Chapter 129

The high priest sat where he was supposed to be, continuing to process the documents as if nothing had happened.

"You're still so impatient."

A sound came from behind him.

“I did what I was supposed to do,” he said with a smile. “And it was really exhilarating; I haven’t experienced such an intense fight in a long time.”

"You're not a battle maniac, so please don't talk like that."

“Haha, but I really do enjoy fighting, because we all receive God’s kindness. Every time I’m attacked, I feel God’s kindness within me.” He paused and said, “That’s God’s gift to us, but we’ve always kept it hidden. It’s a pity that we don’t let others see it.”

"But then you'll be useless and abandoned."

“Heartless one, but it was all part of my plans.” The high priest paused and said, “My lord, I am truly tired of living. It has been seven hundred years. I have lived in this hell for seven hundred years. I really do not want to continue this life. Let me die.”

He said this, then stood up and waved his hand in front of him.

The previous basement opening was repaired, so to outsiders, it appears that nothing has happened here.

Then he stood where he had been standing the longest, slowly took a deep breath, and smiled.

This wasn't to prepare for his own death, but because his work was about to begin again. This city would never lack people who needed him, and although it was now certain he would at least be imprisoned, until then, he remained the city's administrator.

However, he has already seriously injured a high-ranking clergyman, and there are few sins more serious than this in the Church.

Speaking of which, the guy standing in front of us is quite a rare guest.

“High Priest, you are very weak,” said the person standing in front of him.

It was a boy, and the cloth robe he was wearing was a bit too big.

This is a child of the church, and he, like the church, bears the responsibility of raising children.

Moreover, there aren't many children that the church can raise; there will always be people who want to adopt a child to make their lives less boring.

He was all alone here; his name was Qing, and he was a fourteen-year-old boy. He had only been adopted four years ago, and before that, he had barely survived in a chaotic region, so malnutrition had made him rather thin. He also had long hair, and at first glance, one might mistake him for a girl.

“Because I made a mistake, I will be taken to the central church for trial.” He said this, slowly walking over and patting his head: “Take care of yourself afterward.”

"Why?" He looked at the high priest's face with disbelief and confusion.

“You have seen what I have done,” the high priest said after a pause. “I have violated enough taboos.”

“There must be a reason for that.” Qing seemed a little anxious: “High Priest, why did you do those things? You must have your own reasons, right?”

But the high priest just smiled and patted his head.

“There’s no reason, I just want to prove something.” He paused and said, “I’m still stubbornly clinging to my own beliefs. If I were the one carrying out the order, I would probably choose this approach as well.”

He said this and returned to his seat.

“But that’s no excuse for me to be lazy.” The high priest paused and said, “Could you pour me a cup of tea? Before I’m stripped of my power, I still want to savor the pleasures of power a little longer.”

After Qing finished pouring the tea, he stood at the church entrance, sitting on the stone steps and looking at the distant sky.

I have always been very clear about what the high priest is doing.

It's nothing more than summoning evil spirits to try and gain power and wealth for oneself.

These are all heinous crimes.

However, strangely enough, although she didn't know why, Qing still felt that the High Priest was a good person.

He never intended to cover up these crimes; in fact, it gave the impression that he was eager for them to be discovered.

So far, the evil spirits summoned here have not been reported to have harmed anyone, and the power they have seized has never been used for personal enjoyment.

Even the money—he doesn't know why he wanted it—has just been sitting there, untouched since he arrived.

Qing felt her mind was a bit of a mess, and perhaps she should go for a walk.

A few minutes earlier, he had a feeling that something had happened in the church.

But the battle didn't last long, lasting only about half an hour. So by the time he made up his mind, it was over. The swordsmith went back to heal his wounds, while the high priest, left behind, calmly awaited what would happen—his capture and trial.

Is it because I've lived for too long? Because I've lived for so long, do I want to find something to make things interesting for myself?

Qing didn't know that she was still a child and had only been sent to the church four years ago.

He was unaware of these things for three whole years, only hearing about them in the last year.

It's such a strange feeling. It's like the guy I always thought was good turned out to be bad. Even so, I still think he's a good person. Qing is still a child; he believes that people who are good to him can't be bad.

The high priest watched the child walk down the stairs and remained standing there, unchanged.

Until suddenly, someone appeared behind him.

"Your request is finally fulfilled. Are you happy?" It was a somewhat deep voice; you didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

The city's paladin is currently helping to tidy up some things in the back.

“I still feel nothing,” the high priest said softly. “It feels completely unreal.”

“You’ve done enough to warrant my spitting, now get out of here.” The paladin paused and said, “Because of you, we might be short a high-ranking priest for a while. Blood Day has just ended, and we’re short-handed everywhere. There are problems everywhere that need to be dealt with. It’s infuriating that you’re leaving at a time like this.”

"Haha, but you should have come and dealt with me a long time ago. You know what I've done." The high priest turned to the paladin and asked, "How old are you?"

“Around three hundred years old. Although I know that I am relatively young among you, I am not so old and bored that I have to challenge the rules for amusement.” He turned his head to look at the high priest with some dissatisfaction: “I am angry, really angry. What you did was meaningless and just caused me trouble.”

The high priest did not answer, but simply shrugged to indicate that he didn't care.

