The Laws of Werewolf Hunting

Chapter 557 Franklin
Clayton Bello was a man of extraordinary abilities.

Franklin held this view.

If Franklin had the authority, he would have appointed Clayton Bellow as the magistrate of Sasha.

The veteran casually revealed three key pieces of information: first, he revealed the relationship between the Book of Earth and the heart; second, he discovered the true power of the Book of Earth; and third, he discovered that the theft of the Book of Earth was related to the Earth Mother Cult.

The first two pieces of information have been confirmed, and the third piece of information is also gradually showing signs of being confirmed under his investigation.

One of the last people that Charlie the Drunkard, the deputy leader of Easter Island, came into contact with was a member of the Earth Mother Cult.

Tomb raiding gangs and religions may seem like they have little chance of contact, but one is skilled at digging tunnels and the other has an underground faith. There is a supply and demand relationship between the two, and both have a lot of dwarves.

Logically, at this stage of the investigation, Sir Franklin should have let go and handed the matter over to the local church. However, the church suddenly began to shirk responsibility, claiming that they could not do anything to the Earth Mother Church without solid evidence, otherwise it might cause public opinion problems and be regarded as religious persecution in the new era.

But all of this was nonsense; Franklin knew exactly what the clergy were thinking.

After the holders of the Book of Earth were temporarily safe, they considered this wondrous object as theirs for the taking, but they still had doubts about its abilities and hoped that the Earth Mother Cult would demonstrate it first. The other audience for the demonstration was, of course, the druids of the Elder Council.

As for whether this matter would cause the druids to overreact, the priests didn't care.

While heretics are certainly enemies of the White Cult, the mistakes made by the Earth Mother Cult in using the book are not their fault.

If the power of the Book of Earth can help the Cult of the Earth Mother withstand the pressure from the Druids, the clergy can learn a lesson; if not—it might be simpler to take the book back from the Druids.

The main force of the urban integration faction, represented by Grogne, moved to Juchini in order to build a national park. At this critical juncture, they would never engage in any meaningful conflict with the church. Their focus was on maintaining their own dignity. Moreover, the tomb raider Charlie the Drunkard who stole the Book of St. had been employed by the Presbyterian Church for a long time, and they had a stain on their record in this matter.

Most importantly, Her Majesty the Queen has long been disgusted by the chaos of urban autonomy and will not agree that the Book of the Land should fall into the hands of local powers.

If the clergy can get this matter to the ears of the gods, perhaps without much effort, Groene will hand over the book he obtained.

Such ideas did not form overnight; bureaucracy first sprouted in the Kagyu Church.

The minds of these clergy had long been corrupted by political maneuvering. Sir Franklin, being well-educated, was naturally disgusted by this move that seriously damaged the national interest and reputation. He decided to take back the Book of the Territory, which was so closely tied to Sasha City, without the help of the Church.

If he acts quickly enough, Groene and his druids will not discover the Church's sinister intentions, thus deepening the conflict.

Even with the same outcome, the difference between being decent and being indecent is not the same.

The Earth Mother Cult is the religion of the miners, who worship a goddess who dwells eternally underground. This belief is deeply intertwined with the people of Moriel. It is precisely for this reason that even though mining operations in Sasha have ceased for over a decade, the number of Earth Mother Cult members in the city remains above ten thousand—it is the Moriel community that has preserved this religious culture.

Thanks to the Knights' warrant, Franklin could move freely throughout the city, making everything he did very convenient.

But this warrant is useless against dwarves.

They are stubborn, united, and disregard human laws; no warrant can make them betray their comrades.

Perhaps they knew about the Book of Terma, or perhaps they didn't. Even though Franklin considered the Moriel people to be an inferior race, he had to admit that these people possessed a tenacious character, and threats had no effect on them. Out of his instinctive aversion to inferior races, he also refused to bribe them out of his own pocket.

"If only the city's police force were any good," the jazz thought with a hint of regret.

At this moment, he was in a barbershop outside an area of ​​St. Alvin's parish mainly inhabited by Morielites, pretending to be a customer waiting for service, monitoring the community by relying on the reflection in the mirror. He had no intention of actually entering this poor and backward community to carry out his work.

