Lying low

The three deacons were no country bumpkins; they naturally knew what this ability was—it was the ability of the Justiciar Pathway.

Moreover, to suppress them, one would need to reach at least the level of Sequence 5 Disciplinary Paladin.

They had experienced this level of capability before, primarily from MI9.

At this point, Ikanser's expression was not good. This Rules, once heard, already lacked any advantage, and it truly became a fair competition.

Those two were overjoyed. Now they no longer hoped to gain the upper hand; they were just happy to avoid being taken advantage of by the Church of Steam and Machinery. This Rules was exactly what they wanted.

Although Ikanser was very uncomfortable, there was nothing he could do. He knew that with this Rules in place, if he still disagreed, all that would be left was an endless tug-of-war.

Seeing that none of the three had any objections, Kronos immediately took out a box and three crumpled pieces of paper, and said with a smile, "I've got everything ready here. Don't worry, it'll be finished soon."

This one gesture earned him the favor of Roy and Soest.

With such thorough preparation, it's clear from the beginning that they never intended to favor the Church of Steam and Machinery.

This could be considered a miscalculation on Kronos's part; he was a bit too hasty. But it doesn't matter. If all else fails, he can just shift the blame to those two "big grudges."

Kronos tossed the three crumpled pieces of paper into the box, then slowly picked up the Decree Scroll and activated it.

As it activated, it uttered in Ancient Hermes, "Beyonder Ability are forbidden here."

Kronos uses Scroll abilities, so they don't distinguish between friend and foe, and he himself can feel this suppression.

After a brief moment of sensing, he felt he had been suppressed for at least five minutes before looking up at the three deacons opposite him and asking, "Gentlemen, how long have you been suppressed?"

Ikanser was angry, so she completely ignored him.

Finally, Soest said, "Two minutes, that should be about right."

That was enough time, and Kronos was satisfied, so he picked up the box containing the crumpled paper, shook it vigorously several times, and then handed it to Ikanser.

"Let's grab one, Captain Ikanser."

Ikanser was also proud, and since he was angry, how could he so easily give in to the excuse offered by Kronos? So he didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

Kronos laughed; this suited him perfectly. He'd let Ikanser be last, a good opportunity to boost his favor with the Church of Evernight and the Church of Storms.

So Kronos took the box directly to Soest's face. As for why not Roy, the reason is simple: Soest was closer.

Soest, of course, had no reason to ignore Kronos. He smiled, took a crumpled piece of paper from the box, and politely said, "Thank you."

Kronos nodded in acknowledgment, then handed the box to Roy.

Roy was still a little angry, but he didn't take it out on Kronos. Instead, he gently took a crumpled piece of paper out of the box.

Finally, Kronos simply placed the box in front of Ikanser, leaving it up to Ikonser to decide whether or not to take the crumpled paper out of the box.

Now that all three pieces of paper had been divided, Soest and Roy opened their respective pieces of paper.

As a result, Soest drew the best room, while Roy drew the worst room, and the middle room naturally fell to Ikanser.

Ikanser's complexion improved considerably after not being assigned to the worst room.

Roy's situation was reversed with Ikanser's; his face was a bit green, but since it was a distribution method that everyone agreed on, he couldn't make a scene.

As for Soest, his mouth was practically stretched from ear to ear; it's normal for the winner to be happy.

Kronos looked at the three deacons and then asked, "So, shall we arrange rooms for you in this order? Do you have any other requests?"

Roy actually wanted to deny the result, but when he saw that Soest and Ikanser had both nodded in agreement, he knew he had no chance to back out.

If Soest of the Church of Evernight is also dissatisfied with this result, then he and Soest could potentially overturn it.

But things are different now. Soest drew the best possible result, so how could he overturn it just to save face for the Church of Storms?

Roy had no choice but to accept it, so he nodded.

Seeing that all three agreed with the result, Kronos was quite happy, at least he didn't have to worry about it anymore.

"Since all three of you agree, I will have someone escort you to your respective rooms. If you need anything, please let us know, and we will try our best to accommodate you."

