After leaving the old tavern, Lumian began to hide again.
In this state, he approached the road he usually took to go home.
Sure enough, he found that one of Pons Bene's men was hiding behind the green trees beside the road, observing the passers-by.
The parish priest will never stop until he achieves his goal... Lumian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
And most importantly, I am unable to launch an effective counterattack.
The first reason is that his personal ability is limited. The second reason is that if something really happens to the parish priest, it will inevitably alarm the "Eternal Sun" Church in the Dariege area. At that time, people from the Inquisition will definitely come to investigate, which is a very dangerous thing for Aurore.
Unless he is forced into a corner and has decided to give up this place and move somewhere else, Lumian can only deal with the privacy of the parish priest and see if he can get him transferred to a monastery to "retire" by exposing the scandal.
Moreover, exposing a scandal requires skill, just like letting a stranger catch the parish priest and Madame Puaris having an affair.
The reason why Lumian did not publicize this matter widely was because he did not want to put himself in a prominent position. According to his observation, the administrator and territorial judge Beiost was a person who cared a lot about his face. If he revealed the affairs of Mrs. Pualis, Beiost would definitely not receive gratitude in return, but hatred and hostility.
In that case, facing the double blow from the parish priest and the administrator, Lumian would definitely have to flee Cordu Village.
He carefully walked around to another road that was sandwiched between several houses.
Along the way, Lumian kept hiding himself with the help of walls, doors, trees, etc. When he was approaching the "exit", he suddenly heard a voice.
"Guillaume, why don't we just go to Aurore's house at night and capture that guy? It will be useless to look for him and ambush him all day long. It's just a waste of our time. He's as cunning as a wild wolf in the mountains." Pons Bene's familiar rough voice reached Lumian's ears. "I know Aurore is a good fighter, but we have so many people. We can also go to the city to find help."
Guillaume... The parish priest is here too... Lumian stopped and shrank into a corner, intending to listen to what the parish priest would say and what arrangements he would make for him.
Guillaume Bennet's voice is somewhat magnetic:
"You don't think that Aurore's abilities are limited to what she has shown
"She may well have extraordinary powers that I do not possess."
"Ah..." Pons Bene was obviously a little surprised. "She is a witch? Guillaume, then why don't you go to Darriege and find someone from the Inquisition? If you can catch a real witch, the church will definitely reward you. At that time, you will most likely gain the extraordinary power you have longed for."
"Idiot." Guillaume Bene scolded his brother directly, "What's the situation in the village now, don't you know? The people in the court have noses like dogs, they won't let go of any abnormality. When the time comes, we will be in big trouble.
"Even if Aurore really wants to deal with us, I am not without other means. We should not alert the people of the Inquisition until the last minute."
So, what is the current situation in the village? Lumian is very concerned and curious about this.
Combined with some abnormal phenomena he had noticed before, he suspected that something bad was brewing and developing in the village, like a turbulent undercurrent beneath the calm sea.
To his disappointment, Pons Bene did not expand on this topic, but focused on another point:
"What do you have to do with a witch?"
"You don't need to know." The parish priest Guillaume Bene said in a deep voice, "Next, we can put aside the matter of dealing with Lumian, but we still have to act well on the surface and not let people doubt my will for revenge, which will make those outsiders think of certain aspects and have a bad influence. What you need to do now is to warn the relevant people one by one and scare those country bumpkins who may have noticed something, so that they don't let them let the cat out of the bag in front of those outsiders."
"Guillaume, do you mean that those outsiders are here to investigate that matter?" Pons Bene was obviously a little scared and worried.
Look at you, you only grow muscles but no brains. You are not as calm and cool as your brother, who is born to be a leader... Lumian laughed at Pons Bene in his heart.
Although he hated the parish priest and thought he was a stud, vulgar and greedy, not like a clergyman at all, his rough, brutal, strong and direct style of doing things was more impressive in the countryside. Coupled with his status, power, wealth, clear mind, sufficient wisdom and good eloquence, even Lumian had to admit that this guy did have some charm, and it was easy for people around him to admire and rely on him.
Guillaume Bene sneered:
"Don't worry, as long as those outsiders can't get real evidence, I will still be the parish priest of Cordu Village.
