Chapter 138
"So you just fed your arm to the dogs?" Yak's thoughts were a bit complicated. "Are you talking about those stray dogs?"
It was a gray wolf, lying not far away watching them. It was huge, and a sign hung around its neck.
This thing is clearly a monster, and it probably won't be easy for it to be legally recognized in this city. However, the sign is a safety certificate for this creature, proving that it's a safe monster that won't harm anyone.
As Ark imagined himself squatting on the ground, feeding the monster that had been starving for who knows how long, he suddenly felt a pang of sadness.
"Don't you think you're losing out?" Yak said softly. "This whole thing is pointless."
"Haha, do you think I did this to gain leniency in the face of judgment? No, I issued this child's safety certificate. He's injured and is recuperating here. He understands human speech, so he knows not to harm others. Therefore, I feel it's not right to leave him to starve like this." The High Priest thought for a moment and said, "Although demons can absorb magic power when extremely hungry, we priests can also reshape our bodies with holy magic. So I want to make it a little easier for him."
“What I mean is that it’s dying. This wound has damaged its magic core.” Ark looked at it and said, “There’s a deep wound that has reached the most important part. Now the chaotic elements outside are making its magic core a bit tainted. It’s an unexpected state that it hasn’t yet unleashed its wild flowers in this condition.”
The high priest didn't speak, he just looked at Ark, while Ark was looking at the monster.
That monster will soon lose its mind. Ark thought to himself that perhaps this guy could be lucky enough to hold out for another day, but by then, he might turn into a bloodthirsty monster when there were people around.
Eliminating it now would be the most merciful thing to do; it's currently enduring absolute pain, an incurable wound. Even with Karl and the other demons present, it wouldn't help. Its location is far too significant for a wound to be considered a serious one; it was clearly inflicted by someone who understands it well enough. It almost vanished on the spot.
"May I ask a question?" the high priest suddenly asked. "Shouldn't we show mercy to those who are about to die?"
“Letting it die now is the greatest mercy; it’s suffering right now.” Ark glanced at it. “That would be the wrong thing to do. You used to be the manager of this city; you understand these things better than I do.”
"Then why doesn't it commit suicide? It's an intelligent monster; it would kill itself in despair," the high priest said with a smile. "But it didn't, Your Excellency Merchant. It takes more courage to live than to die. It had the courage to live, shouldn't I help it?"
“Well said.” Ark shook his head. “But you should understand better than me that the reason you’re guarding this place is because this monster is about to go mad, and you’re here waiting to understand its life. That’s why you’ll be resting here.”
The high priest remained silent for a moment before nodding.
"It is my duty," it said softly. "I have not yet been judged, so I am still the guardian of this place. As a guardian, it is my duty to eliminate these unstable monsters. As long as I am here, I must fulfill my duty."
The wolf suddenly scrambled to its feet, turning and stumbling as it tried to escape, but it was too late. A golden arrow suddenly shot out from nowhere, piercing its core in one strike. Since the arrow was already exposed, aiming at it was incredibly easy.
The thing quickly turned to ashes. When a monster dies, its body transforms into various things, and some monsters can even conjure up edible flesh after death. But this one clearly didn't.
"This matter is now resolved." Ark watched as the ashes dissipated, and the magic core lay on the ground, completely tainted. After cracking, it turned into an ordinary small stone.
"I have a question for you," the high priest suddenly turned to look at it and asked, "Do you think God is merciful?"
It was clearly not asking Ark, but rather Benedict, who was behind her. This guy was a saint; perhaps he could offer some insights that would help her gain deeper understanding.
At least that's what the high priest thinks now.
“Who knows?” Benny shook her head. “I’ve never really understood the doctrine.”
After a moment of silence, the air gradually quieted down, and the high priest's eyes lost their light.
"I see." He muttered softly, "Thank you."
There was no answer to begin with.
......
Yak placed the broth on the table, set out the cutlery, and then added some chili to his own bowl.
"What a complete set of things!" The high priest looked at his spice collection; he could find almost every kind of seasoning material in the world here. Everything imaginable was available.
“I travel everywhere, so it’s normal for me to have all sorts of things,” Ark said. “If you only buy a little of these things, they’re not that expensive.”
He took a sip of the broth and nodded: "The broth is delicious today, come and try my cooking."
"Besides cooking and baking, do you know any more challenging cooking methods?"
“That would be a bit of a problem. After all, I’m not a professional,” Yak said helplessly. “Besides, I only have all the materials; I don’t actually have all my various tools here. It’s obviously impractical to bring all the kitchen utensils, so all I have here is a grill and a pot.”
“That’s enough,” the high priest said, picking up his bowl and drinking. “Being able to have a full meal is a very fortunate thing these days.”
"Isn't this the largest safe zone?" Ark asked knowingly. "By the way, I don't see the walls of the safe zone here. Is it because this place is too remote to see, or what?"
“The former, the safe zone here needs too many people to do the work. If you want to visit the safe zone, I can help you register. Then we can take a carriage to another place.” The high priest paused. “There is too much food to eat, but we have too little land to use.”
“Is that so?” Ark nodded. He was indeed surprised by the sheer number of people in the city. Even though this was a city of sorcerers, such a large population was truly astonishing.
