Moselle, seated in the chair, pulled out the pocket watch from his pocket for the third ti tonight.
Ten o’clock sharp.
After shifting his gaze from the watch face, Moselle looked around once more.
At this mont, he was in a rather cramped room, with an old-fashioned, sowhat dilapidated long table set before him, and another chair placed at the opposite end of the table.
As a venue for negotiations, this place seed too rudintary and inevitably gave off a sensation of insincerity.
Yet, if one considered it as a site for murder and disposing of the corpse, it appeared exceptionally fitting.
The moon shrouded in darkness, a night with a biting wind, and scarce human presence.
Every aspect felt exceedingly eerie.
And indeed, Moselle had chosen this location for the purpose of murder.
The top floor of the Samuel Bell Tower.
Just then, a soft knock on the door suddenly could be heard from outside.
"Please co in."
Moselle felt a smile brewing within him.
To think one would maintain such polite decorum on the brink of death, he wondered who it was they were trying to impress.
He had never doubted whether Lynn would attend these negotiations.
After all, there truly was no irreconcilable conflict or dispute between them.
Lynn’s previous actions, as well as the citywide church fundraising, essentially boiled down to money.
He was in cahoots with Duke Tierus.
Therefore, there was no way he would pass up the opportunity to extract a considerable sum of money from him.
The concessions Moselle had feigned would surely let Lynn’s guard down.
And at that mont, his fangs would be bared.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Bishop Moselle caught sight of Lynn’s face, one he absolutely despised.
"You’re quite early." Lynn slowly walked into the room, glancing around, "You wouldn’t have set up so kind of trap in advance, waiting for to fall into it, would you?"
A flicker of tension ran through Moselle, yet he remained composed on the surface, "If you are so apprehensive, why bother coming at all?"
"Don’t worry, there are no traps here, just my two subordinates."
"That’s for the best."
Lynn nodded then took a seat in the chair across the table.
Following him entered a militarily dressed, burly man of average appearance with a bear-like physique.
Moselle took a glance and, seeing an unfamiliar face exuding only a very faint trace of Divine-given factor aura, paid him no further mind.
"Alright, I’ve co as per the location you’ve set." Lynn got straight to the point, "So, how do you want to talk?"
Although murderous intent surged within him, Moselle, out of caution, decided nonetheless to play along for a while.
"Fifty thousand Gold Coins, remove those things from the City Square imdiately." Moselle stated the price he had in mind, "In addition, in regards to the recent public opinion involving Heavenly Principle Church, you had better not stir up any more trouble thereafter."
Even though he realized how outrageous the condition was, he still put it forth.
This was Moselle giving Lynn one final chance.
If he could indeed accept such terms, Moselle might even sigh in relief.
With just fifty thousand Gold Coins, he could easily cover it with the wealth he had amassed over the years.
Furthermore, avoiding offending that fearso woman from Ivyst family seed to him a deal well worth taking.
But, just as he had anticipated earlier.
The condition was preposterous.
"Are you joking with ?" Lynn scoffed, "Multiply that number by ten, and then maybe I’ll consider it."
"So, there’s nothing to discuss?" Moselle’s eyes suddenly turned ice-cold.
"I think the one who doesn’t want to talk seriously here is you."
Lynn suddenly slamd his hand down on the table.
Seeing this, Moselle’s subordinates imdiately took a step forward; with the glow of Divine-given factor blossoming, a powerful unseen force descended from above like an unexpected gravity, smashing fiercely onto Lynn’s bodyguard who was just behind him.
The burly guard grunted and dropped to one knee.
Witnessing this, Lynn’s gaze towards Moselle suddenly darkened, "What are you trying to do?"
So you too can show such an expression, huh?
The boy who had always seed so composed now, for the first ti, betrayed a tinge of seriousness as the situation spiraled out of control.
Moselle found this incredulously gratifying.
He had been deeply impressed by this man’s ability to kill two people without changing his expression at the banquet that evening and had even felt a twinge of fear.
But now it appeared that he had simply never been pushed to the brink.
Any person, when facing the threat of death, would reveal a side rarely seen.
"Asking what I want to do... Of course, it’s to break our agreent."
Moselle smiled, gesturing to his subordinates to seize him.
He was ready to savor the sight of this man’s pitiful struggle for life at the last mont.
"You are quite naive." Moselle shook his head, "To think you’d co here for negotiations, bringing only one person, without any precaution whatsoever."
As the two n gradually closed in on him, Lynn fell silent.
And to them, this deanor also seed like the intent to cease all resistance.
Just as Lynn was about to be forced down onto the table by Moselle’s n, he suddenly spoke, "Are you planning to kill here?"
"Of course." Moselle sneered, "For soone who has hindered the progress of the church, this is an outco you should have anticipated long ago."
"By doing this, aren’t you afraid of violating the imperial laws?"
Lynn spoke again.
Seeing his shoulders being pressed down and that he seed to have no intention of resisting, Moselle slowly got up from his seat, leaning on the table, "I find it surprising that a bastard of the Bartleion family, after experiencing so much, would still harbor such naive thoughts."
"Law? That is what the powers behind devised to maintain the authority of the privileged class," the bishop of the church and a Transcendent himself spoke, "I am one of them."
