Free Web NovelChapter 94: Chapter 71: A Distressed Knight’s Attendant
Desolate Wasteland Ruins.
Thick dust perpetually shrouded the city, casting it in a dim light.
The streets of the Lower City District were filled with misshapen beggars and vagrants, and gang members fought to the death over a piece of bread hard enough to crack a stone.
Raphael kept his head down and hurried along, an illegal Alchemy Potion he had purchased hidden in his robes.
If he encountered an Arbitrator patrolling the district, he wouldn’t even dare meet their eyes, despite wearing the traditional brown robe of the Caster Monastery.
Around his neck hung a gleaming silver Great Unity Holy Emblem—five hands clasped together, signifying his status as a member of the National Church Clergy.
’Divine Emperor above.’
’Please forgive my blasphemy...’
As Raphael prayed silently, begging the Divine Emperor for forgiveness, a pair of heavily worn leather boots appeared in his line of sight.
"You shouldn’t have come to the Lower City District, Priest. It’s dangerous here."
Raphael looked up.
The man standing before him wore a worn-out, deep blue uniform. Gold stripes ran from the cuffs to the collar, but a missing button left the hem of the otherwise proper Judge’s uniform hanging open, giving him an especially dissolute appearance.
His left pant leg was tucked into his boot, but his right hung out.
"I... I know, but today is almsgiving day, so I came to the Lower City District to check on the residents."
"Almsgiving?"
The Judge frowned slightly. He thought for a moment, his gaze filled with suspicion. "I seem to recall the Caster Church just gave alms last month... Never mind. The heretics in the Lower City District have been getting more brazen lately. You’d best not come down here alone."
"I... I understand. Thank you for the warning."
The Judge looked at the devout Priest, sighed, and complained, "The rebels have been besieging the Holy City for four years, and half the Empire is at war. I heard even the Divine Emperor’s Radiant Angels have died in the rebellion.
Sigh... In this situation, the National Church Judges and Imperial Knights can’t be bothered with a backwater place like this.
I wonder if the Defense Army on the front lines can even hold out until reinforcements arrive."
The Judge certainly noticed the Priest’s odd expression, but he wasn’t overly suspicious. Or rather, even if he were, he had no authority to pass judgment on a National Church Priest.
Besides, the Lord of the Empire and the nobles of the Regent Council had all turned traitor to worship Demons. What could a mere outsourced Judge like him, responsible only for investigations, possibly do?
For four whole years, not a single message had come through the Radiant Channel that connected them to the Radiant Cathedral and the Supreme Court in the Holy City.
Even the Defense Army’s requests for aid sent to the Military Affairs Department had vanished without a trace.
They were just a bunch of poor souls, forgotten by the Empire on the frontier.
It probably wouldn’t be long before the rebels and heretics broke through the front lines, and all they could do was pray in despair for the Divine Emperor’s protection.
A quick death would be a mercy, rather than turning into one of those monsters in the Lower City District—neither living nor dead, existing in eternal pain and torment.
Just then, the Judge’s brow furrowed. A furtive figure had flashed past at the end of the street and vanished.
Recalling reports that Mages had been appearing in the Lower City District since last year, he urged Raphael to hurry back, then drew his Longsword and gave chase alone.
After parting ways with the Judge, Raphael, the National Church Priest, let out a long sigh of relief. freewebnøvel.coɱ
He had been worried the man would discover the illegally purchased Alchemy Sorcery Potion. While not a major crime, such a blasphemous act would bring great shame upon the Caster Monastery.
He wanted to lecture the faithless Judge, to tell him that the Divine Emperor would not abandon this world, but it was hardly the time. He could only remain silent and walk away quickly.
His clerical brown robe and silver Great Unity Holy Emblem allowed him to pass unimpeded through the heavily guarded, narrow passage—the only connection between the Lower City District and Midtown.
Even the Defense Army and the City Lord’s private soldiers would salute him, showing their Loyalty to the Divine Emperor.
But the more this happened, the more terrified and uneasy Raphael became.
He made his way back to the Caster Monastery in the Upper City District. Although the young apprentices in the Monastery would respectfully call him Cultivator Raphael, their tone clearly lacked real respect.
Even his colleagues at the Monastery gave him strange looks, treating him like an outcast.
Raphael pushed open an old wooden door. Inside the dimly lit room, an incredibly burly young man was doing a one-handed handstand against the wall.
Beads of sweat dripped continuously onto the floor.
His muscular, knotted body was covered in countless scars, large and small. Across his chest was a gruesome wound that, even now, had yet to fully heal.
The skin on his right arm was pale, and it trembled ceaselessly as it supported his massive frame.
Raphael closed the door and carefully took out the Alchemy Sorcery Potion. His tone was tinged with exasperation. "Didn’t I tell you your body can’t handle this kind of training yet?"
The young man laughed heartily. He pushed off the wall, landing on his feet, and walked over to the Priest. His shoulder-length black hair was haphazardly tied back with a hemp cord.
Raphael looked up.
Even after four years together, the difference in their height and build still made him feel pressured.
He handed over the Alchemy Sorcery Potion.
"Even though this potion wasn’t officially registered, it’ll do a lot of good for your injuries. I almost got caught by a Judge on the way back. Drink it quickly, before anyone else sees."
The young man took the potion, examined it carefully, and then drank it in one gulp.
Raphael quickly hid the bottle, planning to find a chance to throw it into a garbage heap in the Lower City District during the next almsgiving in half a year.
He sat on the edge of the bed, watching the energetic young man and shaking his head repeatedly.
"The pressure on the Defense Army at the front is mounting. The High Tier Cultivators keep wanting to send you to the front lines to join them.
Besides, your appetite is way too big.
If you keep eating like this, you’ll eat the Monastery into bankruptcy."
The two were of a similar age, and four years together had made them close friends who could talk about anything. Most importantly, in this desperate era,
they both held firm beliefs.
They believed the war would end sooner or later.
And that the Divine Emperor’s radiance would return like a flash of lightning.
Of course, he had added that last part himself.
The young man pulled on a simple, coarse linen tunic and grinned. "I agree with the High Tier Cultivators. I feel like my body is getting rustier every day I stay here."
Raphael rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don’t agree. Don’t you know the condition your body is in? You really think that just because you campaigned with the Imperial Knights for a few years, you’re an Imperial Knight yourself?
Divine Emperor above.
You’re just a Mortal, a knight’s attendant. There’s no point in throwing your life away.
I’ll cut back on my own food rations and persuade the High Tier Cultivators to let you keep recuperating here. In the future, when your injuries have healed, I’ll join the Defense Army with you as a field Priest."
Raphael was getting quite worked up.
"They all say the Divine Emperor and the Empire have abandoned this world! They call me a madman! But I will prove with my actions that the Divine Emperor’s light still shines upon this world!"
