Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 682: Vol V Chapter 42

Pressure brought about motivation. In the face of the heavy pressure that was already within their reach, the people of Dahl family were unwilling to delay for one more night. They ate a little bit of food, then with the protection of their most reliable subordinates, they quietly arrived at the temple of the Void Mask.

The Sacred Warriors, who were the night-watchmen, discovered them. At first, they thought the intruders wanted to attack but were taken aback. After Baron Dahl stepped forward to clarify the reason for their visit, that burly and bearlike Sacred Warrior understood what was going on and took them to see Bishop Kabbalah.

Bishop Kabbalah was asleep next to the prayer room. It was a small, bare room with just four walls. It was in his nature that he did not fancy luxury. The room was basically unfurnished, and not even tables and chairs could be found. The ground was covered with thick wooden planks that were stacked with bedding and books. These planks were used as both his bed and study table.

He was very powerful. Even when he was asleep, he could sense people coming near, and naturally, that would wake him. He could not help feeling a little shocked when he learned that Baron Dahl had brought his family and people in the dead of night for a visit to talk about changing beliefs and taking sides.

I’m just here to develop the church; how did things develop to such a point where even a lord wants to convert and believe in His Majesty? Isn’t this step a little too big?

There was a saying on Earth that went, “Too big a step will pull at on one’s testicles.” As a divinity healer, Bishop Kabbalah was not worried about which body part would be pulled. But at that moment, he really felt great discomfort.

After he and Baron Dahl talked in detail and he learned about the entire event, the pain was even more apparent.

What is this! Why did the fight between the aristocratic party and the merchant party under the Commonwealth of Gold Coins result in a lord coming to us? What has this got to do with us? Shouldn’t you naturally belong to the aristocratic party if you are a lord? Oh... Seems like he can’t naturally belong to the aristocratic party since his main income comes from business dealings... Then for the time being, just put a pause to your smuggling business! Anyway, if they are to change their belief to His Majesty, they are still required to sort out all the business they have at present...

He had so many thoughts that they were in disarray. He was thinking so hard that there were spirals, like mosquito incense coils, twirling in his eyes. But still, he could not figure anything out.

With a deep sigh, he said to Baron Dahl, “Lord Baron, I have grasped your situation. But this is no small matter; I’d better consult His Majesty...”

“Of course, of course!” said Baron Dahl. He was all smiles as he nodded, as though he was a plump chicken feeding on grains.

Bishop Kabbalah went to the dressing room for a bath and a change of clothes. When all preparations were completed, he headed to the prayer room and lit some incense shavings which gave off a reassuring aroma. Then amidst the light smoke coming from the slowly burning shavings, Bishop Kabbalah knelt before the altar in silent prayer.

Moments later, Sui Xiong responded to his prayers.

“So, this is the matter of concern... Yes, if they are willing to mend their ways and stop doing evil, I can protect them,” Sui Xiong said. After a moment of consideration, he agreed. “But my protection for them is only limited to preventing the aristocratic and merchant parties from sending assassinators to attack them. I’ll not offer any protection if their conflicts are business-related or due to grudges from before.”

Bishop Kabbalah conveyed Sui Xiong’s reply to Baron Dahl. Baron Dahl was silent for a moment, then indicated that he would need to discuss with his people again.

So they borrowed one of the rooms in the temple where they held their discussions.

This time, they did not spend much time discussing. About 10 minutes later, Baron Dahl paid Bishop Kabbalah a second visit. He expressed his acceptance of His Majesty’s conditions.

Although they were unable to get full protection, which made them a little uneasy, the attitude of His Majesty, the Void Mask, had proven his reliability in another way—as people of rich experience, be it Baron Dahl or his people, they would rather trust those who carefully negotiated their conditions before doing things, rather than those who readily agreed to take care of everything.

Because the more carefully one considered, the more detailed their conditions would be. This would in turn, represent a more serious attitude. And those fellows who readily agreed to take on anything as though they could run carriages in their mouth—their words simply could not be trusted!

Since they had come to an agreement on the conditions, the matter was settled. The Dahl family returned back to their castle with minds at ease—though it was almost daybreak, that did not prevent them from sleeping soundly now.

And on the other side, the clergymen of the Church of the Void Mask were getting busy.

Initially, the Dahl family was a hodgepodge of beliefs. There were some who believed in the God of Aristocracy and some who believed in the Goddess of Wealth. Now they wanted to collectively convert their beliefs to follow the Void Mask. And naturally, they would need a formal and grand ceremony.

Not only that, most people from the Dahl family were bad guys. To accept them as followers, the church would have to arrange redemption for them.

“Atonement” was not something that could be completed simply by buying a certificate of redemption. This was only possible in the mid-century period on Earth. It was also not like those with great power could go straight to heaven so long as they killed a few followers of another belief, regardless of any bad things they had done. In this world, redemption was something very solemn and serious. It involved quite a difficult process and a high price to pay.

First, the person who decided to redeem himself had to proceed with a period of fasting and ablution to allow his body and mind to enter a state of quiet and peace. Then, in this state, he would have to personally narrate his entire list of crimes and received punishment according to the crime committed. The punishments included, but were not limited to, beatings, burnings, as well as various pain inflicted either physically or by spells.

This agonizing and difficult process would, at times, last as long as a month. When the entire ritual had ended, they still had to accept a mission. Only when they had accomplished this mission with a good and solemn attitude could the entire redemption process truly be completed.

So long as they could complete the entire redemption process, they would not be considered bad guys who were unpardonably wicked and guilty of the most heinous crimes. They could also convert their camps from evil to neutral. Then, so long as they conscientiously did good, sooner or later, they could progress into becoming good people.

However... in this world, there were very few bad guys who could truly complete the entire redemption process.

On one hand, this process was indeed accompanied by acutely intense pain. The more severe the crime, the more severe the pain would be. Most of the bad guys were extremely stern towards others but went easy on themselves. There was no way they could bear such pain.

On the other hand, even if they were willing to bear such pain, there were very few churches willing to carry out the redemption rituals for bad guys. This was because after the ritual, the bad guys would become members of the church, so their actions would be closely associated to the church’s honor.

Even if they were willing to redeem themselves of their crimes, the clergymen were seldom willing to believe in these villains.

The only people keen on holding redemption rituals were from the Church of the God of Redemption. This group of people advocated that “no matter how bad a man could be, so long as he was willing to mend his ways, there would always be a day where he could repay his sins.” They were also eager to persuade the bad guys to atone for their sins and accept redemption—even if it was penitence at one’s deathbed.

But the bad guys were reluctant to do so because if they chose to accept “redemption” on their deathbed, it would mean that their souls would belong to the God of Redemption after death. They would then need to do all sorts of good things under his arrangement to redeem themselves for their sins.

This was something exceptionally difficult.

In the end, only a handful of the higher-ups of the Dahl family were willing to accept the redemption ritual and become core followers of the Church of the Void Mask. The rest simply bowed to salute and pay homage to the statue of His Majesty, the Void Mask, and accepted baptism by Bishop Kabbalah before leaving.

“It’s good this way too,” said Bishop Kabbalah as he watched them leave. He could not help feeling relieved, albeit his disappointment.

He was responsible for the redemption of these people. No matter what, so long as the number was smaller, the difficulty or trouble that might be involved in the future would be much smaller.

As for those people who left... they would be the ones treading on their paths. The choice would be theirs to make, so regardless of whatever might happen, the responsibility was all theirs.

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