The paladin took a deep breath to calm himself down, otherwise he might often be driven to doubt whether becoming a priest was the right decision by this guy with the strange way of thinking.

He stared at the child running on the road for a long time without looking away.

“He was a good boy, please,” the high priest said, looking at him. “At least let him die peacefully.”

“He won’t die,” the paladin said after a pause. “You might.”

“Preserving myself in the underworld is not a good thing.” The high priest paused and said, “But I hope you’ll take my word for it; I might really die.”

“You’ve been saying strange things lately,” the paladin paused and said. “Just a few days ago you were asking me, in a really weird way, whether God is benevolent.”

"Has your answer changed?"

"God is benevolent. He created this world, regardless of good or evil. He created humans and monsters." The paladin paused and said, "In the beginning, he was the origin of everything. Everything originated from him. We humans have benevolent people, so I believe he is benevolent as well."

"Hmm, not a bad answer." The high priest smiled, offering no further comment.

"You keep asking yourself, do you have a definitive answer?" The paladin paused and said, "We become high-ranking clergy not by pondering these kinds of questions, or by trying to find out if there's a standard answer to this kind of thing."

"I don't know. Perhaps only the true gods know the answer," the high priest said, looking at the paladin. "Do you believe we are being observed?"

“Observation? God? We are always being watched by God, so we cannot do evil. We are always being watched, so we must do good.”

“Perhaps,” the high priest said. “Although I don’t know when my trial will begin, I want to travel around before then. I’ve been here for a long time and haven’t really seen this city properly.”

"You've memorized every person and every building here; you know them so well you can't be more familiar with them."

“But I still haven’t been able to calm down and really look around. I came here hundreds of years ago, but it feels as unfamiliar as if I just arrived.” He said softly, “What have I been to you all this time?”

“A strange fellow, but I should say I haven’t seen many normal fellows.” The paladin paused. “I suggest you hurry up if you want to take a look around. I’ll hide that thing for you.”

"You knew all along."

“You never intended to hide.” The paladin said, taking a slow, deep breath.

They might need to take a few more deep breaths, otherwise they won't be able to calm down.

The two men stood there for a long time without saying a word.

"Don't let me see you again. I'm temporarily in charge here," the paladin said softly. "Before the judges arrive."

"But the judges have always been here."

“I’m not talking about that ascetic, it’s someone else.” The paladin paused. “You know who it is.”

The air fell silent again, and this time no one spoke. The high priest left the church.

And so, the place fell silent. Only the sound of the paladin tidying up remained.

However, someone still arrived. While the paladin was still pondering, a knock came at the door.

Is anyone there?

“Yes.” The paladin turned to look at the man standing in the doorway. “An unfamiliar face. Are you an outsider?”

"With so many people in this city, how can you remember all their faces?" Denos sighed. "I already know how strict the administrators here are."

“No need to worry about it. Denos, is that right? Although we haven’t met, I’ve read the introduction of outsiders.” The paladin sighed. “You look as slovenly as described. If you’re here to register your accommodation and local identity, I have a small request: please at least keep your accommodation clean and hygienic. Unclean places and messy environments are prone to breeding rats and diseases.”

"No problem." Denos sighed helplessly, knowing that it would be troublesome to slack off in the city he was going to live in.

“Alright, then welcome to Kadumi.” The paladin wrote something there: “You can start applying for your supplies in three hours. By the way, although food trading is prohibited in the city, the market is not under the church's jurisdiction, so you can buy food there. However, that's against the rules, so please do it where we can't see you.”

"That's quite lenient." Denos was taken aback, not expecting that such a thing would be specifically mentioned.

The church is responsible for managing the safe zone; in other words, they control the food supply.

However, some food items are not produced in the safe zone, such as human flesh and algae that can grow in the chaotic realm. There is also food obtained directly from the church through various means.

Although these things are officially prohibited from being traded, the church also knows that controlling food is meaningless. So the management in this area is very lax, but it is rare to see it mentioned so directly.

“It doesn’t matter. Although I don’t understand why people become more difficult to manage after going hungry, I don’t want to go against human nature.” The paladin paused. “There are some rules here that you need to know.”

"Actually, we can learn about those things later."

"Alright, those things are engraved on the stone slab next to us. There are a total of 120 rules. Please abide by them."

"What did you say?" Denos was stunned, feeling that he might be a little hard of hearing and hadn't heard the pronunciation clearly.

The paladin didn't want to say anything more to this guy, because he was also in a bad mood because of the impending separation.

Denos didn't want confirmation from this guy; he just wanted to get the paperwork done and leave as soon as possible.

In this way, he would officially have the right to reside in this city.

That's great, shouldn't we celebrate?

Denos stood there waiting for everything to be done, looking outside.

What a big city!

This city feels so unfamiliar.

Denos stood there, the sunlight shining on him, and despite the hot weather, he could only feel a coolness.

Is anyone there?

There was a knock on the door behind him, and the paladin looked up at the person behind him.

"Are you back?"

"You actually remember me."

“That’s not difficult; you’re particularly memorable.” The paladin paused. “Miss Nina, what brings you here?”

Nina?

Denos paused, then turned to look at the guy who had just walked in...