...Are you so kind of evil spirit possessing John?
Hearing Annan’s words, Claus felt an extre sense of reality...
Yes, he also knew the person "John."
To say that he was tactless and straightforward was a rather euphemistic way of putting it.
John simply couldn’t understand the polite remarks of others, and you had to be frank with him, but then he would easily get angry; he was very loyal to Tan Juan, but beyond that, he had no rits... His swordsmanship was diocre, he wasn’t clever, he had a bad temper, and he didn’t even possess the aptitude to embark upon the Transcendent path.
—He was just a blockhead.
And the kind that had offended many.
If you were to say that John was a spy sent by soone... although it wasn’t completely incomprehensible, it always felt sowhat lacking in authenticity.
Not to ntion, the attitude of "John" in his conversation with himself since the beginning revealed an implicit arrogance. Moreover, his thinking was clear, his responses were quick, and he even knew how to modify a Transcendent ritual.
But if you were to say that "John’s" shell had been hollowed out by him...
Claus could actually accept that.
Yes.
Followers of a False God are almost always like this.
—They are not inherently evil, nor do they advocate the beauty of evil.
They simply give up hope completely.
They travel all year round, have no fixed abode, and everywhere they must face expulsion and surveillance... In contrast, they have no need to concern themselves with influence like the True Gods do.
After all, if you settle down in a place, you might just receive a notice in a month or two to leave the city, or even the country. And with the protection of a god, there’s no need for them to be overly obsequious.
They mostly do whatever they want, completely ignoring the local customs and laws.
In ordinary Transcendent murder cases, aside from the very few unregistered wild Transcendents who lack the necessary ritual materials and thus secretly kill people, the pot is almost always held by followers of a False God.
The difference lies in who should carry the pot after a homicide occurs here.
Of course, there are so examples.
Although so False Gods themselves are deed by the Orthodox Church as neutrally good and only require surveillance, their believers commit so many evils that they eventually implicate both the deity and the church, and are modified to be labeled as "Evil Gods," which does happen.
And every few years, there would be news of a change in a deity’s camp.
It’s also possible that a certain False God is considered an Evil God in The Holy Nation, but only a False God in the Kingdom of Noah. Such situations are possible too.
After all, even a False God doesn’t need believers.
They only need to collect curses, spread concepts, and complete rituals.
In other words, the deities only need employees, not fans.
And the employees whom a False God can recruit are few in number, and there are so who co with the intention of having their way. If the most capable and productive workers commit too many wrongs, many False Gods turn a blind eye... only a very few, who had a high moral standard before becoming a god, would chide and stop them.
And those non-troublemaking False Gods usually end up joining a True God as a subordinate deity. Just like a company that chooses to be acquired, they give up on thinking and beco a "subsidiary company."
The more miserly ones would at least share a portion of their believers to help collect nightmares; if they are especially favored by a True God, they might even get one day a year of "Protection Day."
—This is the true nature of "holidays" in this world.
For example, January 14th every year is "River Protection Day" because that is the day of protection granted to the "God of Springs and Rivers" from the Bone Mother.
Or May 4th, which is "Transportation Day." This is the day of protection granted to the "God of Transportation" by the Silver Baron.
Deities that are granted a day of protection can be considered half a True God. At least if they die, on the next year’s day of protection, they can be resurrected again.
Followers of the Bone Lord claim that the Bone Lord is a subordinate deity of the Bone Mother. Anyway, the Bone Mother’s faith is far away in The Holy Nation, and most people don’t understand...
But Claus knew.
The Bone Lord... isn’t a subordinate deity of any True God at all.
It’s just that the one who dislikes him the most, "Yawen" himself, is of a lazy nature—Yawen’s holy symbol is a pigeon—so he’s not like a cadaver husband, always getting into trouble everywhere.
Of course, when followers of the cadaver husband get into trouble, it’s mostly their own fault.
Not just because they like to cut people nonstop...
But they also always like to cause trouble for kings, challenging authority.
They often owe debts.
"—I imagine, my lord, that you were brought into John not just to say hello to us... right?"
With a wry smile, Claus said in a low voice, "Although you say that this topic has nothing to do with gods... if it’s unrelated, unrelated, then we can’t talk about it, can we..."
"The Skeleton wants to know... whether you’ve been involved with that person from Roth Fort,"
Annan’s tone was gentle and soothing, sowhat ethereal and lingering, "The answer to this question will affect our subsequent conversation."
Upon hearing this, Claus’s forehead started to sweat slightly.
After hesitating for a mont, he asked, "Who from Roth Fort are you referring to?"
——He took the bait.
Annan took a deep breath.
He gazed at Claus seriously, his face becoming imposing, "Naturally, the one... yet to be born."
Claus furrowed his brow tightly, his hesitation longer than the last ti.
"...Does he have history with that lord?"
"Not at all."
Annan responded slowly, "Just that... well, let’s just say the Skeleton is also preparing for a ritual. So he wants to inquire, if you guys were to make a move, approximately which days would it be?"
He looked at Claus with a threatening expression, "Or would you rather wait until tomorrow when the ship docks at Frostwater Harbor and explain it to the lord himself with a couple of ntions of ’the Skeleton’?"
"No, no..."
Claus hastily refused.
He quickly answered, "Our plan is set for December 14th. The future great prophet ’Michel Notre Da’ will be born on that day... we are going to stop his birth.
"As for the Lord Viscount... he is actually irrelevant to our plan."
——That was a lie.
Annan imdiately realized this.
Conversely, it ant that Viscount Barber was related to this plan.
But the Viscount’s ritual wasn’t completed. He wasn’t yet a Transcendent.
...Could it be that they needed the Book of the Celestial Chariot that he carried?
"Is it... that ritual ant to eliminate those who reincarnate?"
Annan asked calmly.
Upon hearing this, Claus truly almost lost control.
He montarily wanted to kill Annan— but he quickly realized it was "just a projection."
Killing John was aningless and would only confirm the matter.
But his reaction had all but confird it...
So Claus hesitated for a while and responded vaguely, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
Fortunately, "John" did not press on doggedly.
"Very well."
"John" nodded slightly, and with a faint air of arrogance, he instructed Claus, "Just in case, before I join you above... you go to the deck first and find a few absolutely trustworthy n to visit Tan Juan’s room. Tell them to thoroughly search through Tan Juan’s suitcase for any docunts, and the cotton padding on the inside of the quilts. Rember to have them close the door and seal the windows while searching slowly for a pleasant surprise."
——Of course, there would be nothing there.
What Annan was doing was tricking a few "traitors" to move to a safe location.
Backstabbing Claus was still too dangerous a move for Annan.
After all, Claus was a silver-ranked Transcendent.
If the attempt failed, Annan, who was unable to use spells in this instance, would very likely be defeated.
Hence, Annan planned to change his approach.
First, he needed to preserve the "spark" that would allow him to kill Claus without being imdiately ejected from the instance. Then, he would join forces with Benjamin to jointly assassinate Claus, not giving him a chance to transform.
Seeing "John’s" earnest expression, Claus nodded with delight.
"If all goes well, Lord Rotten will surely rember this!"
He quickly promised, "May I ask... how I should address you, my lord?"
Annan was slightly taken aback, then he spoke smoothly.
"——David.
"Just call David."
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