Chapter 290

"E-Rantel"

The 20th day of the Third Month.

"Colorless Peace" Inn.

The massive silhouette of the evil spirit dog lies at Tang Zheng's feet, wagging its tail from time to time; even while lying down, its entire head is completely higher than the tabletop.

Two black horns are exposed to the air, radiating a cold glint.

The atmosphere in the room is somewhat quiet.

Tang Zheng has one hand on the back of the evil spirit dog's neck, gently rubbing its dense, pitch-black fur, while his other hand rests on his leg, his face wearing a thoughtful expression.

Opposite Tang Zheng, three figures are sitting respectively.

One of the Nine Colors of the Holy Kingdom, "Black" Pavel, a golden-short-haired youth wearing light armor, and a priest wearing a water-blue holy seal.

"Sorry, although I know the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin, I am not as familiar with him as you all imagine." Tang Zheng shakes his head, speaking softly to break the silence in the room.

"But according to rumors, the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin leaving the Empire has a great deal to do with you, Mr. Tang."

The priest says with his hands crossed and placed flat on the table, speaking while maintaining a hint of respect.

As a member of the temple's "Priest Corps," he has never been fond of the Adventurer's Guild and adventurers, but the one before him is not only powerful but also a cleric who believes in gods.

Facing a powerful faith-based magic caster, the priest naturally has to maintain respect.

"This matter, when spoken of, is actually a case of hearsay, leading it to seem as if there are many hidden details."

Tang Zheng feels somewhat helpless and explains softly:

"In reality, the whole matter is not very complex; the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin joined the Empire's arena back then to become stronger."

"It's just that the battles in the arena could no longer make him stronger. I mentioned to him that in the 'Abelion Hills,' there exist demi-human powerhouses known as the 'Ten Greats of the Demi-humans'."

"I just didn't expect that the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin would really leave the Empire, and because of this matter, I was put on a bounty by His Majesty the 'Bloody Emperor'."

Tang Zheng sighs and says in a complaining tone: "He really is petty."

This sentence.

Makes Pavel and the priest subconsciously look at each other, without making any response.

That "Bloody Emperor" is, after all, the king of a country; as an adventurer, Tang Zheng might be able to comment without too many concerns.

But they represent the Holy Kingdom, and regardless of the reason, they cannot arbitrarily comment on the kings of other countries; this is not only impolite but could even lead to serious diplomatic problems.

To the side.

The golden-short-haired youth suddenly clenches his fists, his emotions somewhat out of control as he says suppressedly: "Is this the reason why the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin appeared in the Abelion Hills..."

"Roberts." Pavel reaches out and presses on Roberts's shoulder.

Tang Zheng looks at the three, a look of doubt appearing on his face.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Is it related to the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin?" Tang Zheng asks.

"Tang, you don't know how much trouble this 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin has brought us."

Pavel thinks of the things that have happened during this period, and on his cold and steady face, a rare trace of anger appears.

Those messages could be hidden from ordinary people, but they could not be hidden from him; he is also a member of the nobility, yet he feels anger and sorrow for that group of idiots who actually dared to trade with demi-humans!

Pavel has an impulse to open the heads of that group of pig-like fellows to see what exactly is inside the heads of these pieces of trash.

"Regarding the 'King of Warriors' Go-Gin, there is one more thing I need to ask." The priest suddenly speaks, interrupting Pavel, speaking seriously.

Tang Zheng's eyes flash.

It seems that "Black" Pavel, who has the highest status among the three, is not the leader; rather, it is this priest.

"One of Keira's people?"

This thought flashes through Tang Zheng's mind, and he nods with an unchanging expression.

The priest asks using information that is half-true and half-false, clearly intending to hide some intelligence, especially the situation in the Abelion Hills.

Tang Zheng naturally pretends not to know, and after a brief thought: "According to what I understand, Go-Gin's personality would indeed lead him to make such a move."

"Although the other is a demi-human, he is a warrior with a noble spirit; I am still very certain of this point."

Speaking of this.

Tang Zheng stares at the priest opposite him: "Of course, there is another possibility."

"What?" The priest's spirit is jolted.

"Doing it on purpose." Tang Zheng responds.

Pavel and the priest look at each other again, their expressions becoming a bit more solemn; this is the same as their previous speculation.