Actually, these three people came here today for this reason. After all, they are affiliated with the church, so they have some requirements for this room, which needs to have some church elements.

Therefore, the church will send someone to determine the room decorations only after the project is completed and renovations are in progress.

Finally, Kronos made an excuse and ran off, leaving the three assistant researchers to accompany the three deacons to determine the decorating style.

In fact, Kronos should have accompanied them personally, but since Kronos no longer has the ability to Avatar three, he cannot accompany all three at once. Therefore, the best solution is for him not to accompany any of them.

As for what happens to these three in the end, Kronos couldn't be bothered to care; he was already doing well just to treat them all fairly.

Even if the three of them end up arguing or even fighting, it will be none of Kronos's business. After all, the three churches can afford to compensate for any losses.

Kronos was different from the others; he wasn't afraid of trouble and was even willing to watch the show from the sidelines.

He originally planned to go home and stay there for a while after leaving this place, to hide away for a bit.

Then I thought, maybe I should go and inform Kask and Portland.

After all, they've already shifted the blame today. Even if they don't necessarily do anything about it, they should still be mentally prepared.

Although Kronos's attempt to shift blame was rather underhanded, Kask and Portland didn't seem to care much. They were simply too burdened by their debts; their feud with Saint Hilleran Cathedral was already at its peak, leaving no room for maneuver, so they weren't afraid.

However, as payment for taking the blame this time, Kronos treated the two to a good meal.

At the dinner table, Kronos mentioned that his family wanted to move back to the Midseashire.

In fact, this is the norm. Many noble families with vast fiefdoms mainly develop within their fiefdoms and only come to Backlund during a few special periods of the year for necessary social interactions.

As for those who stay in Backlund, they are either Baron or Viscount with small fiefs, so they might as well do some business in Backlund.

Either the focus of development is on politics and military affairs, Backlund is more suitable for its development, like the Duke Negan.

The Marquis Argel was in a very special situation; he rarely returned to his fiefdom simply to put the Royal Family at ease.

The Royal Family's wariness towards him has now greatly decreased, so there shouldn't be any problem even if he goes back.

"So what will happen to the Research Center now that you're back?" Kask asked.

"What do you mean, what to do? Professor Portland will naturally take charge!" Kronos said.

"My role in this wasn't very significant to begin with. If I hadn't contributed the funding, my contribution would have been at most that of a researcher. Now that the Research Center is established, what's the next step? How do we plan it out? How do we recruit people? I know nothing about any of that, so my departure won't have any impact."

Kronos's words were certainly true, but Kask and his companion were still a little uncomfortable. They had finally managed to gain control of the Research Center through scheming and intrigue, only to have one of them leave.

Seeing the two people's emotions, Kronos said, "It's nothing. I wasn't really interested in these things anyway; I just wanted to help increase the family's influence."

"If you feel I've lost out, then name the Research Center the Argel Research Center. Consider it one last favor to our family."

They both agreed to the request without any objection.

"Good that you agree, but remember to name it only when Backlund Technical University officially begins enrolling students."

The two of them were somewhat puzzled by this.

Kronos explained, "Our family has indeed been doing very well. We've kept a low profile before, so not many people probably know about it. But once we move these businesses, we'll undoubtedly be exposed to various forces, and I'm afraid it will attract the jealousy of others."

"So we should keep a low profile for now. Once our family has established itself, everything will be fine."

Of course, the most important reason for this was that by the time Backlund Technical University began enrolling students, Duke Negan had already been assassinated, the Great Smog of Backlund had occurred, and the situation had completely descended into chaos. No one would bother with trivial matters anymore.

Since this was Kronos's request, Kask and Portland naturally had no reason to refuse.

"Mr. Kask, I've heard you've been in poor condition lately. Should I speak with Duke Negan and see if he'd be willing to lend you a hand?"

At the beginning of their relationship, Kronos was simply attracted to the Wolf Family's Mask, but now that he has a good relationship with Kask, it can no longer be considered a simple transaction, which is why he was willing to offer his help.

Kask smiled and said, "No rush."