Although Ed didn't want these foolish guards to feel too guilty, and since the act was meant to be convincing, he still mentally reminded Seraphina that someone would apologize to her later.
The dragon was naturally unconcerned, and the guards, seeing Ed bathed in sunlight as if blessed by the Tree God, were completely convinced.
If Ed had previously only used information asymmetry to make Duolin and the others doubt and misunderstand the Tree Worship Church, forcing them to rely on him, then now he had completely assimilated them ideologically, and none of them would ever have the possibility of betraying him again.
With the wicker chair beneath them disappearing, the five people regained their freedom.
Duolin led the way by crossing his arms in front of his chest, closing his eyes, and bowing deeply in a grand gesture of respect typical of the Holy See.
The other four followed suit, Ed accepted their greetings as a matter of course, then brought up the last thing:
"Because more members from other races will join after the Second Holy See, it will be difficult for tree seeds to continue circulating as currency within the Holy See..."
He walked down from the junction of the first and second floors and handed five money bags to the guards:
" The Second Holy See will still use gold, silver, and copper coins as the general equivalent. This is your start-up capital; you can use it to buy whatever you want."
Thinking of the players' imaginative ideas and some of their bizarre thoughts, he added:
"As for those Elite Warrior, they are in a very strange state; they are not simply alive."
"So these people will do all sorts of strange things. If they need something from you, you're free to decide what to do. If you're not sure, you can come here to find me."
The five guards accepted the money bag with some surprise. It wasn't that they were particularly fond of money; it was simply because, as an organization full of people in a vegetative state, the Tree Worship Church actually had very little need for food. Therefore, commerce within the cult was not well-developed, and people mostly used different types of trees as currency for small transactions.
Gold, silver, and copper were very rare to them; they knew of their existence but had almost never owned or come into contact with them.
After seeing off the five loyal guards, Ed soon received a message from Seraphina on the "local area network," saying that Duolin had apologized to her with those men, on the grounds of malicious exclusion and speculation.
"Well."
Seraphina sighed in Ed's mind:
"If those five people had been as polite as they are, I wouldn't have burned them to ashes in one bite."
Ed's lips twitched, and he suddenly remembered a somewhat illogical plot point, so he asked Seraphina:
"Did you really sign a non-aggression pact with the Tree Worship Church?"
"Of course, even the Dragonborn Village knows about this, how could it be fake?"
Seraphina didn't take it seriously.
"Then why didn't you break the contract when you killed those five priests? Or did you use some kind of cover-up?"
"None of those."
Seraphina scoffed:
"The five of them trespassed on my territory without permission, took my money, and then tried to leave unscathed. This already violates the contract."
Ed immediately understood the logic: it was like the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which automatically became invalid when one side chose to launch a blitzkrieg, while the other side gained the right to retaliate the moment it was attacked.
Although it may not have been intentional, the unknown bishop was still in breach of contract by trespassing on private property.
"So that's how it is..."
Ed asked thoughtfully:
"And now? Where have the Tree Worship Church advanced to before you decide to intervene?"
Clearly, Ed's freeloading addiction has kicked in again. With such a super security guard in front of him, he feels restless if he doesn't take advantage of him.
Unfortunately, Seraphina's intelligence wasn't low either. Of course, she might have picked up some business acumen from being around Ed, as she showed an unexpectedly keen sensitivity to this matter.
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, huh? Trying to take advantage of me? Unless the Tree Worship Church comes to rob a bank, I'll only act after I've been hired."
The unexpected attempt to get something for free failed as expected, but Ed just gave a perfunctory sigh.
He knew that as a debtor who had borrowed a large sum of money from Seraphina, she wouldn't let herself die easily.
Therefore, Ed suspects that Seraphina actually has a hidden condition for intervening: when she is in a dangerous situation.
Unfortunately, he's a very risk-averse person, and all his seemingly high-risk, high-reward actions actually had backup plans, making it difficult to verify this speculation...
Duolin and the other four walked near the castle, they still felt somewhat surreal. Bishop Adrian's sermon was different from that of the priests of the Holy See, which both shocked them and made them feel that things could indeed be considered from those directions.
So, does this mean the Second Holy See will henceforth accept believers from other races?
It seems... it's not entirely impossible.
The thought that those demons who had rebelled for thousands of years could once again gather under the Tree God made Duolin's body tremble uncontrollably.
Just then, an Elite Warrior with an excited expression ran over from a distance. Duolin met his eyes and confirmed that the man was looking for him.
He recognized the man's face very well. In yesterday's battle against the wooden house, it was he who first found the opponent's weakness and proposed the leg-cutting tactic, thus saving the opponent's life and allowing him to escape being turned into mincemeat.
The man quickly approached Duolin and asked impatiently:
"Captain Duolin, may I learn a skill from you?"
What is a 'skill'?
Duolin imitated the pronunciation of that special word, which is the drawback of Little Green's translation. It cannot accurately translate some words that only players would use, and it will only choose to transliterate them in a lame way.
[ Howling Pothos ] roughly understood the other party's confusion and began gesturing with both hands in front of her:
"It's that thing that can transform its arms into swords, and axes..."
Duolin suddenly realized:
You're talking about Directed Alienation, aren't you?
As he spoke, Duolin focused his attention on his right hand, quickly recreating the axe and knight's sword from yesterday's battle.
"Yes, yes, that's it!"
[ Howling Pothos ] looked at Duolin with excitement:
"I'd like to learn this skill from you. What do I need to do in return?"
Duolin looked at [ Howling Pothos ] in surprise:
"You, none of you know how to Directed Alienation?"
[ Howling Pothos ] reaches out and scratches its head:
"Should we?"
"Of course, this is the basic ability of Tree Worship Church member. As Elite Warrior, you should..."
Duolin suddenly remembered Bishop Adrian's earlier warning—"The state of those Elite Warrior is strange; they're not simply alive..."
Recalling the previous battles, although these people were quick-witted and brave in combat, they showed little sign of training and were clearly not very skilled in tactics.
Where did these Elite Warrior come from?