The villain's way to tame the protagonist

Lulis took a deep breath and subconsciously tightened the staff in his hand: "What do you need, Lord Murphy?"

"I like your straightforwardness, Father Lulis."

The puppet made a low humming sound, probably Murphy laughing.

"What I want is very simple. As long as you are willing to give it to me... I can guarantee that for three months, no, I can guarantee that I will provide you with the necessary supplies until the war is over."

In this meaningless and absurd war, Murphy, a northerner, made an extremely greedy request to the church that did everything it could to protect his compatriots:

"I need your magic. To be more precise, the basic operating principles of magic."

Anser, who was standing in the middle of the team, asked Xin at this moment: [Miss Xin, do you think Pastor Lulis will agree?]

【impossible】

"impossible!"

[Hmm... Divine arts are more important than the lives of refugees.]

[…Mr. Devil]

【What's wrong? 】

[Can you please stop using such simple words to disturb me? ]

Xin could no longer tolerate Anser's attitude towards a child. She didn't even bother to pay attention to the priests present. She simply held Anser's cheeks with both hands, forcibly turned his head, and said word by word:

"Why do you think such words can affect my cognition and judgment? Not to mention that with the help of Miss Wild Wolf, there is no need for Priest Lulis to accept coercion. Just from the transaction itself, the church has done enough for the refugees and has no obligation to hand over even the divine arts. Those who coerce are sinful."

She stared at Ansher's eyes, and the holy blue pupils seemed to have lost some of their brightness and were covered with a heart-pounding gloom.

Why... why did he use such unbearable words on her again and again? Where did the devil who made her feel awed and invincible go?

Xin didn't feel the same pleasure as before when she had done everything she could to defeat Ansher, the kind of ecstasy that seemed like she was almost dead and then revived at the moment of death. She only felt that Ansher was looking down on her, humiliating her, and... taking care of her.

And her Mr. Devil seemed to be stunned by her extreme behavior. After all, Xin had always communicated with Anser directly through his mind, and had never communicated directly with words in the presence of other people... Although it was easy for Xin to block the perception of others, this was enough to illustrate the problem.

After several seconds, Anser slowly spoke:

"This is really... How should I put it. Your scope of growth is wider than I thought, Miss Saint."

"The boundary and definition between good and evil are already so clear to you?"

Anser, who asked the stupid question that Xin thought was unacceptable, chuckled and asked:

"But don't you care about good and evil in the world? You see everything from the perspective of a coordinator. Why do you need to distinguish between good and evil so clearly? If it were you in the past, you wouldn't answer me like this."

"'The value of divine arts is above their lives. This is the destiny of the Associate.'"

"Shouldn't you answer me like this?"

Coordination is balance, and divine arts as the manifestation of God's power in the human world are undoubtedly far more important than the lives of ordinary people.

The saint, who regards assistance as everything, should start from this perspective and coldly agree with Ansel's words, rather than analyzing this transaction from the perspective of good and evil.

After a long, long time, Xin finally said softly:

"I just think that Mr. Devil wants to tarnish the church and the priests' beliefs, so I refute it from a corresponding angle."

This was indeed the case. Xin exploded because he could not stand Anser's low-level rhetoric. But the problem was...

"I see. I thought that's what you thought."

Mr. Devil showed a harmless smile.

Who can prove that when Xin spoke those words in one breath, he was not instinctively thinking in terms of good and evil?

"Don't think too much, Mr. Devil. I will never take such a limited perspective. Otherwise, I will be disqualified as God's agent."

The Saint Lady's response was calm and dignified, as if Anser's words had no effect on her at all.

but--

Haha…

Xin's mind was trembling. She had no physiological function and was even gasping in her heart.

This is... my Mr. Devil.

The seemingly low-quality and low-level rhetoric hides a truly dangerous trap, ready to spit venom at me at any time. Ah...it turns out that you didn't underestimate me, but I was too blindly arrogant?

I know it, I know... You must always want to drag me into the abyss, you must be eager to make me completely degenerate and betray God's grace. You must care about me in this way, right?

Ansel's abnormal behavior did hide a deeper purpose, and Xin was indeed greatly affected.

However, although Anser's original goal was gradually being achieved, there were some, um... somewhat unpleasant extra gifts.

Chapter 5: The Pleasure of Pain Part (K)

"You really don't leave any room for them. Then you can just watch those refugees starve to death."

Murphy obviously didn't use this as an excuse to lower the price. He really wanted to exchange the basic operating principles of the church's magic in this way.

And as Xin just said, Lulis had a thousand legitimate reasons to refuse this deal, and he could even turn around and leave now - if only to get the supplies.

But the fundamental purpose of this trip has nothing to do with supplies, but...