"Only animals and the lowly need to abide by such farcical things."
Hearing this, Lynn fell into silence.
A mont later, he spoke again, "My second question, why are you so intent on putting to death?"
"What’s with all the questions?" Moselle replied impatiently, "Asking this and that, in the end, you’re just going to die anyway."
"Let’s just chat, as you said, I’m going to die soon anyway."
In the face of danger, Lynn, who was forcefully held down in his seat, still had the mood for joking and laughter.
Seeing this, Moselle snorted coldly, "I’ve told you before, because you hinder the progress of the church."
"I actually didn’t want to kill you, but you brought it upon yourself by actively delivering yourself into the hands of Duke Tierus to be his tool."
"What he intends to do, you must be very clear about, he is confronting all the churches in the city," Moselle said indifferently, "but he has the title of a duke and a powerful army to protect him. Even if he can’t benefit from us, he can still remain unhard."
"But you’re different, you’re just a decline of the Bartleion family, banished and worthless, and the highness you follow is the Third Imperial Princess, seen as a demon by everyone, without any foundation, just like having the phrase ’I am a soft persimmon, please squeeze ’ written all over your face."
"Tell , in such a situation, who’s going to die if not you?"
"I see." Lynn nodded, "But from the beginning to the end, I have never actively asked you for anything, the only thing I did was rely to seek so welfare for those disabled soldiers."
"How noble," Moselle shook his head, "But I’ve told you many tis, your actions have indeed hindered the progress of the church."
"So, what exactly is the ’progress of the church’ you speak of?"
Lynn suddenly interjected.
Moselle’s tone grew slightly higher as he answered with certainty, "The money in those lowlifes’ hands, that is the church’s progress!"
"Do you know how much the Heavenly Principle Church can extort from those fools every year?"
"Eight hundred thousand! Annually!" A glint of zeal appeared in Moselle’s eyes, "The donations and offerings we collect from them have reached such numbers!"
"And yet, they still have to be grateful to us, thinking that it’s the Heavenly Principle Church that has relieved them of the Empire’s exorbitant head tax!"
"So tell , how can you not love such beings who, like pigs and dogs, are so easily deceived?!"
Even Moselle himself didn’t realize that he had fallen into so strange state of mind.
Perhaps he felt so certain that Lynn was about to be killed that he was showing this unguarded side.
"And you, what you did, sought to divert the money we worked so hard to draw from them into your own pockets!"
"This is... outrageous."
Moselle slamd the table.
Seeing this, a peculiar gleam flashed in Lynn’s eyes: "So, all this money in the end, was it sent to the Imperial Capital? Who did it go to?"
"Of course, it was..."
At this point, Moselle suddenly furrowed his brow.
He felt that from the beginning, Lynn had been easily drawing words out of him.
The nas of those families in the Imperial Capital, obviously, he couldn’t just carelessly blurt them out.
There were even a few ancient and long-standing surnas so dreadful that just uttering them would give him shivers.
Seeing this, Lynn’s eyes flickered with a hint of disappointnt.
He had hoped to get information about the people behind the scenes from him.
But it seed that Moselle wasn’t foolish to that extent.
"Anything else you want to ask? Say it all together."
It seed that Moselle had decided to satisfy Lynn’s curiosity thoroughly before his departure.
"One last question," Lynn looked directly into Moselle’s eyes, "what exactly are the common people and the believers in your eyes?"
Without hesitation, Moselle responded, "Pigs and dogs... no, perhaps that’s inappropriate. At least pigs and dogs have various uses, they can be eaten or kept as pets for amusent."
"But for those who only sigh in their lives, blaming all their misfortunes on fate, they’re nothing but garbage, who only serve the purpose of being drained and exploited by us besides spewing endless negativity."
"Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"Satisfied, quite satisfied."
Lynn suddenly raised his hand and lightly clapped.
"Now that you’re satisfied, prepare for your departure in peace."
Moselle’s smile faded as he took one last look at the young man’s face.
"Wait a mont." Lynn suddenly shook his head, "Before that, I have sothing I want to tell you."
The next second, in Moselle’s abruptly widening pupils, the young man in front of him suddenly broke free from his restraints and slowly stood up from the chair.
"How did you..."
"My lord, for so reason, we suddenly can’t move!"
One of the subordinates answered in panic.
Moselle was taken aback.
But Lynn was indifferent to their reactions and slowly walked towards the window.
"The first thing, you see the public as pigs and dogs; the public sees you as the enemy."
With these words, he pushed open the sowhat ashy window.
Looking at his calm deanor, for so reason, Moselle felt an extre unease.
"The second thing, I actually lied to you last night," Lynn’s mouth suddenly curled up in a mischievous smile, "The Samuel ceremony is not in seven days, but tonight."
"Buzz!"
Moselle’s mind exploded in that instant.
After grasping the aning behind Lynn’s words, his face went pale, and he stumbled a few steps backward.
Then, with a rusty turn of his neck, he twisted his gaze to the window.
The bell tower below, which had been empty upon arrival, was now crowded with a throng of people holding candles.
The speckles of candlelight illuminated the contours of the otherwise dark surroundings.
It also revealed many faces that were both familiar and strange.
...Pale and full of fury!
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