Chapter 97: Conviction
Church of the Sanctuary, the Cathedral.
The candles on the Lord’s Throne were lit, providing a bit of brightness to the dim hall.
"Sir Demitri has already sold the entire Marquis Territory to the Werewolves."
Kneeling beneath the Lord’s Throne, Corleon opened his eyes and said.
Behind him, at the boundary between candlelight and darkness, Nyx, seated on the bench, looked a little surprised.
"He actually went through with something like that,"he said.
"It seems the Werewolves offered a high price."
It wasn’t uncommon for human nobles to trade with Dark Creatures.
More often than not, soon after such a transaction, the Lord would lead troops to drive the Dark Creatures out.
The incentive was usually that there were too many disobedient fellows in the territory, and for the sake of political balance, the Lord couldn’t act directly, so he would turn a blind eye and allow the Dark Creatures to clean house once.
Among Lords, this behavior even had a specific term.
Judgment.
If you survived before the Lord reclaimed the territory, you would be granted innocence.
As for the dead commoners, no one cared.
After all, the only reason those people dared to think too much was because there were too many of them.
The less common incentive was the price offered by the Dark Creatures.
But they were merely Dark Creatures hunted by the Lords—how much could they possibly pay?
However, Nyx knew that the population in the Marquis Demitri’s territory wasn’t large, just slightly over a hundred thousand.
Moreover, Marquis Demitri himself was a Warlord, and the wars each year consumed a fair amount of population.
So it was unlikely that this was merely Judgment.
"Yes, very high—high enough for Marquis Demitri to completely abandon the territory and focus all his efforts on the struggle for succession,"Corleon nodded.
"In that case, we don’t need to worry too much about the Werewolf problem,"Nyx said.
"There are still those Baron Lords in the Marquis Territory—they won’t be so easily overrun by Werewolves."
"Then among the Werewolves who made the deal with the Marquis, there is a god,"Corleon stood up and looked at Nyx.
"A god? That’s a foreign word,"Nyx laughed.
"In this era, true gods won’t appear."
"He might be some kind of mysterious lifeform."
"Just because he stole a portion of a god’s authority, he dares to proclaim himself as a god."
"He calls himself the Wolf God,"Corleon said.
"Although, as you said, it’s more like one of the Werewolves’ Holy Relics came to life—but that Holy Relic itself is a part of the real Wolf God’s body."
Nyx could no longer laugh.
"The Progenitor God of the Werewolves?" He thought of some terrifying possibilities.
"Yes, and now this Wolf God has obtained ownership of the entire Marquis Territory,"Corleon said.
"Perhaps the Marquis Territory has already become a Wolf’s Den."
Nyx furrowed his brows.
Progenitor Gods of races varied greatly in strength due to differences among the races.
But the very purpose of a Progenitor God’s appearance was to ensure the continuation of its kind.
Although this Wolf God was not truly a Progenitor God, he might have stolen the power that drastically improved the reproductive and survival capabilities of his kind.
In other words—"If there are roughly a hundred thousand people in the Marquis Territory, and that Wolf God really did steal the Progenitor God’s power—.""
"But you still sent George over there,"Nyx looked at Corleon.
"Compared to the current situation in York Territory, that place suits him better."
"That place has the Wolf God—it’s far too dangerous."
"The Lord will protect him."
Nyx fell silent.
"What about the matter with the Daniels Family—when does the Bishop plan to begin?"he asked.
He had come to the Church because of his curiosity about this matter, after learning that George had already departed.
"The matter over there is already concluded. You might receive news by tomorrow morning,"Corleon said.
"It’s already late. Priest, please rest in the Church for tonight."
With that, Corleon returned to his bedroom, leaving only Nyx in silence between the light and shadows.
The next morning, at dawn.
"Look, that girl not only has golden hair like my sister, but she’s also just as strong as my sister,"Ando pulled Agamemnon, pointing at Olivia who easily lifted three wooden planks, and whispered,"Those planks are heavy. I can only carry one at a time, and after four, I have to rest."
"But look at her, she seems completely unfazed by the weight."
Agamemnon looked helplessly at Ando who was tugging on him.
"If you're really so bored and don’t want to help, you could recite 《Sin and Punishment》 that the Bishop gave us the other day."
"How could I not want to help? I just got tired from moving stuff and needed a breather,"Ando quickly said.
Reciting scriptures was the thing he dreaded most.
Up till now, he had only memorized the Holy Scriptures, and barely two pages of the Divine Word Manuscript.
"But don’t you think she’s weird?!" Ando tried hard to steer the topic back to Olivia.
"Yes, she’s odd. But is that really a problem?" Agamemnon replied.
"Of course it’s a problem!" Ando said. "Even though she’s blonde like my sister, her slap hurts way more than my sister’s."
"How old is she now? When she reaches my sister’s age, it’ll be a disaster!"
"She’s the Bishop’s goddaughter. Do you really think the Bishop would take in an ordinary person as his goddaughter?"Agamemnon replied calmly.
Unlike Ando, who was set on becoming a Temple Warrior and always spent his spare time around the Temple Warriors—
Agamemnon would rather chat with Cicero and Melia, who had been arranged to stay at the Monastery.
Because of that, he had long known of the existence of Mystery.
And over this long period, he could faintly feel that there had been some changes in his body.
Not just the changes from natural growth.
Of course, more importantly, he managed the Monastery’s library, which included Nyx’s writings on the crafting of Healing Potions.
Divine Word, Blessing, Enlightenment—these terms appeared frequently within.
So although he was somewhat surprised by Olivia’s peculiarity, he wasn’t overly concerned.
"Although your goal is to become a Temple Warrior, the Church’s scriptures are also important. Even those Temple Warriors have memorized more scripture than you,"Agamemnon couldn’t help but remind him.
After spending so much time together, even if Agamemnon didn’t want to admit it, he and Ando could be considered friends.
"Ahem, well, I have been studying—"Ando’s eyes drifted.
"And also, stop bothering those two girls. You can’t beat them, yet you keep trying to get close."
In Agamemnon’s eyes, every beating Ando received was well-deserved.
Melia was very smart.
Even though her physical strength was below Ando’s, in a real fight, her martial skills would pin Ando to the ground.
Olivia might seem slow-witted, but she was excessively earnest in all things.
The first time Ando met her, he brazenly compared their heights, calling her a short bean.
However, Olivia took that as a provocation and, like a Knight, challenged Ando to a duel.
Ando, who had always admired Knights, was naturally unable to resist the allure of experiencing a Knight’s duel, so he agreed.
Then he was nearly beaten to death by a single punch from Olivia.
If Cicero hadn’t reacted in time and poured a small potion down his throat, Ando would probably be buried in the Cemetery by now.