Chapter 59: Negotiation
Confused, Andrew pondered for a brief mont. Naturally, he was happy that Paladin was willing to fill the position that had been vacant for twenty years. However, he had a vague feeling that this seemingly rash decision was a bad idea. After thinking about it, Andrew asked with a sullen face, "Where did you get the 500 gold coins?"
"Of course it's from the devotees’ donations," Paladin laughed and babbled as he poured himself a glass of fine red wine. The tantalizing aroma slowly floated as the glass of ruby-colored wine was shaken lightly. Paladin’s eyes lit up. He gently sipped a mouthful of wine. Imdiately, both sweetness and bitterness blood in his mouth, rushing straight into his stomach. Nodding his head joyfully, Paladin said, "This red wine is really good."
Andrew stepped forward to snatch the wine bottle, looking straight at Paladin with an expression as if saying ‘who are you kidding here’. That look ant that if Paladin didn't explain how right now, then get the hell out of here. Five hundred gold coins were neither too much nor too little for Andrew, who had been in charge of the diocese for 25 years and had colluded with nobles, accepting bribes and tricking the system. His entire net worth was only eight thousand gold coins. But, based on what he had just said, this young Paladin had one-sixteenth of his total net worth. This made Andrew feel irritated and refused to believe it.
Who could have predicted that Paladin would then flash a strange smile and say, "Lord Bishop, do you know my full na?"
"Your full na?" Andrew froze for a mont without responding. However, it was Paladin's response that made him realize.
"My full na is Paladin Flal."
"You are a nobleman! Oh, my Enos!" Andrew let out a shout of awe. He looked Paladin up and down and beca sowhat polite. "My lovely boy, you should have told so!"
Andrew might’ve smiled on the surface, but he kept searching for information about the Flal family deep inside. Unfortunately, the information he knew wasn’t that much, thus he assud the Flal family to be a small noble family that had fallen. They would not have allowed their son to beco a priest otherwise.
"So about that auxiliary bishop..."
"Huh? Don't worry, I always think highly of you, Paladin. Tomorrow at dawn, I will officially bestow you your title and let the whole of Edley know that you have beco a bishop!"
Paladin nodded and then said, "Of course, as the priest of Nurba, I also request the lord bishop to grant a part-ti arrangent. After all, I have so leftover business I need to take care of."
"Yes, yes, but won't that be too tiring? The position of auxiliary bishop is extrely busy. I doubt there would be much ti left for Nurba's affairs."
Paladin gently shook his hand and said, "You don't have to worry about that. I’ll only temporarily live in Nurba. Just send a cleric to notify when sothing happens and I will definitely co over. When the affairs in Nurba are finished, Paladin will voluntarily step down from the post of priest in Nurba and focus on serving you, Bishop, and the Great Enos."
‘This guy probably has a lot of mistresses in Nurba,’ Andrew muttered to himself. It was understandable for him to take so ti to arrange those lovers. Reminiscent of the corrupt living habits of the low-level nobles today. Andrew nodded without much doubt and said, "Yes, yes, let know if you want to co. I will give you the post of auxiliary bishop tomorrow."
"Tomorrow, the five hundred gold coins donated by the believers will also be sent to the bishop."
Andrew was stunned for a mont. Fantasizing about the shiny 500 gold coins, he laughed heartily. Paladin also laughed, but there was no joy in his eyes. There was only indifference.
"I think this is enough, I'm bothering the bishop. Please enjoy yourself, bishop." Paladin smiled and pointed at the alard Lucia. Hearing that, Andrew finally rembered that there was a new beauty here. His heart blossod with happiness as he nodded fiercely.
"Yes, yes, you go."
Paladin bowed. He turned around and walked out of the room, not forgetting to give the desperate Lucia a farewell look.
"Ho ho ho, little beauty! Grandpa has co to love you! Ha ha ha!" Andrew hugged Lucia, whose tears were streaming down from the corner of her eyes. He walked into the bedroom happily and closed the door behind him. Soon after, there was a burst of maniacal laughter and vague cries on top of the sound of tearing clothes.
"I will never forgive you! Paladin, even if I turn into an undead, I will take revenge, take revenge! Revenge!" While lying on the bed, Lucia's eyes showed intense hatred. The deadly toxins in her body penetrated into her heart. Slowly, she closed her eyes.
The door was then opened. A disgusted and annoyed Andrew ca outside, only wearing a bathrobe. He then yelled annoyedly. "I don't know if she was cursed by so heretic. I haven’t enjoyed this woman yet, but she died. It's not worth it, not worth it! No, I have to take a shower."
Andrew was so enraged that he yelled, "Ven! Deal with this female believer! Also, prepare water for to bathe!"
As soon as he said that, a bald old cleric with dull eyes ca in and took a look at her. Her face was blue. Lucia, who had been dead for a long ti, was laying on her chest. Suddenly, sothing flashed across the cleric's blank eyes.
"Ven, what are you still doing there? Hurry up and boil water for ! Also, bury the body in the cetery in the backyard. Rember to do it at night, don't be so stupid as to dig a hole during the day!" Andrew yelled and cursed angrily.
The sharp eyes of the old cleric nad Ven returned to dullness upon hearing the scolding. He opened his mouth as if wanting to let out a cry before turning around. He went downstairs to boil water. Ven was a mute. Ven had already worked here for so ti when Andrew was newly placed here in his middle age. What was more, Ven was introverted and could do whatever he was asked to do. He would absolutely not refute, disclose information, nor write. That was why Andrew was reassured to have such a person dealing with these troubleso corpses.
Walking to the church hall, Paladin vaguely heard the shouting upstairs although it was impossible to hear what was said. However, he could guess that Andrew felt uncomfortable doing it with a dead person. With a mysterious smile on his face, he was about to leave the church and go to the slave house when several clerics gathered around him.
"Father, what did the bishop say to you? Why does it take so long?"
"Father? No, no, no."
Paladin looked at these flies flocking as if they slled at and sneered, "From tomorrow, you will have to call Lord Assistant Bishop."
"Wow!"
These grasshoppers imdiately burst with excitent. When they realized that Paladin was now a superior, they began to flatter him endlessly. Paladin, who automatically filtered these insignificant chatters, was just about to leave when a look sent an instant chill down his backbone. Paladin jerked his head to look around. Right in the middle of the wooden door in the corner, there was a small crack. Ven's deep and complex eyes were staring straight at him. But when he noticed Paladin looking back at him, he imdiately walked away and disappeared into the gap in the wooden door.
"That old cleric just now, who was that?" Paladin inquired, a slight frown on his face.
When these clerics saw an opportunity to befriend a superior, how could they easily pass it? One by one, they scrambled to answer.
"That is old Ven. He is a mute and illiterate. Usually, he’s very silly. It is said that he has been here longer than Lord Bishop!"
"A mute?" Paladin's frown deepened. When he noticed the clerics’ expressions had turned strange, he imdiately smiled and said, "It's nothing, sothing just feels strange."
However deep down, Paladin beca more wary of this Ven. Because when he looked back at him just now, Paladin clearly saw that this old cleric had a magic ring around him. That was the proof of his mastery of the magic elent. The ring was blue, composed of a whopping five hundred and twenty water elents!
‘That old thing is not illiterate. Look at the scale of his magic ring. Hmph, he hid it very well. Is he from the Mage Society? Or an undead sorcerer? Or perhaps, is he an alchemist?’
Paladin left the Edley Cathedral with a smile. In any case, he had to be careful and alert of this Ven guy. Tens of thousands of years of history had taught him that no illiterate or stupid person could learn magic. This was a fact.
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