Lulis turned his head and looked at the back of the team, seemingly seeking the opinions of other priests through his eyes, but in fact he was looking uneasily at the only ordinary person in the team, Mr. Hercules.

He had led his team to Ice Valley City many times and was already familiar with Murphy's harshness and indifference, so he knew very well that they would definitely encounter the current trouble.

But... Mr. Hercules seemed to have no reason to stand up and do anything, because Lulis had already told him that this trip was unnecessary.

Lulis didn't know why he had to tell Hercules these things. Now that he knew the inside story, how could he choose to stand up when he encountered trouble?

Perhaps because he was still hesitant about the bishop's order, or perhaps because he didn't want to completely deceive this young man who didn't need to go to such lengths... this made Lulis make a choice that was not right for the church.

I am indeed not suitable to make such a decision. It should be Roger who leads the team, otherwise I would not -

"Lower your demands a little bit, and we can talk."

A calm voice broke the deadlocked silence, and everyone looked at the handsome young man in the middle of the team, stunned and shocked.

"…Why is there an ordinary person in your team?"

Murphy finally noticed this insignificant mortal with no sense of existence, and asked with a little doubt: "Does he have the right to speak?"

"I can't teach you the working principle of divine arts. You should know that." Anser looked up at the puppet's glimmering eyes, without any intention of retreating. "Even if you don't care about the lives of those refugees, if you have the opportunity to gain something, you won't really want to get nothing, right?"

"The church has many shelters. They should be the same as us. When supplies are scarce, they can only seek help from the Skyfrost Tower. In this case, there may be people who think the same as you... and do the same thing as you."

Hercules laughed and said, "Even if they don't get the working principle of divine magic, if they are willing to take a step back, they can get something worth studying before you."

His voice was clearly neither humble nor arrogant, but in the eyes of Lulis and other priests, it seemed to be gradually revealing its edge.

The puppet was silent for a while, and its eyes of unknown material suddenly began to flash a faint red light.

The next second, two beams of blazing light shot out from his eyes towards Anser in the center of the team. As an ordinary person, he naturally had no time to react. Fortunately, a pure white light shield blocked this fierce attack in time.

Mr. Hercules was stunned for about a second before he realized it belatedly and took two steps back.

"Mr. Murphy!" Lulis' voice was filled with a fury that had never appeared before. "What do you want to do!"

"He can't even react. He is indeed an ordinary person... I thought there was something wrong with the detector."

Murphy completely ignored Lulis's meaning. He chuckled twice, and the red light in the puppet's eyes disappeared.

"Interesting. You don't look like a member of the church, nor are you a supernatural being, yet you are talking nonsense to me here? What? Can you provide me with something interesting on behalf of the church?"

"I can," Hercules answered without hesitation.

"Mr. Hercules!" Lulis had already understood what Anser wanted in exchange, and he shouted in disbelief and urgency: "You don't have to--"

Murphy laughed strangely: "It seems that Father Lulis disagrees with your point of view, young man."

Hercules ignored his sarcasm and raised his head proudly: "I have been saved by the saint of the church. My sins were not washed away, but my life was directly saved. According to the church, I am a special 'righteous person'."

"As you can see, I am just an ordinary Imperial citizen without any extraordinary abilities. Since you are a transcendent from the Skyfrost Tower, there is no reason for you to let go of a special case like me who is worth studying."

Apart from the illusory title of "righteous man", the young man, who had no connection with the church, was more resolute than any priest present:

"Mr. Murphy, the church is asking you to provide me with two months' worth of supplies. In exchange, you can study the reasons why I was chosen by the saint of the church as a righteous person. This is far more practical than forcing the priests to reveal the operating principles of divine arts, isn't it?"

Under the towering tower, as the only unqualified person in this extraordinary world, mortals can only grasp his only value as a bargaining chip.

This requires great courage and awareness, which are the qualities that a hero must have.

But a few seconds later, Murphy's extremely sarcastic laughter made this seemingly stylish beginning of the heroic epic become dramatic again.

"Lulis, you actually know how to do this kind of trick? You find an ordinary person who is a little courageous and knows how to pretend, and use some messed up terms from your church, and you want to take two months' worth of supplies from me? Do I look like a moron who has gone crazy because of research?"

Before Lulis could speak, Hercules fearlessly fought back: "You don't even have the idea of ​​doing an experiment. It's no wonder that you were exiled to a small town like this to guard the house."

Xin had never seen Anser attacking others. In her impression, Mr. Devil always hid his cruelty and malice in the illusion of gentleness and peace.

This sharpness in words is exactly the same as Miss Doll's.

