Chapter 7: The Mysterious Fugitives

The winters in the Empire are extremely cold. In this world of magical civilization, the only means of heating are chimneys at best.
As a result, most people in this world avoid going outside during winter—whether it’s snow-covered roads or fiercely hungry beasts, both pose unnecessary troubles.
Compared to the Church in the south, the winters in the Empire are even colder. Most of the time, there are hardly any pedestrians on the roads, but one can see wild beasts lying in the snow, their eyes blood-red from hunger, waiting for prey.
Such as these five or six mountain wolves ahead…
They were following a group of humans from a distance, searching for an opportunity to hunt. Their hollow bellies and bloodthirsty eyes clearly indicated how hungry they were.
“Shhh…”
In the eyes of the mountain wolves, it was a group composed of creatures called humans.
In their understanding, humans were complex beings. Some were very weak and would flee in panic upon seeing them—these were prey that could be hunted. But others were extremely powerful, so powerful that they inspired fear in the wolves…
“Ugh!” Wild beasts are not without intelligence. A few mountain wolves exchanged glances before continuing to follow the group from afar.
Wolves are highly patient and cunning creatures. They would test their prey’s reactions multiple times before deciding whether to attack or leave. But these humans left them confused.
These humans were focused solely on walking ahead, appearing very weak. Yet, the wolves sensed a sense of pressure from them—a fear rooted in their instinct as beasts.
These humans were extremely dangerous!
“Archbishop, those beasts have been following us the whole way. Should we…?” A man dressed like a monk, wearing a white cloak, spoke softly within the group. His interlocutor was the old man at the front of the group, the one clad in a bright red robe.
It was a group of nine people, with the old man undoubtedly leading them. His exquisitely crafted bright red magic robe, adorned with numerous golden runes, clearly signified his noble status.
Unsurprisingly, this old man was one of the twelve cardinals of the Church, as well as one of the most powerful figures in Salonia—a white mage named Andrew Ashworth, who enjoyed great prestige both for his experience and reputation.

Cardinals, also known as archbishops, are the pope’s most trusted assistants and advisors. They are eligible to serve on the council and are usually appointed by the pope. Cardinals hold significant power; they have the right to elect the pope according to law and assist the pope collectively in handling important matters or individually in managing daily affairs.

“What a group of energetic ‘little guys’!” Father Andrew said with a smile as he glanced back and shook his head. “Eves, God says that prejudice stems from sin, provokes anger, and leads to corruption… Everything in this world is a gift from God. We must be kind and compassionate, cherish every life given by God, and never feel angry or dismissive…”

Listening to Father Andrew’s long speech, the two monks in white robes behind him smiled bitterly, lowered their heads, and said respectfully, “Yes, Your Eminence…”

The two were Father Andrew’s assistants: Brother Eves James and Brother Laurel Naber.

In the Vatican, bishops and their assistant monks not only have a hierarchical relationship but also function as mentors and apprentices. Each assistant monk handles the Vatican’s daily affairs under the guidance of their bishop. Once they become proficient, they are sent to various churches to become priests. After passing a series of rigorous tests, they may even qualify to become bishops. This is the Vatican’s basic method for training talent.

However, if they are assistant monks to cardinals, they must be exceptionally talented young people who are likely to reach the rank of cardinal in the future.

The Vatican follows the principles of chivalry from hundreds of years ago: to become a knight, one must first be trained by a knight, even if that knight is a noble.

Therefore, the monks around cardinals usually receive treatment far beyond their rank.

While Father Andrew was speaking, some wolves in the vicinity grew restless, seemingly unable to bear the pain of hunger. They growled and approached, but were immediately driven back by a cold snort.

“Hmph!”

The cold snort came from one of the six men behind Father Andrew. Unlike Father Andrew, those six men were covered in dark red robes, hiding their faces completely. Their robes, the color of human blood, were adorned with various runes, and they exuded an oppressive aura.

Unlike Father Andrew, they came from another department of the Vatican—a department the Vatican preferred to keep hidden: the Inquisition! Neither monks nor priests, they were Inquisitors! If cardinals were the Vatican’s most powerful guardians, then the Inquisitors were its sharpest spears. They possessed a faith so devout it bordered on fanaticism; they regarded anyone who threatened the Vatican or showed disrespect toward the gods as heretics and sought to eradicate them. Mad, paranoid, and fanatical, the Inquisitors were more like combat units than clergy, akin to the empire’s royal knights and mages. In some ways, these faith-driven Inquisitors were even more feared and loathed than dark mages! Although Andrew was the leader of this group, he ultimately did not have authority over the Inquisitors, who answered directly to the Pope. It worth noting that in the eyes of the Inquisitors, all dark mages in the empire were heretics who deserved divine judgment. Fortunately, though Andrew lacked authority over them, his status was enough to intimidate them. At that moment, the wolves surrounded them, blocking their path, seemingly testing them one last time. If their prey showed even the slightest sign of panic, they would pounce with growls to feast. Helplessly, the group stopped. One of the Inquisitors raised his head slightly, glanced at the lead wolf, drew his hands from his long robes, and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone, “Daring to block God’s followers—how foolish!” That bone-chilling tone even made the wolves feel fear and instinctively step back. “I, listening to divine will, in the name of God…” “Stop! Brother Chesher!” Just as the Inquisitor was about to eliminate each of those wolves, Andrew stopped him. Walter Chesher was the leader of the six Inquisitors. He glanced up at Andrew, fell silent for a moment, then retracted his hands into his robe sleeves. Throughout, the other five Inquisitors showed not the slightest expression. “Sigh!” Father Andrew shook his head after looking at these six troublesome companions, then walked straight up to the lead wolf. His right hand, emerging from his robe, held a piece of meat as he said softly, “Go away, little one!”

