While My Mage Wife Grinds, I Power Up Idly

Riven Town.

When the three of them returned, the town had grown even more lively than it had been just over ten days ago.

The Kyle family had both the funds and the means.

As long as they were handling legitimate affairs, they were far more efficient than the previous Town Mayor.

"Welcome home, Bishop Ashu."

At the gate, the Kyle law enforcer greeted him with a dogtail grass stalk between his lips.

"You look awfully relaxed, Kyle law enforcer."

"Can’t help it. Crime’s been way down lately."

He took the dogtail out of his mouth and added,

"A bunch of Paladins came through not long ago. Scared me half to death—I thought we had cultists again. But turns out, nothing happened."

Ashu gave a slight smile.

"Kido and Midaldas are both dead. If there were still cultists around, it’d have to be me."

"Oh, please. I heard all about the storm you stirred up in Kakase. Even the kids playing pretend here in Riven stand up straighter when they hear your name. You’ve really done our hometown proud."

The group chatted and laughed as they made their way into the town.

Wherever they went, townspeople greeted Ashu with excitement and warmth.

It seemed the Kakase Incident had really left an impression.

"My big sis said she wants to throw you guys a welcome banquet to wash away the dust of travel."

As they neared the Church entrance, the Kyle law enforcer suddenly said.

Upon hearing that—

Ashu glanced toward the Church and replied,

"Spare me. All I want right now is a good rest."

He was only familiar with the Kyle law enforcer himself.

As for the rest of the Kyle family, he really didn’t know them well at all.

They weren’t nearly close enough to be holding banquets for one another.

In his past life as a corporate drone, he knew all too well how these things worked.

The only difference now was that the roles had reversed—the other side were now the salarymen, and he was the guest of honor.

Even so, he didn’t want any part of it.

He was completely done with that kind of setting.

Which side he played hardly mattered.

And now, in Riven Town, if he didn’t want to go somewhere—no one could make him.

The Kyle law enforcer saw this and could only say helplessly,

"Alright, I’ll tell my sister exactly what you said. But let me be clear: if she flips out, you owe me a place to crash."

"The Church woodshed is habitable."

"You bastard..." the Kyle law enforcer started to say something, then bit his tongue.

Ashu curled his lip in a smirk, said nothing more, and simply led Anna and Ymir inside.

Back on his own turf, that familiar sense of ease washed over him at once.

As they stepped into the Church, the first thing they saw was Leia, sitting in a daze.

Ashu walked over and waved his hand in front of her face.

It took about three seconds for her to snap out of it.

Then suddenly, pure joy bloomed across her delicate, vacant face.

"Ashu! You’re back—waaah!"

As she shouted, she threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him with unrestrained affection.

Ymir saw what was happening and gave Anna a strange look. She leaned in and asked quietly,

"Sister Anna, why does Ashu have a Forest Elf stashed away?"

"Ymir, Leia once saved Ashu’s life. That means she saved mine, too."

Ymir immediately bowed and apologized,

"I’m sorry, Sister Anna... I’m sorry... Senior Leia!"

"Your punishment is to go clean the backyard."

Ymir didn’t dare argue. She slunk off toward the backyard in defeat.

But just as she stepped in, she noticed a shadowy figure sneaking into the Church from the rear.

Her instincts kicked in—eager to redeem herself, she blinked forward in a flash and thrust her broom across the intruder’s neck.

"Where do you think you’re sneaking in, thief? This is holy ground!"

Ymir never considered herself Heretical.

Though she bore the power of Death, it was a legacy—not something she had chosen or devoted herself to.

But this thief, sneaking into a Church? That was a whole different matter—pure corruption.

"Who the hell are you?" the intruder asked with a frown.

His eyes were not like other people’s—they were tinged red, as though cursed.

Ymir’s own irises were red too, but hers resembled gemstones, luminous and clear.

His were just... sickly.

"Heh. A petty thief dares to question me with that self-righteous tone?"

Ymir sneered coldly and made a move to summon her scythe.

Now fully fused with her, the massive weapon pulsed with Death’s power—constantly on the verge of release.

If she drew it, she could cleave this man in two with a single blow.

However—

Just as she was about to summon the scythe, she suddenly remembered:

Even though this was the Church’s backyard, it was still the Church.

She couldn’t recklessly expose her ’Heretical Path’ powers here—Vivita’s warning echoed in her mind.

"Forget it. I’ll just take you to Ashu and let him decide your fate."

At the mention of Ashu, a flicker of recognition flashed in the intruder’s eyes,

and he stopped resisting.

And so—

The two of them made their way from the rear garden toward the Church’s main hall.

The moment Ashu saw them, he quickly rushed over and shoved them both back toward the rear chamber.

"Ymir, didn’t Anna give you a task to do?"

"I caught this intruder."

"Great, good job. Now go do your task."

"Fine, whatever."

Ymir had no idea that the person she had just apprehended was none other than Sion,

the Messenger of the Cidi Church.

After the battle against Kakarim, Ashu had ordered the Cidi Church to resume operations and keep expanding.

Naturally, Sion had returned with the group.

