Chapter 287: Recruitment

“Although using special means for certain purposes is not impossible, it is better to have some limits on such practices.” Seeing the beating black heart before him, George couldn’t help but frown.

Actually, relatively speaking, George was not very psychologically resistant to certain practices. Although he would not do it himself, he would turn a blind eye to whatever his subordinates did.

But this did not mean he wanted everyone in his Territory to appear red in the eyes of some Paladins. It was only when they first joined the Territory that George would give such a reminder.

Sensing George’s worry, Jinluoke immediately replied: “My Lord, please rest assured on this matter. In fact, Clarice has never attacked innocent people. Moreover, in many necessary situations, other members of the team voluntarily became the sources of that blood.”

Hearing this, although George could not yet be fully certain about how much truth was in the other’s words, he still smiled and expressed his satisfaction: “Being able to do this during your own Adventurer careers is not only satisfying to me, but even a bit surprising. Of course, this is very good! Because our Territory has relatively close ties with the Church of the Just Lord and the Church of the Sun God. So, seeing the Clergy of these two Churches in the Territory in the future will be quite common.”

Seeing George act so seriously, Jinluoke knew immediately what the other meant: “What do you mean?”

“After all, in Adventuring outside, many things are often beyond one’s control. Sometimes Adventurers are forced to face choices that go against their will. So, true Adventurers who can guarantee they have not stained their hands with innocent blood after all this time are very few.” George spoke slowly, and while speaking, he did not forget to slide his index finger on the table.

Fortunately, even after such words, Jinluoke’s face and expression did not change significantly. Although it was unknown if his cultivation was good, George felt he still had to say what he needed to say: “Of course, since the past is already past, we do not need to dwell on it too much. Since you have joined our Bolerum Territory, from this moment on, you have cut ties with everything in the past. If any member of your team has a very obvious alignment shift, the Territory might even specially arrange tasks related to Atonement for them.”

“Atonement-related tasks? You don’t mean hiring Priests to cast Atonement, do you! If you really have such thoughts, then there is no need at all.” Jinluoke’s answer sounded slightly agitated. “To be honest, in our past Adventurer careers, we have also had conflicts with others for many reasons. But we have never done anything that truly crossed the line. Plus, in many task choices, we tried to lean towards helping weak groups. We even participated in forest fire rescue efforts without pay. So our alignment has never shifted to the Evil Camp. If we had to say, most members should be Chaotic Neutral!”

Atonement is one of the 5th-level spells that Priests cast the least frequently. This spell removes the burden brought by evil acts or crimes from the target.

However, the creature seeking Atonement must sincerely repent and desire to correct their crimes. If the creature committed the crime unintentionally or under duress, then usually they do not need to pay the cost to cast Atonement. But, if the creature seeking Atonement committed the crime intentionally, then you must mediate with your Deity to remove the burden from the target.

This situation could very likely damage a person’s spirit and even their power, which could take a very long time to recover from. This makes most Priests act quite cautiously before casting Atonement.

Most Spellcasters, before casting Atonement on a target, will first give the target a task or similar penance in this regard to judge whether the creature is sincerely repenting.

Atonement can be cast for different purposes, depending on the effect used. The simplest is a magical change of alignment: if a creature’s alignment was changed by magic, Atonement can immediately restore their alignment to its original state, at which point no cost is needed at all.

However, under normal circumstances, most creatures rarely choose to seek Atonement on their own, except for Paladins, Priests, or Druids.

Before this spell, Paladins who had fallen could regain their class features lost due to committing evil acts after completing an Atonement task, returning themselves from former Paladins back to formal Paladins.

Priests who lost their spellcasting ability due to angering their Deity or Druids who lost their spellcasting ability due to offending Nature could regain their spellcasting ability by seeking Atonement from other Priests of that Deity or other Druids. However, the difference in mediation cost between active and passive seeking is not just a little bit.

Besides others actively requesting a Priest to cast it, this spell can also be cast on a creature of an opposing alignment, giving it a chance to change its alignment to match the caster’s.

The target must be present throughout the entire casting process. When the spell is completed, the target can freely decide whether to keep their original alignment or accept the caster’s invitation and change their alignment to match the caster’s. If the target is unwilling to give up their old alignment, then no force or magical influence can force the target to make a decision favorable to the invitation. This use of the spell is ineffective against Extraplanar Creatures or other creatures that cannot naturally change alignment.

