Iri-chan, a great victory!
After returning to Theocracy and receiving news that the Empire had publicly declared its allegiance to the Magic Kingdom, becoming its vassal state, Iri thought as much.
It seemed the plotline hadn't deviated; Ainz still came to the Empire to poach talent, just like in the original. In fact, even if I hadn't interfered this time, the Empire's vassalage was already a foregone conclusion.
What really caught Iri's attention was the Windflower Scripture's Chief Priest, who had asked her to come to the front row to watch Ainz 'beat up' the Martial King. It felt as if he was deliberately trying to make her presence known to Ainz.
So, to confirm her suspicion, she proactively removed her hood. The Chief Priest didn't say anything, even though he had instructed her to hide her identity when they first arrived. However, while talking to the Blood Emperor, he repeatedly mentioned that she was a decisive weapon against Ainz, clearly giving the Blood Emperor some kind of hint.
However, the Blood Emperor couldn't possibly meet Theocracy's expectations. With Ainz appearing there and herself accompanying Theocracy's Chief Priest, the overly imaginative Blood Emperor would definitely dig his own grave. She had even scared him a bit before leaving, and recalling his pale face at the time was quite amusing.
"Clementine-sama, you've seemed to be in a very good mood these past few days. Did something good happen?" Bel 'Ru, who had been standing behind Iri, asked.
After returning from her mission to the Empire, Iri, having nothing to do, became idle again. So... Iri went out for a stroll again.'Strolling'… was actually an attempt to find an opportunity to shake off the annoying Bel 'Ru and make a trip back to Nazarick.
"Sort of!" Iri replied, then continued to wander the streets of Theocracy, trying to figure out how to get rid of Bel 'Ru.
"I think Clementine-sama must be happy about regaining her original seat... Oh no, Clementine-sama is now a special Extra Seat!" Bel 'Ru said.
However, that wasn't it. Frankly, the Extra Seat was actually more troublesome than her original Ninth Seat; there were too many rules to follow!
Although the Extra Seat allowed her to enter and exit Theocracy's Holy Temple without permission, and Bel 'Ru had mentioned that the Holy Temple contained many divine artifacts collected by Theocracy, Death Knight was guarding it.
No, she should say residing there. The last time, Iri had listened to Bel 'Ru and excitedly ran to the Holy Temple, almost getting into a fight with Death Knight again, only then realizing that Death Knight lived directly in the Holy Temple.
Death Knight was almost always there when there was nothing to do, so Iri wouldn't run over there for no reason. Although she was very interested in Theocracy's divine artifacts and secret treasures, Iri didn't plan to make a move on the Holy Temple until she dealt with the big trouble that was Death Knight.
"The Extra Seat is just a hassle." Iri was being truthful.
Other members of the Black Scripture could just say hello and leave freely, but she had to notify the High Priests of the Six 'Color' Scriptures and get their approval before she could go out for a stroll.
It was utterly annoying... And, they wouldn't give Iri any ordinary tasks, completely treating her like a precious treasure. And! If she wanted to inquire about some information, she'd casually grab someone to chat with and try to extract some information, but as soon as they saw her, they'd nod, bow, apologize about having something to do, and run off.
So, up until now, Iri had been in Theocracy for some time, but hadn't gathered any useful information. Moreover, she had been out of contact with Nazarick for so long and didn't know how things were there.
After all, the original work didn't involve the Dragon Kingdom, but she had caused a 'disturbance' in the Dragon Kingdom, making it directly lean towards Nazarick. So, Iri was quite worried about the Dragon Kingdom's involvement and whether it would affect Nazarick.
Of course, there was another reason why Iri wanted to return to Nazarick: to find another Doppelganger to transform into Bel 'Ru! Then, she would throw the original Bel 'Ru to Terror Duke. This guy was too annoying. If it weren't for him watching her... she wouldn't have to be so hesitant now.
