Cthulhu Gonfalon

Chapter 197: Chapter 67

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The festive atmosphere filled the entire estate. Everyone was radiant with joy.

The merriment was resulting from the feudal lord’s having finally welcomed his son that day. He had been having trouble having a descendant to the throne, so now the previous worry regarding the inheritance of the manor, which had been troubling him so much, was finally resolved!

It was a great, joyous occasion, especially since having a noble without an heir meant that the manor would be revoked after the noble died. Not only would that mean the end of his family line, but it would also mean that his underings would lose their protection as well. This included even the people that worked and resided in the manor.

Should such a thing occur, a new noble owner would spend an enormous amount of money to acquire the manor. Most often, these new nobles were greedy and brutal, as they would want to show their power at the beginning, their targets naturally being the people that resided within the manor.

Thinking about that kind of situation, of which they were now able to joyuosly be saved from, gave people goosebumps.

Comparatively, the manor that they had now, although he wasn’t that reliable, at least their current noble wasn’t a bad person. The people knew him well enough to believe that the continued rule by this family would be the best thing.

When Sui Xiong came to the estate secretly, he saw this atmosphere of cheer and laughter. With his divine power, he could tell that the commoners were simple and transparent. After looking at them for a while, he nodded and was also happy.

“The manor owner seems like a good person. I am glad that I didn’t save the wrong person.”

After a while, he saw that the feudal lord was leading a bunch of people towards the newly built Void Mask statue for prayers. The baron was glowing with health, smiling widely.

In fact, he appeared to be a totally different person from the one who was previously so forlorn looking. He could see the light of belief and hope beaming strongly within the new father’s bright eyes. It seemed like he had already become Sui Xiong’s devoted believer.

Sui Xiong shook his head lightly. Once the ceremony ended, he took form before him secretly, saying, “You have a son now, and it is joyful news. Why bother with such a grand ceremony?!”

He then said, “The scale of your estate doesn’t seem that big, and it doesn’t look like it has much money. So, what’s the point of keeping up such appearances?”

The baron smiled but did not debate him. He only thanked him continuously.

Sui Xiong made a casual remark back, but in the end, he didn’t mind too much. He chatted a while, and couldn’t help but ask the man how he had provoked the Goddess of Family. After all, a commoner that provoked a God wasn’t a common sight. Normally, only experts at the level of Leon could piss a God off, at least to the point of their being punished!

But when he asked about this, he was caught in a ridiculously awkward position. Back then, the reason why the man pissed off the Goddess of Family, was due to an incident that had occured. In this incident, he had acted as a matchmaker, in order to bring a pair of youngsters together. The girl among the couple happened to be a Holy Daughter from the church of the Goddess of Family.

Most of the church practiced the system of the Holy Son. This meant that he was a talent who was specially nurtured, and was designated for God to possess when God descended. This kind of talent would be called the Holy Daughter, should it have been a girl.

Regardless of whether it be a Holy Son or Holy Daughter, they generally had strict requirements. The most important requirement of a Holy Daughter to the Goddess of Family was to be ascetic...

“You are extremely audacious! How dare you assist someone else to seduce the Holy Daughter of another’s church?! You weren’t beaten to death, and for that, you should consider yourself extremely lucky!”

After he found out what had happened, Sui Xiong couldn’t help but tease him.

“Such injustice, Your Majesty! I didn’t know at all then!” The baron bemoaned against the said injustice. “Until I sent them off to the boat, so that they could flee to a faraway place, and then opened the present that they had left for me, I didn’t realize that I would be in such big trouble!”

After he found out the truth, the man was so afraid, he didn’t even return to his hotel, but left his luggage and started to run away immediately. Luckily, he ran fast enough, so that the knights from the church of the Goddess of Family couldn’t catch up with him. Thus, he managed to escape.

However, although he managed to escape the chase of a commoner, he didn’t manage to escape the punishment of a God. The Goddess of Family cursed him, decreeing that he would die without an heir.

That had been fifteen or sixteen years ago. He was only seventeen to eighteen years old at the time. Now, he was already a middle-aged man in his thirties!

Sui Xiong heard this story, then nodded lightly. He asked, “Now that you have a child, what do you plan to do? I’m telling you, although I am able to resolve the curse for you, the rage of the Goddess of Family has yet to vanish. You need to mollify her still.”

“If I had a way to, don’t you think I would have by now?”

Sui Xiong thought about what the noble said, agreeing that it was indeed a difficult fix. As the saying appropriately puts it, “One can be a thief for 1,000 days, but how is it possible to defend against thieves for a 1,000 days?” Hence, even if Sui Xiong could defend him right now at the moment, how could he defend him for life?!