Miss Saint indifferently cut off the thoughts spreading in her mind. Since she admitted her jealousy, she certainly didn't want her Mr. Devil and Miss Doll to have even the slightest connection.

The effect of a poisonous tongue of the same level as Ming Furo's is naturally quite outstanding. The eyes of the huge puppet glowed red again, and it may launch an attack at any time.

Lulis cautiously hid Hercules behind him, but the threat did not last long. The puppet emitted the deep voice of Warlock Murphy...with extremely clear mockery and malice.

"Ordinary people don't have the guts to say such things to extraordinary people. I'm starting to believe what you just said. But regardless of whether it's true or not, you're not wrong, kid."

"It's really boring to stay in a small town like this. It's not bad to treat you as a joke. Come in, I'll give you a chance."

The puppet retreated from Lulis, and the door of the tower slowly opened. Lulis stared at the puppet and said word by word: "We need to confirm the safety of Mr. Hercules."

"Do you think I really want you to abandon this guy and run away with the supplies I gave you?" Murphy sneered, "I won't let you go even if you want to. Just pay attention to the next 'experiment', priest."

Hercules remained calm and walked straight past Lulis into the tower. On the contrary, Lulis, who had been hesitating from the beginning whether to let him be involved in this vortex, became more and more uneasy.

There is nothing special inside this warlock tower. Judging from the layout, it is not an individual's warlock tower. Murphy is probably just managing it on behalf of the person.

Under the guidance of Murphy, Hercules and his party moved towards the upper floors of the tower. Along the way, they saw many sorcerer apprentices and servants. They were also doing some trivial tasks over and over again, and they looked no different from ordinary workers.

But once they walk out of this tower, they can immediately straighten their hunched backs, raise their drooped heads, and become the great and superior extraordinary people.

Murphy's puppet brought them to a very spacious first floor. There were many puppets placed in this floor of the tower. It seemed to be a place used to test the strength of the puppets.

This kind of place made Lulis feel more and more uneasy.

"Murphy!"

He didn't even add a honorific. After looking around and not seeing anyone, Lulis asked loudly and anxiously:

"You brought Mr. Hercules here to test something!"

"Test what?"

A man in a dark green robe appeared from another entrance of the test field. Murphy waved his staff casually and stood at the edge of the test field. Rows of puppets close to the wall woke up one by one. They all turned their heads slowly and stared at Hercules who was standing at the front of the team. The empty holes without eyeballs made such a gaze particularly creepy.

"Isn't it obvious?" Murphy laughed happily, "Since this...oh, Mr. Hercules said that he was blessed by your saint...or was it saved? It doesn't matter, since he said he is special-"

Boom, boom, boom.

A puppet that had not been polished at all and looked very rough walked to the center of the testing ground with heavy steps.

"Isn't it the easiest and quickest way to test whether he has any special qualities by fighting him?"

——This is of course nonsense.

From the perspective of scholars and researchers, no matter which method is used, such a special and unique copy should not be subjected to such rough testing methods. This is the most basic quality of warlocks. What's more... the extraordinary environment of the empire itself does not advocate violence, because the greatest violence dominates everything, and other violence seems meaningless.

If Murphy really wanted to "study" Hercules, he would not have done this kind of test. Obviously, he still did not believe Hercules and Lulis's words at all. He really just used the church as a pastime. He was probably waiting for Lulis and others to change their minds.

After all, if Hercules dared to step onto the test site, he would be smashed into a pulp by the puppet. Now the supplies have not been given to them. Without this guy, how can they get something for nothing?

"Mr. Hercules, that's enough."

Lulis obviously understood this. He couldn't stand Murphy's contempt, and didn't want Anser to risk his life so much, so he decisively pressed Anser's shoulder:

"That's enough. Don't bother with this guy. I've already told you that the gentleman has already..."

"Priest Lulis, do you know why I came back even though I had already left the North? Why I dared to face the monsters with you and Priest Rogge even though I had never killed a sheep? Why I chose to stand here even though I knew it was unnecessary?"

Hercules interrupted Lulis and looked at the puppet in the center of the test site, seeming to be in a trance.

"After the North declared independence, my father quickly took me away from the North. I abandoned my old friends and fled my beloved hometown, living a life without troubles in a fertile and peaceful land."

"But every night, I dream of... blood and fire. Blood and fire burning in the snow."

"I really couldn't stand this nightmare. Plus, with the incident with the Regent and the Crown Princess, the Northland has temporarily settled down. So some time ago, before the blizzard in the Northland became so terrible, I secretly returned to the Northland without telling my father. I wanted to see what happened in the Northland, and see... whether my friends who couldn't leave the Northland were okay."

Lulis lowered his head, unable to utter a single word.