Wizard: I am a goblin

Chapter 96 The Crow and the Fat Man

The little sparrow gently landed on the towering roof beam, revealing its big, toad-like eyes, taking in everything inside the hall.

Sunlight streamed through the skylight, leaving a dazzling trail of light on the chapel's brick floor.

Father Usa and the lord's son walked one after the other to the altar.

The two men bowed to the emblem, the old priest's gaze fixed on the emblem on the wall. The fat nobleman's eyes, however, were fixed on the donation pool in front of the altar—a wide basin filled with a thin layer of coins—mostly copper, a few silver, and very few gold.

"Is this all the donations for this quarter?" the portly nobleman said to the priest unhurriedly, his tone slightly sarcastic. "Or did you have the priests hide the rest so that everyone would feel ashamed and donate more?"

Usa said sternly, "Piety cannot be measured in gold coins, and the donation pool is not for accumulating wealth—it is simply one of the ways believers show their devotion to God."

"Your character is so noble, Father Usa, that's why you can only be a priest in a small place like Chifang. I've heard that in the Holy Capital, it costs five gold coins to give a blessing in the church."

"Faith has nothing to do with money," the priest replied.

"God doesn't need gold, but His servants do," the chubby man said with a hint of disdain. "Even if you pray three times a day, you still need to eat, drink, and relieve yourself. Even if you fast, your priests still need to eat."

Hearing the barbed words from the nobleman, the priest's expression darkened. He wrinkled his nose and said in a low voice:

"My duty is to lead the lost sheep back to the right path—the path of the Lord. Yes, faith and virtue cannot replace food and clothing, but a devout servant of God takes pride in the patches on his clothes; material poverty often represents spiritual wealth."

As he spoke, the priest sized up the nobleman before him—he wore a finely tailored cotton coat, perfectly fitted, clearly made for his bulky frame. The nobleman was adorned with jewels, and wore a brand-new jade ring on his hand.

"Your words are always impeccable," said the chubby man, pulling a small handful of gold coins from his waist and toying with them in his hand. "But if the church can't even persuade people to part with their money, how can it expect them to offer their souls to the Lord?"

The priest looked at the gold in the young man's hand and replied with slight displeasure:

"When the world is prosperous, people are more willing to spend their money on pleasure, and only when misfortune strikes will they go to church to pray. This is the way of the world."

"So, you've spared no effort to drive away the Fourth Salt and Iron Caravan just to make the people of Chifang Town go back to their impoverished lives? Is that it? If you starve the lambs, they'll follow the shepherd around like glue."

Beneath his plump, fleshy eyebrows, a pair of narrow eyes stared unceremoniously at Usa. The priest did not flinch, meeting the nobleman's gaze directly.

"Your words are full of sarcasm. I must remind you, Lord Alphonse, the second son of Baron Roger, that you are in the Lord's sanctuary, conversing with God's servants. I solemnly urge you to be careful with your words."

Eye to eye, a sharp clash of wills, and after a moment, the fat nobleman revealed a smile.

"Obak, I didn't mean it that way. If I offended you, please accept my apology."

The son of the baron named Alphonse bowed to the priest, then opened his hand, letting the coin slip down and fall into the coin pool.

Splash, splash, splash.

Alphonse deliberately let the gold coins fall one by one, the sound of the coins clattering echoing in the empty chapel.

"Peace is coming, Father Usa, and many things will change. Even you should understand that the old ways of the Old Kingdom Church will not work in the post-war world."

"I know you don't like businessmen. We're on the same page on that point," the fat man continued.

The priest replied, "Oh? That's surprising. Of the Red Baron's children, you've always been the most business-minded, haven't you?"

The fat man waved his hand.

"That's just my subordinates spreading rumors. Yes, I'm better at business than my brothers—but that doesn't mean I have any fondness for or trust in businessmen."

He paused for a moment, then said:

"They thought that gold could bring them power—this is a dangerous delusion."

"Then where do you think power comes from?" the priest asked.

"What do you think?" the fat man retorted.

The priest immediately stood at attention and solemnly looked at the emblem of O'Bak.

“If we are discussing religious authority, you are certainly correct,” Alphonse said slowly. “However, the soul belongs to the gods, and the body belongs to the king—this is the covenant between King Kane and the first Patriarch. We are talking about secular power.”

"That must come from bloodlines. Your father's title comes from his father and his grandfather. The Roger family participated in the First Holy Expedition and received the Red Mansion fiefdom, which has been passed down through generations. I believe you know your family's history better than I do."

"However, there are countless nobles in this kingdom who have lost their titles and fiefs, and stories of families merging and even replacing each other are everywhere. There are even precedents of peasant uprisings where lords were killed. In my opinion, a surname alone may not be enough to subdue a region."

