Cthulhu Gonfalon

“Actually, it is business that brings money quickly!” Ray took the space bag and was completely dumbfounded with one glance. Before long he could not help but say, “Better not to find anyone anywhere. Let’s directly concentrate on doing business everywhere on the continent. I think as long as you keep doing this for three, maybe five years, the wealth you’ll accumulate will be enough to buy a country!”

“Do not dream about that!” Sui Xiong laughed. “How often can we do this kind of thing! As a god, how can I abuse the advanced spell of transmission to do business… Even if I didn’t care about my self-respect, other gods are unlikely to agree with it because it violates rules. When you think about it, basically any god can do this, so why wouldn’t other gods do it?”

Ray thought, shook his head, and sighed. He did not know the world of gods, but what His Majesty said made sense. It would be like a royal knight contest, which turned out awkwardly because the prince himself participated it! And yet, this kind of thing maybe seems so familiar! Ray thought. He touched his nose and laughed awkwardly.

Early the next morning, they came to Knight Parne’s home. This time, not only Mrs. Teague and her two daughters welcomed them, but also a dozen young boys and girls. They were a bit worried, but they showed more hope than worry on their face. All of them had some anxiety in their eyes because they saw the chance of paying their debt.

Ray did not waste any time and came straight to the point, saying, “We’ve gathered all the money needed.” These words were concise and to the point, but had a great effect. The eyes of the boys and girls all brightened; even their breathing increased.

“Excuse me… what do you need us to do?” An older, seemingly prudent youth asked. “Frankly speaking, if you really paid off such a big sum of money for us, we would be very uneasy. ”

Ray nodded, smiled and said, “Then the money will be my investment in you. If you are able to grow up and grow into good people, then you deserve this investment. If you are not… that will mean I have a bad luck. ”

This seemed at first glance quite justified. But, if people carefully thought about, it showed Ray’s extreme disposition as a hero: nothing more than a variant of “I make friends with all of you.” The approach of paying a sum of money heavier than a bounty to make friends with everyone was simply unbelievable!

“Sir, please do not kid us, okay?” The young man said with a knowing smile. “Maybe for you this money is nothing, but to us, it is a terrifying amount that can almost crush us. We cannot bear such an investment, which will make us very uneasy!”

Ray did not hurry to answer. His eyes slowly swept over the boys and girls, and he saw almost the same message in the face and eyes of everyone.

He could not help but laugh again. “I am very happy to meet such a group of upright young people like you, so let us use a way to reassure you…The money is an infinite interest-free loan, but if necessary I’ll give you some more so that you can grow up well. When you are strong enough, then you can slowly save money to repay that. I believe that a mature adventurer can absolutely pay off this loan.”

This time, boys and girls were relieved, and they clearly looked much more assured.

“This group of young lads and ladies are really interesting!” Sui Xiong said smilingly with the heart connection, “Most people try every possible mean to take advantage of others. On the other hand, they didn’t take advantage, but seemed to be relieved instead after bearing the debt.”

“They are upright people, so no doubt they are believers of the Knight of Exploration! And I can count on how good the parents who taught them are!” Ray said with admiration. Then with regret, he said, “What a pity! That group of excellent knights died in the boundless sea.”

Speaking of this, Sui was suddenly reminded of their plan. “It’s better to ask them,” he said. “Maybe they have some clues.”

So Ray asked these young people about their doubts. But all of them seemed very confused, and all said they knew nothing. Still, Ray clearly saw that that young man who spoke as the representative had a cold light in his eyes. It seemed that he was different from the others and knew something special.

So when the boys and girls thanked them, took enough money to repay the debt and left, Ray also left to quietly keep up with that young man. Soon after, he came to that young man’s home.

This was a simple wooden hut that defined the phrase ‘there are only four walls in the family’s house.’ Judging the place, Ray thought they had sold most of the furniture recently. It was clear that this young man was almost in a hopeless case.

Although he was abject to this point, he could gain everyone’s trust and speak in his capacity as representative. According to the attitude of the crowd, he appeared to have a status higher than Liv’s in the small group of juvenile boys and girls.

This was not easy! At least Ray felt that most likely, he wasn’t that capable.

The young man did not feel Ray’s visit was an accident. He still had the decency to pour him a glass of water.

“Sorry; now I have no servant, no food, and no wine here,” the boy said. “Actually, when a friend visits, we, by all means, must serve him with wine according to the rule made by my uncle; but I just sold the last bottle of wine a few days ago, and now there is only water in the house.”

