Chapter Ninety-Five
"That concludes the standard report." As the adjudicator put down the document in her hand, Benny lowered her head, rubbed her temples, and let out a long sigh.
She spent the whole night listening to that guy report on what was happening all over the world, something that annoyed her the most. Because she also had to take plenty of notes.
Although you could simply listen like those seniors did.
They also praised the newcomer for being so diligent.
After all, the blank sheets of paper in front of the adjudicator and the defender of honor are filled with one blank sheet after another.
Actually, Benny didn't want to write it either, but who knows which place might be related to Ark. If that guy asked for her help, she'd have to dig through all this stuff. It's clear that all this information comes from the area this guy is monitoring, places she hasn't really looked at, so she can roughly deduce what happened from these things.
Of course, the most serious problem is still the bloody day.
Benny misunderstood the Arbiter. He hadn't convened this small meeting solely to discuss Ark's matter; it was because of the Blood Sun issue that had occurred not long ago.
This was an absolutely major event. According to records, as many as four human settlements were destroyed during this Blood Sun event. Fortunately, none of the high-ranking priests perished.
Oh, there are also people like Carl who make themselves look like they're dead on paper, Benedict glanced at the guy named Carl. He's gotten a little too close to the demon, but thankfully, marrying into a demon and sleeping with him for a night isn't a serious offense that would get him killed. I'll write him a guarantee, so I don't need to worry about him being made to suffer.
Okay, let's take this opportunity to think about how to handle the difficulties that will arise after we resolve the Blood Sun issue.
As far as it stands, Denos, Deedri, and Lady in Ark's team are completely unimportant; they're just ordinary people. The Church won't care.
Karl might be the one in trouble. Although he is a high-ranking priest, he has indeed done his fair share of disciplinary violations.
To be frank, he is still a high-ranking clergyman, and as a saint, I can use my power to protect him. It's a minor matter.
The most troublesome ones are Ark and Lori. Ark is not actually registered in the church, and he is a ghost here.
Perhaps only I know the details of that guy's background. Although I don't know how to classify him, I don't know what a good way to deal with him later except to argue and make trouble.
Another person whose safety I can't guarantee is Lori, a demon. But she hasn't used her abilities yet.
It should be said that no use of the ability has been observed. Perhaps it was used during the Blood Day, but it was only in the last two days, during a global observation of the Sun Wheel, that it was able to be used again. During the Blood Day, the massive expansion of magical power caused the Sun Wheel to lose its original function.
The noise outside started again. Benny looked up and saw the arbitrator standing there.
The guy was staring at her with a hostile expression, and Benny wasn't about to give him a friendly look either; her expression was equally threatening.
On the contrary, everyone else seemed indifferent.
I'd seen the Immortal before; he was a rather thin-looking man. The Benevolent One, on the other hand, was a rare woman. She appeared to be in her early twenties, with a beautiful figure; even though her robes concealed her, one could imagine what a stunning beauty she was.
An elderly man in a wheelchair who has already upheld the Way.
The Keeper of the Way is a special case; he does not first become a high priest and then a saint, but becomes a saint directly without going through the process of becoming a high priest.
So he's the only one here who ages; he's old enough to look like he can't move at all. But he's kept alive in some strange way so he can sit here.
However, it's hard to say when that method will become ineffective; in other words, that guy is most likely to die first here.
Speaking of which, sitting here every time makes Benny feel a little sentimental.
This is a very large conference hall; it is said that it used to be able to hold a full load of people.
But now, there are only a handful of people sitting in this huge hall, and there are no assigned seats. You can just find a place that looks nice to you and sit down.
The rest are all dead. To be precise, apart from those three guys who have aged into monsters, everyone else is dead.
In a sense, the great war between the Church and the demons could be seen as a duel between gods and demons after they were sealed away, relying on the power that seeped out. This time, however, it was not a draw, but ended in victory for the Church, thus bringing about the peace we have today.
Nobody wants to die, and strictly speaking, they don't need to fight for survival. Even if they could conquer this chaotic region, what good would it do? It would be a net loss.
They were merely tools used by gods and demons; they never cared about the lives of mortals, and those selfish beings never considered the damage they would cause to the living.
"Yase Li, what's the situation on your end?" he called out to Benny after he finished speaking.
Who is Yasiro Ritsu?
Oh, it's me.
Benny's expression would twitch every time she heard the name, because she couldn't immediately connect the name with herself.
“Eight Colors Glass, I need a report from the region I’m responsible for.” The Arbitrator paused and said, “I want to know about the losses from Blood Sun.”
“Two cities nearly collapsed, and one vanished completely. However, the safe zone suffered no losses.” Benny took a deep breath to calm herself down from his irritating way of speaking: “The population has decreased by a third.”
“An acceptable loss,” the Guardian’s voice said softly. “The places we three have visited have been compiled and tallied; it’s in Appendix Chapter Three.”
Benny and the Arbitrator took it out at the same time, glanced at it, and frowned.
The total population decreased by four-seventeenths, nearly a quarter. Thirteen cities were gone, and twenty-seven were almost completely destroyed. A full third of the lower-ranking clergy died. The loss of property is currently incalculable.
There are other details like these, including the consumption of medicines and the loss of food.
There are also the wounded who cannot be treated, and those who try to resist.
What a disaster this is.
However, it was marked as safe.
Because the four data points are highlighted in red below.
Loss to the safe zone: None.
