Hearing Jamil’s words, everyone present froze for a moment. The funds for rebuilding the church were withheld, deemed an honour for the town’s residents, and the reward for Ye Chui and Debbie’s efforts in resolving the apostle incident was merely an honorary scroll?
Ye Chui, overwhelmed with anger, couldn’t help but smile.
Never have I seen such a shameless person!
Debbie’s small face darkened with fury. In a fit of temper, she threw the scroll to the ground with a snap. “Who cares about a useless scroll? We want gold coins! Did you pocket our reward?”
The church reconstruction funds, borrowed by Ye Chui and Debbie for Resha, amounted to 1,500 gold coins. The reward for dealing with the apostle was estimated at least 3,000 gold coins, totaling 4,500 gold coins. In the past, that sum could have sustained Gilga in the real world for who knows how long. And this so-called envoy dared to embezzle it all!
Clearly, Divine Envoy Jamil had never taken Stan Town seriously from the moment he arrived. A remote, poor town, filled with ignorant residents and a pervasive unpleasant smell, in his eyes, his mere presence as a noble envoy was the greatest honour they could receive. They should be grateful, yet they dared demand gold coins?
It seemed he needed to teach them a lesson.
Jamil smirked coldly, pulling a Bible from his robe. He flipped it open and began chanting. Believers channelled power through recitation, and seeing him draw the Bible, Ye Chui summoned his iPad grimoire, Mayor Cass drew his greatsword from behind, and Debbie pulled out her summoning key. They weren’t ones to back down.
However, Jamil didn’t attack. The verses he chanted were from the “Hymn of Praise.”
This was a scripture extolling the greatness of the gods, one every believer had to master first. Through it, they could receive divine blessings, harnessing the gods’ majesty to intimidate evil.
As Jamil chanted, a holy glow enveloped him. Under its radiance, those with weaker resolve, like the one-eyed guard, began trembling uncontrollably, as if about to kneel. Those who revered the gods would feel their greatness in this divine light.
Jamil’s face, as he recited, bore a smug smile. Submit to me, kneel before me, show your humility with reverence for the gods, you… huh?
In the soft glow, Green and Cass showed signs of discomfort, but Ye Chui and Debbie stood there, curiously inspecting themselves, their expressions puzzled, completely unaffected.
Unaffected?
That could only mean they had no reverence for the Elemental God worshipped by the Church!
These two godless heretics!
“You…” Jamil’s chanting halted instinctively.
At that moment, another girl’s voice began chanting, coming from Resha.
A brighter, more intense holy glow erupted from Resha. Holding her Bible, she recited the Hymn of Praise, slowly approaching Jamil.
Jamil’s expression shifted. He hadn’t expected a nun from this backwater to summon such potent holy light. He hurriedly resumed chanting the Hymn of Praise, attempting to counter Resha.
In the Church’s convents, nuns and believers often used the Hymn of Praise in duels. The one with stronger holy light proved greater devotion to the gods, a contest called the “Holy Light Duel.” Jamil’s hymn was typically strong, and he usually won such duels, but today he met his match.
Their voices intertwined, their glows shining brighter than the sun.
Resha and Jamil drew closer.
Then, with a thud, the dazzling light vanished. Ye Chui and the others saw Jamil kneeling before Resha, trembling, his face full of awe.
The loser of a Holy Light Duel would kneel before the victor under overwhelming reverence!
Snap. Resha closed her Bible. “I’ve never lost a Holy Light Duel. You may be an envoy, but you’re lacking in this contest!”
Jamil’s face paled with humiliation. He scrambled to his feet, glaring angrily at the nun he deemed too poor for a proper robe. “You dare humiliate me? I’m a divine envoy!” he said coldly.
“Envoys must follow Church laws. The funds for rebuilding the church and the reward for defeating the apostle are clearly stipulated in the code. You dare embezzle them? I’ll report you to the Council of Bishops!” Resha said angrily, the fifteen-year-old girl exuding a formidable presence.
