Chapter 003: The World Is Like a Chess Game

Nicholas walked slowly through the cathedral of the Holy See, his face bearing an expression of extreme complexity that added a touch of heartbreak to his features (of course, from the perspective of those who disapprove of same-sex relationships). He moved step by step, seemingly distracted, even ignoring the priests and nuns who greeted him along the way.

Fortunately, he was regarded as a saint, so these clergy members dared not look him directly in the eyes; otherwise, if his expression had been seen, it might have caused trouble.

Finally, after passing through a long corridor filled with religious symbols, he arrived at a small garden. Nicholas sighed slightly before restoring his calm expression. He then stood at the entrance of the garden, silent.

After a long while, a voice filled with piety and sanctity spoke, “Is it Nicholas? Come in!”

Nicholas quickly adjusted his robes and entered slowly, with a devout expression. After passing through a field of flowers, he arrived in a rather dilapidated garden.

Unlike the splendid cathedral outside, this small garden, though tidy, seemed to have a sense of decay. The surrounding buildings had collapsed sometime ago, with their white railings and fences lying on the ground, yet they were clean and polished.

Anthony stood at the center of the garden, seemingly observing the ruined surroundings. Sensing Nicholas’s arrival, he said calmly, “Nicholas, I ask you… do you believe that everything in the world has a beginning and an end? That whatever is created will be destroyed, and whatever begins will end?”

Nicholas was momentarily stunned but still bowed slightly and replied, “Your Eminence, you are right… everything has a beginning and an end. Aside from the supreme gods, what else is indestructible?”

“Gods?” Anthony turned to look at Nicholas with a strange tone. “Even gods—are they truly indestructible?”

Such words spoken by Archbishop Anthony were an extreme blasphemy. Even Nicholas, in his position, dared not reply, only lowering his head, nearly drenched in cold sweat.

Seeing this, Anthony seemed unbothered, merely smiling faintly and saying, “Child… your heart has already wavered… This is truly a rare and precious thing for someone who claims to be a saint!”
Hearing these words, Nicholas hurriedly bowed and said, “My lord, you misunderstand… I just…”
But before Nicholas could finish speaking, Anthony shook his head slightly and said, “Enough. Today we’re not here to discuss this issue; there are more important matters to address… Nicholas, I ask you, you’ve been working hard to heal Du Fan’s wounds these past days—six days, right? So, what do you think of those six days?”
Upon hearing this, Nicholas raised his brows slightly but still replied calmly, “Priest Du Fan… I’m afraid he is beyond saving! Even if I tried, or even if you did, or even His Holiness the Pope… it’s likely impossible to save his life… If he can survive at all, it would only be out of the gods’ mercy!”
“The gods?” Anthony smiled. “Du Fan is known as the most devout priest in history. So, Nicholas, do you think… the gods would save their devout believer?”
Hearing this, Nicholas was stunned and momentarily lost in thought before murmuring, “I… I dare not guess rashly…”
A strange smile appeared on Anthony’s face. After a moment, he said calmly, “In the eyes of the gods, the world is like a chessboard. This Roland Continent is a vast chessboard, with all living beings as pieces, the strong as queens… Whether we are devout or blasphemous, to the lofty gods, it’s all just pawns! Even a queen is still just a piece… So tell me, would the lofty gods reach out to save a pawn who believes in them?”
Nicholas dared not answer.
Anthony remained calm. “I think you should know the answer without me telling you… It’s no. So, even if Du Fan is saved, it won’t be thanks to the gods—it will simply be his fate!”
Nicholas frowned for a moment before saying, “My lord, I still don’t understand… You’ve always said that Du Fan is of great significance to my Holy Church. So… why aren’t you worried about his safety now?”
Anthony smiled. “When did I say I wasn’t worried about his safety?”
“And when did I say… that something would happen to Du Fan?”
After saying this, Anthony’s smile grew even more eerie.

Nicholas simply shook his head and said, “My lord, I still don’t understand…”
“You don’t need to understand,” Anthony said cheerfully. “It’s all already part of my plan… Du Fan can’t die yet!”
…
Night had fallen. In the imperial city, soldiers were constantly on patrol. After the recent coup, patrols were even more intense and strict than usual, as such critical moments were when problems were most likely to arise.
On the walls of the imperial city, torches burned everywhere, creating bright pathways. Soldiers in heavy armor walked along these paths, making a rhythmic “clacking” sound that added some noise to the quiet night.
After the clacking sound faded, a gentle breeze blew—just enough to extinguish the two torches lining the path. Suddenly, a patch of darkness appeared on the otherwise well-lit walls. From a distance, it wasn’t clear, but the darkness created a visual blind spot.
Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in that blind spot. In less than the time it took to blink, it had crossed several meters of wall. The figure then made a slight gesture backward, and soon another figure appeared from outside the wall.
Less than a minute after those two figures passed through, another pair of patrol soldiers arrived nearby. They noticed the extinguished torches. Though puzzled, they lit them again.
By now, those two figures had already landed below the walls, inside the imperial city.
In the darkness, it was faintly visible that both of them were wearing black nightwear that covered their heads, leaving only their eyes exposed. Yet both figures had extremely curvaceous figures, making it obvious at a glance that they were women.
These two women seemed to know the imperial city like the back of their hand. Although they made noise while walking and there were soldiers patrolling everywhere, they always managed to avoid the patrols at the right moments and slip toward the side halls of the palace.
Before long, they arrived outside the side hall.

Outside the side hall, the security here was stricter than anywhere else in the imperial city. In addition to the constantly patrolling soldiers, there were also a dozen energetic soldiers standing at the entrance of the side hall, their eyes scanning the surroundings continuously… They had received strict orders: unless permitted by Prince Fischer, anyone who entered this place without authorization would be executed on the spot!

The two women stood in the darkness in the distance, observing for a while before one of them said anxiously, “What do we do now? Those guys are standing there like statues—do they think they’re immovable?”

The other woman spoke calmly, “Why are you in such a hurry? We certainly have ways to deal with them. Even you could take care of those dozen people in the blink of an eye, right?”

“But didn’t you say…”

Before she could finish, the other woman hissed, “Shh!” Then she made some strange gestures with her hands, and suddenly both of them vanished completely into the darkness, disappearing without a trace.

Less than a moment later, a squad of cavalry on training arrived. After searching carefully around, one of them muttered, “Damn it! I clearly heard noises just now!”

Another laughed and said, “Did you drink too much horse urine? Do you think we’re not already nervous enough?”

With that, the soldiers left, laughing and joking.

After they left, the two women hidden in the darkness sighed. One said, “Phew, that was close… We almost got discovered!”

The other snorted and said, “With our abilities, do we really need to go through all this trouble to get in? With just a simple spell, we could enter however we want. Acting so sneaky and trying not to reveal even the slightest trace of our presence—do you really think I’m an assassin? I’m a shaman priest, not an assassin!”