After the tour of the
Golems forged from refined steel soon came forward, presenting tea sets crafted with elven ceramics along with other refreshments.
"I wonder what business Lord Baron had in inviting us here?"
Zona regarded the golem—which possessed roughly the strength of a tenth-rank professional—and her estimation of Leilin rose several notches as she was the first to speak.
Among those who had come this time, besides herself representing the Church of the Lady of Wealth, there were also priests of the God of Knowledge and the God of Suffering. However, Zona held the highest rank, and the Lady of Wealth wielded the greatest influence, so she served as the representative of all three.
"Before we begin, I'd like to present you with two gifts!"
Leilin clapped his hands, and another pair of golems stepped forward, placing two boxes before Zona and the others.
"What is this..."
When the boxes were opened, a pungent smell assaulted them, accompanied by a large amount of white ash. Zona frowned, but when she leaned closer and caught sight of what lay within, she lurched back several steps.
"Ahhh—" "It's actually—"
If even Zona reacted this way, the other two priests were likewise visibly shaken.
"Lord Leilin, is this really how you mean to startle us?" There was a note of displeasure in Zona's tone, for what the boxes contained were two grotesque severed heads.
Presenting heads to these priests was hardly a gesture of peace.
"Hehe... I would never dare to offend you. Please take a closer look..." A composed smile hung on Leilin's face.
And having confirmed that the other party would not dare fall out with the Church of Wealth, Zona suppressed her disgust and discomfort and began to examine the grotesque faces in the boxes more carefully.
Upon closer inspection, she immediately noticed something amiss. "Hmm? This is..."
The other two priests likewise noticed something, and a look of joy appeared on their faces.
"Lord Leilin, is this..." Afudonia, the priest of the God of Suffering, asked in surprise, his voice carrying a note of uncertainty.
"That's right! These are the high-ranking assassins who killed numerous clergy members during the Pirate Tide!"
Leilin pointed to the box on his left. "As for the one beside him—he is the Murder God's secret bishop in the outer seas,
"Whew... On behalf of my fallen colleagues, I thank you, my lord!"
Zona closed the box lid and let out a long breath. The other two priests also thanked Leilin with joyful expressions.
During the earlier Pirate Tide, the God of Murder had dispatched his followers to frantically assassinate clergy from various churches, at one point inflicting devastating losses on the other gods.
The three churches represented by the priests before Leilin had all been within the scope of those attacks—one could even say they harbored a blood feud with these two men.
So Leilin presenting these two heads as gifts was quite satisfactory to them.
"Then... what would Lord Leilin like to discuss?" The priest who had replaced the former bishop of the God of Knowledge was an elderly, scholar-like cleric named Seilisus, who now asked directly, a gleam of wisdom in his eyes.
Hearing his words, Zona and Afudonia also turned their gazes to Leilin.
"To be honest, these two heads were a surprise I obtained while eliminating the notorious Barbarian Pirate Group..."
Leilin gave a brief account.
"The Barbarian Pirate Group? The ones who instigated the Pirate Tide and caused such heavy casualties in the outer seas? They've actually been eliminated?"
Zona was somewhat surprised, while Leilin silently chuckled to himself.
Through a decade of relentless propaganda and smears—particularly the King's own proclamation—the Barbarian Pirate Group's guilt had been thoroughly cemented. There was no washing it clean.
"That's right! Not only did they engage in brutal piracy, but they were also colluding with the Church of the Murder God!"
Leilin stated, and subsequently received another round of flattery from Seilisus about being a young hero and the like.
"However..." As Leilin continued, his tone shifted abruptly, alerting the three priests that the main topic was arriving.
"I believe... the outer seas are in urgent need of a purge against the worship of evil gods, particularly among the pirates and native tribes..."
Leilin said in a low voice, essentially laying his cards on the table.
"A purge of faith?" The three exchanged glances, somewhat taken aback.
"That's right! A purge!" Leilin nodded firmly.
Though he regarded the outer seas as his trump card, he could not afford to offend every god simultaneously. Syrak and Mara already had thoroughly ruined reputations, so that hardly mattered, but the temples of the various gods on Faolan Island absolutely had to be won over—they were natural allies of the Faolan Family.
As for the unfortunate bishop of the Murder God, he could only regretfully serve as the price of admission.
"Furthermore... in the fight against demons and devils, there will be many areas for future cooperation. I myself have developed quite a few new magical arrays for detecting devils and demons..."