If the Easter Island member he captured earlier could provide the information he needed, he wouldn't have come near here at all.

There are very few Easter Island members left in the city. It seems that Charlie the Drunkard had already received the news and disappeared before Charlie was suspected.

Sir Franklin had no choice but to follow the clues provided by Clayton Bello. He already knew that the Earth Mother Cult member who had been in contact with the drunkard Charlie was a Gance, whose height was quite different from these Moriel people. If he were to appear here, he would be very conspicuous.

Sir Benjamin Franklin believed that the lost Book of Stud had stayed here for a period of time.

If he were Drunk Charlie, he would hide the book in the Moriel neighborhood, where the people are unfriendly, heretics, and the doors are so small they're like dog holes, making it incredibly difficult to get into the buildings to search.

"Sir, it's your turn." After serving the previous customer, the barber greeted the man.

"I'm just using this place to take shelter from the rain." Before the barber could show his displeasure, Jazz flicked two pennies at him and then continued to observe the dwarf community in the rain through the mirror.

The High Rock Knight's eyes easily pierced through the rain, searching for pedestrians passing by the Moriel community.

The large number of small houses indicates that this is a Morielian area, which most people would avoid.

The presence of this large Moriel community in the Parish of St. Alvin was no accident. It was the location of the train station, from which all sorts of people and goods came and went, and several different gangs formed within the parish around these valuable individuals.

Due to their innate physical defects, the Moriel people are accustomed to sticking together, with each family forming a small gang, which allows them to thrive in this environment.

When there were still mines in Sasha, the Moriel were a mining gang. Every time a freight train transported a batch of ore, they had to pay them a tax that wasn't on the books. They were so powerful that there was a special zone for them in the city's planning blueprints, and the houses were built according to their size. However, after the mines were exhausted, they immediately degenerated into an ordinary criminal organization, only able to find food in the garbage and wallets discarded by passengers.

Theft and smuggling are their specialties.

Sir Franklin knew that some skinny Morrel men would shave their beards and disguise themselves as children to commit crimes, which was utterly shameless.

He waited there for about an hour, and then the person he was looking for appeared.

A man dressed as a worker walked into the Moriel community like a giraffe into a herd of roe deer, and the others treated him kindly. They asked him to bend down and squeeze through a small door, and a moment later he emerged carrying a small statue of a gnarled mother, seemingly a follower of the Earth Mother Church who had come to receive an icon from a clergyman.

Giants like the White Sect and the Three Good Paths can certainly propose abolishing idolatry, as they have thousands of years of doctrinal support. But for smaller religions like the Earth Mother Religion, idolatry is the source of their cohesion. Seeing him begin to leave the community, the barber also pushed open the door of the barbershop and quietly followed him.

The majority of the Earth Mothers in Sasha are Mori people, and the majority of the rest are miners from other places. In order to reduce living costs and protect the privacy of their faith, these people often share a relatively decent house in groups.

In other words, if the Jazz follow him, they will likely find a stronghold of a member of the Earth Mother Cult.

These people are very well hidden; you can't find them by asking for directions.

After being followed for about ten minutes, the Earth Mother cult follower entered an apartment.

Sir Franklin, no longer hesitant, wrapped himself in his coat and strode inside. As soon as he entered, he was hit by a pungent smell of smoke and alcohol. Many people were kneeling on the damp, colorless carpet, forming a circle around the statue of the grotesque Mother, shoulder to shoulder with almost no gaps.

They all looked surprised when they saw the jazz barging in.

"The High Rock Knights enforce the law."

Facing this group of Earth Mother believers, the knight did not produce his warrant. They were obviously illiterate, but few people did not know the name of the Knights. His height and the sword he carried proved that he was of high status.

As soon as he spoke, one person's expression changed immediately.

Without needing evidence or hesitation, the High Rock Knight pointed at him and said, "Come with me."

The believer glanced at his companions, and only after confirming that none of them had the courage to help him did he slowly nod, rise, and walk towards Franklin. This submissive attitude lulled the knight into a false sense of security, and he turned and headed for the door ahead of time.

