Chapter 665 The Elder Priest and the Senior Acolyte

Although the followers of the Church of Wisdom prioritize knowledge over everything, they are not the type of people that will ignore the benefits of living amongst natural objects.

As such, most of the residential areas on the Church of Wisdom's territory were abound with trees and other kinds of vegetation, with the majority present at the commoner's section.

With the protection by the Church of Wisdom and its residents, the amount of the trees that can be seen in this area is so great, that one can actually call it a forest. And this forest continued to grow because of the rules laid down by the Church of Wisdom.

The Church of Wisdom itself stipulated that n.o.body has the right to indiscriminately destroy or tear down the forestry in their territory. At most, one can only obtain their needs from the forest if it was legal and acceptable in any ways.

This means that acts such as poaching, raze-cropping, and many more are banned and is punishable with death.

"….."

Due to this policy by the Church of Wisdom, most of its residents had already learnt to live amongst the greenery, with countless job options such as logging, herbal apothecary and many more as their go-to activities.

These activities became so popular to the point that the only jobs not yet overtaken were those related to the Church of Wisdom's domain, such as teaching and scholarly guides.

At most, those who work for the Church of Wisdom had to integrate their activities inside the forest, something that most can tolerate given the dogma of their faith.

One such example can be seen today, as two figures could be seen having their normal activity at the north-eastern portion of the forest.

"Senior Acolyte Rael, what the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

"Ah, n-nothing, Elder Priest! I was just collecting some weed!"

"Weed? Senior Acolyte Rael, you can't just use those lies to me. I know what those weeds are…"

"E-eh, you know about them, Elder Priest? A-are you sure about that?"

"You little! You dare doubt me, Rael?"

"N-no I did not say that Elder Priest!"

"Hmph, you can't lie to me anymore!"

"Ai! Don't chase me Elder Priest! You're making me scared!"

"You little brat! Stay there and let me catch you! You have to be disciplined right now!"

"I don't wanna!"

These two figures, both who were wearing robes that are only worn by those who work inside the Church Wisdom, were currently running in circles as one of them was chasing the other.

The one being chased was a young, vibrant-looking kid whose age was around 10. He had a tender look on his face, one that is matched well by his short, s.h.i.+ny-looking black hair and his ruddy cheeks.

His white robes complemented well with his tanned skin, and it made the kid also look competent even when his face was only full of immaturity.

The one chasing this kid on the other hand was an old geezer, who did not look like he had the happiest day in his life.

This old man was not smiling at all as he ran after the kid, and the best emotion that he can display as of now was that of exasperation.

"Hey, Rael! You little brat! I won't punish you that much! I will just impose to you the importance of diligence!"

"No! I don't wanna, Elder Priest! You will just steal my weed and sell it to those weird people inside the church!"

Judging by the conversation that these two were having right now, it seemed that the name of the kid was Rael, while the old man was only called the Elder Priest…

"H-hey! What are you saying? Are you calling the Executors weird?"

"T-those dirty people are Executors, Elder Priest? But they look like they were the sp.a.w.ns of an Evil G.o.d! Are you sure they're even human?"

"Argh! That's another offense for you, Senior Acolyte Rael!

On Rael's hand, there was a bundle of a unique-looking, fern-like plants present, which judging by the conversation that he had with Elder Priest, appeared to be the 'weed' that they are talking about.

Rael and the Elder Priest did not really elaborate what this bundle of plants are for, as they resumed their chase, this time with the old man using some items to capture the kid.

"Swoosh swoos.h.!.+"

Like a spellcaster who was about to unleash his might, the Elder Priest drew out 10 small rectangular papers from his robes. Each of this paper was filled with symbols and undecipherable scrawling, with a large, three-pupiled eye present on their center portions.

These scrawling and symbols are hard to decipher with one look, although one can easily feel the power hidden in them.

As for three-pupiled eye, it only added a sense of mystery on these papers.

"Wesh….."

Once these papers were revealed, the Elder Priest grinned victoriuously, making it seem that he had won already. He did not even look that mad even when he almost tripped on a nearby root.

"!!!" The still-running away Rael saw all of this, and he was quickly terrified, as if he had seen the worst thing in his life already.

"Ah!!! Don't throw those talismans at me, Elder Priest! They just wrap around me like those slimy vines! It's disgusting!"

"You! Don't compare these Wisdom Talismans to those unholy monstrosities! Where did you even learn to make that kind of comparison? Don't tell me you've been talking to those immigrants again, Rael?"

"What? But those immigrants are telling me good stories, Elder Priest! What's bad with that?"

"Argh!!! That's another violation for you, Rael! You of all people should know that us followers of the Church of Wisdom cannot just talk to those whose ident.i.ties have not been verified yet! How many times should I tell you that?"

"But Elder Priest! These immigrants that I met are poor! There is no way that they can get verified by our Church yet…."

"…Ugh, so they are not only immigrants, but also refugees?"

