A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"But how can this congenital defect be compensated?" Thomas was curious.

"To be honest, I've never encountered such a precedent. So I can only teach him a secret ritual," Gandalf said. "He has no emotions of his own, but he can absorb the emotions of others... I don't know what effect this absorption of emotions will have, but understanding a little bit of emotion is always a good thing. At least, it can give us a reference. Have you... discovered anything?"

"He has a lover," Thomas said.

"Oh, I understand then," Gandalf said. "It seems he accepted my advice. I suggested that the first emotion he absorb should be 'love'. After all, that's the easiest to get along with. 'Hate' would be more troublesome."

It is indeed troublesome. It is easy to have a lover around you, but it is difficult to have an enemy around you.

"Recently, Christians have hired him."

"Ah." The old magician's eyes lit up. "It seems that although he may be emotionally distant, he is also a man of his word."

"Keep your word?"

"He owes me ten thousand florins." The old magician shrugged again. "You understand, that ritual is extremely valuable knowledge. In this era, I wouldn't claim to be unique, but there are no more than ten people who know it! Ten thousand florins is a fair price, because..."

"Everything has a price, but knowledge is the greatest luxury?" Thomas continued.

"That's true," Gandalf said, beaming. "But when he found me, he didn't have that much money."

This is also normal. "Desire is not strong" and "wealth" are two parallel lines that will never intersect. After all, there is no demolition in this era.

Thomas now began to understand why the Blasphemous Knight had accepted the offer of service.

"Master, since the Blasphemous Knight has accepted the offer... he wouldn't refuse to make some extra money, right?" Thomas asked.

"What do you want to say?"

"I want to ask the Blasphemy Knight to do something for me. I think he won't refuse... and will he keep it a secret for me?"

"No doubt. If he promises, he'll probably keep it," Gandalf said. "Humans often lie and break their promises. It's not that humans are inherently inferior, but rather that their desires limit their morality. Fear, greed, anger, and... all sorts of emotions cause them to abandon virtue after weighing the pros and cons. But the Blasphemous Knight won't do that. He's less troubled by this. If he agrees, you can rest assured."

After leaving Gandalf, Thomas went directly to the headquarters of the Knights Templar.

Just like last time, with the pass, he easily arrived at the Grand Master's office just after dark.

Hand over the crystal skull and sacrificial text to the leader, and of course explain the whole process in detail to Bai, as well as the dangers of the crystal skull.

Now it seems that this was undoubtedly a trap.

Anyone who tries to track down clues to the Marovite Order among the relics of the rotting nightmare will fall into this trap.

If it's just a few elite troops, it's fine. But if there are more people pursuing, there will probably be heavy casualties. Even annihilation is not impossible.

"I see..." The Grand Commander listened carefully to all of Thomas' explanations. "These pagans...are not that simple!"

"Yes, based on the situation of that pagan woman, I have two theories," Thomas said. "The first is that the followers of the evil god can communicate with each other through dreams. This allows them to hide extremely deeply, making them difficult to find. The second is that Marlowet seems to be able to grant power to ordinary people. Not just the core members, but ordinary people."

"Oh." The captain was very interested.

"I tried it, and the woman's reaction was different from that of a normal trained warrior. I suspect she was given her strength by an external force and hasn't undergone much training herself. However, I'm not sure about this, after all, there's not enough evidence."

"No, Knight Commander Thomas, your guess is highly plausible." The Grand Master paused. "Yes, Marovite wields the power of nightmares, so it's natural for its followers to communicate through dreams. But no secret in this world can be completely concealed. In fact, the Knights previously possessed a number of clues. But as you know, due to the Grand Duke's request, even if they knew about the heretics, they couldn't just casually attack them. So these clues were kept secret, but now is the time to mobilize them!" the Grand Master said. "We have a base of at least a dozen heretics, located in a manor on the outskirts of the city."

"Oh." Thomas responded softly.

"If they communicate through dreams, they must be using some kind of tool. From a magical perspective, receiving a dream might require nothing, but accurately transmitting a dream requires some kind of tool or ritual," the Grand Master said. "Bring me this ritual or tool. I must emphasize that you may mobilize any force you need, but brute-force assault is not recommended, as they might become desperate and destroy their most valuable possessions."

