34: Chapter 34 In the church, Charlie was fearless.

When Charlie was still begging, his faith in the gods was extremely devout.

He remembered one day when his harvest was sparse, and he only begged for a piece of black bread the size of a palm.

His stomach acid was rising into his throat from hunger, but he still sniffed the not-so-fragrant scent before offering the black bread to the gods.

He was fifteen that year.

Later, he was spotted by the former bishop of Kas Town and officially became a Believer.

Charlie felt that this must be the favor of the gods brought about by his devout dedication.

However, staying in the church every day and watching all kinds of poor people offer their entire savings for decades, yet remaining poor, he could not help but feel puzzled.

These poor people contributed far more than he did; why was he the one who received the gods' favor?

Was it because his faith was firmer?

It must be so!

Young Charlie ran excitedly to the bishop to verify.

The answer he received was—it was not the gods who took you in, but me.

The former bishop of Kas Town, lying back in a rocking chair with his eyelids half-closed, said this.

Faith, like an avalanche, came crashing down the mountainside.

Later on, the former bishop died unexpectedly, and Charlie, relying on his superior methods, became the current bishop.

Now, curled up in the former bishop's favorite bamboo rocking chair, Charlie admired the bright moon in the night sky.

He recalled the puzzle that he had not been able to solve all these years.

Do the gods really exist?

He had never heard a divine oracle, witnessed a miracle, or even gazed upon the true form of the gods.

With his fingers crossed over his lower abdomen and his two thumbs circling each other, Charlie muttered:

"The gods are fools."

He could no longer remember how many times he had secretly said this, or in what different places, but the result was always the same: no god had come out to punish him.

All these years, his life had not met with misfortune; in fact, it had become increasingly prosperous.

Not knowing the reason, Charlie laughed to himself: "The closer one is to the gods, the more hesitant the faith; no wonder the evaluation standards for church positions are strict to the point of harshness."

"That is fine, otherwise, no one would believe that I can hear divine oracles."

Charlie was incredibly grateful that the gods did not seem to exist, allowing him to live a leisurely and prosperous life in their name.

But suddenly, there was an inexplicable sadness in his heart, like the babbling brook in a mountain stream, silent and subtle.

But it only lasted for a short moment.

Perhaps, like most people, when clearing his mind and looking up at the starry sky, he loved to ponder grand and profound propositions such as the meaning of life, the meaning of the gods, and the truth of the world.

Following his previous thoughts, Charlie associated this with the meaning of the church's existence itself.

The church is powerful; this is the consensus of everyone on the Saul Continent.

No magic family, kingdom, or empire dared to openly violate the church's rules, as that would invite death.

Logically, such power should possess absolute control over all organizations on the continent.

But in reality, the church did not do so.

Otherwise, Charlie would not need to worry about being attacked if he left Kas Town.

Regarding the casualties of its own Believers, unless they were core members or Believers valued by core members, other fringe figures were left to die.

As long as they did not die within human gathering places, and there was no news of a "Believer assassinated in the wild" that became widely known, causing a negative impact and damaging the church's dignity,

they usually just found an excuse like "The gods are watching over him, he has gone to serve my god" to settle the matter.

Furthermore, the church itself had not issued any relevant rules requiring everyone to believe in the gods.

Especially for mages, knights, and others who possessed supernatural power, it was exceptionally tolerant; as long as one did not publicly preach disrespect for the gods, the church did not care whether one believed or not.

Clearly, the reason for this behavior belonged to the core secrets of the church, and Charlie, who served as bishop in the remote Kas Town church, was not qualified to access it.

Naturally, he pondered for a long time but could not figure out why.

Then he would not think about it; anyway, ordinary people on the Saul Continent made up the majority, and the gods could deceive them, which was enough.

And for those with supernatural powers, as long as he stayed within human gathering places, they would not dare to be disrespectful to him, let alone take action.

He chuckled, just as the summer night breeze brought cool waves.

It was late at night, time to rest; tonight would be another sweet, good dream.

Charlie pushed himself up from the armrests of the bamboo rocking chair and walked toward his bedroom.

After only two steps, a Believer's loud shout rang out from the courtyard gate, very short, and disappeared in a few seconds.

"The Believers who handled the town mayor have returned." Charlie muttered to himself, not stopping his steps, walked straight into the bedroom, undressed, climbed into the covers, and closed his eyes.

He had always been able to fall asleep quickly; within a few minutes, sleepiness had already washed over him, and his consciousness gradually blurred.

"Bishop, someone is looking for you."

Bastard!

Charlie, who was just about to fall into a deep sleep, was quite grumpy upon being woken up.

He threw off the thin quilt, scrambled into his white robe, gritted his teeth, and pulled open the door with both hands:

"You had better give me a sufficient reason..."

"Yo, good evening, Bishop of the church."

Zhang Mu stood in the middle of the courtyard, holding his staff in his right hand, and gently waving his left hand as if saying goodbye to a friend: "I'm sorry to wake you up, but it doesn't matter, anyway, you won't be able to sleep tonight.

Well, I guess you won't be able to sleep ever again."

Charlie looked at him for a while, his peripheral vision glancing at the trembling Believer standing to the side.

Rone had not returned, and Zhang Mu was blocking the door in the middle of the night; no explanation was needed, he already understood what was going on.

The target of his attempted murder for money had shown up to confront him, yet Charlie was not too panicked; the place where he stood was the church.

He restrained the anger in his eyes, changing back to his usual benevolent and gentle demeanor: "Sir, if you are here to pray, please come back tomorrow morning.

Disturbing the peace of the church in the middle of the night is a vile act of disrespect toward the gods."

Charlie smiled comfortably, confidence filling his chest; the church represented the gods, and to defy the gods was to defy the church.

The church stipulated that armed conflict was prohibited in human gathering places, so no one dared to use force in the church, which was built in the central area of Kas Town.

"Lord, Bishop, he, he killed Taini and the others."

The gentle smile on the corner of Charlie's mouth froze.

After a moment, the benevolence in his eyes faded, leaving only indifference and mockery: "You have a lot of guts, guest from afar."

"It is undeniable that at your age you can master magic, and even reach the level of an Apprentice Magician, which is above a Magic Apprentice; your talent is enviable.

In the future, you have the opportunity to become a high-level mage, or even obtain an exclusive title...

But all of this, the moment you offended the church, has turned into bubbles and drifted away from you."

As he spoke, he flattened his right hand, and a book with a white cover flew from the bedroom behind him into his hand, which he gripped tightly.

Although his status as one of the Divine Officials was only that of a friar, and he guessed the other party was an Apprentice Magician, because at that age, it was impossible for the other party to reach a higher level.

Yet Charlie was still completely fearless.

Because he was in the church.

The church's statue of the gods had been blessed by high-level Believers with blessing magic, which could enhance the power of light magic within a certain range.

The magnitude was great, so great that Charlie did not fear Zhang Mu, who was one level higher than him.

He opened the white book.

Thinking that he could slaughter a genius mage, he, who had poor talent, was so excited that his right hand trembled, and he could almost not hold the white book.

"heretic!"

"By the divine oracle, I grant you the divine punishment of death for defying the church!"

"Holy Light!"