The Villain Saint is my secondary account

The involvement of merfolk and even the Holy Tribunal makes Iphi's motive of "being tempted by money" particularly bizarre in the whole incident.

If Effie's motive was truly just money, what does that have to do with the Holy Tribunal? The Tribunal is not a sheriff, and robbery and heresy are two different things. Why did they arrest Effie?

Ye Xiao pondered for a moment, thinking that things were probably not that simple.

"...I'll confiscate this bag of evidence for now, but there are still quite a few questions about your companion's situation, so I won't draw any conclusions right now."

"Mr. Ye!!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Wei excitedly grabbed Ye Xiao's sleeve, "I knew you still believed in Yi Fei! You're much more reliable than my good-for-nothing brother!!"

"Well!"

Greta was slacking off when she saw Xiao Wei suddenly grab Ye Xiao's clothes. She immediately puffed out her cheeks and pulled the hem of Ye Xiao's clothes away from Xiao Wei's hand.

"Well, it's not that I believe it, but there are still some doubts."

Ye Xiao didn't notice Greta's subtle movements, but instead turned to look at the pitiful Duojian who was being scolded innocently, and roughly understood why the latter always had a melancholy expression.

“I think we can stake out this bag of gold coins. If Miss Iphie’s real target is this bag of gold coins, she might come back looking for it.”

"Huh? Will she still show up?"

Xiao Wei tilted her head slightly, "Isn't she afraid of being caught by the Holy Tribunal?"

"If someone is truly capable of murder and robbery for money,"

Duo said indirectly, "Even if someone like that knows they're being hunted, they probably wouldn't be able to let go of this bag of gold coins; the amount here is too huge."

"That's right,"

Ye Xiao nodded and said, "No matter what, I'll at least come back to take a look."

"Is this so..."

Xiao Wei looked conflicted.

She was a little unsure whether she wanted to see Iphie return or not.

Unfortunately, she couldn't make that decision.

……

Leaving aside the trap Ye Xiao set up in the afternoon, the group of Templar Knights who fought Ye Xiao that afternoon, carrying their wounded teammates, finally returned to the temporary residence where the Templar Inquisition team was resting.

Orfino, who had been knocked unconscious, awoke with the healing power of the accompanying priest. However, the moment he opened his eyes, the priest, sweating profusely, told him:

"Lady Agnes said... that you should go to her study to report as soon as you wake up."

Upon hearing this, Orfindo's face turned deathly pale. "Could you please tell Lady Agnes... that I need to rest a bit more...?"

"Lord Orphando,"

The pastor looked helpless. "She's very angry."

Orphindo swallowed hard. "Okay... I understand."

Orfino's head was still buzzing from the blow Ye Xiao had given him, but he managed to stand up with the help of the wall and headed to his study.

Pushing open the door, one sees a row of bare-chested Templar Knights kneeling on the floor, bowing their heads to the girl sitting in the center of the room, her legs crossed.

The knights were covered in streaks of blood; to the uninitiated, they would look like a group of prisoners bowing their heads in confession.

"coming?"

The girl, her arms wrapped in white embroidered sleeves, rested on the armrest, her gloved palms supporting her cheeks as she looked at Orfino and smiled gently.

In her other hand, she held a thin whip.

"Lady Agnes, please listen to me... This was truly an accident. I had no idea there was such a thing there..."

Orphindo broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly began to explain.

"Close the door."

Agnes interrupted softly.

Orphindo's voice stopped abruptly, and then he shakily closed the study door.

"Kneel down."

"Lady Agnes, I..."

"Kneel down!!!"

Orfino was pale, and finally, he found a place to kneel down next to the row of kneeling Templar Knights.

"Take it off."

Agnes squinted.

Orfino swallowed hard, then removed his upper armor, carefully placing it on the floor beside him.

Then he took off his inner shirt, revealing a muscular and robust physique, just like the row of Templar Knights beside him.