Chapter 131 Good Helper 1

"I can mobilize any forces I need?"

"Of course, whether it's within the Knights or outside the Knights," the Grand Master said. "But we must keep it secret, or at least ensure that our true purpose cannot be revealed. Otherwise, it will cause countless troubles for our operations."

"I need thorough preparations," Thomas said. "It might require some... less chivalrous methods."

"Of course, I won't impose any restrictions on this," the Grand Master said. "For the greater good, abandoning some of the constraints of personal morality is beyond reproach. Ultimately, the virtues of chivalry are meant to make the world a better place, not a worse place."

Thomas left, and a few minutes later, a new person came into the office.

If Thomas were still here, he would immediately recognize that this person is none other than the judge.

"The first step went smoothly." The presiding judge looked at the crystal skull. It should be noted that to prevent accidents, the skull was placed in an uncovered box, and the eye sockets were completely covered, but it was still clear that it was a crystal skull.

"It's not going well." The Grand Commander sighed. "I thought we'd get some results. I didn't expect... even the first step would be so difficult."

"If we want to deal with Marlowit, the first step is to find him and summon him." The Chief Judge sat down. "There must be a way to summon him. If not, all else is in vain."

"Can Thomas succeed?"

"You can't just be pessimistic; you have to think positively." The Chief Judge smiled. "For example, even if we fail completely... we've only lost a Knight Commander! For the Knights, that's a perfectly acceptable loss, isn't it?"

The Grand Master didn't answer. Not long ago, in order to meet the needs of the Grand Duke, the Knights lost two Knight Commanders at once, and even the teams under their command were close to being destroyed.

This matter actually had nothing to do with the Knights, neither honor nor profit, let alone piety. But the Knights simply could not refuse the Grand Duke's request - even if the request was actually made by only a single envoy of the Grand Duke.

Moreover, the Knights Templar were often constrained by the Grand Duke.

But there was no other way. The Grand Duke's support was essential for the Knights' existence. To put it another way, other religious Knights' orders only had one mother-in-law, the Church, while the Sunflower Knights had two mothers-in-law, the Church and the Grand Duke.

Therefore, it is not easy to be the Grand Master of the Knights Templar. After all, having two mothers-in-law means that the responsibilities to be fulfilled are doubled.

"Thomas is a man of intelligence, piety, and cunning, and he has no connections to the local forces of Kiev. If he can't do it, I can't think of anyone else in the Order who can. Not even me." The Grand Master sighed. "We've done our best. The rest can only be judged by God."

"What should we do with this thing?" The presiding judge looked at the crystal skull.

"A devil's creation," the Grand Commander said with a sidelong glance. "Pack it up in a fine gift box, seal it, and send it to whoever you dislike! But I believe it has other uses, so I'll need to dig up some information."

"By the way, where's the pen pal who gave you the message? Did you find out who he is?"

"No." The Grand Commander spread his hands. "The postal system these days... you know that. There's no way to investigate."

……

After leaving the Knights' headquarters, Thomas went to the Wolf's Lair again.

As before, Anna was working at this time.

Even if birds were used to deliver messages, they would be too conspicuous during the day, so the real working time is at night.

Only urgent messages for emergency contact will be delivered during the day.

"Master Wolf." Anna greeted him at the door of the small building.

"Do you have the information I need?"

"Lord Qinglang has already sent the relevant information, but since it's not urgent, it's still with me for the time being."

Since Thomas' arrival, the Wolf's Den's semi-paralyzed state has been significantly improved. Now the wolves are obediently handing over intelligence, rather than hiding it and trading it among themselves as before.

"Also, Lord Wolf has sent a letter. Because it's not urgent, I didn't report it to you immediately."

"Ah, that's just right for me."

Thomas picked up the letter and read it.

The content of the letter was simple - a new evil wolf was coming.

But it is unclear whether he is here for training, to share the spoils, to monitor, or for some other purpose.

However, from what we know from previous situations, the Wolf Lord also has personnel power, so it is reasonable to arrange for the evil wolf to come here.