Jamil flinched momentarily but quickly regained his composure, sneering fearlessly. “Report me? Resha, you’re too naive. Do you think the bishops would care about a nun fresh from the convent? And who do you think gets the lion’s share of that gold?”
Resha’s expression faltered.
Ye Chui sighed, reminded of corruption in another world. No matter the world, institutional decay seemed inevitable, especially in a Church that had existed on the Castro Continent for five thousand years.
Resha was still too naive about these matters.
Jamil, with a cold sneer, glanced at Ye Chui, Debbie, and the others, brushed the dust off his robe, and prepared to leave.
“You’re just leaving like that?” Debbie, unconvinced, blocked Jamil’s path.
“You dare stop me?” Jamil sneered arrogantly. “I’m a divine envoy, representing the Church here. Lay a finger on me, and you’ll face the wrath of the entire Church!”
Debbie, fuming, was about to retort when Ye Chui covered her mouth, pulling her behind him.
Looking at Ye Chui, he wore a friendly (menacing) smile. He reached out to pat Jamil’s shoulder. Jamil flinched but was caught off guard, and Ye Chui patted him. Realising it was just a pat, Jamil relaxed slightly, then heard Ye Chui say with a smile, “Envoy, why not stay for lunch before you go?”
Jamil looked at Ye Chui’s suspiciously sly smile, stepping back instinctively. He glanced at Ye Chui’s white-covered grimoire, a flash of disdain in his eyes, and snorted. “What decent food could a place like this have? It’s unfit to host me! Are you trying to stop me too?”
“Of course not. If you want to leave, go ahead. Want to take some local specialties?” Ye Chui said politely.
Cass, Green, and Resha were stunned, thinking Ye Chui had become a different person. Only Debbie seemed to catch on, sharing a tacit understanding with him. She quietly sidled up to Green, whispered something, and Green, puzzled but nodding, left the scene.
“No need!” Jamil refused, brushing past Ye Chui toward his flying beast, Dugo. He found Ye Chui’s sudden change in attitude odd. After a few steps, he glanced back suspiciously, only to see Ye Chui waving with a smile, as if saying, “Safe travels, no need to see you out!”
Jamil was utterly baffled by Ye Chui.
He reached his crouching beast, Dugo, and eagerly climbed onto the ugly creature’s back. With a loud roar, the beast soared into the eastern sky.
“Brother?” Resha approached Ye Chui, puzzled.
“Resha, I have a question,” Ye Chui said, turning to her. “If, hypothetically, an envoy was killed on the road, could the Church trace who did it?”
“Envoys have soul imprints in the Church. If they die, the Church would sense it but couldn’t discern the details of what happened, only the direction and time of death,” Resha explained, shock creeping onto her face. “Brother, what are you planning?”
“Just curious. Killing an envoy is such a rebellious act; how could I do something like that? Haha, don’t overthink it,” Ye Chui said, laughing to reassure Resha.
Everyone else: “…”
Could your laugh sound any faker?
Ye Chui opened his [Map Navigation]. Over the past half-month, he hadn’t just been feasting and outing. He had been exploring the iPad grimoire’s functions, unlocking spirits and background music with points.
The most exciting unlock was [GPS Navigation].
When Ye Chui patted Jamil’s shoulder, it cost him 100 points to mark the envoy. For the next day, within a 200-mile radius, Jamil’s position could be tracked by Ye Chui’s [Map Navigation].
Without a map pack, [Map Navigation] couldn’t show detailed routes but could indicate general direction.
An envoy’s status was special, and Ye Chui lacked the means to openly defy the Church. If something happened to Jamil in Stan Town, Ye Chui and his group would be implicated. But out in the Elf Plains, with roaming bandits and villains, it was a different story. Ye Chui glanced at Debbie, their eyes meeting in mutual understanding. Debbie nodded, rubbing her small chin with a sly, almost cunning smile. “Hehe…”
In that moment, the others saw what looked like two scheming bandits in cahoots…
