Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Chapter 36: The Enemy of My Enemy

Hughes looked at Connor, considered for a moment, and then spoke:

"Yes, so my concern isn't that your plea for help will go unanswered, but that they—"

"—will bury us along with the secret, right?"

Connor did not respond. He simply lowered his head, nodded slightly, and stood to the side, waiting for Hughes to make a decision.

Hughes rubbed his temples and sat in the chair, thinking carefully.

This was indeed troublesome, but overall, still manageable.

First of all, the Candlelight Church generally wouldn’t openly escalate conflicts with the local lords. Right now, he was the Frontier Count. If he were killed by pirates, the Empress would simply send another person to take his place.

But if he were to be eliminated inexplicably by the Church, the royal family would find an excuse to suppress the Church, even if they had none.

Given the Church’s current stance of full-scale retreat, they certainly wouldn’t take the initiative to hand a weapon to the royal family.

Hughes felt that as long as he didn’t court death, the Church likely wouldn’t touch him.

In fact, even if he acted a bit more recklessly, it wouldn’t matter.

Right now, he was the Empress’s man!

Aside from that, Hughes thought of Chloe.

Perhaps because she was still young and hadn’t been with the Church for long, he always felt that this girl’s personality was quite different from the Candlelight Church’s usual style.

Hughes had spoken with her for a long time in the confessional.

She was full of passion and curiosity about the world, as if there was a fire in her heart that ignited everyone around her.

Hughes had subtly probed her stance on non-humans. Though Chloe’s tone carried some hesitation, the curiosity and anticipation in her voice were impossible to hide.

At the time, Hughes had thought that he might be able to gain the support of this nun.

He hadn’t expected to have to approach her again so soon.

"I’ll first try to reach out to Sister Chloe. She isn’t as opposed to non-humans," Hughes mused. "The stance of the Candlelight Church itself isn’t that important. This is Sister Chloe’s church. As long as I can convince her, it will be fine."

And if he failed to convince her—

Hughes glanced at the ground beneath his feet. Castel Island was an isolated island. The only way off was by ship, and any message sent back to the Candlelight Church’s diocesan headquarters would take a long time to arrive.

He could completely suppress any unexpected developments.

The previous priest had already died unexpectedly. If another nun were to meet with an accident, it wouldn’t be all that surprising.

He could make everything appear entirely reasonable.

But after some thought, Hughes abandoned this rash idea.

It wasn’t that he lacked the resolve to carry it out, but rather because he remembered another person he had seen in the church.

Brother Kaeski.

Hughes knew that he was not a living person, but some kind of mechanical construct. His existence was undoubtedly connected to supernatural forces.

And Hughes knew next to nothing about the supernatural.

Did Kaeski have combat capabilities?

Could Hughes’s soldiers handle him?

All of this was unknown.

Hughes recalled the Candlelight Church priest who had once killed him.

The speed had been completely beyond his reaction time.

Could he really contend with that?

A shadow passed over Hughes’s eyes.

The Candlelight Church had always kept a low profile, but it was by no means weak. If he wanted to seek their help, he had to be extremely cautious and probe carefully.

That would waste a great deal of time.

And time was the one thing he lacked the most.

"Ahem, Lord Hughes, the Candlelight Church may not be our only option," Connor suddenly said in a low voice.

"Hmm?"

"Chief Scribe Alexei did not come here alone. His sister came with him."

"Sister? I remember he—"

"Yes, he is an orphan adopted by the royal family in the Northern Territory. He has no blood relatives."

"So this 'sister'...?"

"It’s the royal family's arrangement," Connor whispered. "Before you took office, Duke Cohen had people investigate these matters. He must have given his tacit approval."

Hughes looked at Connor with some confusion.

He himself was Duke Cohen’s man.

From Connor’s words, it seemed that Duke Cohen hadn’t told him about this directly?

Duke Cohen had chosen to feign ignorance, not even informing his own people, yet he also hadn’t stopped them from investigating.

Hughes smelled trouble.

This person’s identity must be highly significant.

The royal family was involved, which meant this matter benefited them.

The duke was pretending to be oblivious, which meant he wasn’t losing out, either.

Alexei.

Royal family.

Duke.

Orphan.

Sister.

Perhaps the answer was hidden in plain sight.

Hughes’s eyes lit up.

"I recall that the empire’s Northern Territory has a White Raven Principality, correct?" Hughes chuckled and looked at Connor.

"Yes, young master."

A flicker of surprise flashed through Connor’s eyes.

He hadn’t even had a chance to say it, yet Hughes had already figured out the answer.

"Alexei’s 'sister' is a refugee from the White Raven Principality. She was taken in by the royal orphanage as a child."

"And in reality?"

"She is a Burier, from the Silent Sanctum."

Silent Sanctum?

Hughes knew the name.

It was one of the Four Great Churches, with its territory in the White Raven Principality to the north.

The empire’s state religion was the Candlelight Church. Although the royal family and the Candlelight Church had grown distant, they had not openly turned against each other yet.

As a result, there was no sign of the Silent Sanctum within the empire’s borders.

So why were they here?

Hughes searched his memory and then revealed a look of understanding.

It was said that the White Raven Principality had suffered a strange catastrophe.

Most of its people were now fleeing south, even members of the Silent Sanctum.

And judging from the current situation, they were quite interested in the empire.

Their influence had already reached Hughes’s domain, a Frontier Count’s territory.

The royal family and the Candlelight Church were at odds.

Bringing in the Silent Sanctum as a counterbalance made sense.

The Silent Sanctum was virtually unknown here, so they posed little threat to Hughes.

If Hughes approached them, they would likely be more willing to help.

Even if their attitude toward non-humans was extreme, it didn’t matter.

They had no foothold here and wouldn’t cause too much trouble.

They were practically the perfect group to seek aid from.

"Where are Alexei and his people staying?"

"Not far from here. You’ll be visiting them tomorrow morning, correct? We can publicly say you’re checking on your administrative officer."

"Tomorrow morning... Yes."

Hughes glanced out the window.

It was already deep into the night.

Going out now would attract too much attention.

"I’ll make the arrangements in advance to ensure everything goes smoothly," Connor said with a wink.

He planned to send people to make initial contact, while Hughes would formally meet them the next day.

Hughes took a deep breath.

Time was tight, but rushing wouldn’t help.

Besides, he still had things to do.

"Connor, I need to allocate some supplies to the Sirens. Also, I’ll show you the hidden passage. You can get acquainted with the Sirens as well. I have a feeling they’ll be even more closely tied to the territory in the future."

He had to save the Sirens.

They were the last hope for the steam engine.

Connor’s eyes flickered slightly, but he nodded and followed Hughes down into the hidden passage.