could she be Freed's match?
Before Freed even acted, Asia stumbled backward in panic, lost her footing, and fell to the ground.
Her suitcase hit the cobblestones, scattering clothes everywhere.
Ethan glanced at them. The underwear was pure and ordinary, and the panties were the classic pure white style—truly fitting for a nun's image, not SEXy at all.
Freed was about to get angry when Ethan suddenly appeared beside Asia. He asked with concern, "Miss, are you alright? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"Hey, who are you? Get away from there now."
Freed looked at Ethan fiercely, his expression unkind. This was an important tool he was using to curry favor with Governor Azazel. It couldn't be sullied by another man.
Ethan ignored his shouting and deliberately let slip a trace of Devil aura.
Freed had never met Ethan and knew nothing about Rias's group. The moment he sensed the Devil aura, his barely maintained normal façade instantly collapsed.
His lips curled into a grin that nearly split his entire face, and his eyes suddenly widened. He laughed maniacally, "So it's a Devil! You dare show your face in broad daylight in front of this priest... Since you're looking for death, I shall grant it to you."
Freed materialized a handgun and a sword in his hands—his Sacred Gear. They were powerful, and combined with his own skill, he was virtually unbeatable against B-class, or Low-Class Devils.
Mhm, this Sacred Gear isn't bad. The power is decent, and it looks quite cool.
Ethan muttered to himself, deliberately putting on a strained expression as if facing a great foe, enticing Freed to attack first.