The situation in the Abelion Hills might be much more complex than they had originally anticipated.

"Mr. Tang, I know you have many doubts, so we would like to invite you..." The priest looks at Tang Zheng eagerly.

According to Lady Keira's intentions.

If the "King of Warriors" Go-Gin really let Roberts go on purpose, then it must be that the other is conveying some kind of message to them.

They need to get in touch with the "King of Warriors" Go-Gin as soon as possible to further determine the situation in the Abelion Hills.

The threat of the united demi-human races is simply too great!

"I refuse." Tang Zheng speaks directly to the priest.

The priest's expression is somewhat stiff.

Pavel is not surprised; he glances at the priest with sharp, narrow eyes, and thinks to himself: "Too impatient."

"I don't mind providing some intelligence to you all."

"But the three of you should not forget that I am an adventurer and have no interest in participating in some of your Holy Kingdom's schemes."

Tang Zheng pauses his hand stroking the evil spirit dog and says seriously: "Of course, if you all need our 'Free Will' to provide some kind of assistance, then please go to the Adventurer's Guild to place a commission first."

These words.

Make the priest feel somewhat ashamed, realizing the inappropriate parts of his words just now.

"I will report this matter to my superiors." Pavel speaks in time, his attitude very serious.

"Free Will" is not an ordinary adventurer team; although their current rating is "Gold-ranked," all aspects of intelligence show that this is an adventurer squad with "Adamantite-ranked" strength.

It can be called a force of "National Realm" level, and it would not be an exaggeration to say it is proof of a country's foundation.

Wanting to invite such an adventurer squad to assist with just a few words is not only looking down on the other party but also a kind of alternative ignorance.

"I personally apologize to you, Mr. Tang." The priest stands up, bows, and speaks.

A moment later.

Pavel and the other two leave together.

"I didn't expect that so quickly, the Holy Kingdom has already started planning to enter the hills for the second time?" Tang Zheng is thoughtful.

This time, the purpose is clearly more defined.

Tang Zheng picks up a book placed on the table called "Biography of the Roble Holy Kingdom" and flips through it; it records some history, anecdotes, and legends of the Holy Kingdom, which can help him better understand the Holy Kingdom.

Currently.

The grain trade between the hilly region and the Holy Kingdom has been completely severed; the Holy Queen Calca and the temple's thunderous actions allowed Tang Zheng to witness a "severe crackdown" with his own eyes.

A large number of nobles were "invited" to the Holy Capital; except for a portion of the resisting nobles who were dealt with by the Paladin Order, most of the nobles were not in any danger of losing their lives.

This does not mean forgiveness.

On the contrary, this group of nobles was completely stripped of their titles; this kind of thing is more painful than killing them.

Not only that!

According to the intelligence collected by the Witch of the Green Leaf, such a big thing happened, yet there was no turmoil at the noble level, and no rumors of "nobles trading with demi-humans" spread among the people.

"Only dealing with nobles up to the count level is for the sake of stabilizing the situation; given the national conditions of the Holy Kingdom, all parties will try their best to prevent the matter of 'trading with demi-humans' from spreading out, otherwise it would inevitably cause turmoil in the entire country."

Tang Zheng flips through the book in his hand, his face showing thought: "The territories left behind by those nobles who were stripped of their titles can not only strengthen the power of the royal family but are also a piece of fat meat placed in plain sight."

After this incident.

Tang Zheng suddenly realizes that all the originally unfavorable situations are developing in a direction favorable to the Holy Queen Calca.

This kind of ruthless means.

Should be the means of that close friend and advisor, the highest priest of the Holy Kingdom's temple, Keira.

Facing the cessation of grain trade.

Tang Zheng's demeanor is relaxed, and he has no worries at all; this is completely expected, and even lasted longer than he had initially anticipated.

The entire time of the "grain trade," from late January to the current late March, has lasted for two months.

The large influx from both the North Holy Kingdom and the South Holy Kingdom has allowed Tang Zheng to accumulate a huge amount of food storage in his hands.

The quantity is so large that it is somewhat impossible to calculate.

In short, it is enough to easily carry out the "breeding plan" in both the Tob Forest and the Abelion Hills.

"What can truly be called 'resources' on hand currently are only 10th-tier blank scrolls, of which I have already saved 65."

