At this time, his fellow clan member behind him finally had the chance to lean over to his ear and tell him the answer.

O'Ndell was stunned for a moment, his original high spirits vanishing without a trace, leaving only a look of vigilance in his eyes. "...Tell the deceased. I see. I was too reckless today. The team Norwich fears so much is you... He's right, you are indeed full of secrets, and we must be more careful."

Emiya stepped forward and shouted, "You haven't answered my question yet!"

"......!" O'Ndell took a deep breath and took a few steps back, almost bumping into the arms of his fellow clansman. "Then... then let's call it a day."

“…We’ll meet again at the Ceremony of Truth.”

He turned around impatiently and rushed down the stairs: "Let's go!"

14. The Lucky Priest's Way of Acting

As arrogantly as the priests of Amaunator arrived, they left in disgrace.

The connection between Amaunator and Lathander doesn't seem to be widely known yet.

Sig took a few steps forward without hesitation, walked to the front of the stairs, cupped his hands into a trumpet shape, and shouted at their receding backs, "Walk slowly, don't fall! We won't pay for this kind of medical expenses!"

After a long moment, the clamor and shouting from below morphed into an indignant retort: ​​"The struggle is over! We certainly won't ask for compensation!"

"It seems they're in a very delicate phase," Mars commented sharply. "On the one hand, they're angry that others don't understand them, but on the other hand, they're smug that they have the secret to themselves."

"Willn't it be that no matter what we do, we will offend them?" Emilia curled her lips in annoyance, sighed, turned around and looked at Bishenya.

In a way, they had made a good start - the Church of Luck in Baldur's Gate was once quite large. Even though it was not as large as the Cult of the Rising Sun with the Glory of the Two Suns, it still had dozens of priests.

The other priests happily divided up their belongings. I'm afraid that all the property suitable for adventure was divided up, while the information that was difficult to carry and useless was probably carried by Alaster alone.

These things are indeed of limited use in daily life. Even Benshaba, the sister and mortal enemy of the goddess of luck, may not be interested in such trivial and boring information.

Except for the nerds in the Church of Oghma.

In other words, Elastrid doesn't have to participate in the Ceremony of Truth, but as long as she participates, she will most likely be the one who has the final say.

Her specific background may not be known to everyone, but she was still targeted by Orndell - the priest of Amaunator may be arrogant and annoying, but her vision and intuition are indeed sharp enough.

"Miss Bixinia, we..." Before Emilia could finish his words, Bixinia made a gesture to him and tiptoed into the temple.

Now, only Team Emia and Elastrid were left outside the temple.

The gentle elf girl was a bit bewildered, her face slightly flushed. "...Thank you? Sorry, I still don't quite understand why I've suddenly received so many invitations. The world is changing too fast for me."

Regardless of whether Elastrid would join them, at least they succeeded in preventing the Church of Oghma from further expanding its advantage.

Emiya shook her head. "This world is in such chaos, and the reasons aren't easy to find. What matters is what we do. As you may have noticed, our group is also scheduled to participate in the Rite of Truth. If you have no other plans for Candlekeep, perhaps you should try to leave Eltoril and return after the Rite of Truth is over."

"...I've only been here a short time." A hint of frustration lingered in Alestria's gentle voice. "I'm terrible at making choices."

However, she did not show any particularly strong intention or reason to join the team.

The Emiya team's recent experiences were perhaps unprecedented in terms of both risk and reward. Sig managed to rake in a staggering hundreds of thousands of gold coins in a matter of days, but the price he paid was that his entire team was constantly on the brink of death.

Even worse, some adventurers seek danger for the sake of wealth, while their team may be facing death charging towards them at high speed.

Therefore, we have to be cautious when recruiting people into the team.

However, Emilia soon realized why Elastrid was a pastor of the Lucky Church.

For the priest of Tymora, at this crossroads in life, there was only one solution.

For the first time, Elastri took the mysterious mace from her waist, closed her eyes, and solemnly held it before her. "Lord Tymora, please tell me which direction I should go."

Then she threw the mace in front of her.

No magic, no divine power.

Under Emiya's astonished gaze, the hammer flew in the air for a distance, and the handle of the hammer fell heavily to the ground. Under the influence of gravity and inertia, it fell towards the ground.

The hammer landed not far from Yin, who was still thinking. As a result, the hammer fell heavily. If Emilia hadn't pulled her back, Yin would have been seriously injured for the first time since joining the team.

