"Many of you gentlemen present are reporters, so you should be aware of the horrifying cult attack that occurred yesterday. Because the Order Church has been cracking down on underground sects, these fanatics who worship an Evil God launched a desperate, frenzied attack on the Sacred Heart Cathedral."

After speaking, Nekker looked to the Priest, who nodded with a grave and mournful expression. "My Lord has already unleashed his wrath. A heinous incident like this will never happen in Valuva again."

"Thank you, and an even greater thank you to our Father, the God of Light and Order!" Nekker made a perfunctory prayer gesture and continued, "During the Holy Knights’ sweep of the eastern suburbs, they unexpectedly discovered two Cultists. One of them is particularly noteworthy—he was a former employee of the Shaleanna Mining Company!"

Following the minister’s pointed finger, the shareholders and reporters all began to scrutinize "Salamanda." He was a man who looked like a spineless heap; if not for the Armored Warriors holding him up on either side, he might have collapsed into a puddle on the floor.

His work uniform, like the man himself, was covered in filth, but the massive "Shaleanna Mining Company" logo printed on the coarse canvas was still visible. It was the only warm clothing he had, so of course he couldn’t bear to part with it.

"When did you get the job at the Shaleanna Mining Company?"

"Sir, I... last winter... the wheat from my family’s farm wasn’t selling, and I heard they were short on people here, so I came. The trafficker took five livres, and I worked from last November to this January..."

"Speak! Was it you who gave that interview to Mike, the reporter from the Morning Post?" Valon grabbed the former miner by the throat. If they weren’t in full view of the public, he would have beaten the detestable little man to a pulp.

Deprived of his powders and subjected to round after round of brutal torture, Salamanda was already on the verge of a mental collapse. When Valon’s hand clamped around his neck, he thought he was about to suffer another savage beating and hastily stammered, "Yes, yes, at that time..."

Valon wanted to control the narrative of the questioning. The moment the man said "Yes," he immediately pressed him, "Who instructed you to frame the company?"

Given Salamanda’s level of education, he didn’t understand the word "frame." He could only continue with what he had been about to say. "At the time, I was out of money, and the reporter, Mr. Mike, he gave me... three bills... of livres..."

Nekker thought Valon was getting too agitated. Seeing his chest heaving like a bellows and his face flushed a sickly red, Nekker frowned and took back control of the proceedings.

"Reporters, please observe. Mr. Mike of the Morning Post accused the mining company of callously firing this miner after he lost his hands and feet in an accident. How pitiful!"

Nekker signaled for the guards to raise Salamanda’s hands, letting everyone see that the Cultist was perfectly able-bodied.

"This proves that the story is completely inconsistent with the facts! The company discovered his misconduct during his employment and fired him, but at the time, we had no idea he was actually a Cultist!"

The reporters were scribbling in their notebooks so fast they nearly set the pages on fire. Regardless of the truth, the story was sensational enough: a righteous whistleblower colluding with a Cult Group to frame the Kingdom’s largest company, causing enormous losses.

"Then, the matter of the journalist Mi... uh, his exposé that your company was receiving external gold and ore, is that true?" Following the bombshell report, other journalists had done their own verification and confirmed that other trading firms were indeed transferring raw materials to the refinery.

"I’ll answer that question." Valon had calmed down. Suppressing the urge to cough, he answered the reporter’s question. "The refinery was designed with a massive production capacity. However, mining gold from the sub-plane involves a process of gradually increasing output. During this trial period, some production lines in our metallurgical department were idle.

Therefore, for the past few months, to avoid wasting that capacity, we took on external contracts to process gold and other metals. We did this until the ore output from the sub-plane stabilized.

"So, this was an open and reasonable business practice. We never expected it to be twisted by conspiracy theorists with ulterior motives into a claim that none of our gold comes from the sub-plane. I assure you all, the percentage of external gold and the profits generated will be fully disclosed in our financial reports."