The movements were so natural and coordinated that it was clear this wasn't the first time Orfindo had been asked to do this.

Or rather, the Templars here have experienced this scene countless times.

The curtains were drawn, and the oil lamp flickered in the dimly lit room. As Agnes gazed at Orfino kneeling on the ground, the smile on her face slowly disappeared, and a cold sternness appeared on her lips.

"Orfindo, my father picked you up from the slums and raised you to this day, and this is how you repay me?"

"Lady Agnes, I really didn't expect such a powerful monk to suddenly appear on the other side..."

"Did I let you talk?"

Orfino immediately stopped speaking, trembling.

Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped into his eyes, but he simply put his hands behind his back and didn't dare to wipe it away.

Agnes stood up, slowly walked to Orfino's side, and then, surprisingly, raised her booted foot and stomped on Orfino's head.

Orfino's handsome face made intimate contact with the floor, his high nose bridge was squeezed crooked.

"Eighteen men against one man, and they were all wiped out!"

Agnes's eyes flashed with hatred as she raised her whip and lashed it down hard.

A shocking bloodstain immediately appeared on Orfindo's back.

But he just gritted his teeth, held back, and dared not utter a sound.

"You, and all of you, dare to call yourselves Templar Knights?!"

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!!! What good have I done by keeping you all this time?!"

With each word Agnes roared, she would lash out with her whip, as if the animals beneath her feet were livestock destined to be tamed.

"Orfindo, haven't you figured out your place yet?!"

As she spoke, her teeth clenched even more, "Who do you think you relied on to get to this position in the church and the court???"

"You can even fail at such a simple task? I'd be better off training a dog to sit in your seat!!!"

Orfino endured the excruciating pain in his back, which felt like it was being splattered with chili oil, his face flushed red, but he dared not utter a single word in rebuttal.

As Agnes said, without the other man's father's charity, he might still be begging under a shack in the slums.

He was taught from a young age in her family to be loyal to Agnes.

This is the meaning of his entire life.

So even though he was treated with such humiliation, he only felt guilty for failing his mission and for Agnes.

It was all his fault; he deserved the punishment.

Chapter Seventy-Three: Waiting for a Rabbit to Fall into a Trap

Night fell quickly, darkness enveloped the town, the moon rose above the treetops, and the town, surrounded by the sea on three sides, lit up with twinkling lights.

Before this, Ella had already drawn a portal to transfer the gold coins away. Since she had already picked them up, there was no reason not to take them back.

According to Ye Xiao's analysis, this place is a tavern. After the guests leave, the tavern will clean and rent out the items. If the gold coins are not retrieved in time, they will most likely be discovered and picked up by others in a couple of days.

If the other party cares about the money, they will definitely hurry up and come back to look for it.

Ifi's room remained as it was, with only some damage repaired. Ye Xiao rented it from the tavern owner and deliberately left it vacant, secretly hiding a few of Ella's rat familiars in the shadows of a corner of the room. Crow familiars perched on the surrounding rooftops, like several sets of moving cameras, monitoring the room and the streets near the tavern from every angle.

With everything prepared, Ye Xiao and the others gathered in the room, turned off the lights, drew the curtains, and waited for their prey to come to them.

"Hey bro, do you think Ivy will really come tonight?"

Xiaowei leaned against the door, listening to the sounds in the corridor, feeling very uneasy. As the waiting time passed, the anxiety grew.

"……I have no idea."

Duo Jian stood by the window, holding a staff, occasionally peeking through the curtains. "It's a pity we're not in the main city, otherwise we could just send a message and ask, and maybe we could find out."

The towns in the Mansa Islands are about the same size as Greygold Town, so they weren't classified as main cities by the system. Only in large cities like the Royal City or Stormport can the system "connect" and use social or arena-like interaction features with other players, which is one of the reasons why most players prefer to gather in large cities.

Of course, the e-commerce function can be used anywhere, and the system will never delay charging.

The only one present who didn't seem to care much was Greta.