Amidst Silver's exclamation, Elaster hurried over, picked up the mace with an embarrassed look on her face, and shouldered it, bowing and apologizing repeatedly: "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Although I'm a priest of Tymora, I don't know when it started, but I always run into inexplicable things, so I try to avoid long-term trips with others!"

Aimiya's position was somewhat intriguing. It happened to be in a straight line with the mysterious mace. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the mace, tilted on the elven girl's shoulder, pointed unerringly in the direction of the Sun.

"That doesn't count...that doesn't count..."

Clearly, the result just now didn't convince her. Elastrid shook her head repeatedly, quickly walked to another open space in front of the church, and raised the mace again.

This time, she used all her strength and threw the mace high into the air.

It was just dawn, and the sky above Eltoril was empty. Elastrid's force was precise, and the mace's position in the air didn't change significantly. If all went well, the mace should have landed right in front of her.

——If everything goes well.

Just as the speed of the hammer was getting slower and slower, it hit something, so that a dull sound of impact suddenly sounded in the air.

At the same time, there was also an elephant's cry of pain.

Hearing that somewhat familiar voice, Emiya couldn't help but gasp: [...Lulu? You got hit?]

"Isn't it obvious!? She did it on purpose, didn't she? The sky is so vast, how could she just throw it and hit me?! Is your invisibility really working?"

Lulu did not follow them closely during this journey. Instead, she was made invisible and flew in the sky, monitoring the surroundings from afar.

But sometimes, just because others can’t see you doesn’t mean they can’t hit you.

Finally, the hammer fell heavily to the ground, bounced a few times, and was accurately aimed in the direction of Emiya.

At this time, Xige's eyes were full of shock. He took out his notebook and began to write furiously.

Looking at the hammer head shining in the morning light, Emilia felt her breathing become a little rapid.

At this point, even Emiya's expression was a little shaken. He took a few steps back and said to the team: "...Mars, Yin, do you think this is a coincidence?"

The paladin of Candlekeep was silent for a moment, then replied, "She is a priest of the Church of Luck. Tymora's coincidence is different from the coincidence in the ordinary people's concept."

Yin couldn't help but gasp. This was actually her first time witnessing such a scene. "...I don't see any trace of magic. Are there such priests in the world?"

The Fifteenth Selune Church is now in your hands!

Trust in the goddess' luck rather than in her power.

This statement is a tenet popular within the Church of Tymora. The Church of Tymora also has spells that enhance protection, similar to the paladin's protective aura. However, it is said that using such spells is discouraged.

As a believer, you have already received the goddess's blessing. Relying too much on the improvements brought by spells is a sign of not trusting the goddess enough.

Emilia used to scoff at this idea, but now his worldview is a little shaky.

"........."

Alestria cautiously moved to her mace, step by step, and hung it back on her waist in a secretive manner, looking uneasy. "...Have I gotten into trouble?"

"...No, after all, we didn't explain it in advance." Emiya wiped her forehead to make sure she wasn't sweating, then said, "At least, you've successfully proven yourself to be a very powerful priest of Tymora."

"So, about me joining the team..." Elastrid's voice was as thin as a mosquito.

At this time, we have to start the spiritual connection within the team.

If Elastrid was just an ordinary priest, she could sign a short-term contract or even join the team.

[Isn't this interesting! ! ! !] Silver's cheers were the first to explode in Emiya's mind. [I just like teammates like this! ! !]

"I think it's okay," Sig said. "She's seventy years old, and she probably hasn't caused as much trouble in her lifetime as Mr. Emia of Lunya does in a month, so I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. Oh, Mars said she's not evil."

[I'll take this as your agreement...] Emiya couldn't help but sigh.

He turned and walked seriously to Elastrid. "Then, Miss Elastrid, we have two suggestions: First, we propose a short-term collaboration. From the signing of the contract until the conclusion of the Ritual of Truth, you will refrain from collaborating with other teams, or you may choose to join ours. For the former, we simply ask that you keep your secrets to yourself, while for the latter, we hope that you will carefully select the importance of the secrets and, at your discretion, share some with your team. Our goal is to achieve victory in the Ritual of Truth."

Hearing this, Elaster's face showed a little gloom, and it was obvious that she was not very interested in this proposal.

"Second, you will officially join our team. Our team doesn't have a fixed base, so your life thereafter will likely be fraught with danger, and there's a high chance you'll constantly find yourself in peril. However, we have a clear and detailed agreement regarding spoils of war and team responsibilities. Coming and leaving is voluntary..."

