A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

"The answer? I'm just pointing people in the right direction; I can't give you the answer directly." The priest shook his head.

"However, once a person has a direction, they can find the answer on their own."

"Our church's doctrine is to guide people, not to proselytize or anything like that, so don't worry about me rambling on about 'God's gifts' or anything like that."

"I'm not a charlatan, I won't tell you anything too mysterious."

The priest voiced Bray's concerns directly beforehand.

“Psychological counseling?” Bray rubbed his chin and said.

“Psychological counseling? That’s an interesting analogy, but not entirely.” The priest found Bray’s analogy quite interesting.

Unfortunately, the priest didn't really understand psychology.

"Come in, let's chat."

He just chats with people casually.

Often, what people lack is just someone to "chat" with. In the church's room for conversation, there's only a simple table and a few seats.

Apart from the windows and lights, there were no other decorations.

Rather than being simple and unpretentious, it's more accurate to describe it as stingy and impoverished.

Of course, Bray wouldn't say such things out loud, otherwise it would make him seem like he has very low emotional intelligence.

“Hmm… someone divined that your sister is in danger, but you don’t know what to do,” the priest murmured after listening briefly to Bray’s words.

“That’s how it is.” Bray nodded. He didn’t mention the events in the capital, but only Lux.

It's difficult for a fortune teller to make a convincing prediction, so he didn't want to invite trouble upon himself.

He had only approached the priest with a tentative attitude, hoping to give it a try.

Surprisingly, Father Thun didn't try to preach to him at all; they just chatted casually.

The priest didn't look particularly special; his hair was the common golden color found in the Middle Kingdom, and while he wasn't handsome, he was pleasing to the eye.

Maybe after watching him for a while, you'll find that he's even more handsome than those idols.

Of course, this only applies if you look at it for a long time.

Generally speaking, the priest doesn't have as many fans as a certain famous female swordsman in the capital... probably not even a fraction of hers.

“If I’m not mistaken, this matter involves more than just your sister,” the priest said.

He had no idea where Bray's imagination was wandering; his attention was still on Bray's words.

"..." Bray was taken aback, wondering why the other party had said that.

I hadn't mentioned the capital at all, even if I was just trying to elicit information, this was incredibly accurate.

“I’ve only recently come across some things that have made me aware of suspicious people in the capital,” the priest said with a smile, noticing Bray’s gaze.

He had recently come into contact with several children who had come looking for him, and without exception, all of them had been subjected to strange magical spells.

If the priest hadn't happened to have a way to remove those spells, those children would probably have been affected by them indefinitely.

In the priest's eyes, those strange spells were not things that could enhance one's abilities, but rather spells that were purely meant to tempt people into depravity.

Based on what he said to Bray, the priest could easily guess some things.

"How about we share information?" Father Thun subconsciously touched the ring hanging around his neck and said with a smile.

“Thun, this man looks a bit simple-minded. Are you sure you want to help him?” A woman dressed in clergy robes put her arms around the priest’s neck and breathed on him as she spoke.

Although this alluring priestess appeared so openly before Bray, Bray could not see her.

Only those who wear the ring can see her as her own will.

That's right, just like a final echo, she was also of her own will, named Philly.

The name wasn't given by the priest, but by one of the ring's original owners.

The priest glanced at Philly imperceptibly.

Is this adventurer in front of him stupid? If the priest thought so, he would feel like he was the biggest fool.

That lifeless right eye is not a sign of dullness.

Although his dead fish eyes always made him seem a bit dull, only those who actually faced him understood just how strong the oppressive feeling those eyes possessed was.

His eyes, though seemingly lifeless, exuded an oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe.

As for why the priest struck up a conversation with Bray on the street, he himself wasn't quite sure.

It felt as if something was pulling the strings behind the scenes, making me a little uneasy.

Of course, this is definitely not a red line; it might even be a dead end.

Besides, it's possible that he's not helping Bray, but rather that he needs Bray's help.

"Shared intelligence?" Bray narrowed his right eye and began to think.

To be honest, Father Thun is now a complete stranger to Bray.

It was already incredible that Bray had said so much to him.

Even he himself was surprised that he had unknowingly revealed so much.

He even began to suspect that the other side might be casting some kind of sabotage spell on him from the shadows.

"There were already some followers of 'Fallen God' in the capital, but their numbers have surged recently."

Leaving aside the surge, what's more important is that their actions are becoming increasingly brazen.

"A follower of 'Fallen Lord'?" Bray knew nothing about religion, so he was full of questions when this deity was mentioned.

