Chapter 22: Dartmenerly |
Nemus had Purr test his current physical condition, and then reached a conclusion.
"The attribute value has increased from the original three to about seven."
"If we allow the deep well water and the Whale Transformation Sickness to fully integrate, eventually raising the attribute value to eight or nine won''t be a problem."
Looking at Purr, whose body was covered in black spots, Nemus finally declared the experiment a preliminary success. Of course, it was only preliminary.
The current level of improvement was still too small. Nemus wanted a powerful individual akin to a whale-ified demon, not a Watchman he could easily dispatch with a wave of his hand.
"Aside from that, there are the changes in faith."
"As expected, relatively pure power of faith is different from the faith formed toward natural or abstract objects."
"In that case, I generally have a method to purify the power of faith."
Pure faith, impure thoughts, and natural faith—these various kinds of belief, although all classified as faith, exhibited entirely different properties.
"Or rather, how does the divinity determine which part is pure faith?"
After Nemus asked this fundamental question, his thoughts naturally shifted to an even more fundamental concept—precepts.
The divinity he possessed was the Precept Divinity, not a divinity of anything else.
Therefore, the divinity''s judgment of impure thoughts naturally depended on whether they adhered to the precepts.
Nemus turned his attention back to that Holy Nail, then triggered the impure thought attached to it. ''I want to marry an obedient woman.''
Following the impure thought deep into the core of the faith, he pushed forward the existence of the precept.
He no longer simply relied on subtraction; instead, it had become a process of addition.
Nemus injected a new thought into it. ''I myself shall embody loyalty virtue, and this shall be my precept!''
Personal loyalty virtue was the precept, and marrying an obedient woman was the result of practicing that precept.
With the precept as the core, that trace of impure thought was unified and integrated by the precept.
The original impure thought rapidly melted, becoming a part of the power of faith.
Although he was doing addition by adding a thought, the achieved result functioned as subtraction.
"The effect is not bad. I should keep up the effort."
Nemus was just about to continue when a knock echoed from outside the door.
Opening the door, Nemus saw Downs, who brought bad news: the people from the Church had arrived early.
Nemus raised an eyebrow, though he did not feel much surprise in his heart.
This world was not rigid like a strategy game; it was impossible for enemies to act strictly according to a set sequence or schedule.
Lao Mushi''s information indicated they would arrive in three days. Now that they were early, they clearly wanted to catch them unawares.
"It seems they are either eager to make a name for themselves or rushing to stir up trouble!"
"That works too." Once Nemus had formed a rough assessment of his opponents, he immediately set off.
This group of people had come from the path behind the village; they originated from Tail Fin Town.
At this moment, they were waiting over at the cathedral.
By the time Nemus arrived, quite a few people were already there.
Among them was the Watchman. He was currently checking the entourage for any infections related to nest beasts or similar creatures.
It had happened in the village before: someone had traveled into the wilderness, failed to notice they had been pricked by the black fur of a nest beast, and fell into a dead faint upon returning home.
Afterward, that single person incubated an entire litter of nest beasts.
This resulted in over a dozen nest beasts going on a reckless rampage through the village, causing significant damage.
Therefore, whenever someone returned to the village, they would usually have the Watchman perform an inspection if he was available.
Right now, Lao Mushi was also conversing with two "young people."
One of the young men sensed Nemus the very instant he arrived, and a sharp gaze immediately pierced toward him.
His lips moved slightly, and Nemus, who had learned lip-reading, instantly recognized the word he mouthed: "Traitor."
"Dartmenerly?" Nemus looked at the other party, then searched his mind for information on the man—one of Nels''s younger "cousins."
Back when Nels "defected" from the family, this person was still undergoing basic training to become a Holy Knight and had little contact with Nels.
It seemed the actions of this "Dartmenerly" had alerted the other young person.
The beautiful woman dressed in a pure white priest''s robe also turned around, looking at Nemus with curiosity.
She had a head of soft blonde hair that made her fair complexion look even more radiant. Her ice-blue irises resembled the surface of a serene lake, exuding a certain sense of distance amidst her delicate features.
A teardrop mole just below the corner of her eye served as the perfect embellishment, making her look both aloof and bewitching.
A woman like this was practically a natural-born siren, perfectly tailored to stir a man''s desire to conquer.
Just like now, Dartmenerly subtly shifted his footing to slightly block Nemus''s line of sight, as if feeling that allowing Nemus even one extra glance at the female priest would be a blasphemy against her.
However, what he failed to notice was that his naked possessiveness caused the female priest behind him to frown slightly.
"Nels, you arrived at just the right time. Let me introduce you," Lao Mushi said, seemingly oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
"This is Lady Isabella, who is also our new trainee priest."
"And this is Jacques..."
"Jacques Dartmenerly!" Before Lao Mushi could finish, Nels''s younger cousin proudly announced his name, placing heavy emphasis specifically on the word Dartmenerly.
"Nels. What a coincidence, my surname is also Dartmenerly," Nemus introduced himself with a smile, not angered in the slightest by the other party''s provocation and rudeness.
This actually infuriated Jacques quite a bit.
"How dare you still..." Jacques immediately prepared to denounce Nemus in anger, but fortunately, Isabella still possessed her reason. She tugged at Jacques''s sleeve, prompting the furious young man to suppress his rage, twisting it instead into a sarcastic remark.
"The surname might be the same, but some people are already homeless, nothing more than stray dogs."
"The child is still ignorant. Please be understanding," Nemus said to Isabella and Lao Mushi, completely ignoring Jacques''s words and acting as though he had already assumed the role of Jacques''s parent.
That tone made Jacques burn with even greater anger, looking as if he would erupt at any moment.
However, he ultimately retained a shred of sanity, and Isabella''s previous reminder helped him maintain some semblance of dignity.
"Nels has already been struck from the family register and has nothing to do with the Dartmenerly name anymore. Please do not use such misleading words to interfere with others'' judgment." After taking a deep breath, Jacques delivered this statement as calmly as he could.
"You are very much like I was when I was younger. I hope you can maintain this sense of honor." Nemus would not be mentally thrown off balance. The identity of the Dartmenerly family? To him, it was just an identity, and merely Nels''s identity at that.
"While you still have the chance, you should eat a bit more meat."