Although he was talking about frustrating things, he laughed brightly without any trace of gloom. “My name is Zesheng. A few months ago I had a surname of ‘Xiyu’ but now it has gone because our manor and fiefs were sold. May I ask your name?”

“Ray. Just call me Ray.” Ray smiled and said, “One’s surname is in fact not that important. Inheriting the surname from your ancestors is good, but it’s better to create your own surname and let others inherit it. I believe you are of the latter. ”

“Ha-ha! Mr. Ray, you think highly of me!” Zesheng laughed loudly and happily.

After laughing, he started telling what he knew.

Originally, he did not seem to know more than the others. But when he sold the manor and fief, he occasionally learned some unusual news. It was said that before the chief priest of Church of the God of Aristocracy started, he had arranged his successor, and he almost went on board empty-handedly because he left some of the most powerful magic props in the local shrine.

Zesheng specifically asked those on the only surviving ship. Coincidentally, almost every one of them was impressed by the chief priest, and even those who had not seen him before clearly remembered how he died. When they met Timsar, the chief priest held high the holy emblem of the God of Aristocracy and prayed loudly. His body shone with a bright light which once even blocked the erosion of the decaying shadows.

He only resisted for a short time and was soon swallowed by the darkness and erosion that swarmed to him before being killed by Timsar. But it was precisely because of his efforts that he attracted the attention of horrible creatures that allowed the ship with a survivor to escape.

It was also the reason that no one ever doubted that the Church of the God of Aristocracy was playing tricks. Only the craziest person could doubt a warrior that sacrificed himself for others!

However, Zesheng found something wrong with the description of those survivors. In the face of Undercurrent Timsar, a horrible monster, could a chief priest only use such a conspicuous and simple means to confront it? And, as a priest of an evil god, why should he actually sacrifice himself to save others?

This didn’t make sense! This didn’t make sense at all!

He secretly asked a pastor of the God of Knights, a mighty chief priest about what should be done when encountering a magical creature like Timsar. The pastor replied after meditating. In his case, he should pray that God would bestow grace upon him, allowing him to detonate all the sacred powers he accumulated over the years, and to try his best to give that monster a heavy blow.

“You are a good pastor. How about in the case of an evil priest?” Zesheng continued to ask.

“An evil priest is the same. Good priests protect others, and evil priests attack the enemy. Although the starting points are different, the final choices are not,” the pastor answered without hesitation.

Zesheng was even more dubious. What exactly was the reason the chief priest of the God of Aristocracy chose such an honorable, but not so helpful, way to fight? Why not choose a direct detonation?

He considered and could only come to one conclusion.

The priest did so to save a few people and to let those people clearly see how he died, so they would not suspect him or the Church of the God of Aristocracy. As for why he would make everyone not suspect himself and the church, there could only be one conclusion, too.

Everything was a pre-arranged conspiracy!

His story ended here. Through the process, Ray didn’t speak and instead listened quietly until he had heard all the narratives. Then he asked his question after some thought.

“That is to say, all this is actually your guess, and there is no reliable evidence?”

“Yes, I have no evidence,” Zesheng said with a smile. “If this was a conspiracy, then there would not be many people involved, perhaps only the businessman uncle who organized the voyage. But he also died on the sea, along with his butler. And I couldn’t investigate it even if I wanted to.”

Ray frowned. As Zesheng said, if this was the conspiracy of the chief priest of the Church of the God of Aristocracy, then the conspiracy was too ruthless. In order to preach, the chief priest sacrificed not only his partners, but also himself.

They might not have been able to find any clues—at least not in the Golden Tower City—if they wanted to investigate into such a conspiracy.

“What about discussing it with Aunt Teague?” Ray suggested.

Seeing him frowning, Zesheng said, “When my uncle was still alive, we often went to discuss with Uncle Parne and Aunt Teague whenever there were any problems. He said Aunt Teague was a very intelligent and talented person who, although lacking some long-term vision, could often draw up good plans when there were established goals. She could find problems and pitfalls in plans that others didn’t.”

Ray was slightly surprised. “Then why don’t you ask her?”

“It was not necessary before,” Zesheng said with a crooked smile. “At that time, Aunt Teague could not even protect herself. Even if I told her the information, what use would it be, besides having her worry in vain?”

Ray sighed and accepted his advice. Soon after, he again visited Knight Parne’s house and told Aunt Teague Zesheng’s information.