Mystery: The Last Shepherd.

Chapter 720 The Church Has a New Archbishop?

Inside an apartment in Backlund, Hillston district.

"The bounty for the Blood King has increased again."

Fors flipped through the morning's Tasok Post, muttering to himself, "His amount has now reached 60 pounds, almost catching up with the 'Mysterious Queen'—."

In Loen alone, the bounties for pirate kings have reached astronomical levels. The lowest is the "Undying King" Agarito, who holds the 10-pound mark, followed by the "Mysterious Queen" at 65 pounds, and the "King of the Five Seas" Nast Solomon at a staggering 80 pounds.

At this moment, upon seeing this news, Fors's expression was a mixture of joy and conflict.

The reason for her joy was that the greater the fame of "The Blood King," the more popular her serialized works became. In fact, not only her, but now more and more foreign authors were starting to write pirate stories. Even some third-rate Rune newspapers, oblivious to the dangers, reprinted her work for the sake of sales, and as you can imagine, the editors and bosses were all arrested and imprisoned.

Intis's publisher has contacted her urgently, requesting that she update the content as soon as possible, and the corresponding royalties have more than tripled.

And this is precisely why Fors is conflicted.

On the one hand, she had to update quickly to meet the newspaper's demands; on the other hand, she had to ensure the quality of her articles, because if the stories weren't good enough, a powerful woman might come knocking on her door.

These two diametrically opposed demands were simultaneously oppressing her, driving Fors to the brink of a mental breakdown. Faced with this situation, our great Miss Salty Fish activated her unique ability to stall.

Let's think about it tomorrow.

She consoled herself and turned to the next page of the newspaper...

"Crunch."

Just then, the door behind me was suddenly pushed open.

"I'm writing now, I'll be finished soon!"

Fors sat up abruptly, instinctively calling out.

A moment later, she realized what was happening and turned around to see her roommate, Hugh Deercha, standing in the doorway.

"It's you! You startled me..."

Fors finally relaxed, but stopped abruptly after uttering a complaint, because Hugh's expression was off. His slightly chubby face held an unprecedented look of confusion and melancholy.

"What's wrong?"

Fors immediately stood up and asked with concern.

"5

""

Hugh looked up at Fors and said, "Viscount Stratford is dead."

"Viscount Stratford... oh, the one you mentioned before, the one who used to be your father's subordinate?"

Fors quickly remembered the name; it belonged to the owner of the carriage they had seen at the scene of the conflict.

Her heart tightened instantly. Shortly after she had informed Temperance, an attack had broken out at Duke Negan's mansion. She had better be careful with her words now to avoid arousing Hugh's suspicion.

But she soon noticed that Hugh looked very sad, her small body curled up in a ball, and her eyes were lifeless.

No, I have to comfort Hugh...

"Are you saddened by this person's death?"

So Fors suddenly blurted out this question.

66

'

Hugh looked up and gave her a rather speechless look. But it was Fors' words that pulled her out of her previous emotional state.

"I just feel regretful."

She explained, "My father was tried and executed, and he was the biggest beneficiary. I've always suspected that he framed my father and wanted to find out the truth... This has been the meaning of my efforts all these years... But now he's suddenly dead—."

Hugh's goal just vanished like that, no wonder he felt lost.

Fors thought to herself, but asked aloud, "So what are your plans next?"

Hugh slowly shook his head: "I don't know..."

She sighed again before saying, "I'm going to the nearby church to pray; perhaps the goddess can save me from my confusion."

It is at times like these that the benefits of faith become apparent.

"Okay, be careful on the road... Shall I walk you to the church?"

Fors was a novice believer in the god of steam, and by custom he was not allowed to enter the churches of other gods. Of course, Mr. Fool's kingdom was an exception.

"No."

Hugh grinned and forced a smile. "I can find my way."

After saying that, she turned and left.

Fors felt a little guilty. Although she really wanted to tell the other party that there was a deeper reason behind this matter, she could only hold back because she couldn't reveal the Tarot Club.

I can ask Mr. Temperance at a later tarot reading... or maybe I should just find an opportunity to bring Hugh into the Fog too...

Looking at Hugh's small, slumped shoulders, Fors thought to himself.

North Quarter, St. Samuel Church.

As soon as he stepped off the carriage, Hugh Deercha was stunned by the dense crowd.

Are there really this many people today...?

She was taken aback for a moment, then understood what had happened from the conversation of the people around her.

Oh, right, today is the day of Mass... I'm such a terrible believer... I'm usually too busy investigating cases...

.

Xiu chuckled self-deprecatingly.

The Grand Mass is a special festival held during the full moon in the Church of Nymph, and it is more formal than a regular Mass. It is a day of great importance for believers.

She followed the crowd across the square and into the prayer hall.

In the dimly lit and quiet hall, ethereal hymns rang out in unison. The sound echoed layer by layer, bringing a sense of peace to the very core of one's being. Like the other believers, Hugh gradually forgot his various worldly troubles, calmed down, and followed the pastor to find his seat.

The believers quickly took their seats.

Not long after, someone slowly walked up to the altar in front of the prayer hall.

Hugh saw that it was a young man with an indifferent expression. He was not wearing a clergyman's robe, but rather a blood-red shirt underneath a pure black suit jacket, which made him look very imposing.

A soft sound came from the bench where the believers were sitting.

"Who is he? Archbishop Anthony should be presiding over tonight's Mass!"

Hugh heard the believer next to him say in confusion.

Faced with the doubts raised by a small group of believers, all the clergy in the prayer hall remained calm, as if it were only natural for this person to stand on the altar today.

On the altar, the indifferent-looking man paid no heed to the crowd. He opened the Book of Revelation and began to read aloud: "When the quiet night falls upon the earth, the goddess is with you and me..."

And then, in the next instant, all the doubts vanished.

The young man's voice wasn't loud, yet it seemed to echo throughout every corner of the church, clearly reaching everyone's ears. The noise immediately vanished; no one wanted to make a sound, only hoping that he would continue reciting the goddess's sacred texts...

It was as if everyone was in the deep of night, and they all felt a sense of peace and tranquility that came from their very souls.

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