"Just think of them as cult members," the priest said, waving his hand and using a more easily understood term.

Although Bray didn't speak, he nodded to indicate that he understood.

He doesn't understand "fallen believers," but he does understand cultists.

He suddenly thought of the "evil things" mentioned in the prophecy, which might refer to these cultists.

“They are using various methods to expand their membership, and I happened to meet a few people who have been affected,” the priest said, lowering his eyelids.

Even if Father Thun later removed the spell from those affected, the impact on their mind and body was irreversible.

That's the most frustrating part: even if you help the other person, they still can't be saved.

“The ‘evil thing’ in the prophecy you heard might be referring to the things of cultists.” The priest shared the same thought as Bray, who also believed that the prophecy Bray mentioned was related to cultists.

"Any good leads?" Bray raised an eyebrow and asked Father Thun.

He never expected that his attempt to come to the church on a whim would actually yield information.

"A clue... unfortunately, there isn't one." Father Thun shook his head. If he knew where the cultists were, he would have reported them long ago.

Bray was slightly disappointed when he heard this.

That's true. If they were that easy to find, cult members would have been arrested long ago, and there wouldn't be so much trouble.

"Didn't you say before that someone was affected by divine magic?" Bray asked abruptly.

"Indeed, I did say that." The priest was a little surprised that the other person would suddenly jump to this question, but he still answered truthfully.

Is there a problem?

“No problem, just confirming,” Bray said, and stood up.

"Thank you," he said to the priest.

Indeed, the priest did not give him any answers, but some of the confusion in his heart was resolved.

Father Thun said the only thing he could do was to guide others.

Looking back now, it seems he wasn't being modest or exaggerating; he was telling the truth.

"If you get seriously injured in the future, you can come here."

"If you happen to see me selling things on the street, you can come and buy some," the priest said with a kind smile.

"..." Bray, who was about to say something, simply shut up, turned around and left the room.

"Creak—" The wooden door was pushed open with a hoarse sound.

"What is your name?" the priest asked after Bray had completely left.

"Bray, Brayclas." After leaving his name, Bray disappeared from his sight.

The sounds of children making noise could be heard outside.

"Hey, did big brother just leave like that?"

"The priest usually talks to people for a very long time!"

"Big brother, are you tired of listening to the priest talk?"

After Bray left, the children started chattering noisily.

"These children are really..." The priest smiled bitterly, realizing he didn't have any good ideas about how to deal with them.

Father Thun could only wave slightly as a farewell to this somewhat special visitor.

"Oh, Thun, why did you talk so much to this person?" Philly said to the priest in an almost coquettish tone.

Most men would probably have been aroused by now, but the priest remained calm.

"Why did you talk to him so much..." Father Thun paused for a moment, then laughed.

"I don't know, maybe we just clicked."

Yes, they just clicked; that's the only explanation he could offer.

---

Divine arts are abilities that mortals can use by drawing upon the lingering power of deities.

Rather than using an elegant term like "afterglow," a term like "residue" would be more appropriate.

Divine power, as a byproduct of the "concept," is widely used by believers.

Although it is very weak, it is ultimately an extension of the "concept" and ultimately possesses the ability to change something.

Coincidentally, Bray has a fragment of "concept" in his body that has been present for many years, which makes him abnormally sensitive to "concepts".

You could call it radar, and that wouldn't be an exaggeration.

When the priest said that some people in the capital were influenced by the magic of cultists, he had a bold idea.

Although it was a bold idea, Bray felt it was quite feasible.

The idea was to search for individuals in the capital affected by divine magic, and then follow the clues to find the real culprit.

"That was perfect!" Bray couldn't help but praise himself for his cleverness. "As expected of a member of the Claas family, I didn't embarrass myself."

"Master, Master!" The final cry snapped Bray out of his reverie.

"what happened?"

"Those legitimate churches also use divine magic, you know?" Jue Xiang reminded her.

That's right, those healing spells are indeed divine spells.

In the capital, many people have faint buffs from divine spells. These people were blessed by clergy with divine spells after praying in the church.

"so what?"

"Master, how do you determine whether it is a cult's divine magic or not?"

"Besides, you haven't even determined what type of cult members they are."

"..."

"really…"

Bray's imagination was beautiful, but reality was too cruel.

"But Jue Xiang knows how to tell the difference."

If there were a visual representation, Jue Xiang would surely be proudly puffing out her little chest right now.

"If you beg me, Master, I can reluctantly help you."

Why did Juexiang suddenly have this idea... Ah, well, she just suddenly wanted to tease her Master a little.