It was evident that the alpha wolf was highly wary of Andrew. It growled at the priest, hesitating to pounce on the human before it, but its beastly instincts told it not to. After a long silence, the alpha wolf raised its head, took the meat from Father Andrew’s hands, and growled a few times at the wolves beside it, causing them to retreat. As they left, the wolves kept looking back from time to time; perhaps the rest still wanted to seize the prey, but they dared not disobey their leader. The alpha wolf no longer showed the madness from before; instead, its eyes were filled with doubt. Humans truly are complex creatures! “A wise choice!” said the young assistant monk named Eves James with a smile. “Hehe,” Father Andrew chuckled and said earnestly, “Don’t underestimate the wisdom of beasts. Even before we humans existed, they have been surviving in the harshest conditions. Their history is longer than ours, which is enough to make us respect them… God has given them to be our companions. We must cherish life and not kill—this is God’s will!” As he spoke, he glanced at the six Inquisitors, but to his disappointment, they remained expressionless throughout, like statues standing in the cold wind. As a cardinal, Father Andrew had heard of the Inquisition, a department under the Church, more than once and had a general idea of what kind of people were involved, but he never expected them to be so cold and emotionless. Not only did the priest think so, but the two assistant monks beside him agreed. “My lord, are they really clergy?” the young Eves asked softly, looking at the Inquisitors who stood silent like statues behind him. Father Andrew shook his head with a bitter smile; this learned priest didn’t know how to answer. It was precisely because they didn’t know that the Church was reluctant to make this Inquisition department public—it would bring shame to the Church, for they were clergy, believers in God, followers of His will, white magicians, not those black magicians in the empire who only focused on the power of magic! “Cough, cough, cough!” Father Andrew coughed lightly twice. Could a cardinal cough from catching a cold? To be honest, it wasn’t funny at all! If one looked closely, it could be seen that Father Andrew’s mental state wasn’t very good.

“Bishop,” Brother Eves said worriedly, “the wind and snow are too severe on the road. Let’s find a place to rest first. I think that guy can’t have gotten far!”
“Can’t have gotten far?” Father Andrew shook his head with a bitter smile, his expression grave. “Argus BartClarkfield—don’t underestimate this man! He’s dangerous; he possesses ‘powers’ capable of changing the world, and his own strength isn’t inferior to mine…”
“His strength isn’t inferior to the Bishop? How is that possible?” Another young assistant brother, Laurel, exclaimed in shock.
“Nothing is impossible, as long as he has support behind him…” Father Andrew fell silent. To this day, he still couldn’t forget those eyes—the eyes that appeared when he used psychic magic to invade that dark magician’s soul…
That feeling…
It was as if a god was looking down on ants…
How is that possible?!
The gods must have perished in ancient times. There is only one god in the world now—the guardian of the Church, because ‘he’ is different!
But Father Andrew was certain that that man, Argus BartClarkfield, was protected by some powerful, unknown force—there was no doubt about it!
Otherwise, how could he have suffered backlash?
But what kind of force was it?
Could it really come from a god? Or perhaps a demon…
“A demon? Yeah, definitely!” Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, Argus was sitting by the campfire with those children, discussing what had just happened.
“That’s right! Only demons would do such evil things!” Lisa nodded firmly.
“Thors, are you okay?” Seeing Jiang Zhe staring silently at the flames in the campfire, Dia asked with concern.
Jiang Zhe shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, Argus teased him, “What’s wrong? I was just praising you for being decisive. Why now… Are you repenting for what you did just now? Hahaha! You just freed those pitiful people—it’s nothing at all. I forgive you in the name of God, kid!”
“Hmph!” Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes and said helplessly, “Coming from you, that doesn’t mean anything at all!”
“Huh?” Argus was stunned for a moment, then blinked and laughed. “Of course! I’m not a monk anyway. I have no interest in those weak gods!”
“Weak gods?” Scott asked in surprise. “Argus, do you mean the Light God who guards the Church?”

