1709 Off the Records

Ishgaar's Temple. Archpriest Jivem's office chambar. Brol. Kaisaayan empire.

"You… you did it. You actually found and cleared that accursed den all by yourself."

Jivem had a shocked expression on his face as he admired the deed Eren had done for the temple. On his desks were the severed heads of Zargoth, Rivena, Gorgoth, and Lilithra– the top demons whom the temple had been gunning for a very long time.

Jivem also had a magically enhanced pad and pen on his desk. These simple alchemy items were recording the minutes of the meeting for him. This record was going to be used as the final entry in the incident report Eren had submitted to the temple.

The butcher had also handed over some other things he had acquired from the raid as proof to validate his claim of a successful raid. The severed heads that were on Jivem's desk were one of the things he had handed over.

The four demons whose heads Eren had severed in his recent raid had remained elusive for the Ishgaar's Templars for quite some time. Even gaining vague intel on their whereabouts was difficult.

Zargoth and Gorgoth, the two cousins who had walked on the demonic path together, were especially a pain in the ass to deal with for the Ishgaar's Templars. Zorgoth was a body cultivator on whom usual Skills didn't work. Gorgoth had access to some wield Skills because of his status as a Dreamweaver.

It would have been a nightmare for a regular Templar from Ishgaar's temple to tackle the entire den by themselves. Plus, there was no way for them to ensure that these four leaders of the demons would stay in the den while the raid took place. Jivem was sure that the den featured multiple entry and exit points.

Technically speaking, Zargoth and his fellow demons had been the bigger problems for the Ishgaar's Templars than the Helenbora coven could be. This was because Zargoth and his cousin knew how to evade Ishgaar's Templars.

I would have lost the element of surprise if I had informed them about the raid. My chances of getting all four demons in this raid would have been reduced to nothing if that had happened," Eren replied honestly.

"You mean to say someone was keeping tabs on Kayara and Akel?"

Jivem asked as he snapped his fingers and stored away the heads of the four demons. With a glance, he checked upon the minutes of the meeting recordings that were being written by the pen, making sure whatever Eren said was included in the official record.

"Basically? Yeah." Eren replied shortly and concisely.

"How did you…" Jivem was about to ask Eren another question when he realized something. His expression changed as if he had finally figured out something about Eren's raid. "So that's how it is. You had an inside helper, didn't you?"

Eren looked at the moving pen that was writing the minutes of the meeting on a piece of paper. Jivem understood his actions and willed the pen to come to a halt. He also erased the question that had been written down on the paper.

"You are free to speak now. I assure you that it will be kept off the records," Jivem spoke to Eren sincerely. He had a favorable impression of Eren. plus, the fact that Eren had completed the raid successfully had earned him special attention from Jivem.

The Archpriest knew that some underhanded tactics needed to be used against demons who used underhanded tactics as a way of their lives. Sometimes, such demons needed the taste of their own medicine.

No matter how clean and proper he wanted some operations to be, Jivem understood that there was a need to dirty one's hands in some shady deals. This was not Jivem's first time dealing with someone like Eren who knew how to get the job done irrespective of the complications he had to deal with. And he was sure that it wouldn't be his last.

"Yes. I indeed had inside help," Eren nodded before answering honestly. He cleared his throat before explaining further.