Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1273 Should I Feel Happy?
The two girls walked around the cathedral and found nothing worth mentioning. Even the majestic statues that the Bathory people were proud of were just piles of gems and metals in their eyes, without any divinity. After leaving the cathedral with little interest, they sat on the steps at the entrance, overlooking the entire city from a high vantage point while chatting.

They talked about daily topics, such as what to eat tonight, what books they were reading recently, whether they should go shopping together if there were no tasks tomorrow, etc. For some unspoken reason, the two of them tacitly avoided topics about the war, perhaps because they were in the middle of it and had experienced enough.

Time passed slowly until the sun set in the west, and the blood-red dusk surged in from the end of the horizon, flooding over and soaking the magnificent and sacred buildings of the Bathory Cathedral. The holy bells on the fourth bell tower rang three times, declaring that this was the moment when all things entered the night and the souls of the world were closest to the God in heaven. However, there was no longer even a single believer in the chapel to offer the most pious prayers to their gods.

From a distance, Metien saw a shadow flying from the direction of the Great Basilica of Bathory Church, and a group of birds were passing by her from behind, gradually forming a human shape.

"Ah." Kadora also noticed the figure, and she said happily: "Miss Nevile is back."

The two of them visited Bathory Cathedral today, naturally not on a whim, but came with the Countess. However, when the Countess was discussing business with people in the church, it was a bit inconvenient for them to be present, so they consciously avoided suspicion and came out to visit the church together.

Apparently, the job is done.

Countess Nevill flapped her bat wings as black as the moon, slowly circled and descended in the air, and finally landed in front of Metien and Kadora. As soon as she landed, Kadora couldn't wait to ask: "Miss Nevill, have you finished talking to Bishop Lloyd? What did he say?"

Archbishop Lloyd, the second-in-command of the Church of the Original Night stationed in Bathory City, is also the de facto ruler of Bathory Cathedral. As for why he is able to hold great power as the second-in-command, it is not because he has any extraordinary talents, but because the original number one person, that is, the parish head of Bathory Diocese, was ordered to report to the Church of the Original Night in Suare City when he happened to encounter the incident of Gray Hill Eagle rebelling against the Original God of Night. Unfortunately, he made a decision that followed his beliefs but was not very rational, that is, to stand on the side of the Original God of Night Roglia, in an attempt to stop Gray Hill Eagle and his followers. The final result can be imagined.

After the original Night God Roglia was expelled by his own followers, and the followers who expelled him simply left the church and formed the resistance organization of the Ash Guerrillas, the leaderless Original Night Church had essentially entered a semi-disintegrated state, with only a few knowledgeable or ambitious people still struggling to maintain its organizational structure. They were lucky enough to be able to preserve the church's heritage, and there was no spare energy to arrange a new person in charge for the Bathory Diocese. The matter was left unresolved and has continued to this day.

In a sense, Archbishop Lloyd has his current status thanks to the Grayhill Eagle, but it is also because of the Grayhill Eagle that he has fallen to his current state. Therefore, his feelings towards Carson Borg and the rebels are very complicated. Perhaps he has both admiration and fear.

Of course, admiration and fear can be put aside, they can't affect anything. When the Countess came to the door and said, "I am here to discuss important matters with you on behalf of the Grey Hill Eagle," everyone from Archbishop Lloyd to ordinary priests or nuns welcomed her wholeheartedly and actively cooperated. Because the situation was right in front of them, they had no right to refuse.

Fortunately, the Countess did not come to call for accusation, but just wanted to ask a question.

"No." Facing Kadora's eager eyes, Nevi'er shook her head decisively. It wasn't that she intended to attack him, but the other party really didn't give any useful information: "According to Archbishop Lloyd, since that incident, they haven't received any news from the original God of Night Roglia, let alone where he is now. I don't think he is lying, so it's still a bit unrealistic to want to inquire about the news of the original God of Night from Bathory Church."

That’s right, they came here for the former God of Night, Roglia.

As the rebels' momentum gradually grew and the uprising war went more smoothly, the threat of the former Night God Roglia became greater and greater. Although the support of General Fransander and the Kingdom Army enabled the rebels to officially enter the counterattack stage, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Eagle of Gray Hill was the backbone of the rebels and the foundation for the alliance between the Kingdom Army and the Liberator Front. As a descendant of the ancient Borg family, his noble status was naturally trusted by the kingdom. The old king was confident that he could impress him with benefits and bring this promising talent under his command; and as the leader of the Ash Guerrillas, he enjoyed a high reputation among the rebels and the people. Everyone believed in his character and believed that only he could bring a bright future to Gray Hill.

He is the adhesive between mud and rock, the lubricant between gears and bearings, in other words... hope.

And Logria, the former god of night, just holds the power to destroy this hope.

No one wanted to see that happen, so finding the whereabouts of Roglia, the former God of Night, became another urgent task for the rebels. No matter how slim the chance was, it was worth a try. Otherwise, Countess Nevill would not have made a special trip to Bathory Cathedral to flatter a guy she looked down upon.

She made no secret of her contempt for Archbishop Lloyd.

"He's a confused guy. He knows nothing." The Countess curled her lips, completely losing the manners and grace that a noble should have. "Ask him about Roglia's whereabouts or possible places he might appear, he doesn't know. Ask him about the current situation and personnel turnover in the Bathory Diocese, he doesn't know. I even suspect that if you came a month later, even if you asked him about the doctrines of the Original Night Church, he wouldn't know anything. Of course, he knows that the Original Night Church is dead in name only, and that he, as the archbishop, has no power, so he is very respectful to me. For this reason, I didn't make things too difficult for him."

