On the road, two groups of people stood in a tense standoff.
On one side were the believers of the Dark Night Order wearing black holy robes, while on the other side were the believers of the Church of Light clad in white holy robes.
Both sides appeared highly agitated, and a sizable crowd of onlookers had gathered around them.
The nun leading the Church of Light folded her hands in front of her chest, her voice carrying a natural sense of superiority:
“On the night chaos erupted in the Imperial Capital, it was our Saintess, Lady Veronica, who stepped forward and led the Church's clerics to protect countless commoners. I am sure everyone present witnessed this with their own eyes.”
She swept a glance over the believers of the Dark Night Order opposite her, her tone laced with disdain:
“As for certain religious orders that suddenly popped out of nowhere—even though His Majesty the Emperor has recognized your legitimacy, you shouldn't be so brazen as to snatch credit. Our Church of Light has a heritage spanning thousands of years. How could you possibly compare to us?”
Leading the Dark Night Order's side was a young girl named Talya. She had striking black-and-white hair and delicate features, but her eyes shone with an almost obsessive light.
Upon hearing such slander against her order, she took a step forward and retorted without backing down:
“If our Lord Bishop hadn't forced out the culprit behind the incident that night, the entire Imperial Capital would have fallen into an even greater catastrophe! Your Saintess did indeed save many people, but our Lord Bishop saved the entire Imperial Capital! What right do you have to look down on us here?”
For Talya, the existence of the Dark Night Order had redeemed her life. Thus, the creator of this order naturally deserved her utmost reverence.
Furthermore, she had personally witnessed the grand figure of the Lord Bishop floating in front of the black sun that night. That power and imposing aura had shaken her to the core, filling her with deep admiration.
From that moment on, she had become a true worshiper of that mysterious Lord Bishop, and she would never allow anyone to slander him!
The nun sneered:
“Your Bishop? That power of his was full of an ominous aura. Moreover, he deliberately wore a suit of armor to hide his appearance, not even daring to show his face. He is clearly a highly suspicious fellow!”
Just as Greg reached the edge of the crowd, his lips twitched. Holy crap, why is she launching a personal attack? What do you mean suspicious? My armor was clearly super cool, alright?
Hearing this, the obsessive light in Talya's eyes flared even brighter, and her voice rose by several decibels:
“What do you know?! The Lord Bishop only used that power to protect the Imperial Capital! So what if that power is ominous? That great adult used it to save countless lives! But what about you guys?! Even my mother was... In short, you hypocrites have no right to judge the Lord Bishop!”
Talya's words gave Greg a preliminary impression of her.
He had originally thought the "trusted subordinate" Wendy mentioned would be a steady and reliable person. But looking at her now, wasn't this girl basically a little fangirl of his?
And her background seemed to carry a bit of tragedy too...
The argument between the two sides grew increasingly heated. The believers of the Church of Light and the Dark Night Order began stepping forward, and mana even started surging around them.
The onlookers among the commoners quickly took several steps back, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
Watching this scene, Greg knew he couldn't let it continue like this.
If things truly escalated, it wouldn't do him any favors.
“Looks like I'll have to find a way to stall for a bit before anyone else comes to stop them.”
He sighed, squeezed through the crowd, and strode right into the center of the standoff, calling out to both sides:
“Give me some face, everyone calm down.”
His sudden appearance caught both sides off guard.
Even though Greg was currently wearing work clothes covered in dust and paint, looking like a common construction laborer, he stood there with a calm and confident demeanor, as if he truly had the authority to demand face from both parties.
Talya frowned as she sized him up, questioning him bluntly, “Who are you?”
Greg grumbled inwardly: I'm the very Lord Bishop you were just praising to high heaven.
But of course, there was no way he could expose his identity directly. Thus, he cleared his throat and began reciting a long string of titles:
“I am the Most Devoted Lover of the Imperial Capital, the Undead Slayer, the core component of the DOT team, the fallen noble kicked out of his family—”
As Greg reeled off a continuous barrage of titles, Talya started to feel a bit dizzy from the sheer confusion.
She blinked, her expression shifting from wariness to confusion, clearly not fully understanding what those titles even meant.
The middle-aged nun also froze for quite a while before snapping out of it. Noticing that Greg still hadn't revealed his actual identity, she pressed,
“So who on earth are you?”
Greg smiled slightly. “Who I am is not important.”
The nun's lips twitched, and the veins on her forehead throbbed. “...”
Greg continued,
“What is important is that I am here to help mediate your conflict. We are all people contributing to the revival of the Imperial Capital. Why waste time arguing here?”
Talya and the nun spoke almost in unison: “We don't need an outsider like you to—”
But before they could finish their sentences, the appearance of two figures instantly cut them off.
One figure walked out from behind the crowd of the Church of Light.
It was a pink-haired girl wearing a pure white holy robe. She had a serene face and a gentle temperament, looking exceptionally young.
Yet the moment the middle-aged nun saw her, the haughtiness on her face vanished instantly, and she bowed respectfully. “Lady Silvia.”
The other figure emerged from behind the crowd of the Dark Night Order.
It was a masked, sword-wielding woman. Her face was obscured, but the sword in her hand gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and her entire being exuded a sharp, dangerous aura.
The moment Talya saw the sword in her hand, she immediately recognized her identity. She quickly lowered her head, not daring to utter another word.
Whew~ Thank goodness they both noticed the commotion here in time.
Seeing the arrival of the two girls, Greg finally let out a sigh of relief.
Silvia immediately spoke in a gentle tone, “Alright, everyone. Let this matter end here.”
Then, she looked at the middle-aged nun, her gaze turning solemn.
“Furthermore, please apologize to this gentleman.”
“What...?”
The middle-aged nun froze.
She had absolutely no idea why she had to apologize to a commoner in dirty clothes.
But under Silvia's heavy, pressuring gaze, she bit her lip, turned to Greg, and bowed slightly.
“My apologies. I was impolite earlier.”
At the same time, the masked, sword-wielding woman walked up to Talya. Although she didn't speak, the meaning in her gaze was crystal clear.
Although Talya felt somewhat unwilling, she knew this person was second only to the Lord Bishop within the order. Ultimately, she lowered her head and murmured softly,
“I'm sorry. I was too impulsive.”
Greg glanced at Allie and Silvia, who were pretending not to know him. Although he had some questions he wanted to ask them, he knew now was not the time to strike up a conversation.
Thinking that he would have other opportunities in the future anyway, he decided to simply pretend he didn't know them for now.
“No worries. I'm just a passionate passerby. As long as you don't fight, it's fine. Since everything is resolved, I'll be taking my leave.”
With that, he squeezed back out of the crowd and walked away without looking back.
The masked, sword-wielding woman and the pink-haired girl looked at each other across the crowd, both seemingly recognizing the other.
They gave each other a slight nod before leading their respective groups away from the scene.
Leaving only the onlookers among the commoners standing in place, whispering to one another:
“Who was that young man? He actually managed to get both sides to give him face?”
“No idea... But that string of titles he just listed sounded pretty impressive, didn't it?”
“What is an Undead Slayer? And what is a DOT team?”
“Not sure, but it felt really cool...”
Rate on N.U.
