After hearing what Kikunojou Tendo said, Nia Honjo didn't react for a moment.
The two of them had even met before the press conference that morning.
After the press conference, the Holy Emperor had stayed in the Holy Residence because of various follow-up matters that needed to be dealt with.
It was the safest place in all of Tokyo.
Why had she suddenly disappeared?
Nia Honjo first reaction was that this old man must be setting a trap for her.
However, before she could raise any questions, Kikunojou Tendo began to explain the situation.
"This morning, I received a call from someone claiming to be from the Wuxiang Society," Kikunojou Tendo said slowly. "He saw the current situation of the Tendo family and proposed cooperation. As long as I am willing to help him get rid of the Holy Emperor and all those related to the Erosion Rate Blocker, the Wuxiang Society will guarantee that the Tendo family becomes the master of the Tokyo area."
"You agreed?"
"If I had agreed, the person standing here would not be me."
Kikunojou Tendo snorted coldly, clearly very dissatisfied with Nia Honjo conjecture. "I have received the grace of the first generation of Holy Emperors and swore to be loyal to the Holy Emperors of all generations until the end of my life. Even if the current Holy Emperor turns her spearhead toward the Tendo family, I will never commit regicide."
"Well... that's true."
Nia Honjo thought about it and quickly agreed with what he said.
Kikunojou Tendo loyalty was indeed beyond doubt.
Before Nia Honjo appearance, the contemporary Holy Emperor had been extremely immature in terms of qualifications, methods, and age, and had relied entirely on Kikunojou Tendo and the Tendo family for everything.
If Kikunojou Tendo had wanted to, he would have had plenty of opportunities to usurp power.
The people of Tokyo would not have had any complaints and might even have applauded.
Compared to a leader like the Holy Emperor, who had good intentions toward the Cursed Children but was, most importantly, incompetent, every citizen of Tokyo would have preferred a politician like Kikunojou Tendo someone who hated the Cursed Children as much as they did and was an experienced, capable leader who could guide Tokyo.
But he hadn't done it.
Although he and the Holy Emperor had irrefutable differences on the issue of the Cursed Children, in other matters, this old man, who had assisted successive Holy Emperors, had never neglected his duties or lived off the fat of the land.
It was a pity that Kikunojou Tendo alone could not represent the entire Tendo family.
In the Tendo family, apart from him, there were almost no people who truly wanted to work for Tokyo and for the Holy Emperor.
Kikunojou Tendo was the big tree of the family, and the other members were like leeches clinging to this tree, sucking the blood of the Tokyo area.
Once this old tree fell, the Tendo family would turn into a real cancer, willing to do anything to maintain its political status.
Just as they had done to Kisara Tendo parents.
Therefore, Nia Honjo had never considered cooperating with Kikunojou Tendo from the beginning.
Even if he was a loyal minister.
"So, you suspect that it was this Wuxiang Society that kidnapped the Holy Emperor?" Nia Honjo asked.
"It's not suspicion; it's certainty," Kikunojou Tendo said firmly. "Even I know very little about this organization. I've only heard some rumors. It's said that the Wuxiang Society is secretly controlling the world's movements, and its influence is spread all over the world. Before I received the call today, I thought this organization was just a rumor made up by conspiracy theorists."
"Hmm..."
Nia Honjo raised her eyebrows but couldn't help muttering to herself, "This kind of force that sounds like the big boss behind the scenes how come I've never heard of it?"
As a time traveler, she didn't know every piece of information about every world.
After all, before traveling through time, she had just been a casual anime fan, and her knowledge of the second dimension was less than one-tenth of Nia Honjo.
Of course, she couldn't know anything that wasn't mentioned in the anime.
Not to mention that the author of Black Bullet had retired after making money from stock speculation, leaving a lot of plot holes unfilled, so she had no interest in delving into it.
"What a hassle! I thought Kikunojou Tendo was the final boss, but it turns out he's just a small boss before the big boss?" Nia Honjo thought with a headache. "Now I know why the main quest wasn't completed."
Her mission was to become a nun spreading the gospel in the Tokyo area.
In other words, no matter who she was spreading the gospel to, she had to be able to help them in a practical way.
Since she had chosen to help the Cursed Children, she had naturally regarded Kikunojou Tendo as her biggest enemy.
But now, things had changed.
Her enemy wasn't just Kikunojou Tendo; Kikunojou Tendo wasn't even that important an enemy.
The real threat had always been hiding in the darkness and had never revealed itself.
And as long as she didn't resolve the real threat, the Cursed Children would never receive real help.
She also couldn't complete the main quest in one day.
Nia Honjo didn't need to rack her brains to think about whether Kikunojou Tendo had lied to her or whether the so-called Wuxiang Society was fabricated by him.
After all, she had the Rasiel here.
"Don't worry, let me check the information first."
Nia Honjo summoned the Rasiel and the Pen of Narration.
Turning to the Angel's search page, she wrote down her question:
[Announcement GPT, tell me what kind of organization the Wuxiang Society is.]
Soon, the omniscient whisper provided a very detailed answer of nearly a thousand words.
The more she read, the deeper Nia Honjo frown became.
Because everything Kikunojou Tendo had just said about the Wuxiang Society was correct.
This organization was indeed a secret group rooted in various surviving human cities around the world, secretly controlling the world's movements, aiming to conquer the world by any means necessary, unite various countries, and ultimately defeat the Gastrea creatures.
Its influence could be found among the Four Sages, leaders of various countries and regions, and even in the international supervisory bodies of the Initiators.
Assassination, kidnapping, bribery if necessary, they would even destroy a city.
As long as they could achieve their goal, they would do it, no matter the cost.
"It's really a terrorist organization that wears a fancy hat but actually does all kinds of dirty things."
Nia Honjo smiled, unsure whether it was out of sarcasm or fatigue.
"I'm not capable of stopping them alone."
Although he didn't know how Nia Honjo had obtained the information, since there was no need to explain further, Kikunojou Tendo got to the point: "There should be a mysterious organization behind you. Since you chose to help the Holy Emperor, whether out of kindness or for other purposes, now is the time for you to act."
"Don't worry, old man. I will go and save the Holy Emperor."
After asking the Whispering Rasiel about the Holy Emperor current location and situation, Nia Honjo got the answer and put on the divine spiritual outfit under Kikunojou Tendo shocked gaze.
"But it's not because of your request. It's because she is worth saving."