Mainly, there was no point in making things difficult for her, as she could see that the archbishop really knew nothing.

"But," Metien suddenly asked, "even though he knew that the Church of the Original Night was dead in name only and that the God of the Original Night, Roglia, had betrayed his followers, he still did his best to maintain the existence of Bathory Cathedral and even preserved the staff. Why is that? Does he still think that what he does is meaningful?"

She looked at the countess puzzledly, hoping to get an explanation from her.

"..." Never was silent for a moment, then said, "Perhaps he can only answer this question with 'I don't know'. It is precisely because he doesn't know that he has to do it. If he doesn't do it, he and his followers will start to think about why. Religion - at least most religions in the world - do not allow its believers to think about 'why'. It only requires them to follow blindly and devote themselves fanatically, that's enough." After that, the Countess laughed sarcastically: "This is the so-called ignorance of faith."

At this point, she seemed to have remembered something interesting, and then said to the two of them, "You may find it hard to imagine, but Archbishop Lloyd actually hinted during the conversation with me that it doesn't matter even if the former Night God Roglia abandons his believers, because the Lamb will always find its own God. For example, right now, there is a very suitable candidate in front of us..."

She deliberately kept it a secret and didn't say who the candidate was, but Metien guessed it immediately: "Is he referring to Mr. Carson?"

"Ah!" Kadora exclaimed, and after realizing that he had lost his composure, he immediately covered his mouth and questioned in a low voice: "Impossible? Brother Carson... How could he want to become a god?"

Especially replacing the former God of Night Roglia, who was the person he hated the most.

"Nothing is impossible. This is just your idea, but Archbishop Lloyd obviously has his own ideas." The Countess smiled and said, "New gods replace old gods. This is a very common plot in ancient mythology, not to mention the land under our feet, which is the source of all wild stories. Archbishop Lloyd probably thinks that the rebellion launched by the Gray Hill Eagle against the original God of Night is also based on this reason. Since they are enemies, then exiling him and replacing his position as God is not the best way of revenge? He even hinted that if Lord Carson has this intention, the Bathory Diocese will do its utmost to help him and push him to the throne at all costs-because they really need a god."

To recreate the gods, to bring down miracles, to restore the glory of the Original Night Church, this is the deepest wish of the Original Night believers who are still struggling. As long as the gods are still there, the Original Night Church will still be the original Original Night Church, and they can naturally continue to rule the faith domain of the Ansers region as in the past. As for who the name engraved on the throne is, it doesn't really matter, because no matter who it is, they will believe in him as they believed in the gods of the past.

Carson Borg is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate. He personally expelled the God of Night and can break through the realm of demigod at any time. Although it may be difficult to reach the realm of true gods above Sequence 2 in a short period of time, with the help of several holy relics secretly kept by the Church of Night, he can still exert a strong force to maintain the church's dominance in the Ansus region. Since he meets all the conditions for the old gods to replace the new gods in ancient mythology, is there any reason to reject him?

Strength, glory, wealth, power... everything is contained in the two words "God".

Archbishop Lloyd believed that the reason why Carson Borg had not shown any intention in this regard until now was nothing more than waiting for a good price, hoping to gain greater benefits with this bargaining chip. But he made the right bet. The original night believers who lost their gods really had no choice. Archbishop Lloyd was willing to be the first person to show goodwill, and his only request was to hope that Grayhill Eagle would become a god as soon as possible and rebuild the order of the church as soon as possible.

However, as Kadora said, Grayhill Eagle is not that kind of person.

He would never agree to that.

Archbishop Lloyd's wish could only be in vain, but the inspiration he brought to Metien was profound. The pink-haired girl recalled all her impressions since she came into contact with the Original Night Church and found that neither the Original Night God nor his church had ever brought any positive changes to the Ansers region. They were just constantly asking for things. Even so, there are still many people who hope that they will come back. Could it be that mortals are essentially such creatures, and they always need a god to control them no matter what?
The Lamb will always find its own God. This statement only sounds extremely ironic.

"Okay, let's not talk about this mess anymore."

The Countess attributed Archbishop Lloyd's eager expectations and implicit hints to "chaos" and threw them out of her mind without hesitation. She then said to the two, "I have another piece of news to tell you. It is the result of the tactical meeting last night. It will probably be announced soon. In a week, the rebel army will be divided into three forces. Two of them will be responsible for attacking enemy-occupied towns or fortresses in the Bathory area that have not surrendered, while the main force will continue to advance with the goal of capturing the 'Silver Sprout City' Hector."

As mentioned before, the Pearl City Bathory is less than 500 miles away from the Gray Hill City Suare, and the Silver Sprout City Hector is the only city within this 500-mile radius with a relatively strong enemy garrison. In other words, as long as it is captured, there will be no more cities, no more fortresses, and even no more dangerous passes on the road from Bathory to Suare to stop the rebels' offensive.

The day when the troops will arrive at the city of Suare seems to be just around the corner.

Of course, the more important thing is that at this moment, the Evernight Forest where the Whale Cloud Island is hidden is located in the mountains not far from Suare City. In other words, Metien will soon be able to return to the Sky Island, return to the hotel, and see his brother and other companions again.

When he heard the news from the countess, Metien couldn't help but be in a trance for a moment, as if he had not yet come to his senses.

Calculating the time, it has only been more than a month since she left Yunjingkong Island, but to her it felt like a century, so long that she even had the illusion that she was in another world.

Maybe I should feel happy?

The pink-haired girl looked up at the sky, just in time to see the last ray of sunset being swallowed up by the night and darkness descending upon the city.

Give me some meow