"But speaking of which, it would be better if most of the people here could die," the high priest said softly. "That way, the remaining half of the people could eat properly."
“When I saw you feed the wolves with your own arm, I thought you were a saint. But after hearing you say that, I have no doubt that your trial is unnecessary.” Yak smiled helplessly: “Just this one sentence made me start to doubt which side you’re on.”
“No, this is something our church has always wanted to do.” Benny suddenly spoke up for him: “We saints often discuss this issue, such as removing people who are no longer functional from the city after a certain age, or simply registering them into a points system. Every now and then, we can remove those who are not valuable to obtain more resources to distribute.”
"Really?" Ark felt a chill run down his spine. "This is really terrible."
“However, this requires the agreement of half the people. When there were three people before, one was neutral, and the other two each held a different viewpoint. After I arrived, I voted against it.” Benny finished her drink. “After all, I don’t want to be a sinner.”
"In fact, if we agree, we humans can develop even better."
“Sir, please understand the meaning of ‘human’ first.” Benny looked at him and said, “Although we are monsters now, we were once human beings. As a human being, as long as you still have humanity, you cannot commit such a massacre. Also, people should not be kept on the basis of merit. We are residents of this world, not prisoners imprisoned in this world.”
“I think what you all said makes a lot of sense,” Ark said, trying to smooth things over. “I might remain neutral, because no matter what the outcome, I don’t think it will be a good one.”
"That's because this world itself is not beautiful. What kind of expectations can you have for a place that is not beautiful to begin with?" The high priest looked at Ark and said, "But what can we say? This world should have been destroyed a long, long time ago. Who knows how much the gods and demons withdrew in the end so that this place could be preserved? And who knows what kind of willpower the people back then had to survive?"
Yak shrugged. There was no point in discussing this topic anymore; he didn't want to continue this boring discussion.
"Speaking of which, what exactly did you do that you shouldn't have done?" Benny asked, looking at him. "Judging from your appearance, you don't seem like someone who embezzled supplies or has strange fetishes. You're a rare find—a normal person."
"If you think I'm a good person just because of this, you're wrong." He chuckled. "I'm a bad guy who colludes with demons and monsters behind the scenes, and I'm thinking every day about how to dismantle the church's rule."
“Indeed, there are traces of magic on you,” Ark said, looking at him. “Can priests use magic?”
“Yes, there is a blessing that is heresy, which allows one to use magic.” Benny hesitated for a moment before saying, “But that’s a paladin’s blessing. You are a high priest, so why would you have such a thing?”
The high priest smiled, looked at them, and said, "How many high-ranking clergy do you think there are in this place?"
"I haven't looked at the statistics, but I have the right to ask you to tell the truth."
“Seven, seven in the entire region.” The high priest paused. “There are two paladins, one priest, two ascetics, one high priest, and one daywalker.”
“Daywalking? The legendary profession that allows one to disappear in light?” Ark rubbed his chin. “I always thought it was fiction.”
“But one of the paladins committed suicide,” the high priest smiled. “Because he carried the mark of a heretic.”
As he said this, he suddenly pulled down the shirt around his neck to show them his upper body.
It was a right hand sewn on, the lower half of which had been cut off, with only a thin half attached.
And on it, there were strange marks drawn with black lines.
“I took off its hand and merged it with mine to obtain this blessing.” He pulled his clothes up. “By the way, the reason the church didn’t receive news of his death is because I also transformed that body into a puppet. It should be wandering outside now, killing those monsters that try to attack the city.”
"I won't say you're innocent about what you did." Benny didn't seem to object, but there was no hint of agreement in her tone either.
"Of course, I also think it's really a bit inappropriate."
"But you did it anyway."
“Because I think it’s better this way. He was a paladin. He actually chose death because he couldn’t bear the fact that his blessing was such a controversial thing. He even chose to end his own life. Such a foolish act, it’s more reasonable for me to make further use of it.” The high priest smiled and said, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, is there?”
“It seems this thing can corrupt the mind too.” Acton paused and said, “But it looks like you’re saying that on purpose.”
"Believe it or not, I'm just telling the truth." He still seemed unconcerned: "The lady sitting there is a saint, and there's a demon in your group. It would be foolish for me to do anything dangerous at a time like this."
The previously amicable atmosphere instantly turned into a tense atmosphere as two murderous auras enveloped him the moment the thin veil of secrecy was pierced.
"How do you know?" Ark said softly, his hands already on the end of the table, ready to draw the dagger behind him and behead him at any moment.
Benny was more direct; she simply looked at him, and then her holy magic surged forth, enveloping him within their attack range.
"Hehe, hehe." He seemed to be still laughing. "Of course I have no way of knowing, but if someone told me, would I need to investigate myself?"
“Who is that?” Yak said softly. “If you can tell me that person’s name, at least you will get through today safely.”
“The saint over there knows him.” The high priest didn’t look at Ark, but at Benny, whose face had turned completely dark. “Judging from your expression, you’ve probably already guessed it.”
“The Benevolent One?” Benny said softly. “This is her territory, and you are the administrator she sent here?”
"What do you think?" The high priest did not deny it, and slowly drank the soup.
“That’s a really good soup,” he said softly. “I wonder if there’s any left in hell.”
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