However, the moment his gaze turned away, the believer suddenly turned and rushed backward. The window on the first floor of the apartment was wide open, and he leaped out and ran along the street.

Franklin turned around, sighed as he watched the fleeing figure in the window frame, then walked straight ahead, spreading his arms to push aside the others in his path before passing through the window himself.

After following the fleeing believer out the window, his pace quickened until he was running. His movements were graceful and balanced, with each swing of his arms and lift of his legs perfectly timed. The fleeing figure, which had been gradually shrinking, grew larger again in his field of vision.

Just as he was about to grab the other person, the believer suddenly opened the door of a house by the roadside and disappeared into the house.

Franklin followed without hesitation.

It took him a while to break down the door. As soon as he entered the room, the light immediately dimmed. Before his eyes could adjust to the difference in brightness, a large sledgehammer used for smashing rocks came crashing down on his chest. The heavy blow forced him to take a step back.

If he hadn't been wearing a breastplate under his coat, this could indeed have seriously injured or even killed him.

After regaining his sight, he glanced around the room and saw four desperate men wielding weapons surrounding him.

The hammering was just the beginning.

As the hammer-wielder sheathed his weapon, another thug lunged from the right with a dagger, the blade slashing diagonally toward Franklin's arm, where there was no breastplate protection.

The areas not protected by breastplates are protected by chainmail.

Sir Franklin did not draw his sword, but instead swung his arm to meet the short sword. The blade was bent by the powerful arm, while the swordsman's face had already been hit by the knight's fist. He spun half a circle on the spot, and two bloody broken teeth flew out of the mouth of the deformed face, smashed against the wall and fell down with a sound like dice hitting the ground.

The two thugs on the left worked together to push a round table against him, trying to force him against the wall.

Both men possessed considerable strength, and combined with their weight, Franklin could only maintain his balance in the struggle.

But the hammer-wielder won't wait for him.

The heavy hammer swung up again. Franklin, no longer concerned with maintaining his composure, abandoned the wrestling and rolled to the right. The two thugs instantly lost their balance and uncontrollably pushed the round table forward, perfectly obscuring his body. The hammer-wielder's hammer, after adjusting its trajectory, landed on the table and cleanly pierced it, but it couldn't go any further.

Franklin reached under the table, grabbed the hammerhead that had broken through the surface, and pulled it down. Caught off guard, the hammer-wielder was disarmed. The hammer then flipped under the table and flew to the left, its trajectory grazing the right leg of a thug. He fell silently to the ground, only letting out a scream of agony two seconds later.

The knight crawled out from under the table with a large hole in it, looking a bit disheveled, but no one dared to underestimate him.

Hammerhand lunged forward, grabbed his shoulder, and then pressed down with all his might. The force was considerable, making it difficult for the knight to break free for a moment.

"Bring me your knife!" Hammerman shouted to his remaining unharmed companion, the Earth Mother cultist who had led Franklin there.

The believer charged forward with a knife, but when he was halfway there, he saw the knight break free from his companion's arm and land a punch square to the abdomen, instantly rendering the hammer-wielder incapable of resistance.

Without hesitation, he turned around and ran back to the bedroom.

He wanted to repeat his old trick.

Franklin was tired of this chase game. He bent down, picked up the broken, bent knife from the ground, and threw it at the ground like a rock.

The believer was knocked off balance by the impact, but did not stop running away, disappearing from the knight's sight once again.

Franklin suppressed his anger and gave chase, just in time to see him climb out of the window into the backyard. But before he could take more than a few steps after landing, a white hand reached out from a blind spot on the side and swiftly and precisely grabbed his throat.

A strange chill spread from ahead, and Jazz stopped abruptly.

He saw the believer's body being dragged into the blind spot on the side of the window, followed by a soft but satisfied swallowing sound.

A few seconds later, a beautiful blonde woman appeared alone in the space behind the window frame. She turned her head to face the bedroom, scrutinizing him with an indescribable look. Her red eyes, tinged with a green light, sent chills down Sir Franklin's spine.