Leilin's face carried a strong expression of righteous anger.
By vigorously promoting the campaign against devils and demons to win the goodwill of the righteous factions—this was likewise part of his plan, and it would allow him to secretly continue consolidating and expanding his power. A strategy that killed many birds with one stone.
"Is that so? Please allow us some time to discuss this..."
Zona glanced at the priests beside her and said, somewhat troubled.
Leilin's actions could essentially be read as a declaration of dominance over the outer seas. More critically, with the Barbarian Pirate Group destroyed and even the Murder God's church uprooted, there no longer seemed to be any force on the seas capable of matching him.
As clergy, their foremost consideration was naturally the interests of their own temples and churches, and everything else came after.
The unification of the outer seas—particularly the suppression of evil god and devil worship—would undoubtedly benefit the gods they served. Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to board his chariot and advance and retreat together with him.
"The force that secretly annihilated the Barbarian Pirate Group... it seems the rumors about the Faolan Family secretly controlling the Scarlet Tiger Pirate Group may well be true..."
Zona watched the smiling Leilin, her mind racing with thoughts.
"With an enormous armed fleet on the surface and pirate forces in the shadows, backed by vast trade profits and shipping lanes, there is no question he can seize dominion over the outer seas. At a time like this, refusing his goodwill would be extremely unfavorable for the Goddess's plans going forward..."
In her heart, Zona was actually very reluctant to see any single force become the overlord of the outer seas. She would much rather have it remain a free trade zone.
But now, she suddenly realized she had no choice!
To offend such a unified power would inevitably deal a fatal blow to commerce in this region, and it would also be extremely detrimental to the spread of the Lady of Wealth's faith. Zona was weighing her options internally.
"However... fighting evil gods, devils, and demons?"
Zona stole a glance at Leilin. Though she could not fathom his true intentions, if such actions were taken, his alignment could at least be judged—at the very least, he would not be hostile to the Goddess of Wealth.
"This matter... please give me some time, my lord. I need to discuss it with others before I can make a decision!"
Although she already had a rough inclination in mind, Zona still said this.
"So do we!" On the other side, Seilisus and Afudonia gave similar responses.
"Of course! This is merely an expression of intent. My family has no plans for a major military campaign in the near future..."
Leilin naturally understood that these clergy members needed to obtain permission from their churches, or even from the gods behind them, so he did not press too hard.
After all, this was genuinely beneficial to them. He was confident that those with foresight could see it clearly.
"Regarding the new detection spells and arrays you mentioned earlier, my lord..." Before leaving, Zona also expressed strong interest in the things Leilin had just brought up.
"Something I developed somewhat by accident. Compared to the old methods of detection, efficiency is improved by nearly half, and the range as well!"
Leilin said mildly, but his words made the other bishops' eyes light up.
Demons and devils—these were the most reviled things among the gods of the Material World! If there existed spells besides the divine altars that could detect and identify them, especially with range and effectiveness truly as good as Leilin claimed, they would absolutely be the holy grail these temples had been dreaming of.
"To independently develop new spells... I had some doubts about your magical talent before, my lord, but now I am fully certain," declared Seilisus, the priest of the God of Knowledge.
Even for the simplest identification and detection spells, being able to develop a new spell template meant that Leilin's understanding of magic had already reached an extraordinarily profound level.
Mages of this caliber tended to touch the realm of [Legend] more easily than other mages—this was well documented in many texts.
Now that Leilin had displayed such talent, it was impossible for Seilisus not to take great notice.
"Thank you for your kind words. I'd be happy to discuss this matter with you in detail!" On the surface, Leilin still presented himself as a follower of Oghma, and he naturally had to show this bishop something special—while simultaneously applying pressure on the other two.
"Of course! Of course!" Seilisus nodded with eyes shining bright, while Zona and the other priest wore expressions full of wariness.
After seeing the three priests off, Leilin slowly paced back to his own room.
"Convincing them won't be a problem..."
Leilin mused slowly. "And now I have the justification and rallying cry for a future purge of the outer seas. All that remains is to prepare quietly..."
By purging the native faiths of the outer seas, stripping away the spiritual power of their souls, he could continually advance in rank and sooner touch the threshold of [Legend]. At the same time, driving out the forces of devils and demons—this was Leilin's fundamental plan, and it was not to be changed!