The next part of the show was a performance by the accompanying Priest. Although this Faithful Divine Servant had never attended a press conference, he handled it with ease, drawing on his experience in giving sermons. He disclosed many details about last night’s operation and the attack, as well as how Salamanda and the core members of the Cult Group were captured.

At one point, while describing how a Holy Knight had bravely sacrificed himself—his soul returning to the Divine Kingdom—in order to eradicate the root of this evil, his voice choked with emotion. Not a single person in the audience was left unmoved.

For the first time, a holy and steady voice echoed through this place of wealth and restless hearts. "Therefore, I hope that whether you are my brothers and sisters who believe in my Lord, the subjects of the entire Holy Kingdom, or the esteemed shareholders of this company, we can all unite with unwavering resolve. We must not fall into mutual suspicion and harm due to wicked conspiracies and incitement."

His sincere and masterful sermon... oh, no, his speech at the press conference, convinced most people to believe the truth woven together by the Minister of Finance, the company’s general manager, and the Priest of the Order Church.

COUGH COUGH COUGH... The press conference finally ended at noon. As everyone else dispersed, leaving the stock exchange floor even more chaotic than usual, Valon coughed while hunched over, searching for something.

The Donkey Hide! He had been so agitated after receiving the letter that he had kept the Donkey Hide clutched in his left palm. Only when it was all over did Valon realize that his left hand was, at some point, empty.

He suddenly froze. A small, fragile-looking piece of Donkey Hide lay on the ground, its surface no larger than a holly leaf, now smudged with a footprint.

The crisis for the Shaleanna Mining Company seemed to be resolved, and the Donkey Hide had indeed shrunk again.

My life! My life!

Valon practically crawled to grab it. His coughing prevented the young man from straightening up, forcing him to kneel on the ground, weeping bitterly.

...

「In the research lab」

Rorschach had originally intended to discuss his new paper with his mentor, but Kano was busy, so he decided to sit down and read the newspaper on the desk.

’Is this Priest really that stupid, or did he take a bribe? Using the Church to endorse the mining company?’ Rorschach was astonished by the news report’s complete reversal in just one day. However, the paper in his hands wasn’t the Morning Post—the entire newspaper office had been shut down, sealed, and placed under investigation for suspected collusion with a cult group.

’Ha, Dipresy must be overwhelmed. Can’t even keep his own subordinates in line,’ Kano said dismissively, continuing to write in elegant script with his quill pen:

Due to the recent city-wide noise, combined with indeterminate supernatural factors, several apprentices from our tower have since reported symptoms of tinnitus, dizziness, and nausea... The Magic Guild expresses its deep worry and grave concern regarding this matter...

Rorschach continued reading the paper. Yesterday’s press conference had lasted the entire morning, during which all trading was halted. When the market reopened in the afternoon, the mining company’s stock successfully stopped its decline but saw no growth. It wasn’t until the final hour before closing that a mysterious force violently drove up the stock price, restoring it to the level it was at before the "Cultist Journalist Case" broke.

"Apparently, His Majesty the King flew into a rage, placed a bounty on the remnants of the Mother Earth Sect, and took the opportunity to introduce a ’Truth in Journalism Act.’ From now on, all newspapers will be subject to stricter review, and the Royal Palace will have the right to revoke the publishing license of any paper that releases false information at any time."

All newspapers are to undergo random inspections from the Royal Palace, and reporters and editors responsible for false content will be held accountable. As for who gets to determine what is true or false? Why, none other than His Most Holy and Wise Majesty the King himself, and the gentlemen he authorizes.

’A whitelist?’ Rorschach discovered some newspapers were exempt from the inspections—the *Order Lord’s Radiance Newspaper*, the *Valois Long Spear Report*, and the *Elemental Truth Newspaper*. The first two were the respective mouthpieces of the Church and the Royal Palace, while the Elemental Newspaper was only circulated within the Magic Guild and not distributed to the public.