Although the spell is usually considered used for evil acts, Atonement can also be used on any creature that acts against its alignment, regardless of whether these acts are Evil, Good, Chaotic, or Lawful.

More importantly, this use of Atonement merely provides a reliable way to completely and quickly change a character’s alignment. However, it often does not take effect immediately, or the Atonement task before and after the casting is the real key. But this spell really does play the role of a lighthouse.

Of course, the cost required is inevitably high, which is no wonder Jinluoke reacted so excitedly. He might think that George, his future leader, values his team so much!

Of course, if this were standard treatment, it would be even better. After all, it is hard to find a boss who is so kind to his subordinates, even with a lantern! Although some Adventurers are recruited by Noble Lords every year, it should be called recruitment, not pacification. But among them, not many Adventurers truly live the life they want. Most of them don’t even get the status of a “white glove” and can only play the role of a “black glove.”

Jinluoke’s current feeling is like a rat that fell into a rice bin. Of course, as an Arcane Caster, he still maintained quite a lot of rationality.

“You being able to do this is really not easy!” Seeing the one before him make such a firm assurance, George naturally let out this sigh.

“To be honest, the most important reason we can maintain this is probably due to the nature of the two Dragonborn brothers in the team. And since Clarice needs to take revenge on her evil blood relatives, she naturally needs to build good relations with many Good Alignment Temples. For this, we have had relatively strict self-control in our daily task choices and other behaviors.” Although the words of the person before him were quite humble on the surface, the pride shown in their bones could not be hidden at all.

If such a team could manage self-control so well, George would not believe it for a second if the person before him, the team’s decision-maker, had not played a role. Of course, he was not so much being humble as advertising for the other members of his team to increase their impression in George’s mind.

George stood up and said seriously: “If that is the case, then you should be able to start working very soon. I recruited you not because we lack manpower secretly, so you now belong to the open forces of the Territory. Or rather, you belong to my direct team.”

Reaching this point, how could Jinluoke not understand that this was the key point of today’s topic! He looked at George, who was a generation younger than him, and waited quietly for him to reveal the answer.

“Normally, the open armed forces in our Duchy of Nohan’s Territory belong to the Army. Even Private Troops often belong to the regular army’s sequence, while the treatment for Militia teams is relatively much lower. I think you few would not want to mix with those Militia, right!” After George finished speaking, Jinluoke in front of him nodded.

Although the army of the Duchy of Nohan was powerful, and Bolerum Territory was one of the top parts of it, in terms of individual strength, there was still a big gap with the main members of Jinluoke’s Adventurer team. Not to mention the Militia members. Of course, Adventurer teams with strength like the one before him were not common.

Seeing that the other had already taken the bait, George struck while the iron was hot and said: “So my idea is to separate and house a few members of your team. You will temporarily serve as my Spellcasting Advisor, while the Bard Bertwiser, the Dragon Shaman Fairbanks, and the Dragonfire Sorcerer Fairbanks in the team will join the City Guard. After all, talents like this who can provide medium-range continuous enhancement effects are quite lacking in our Territory.”

Hearing this, Jinluoke frowned and asked: “Then what about Clarice!”

“To be honest, as a woman, she is not suitable to stay in the Army, and you probably know the reasons for this. Especially when going out to fight, accidents are more likely to happen.” George began to throw out his explanation step by step.

As the saying goes, “A sow is better than a fairy after three years of soldiering.” Although this world does not have the exact same rhyme, the general situation is about the same. Although one can go to the red-light district to vent during occasional leave, if there is a “girl” with a delicate face in the team, who knows what will happen.

Knowing a bit about this situation, Jinluoke also nodded. He certainly did not want his friend of many years to be in such an environment.

“In fact, I plan to establish a special Inspectorate in the Territory in a while. It will replace the current Guards and Militia to handle daily criminal acts in the Territory, to cooperate with the operation of the Tribunal to be jointly established with the Church of the Just Lord. I think that Magic Swordsman Lady would be very suitable for this new job.” After moistening his throat with a cup, George continued, “After all, her short-term curse ability can effectively weaken the opponent’s resistance. This is very favorable for the next capture work, after all, the work of the Inspectorate is to restrain living suspects, not to execute them on the spot. Of course, since staying in the city for a long time, even if most colleagues are male, the risk in that aspect is almost non-existent.”