Now that he’d shown up again, it could only mean something urgent had happened.

Wasting no time, once Ymir was out of earshot, Ashu asked,

"Alright, tell me—what’s going on?"

"Bishop, there’s been a problem with our expansion on the front lines. People in the border towns of the Kingdom of Ankgarde discovered the sudden disappearance of all the God of Deceit’s Devotees. They’ve hired bounty hunters to investigate—and their state-church officials have dispatched agents too. We’re being attacked from both sides."

"The God of Deceit’s church getting involved, that I expected—it is their state religion after all. But the bounty hunters?"

"Sir, according to my intel, there are four bounty hunters total. All of them are famous throughout the Kingdom of Ankgarde. The weakest among them... is Grand Archmage level!"

So that meant... at least four Grand Archmage-level combatants?

You had to understand—even the Cardinal of the border city Kakase was only Grand Archmage-level!

And yet they managed to hire four of them all at once!

It was likely not just about investigating the disappearance of the God of Deceit’s Devotees anymore.

They were probably also looking into the loss of an entire Legion.

On a small scale, the two nations could pretend to be deaf and blind, act like nothing had happened.

But on a larger scale—this could be the spark that ignites a war.

"The weakest among them is Grand Archmage-level. What about the strongest?"

"According to the Kingdom of Ankgarde’s intel, the strongest bounty hunter among them has already reached the peak of Grand Swordmaster."

Grand Swordmaster—a class under the Warrior path.

Once someone became an official cultivator, they’d branch into different classes based on their natural talents, gradually advancing and refining their specialty.

Mage or Knight, Warrior or Archer, Assassin or Monk...

Grand Swordmaster corresponded to the same tier as Grand Archmage.

So being at the peak of Grand Swordmaster... meant that bounty hunter was on the verge of a breakthrough to Sword King!

And that level—at present—only Vivita was capable of dealing with.

But Ashu had no intention of telling Vivita about something like cult expansion—that would be too awkward.

"Sion, you’re the best Messenger I have. I want you to investigate this Grand Swordmaster’s exact level, but only if you can do it safely. If it turns out he’s on the brink of breaking through to Sword King—we abandon the expansion plan immediately. But if he’s stuck at the bottleneck... I’ll break his sword myself."

Ashu could summon a Holy Shield Knight, a creature on par with a Grand Archmage.

On top of that, he could activate Reaper’s Resolve, temporarily gaining power equivalent to Grand Archmage level.

And if it really came down to it, he still had his trump card—Forbidden Sacrifice.

As long as the opponent wasn’t a full-fledged Sword King, he was confident he could take them on.

Sion nodded solemnly and replied,

"Yes, my Bishop."

"Go. I’ll meet you at the border tomorrow. May Cidi bless us both."

Sion vanished in a flash.

Ashu stood there in silence, staring at the spot where he’d disappeared, deep in thought.

The resistance from the Kingdom of Ankgarde had been expected.

They had lost a Legion—and an entire town’s worth of God of Deceit Devotees.

If they hadn’t sent anyone to investigate, Ashu would’ve started suspecting he’d walked into a trap.

But the expansion of the Cidi Church was non-negotiable.

A lone general without his own forces? That kind of man always died horribly.

He had to build his own power base.

And among the Heretical Path factions, the Cidi Church was the fastest to establish.

As for the Paladins—those required years of training and nurturing potential candidates.

That was a five- to ten-year plan at best.

In the short term, this was the only viable path forward.

Bounty hunters were freelance by nature—they worked for whoever paid the most.

To reach such high levels of strength, they had to be famous across the entire kingdom.

That meant tracking down intel on them wouldn’t be too difficult.

The next day.

Ashu brought Anna and Ymir with him to the border between the two nations.

He brought Anna because she was well-versed in international affairs.

He brought Ymir because she was a pure cultist—anything that happened could be blamed on the God of Death.

The sun rose to its peak in a cloudless sky, scorching and radiant.

Even the wild beasts of the mountains were napping under the midday sun,

as Sion concealed his presence and slipped into a mountain cave.

Inside the cave,

Ashu was already waiting.

"Well?"

"Lord Bishop, I’ve asked around a great deal. What I can confirm is—

that Grand Swordmaster hasn’t broken through to Sword King.

However, it’s said that his strength is still far beyond that of a typical Grand Archmage—overwhelmingly so," Sion reported.

Upon hearing this,

Ashu turned to look at Anna.

Anna gave a small nod and explained,

"A Grand Swordmaster who has trained to the peak does indeed surpass most Grand Archmages.

But as long as he hasn’t advanced to Sword King, the threat isn’t too serious."

Hearing this, Ashu made up his mind.

Anyone who hindered the rise of the new Cidi Church was an enemy.

The sooner they could eliminate them, the better—

lest fate somehow help the man break through to Sword King.

"Sion, listen to me. I’ll need you to make another sacrifice."

As Ashu spoke, he reached out with his demonic hand.

Seeing this,

Sion lowered his head and knelt without hesitation, replying with practiced ease,

"For the Bishop, and for Cidi, Sion will give anything without regret."