In the world, if one wanted the strength to protect oneself from a God’s anger, he would at least have to be a legendary expert like Leon. This unlucky man wasn’t even on par with a beginner adventurer of the lowest standard. He was merely a rookie.

He pondered the situation, then tried to send a message to the Goddess of Family, asking how he could calm the Goddess down, wondering how he could let the commoner, who was punished for a dozen years already, off the hook. The Goddess of Family replied very quickly. She expressed that, as long as the noble contributes a child to Her, becoming the Holy Son of Her church, she would let the whole incident go.

The baron’s face suddenly grew grave. He had finally gotten a son, who he had to keep in order to inherit the family property. So, how could he send his child to the church of the Goddess of Family to be a Holy Son?

However, Sui Xiong had an idea. “What are you afraid of? The Goddess of Family didn’t give you a deadline for that!”

“Huh?”

“You are only thirty plus years old. Work harder and give birth to a few children from now on. What is so difficult about that?”

The baron then realized the truth of this, then finally relaxed.

In the temple, where light shines at every corner, the Goddess of Family, who was elegant and poised, sighed and shook Her head.

“How was it?” the tall and dignified shadow asked.

“Although he is willing to reason, he is cunning.” the Goddess of Family said. “It won’t be easy to bring him under control!”

“It shouldn’t be easy. After all, he is an expert that can nurture the God of Knowledge!” The dignified shadow smiled as he spoke, “No matter how difficult it is, you got to give it a try. Maybe He isn’t worth much Himself, but His God follower was greatly significant. If we could recruit Him into the human God system, it would be extremely beneficial to our development and growth!”

“It’s actually quite interesting, just to think about this. Since the very beginning, there were many people that took the path of wisdom and culture, but there’s only one person that took the crucial leap to realize the segregation of wisdom. Although it was just a matter of time, it happened to take place right now, and it happened at the hands of His believer! It does give one a very strange feeling.”

The shadow that was beaming touched His chubby chin, thinking as he mumbled to himself, “Unless... We are back to the era, where winds and clouds agitate the realm, and the huge jellyfish is the crucial person that will bear the fate!”

“Haha... It can’t be! How could the fate of the world be borne by a jellyfish?!” He laughed hysterically, seeming to find himself very humorous.

The Goddess of Family hesitated, then asked, “Your Majesty... If we take in the God of Knowledge, it means that we are going against the Master of Mystery...”

“What’s wrong with going against Him?” The tall shadow laughed. “The others are afraid of Him, but I am not! My Buddha Hammer has been lonely for so many years. It’d be great to have an opponent to practice on!”

Sui Xiong, of course, wouldn’t know the things that happened in this other holy kingdom. He solved the baron’s problem, then he stayed temporarily in his manor in order to demonstrate the building of his temple.

The baron’s surname was Henry. Under Sui Xiong’s suggestion, he named his eldest son Ou.

“What so special about that name?” Baron Henry asked.

“Of course, it’s meaningful. It means that he will become a cultural person.” Sui Xiong spoke assertively, seeming to reply with great seriousness.

Baron Henry was satisfied with the answer. He was also satisfied with the plan for his child’s future, which had been suggested by Void Mask Majesty.

Of course, he didn’t know that Sui Xiong was thinking that...

This name suits a comedian, and he would have a bright future if he performed comedic dialogues!

Baron Henry wasn’t wealthy, and the temple wasn’t exactly big. Even so, it was bearable by Baron Henry alone. The reason why it could be built so smoothly was mainly because he received the support of the Void Mask church. It was also because it relied on the use of the transportation portal to transport sufficient wealth and manpower to complete it.

It wasn’t like any normal temple that used high arches and stone pillars. It didn’t have any majestic statues and luxuries, except for a few paintings on the walls. Instead, it was a simple house that was built with bricks and wood. By the way, among those paintings, there were a few signed by the artist “Harrod,” which was actually a pseudonym that Sui Xiong gave himself.

A few days before the first snow, the temple was finally completed, so they organized the very first regular offering. The one that hosted the entire offering ceremony was the wolfman reconnoiter, who shifted his membership to the Void Mask church, due to his passion for delicious food. His name was Miramon.

The food lover, who had turned into a half orc from once being a full orc, had learned to cook at the Void Mask’s theme park, before finally becoming a proud high priest in the end.

Why would someone, who was learning to cook as his livelihood, then become a high priest? This trivial matter didn’t seem worth digging it to at the moment ...

All in all, after transferring as a high priest, Miramon did quite well. He was qualified and met every standard. Even aside from the ceremonies of the church, he always brought the believers feasts. Even though there were mostly home-cooked foods readily available, his exquisite cooking skills and sensitive taste buds seized control of everyone’s stomachs, which contributed greatly to the expansion of the belief within the Void Mask church.

Mm, very well, very well...