Chapter 49 The Sacred Ritual

Hao Ren knew that communicating with these high-ranking members of the Church would definitely be troublesome, because ultimately, "religion" was a sensitive issue, especially when the requests being made were related to the core of their beliefs, and when those requests weren't motivated by faith in a god. A stubborn religious fanatic might see such a rash request as an insult—in their eyes, all sacred rituals were inherently sacred, existing, taking effect, and possessing divinity as a matter of course, and not to be deeply scrutinized by mortals.

Of course, the Church of the Radiant Light was a relatively tolerant and enlightened religion. Although their faith in the Goddess was exceptionally firm, they adopted a missionary attitude of influencing heretics with actions rather than forcing them with violence. This was evident from the four ascetic monks. Therefore, Hao Ren felt that his request should be granted. After all, the Pope and the Archbishop couldn't be fools; they should realize which was more important: rigid old rules or the safety of the world.

Perhaps the lower-level believers were more stubborn, but the Pope, sitting in the highest position, had to be the most clear-headed.

Oben and the Pope discussed in hushed tones for a long time. There seemed to be a few brief arguments in between. Then, the Pope looked up, quietly gazing into Hao Ren's eyes, his voice calm, making it impossible to discern his emotions: "This is a sacred ritual. Since the establishment of the Church of the Radiant Light, only officially initiated clergy members who have passed the preliminary tests have been allowed to participate. Although it is a basic ritual that even the most junior priests can access, it is still sacred."

"I understand," Hao Ren nodded, "but clearly, the 'First Born' problem is more important. These ancient creatures are also creations of the Goddess, and their secrets are the Goddess's secrets. Given this premise, we should relax some stubborn old traditions."

"The four masters trust you," the Pope said softly, "Did you not ask them for the details of the tattoo ceremony?"

Hao Ren nodded: "I asked. I know the ritual process is to fuse a sacred substance with a person's bloodline, but this sacred substance is only available in the cathedrals of various places. The four masters can only tell me the process, but I'm interested in those 'substances'."

The Pope was silent for a moment, then nodded to Oben: "Take them to the Sixteenth Temple to observe the tattoo ceremony."

"Wouldn't this violate the dogma?"

"If the Church's heritage had already gone astray in the time of the Fifth Pope, then we should trust the instinctive guidance the Goddess has instilled in our hearts, rather than those incomplete ancient scrolls," the Pope slightly narrowed his eyes, "Take them there. The Goddess will allow it."

Bishop Oben returned a noble salute, stood up, and turned to Hao Ren and the others: "Follow me. The Sixteenth Temple is not far from here."

Hao Ren thought to himself that things were going smoothly. He got up and followed the bald-headed uncle with a face full of subtitles, preparing to go to the Sixteenth Temple. Lily was still holding a roasted chicken leg and gnawing on it with all her might, muttering vaguely as she chewed: "Wait for me, wait for me… How come we're leaving already…"

Hao Ren finally couldn't bear this glutton any longer and reached out to scoop up Lily: "Can't you have some dignity?!"

Lily subconsciously opened her mouth to bite someone, but fortunately, she managed to hold it back. Nangong Wuyue was a bit sentimental seeing this situation: "You even dare to provoke a dog when it's eating, and you don't get bitten in the end—Landlord, you've really trained her well."

Becky was a bit better off than Lily, but when she put down her plate, she clearly looked reluctant: you couldn't expect an earthy girl who had been drinking and bragging in taverns with the most vulgar group of violent professionals in the world for many years to have much restraint in front of the King. In fact, the sounds she made while eating weren't much quieter than Lily's. Before leaving the room, the girl finally remembered there was a big thing she hadn't asked about yet, and she quickly turned to look at Moron: "Hey, wait, Your Majesty, I almost forgot to ask—my bounty…"

Hao Ren was about to be driven crazy by these atmosphere-ruining guys around him. He stepped forward, grabbed Becky's scarf, and directly dragged her back. As he went out the door, he shouted at Ofra, who remained in the room: "Don't forget to arrange Becky's award! This thing's about to have a mental breakdown over this!"

Ofra nodded, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, watching this group of people who didn't play by the rules finally disappear at the door.

The room was quiet for a few seconds. Moron suddenly sat up straight, the lazy old man's aura fading away at once. A shrewd glint flashed in his eyes, and his expression was very serious: "This group of people is not quite what I imagined."

"But it's the same as what I reported," Ofra looked up at the King, "Whose fault is it that you didn't believe it?"

Prince Huffman took out a handkerchief and wiped the non-existent fine sweat from his forehead. He looked at the food on the table with a strange expression: "So they eat human food too."

The other ministers in the room immediately nodded repeatedly. Prince Huffman's sigh resonated with them. They didn't know what kind of image these guys had conjured up in their minds after hearing about what had happened in the Diocese of Beinz. Anyway, after hearing Huffman's sigh, Ofra directly rolled her eyes at him: "You've only had a stronger imagination than others since you were a kid."

Huffman shrugged, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and didn't speak. Moron tapped the table lightly with his fingers, half talking to himself and half asking Ofra: "They really summoned white light from the sky and directly destroyed the entire Diocese of Beinz? I don't see much difference between them and us humans… Whether it's in terms of image or behavior, I can't see that kind of destructive power."

Ofra curled her lips, thinking that you couldn't see the King's aura when you were four years old, chasing after me for candy, but she didn't have the nerve to say it, considering there were too many princes and ministers present. She just nodded: "This group of people seems to be just a… ordinary squad in their own group, just like our soldiers, so their words and deeds are no different from ordinary people. But the power behind them is incredible."

"How much do you know about them?" Moron asked.

"Not much. You should know what I know," Ofra shook her head. "They are a team, belonging to some kind of powerful force in another world. They have the ability to travel through time and space. They are organized and disciplined. I guess they will go to various worlds to solve problems because of their mission—just like solving the First Born problem here. The members of this team are not yet very clear. The big guy who appeared last time didn't come this time, and there's a new guy. This proves that they have some kind of personnel transfer and selection system. Such a team will have a leader, which is the man named Hao Ren. Other than that… nothing."

Prince Huffman's expression was very serious: "Are you sure they are organized and disciplined?"

Ofra forced a dry laugh: "Hehe… mostly, mostly."

"What's fortunate now is that they and the power behind them are not hostile to us, at least it doesn't seem like it now," Moron closed his eyes slightly, seeming a little tired, "We have too many problems to face. Let's put aside those problems that humans can't solve. It's a blessing that those foreigners are willing to help us solve the problem of the First Born."

"I'm willing to believe in their goodwill," Ofra laughed, "At least we have four masters and a mercenary little girl who have been mixed up with them in a daze, and they're doing pretty well. This should prove that these foreigners are not evil."

Moron nodded slightly, without speaking. After a long silence, he opened his eyes and looked at the Pope: "What is your opinion?"

The Pope's expression was as unchanged as ever. It seemed that his thoughts were always placed in some mysterious unknown field, leaving only a body here to convey information. His voice was light and slow: "We should focus more on thinking about the will of the Goddess. The existence of the 'First Born' has already had a great impact on the high-level members of the Church, and the 'Return Cult' secretly developed by those heretics may also disintegrate the belief system we have established for thousands of years. This is a challenge that the civilization foundation of Holletta, and even the entire world, has to face. Find a way to minimize the impact of these things and let the Goddess's teachings continue to be the benchmark for the operation of this world. Other than that, let the foreigners… go their own way. Since the Goddess has not objected, then this is what should happen."

At the same moment, Hao Ren and the others had already left the palace, preparing to go to the mysterious place where the tattoo ceremony was held.