"Are you warning me about something?" Naimes asked directly upon hearing these words. "Your Excellency, Bishop?"

Naimes could roughly confirm that this priest who came to welcome him and waited outside the door was the top authority in Wavetail Town.

He appeared scholarly, around thirty years old, with slightly graying black short hair, wearing glasses and dressed in ordinary priest robes.

"Certainly not!" The bishop shook his head with a smile.

"I'm just reminding you of the survival rules in Wavetail Town." The bishop looked at Naimes seriously, pointing to a black gap between the buildings as he continued explaining. "So around the buildings in Wavetail Town, there will always be cracks."

"We need to be careful not to stand near these cracks, because if the whale's tail swings a bit too vigorously, one might get swallowed by the fissures."

As he spoke, the bishop pushed open a room door. "This will be your office, also the previous Great Knight's workplace."

"You can investigate how the previous Great Knight disappeared."

"My office is in that building over there. If you have any matters, you can contact me according to the regulations and procedures."

"Oh, by the way, my name is Rhine." After this introduction, the bishop left with his attendants.

Only a young male priest, also wearing glasses, remained somewhat awkwardly behind. He looked at Naimes, raised his hand, and introduced himself: "Lord Naimes, hello, I'm called Kuru Kuru, the accompanying priest assigned to you by the church."

"I've just been promoted from trainee priest and currently know four types of Divine Magic, six types of spells..." Kuru was about to continue listing which spells he mastered.

"Give me the procedural documents in your hand!" Naimes directly interrupted what could have been Kuru Kuru's endless self-introduction.

"Apologies, Lord Naimes! When I get nervous, I tend to talk too much. Please don't blame me!" As he spoke, Kuru handed over several books from his embrace to Naimes.

The first book recorded some basic information about Wavetail Town and theoretical procedures for various matters.

Of course, reality was far more complex than this.

Naimes then opened the second book, which was the governance log of the previous Great Knight.

Essentially, it was the various event records kept by his accompanying priest.

As Naimes flipped through it, he discovered many issues.

Many systems within the church had essentially become meaningless formalities. Most procedures were only used to obstruct people when necessary.

Under normal circumstances, as long as the relevant personnel confirmed there were no issues and stamped their approval, results could be obtained immediately without going through so many steps.

Moreover, this was practically an unspoken rule, and basically no one would make an issue out of these matters.

The reason was simple: Wavetail Town was a place where interests flowed, with too many benefits here.

Basically every priest and every holy knight had their own interest coalitions.

A town of five hundred thousand people, yet only about six hundred law enforcers.

And because of the developed commerce and constant flow of various people, if every matter had to follow procedures, things would become extremely troublesome.

So basically every clergy member had a group of interest associations. They each handled their own affairs, and there were even large groups of supporters.

They weren't like gangs or similar organizations, just interest groups.

In daily life, within their respective domains, they helped clergy members stabilize and maintain urban order.

They balanced and cooperated with other interest groups while blocking other groups' interests.

To succeed in Wavetail Town, one needed to at least join these interest groups surrounding the clergy.

Otherwise, no matter how good your goods were, you could only sell them at low prices to these groups, essentially working for free.

"It's exactly like... Wavetail Town itself." It had to be admitted that Bishop Rhine's previous "reminder" was indeed appropriate.

This town was just like the church.

Like a massive community where you couldn't stand too tall or get too close to others.

Various groups had basically carved up the entire Wavetail Town, and between these groups were those cracks that would shake with the whale tail's movements.

As Naimes flipped through it, he discovered many issues.

"What an interesting social structure." Naimes browsed through the previous Great Knight's log and learned that this predecessor was named 'Sibin'. For original chapters go to novel⁂fire.net

Great Knight Sibin himself came from local nobility and had close relationships with some minor nobles and merchant caravans. Those interest groups surrounding him almost monopolized much of the material flow in the northern district.

It could be said that he benefited greatly from this.

However, the log had stopped over ten days ago.

Meaning the Great Knight of Wavetail Town had disappeared just over ten days prior.

"Kuru." Naimes's call startled Kuru, who seemed to be spacing out nearby.

"I'm here, Lord Naimes! I'm always ready for your instructions! I was just..."

"Do you know what happened to the previous Great Knight Sibin?" Naimes couldn't help but marvel at the speed of some church directives during internal conflicts.

From deciding to come to Wavetail Town to assuming his position, it had taken less than half a day.

With such efficiency, he basically had no time to investigate more intelligence and information about Wavetail Town.

"Great Knight Sibin was discovered by the judgment squad to have connections with some cultists, so he fled. I believe he is a disgrace to the clergy, a..."

"So he actually isn't dead yet?" Naimes raised an eyebrow.

As Kuru explained, he finally understood what had happened.

Ultimately, it seemed to trace back to his own actions.

He had exposed the old priest's behavior - Op, when conducting business, had been collecting contraband for the old priest.

So basically every clergy member had a group of interest associations. They each handled their own affairs, and there were even large groups of supporters.

This Floating World Society had deep connections with Sibin.

He committed the error Rhine mentioned - getting too close to certain groups.

So when the whale tail swung too vigorously, problems naturally emerged, and the situation became difficult to control.

Facing the judgment squad, he could only choose to escape into the wilderness and live under an assumed name.

After roughly hearing about Sibin's story, Naimes formed a basic assessment of this person.

Steel Seed, numerical value around eighty.

Exactly in that awkward position where he couldn't advance or retreat.

One step up, reaching a numerical value of ninety, would mean having a chance to impact Gold Seed.

One step down, only sixty or seventy, would basically mean no hope for Gold Seed in this lifetime, without so many delusions.

Sibin was unwilling to accept this. When normal channels didn't work, he tried taking some unorthodox paths.

Then he got implicated by the old priest.

"It's exactly like... Wavetail Town itself." He had to admit, Bishop Rhine's previous "reminder" was indeed appropriate.

"However, since I caused him such significant losses, he probably won't let this rest easily." Naimes couldn't help but feel anticipation.