"How can it be a hassle? The Extra Seat of the Black Scripture represents the Slane Theocracy's highest combat power. Currently, including Clementine-sama, there are only two people in Theocracy." Bel 'Ru said.
"Is that so? Then who is the other one?" Iri asked. Iri, of course, knew who the other person was. She asked this only because she found it a bit strange. She remembered that the Extra Seat was supposed to be unknown to many people within Theocracy. How did Bel 'Ru, an Apprentice Priestess, know?
"It's Death Knight-sama! Don't you often fight with her, Clementine-sama?" Bel 'Ru blurted out without thinking.
"So she's also an Extra Seat? No wonder she's so annoying!" Iri felt something was off. Did this Bel 'Ru know too much?
After returning from the Dragon Kingdom, when Bel 'Ru said she was officially coming to take care of her, during that time, Bel 'Ru practically explained all the personnel, departmental functions, and military composition inside and out of Theocracy.
And once, while out for a stroll, when they passed the outer wall of Theocracy's military camp, Bel 'Ru actually pointed out that the camp's layout had problems.
From the clock tower outside, one could launch magic attacks from above. Although it felt like she was just joking, Iri didn't pay much attention at the time. But thinking about it now, was it really something she could just 'casually' say?
"Bel 'Ru, there's something I don't understand?" Iri, wanting to confirm her suspicion, decided to probe Bel 'Ru.
"Eh? Is there something Clementine-sama doesn't understand?" Bel 'Ru said with a surprised expression. It felt like this was the first time Iri had actively asked Bel 'Ru a question.
"About Death Knight... how do you know? When I was appointed by the High Priests, they told me to keep it a secret, even from internal personnel. So, how do you know about Death Knight, who is just like me?" Iri asked in a seemingly casual tone, then deliberately walked into a small alley below the city.
"I heard it from others!" Bel 'Ru didn't waver in the slightest, instantly replying with the exact same smiling face as before.
"Oh... is that so." Iri also responded nonchalantly, then continued deeper into the alley. Bel 'Ru followed without any suspicion.
"Hmm, wearing this for so long is really a bit uncomfortable..." Iri said, taking off the eye patch over her left eye, and turned to look at Bel 'Ru.
At this moment, Bel 'Ru's previously smiling expression twitched slightly. Although it was only for an instant... Iri immediately realized, this Bel 'Ru definitely has a problem!
Previously, when she had used her 'chuunibyou' eye to scare the Dragon Queen, Bel 'Ru was not present, and was absent both times. Logically, she shouldn't know the abilities of the 'chuunibyou' magic eye that Iri had made up.
But when she stared at her just now, Bel 'Ru clearly froze for a moment. One should know that Iri was also a professional actress, and if the other party was also an actress, she could still discern some clues.
Although this alone couldn't directly conclude that Bel 'Ru had ulterior motives, after all... if she really knew the abilities of Iri's made-up 'chuunibyou' magic eye, it would mean she knew Iri's true state.
Because when Iri used the 'chuunibyou' eye to scare the Dragon Queen in the Dragon Kingdom, she did so while revealing her own identity. This means... Bel 'Ru might also know Iri's true identity, and that Iri was not actually controlled by Theocracy.
If that were the case, there would be a contradiction. As a supervisor, Bel 'Ru obtained such crucial information, so why didn't she report it directly to Theocracy's higher-ups?
This would be a very serious internal infiltration incident, or had she already reported it to Theocracy, and Theocracy was playing along, trying to use Iri?
Thinking this, it became complicated! She had to figure it out! And it was perfect that they were outside right now. If Theocracy really wanted to play along and use her, she would have enough reason to directly eliminate Bel 'Ru, then immediately return to Nazarick to borrow a Doppelganger to impersonate Bel 'Ru, and then use this to have the fake Bel 'Ru extract information from Theocracy's side.
Yes! That's the plan!
So! Based on this, she would continue to test Bel 'Ru, to see if she was truly foolish or just pretending...
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