novelno Chapter 669 - 668: Guesses and Clues
Chapter 669 - 668: Guesses and Clues
Upon hearing Ophelia’s words, Gawain raised his eyebrows: "The situation of female priests is awkward? What’s going on?"
"After the siege was over, the original Holy Order of Knights and Combat Priests of the church suffered significant losses. They are now undergoing reorganization and restructuring. The Great Shepherd plans to convert those who pass the assessment into White Knights, but there’s a problem... it seems female priests and female knights aren’t quite adapting to the... style and equipment of the White Knights.
"Moreover, as far as I know, the main priests of the Southern Church are composed of the White Knight Brigade. They are, of course, powerful Holy Light Warriors, very reliable on the battlefield, but as a window to spread doctrine, their style is somewhat..."
Ophelia hesitated a little at this point, even with the experience and knowledge of a thousand-year Defier, she seemed to be slightly conflicted, but she still finished her thought: "Their style isn’t very suitable for being close to the people. We’ve tried reopening the confession rooms in the church district, guarded by White Knights in turns, hoping to ease the post-war pressure on the people, but there has been almost no response..."
Gawain almost guessed what the issue was.
Ophelia sighed, her tone quite helpless: "Honestly, people going to the confession room become very anxious knowing there’s a White Knight inside, worried that if they confess their sins, they might get pummeled to death by the person inside—although we all know that’s impossible..."
Gawain couldn’t help but rub his forehead.
This situation indeed exists—the problem arises somewhere (possibly related to the Great Shepherd’s personal style), the Southern Holy Light Church has been on a certain unreturnable path since its restructuring, it’s been organized in a "religious militant order" fashion. Although there are ordinary priests and nuns, its main structure still relies on the White Knight Brigade and the auxiliary groups run by "Mechanical Priests". This militarized organization, along with the control method of the Administrative Office, ensures that the Southern Church remains highly controllable and loyal, but on the other hand...
Its style seems to have gone awry.
When at the southern borders, during wartime, this kind of church had no issues, but the overly rigid and cold White Knights naturally lack in "affinity", which in the current situation has become a shortcoming.
Moreover, the other point Ophelia mentioned is also a fact: the current White Knight equipment is not suitable for female clergymen, a redesign is necessary.
Even if not considering the above issues, properly placing female priests during the church’s restructuring is something that must be done, and in this regard, Wright probably lacks mature experience, so if Ophelia wants to implement any measures, naturally she has to consult Gawain’s opinion.
"The Northern Church needs restructuring, which naturally includes all priests and monks. Go and tally the number of female priests in combat and non-combat roles, work with Wright to come up with a new organizational and management plan, and let me review the proposal. Additionally, I will also arrange for the research department to prioritize the production of equipment suitable for female priests."
"Thank you for your understanding," Ophelia bowed her head in gratitude, "aside from this, I have no other questions."
Gawain nodded: "Let’s call it a day."
Ophelia stood up, and before leaving the study, she slightly turned her head to glance at the nearby bookshelf, nodding gently with a hint of a smile.
After she left, the air beside the bookshelf immediately rippled and distorted, and Amber’s figure jumped out from there, clamoring with excitement: "She indeed saw me!!"
"Your stealth can’t fool her. Didn’t you know that before?" Gawain looked at the half-elf, "We noticed you the moment you entered the room—although I am a bit surprised, you actually waited quietly for so long."
"I was just curious about what you two were talking about," Amber waved her hand, "Besides, I’m still the Intelligence Agency’s director, you know, I do have the sense to know when to speak and when to stay quiet."
As she said this, a sigh appeared on the half-elf’s face: "But speaking of which... it’s truly astounding insider information, their understanding and research about the gods is a bit terrifying, honestly, I regretted eavesdropping halfway—Veronica clearly didn’t mind saying these things in front of me, it seems she’s genuinely willing to cooperate with us."
Gawain looked at this half-elf, who claimed to regret eavesdropping but displayed an indifferent attitude, and couldn’t help but ask: "After knowing those secrets about the gods and the truth about the Defier Plan, aren’t you moved at all? As far as I remember, you claimed to be a follower of the Shadow Goddess..."
"First of all, I’m not just claiming, I truly believe, and secondly, I’m not just any believer; I’m the Chosen of the Goddess, don’t doubt it, I really am the Chosen!" Amber emphasized forcefully, then pouted, her tone lowering, "Honestly, saying I wasn’t moved would be a lie. I don’t believe the goddess’ kingdom is such a terrible place, nor do I believe she harbors malice towards mankind...I’ve spoken to her, she’s a very gentle goddess, she even taught me how to cook, how can she be as Veronica described..."
Gawain was initially stunned when Amber mentioned the goddess taught her to cook, essentially confirming that her Chosen status was just bragging. However, recalling his long-time understanding of this half-elf, observing her natural demeanor while saying these things, without a hint of boastful tone, Gawain became a bit uncertain—
Could what she’s saying be true? Or at least, she herself believes it’s true...
But how could that be, it’s not like there’s no faith in the Shadow Goddess in this world, though it’s a rather special one, without large gatherings or churches, there are at least some god-favored individuals and powerful priests in the shadow domain, and they never mentioned the Shadow Goddess as a deity who teaches cooking... in any case, what kind of deity would do that?
"I’m beginning to question what you actually believe in," Gawain said, frowning, "What do you think now?"