Although having heard George’s full arrangement, Jinluoke still asked a bit uneasily: “Since it is still under construction, how will you arrange Clarice for the next period of time!”

Often, people who long to stand out are most afraid of being forgotten by their leaders. This person was clearly still considering his friend’s interests. As for other possible hidden rules, they were not in his consideration scope. After all, the atmosphere of this world is like this.

“Whether it is the preparation of the Inspectorate or the planning in the Army, it takes time. So for this period, you will temporarily still act as a small team. The focus is to send out the Vampire that might exist in our Territory. However, that Vampire’s strength is not weak, and to avoid causing a storm, this can only be done secretly. I will have some of the Territory’s spies cooperate with you, after all, in this aspect, only you are the experts under my command.” After finishing, George also reached out and patted Jinluoke on the shoulder.

“I understand, My Lord! I will never let you down.” Jinluoke made the assurance. Obviously, he saw this task as the entry fee for his team.

After the other left, George murmured to himself: “Although Atonement requires some cost, this is exactly a good opportunity to get closer to the Church of the Just Lord! It is truly a pity…”

In any struggle, there are such moments: Good people must weigh between two evils and finally choose the lesser one. This comes with huge risks: Paladins and Good Priests may lose their class features or spells, and other characters may lose the blessing of Good.

Depending on the severity of the crime, Good characters may thereby become Neutral or even Evil, whether through a catastrophic huge shift or after a long spiral downward process before finally falling.

While the Good Deities ask mortals to forgive others, they themselves will not hold grudges against mortals who once angered them forever, otherwise they would just be hypocrites.

For all Good creatures, what is implied here is a blessing and guarantee that can be relied upon: No sin is so deep that it cannot be forgiven. However, just as Justice-minded people need to pay attention when granting forgiveness to evildoers, the premise of forgiveness is repentance.

Sinners who once committed evil acts cannot simply receive an Atonement spell and then act as if nothing happened. They must first make compensation for their actions; at least try to repair any damage they caused, and offer sincere apologies to those who might still hold hatred towards them.

They must show a willingness to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future, demonstrating a true commitment to avoid Evil at all costs. In many cases, they must also complete an Atonement deed: this is mostly unrelated to repairing the harm they caused, but simply a good deed to prove their new commitment to the path of Good.

After meeting all these conditions, the Good Deities will welcome the lost sheep who turn back with full joy, and the subsequent Atonement spell can also have its full effect. However, this often does not include regaining a Paladin’s class features, regaining a Priest or Druid’s spellcasting ability, or regaining any character’s blessing reward for Good Alignment. They often have a unique process.

This is why the Good Deities are actually keen on redemption. If their own power increases by one, the enemy’s power naturally decreases by one. Of course, it also became one of the bridges for George to build relations with those Churches.

Of course, most former Paladins did not truly abandon Good. Because the stricter the behavioral standards, the harder it is to follow them through. The original Paladins did not need to believe in Deities; their power did not come from the Deity but from the world. But when a Paladin thinks that “appropriate evil acts can save others, and therefore the act itself is Good,” at this time, although his behavior may bring redemption or something to a local area, the nature of the act increases the power of Evil in the Multiverse.

For example, to save thousands of innocents from a tragic death, is it morally acceptable to use torture on an evil prisoner to extract key intelligence? Any Good character would shudder at the thought of using torture, but without a doubt, stopping the death of thousands of innocents is a noble purpose; and in this situation, a Neutral character might quickly start considering using torture.

Even the noblest characters might feel a temptation to agree when evil acts are limited to a very small scale: very Good purposes can justify milder evil means. So, is it acceptable to tell a small lie to prevent a smaller disaster? A bigger disaster? A world-ending disaster?

Unfortunately, even if you save the world, if your act itself is Evil, then you are not Good. Of course, under such conditions, the Good Alignment will usually accept you more easily, and the alignment shift will not be that serious. At the same time, your Atonement actions will often be easier and more convenient.

Benevolence, forgiveness, and ultimate redemption are the final tone of the Righteous Camp in the whole world. Although it can be very foolish at times, it also appears very cute.