"Um, yes Elder Priest. They told me that they escaped from the clutches of the Element Abode…."

"Oh really, they told you that, Rael? And you believed them?"

"Well, they sounded sincere, Elder Priest, so I kinda believed them…"

"… Rael, did these immigrants at least showed their IDs to you?"

"….No, Elder Priest. They just told me their names. But they gave me food, so they must be nice, right?"

"Argh, Korno's Beard! You did not even ask for their IDs? How stupid can you be, huh? You're a Senior Acolyte of the Church of Wisdom, so you should be wise! But look at what you are doing! Not only are you talking to those dangerous people, you're even selling products that only adults use!"

"Ahhh!!! Don't throw those talismans to me please, Elder Priest! I promise to you I will behave next time!"

"Behave my a.s.s! I know that even if I catch you today, you will never learn! Hmph, maybe you deserve a visit on the Knowledge Vault for all these transgressions today…"

"No!!! I don't want to go there, Elder Priest! It's just boring!"

"…."

At this point in time, the chase between the Rael and the Elder Priest brought them near to the edge of the Church of Wisdom's territory. The thinning of the forest made this more apparent, and the two quickly noticed this.

"Rael, I am telling you already. Stop running away and let me catch you. Don't worry, we will just make you read new books today. It will be nothing like your Initiation Day…"

"…Elder Priest, you will punish me by making me read books? How is that a punishment? Won't this be just another reading session?"

"Y-you will see it later, Senior Acolyte Rael. Now, are you ready to be captured?"

"No! If you want to catch me, then catch me if you can!"

"Argh!!!"

With the lack of places to run through, it appeared as if the chase was about to come to an end. But since the kid did not show any signs of stopping, the chase went on, and it seemed that it will continue for a longer time…

"Rael, I only showed you these Wisdom Talismans to scare you into stopping. I thought that might work, but your stubborn a.s.s clearly does not get my intentions. Hmph, since you're like this, then I might as well use these talismans to good use."

"Ah! Okay, okay, I am stopping now, Elder Priest! But… can you remove the Wisdom Talismans first? They are making me feel scared…"

"You don't have the privileges to make me do stuff, Rael. If you don't want to be hurt, then you should follow what I told you. Stop moving, and don't resist capture."

"…."

"Oi, why are you still running? And why are you speeding up again, huh? I told you to stop, so stop!"

"Blegh! I changed my mind, Elder Priest! Let's continue running until we get tired! Hehehe, I will only stop once I can't run anymore…."

"You!!!"

The Elder Priest looked like he wanted to do nothing more but to grab Rael and start whacking him, but there was something stopping the former from doing that.

As for what could this be, the Elder Priest did not explain it. He just let out a sigh as he resumed chasing the kid.

"…"

"…."

10 minutes more pa.s.sed by, and the status of the chase still has not changed. The kid did not show signs of stopping, while the old man was clearly holding himself back.

Such state was enough to drive the Elder Priest helpless, and it made him look so desperate, that he seemed interested on performing a drastic action just to change the situation.

But fortunately for him, there was a surprising event that appeared nearby, one which was enough to make them both stop.

"Hong long~"

A distortion in s.p.a.ce, one that was enough to warp the nearby rocks and trees near it, has appeared 5 meters in front of Rael and the old man.

This distortion appeared instantaneously on that spot, which left the two observers in shock as they quickly observed it.

"Hey Elder Priest! This spatial distortion means… that someone is teleporting to this place, right? If that's what this is, then how could it be possible? Isn't our territory immune from this kind of activities?"

"You are right, Rael. Someone is indeed teleporting here. But don't ask me how could it appear here. I also have no idea…"

"…."

The kid and the Elder Priest had already forgotten about their chase already, as their attention was piqued by the event in front of them.

Both were in a constant state of tension, with Rael showing signs of wanting to run away, and the Elder Priest gripping his talismans tighter, as if he was waiting for a moment to immediately use it.

"Hong long~"

The tension inside these 2 reached its peak when 5 seconds later, the spatial distortion disappeared.

In place of this spatial distortion, 3 people suddenly appeared.

All these 3 people were women, although they did not show any signs of feminity that are common with the majority of women in the Church of Wisdom.

Instead of looking like they were here to teach about the wisdom of Elwon, these newcomer women appeared to be more interested on waging a battle.

Just the murderous look on the faces of these women were enough to show that, and the katana held by one of them just made that worse.

"!!!"

Once these 3 women made their presence known, the kid and the old man instantly became doused with fear, as they realized that they were facing 3 people who had the power to barge recklessly inside their territory.

This fear just increased when the katana-wielding woman began speaking, with her hoa.r.s.e voice enough to elicit a s.h.i.+ver from the two.

"You two… is this place under the rule of a Church? If so, what religion is it? Answer these questions of mine properly, and I promise nothing bad will happen. But if you try crossing on us, it will not only be my katana that you will be meeting…"