"Pons, you have to remember that ruling a place cannot rely solely on intimidation, terror and repression. That way, you will never be able to achieve peace and the desired effect. Does the church want to gain a ruin, a place that cannot pay taxes? Since it is impossible to kill all the adults here, we need some friends and followers, and we can give them some protection for this.
“The church asked us to take charge of the affairs here instead of sending outsiders because we are locals and have relatives, friends, and followers. We can help them better control the place and avoid making a mess. Therefore, as long as there is not enough evidence, the higher-ups will definitely choose to continue to trust me.
"Okay, I'm going back to church."
It does sound reasonable and can be deceptive, but parish priest, your knowledge and vision are still limited to the Dariege area... I heard from Aurore that in other places, when faced with some villages severely polluted by evil gods, the church chose to completely destroy them and turn the corresponding places into ruins. At that time, not only all adults, but even children would be killed... Lumian was almost "persuaded" by Guillaume Bennet just now. Fortunately, Aurore often told him about the horrors of the "Eternal Sun" Church and the "God of Steam and Machinery" Church.
After the parish priest left, Lumian changed his route and returned home smoothly.
Next to the oven, Aurora, wearing a white apron, was busy.
"What are you doing?" Lumian asked curiously.
There are still more than two hours until lunch.
Aurore tucked her golden hair behind her ears and said with a smile:
“Try making a new flavor of toast, rice toast.”
“You don’t have to go through so much trouble…” Lumian was immediately touched.
He thought Aurore was doing this to make him eat better.
Aurore chuckled and said:
"What are you thinking about? Stop being so narcissistic, okay
"For me, cooking and making bread is a form of entertainment and an effective way to pass the time, understand?"
"Then why don't you like going out? There are more entertainment options outside." Lumian always felt that Aurore was too concerned about the possible dangers of being a wizard, so she often locked herself up at home.
Aurore turned her head and glared at him.
“Drinking and playing cards
"Remember, I am the world, I do not need anything else."
Lumian understood the first half of the sentence, but was confused by the rest:
"ah
"Can you explain what that means?"
Aurore glanced at him:
"To put it simply, I, your sister, suffer from social phobia most of the time!"
“What do you mean most of the time?” Lumian asked in confusion.
"Human beings are a complex of contradictions." Aurore turned her eyes back to the oven. "Don't you remember? Sometimes I was very talkative, and I was very willing to go out and listen to the old ladies' gossips, and then entertain the children and tell them stories. Sometimes I would go crazy and borrow Mrs. Pualis's pony to ride around in the mountains, running wildly and shouting loudly."
At that moment, you shine like a rose bathed in morning dew, attracting people to approach you, but also hurting them... Lumian couldn't help but mutter in his heart.
Since Mrs. Puaris was mentioned, Lumian changed the subject directly:
"Aurore, uh, sister, I just heard a rumor about Mrs. Pualis."
"What?" Aurore did not hide her curiosity.
"She is a witch who can communicate with the souls of the dead..." Lumian told his sister what Ava had said, and also told her about the anomalies he had noticed and the words of the parish priest Guillaume Bennet.
Aurore interrupted the work at hand and listened carefully to her brother's story.
Her expression became noticeably more serious.
After Lumian finished speaking, Aurore smiled and comforted her brother:
"Don't worry too much. Those three strangers are probably here for something the parish priest did in private, which is probably related to Madam Pualis.
“Don’t mess with Madam Pualis for now, I’ll keep an eye on them.
"You should go around the village more often and interact with those outsiders to see if you can figure out what's going on. Haha, in comparison, the lady who gave you the 'scepter' card is more worthy of our attention.
"If the situation does deteriorate, we'll have to consider leaving Koldu Village. Well, we can make some preparations now."
“Okay.” Lumian agreed with his sister’s response.
After a pause, he asked with a little curiosity:
"Aurore, if you really want to leave Cordu Village, where do you plan to settle down?"
"Go to Trier!" Aurore said without hesitation.
Trier is the capital of the Republic of Intis and the center of culture and art of the entire continent.
“Why?” Although Lumian was thinking of Trier, he still asked casually.
—Every Intis person wants to go to Trier.
In the eyes of the people of Trier, there are only two kinds of people in Innis: people from Trier and people from the provinces.
Aurore said leisurely and fascinatedly:
“A prophet once said:
"As long as Trier exists, there will be joy in the world." (Note 1)
Note 1: Adapted from Nostradamus, The Hundred Poems