Tang Zheng thinks of the items on hand that can truly play a role and sighs softly.

10th-tier magic scrolls are things he makes one by one by activating "Papermaking" 10 times every day.

At the same time.

On the other side.

While the Holy Kingdom is shaken by the complex situation in the Abelion Hills, the Slane Theocracy, which is located to the east and adjacent to the hilly region, also discovered the anomalies in the hilly region.

Deepest part of the Theocracy.

In a sacred and holy room enshrining six statues of gods.

Six figures of different ages, all over 40, are holding various cleaning tools and are cleaning in this room, which was already clean and free of a single speck of dust.

Everyone's demeanor is solemn, each doing their own cleaning work; there is not a single sound of talking in the room, only the faint sounds of breathing and cleaning.

Several people are wearing tall hats and wearing very similar priest robes, although the accent colors on the clothes are slightly different.

The identities of these six people are not simple.

Red corresponds to the Fire Priest Chief—Beranice Nagua Santini.

Cyan corresponds to the Water Priest Chief—Cedran Delan Guelfi.

Green corresponds to the Wind Priest Chief—Dominic Ile Bados.

Brown represents the Earth Priest Chief—Raymond Zagu Laurentsan.

White represents the Light Priest Chief—Ion Gasner Delacroix.

The last one, the Dark Priest Chief—Maximilian Orio Lagier.

The Slane Theocracy is different from other human countries; it is a country with a very strong religious atmosphere, and the one most similar to it is the Holy Kingdom.

It's just that.

Even the Holy Kingdom has the "Holy King" as the apex, cooperating with the temple forces to rule, rather than like the Slane Theocracy, which rules the country entirely in a religious form.

Precisely because of this, the political power is not complex; the highest status is held by the Highest Priest Chief and the six Great Priest Chiefs.

Below them are the heads of the three institutions (Judiciary, Legislative, Administrative) and the six Shrine Maidens.

As the six people with the highest status in the country, cleaning personally is a very incredible thing in other countries. Because such small matters can be completely left to servants to do.

Each of the six priest chiefs cleans the room with extremely clean and neat movements; with the abilities of the six, using the first-tier "Clean" magic would actually be enough to clean the entire room.

No one would do that, because this is a blasphemy against the gods.

It took a long time to clean it thoroughly.

"Thanks to the gods!"

The six priest chiefs bow in unison to the statues, burying their heads deeply, and only after waiting for a moment do they slowly stand up.

Everyone comes to the round table in the room and sits down slowly; there is still an empty chair, which is the position of the Highest Priest Chief. Today's topic does not require the Highest Priest Chief to come forward.

"Then the meeting begins."

Wind Priest Chief Dominic speaks first; today he is serving as the meeting moderator.

This is an old man who looks gentle on the outside and was once a member of the "Sunlight Scripture." With the other's current image, no one would think that the other had once wiped out countless alien races.

I don't know how many demi-humans and heteromorphic species have died at this person's hands.

As a firm follower of the "Human Supremacy" doctrine, wiping out all alien races in the world is the lifelong pursuit of Wind Priest Chief Dominic.

"According to the unexpected discovery of the Thousand-Mile Astrologer, the Abelion Hills seem to have an unexpected abnormal situation."

As soon as the words "Abelion Hills" are mentioned, Wind Priest Chief Dominic's mellow image disappears, and his tone is even filled with the smell of gunpowder.

The many alien races in the hilly region are clearly right in front of him, yet he has never wiped them out, and he has long been annoyed.

If it weren't for the fact that the former priest chiefs did not allow major actions, he would have already led the "Sunlight Scripture" to charge into the Abelion Hills.

"Abnormal? Did something happen?" Fire Priest Chief Beranice speaks.

This is the only woman among the six priest chiefs; her body type gives a sense of roundness, her face is very kind, and her whole body exudes a feeling that makes people feel at ease.

The hilly region possesses numerous powerful demi-human tribes, and the "Ten Greats of the Demi-humans" are even demi-human powerhouses who have stepped into the Hero Realm level.

This power is something even the Slane Theocracy needs to treat seriously and cautiously; in the eyes of the priest chiefs, keeping the hills in a state of chaos is enough.

(End of chapter)