The little maid sat lazily on Ye Xiao's lap, engrossed in reading a comic book. Her night vision, being that of a demon god, didn't hinder her reading even in the dark.

Ye Xiao was used to Greta's occasional affectionate gestures. After all, when she was a cat, she would often put her hands on his lap or on his head. Since turning back into human form after becoming a cat, the little guy probably continued to behave like he did when he was a cat, out of habit.

However, these actions have to be taken by the little maid herself. If Ye Xiao takes the initiative to hug her onto his lap or put his arm around her waist, she will get a few more teeth marks on her arm and be called a "rogue".

It's just that it fits the cat's habits perfectly, which is quite baffling.

As night deepened, everyone gradually began to feel drowsy.

Ye Xiao yawned, leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and meditated. Anyway, it was Ella who was actually carrying out the monitoring and didn't need to sleep. If he really couldn't wait, he might as well take a nap.

However, at that moment, the crows on the eaves finally spotted a dark figure wearing a cloak sneaking out of the alley across the street from the window and approaching the building below.

It was late at night, and apart from the patrolling guards, there was no one else on the street. This uninvited guest deliberately concealed himself in the darkness where the moonlight could not penetrate. If it weren't for the crows on the roof, one might not have noticed him even if looking through the window.

The sight of such a suspicious fellow immediately made Ye Xiao open his dozing eyes, and he whispered, "Here he comes."

Xiao Wei and Duo Jian, who were on duty by the window and door, hadn't noticed any movement yet, but when they heard Ye Xiao's voice, they became extremely alert.

They didn't understand how Ye Xiao knew someone was coming, and simply assumed it was the perception of a master.

Outside the window, the crow demon saw the shadowy figure stepping on the empty shelves of the vendors downstairs, and then lightly leaping up to the second-floor windowsill.

Duojian had obviously heard the commotion outside the window by now, held his breath, and gripped his staff tightly.

Xiao Wei stared intently at the windowsill, a few drops of sweat beading on her forehead.

Please, please don't let it be Iphi... I hope it won't come to the point where we have to resort to violence.

Before long, the curtains were drawn back, and a dark figure outside, accompanied by a sliver of moonlight, peered into the window.

The shadowy figure carefully placed his footsteps on the floor, unaware that the four people hidden around the room were quietly watching his every move.

Seeing this, Xiaowei's heart jumped into her throat, but the figure was unusually tall, unlike the petite Yifei, which made her heart relax a little.

The other person slowly walked to the wardrobe, opened the door with a creaking sound, and unsurprisingly, saw an empty bottom drawer.

Almost instantly, the shadowy figure realized something was wrong and turned to run away.

But it was too late. Xiao Wei, who was hiding in the shadows in the corner by the door, pounced first and pinned the dark figure to the ground.

"Be careful!!!"

But then came gasps from several people, as the cloak of the black figure who had been pinned to the ground was suddenly lifted, and a sharp dagger stabbed backward at a tricky angle towards Xiao Wei, who was lying on his back.

But how could Ye Xiao let the other party succeed? Almost a moment before the cold light of the short knife was about to reach Xiao Wei's chest, he had already taken a step forward and stepped on the other party's wrist, which was hidden under the cloak.

Ye Xiao then changed his stomp to a kick, delivering a powerful stomp that struck the opponent's knuckles holding the knife, sending the dangerous dagger flying into a corner of the room.

Several staffs struck the ground, emitting a fluorescent glow. Ye Xiao bent down and ripped off the other person's hood, only to find a handsome man with short brown hair.

"Eh?"

Xiao Wei, her knee pressed against the other person's back, stared wide-eyed. "Who is this person?"

Ye Xiao was also taken aback, then narrowed his eyes, "You are... one of that guy's Templar Knights??"

He recalled that when he met Orphnoch in the library that morning, there seemed to be a face like that among the group of Templars.

But when Ye Xiao later took on eighteen opponents in the tavern, this person didn't seem to be there.