Chapter 68: Everyone’s Night

“The Judge of Justice and Fairness, who came from another world with ideals; the war against the Chaotic Demon Dog never extinguished the fire in your heart; enlightenment and protection are gifts given to Humans, while order and compromise are the heavy burdens you bear. For a harmonious and perfect society, you and…” The hymn echoed in the spacious semi-enclosed space with a rhythmic and varied tone. If George were here, he would immediately recognize that the power ful and clear voice belonged to High Priest Virginia.

This High Priest, who looked more like a soldier than a priest, knelt on the stone slab before the altar. His expression was solemn and serious. As he chanted, faint lights of kindness and order began to appear beside him. Finally, they became so clear that even the naked eye could see them as two streams of light circling around High Priest Virginia’s sheer veil. The pale blue and milky white Spirit Lights surged and rippled like water waves before merging together and spreading outward. This made the entire prayer room seem as if it were covered in fog.

On the altar in front of High Priest Virginia lay the copy of the plan that George had left there earlier that day. It seemed that High Priest Virginia valued it even more than he had shown during his previous conversation with George. Soon, fluorescent lights began to flash continuously on the book, as if it were scanning and analyzing something. At the same time, beads of sweat appeared on High Priest Virginia’s forehead, something that should not have happened to a powerful figure of his strength.

Suddenly, the Spirit Lights around High Priest Virginia flowed into his body as fast as water sucked up by a pump. This near-backflow phenomenon caused the surrounding “fog” to dissipate quickly. After all the Spirit Lights disappeared into his body, his body shuddered as if something sudden had happened. However, he immediately steadied himself and continued his chant, as if nothing had affected him.

Only after the chanting ritual was finished did High Priest Virginia stand up, looking somewhat weak. He let out a sigh and muttered to himself, “Ah, I was just too excited. Normally, receiving such sudden Divine Grace is not hard to bear if it only means a level-up. But I never expected the God’s favor to be so vast this time, bringing about an elevation and change of the Soul. I, who needed to wait quietly for the transformation to finish, actually had such a huge emotional fluctuation. If not for the great power of my Lord, I would surely have been injured.”

Perhaps some might think, it’s just Divine Grace. When High Priest Virginia placed this scroll on the altar for the ritual, he should have been mentally prepared. So why would he have such intense emotional fluctuations due to excitement? Let me give an example: imagine someone in a government office handling a tricky problem. They thought they would only receive praise from their leader and a slight improvement in their leader’s impression of them. But unexpectedly, the problem was very important to the leader, who promoted them directly and even transferred them to a department with real power. In this situation, wouldn’t you be excited? It feels like a pie falling from the sky, and it’s guaranteed to be safe!

High Priest Virginia reached out with his right hand to pick up the book from the altar. While gently stroking it with his left hand, he muttered to himself, “I never expected the content inside to be so important to my Lord. It seems my vision is still too narrow, or perhaps I am standing in a position that is too low. This cooperation with Bolerum Territory must succeed; it seems crucial for the future development of my Lord.”

“No, I cannot pin all my hopes on just Bolerum Territory. It seems I need to contact the believers in other Dioceses. I should see if there is a way to establish similar Courts and related legal systems for testing.” Once this idea appeared in High Priest Virginia’s mind, it grew uncontrollably. He quickly made a conclusion based on his experience, “If we negotiate on this, paying a small price should be enough to get Lord Bolerum’s agreement. Moreover, according to my Lord’s will, the meeting tomorrow morning is arranged in the important cathedral of the Temple. It seems my Lord is preparing to bless that young Lord. It is truly enviable.”

“My Lord is, after all, the Lord of Justice. Such cooperation must also be fair. I should now think about what we need to give in the future cooperation to satisfy the other party while minimizing the Temple’s consumption.” As High Priest Virginia spoke, he held his head and fell into deep thought.

At the same time, inside the Manor of House Bolerum, Viscount Bolerum was discussing the cooperation with the Temple over the past few mornings with George in the study. However, judging from the atmosphere in the room and the expressions on the faces of the father and son, the topic was still relaxed and pleasant.

Viscount Bolerum stroked his chin and said, “So, the Temple of the Lord of Justice is quite interested in the cooperation you proposed.”

“It might be to demonstrate the Dogma of the Lord of Justice! They didn’t hide anything from me. They completely showed their interest in this plan.” George looked very confident this time. “Of course, they did not reveal how much they truly valued this plan. But from my feeling, this plan must hold a certain status in the heart of that High Priest.”

“But I am still a bit worried. Will letting the Temple intervene in the trial affairs of our Territory have any bad effects on our rule?” Viscount Bolerum frowned as he spoke.

George looked into his father’s eyes. Only after his father averted his gaze did he explain, “As long as we do not have any major accidents and control things properly, there will be no problems. First, any laws to be implemented must be signed and confirmed by us to take effect. Second, during the implementation phase, the Temple is only responsible for affairs like prosecution and evidence collection; they will not directly participate in the final sentencing and conviction. Although they have some influence, they have no administrative resources to allocate. Finally, regarding supervision, I did not give them the right to handle matters on their own. They can only report doubts to us for us to handle.”

“It seems you have basically considered all relevant matters. You must have been preparing for this cooperation for a long time, right?” Viscount Bolerum asked with a smile.

George scratched his head and said, “If it is just the plan for establishing institutions like Courts and perfecting laws, I started preparing it long ago. However, regarding the cooperation, although there was some intention before, I did not make the final decision. But the experience of exchanging rewards at the Temple of the Lord of Justice two days ago, combined with my past experiences of small-scale cooperation and their good reputation over hundreds of years, finally made me make up my mind.”