Charlotte's question caused Lottie to fall silent again.
With a sigh, she nodded:
"Yes, I do miss them..."
"Duke Boald was one of the people behind the Balrog disaster. My father's corruption was closely related to his support..."
"Perhaps his original intention was not to allow the Balrog to descend, but his indulgence brought too much suffering to the people of Bolder."
"The High Priest is even worse. As the highest clergyman of the Bolder Church, he has become the umbrella of the Drunken Dream Salon. Even he himself... is even a guest of honor of the Drunken Dream Salon."
"I will not resign myself to this... If their crimes are not made public, if they are not given the punishment they deserve, I will not resign myself to this..."
"The Broglie family did too many wrong things, and eventually suffered backlash and was punished..."
“We asked for this.”
"But I can't just watch those people behind the scenes, those high-ranking protective umbrellas, still active in the light..."
As he spoke, Lottie laughed bitterly and said self-deprecatingly:
"You can also regard it as my inner grievance."
Charlotte's heart moved:
"You want to announce their crimes yourself?"
Lottie nodded:
"Yes, as a witness to everything, I believe I have the responsibility and obligation to make the truth public."
"Although the ceremony failed, I survived and even gradually recovered from my congenital weakness..."
"The Blood Demon Cult did not completely deceive father. I was able to recover because I gained the life force of those innocent girls who were sacrificed."
"During these years of lurking, I have done many wrong things in order to gain the trust of Count Tulip, and watched those girls slide into darkness..."
"My existence is inherently sinful."
"All I can do is repent, reveal the truth, and clear the name of those innocent girls..."
"This was also my original intention for joining the Holy Royal Court."
"I joined the Holy Court not just to follow Earl Tulip's orders to get close to the High Priest, but out of repentance..."
As she said this, Lottie sighed:
"Of course, when I joined, even I didn't expect that the sacred royal court that encourages people to be good and maintains order and justice... is not that sacred."
"The power of the clergy comes from God and from the belief in the gods..."
"However, even though the high priest has fallen so much, the light of faith in him is still so dazzling..."
“I’m confused…”
“I used to think that I could wash away the sins in my heart with holy faith, but today, even the meaning of faith is a little confused.”
Lottie looked desolate.
After listening to Lottie's words, Charlotte put down the goblet and thought:
"It's normal to be confused, but I think what's more important than the faith you place your trust in is your heart..."
"In my opinion, faith is just a tool for you to clarify your true nature. It is the beliefs and values imposed on you by the gods."
"If your mind is still clear, if your heart is still strong, what does it matter if you don't have faith?"
“Your true heart, your inner convictions, are your beliefs.”
Hearing Charlotte's words, Sebastian's eyelids twitched wildly.
Good guy…
So what if I have no faith!
What a good original intention and belief is faith!
I'm afraid only Lady Dark Night could say such a statement that belittles the belief in gods!
And... he said this in front of a priest of the Holy Royal Court!
etc…
If that is really the case, then everyone can be their own god, so what is the need for a god above us
But that’s not right…
The extraordinary power comes from God, from the original gods' blessing to the race and the ancestors... Any righteous god can bring down divine punishment to deprive the extraordinary of their power.
Without the belief in gods, what else do mortals who have lost their power have
Sebastian was at a loss.
Charlotte didn't pay attention to Sebastian's weird expression.
She pondered for a moment and continued:
"You don't have to worry about the Duke and the High Priest. They will get the punishment they deserve. As for you, I think you should not continue to get involved in this matter."
As she spoke, she smiled again:
"Sister Lottie, when I entered your dream, I also saw your memories. I know that you have never lost your original heart, and you have never fallen..."
"The Inquisition has always been strict, and your identity is somewhat special. It is not worth it to put yourself in danger for the sake of the High Priest and the Duke."
"Please consider Miss Mary's proposal carefully, Sister Lottie. My Castel Territory may still need a righteous priest to preside over it..."
After hearing what Charlotte said, Lottie was slightly stunned and fell into deep thought.
Charlotte smiled:
"Sister Lottie, let's eat first. You can think carefully about what Miss Mary and I have proposed."
…
After dining with Charlotte, Lottie said goodbye and left.
Charlotte did not try to persuade him to stay, nor did she continue to persuade him.
She knew that the priestess needed some time to think it over.
She also knew that the other party had seen through the problem with her identity.
However, from the sentence "Can I call you Charlotte?" Charlotte already knew that no matter who she was, in Lottie's heart, she would always be "Charlotte".
This may be because Charlotte's protection of the Castel family was recognized by the other party.
Or perhaps it was the other party's gratitude for Mary's rescue.
But in any case, the other party did recognize her.
As for Charlotte's identity as the "evil god"...
Lottie seemed still confused, or perhaps it was the soul's instinctive protection, she could not remember clearly some things that happened last night.
Sebastian explained that weak mortals simply cannot look directly at the greatness of the gods.
If the gods do not wish to leave an impression on mortals, they will quickly forget that they even had contact with the gods.
Charlotte doesn't think she's actually a deity.
But in the True Ancestor's liberated state, she did control power close to that of a god.
Lottie's memory of that time was forgotten, probably because of this. After all... she was only a first-level transcendent.
However, the conversation with Lottie made Charlotte think about another question.
In the world of Miriam, gods dominate everything, and the original source of all supernatural powers is gods.
So, what is the relationship between gods and supernatural beings, and between gods and believers
What is the connection between the strength of faith and the power of the clergy
Confuse…
Charlotte was really confused too.
She once believed that the power of faith was the source of power for the gods and also the source of power for the clergy. Even the sacred code of the Holy Court stated so.
But now it seems that this is obviously not the case.
The biggest proof is that the fallen high priest can still obtain the protection of the holy light.
Charlotte felt very confused.
Black Cat Nice had told her that gods only needed believers and did not care about the deterioration of faith. Gods were just parasites in a hypocritical guise...
However, the power of the clergy does come from God.
Not only the clergy, but even the nobles are because their ancestors are descendants of the gods.
If the gods don't care about the believers' deterioration of faith, if the gods are "parasites", then what do they want from the believers
What are the standards for a clergyman to become stronger
Is it really as stated in the sacred code, that the more pious you are, the more powerful you are
Or is there actually another set of secret selection criteria
Charlotte didn't know.
But she felt that if she could figure this out, she would have figured out the biggest secret of the gods in the Miria world...
At the same time, perhaps this is also crucial for her to control the Holy Book of Blood and ascend to the true throne of God as in myths and legends!
Of course, the secrets of the gods cannot be uncovered overnight.
Even if you have ambitions, you have to take it one step at a time.
These days, Charlotte has also read many legends about the deification of the Miria world. In any legend, the new god who ascends to the throne must first possess legendary power.
Even if she wants to become a god in the end, Charlotte must first improve her true strength to the legendary level.
As for the relationship between believers and gods...
Charlotte actually has a lot of ideas, speculations and even experiments that she wants to try, but she can only do that after leaving Boulder and returning to her own territory.
Charlotte collected her thoughts and returned to the study.
Sebastian followed beside her, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Charlotte's heart moved slightly:
"Is there a problem?"
Sebastian hesitated for a moment and asked respectfully:
"Master... are you going to take action against the Duke and the High Priest next?"