Dartmenly

Naimus had Pur test his current physical condition, then reached a conclusion.

"The value has risen from around three to seven."

"If Deep Well Water and Whale-ification Disease become more familiar with each other, raising the value to eight or nine in the end won't be a problem."

Looking at Pur, whose body was covered in black spots, Naimus finally declared the experiment a preliminary success—though only preliminary.

The current improvement was still too small. What Naimus wanted were powerful individuals like the Whale-ification Demon, not Village Guardians he could deal with casually.

"Besides that, there are the changes in faith."

"Sure enough, relatively pure Power of Faith differs from the faith formed around natural objects and abstract concepts."

"Then I more or less have a method for purifying the Power of Faith."

Pure faith, faith filled with stray thoughts, natural faith—though all were faith, they displayed different properties.

"Then how does Divinity identify stray thoughts?" Naimus examined himself. The stray thoughts upon the Holy Nail were still conspicuous.

"Or rather, how does Divinity determine which part is pure faith?"

After Naimus raised this fundamental question, his thoughts naturally turned toward something even more fundamental—Precept.

The Divinity he possessed was the Precept Divinity, not the Divinity of anything else.

Then naturally, Divinity judged stray thoughts based on whether they conformed to Precept.

Naimus entered the Holy Nail once more and stirred the stray thoughts upon it—I want to marry an obedient woman.

As he followed those stray thoughts deeper into the faith, he set Precept into motion.

He was no longer subtracting based on assumptions. Instead, he was adding.

Naimus added a new thought to it—I myself shall remain faithful; this shall be my Precept!

His own fidelity was the Precept, while marrying an obedient woman was the result of practicing that Precept.

With Precept at its core, that trace of stray thought was brought under Precept's control.

The original stray thoughts rapidly melted away, becoming part of the Power of Faith.

Though he had been adding, introducing another thought, the result was subtraction.

"Not bad. Keep it up."

Just as Naimus was about to continue, someone knocked on the door outside.

When he opened it, Naimus saw Downs, who brought bad news—people from The Church had arrived early.

Naimus raised a brow, but he was not particularly surprised.

This world was not fixed. Like a strategy game, enemies could not possibly act strictly according to a set order and schedule.

The Old Priest had said they would arrive in three days. Since they had come early, they clearly wanted to catch them off guard.

"Looks like they're either eager to earn merit or in a hurry to cause trouble!"

"That works too." After making a rough judgment of his opponents, Naimus set out at once.

This group had come by the road behind the village. They were from Tail-Wagging Town.

They were currently waiting at the church.

By the time Naimus arrived, quite a few people had gathered.

That included the Village Guardian.

He was checking the accompanying personnel for infections such as Nest Beasts.

There had once been an incident in the village where someone had gone out into the wilderness without realizing they had been pricked by a Nest Beast's black fur. After returning home, they had collapsed unconscious.

Afterward, that person alone had bred an entire nest of Nest Beasts.

More than a dozen Nest Beasts had rampaged through the village, causing considerable damage.

So whenever possible, anyone returning to the village would generally have the Village Guardian inspect them.

At that moment, the Old Priest was speaking with two "young people."

The instant Naimus arrived, one of the young men noticed him. His sharp gaze immediately stabbed toward Naimus.

His lips moved, and Naimus, who had learned lip-reading, immediately recognized the word he was saying—traitor.

"Dartmenly?" Upon seeing him, Naimus searched his memories and found information about him—one of Nigel's "cousins."

When Nigel had "defected" from the family, the other man had still been undergoing basic Paladin training and had not had much contact with Nigel.

It seemed Dartmenly's movement had alerted the other young person.

The beautiful woman in pure white priestly robes also turned around and looked at Naimus curiously.

She had smooth golden hair that made her fair face all the more striking. Her ice-blue pupils were like a lake's surface, exquisite yet carrying a hint of distance.

The tear-shaped beauty mark beneath the corner of her eye was the perfect adornment—cool and alluring.

A woman like this was simply a natural Fairy, born to stir a man's desire to conquer.

Just like now, Dartmenly subtly shifted his footing to partially block Naimus's line of sight, as though allowing Naimus to look at the female priest one moment longer would be a desecration.

What he failed to notice was that his naked possessiveness made the female priest behind him frown slightly.

"Nigel, you came at just the right time. Let me introduce you." Seemingly unaware of the tension, the Old Priest spoke.

"This is Lady Isabella, a newly arrived trainee priest."

"This is Jacques..."

"Jacques Dartmenly!" Before the Old Priest could finish, Nigel's younger cousin proudly announced his name, placing particular emphasis on Dartmenly.

"Nigel, what a coincidence—you're also named Dartmenly." Naimus was not angered by the other man's provocation and rudeness. Instead, he introduced himself with a smile.

That angered Jacques quite a bit.

"How dare you still—" Jacques immediately began to angrily rebuke Naimus, but fortunately Isabella still had some sense and tugged at his sleeve. Only then did Jacques suppress his rage, turning it into a sarcastic remark.

"The surname may be the same, but some people no longer have a home and have become stray dogs."

"The child doesn't know any better. Please be understanding." Naimus did not respond to Jacques at all, instead saying this to Isabella and the Old Priest, as though he had become Jacques's guardian.

That tone made Jacques burn with anger, as though he might explode at any moment.

Still, he retained some rationality. Isabella's earlier reminder also helped him maintain a measure of decorum.

"Nigel has been removed from the family register and no longer has any connection to the Dartmenly Family. Please do not use such misleading words to interfere with others' judgment." After taking a deep breath, Jacques said this as calmly as he could.

"You're very much like I was when I was young. I hope you can maintain that sense of honor." Naimus would not let himself be provoked. The status of the Dartmenly Family? To him, it was merely an identity—and Nigel's identity at that.

"While you still can, eat more meat."

This book has no female lead. Isabella is a character submitted by reader "Mature Establishment" in the minor-character thread. Jacques was deliberately arranged because I saw a familiar name. Does anyone still remember?