33: Chapter 33 Charlie probably won't have sweet dreams tonight.

The town mayor was a decent old man.

Knowing that the other party had no intention of harming him and had even braved pressure to tip him off, Zhang Mu thought to himself.

Seeing the loss of vitality in the mayor's eyes, that was the despair of being judged as an apostate by the deity he regarded as his own faith.

He reckoned that even if the Believers let him go, he would probably slit his own throat with a long sword.

Zhang Mu felt that such a good old man should not lose his life for such an inexplicable reason.

However, seeing him abandon his defense against a sword aimed at his chest just because he heard a so-called "divine oracle" relayed verbally by the Believers, it was clear his faith was extremely firm and not easily broken.

At least.

Just relying on barbs like "The deity has never appeared, the deity may not exist in this world," or "The deity is just a creature that possesses powerful strength and cannot grant you peace and prosperity; the only difference between the deity and you is that the deity can fight better than you" was useless.

Zhang Mu knew deeply that in the Saul Continent, where theocracy was supreme, there was only one way to help the mayor reignite the hope of living—let him see it with his own eyes.

Pointing at the three Believers who were holding back their trembling for fear that an Ice Cone would poke their eyes out, Zhang Mu explained: "They are official Believers who have joined the church,

staying at the feet of the statue of god every day to pray sincerely.

No one would doubt their piety toward the deity, but faced with the fear of death, they cursed the deity without hesitation,

and as you can see, the deity did not appear to punish them."

The mayor's eyes were a bit dazed; clearly, Zhang Mu's act of disrespecting the deity and the scene before him had given him a tremendous shock.

After a long while, he sobered up slightly, and although his mood was still low, it was better than before.

After all, it was common sense ingrained over decades; he needed time to think.

Taking a few deep breaths, the mayor said: "Guest from another world..."

"Just call me Zhang Mu."

"Mr. Zhang Mu, thank you very much for saving me. In addition, I want to know about Rone's body..." The mayor was a bit sad; after all, he had raised him since he was a child, and he had thought that if possible, he would collect Rone's body.

"Uh..." Zhang Mu heard what he meant and scratched his head, "Not long after Rone's head was pierced by the reflected magic, more than ten Thunder Wolves attacked me.

I fought with the wolf pack, moving further and further away. During the process, I noticed that four Thunder Wolves chased after me for about twenty minutes,

so..."

The meaning was obvious: the bodies of Rone and the Guard had likely ended up in the stomachs of the Thunder Wolves.

Upon hearing this detail, the mayor did not show a sorrowful expression, but rather one of horror:

"The place you encountered them was on the edge of the Thunder Wolves' activity area?!"

"Yes, and the wolf pack chased me for three hours. If we had tangled any longer, we probably would have left the forest."

"Thunder Wolves generally do not leave their pack's activity area." The mayor trembled all over, "A leader, the wolf pack is about to give birth to a leader! They are going to attack Kas Town!"

Shouting, he turned and rushed out of the house, saying as he went: "Mr. Zhang Mu, please forgive me for not having time to host a banquet to thank you for your help for the time being.

I must issue a notice immediately and organize the townspeople to evacuate!"

Zhang Mu did not stop him. From the mouths of the three Believers earlier, he already knew who Charlie was.

The Bishop of the Kas Town church, huh... How strong is he?

Pondering this, he asked the three Believers: "What is Charlie's Divine Official position?"

"Charlie is the Bishop, sir." The leading Believer answered obediently.

"Who asked about his church position? I'm talking about his Divine Official position!"

Divine Official position, equivalent to a mage's rank—this was from the common sense lesson when Avril was substituting.

"Acolyte, sir, he is an Acolyte." The Believer behind the leader hurriedly replied.

Acolyte, the lowest rank among the church's Divine Officials, equivalent to a Magic Apprentice.

Zhang Mu was quite happy. If it were any higher, he might not be an opponent, and he wouldn't be able to go trouble him tonight.

Taking revenge overnight, how boring that would be.

As for seeking Potter's help, he had no such intention.

He was alone in the Other World and had the resurrection function of the panel. If he provoked the powerful church, at worst he would wander around and enter a dungeon, waiting until he became stronger to get his own back.

Potter and Avril couldn't do that. If they were killed, they would really die, the kind that couldn't be resurrected.

Therefore, he must never implicate them.

Coming back to his senses, Zhang Mu swept his gaze toward the three Believers: "I'm sorry, you have to die."

Three Ice Cones moved forward simultaneously, piercing their heads.

Letting them go was impossible; if they went back, they would definitely report to Charlie.

Pondering for a moment, he removed the Potter badge pinned to his chest and put it into his inventory.

The way to identify which organization a stranger belonged to in the Saul Continent was through badges designed by various magic families and royal houses, issued to family members or students.

Putting the badge into the inventory meant no one would know about the relationship between him and the teacher.

Then he looked around, confirmed there were no loopholes, walked out of the villa swaggeringly, and crossed the small courtyard to the street.

The church was the largest building in Kas Town and was quite conspicuous.

Zhang Mu had seen it from afar while strolling around town a few days ago, so he didn't need to ask anyone, and strode toward the church.

...

The night was dark, at Potter's two-story cottage.

The front door was unusually still open at night, and the hazy moonlight fell elegantly on the steps in front of the door.

Avril, sitting at the wooden table in the living room, had her icy blue eyebrows slightly knit. The look in her eyes as she watched the moonlight on the steps held a hint of worry.

Why hasn't the junior brother returned yet?

With the teacher's Reflection Magic Shield, he shouldn't encounter life-threatening danger.

Unless, an accident happened?

The more she thought, the more worried she became. Avril couldn't help it and planned to go outside the town to look for him.

Just as she stood up, the transmission crystal in her robe emitted magic fluctuations; someone was contacting her.

Taking out the spherical crystal, she mobilized her magic to flow into it.

"Your Highness." It was Mora's voice, "His Majesty the King is ill. You and Mr. Potter must return to the capital immediately."

Avril was stunned: "Ill?"

"Yes, Your Highness. His Majesty the King has been hiding it from the outside world, and I only just found out."

"Is it serious?"

"I'm not sure, but His Highness the First Prince seems very anxious."

"In addition, His Highness the First Prince set off on a griffin ten days ago to pick you up."

The griffin's speed was extremely fast. In ten days, he would arrive at Kas Town by tomorrow or the day after at the latest.

Avril suppressed the worry in her heart: "Since my royal brother is coming by griffin, the teacher and I will wait for him to pick us up in Kas Town."

After speaking, she disconnected the magic supply, put away the transmission crystal, and walked out of the house.

"Hm? Avril, it's so late, where are you going?" Potter, who had gone out, walked in the door and asked in confusion, seeing her anxious expression.

She first recounted the story of her father's illness and the First Prince coming to pick them up, and then Avril said with a worried tone:

"Teacher, it's already so late, and the junior brother hasn't returned from the forest yet. Could he have encountered danger?"

Shaking his head, Potter was very certain:

"Even within the entire range of the forest around Kas Town, as long as any mage releases magic at a level capable of breaking the Reflection Magic Shield, I would definitely sense it."

"Then why..."

Avril's words cut off halfway, her thin lips slightly parted. Potter was no better than her, his expression stunned.

They rushed out the door and looked toward the direction of the Kas Town church.

"Teacher... magic fluctuations, very close."

"Ignoring the rules of the church that represents the deity, releasing magic to fight in the town, someone with the guts to do this..."

"Zhang Mu!"

The two exclaimed in unison and rushed toward the church.