"...I want to ask the goddess, hear her explanation directly," Amber’s expression turned serious as she spoke word by word, "Next time I meet high-level Shadow Followers, I will also look for clues from them. Until I have concrete evidence, I won’t fully believe everything Veronica said."
At this, she quickly added: "Of course, I believe most of what she said is true, or at least based on evidence, other deities are probably as dangerous as she described—but the Shadow Goddess is definitely not!"
Looking at the resolute Amber, Gawain finally realized something: this half-elf truly believes in the Shadow Goddess—and it’s not the kind where she just believes out of convenience.
But this fellow usually doesn’t show any signs of having faith in her behavior and actions.
This plunged Gawain into endless perplexity.
He had to calm his inner turmoil with a deep breath and said solemnly, "I respect your faith, but regardless of what happens, our current cooperation with the Defiers is necessary. Looking at the long term, we must also be prepared for the dark future that Veronica described. I don’t want us to have disagreements and misunderstandings on this point within our ranks."
"I understand," Amber nodded, her previously drooping ears slightly perking up again, "After all, what Veronica wants to do now is just to shift human faith. As a Chosen of the Night, my faith is unaffected by this shift, and if the worst does come to pass one day... it would only prove she was right, and I would have nothing to hesitate about."
As Gawain knew her, this half-elf always had the resolve to deal with serious matters.
The Defiers and the Goddess of the Night...
Gawain sighed inwardly. The information he heard today from Veronica/Ophelia once again stirred up waves in his heart.
What kind of existence are those gods that truly inhabit this world? Are they protecting it, or are they anticipating its destruction?
Even the Defiers cannot explain the contradictory nature of the Goddess of the Night, cannot explain their seemingly chaotic yet sometimes rational and biased actions, and can only prepare for the day when the Goddess of the Night reveals their malice, day in and day out for centuries.
Regarding the true nature of the Goddess of the Night, Gawain actually has his own conjectures:
Perhaps those powerful existences are too beyond mortal comprehension, and they cannot be simply measured by "good and evil," because such concepts are just constructs of mortals trapped by their own understanding.
The Goddess of the Night might operate on a higher, more incomprehensible logical system, and their actions to protect or destroy the world have reasons unrelated to good or evil.
The second possibility is even more horrifying and unsettling:
Could the Goddess be mad?
Or, are they a sort of cyclical madness? At a specific "doomsday" moment, all deities irreversibly plunge into madness!
The words left by those two legendary powerhouses who crossed the rift and came back half-crazed, "It’s a countdown," actually refer to the countdown to The Goddess of the Night maintaining sanity...
If this second possibility is true, then Veronica’s careful efforts to reconstruct the Holy Light church, trying to shield the "Mortal Bridge" without alarming the Goddess, may truly be in vain: whether the Goddess will bring about doomsday has nothing to do with whether the Defiers alarm the Goddess, but merely relates to a countdown.
A countdown whose specific interval is unknown, which could finish at any moment, and now seems to be ticking away.
Chaotic waves are unpredictable, capable of destroying heaven and earth, but at least the surveillance satellites in space can provide some degree of early warning, whereas if that countdown to maintaining sanity truly exists... Gawain genuinely has no means to foresee it!
At this moment, Amber’s voice came from beside him, snapping Gawain out of his reverie: "Old man... your expression is kind of scary."
Gawain raised his head, suppressing the complex thoughts in his heart for the moment: "No... it’s nothing. Let’s not talk about this now. Tell me about you. What’s the matter?"
Amber hesitated for a moment before revealing her original purpose for coming today: "I found a clue."
"A clue?" Gawain didn’t initially react but quickly understood what she meant, "You found a clue about Sali Randolph?"
"He was a royal shadow guard and was personally appointed by Francis II, bearing a secret aristocratic title. That’s why he has the title but isn’t in the usual nobility registry," Amber decided to lay it all out, "His last mission was to seek clues about the Gondor heritage in the Dark Mountain Range, and the reason he stayed in the southern borders and became a thief was that he defected."
Gawain: "..."
"Hold on, that’s a lot of information; I need to sort this out," Gawain rubbed his temples, muttering, "How come these issues today are all so information-heavy..."
"Here’s the material I found; you can organize it while reading," Amber said, handing over the roster and record scrolls she got from the Dark Raven, "I’ve confirmed it; it does match my adoptive father, both in name and appearance."
Gawain took the material and carefully read through it. The contents were not extensive, and after a few minutes should be done with Sali Randolph’s early life, he commented while reading, "Did he ever mention his past identity and experiences to you?"
"No, I always thought he was a native of the southern borders, a clumsy thief... but thinking back today, his nose was quite high, and his eye color a bit lighter, which actually... are northern traits..."
"This country’s north and south are narrow, with minor differences between northern and southern people, and you were young then, so it’s normal not to tell. Plus, his defected shadow guard identity... is indeed not something to tell a bewildered child," Gawain quickly finished reading the documents, stacked them up, and put them aside, "He defected during the mission of finding Gondor heritage in the Dark Mountain Range. This is a breakthrough... could it be he was looking for the Defied Fortress?"
"I don’t know, and I can’t figure it out either. Even if he was really looking for the Defied Fortress, what would make him defect?"
"Indeed..." Gawain intertwined his fingers, resting his chin on them, speaking in a deep voice, "This is indeed a conundrum..."