What is it? Is it the siege of the Marsh Drake at the Seira Marshes, or something like the attack on the Tigermen's village? "
Edward asked nonchalantly.
As a Player, the only thing he could think of that others would ask for his help were some difficult locations or Bosses.
"No, it's something even more troublesome."
Marni shook his head, denying Edward's theory. "The emperor of the Valla Empire has sent envoys to Lancaster and the Silver Eagle Duchy … and perhaps some other places, but that's all we know for now."
"What does that have to do with me?" Edward asked curiously.
"The emperor of the Valla Empire isn't sending envoys to the lords of Lancaster and Tunaya to ask about their well-being."
Marni was aware that Edward had the talent to command, but he was still the son of a village chief and lacked experience in politics. That was why he didn't try to be mysterious and told Edward his theory. "Do you remember the war in winter?"
"You mean the War of Referees in Lovinia that forced the refugees to leave their homes?"
Edward had naturally heard of that. Many of the Players were paupers who had lost their families and were forced to leave their homes.
"That's right. The war in winter that broke out due to political differences between the gods left the Valla Emperor utterly humiliated. The army he was so proud of couldn't defeat the army of the Grand Duchy of Rominos as he wished." Marni nodded. "In fact, even before that war, the current Emperor was already hostile towards the duchies that the Empire had enfeoffed in its early days, and the war against the Grand Duchy of Rominos was merely the spark."
"… The spark?" Edward frowned, feeling that things weren't as simple as they seemed.
Marni, however, didn't ask Edward what he thought and simply told him frankly, "The Grand Duchy of Rominos had suffered considerable losses in the war, and their faction would have to rest and recuperate in their territories for a long time. While the royal army had suffered great losses as well, their population was still there, and they weren't facing as much pressure as the Grand Duchy of Rominos."
"One could even say that the war with the Grand Duchy of Rominos had groomed many qualified generals and veterans for the royal army." Marni paused for a moment before adding, "If my hunch is right, the envoys sent to various regions are probably the new emperor's agents to scout out the situation. The knife has been sharpened, and now the royal army is ready to make a move. They want to kill a turkey to warn the other monkeys, so that the dukes and vassals who are enfeoffed in various places have no choice but to hand over part of their power in exchange for peace. "
"… The quest description is too long. Just tell us what you want us to do, Marni."
Edward felt a headache coming on, but he was too lazy to sort out the relationship between the two. Instead, he showed his true colors as a player. "Are you going to blow up the dog emperor's head or dog balls?"
"In that case, the war will really be unavoidable!" Marni quickly stopped him. If Edward and the others really ran off to assassinate the emperor, the Church of Games would immediately become the target of everyone's attacks without any banner of righteousness. "I only have an idea of what to do, and the specifics would have to be decided after discussing it with the lords of both sides …"
"It really is troublesome." Edward couldn't help but sigh.
"Mister Marni … you're not dead?"
Just as Edward was considering if he should get involved in Marni's' troublesome 'matter, Gerald finally recovered from his state as if he was a broken recorder.
"I'm sorry, but I was definitely dead when you saw it."
Marni smiled. "I'm just resurrected now."
There was a look of disbelief and shock on Gerald's face.
Perhaps because the Players had gotten used to being resurrected, they didn't have a clear understanding of how unbelievable that ability was.
Still, Marni, who often interacted with the merchants and nobles of Lancaster and was closer to a normal person in mind, naturally knew how shocking his resurrection would be for Gerald.
In other churches, resurrection was a miracle, the highest of blessings from the gods.
After all, unlike Xi Wei who had the Authority of the God of Games and could rely on his knowledge as an Earthling in his past life to find loopholes in certain definitions, for the other gods, resurrecting their believers was equivalent to stealing from Lord Hades, one of the Seven Divine Fathers.
Even if Lord Hades wasn't as mysterious as Magic Violet or as powerful as Kratos, the God of War, he had almost no believers compared to Lionheart, the God of Light.
Even so, as a mysterious Ancient God whose true form's Authority was unknown and who had personally slain the previous God of Death a thousand years ago, stealing his divinity and divine kingdom (the netherworld), no god would want to experience his wrath — not even the other Divine Fathers.
As a city guard knight of extraordinary skill, noble birth, and boundless future, Gerald would most likely be able to hold his own in a third or fourth-tier church (such as the Church of Justice of Aslan the Great Lion), and be favored by the hierarchy of the church or even the gods themselves.
And yet, due to family tradition, he was a member of the Brilliant White Church, a church under the God of Light's command.
The Brilliant White Church was currently the largest religion in the world, with many of its members being royalty and nobles of various nations. Even a count wouldn't have much of a place in the church, let alone a mere knight.
That was why even though the Brilliant White Church was one of the few churches that performed miracles of resurrection every year or two, Gerald was clearly not one of them.
That was why he was so shocked when he learned that resurrection was possible in the Church of Games, and that it was done so quickly and easily.
"If you're interested, I could recommend you to join the Church of Games." Marni immediately persuaded kindly when he sensed Gerald's wavering. "You have a bright future ahead of you, but the Brilliant White Church is already bloated. Every year, they have to issue atonement certificates to their believers and tithe from the peasants to keep themselves afloat. The bloated structure has slowed their reaction speed, and the various departments in the Holy City have been fighting over authority, just as the branches across the continent are about to become a place of corruption."
"Oh my, what's the buts?!" Marni promptly struck while the iron was hot. "Didn't you lose a bet to me before? You could use that as an excuse to leave the Brilliant White Church and join the Church of Games!"
"The Church of the God of Games … May I ask, what is your doctrine?"
Gerald asked.
Marni did a double take, feeling that it wasn't right to recite the Eight Honors and Eight Disgraces … I mean, the Eight Divine Commandments.
After thinking about it for a while, he answered, "To put it simply, we would use games to bring smiles to the world!"
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Chapter 277: Bring Smiles to the World
Bring Smiles to the World with Games
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