“What if it is? Kid?”
To be honest, Scott was somewhat displeased with Argus’s tone, but he could tell the other man had no ill intent.
“Argus, you said you’re from Salonia. Have you heard of the Light God? I’ve read in documents that all the gods perished in ancient times, and the Light God, worshipped by the Church, seems to be the only one who survived… Argus, do gods really exist?”
“The gods who protect the Church? The Light God?” Argus sneered, shaking his head dismissively. “Aren’t dark magicians those who don’t believe in gods? Heh! Kid, remember! There are no such things as gods in this world anymore…”
“That can’t be right,” Allen retorted in surprise. “When I was in Operelles, I heard that many people had seen the Church’s Light God!”
“Hmph!” Argus laughed scornfully, speaking meaningfully. “Kid! So-called gods are just powerful beings with forces beyond your imagination, people who survive through faith—there’s no way they qualify as gods!”
“Huh?” The children were stunned. Lelira asked curiously, “Argus, don’t all people in Salonia believe in gods? Don’t you believe in the existence of gods in the world?”
“Heh,” Argus shook his head and smiled softly. “The Church is the Church, and Salonia is Salonia—don’t mix them up. As for whether I believe in gods in the world… I do!”
“You believe?” Jiang Zhe, who was talking to Dia, suddenly turned around, surprised. “Weren’t you the one who said there are no gods in the world?”
Glancing at Jiang Zhe, Argus put aside his joking tone and spoke seriously, “Kid! Gods will never perish! Those so-called gods you mentioned have just left our world! The game is over; they’re tired and have chosen to sleep. That’s all. Our world is just a place for them to amuse themselves!”
“This…” Scott hesitated, looking at Argus, pushed up his glasses, and frowned. “I seem to have seen similar statements in some documents…”
Scott’s words made Argus’s expression change slightly. He seemed to realize he had said something he shouldn’t have, so he changed the subject, saying while tending the fire, “Alright, let’s stop discussing gods. It’s already dawn. Aren’t you guys going to that village called Asher?”
The children instinctively glanced at the scorched area not far away—traces left from dealing with wolf packs and werewolf corpses.

“Yes!” Scott pushed up his glasses and said in a deep voice, “We need to go and see who the hell it is who dares to trample on the empire’s laws and commit such inhumane acts!”
“What kind of guy?” A hint of contempt flashed in Argus’s eyes as he tossed a log into the fire and said indifferently, “Just a poor wretch lost because of his great power!”
“Aaron,” Lisa said softly, pulling gently at Aaron’s robe sleeve, somewhat fearful, “Do we really have to go? I think we should go see Professor Hode. I believe he won’t be angry if we apologize… If those werewolves were really villagers from Asher Village, then… then…”
“Don’t worry. No matter what, your knight will always protect you!” Aaron said cheerfully to reassure Lisa.
“Hah,” Argus sneered, as if seeing through Aaron’s thoughts, “Excessive curiosity only brings unnecessary trouble! Those werewolves just now were more like soulless corpses, poor wretches! Real werewolves aren’t that easy to deal with. I advise you to listen to that little girl and go back obediently…”
Before Argus could finish speaking, Ravia made her point in a few words.
“That kind of guy deserves no mercy!”
“Oh?” Argus looked at the girl full of justice with interest.
Of course, he was only interested in trivial matters, like the complex feelings this girl seemed to have for that kid named Thos…
But sadly, that kid Thos seemed more interested in the blue-haired girl beside him…
Hehe!
With a strange smile, Argus rubbed his chin.
“Is… is there something wrong?” Ravia couldn’t stand Argus’s mocking gaze. Feeling confused, she had the illusion that some of her thoughts had been exposed, which made her extremely uneasy.
“Oh, nothing,” Argus shook his head and rubbed his hands together. “I’ve already advised you, but… kids! Are you sure you want to go to that village?”
The children looked at each other and nodded in turn.
What a bunch of kids!
Ignorant, stupid, self-important…
But…
“Very well,” Argus tapped his left chest with his right hand and pretended to pray, “Kids! May the gods bless you!”
“Tch!” The children pouted in dissatisfaction. Although they had only spent a few hours with Argus, they got along very well, especially Aaron, who was almost shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

“What about you, Argus? Come with us. It’s such an interesting event—wouldn’t it be a shame to miss it?”
“Me?” Argus shook his head with a wry smile.
If there weren’t those annoying guys behind him, maybe he would have agreed…
Just as he was about to refuse, howls of wolves came from the direction of Asher Village, mixed with human screams…
“Hurry! It seems there’s been an accident!”
“Hey, hey!”
Watching the children run away in an instant, Argus found it amusing.
Suddenly, a human-shaped monster slowly appeared beside him. Upon closer inspection, it was clearly the white figure that had spied on the children in Rio Village a few days ago.
“Huh? How is this possible?”
Argus’s face was filled with disbelief.
“It seems those brats are in big trouble…”