Anyway, the person hasn't arrived yet, so there's no rush.

The other part is the information that Qinglang got.

Information about the Crescent Moon Cultists... The caravan sent by the Crescent Moon Cultists to Bohemia will be back soon.

Or it could be said that they were already on the land of Rus, traveling day and night towards Kiev.

This is a medium-sized caravan with dozens of people.

In the past, Thomas really wouldn't be able to deal with so many people.

Even if you can defeat them, you can't kill them all.

If they wanted to kill them all, they would have to recruit a large number of people—blocking them from all sides. This very action was the biggest loophole.

Maybe the revenge of the Crescent Moon Cultists didn't come to the door yet, but the Grand Duke's patrol team came first.

But it's different now.

However… although it is safest to solve problems one by one, it is also a good option if you can solve multiple problems at once.

It was already noon the next day when Thomas returned to the base.

The groom at the door came to greet him from a distance.

Thomas threw the reins to the groom. "Where's Janos?"

"Lord Janos is on patrol." The groom took the reins and answered respectfully.

Although Janos is just an ordinary sergeant, in this strange team, he has unknowingly assumed the position of deputy captain.

There is no clear appointment, but everyone has already tacitly agreed.

The main reason why Janos was able to obtain this position was because Knight Commander Thomas valued him... Of course, his own strength and character were also acceptable, and he did not arouse everyone's disgust.

“Where’s the new sergeant?” Thomas asked.

He had previously specifically arranged for the Blasphemy Knight not to participate in patrols—after all, he was a wanted criminal. Being recognized while walking would be a problem. Although he was no longer a wanted criminal and wasn't afraid of being recognized, it was still a problem.

It will affect the secret mission.

"He's in his room with his...companion," the groom replied quietly. "But he's probably over at the training ground right now."

At the same time, he pursed his lips and made a gesture that all men understand.

The Blasphemous Knight and Eva shared a room. What would a man and a woman do in a room when they didn't go out during the day? Even a fool could understand.

Fortunately, no one paid much attention to it. After all, they were not official knights, but only sergeants and soldiers. Therefore, many of the monastic rules and regulations did not need to be followed, and they did not apply to them.

There are also quite a few brothels in Fucheng, some of which are of high quality and have many good women.

Everyone frequents it.

Even older married people are not immune to this. Even if they don't want to go, they will be forced to go by their companions.

Lying drunkenly on the lap of a beautiful woman is one of the ultimate enjoyments for men.

Of course, you can't go during official patrol time, otherwise it would be a violation of military discipline.

Although he couldn't go during patrol hours, Thomas was the only one who actually didn't go even on his days off.

Chapter 132 Good Helper 2

A few minutes later, Thomas met Boris here in the martial arts field.

The Blasphemous Knight was there brandishing a training scimitar.

His movements were very simple, so simple that they gave people a feeling of "the great way is simple".

Boris stopped as he watched Thomas approach.

"Want to practice with me?" Thomas asked, but before he could answer, he grabbed a training sword from a nearby weapon rack.

The two men immediately started fighting, swords and knives clashing and clashing repeatedly.

The Blasphemous Knight is in charge of attack, while Thomas is in charge of defense.

Although it was an attack and defense, the attacker had enough time to defend, and the defender had enough time to counterattack, and the confrontation was very obvious. A few hundred moves would probably not determine the winner.

After fighting for dozens of moves, the Blasphemous Knight took a step back and put down his sword.

"It's meaningless," he said.

Without using their true abilities, it's impossible to tell who's better based on swordsmanship alone. Or rather, it's those uncontrollable, unexpected factors that determine who's better.

"Ha..." Thomas laughed. "I heard you're short of money now?"

"Yes." The Blasphemous Knight replied.

"Are you interested in making some extra money with me?" Thomas continued. "Of course, it has to be kept secret."

"Okay!" replied the Blasphemous Knight.

……

When Thomas burst in, he found that the office layout was exactly the same as last time.

The unique double desk was still there, looking majestic and elegant. But the person sitting behind it now was a rat-like man.

Haakon "The Rat", the current boss of the Rust Gang.