"How long? How long?" Elastri's eyes suddenly lit up, her silver pupils sparkling in the morning light.

"Well... though it might not be very common." Emilia hesitated, not quite understanding what aspect of Elastrid was more optimistic about. "It might not be accurate to say it's permanent. But as long as you don't actively ask to leave the team..."

"Then I'll join!" Before he could finish, Alestria rushed up impatiently and held Emilia's hand tightly.

There were no clerics in Faerûn who were completely powerless; quite the contrary, many were as brave and powerful as warriors. And Alestria was clearly among them. If Emya hadn't been training in her spare time, she would have cried out in pain.

Two blushes rose on Elastri's face, standing out against her radiantly fair cheeks. "I want a stable, long-term environment, not a temporary trip that only lasts a few weeks before parting ways! I'm not used to a life with drastic changes in interpersonal relationships! If this kind of life could also have its ups and downs, that would be perfect for me!"

"Ah, ah." Emilia opened her mouth. "What do you mean by long-term?"

Elastri timidly raised three fingers, then thought for a moment and put one away: "...More than twenty years?"

"…Did you really grow up in a human community?"

Elves are known for their longevity, with a lifespan over six times that of humans. But even for an elf, forming a team for twenty or even thirty years at a stretch is definitely a major event.

But no matter what, things have come to this point and there is no reason to retreat.

Emiya could only sigh. "From a purely contractual perspective, our team shouldn't go their separate ways after one adventure. Twenty years isn't out of the question. But from a practical perspective, the future is always unpredictable. There's no guarantee of what will happen in those twenty years. If there are serious casualties..."

"As long as they don't disband voluntarily!" Although Emilia spoke very conservatively, her words, when heard by Elaster, made her breathe a sigh of relief. "Please give me the contract! I hope you will give me your guidance as we live together in the future!"

"Well..." Emiya took out the long-drafted contract from her dimensional bag. "Here are the detailed contract contents. It may be a bit long, but the drafter has tried to keep the text to a minimum."

He had once questioned the Church of Amaunator's practice of multiple standards when recruiting members, so naturally, everyone within their ranks was treated equally, following the same exact rules. He even had several blank contracts in his bag—but the larger the group, the more complicated communication became. Five people, plus the possibility of Lulu, were already on the verge of becoming overcrowded. Elastrid was likely the final member.

But this brief moment of silence didn't last long. Priest Bishenia, who had sneaked back to the temple, suddenly returned at this very moment. She seemed a little panicked, her pace increasing alarmingly. By the time she finally reached between Emmya and Elaster, she was practically out of breath.

"...Ms. Bixinia, what happened?" Elaster, who had not yet finished reading the contract, pinched the contract with one hand and supported her somewhat helplessly.

Emilia replied, "Miss Elaster has agreed to join my team. I must thank you for the introduction..."

"Really? That's great!" Bishiniya's face lit up with joy at first, but then she became serious again.

There's even a hint of awkwardness in this seriousness.

She hesitated for a moment and said, "...Emmia, during this period, at least during the Ritual of Truth, you should still stay in Eltoril?"

This question took Emiya completely by surprise. He hesitated, then shook his head. "I'm not sure. If the Rite of Truth doesn't go well, I might try visiting nearby areas, like the River Forest and the towns surrounding Elturgard."

"...That's enough!" Bisinya gritted her teeth and held Elastrid's hand. "Elastrid, you're well aware of the situation in our church. You and I are the two strongest priests in the Church of Selune. Since I've taken you in for a few days, I have a humble request..."

Elastri hesitated for a moment, then shook the contract in her hand slightly. "I'm sorry, Miss Bisinya, I just agreed."

"I know! I know! If not, I wouldn't even dare to say this!" Bishenya took a deep breath and turned to Emiya. "Mr. Emiya, I just received a sudden order from the Goddess. The long-dormant Church of Shar seems to have begun to move again. We are ordered to prepare and attack immediately, determine their current situation, and make sure to nip their development in the bud."

"Huh?" This matter wasn't completely unrelated to Emiya. At least Fenwei was also from the Shar Church. If possible, he would be happy to step on the notorious Shar Church again.

