The next few days that passed were filled with preparations for the monster wave that came.
Cecilia went out several more times on guerilla strikes on the monster wave and they were able to reduce the size of it quite considerably.
There had been over a thousand monsters in the monster wave at first estimate, but through repeated strikes at stragglers of the wave, they had been able to reduce it by around two hundred monsters.
That wasn't considered much, but a fifth of the wave was a large boon when it came to fighting the wave as a whole.
It would mean countless casualties being prevented as there would be less monsters to deal with.
But the monster wave was also getting closer.
Based on the scout reports, it would be reaching the town in just a few more days…
So everyone was getting ready for the fight now.
But today was a bit different.
When I woke up in the morning, I found that Baroness Rose and Cecilia were waiting in the living room for me. Both of them had slightly knitted brows as if they were worried about something as they just sat there in thought.
As I walked out, I couldn't help asking, "Is something wrong?"
Both of them jumped slightly when they heard me and then they revealed bitter smiles.
Baroness Rose shook her head before giving a slight nod as if she couldn't decide what she wanted to respond with.
After taking a deep breath and giving a sigh, she said, "The priest wants to talk to us."
When I heard this, I slightly knitted my brows as well.
That was because I had heard the key word there…"us".
It wasn't that he wanted to talk to Baroness Rose or Cecilia who he normally had contact with, but he wanted to talk to me as well.
I had been avoiding this priest because of the time that I had interacted with the demon order. I didn't know what the priest would think about that, but someone who followed god and looked down on demons would definitely not like that I had interacted with them, even if it was just to infiltrate and get information.
At the same time, I avoided him because I didn't know if the artifacts that I had brought back had influenced me with their dark energy…
Especially that locket that I never told anyone about.
But after thinking about it, I knew that it was impossible for me to avoid this.
After all, we needed the priest's help in taking care of the monster wave. He was a powerful magician and if there was a rift that was created because we were avoiding him, that would not be good for us.
We definitely needed his help in taking care of the monster wave.
So I said, "Let's go and meet him then."
After hearing this, both Baroness Rose and Cecilia revealed worried looks as they looked at me, but Baroness Rose nodded in agreement.
It was not something that could be put off, so it was better to rip it off all at once like a bandaid.
The two of them both came with me to meet the priest since they wanted to be there just in case anything happened. Though in Baroness Rose's case, she had to be there since the priest had also called her.
When we arrived at the church, we found that it was completely empty.
Normally, there would be nuns or worshipers that were praying in this church, but there wasn't a single person here.
It was as if this church had been deliberately emptied and everyone had been sent off by the priest.
No matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem like a good sign.
I even had the urge to leave, but I didn't get a chance to act on that urge.
That was because after we had arrived in the empty church, the priest suddenly came out of the back. It was as if he had sensed our arrival and came over to greet us.
He had a warm and gentle smile on his face as he said, "Lord Baron and Baroness, it is an honour for you to come to our humble little church."
This priest was the definition of a handsome middle aged man who worshiped god, but when I saw this smile, I couldn't help feeling that something was off.
The way that the priest was looking at me, it was almost as if he knew something…
Could it be that he saw the residual dark energy from the magic items that I took and that was why he had summoned me here?
If that was the case, did that mean that I would die here?
I couldn't help feeling more and more worried, but I forced myself to have a calm look on my face.
Baroness Rose naturally also noticed this, but she was better at dealing with people than me.
She revealed a professional smile and said, "Father, it should be our honour to have you invite us here."
The priest gave a slight nod in response to this before turning slightly and gesturing towards the inner room of this church as he said, "Shall we have a seat?"
We followed the priest into the inner room and then after sitting down on the couch there, he poured us all a cup of tea and placed some cookies on the table.
The way that he acted, it seemed very normal and it didn't seem like he had any ulterior motives.
After he finished serving all of this to us, the priest sat down in front of us, but he didn't say a single thing.
Normally, one would look to Baroness Rose in this situation since it was clear that she was the one that was in charge. I might have the title of baron, but it was clear that she was the one who did everything.
However, the priest just sat there in silence looking at me.
There was an awkward silence that filled the air for a while before Baroness Rose finally couldn't take it and asked, "Father, is there something wrong?"
The priest didn't turn to Baroness Rose and continued looking at me as he said, "My child, is there something that you want to tell me?"