The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 122: Successful Probed For More Clues

Annan Austere-Winter came to the Freezing Water Port.

Is it because of the arrangements made by Austere-Winter Dukedom…

—Or because he is hunted down and has nowhere to go?

This would greatly affect the next negotiation between Bishop Daryl and Annan.

“This terrible old man is so sly.” Annan snorted.

This fat old man with golden teeth looked like a kind old man with a smiling face. Annan knew such an old man would be difficult to deal with.

Sure enough, the main reason was that Annan didn’t know what Bishop Daryl wanted.

Annan preferred to know Bishop Daryl’s true purpose.

Because now, Bishop Daryl clearly had something he needed from Annan. On the other hand, Annan didn’t know where ‘Annan’ came from or what ‘he’ was going to do.

If Annan could know the opponent’s hand, the position of the two would be reversed instantly.

“…En.”

Annan paused slightly before strolling as usual.

He had found a way.

Holding the freshly brewed black tea and snacks, Annan walked back to the bedroom.

Bishop Daryl held a silver metal pen, writing something on the notebook.

Looking back when Annan came in, Bishop Daryl smiled and put the pen back near his pocket watch.

“Without a servant, it feels inconvenient, right?”

“Haha, not really.”

Annan spoke with a subtle smile at the corner of his mouth, “I’ve long been used to it.”

With that, Annan poured a cup of black tea for Bishop Daryl and himself. Then, he took out the snacks and put them on the table.

Annan said casually, “Fortunately, the things that the viscount has at home are quite complete. Oh, by the way-these snacks are leftover from yesterday, do you mind?”

With that said, Annan took out a delicate cake and put it in his mouth.

Bishop Daryl quickly smiled and waved his hand, “Even you as the feudal lord don’t mind it, naturally it’s fine for me. How can we commoners be so pampered?”

“Can our esteemed Master Bishop be considered a commoner?”

Annan said with a smile and sat across from Daryl, “I thought Master Bishop’s food, clothing, housing, and transportation should be like nobles.”

Annan’s smile was like a child of the same age, pure, innocent, and pleasant.

Bishop Daryl’s face was solemn, “That’s impossible.

“I don’t know about other churches, but at least in our case, the priest has no personal savings.” Having said that, Bishop Daryl paused slightly.

Bishop Daryl suddenly realized that this was not something that should be said at this time.

If Annan inherited the Grand Duke’s position, it would have little effect. His wealth was not stored in his own hands.

But he was different now.

Annan came to a neighboring country alone. If he joined the church, it meant that all the money he had on hand must be spent.

For the son of a noble duke, this was undoubtedly an unacceptable condition.

It was like the seller discounted his price by mistake.

So Bishop Daryl was silent for a while, then added, “But at the same time, we can also use some simple means to bypass this curse.”

As he said, the bald and fat bishop smiled and pointed at his golden teeth, “This can be considered as small pocket money.

“In addition, since I am using gold teeth, then it’s reasonable for me to keep some spare gold teeth in the church. After all, I am more or less the face of the church. I can’t meet people without my teeth, right?”

Then, you can use these golden teeth for transactions.

Annan looked at this shameless fat man in surprise.

This guy…

What a witty fellow.

Isn’t Silver Sire too tolerant to the priests?

Hmph, it still doesn’t click though.

Annan quickly realized the problem.

“Priests are forbidden to possess wealth.” This practice isn’t necessarily to please Silver Sire.

This is more like a kind of “discipline.”

On the one hand, this practice was used to remind these priests that their deity was watching them; on the other hand, it was a display for civilians.

The practice was to let them know, “Even the priest must follow the rules.”

But it seemed right at the same time.

The deities of this world didn’t need believers to provide faith power or something. The deities just needed the priests to maintain their core rules.

It was more like a boss-employee relationship. When the company was under-employed, the employees’ primary responsibility was to complete their tasks first, and only then would they try to spread the corporate culture.

So the priests didn’t bother to preach.

However, it was necessary to maintain the image and influence of the priests so that the public would “cooperate” with the upright deities’ rule.

The image of priests and the importance they attached to the rules directly determine the people’s perception of the deities.

In turn, it might affect people’s recognition of the national diocese rules.

In the Noah Kingdom, Silver Sire adopted “Smile Service,” taking a more gentle approach. It was like a kind reminder not to “hoard goods for individual benefits.”

Other countries and other churches should have completely different styles.

What kind of rules does Old Grandmother adopt? Annan’s thoughts ran quickly in his mind.

So he sighed slightly with a little sympathy on his face, “I’m sorry for being blunt. At Silver Sire’s side, there are so many strange rules.”

The statement was ambiguous. It should be quite unexpected for those hearing it for the first time.

Moreover, it would tend to get secret information to bring out from other’s complaints.

Sure enough, the fat bishop smiled awkwardly and subconsciously complained to Annan, “It’s naturally incomparable with yours.

“Strictly speaking, our side is a bunch of businesspeople, not even armed by the church. How can it be compared to the Austere-Winter? There’s a special service such as Winter’s Hand to help with the inconspicuous work. The Grand Duke also agreed to form defensive armed forces for the church. Let’s not dawdle in such idle chatter.”

…Um?

Annan keenly extracted key information.

He then sighed without a trace and changed the subject to prevent Bishop Daryl from reacting, “It’s not always the case.

“Master Bishop, do you know Austere-Winter Dukedom well?” With that, Annan’s expression became serious.

It was the professional look for business affairs.

Upon seeing this, the smile on Bishop Daryl’s face also narrowed slightly.

He pondered for a moment and then slowly nodded, “I know a bit here and there, even before this.”

“Before this— What do you mean?”

“It’s a year and a half ago. The latest news I got was in February this year.”

Bishop Daryl smashed his mouth and sighed, “Feudal lord, your side is so chaotic this year. I dare not cross the border anyway.

“I remember you are Austerian, right? Then, you should have participated. No. Speaking of which, when did you come to the Freezing Water Port?”

“I have been here for a while.”

Annan’s body leaned back slightly, his expression a little helpless, “I can’t say anything. It’s for your good, Master Bishop.”

“It’s fine. I understand.”

Bishop shook his head, “The Grand Duke was assassinated, and there are too many things involved. This is not a provocation. But Annan—I call you that way because I don’t want to leak this sentence.”

He no longer called Annan by his honorific.

His expression also became serious and solemn,

“There must be something wrong with the higher-ups in the Cold-Blooded Lady Church. I don’t know who or how many, but there must be a problem.

“You are too young to know. When the upright deity’s blood is assassinated, sick, or suffers an accident, the upright deity’s church will be notified when they die.

“They didn’t rush to the crime scene immediately, which means that in the process of receiving the notification, passing it to the notification hall, and then passing it to Winter’s Hand – there was at least one traitor.”

Bishop Daryl said thoughtfully, “Seriously, I shouldn’t say this, at least not at this time. I’m telling you this now, and I’m not trying to persuade you to join us. I don’t want your judgment to be flawed because of the lack of knowledge on this incident.

“If Austere-Winter Dukedom has a gentle Grand Duke like you, it will be good for us.

“People of Noah should no longer dwell in a meaningless war.”

…So that’s the case.

Annan nodded slowly, “I see…”

He finally understood.

After thinking for a moment, Annan changed the topic back, “We can talk about the bishop matter another time.

“But, the matter of putting my name out as a priest, I am indeed interested.

“I am quite curious about holy light engravings and the extraordinary ability of our priest. Please explain more to me.” Annan’s expression was humble and gentle.