But he still didn't quite understand that such a matter could simply be solved by asking for help, and there seemed no need for such a serious matter. Shar, not only had a very bad relationship with the Church of Lathander, but was also an enemy of Amaunator. If it were purely for this purpose, she could even go down the mountain to ask for help.

Emilia shook her head. "Although we intend to participate in the Ceremony of Truth, we also know what is important and what is not..."

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Victoria waved her hand. "We just have some clues. It's far from a fight. This is just a long field mission."

"That is?"

Bixiniya took a deep breath. "This mission will require me to be away for a long time... and the Moonfire Clock Tower will inevitably be short-staffed for a long time... So... can you..."

Emilia was silent for a moment, then her voice trembled, a rare occurrence. "...Ms. Bisinya, even with Elastri, we've only been seeing each other for less than a month!!! We're not suitable!!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Bixinya cried. "The priest of our sect is too young and not strong enough, so he has to go with me to broaden his horizons. And the child's father has a fiery temper and can't be left alone, so he has to come with me!"

Having said that, Bixinia shook hands with Emilia and Elaster respectively. "It could be as short as a few decades, or as long as a few months... In short, during this period of time..."

"I'll leave the Moonfire Bell Tower in your hands! Follow me, and I'll show you the church's facilities!"

"You really won't reconsider it?!"

*******************

Just a few hundred meters away in the Temple of Torm and the Supreme Hall of Eltoril, standing under the bright red dawn, the Knights of Hell finally waited for their Supreme Observer.

Tavis Craig entered the hall, surrounded by several guards. He quickly stepped forward and shook Asur's hand. "My friend, has your mission to Baldur's Gate been successful?"

"It went exceptionally smoothly," Asur replied. "Grand Duke Apodel Adrian has indeed been appointed the new Grand Duke. Perhaps Baldur's Gate still has numerous flaws, but I believe in His Excellency Apodel Adrian's achievements. Meanwhile, Baldur's Gate's emissaries have arrived in Eltoril with us. They plan to stay at the Temple of Selûne."

"We traveled all night, and they must be tired. I think they will arrive today or tomorrow."

"Right now, the Supreme Hall is deserted, with no outsiders present. So, Asur, please allow me to ask a sensitive question." Tavis Craig took a deep breath. "Following the Church of Ilmater, why did the Church of Tyr also move out of Eltoril? I thought the glory of the Companion Sun would unite us. But decades later, Eltoril, under the Companion Sun, has become the most unfamiliar city to the Three Pillars of Justice. This truly chills me."

"It seems you still think we're lying." Asur shook his head. "We've already made the reason clear—Eltoril is growing, but Elturgard's expansion is even greater. Eltoril is at the very edge of Elturgard, and its future expansion will continue eastward and southward."

"We help the poor and needy. We don't expect immediate cures, but we should at least not send charcoal until spring. Therefore, we believe that the headquarters of the Church of Tyr and the Church of Ilmater in Elturgard should be established in the center of Elturgard, where transportation is most convenient, rather than in the most remote Eltoril. This is why we moved from Eltoril."

"Then you should also consider the plight of the Church of Torm!" Tavis Craig spoke less like a superior leader. In front of Asur, he seemed more like a fellow believer. "With the power of the Companions, the Cult of the Rising Sun has quickly become increasingly powerful over Torm. If their momentum isn't curbed, Eltoril might become the battlefield of a civil war within the Church of Lathander! Yet, you've abandoned the Church of Torm in such a situation? Where is the friendship between us, the Three Pillars of Justice?!"

"This is unavoidable," Asur replied. "We promote ourselves in the name of the Companions of the Sun, proving we are blessed by the gods. The Church of Amaunator will naturally benefit in the process. In fact, we've already done our utmost to support the Hell Knights—over the years, Elturgard's population has multiplied several times, while the Hell Knights' strength has only doubled. This means we have to use our already limited manpower to patrol a land that has expanded nearly tenfold. The Church of Tyr has given so much to the Hell Knights, and too many of our brothers and sisters have complained that we've become their reserve force, forgetting our original duties. So, regrettably, we've made up our minds on this matter."

At this point, Asur paused, then raised his head. "If it weren't for Elturgard's rapid expansion, how could we have allowed such a devastating demonic infiltration? We claim to have dealt with all those involved, but in reality, we all know we were being extremely conservative. Of those who escaped, many must have been implicated and still had inexplicable connections to the demons. And now, they've simply suspended their work. Perhaps soon, due to Eltoril's lack of manpower, they'll be reinstated!"

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like