Loss to high-ranking clergy: None.
Loss to saints – none.
Loss of sacred artifacts - None.
Therefore, this disaster is safe and completely acceptable.
A deathly silence.
The two slowly sat down, but the atmosphere stifled their original conversation.
To be precise, only the two of them have this feeling.
The others looked very happy, raising their glasses of red wine.
"Perhaps we should have a drink to celebrate."
"Cheers." Benny raised her glass with a serious face and then drank it all in one gulp.
She clearly remembered that the last time something similar happened, she immediately got angry and shouted things that now sound like she was brain-dead.
But now I've gotten used to it; they're high and mighty, and I only need to think about things that concern me. Things that don't concern me should be ignored.
Why red wine? Because someone once joked that they can remain peaceful here as if they've consumed the flesh and blood of others, so they shouldn't drink pure things. However, that was just a joke; the truth is simply that everyone can accept the taste of red wine.
But a loud noise almost made her spit out the red wine she was drinking. She looked at the newcomer who had slammed his hand on the table with a bit of annoyance.
"How could this be deemed safe?" he said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with immense anger.
“The reason is the area marked with lines,” Benny said, looking at him. “The core power of our church has not been weakened; it remains the sole holder of it. There are still no enemies who can threaten us.”
“The problem is that they weren’t weakened, isn’t it?” he said softly. “Those guys were supposed to protect the cities they were supposed to guard, but they all felt they couldn’t compete and ran away to safety on their own.”
“Each of them made a significant contribution; none of them left without doing anything. Each of them put in tremendous effort.” The Immortal looked at the Arbiter and said, “You cannot slander any of them; each of them accomplished what they were supposed to do.”
"We should protect the people."
"No, our duty is only to prevent the resurrection of the demon god." The benevolent one said with a smile, "You're new here, there are some things you don't understand yet. People can die and new humans can emerge, but if we can't prevent the resurrection of the demon god, then everything is over."
"Moreover, the reduction in population allows the survivors to enjoy more food. Even we can't excessively increase crop yields; we can only produce so much food. In a sense, it has improved the lives of the survivors." The Guardian paused and said, "I even submitted a proposal a while ago about whether to reduce the population by two-thirds to allow the remaining third to have a better life. But before it was approved, Blood Sun did these things for me."
The adjudicator looked displeased, but said nothing and simply sat back down.
As expected.
Benny smiled helplessly and swirled the wine glass in her hand.
I asked the same question when I got up, and I received a similar answer.
Yes, first and foremost, it needs to understand its original intention. There is only one: to prevent the resurrection of the demon god. And even more so, to prevent the resurrection of the god.
Anything that conflicts with these two things is useless.
In this matter, the number of high-ranking clergy is a very important number. Only when there are enough high-ranking clergy can the church still maintain control in the event of an emergency.
However, she didn't show any mockery; instead, she seemed to empathize with the situation.
I still feel terrible; those numbers represent real, living people.
They are all outsiders; to them, these are just numbers. But to those involved, each of these numbers represents a living, breathing person.
Living beings, with body temperature. People with feelings, families, and dreams.
Rather than an increasing number.
She's not used to being an outsider yet; she needs time to adjust.
After all, she was an insider not long ago.
This guy called the Arbitrator wasn't annoying at least in this respect, and for some reason, Benny felt like she'd found a kindred spirit.
Although all the slight goodwill that had arisen vanished the moment that guy looked at him with a hostile expression.
“Now, I have a few things to ask.” He paused and said, “First, about the Land of the Dead, which is currently the largest known gathering place of monsters and has become a threat to our church. But I want to know why it has existed until now. And why its ruler is protected by our church, or more precisely, by you, senior.”
“Zanlinda, you can all find the information about that person. You've all seen that information before, so please continue.” Benny smiled and looked at him, saying, “Is there a problem?”
"As a Demon King, his abilities are limited to the Beta level." The Arbiter paused and said, "Beta-level abilities require at least two Saints to prove their safety."
“Hmm, so?” Benny asked, raising an eyebrow.
This is an internal ranking system used for abilities directly bestowed by demon kings and gods. Because demons are extremely rare, this ranking system is only used within the ranks of saints.
These abilities are completely disregarded by magical or divine power; they are achieved directly by altering the rules. Based on destructive power, they are categorized into three levels: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Alpha is the highest, and Gamma is the lowest.
God rarely bestows His abilities upon others. Only saints are given such abilities.
Alpha-level abilities are second only to Saints. The only level above that is called Demon God, which is the same level as Saints.
Proving that a Gamma-level demon is safe requires the guarantee of a saint; Beta requires two, and Alpha requires three.
As for the Demon God Seed, its emergence signifies the resumption of the battle between the Church and the demons, and one of the conditions for their peace is the absence of the Demon God Seed.
Among them, Chullier is a Gamma-class, and Apari is a Beta-class.
“The other one is me, and there’s also proof that he’s a Guardian.” The Immortal paused and said, “We all consider him a safe guy, except for the Benevolent One.”
"Why?" The adjudicator frowned, asking with some confusion.
“Since that guy established that country, managing monsters has become very easy for us. Even though they are gradually gathering power, they are insignificant to us. And if we don’t acknowledge it, they will often cause us trouble.” The Immortal said, “Although I also think it is excessive for Yasiri to protect these dangerous guys because of her personal feelings, upon closer inspection, she has her reasons.”
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