Father Usa was silent for a moment. The fat man clearly wanted to say something, so he didn't argue, but simply went along with him:

"So what do you mean?"

"Power, whether divine or secular, comes from one word: 'faith'."

"The people believed in the sacred connection between the Holy See and the true God Oebak, and believed that the priests could redeem their souls, so the Holy See had divine authority."

"Similarly, the people believe that the lord in the castle can protect them and make decisions that are beneficial to them... or at least harmless, so that they can make a living. Then they will obey the lord's orders."

"I cannot agree with these cynical remarks," the priest said, frowning.

"Even though I despise merchants, as the acting lord, I have to think about the future of the entire Chifang Town and the entire region."

"Whether you agree or not, change will come, and after the peace talks, the kingdom and the empire will surely resume trade."

"The red sand of Chifang Town has stained the robes of cardinals and the skirts of imperial noblewomen. I would rather Chifang Town be a link on this trade route than be left out: like a flower growing on a side branch, without nourishment, it can only wither slowly."

"Many things will change, but some things will never change," the priest said slowly, each word carrying weight. "The Empire is a puppet of the wizarding society; the evil of magic is ingrained in its very bones—it won't be long before these wolves in sheep's clothing reveal their true colors. And all those touched by this evil magic will be punished by the Lord."

"So, you want Chifang Town isolated from the entire continent, turning it into an isolated island?" The chubby man wrinkled his nose, a hint of disdain in his eyes. "The Holy See has already agreed to participate in the peace talks, and even His Holiness the Patriarch is currently at Shanhaiguan, negotiating with so-called heretical enemies. Father Wusha, do you know more than the Patriarch?"

"The Lord says: The righteous are not necessarily the majority, but the devout must carry a candle on their way: a flickering candle in the darkness is more worthy of respect than a blazing fire in the daylight. Francis 17:11."

The chubby man angrily swung his arm, turned his back to the priest, and stood in the center of the room, proudly raising his neck like an old rooster.

Alphonse, with his back to the priest, said loudly:

"I will send my knights to deal with that manticore—it has injured the farmers in the surrounding villages. My father, as the acting lord and a descendant of House Roger, has a duty to protect my people."

"As a descendant of Red Baron Roger, you should know that the primary responsibility of a local lord is to be accountable to the Lord and the Holy See," the priest said, his neck stiff. "Before your father took his eldest son to Shanhaiguan for the peace talks, he instructed that important decisions required the dual approval of the Church and the sheriff before they could be implemented—as the chief priest of the Chifang Diocese, I object: I do not agree with you sending God's followers to serve a group of foreign merchants. If you want to appease those dwarves, you can use other methods, but I absolutely disagree with using knights."

"That manticore is attacking the Lord's followers, is the Church just going to sit idly by?!" Alphonse finally couldn't hold back any longer, turned around abruptly, and accused him sharply!

"Do you really care about the Lord's followers? Or are you more concerned with the gold and silver treasures those dwarves gave you?"

The priest did not back down, his eyes fixed on the jade ring on the chubby man's hand.

Alphonse instinctively hid his hands behind his back, his face alternating between pale and flushed: "...If you want these dwarves to leave as soon as possible, you should support my hunt for that manticore."

"Yes, I want those dwarves to leave—but back to their mountains, not to go to the Empire and bring the kingdom's resources to their enemies."

"The true god Obak and his thirteen knights spent fifty years driving the wizards from the kingdom, and then His followers spent twelve hundred years protecting this land from magical corruption—not a single clod of soil from the Kingdom of Kane could fall into the hands of an evil wizard!"

"You're being utterly unreasonable! Do you think the truth lies solely in your hands?"

"Even if the Father himself came before me, I would say the exact same thing, without changing a single word."

"I……"

Alphonse was furious and stormed out of the church.

The priest deliberately ignored him, looking straight at the emblem, until the fat man left the church. Only then did he walk to the money pool and pick out the few gold coins that Alphonse had just thrown in.

He went inside the church, called over a young priest, and handed him the gold coins.

"Go to the bookstore on the corner, use this money to buy a hardcover copy of the Holy Gospel, and then deliver it to the lord's castle."

"Remember, it must be delivered to Lord Alphonse, so that everyone can see it."

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The plump nobleman walked out of the church with a livid face. The sheriff knight, seeing that something was wrong, came up to ask him questions.

Before he could speak, Alphonse said angrily:

"Incomprehensible! Utterly incomprehensible!"

"Lord Alphonse, what's wrong?"

"You... go and post a bounty: Anyone who hunts a manticore will receive an additional 2000 gold coins on top of the merchant guild's bounty!"