I'm really not a dragon.

"Are you referring to Ilmas's apparition at the Temple of Mercy?"

Sun nodded. "Uld, can you withstand the pressure from the Sea Queen's priests?"

Urd gave a wry smile; naturally, he couldn't withstand it.

Urd probably understood what Suen meant.

The weeping god Ilmas has appeared, and their fanatical followers will surely follow.

Baldur's Gate, now rebuilding from the ashes, will not refuse the help of a benevolent force.

The priests of Ilmas will join the city to heal the wounded and bring the faith of the weeping god.

The only problem is that the Sea Queen's priests will be unhappy. The followers of the God of Craftsmen are mainly craftsmen of all kinds, and they will not compete with the Sea Queen for the faith of sailors, fishermen, captains, or even poor commoners.

The beliefs of this group largely overlap with those of Irmas's audience.

In other words, whoever can withstand the pressure from the Sea Queen priests and allow the Ilmas priests to build a temple and divide the faith here will gain the support of the Ilmas priests.

In the age of God, religion meant privilege.

During their conversation, a voice chimed in, "If I may be so bold, inviting a priest from a benevolent god is not a wise move, at least not now."

A gorgeously dressed halfling holds a bouquet of pale carnations and places it before the Grand Duke's tomb.

He gave Suen a sly smile.

"The halflings of the clearing house..." Suen frowned, unable to recall the rest.

"You still remember me! I'm so honored."

The halfling stretched out his hairy hand and turned the necklace around his neck, a small magical trick that mimicked the call of a bird, drowning out the three people's conversation.

"Pat Hakimi, priest of the goddess of fortune, Woking, it is a great honor to meet you, great hero of Baldur's Gate!"

When Urd saw that a stranger had entered, he felt uneasy and wanted to leave.

The halfling called out to him, "Please forgive my impertinence, Marshal Urd of the Flame Fist, please stay and have a heart-to-heart talk!"

Suen crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow: "What brilliant idea do you have, Hakimi, sir?"

"I wouldn't call it a brilliant idea!" Pat smiled humbly, and said, "To whom do you think the Baldur's Gate should belong?"

"The Bod people!" Sun said frankly.

"What a wise answer!" the halfling offered a small compliment. "He certainly belongs to the Baldur, but there are distinctions among the Baldur: councilors, commoners, or nobles! To whom does this city truly belong?"

Having witnessed the prosperity of the upper city and knowing the wealth and status of a nobleman, Urd answered naturally, "Nobleman!"

Suen shook her head, sighed, and said:

"I really want to answer the question about ordinary people, but unfortunately it's not the case. Although ordinary people have the right to elect representatives, most of the time, public opinion is distorted by the representatives and used as a tool to satisfy their own desires."

The halfling raised his index finger. "If you ask me, neither is true!"

"The masters of Baldur's Gate are of two kinds. The first are those outside Baldur's, those closed-off, ignorant people of the countryside, those who have been rooted in the plains, forests, and hills for generations."

"You may call them lords, chieftains, elders."

"The second type is various forces: the Harpists' Alliance, the Nine-Fingered Thieves Guild, the Knights of the Shield, the Emerald Leaf Garden, the Church of the Sea Queen, the Church of the God of Craftsmen, and even earlier, the Church of the Three Gods of Death..."

"These are the true masters of Baldur's Gate; they are the cooks and the attendees."

"What can the priests of Ilmas do when they come to Baldur's Gate? They will either be eaten, or someone will drag one of the attendees down and let them eat him."

The halfling used the simplest, most straightforward, and most direct language to point out that without the support of local forces, Ilmas would find it difficult to gain a foothold here, and there was no place for it at the table.

Even if there is,

Why should a bunch of country bumpkins be allowed to sit at the table?

Urd shook his head incredulously and said, "What about Grand Duke Apodel? He doesn't have much support!"

The halfling nodded solemnly.

"First of all, you've got one thing wrong: Legends are not part of Game of Thrones!"

"Secondly, this Grand Duke Flamefist had many romantic affairs in his youth, and the legendary harpist Jahira still maintains close contact with him. The Grand Duke Flamefist's adoptive father is named Grian, a Candlehold scholar, whose inclinations are obvious... Apodel has far more supporters than one might imagine."

Su En took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

Therefore, sending the priests of Ilmas to Baldur's Gate wouldn't be of much help to Urd.

Unless, of course, you can pull one person off the table.

Pat Hakimi suddenly chuckled twice. "However, I think you are more reliable than any so-called religion these days!"

"What do you mean?" Suen glanced at the halfling.

The latter raised an eyebrow and said respectfully, "As a great hero of Baldur's Gate, you will soon join this game of power. Some will be on your side, while others will invite you to join their ranks."

Su En suddenly realized,

Member of Parliament,

Every so often, Baldur's Gate will relinquish a portion of its seats to Lower City Councilors, who are all exceptional individuals.

"Look at those people!"

Following the halfling's gaze, Suen looked outwards. "On the far left is the head of the Van Sampur family, followed by the two dukes, Belin and Dillard..."

Seemingly noticing Suen's gaze,

The people who were talking nodded at him.

"As expected, you will soon receive an invitation. They will claim that you are qualified to join the legislature. However, when announcing this good news, they will deliberately make things difficult for you so that you misjudge your own worth and join their faction..."

"Hakimi, after all you've said, you're not trying to get me to join your faction, are you?"

Suen glanced at the half-human.

"You misunderstand, I am the priest of Woking, I only care about wealth..." The halfling Pat Hakimi paused deliberately, raising his eyes to examine Sun, from the sharp, horn-like protrusion on his jaw to the lush, crown-like metal horn crown.

As the depth of the dragon vein increases

Suen gradually began to transform into a dragon.

His aura, his scent, and his biological characteristics gradually began to resemble those of a dragon.

Pat Hakimi even felt that what was in front of him was a humanoid dragon—no, not just felt, it was!

He was delighted to find that the half-dragon, whose powers were fully activated, easily observed Suen's emotions. At least this half-dragon was not a capricious tyrant.

"I'm just reminding you to choose your faction and team carefully! However, if my advice is helpful, I hope you'll prioritize entrusting the disposal of the Bronze Dragon Anzu's corpse to the Accounting Firm!"

To prevent those two ignorant dwarves and northern barbarians from selling the dragon's carcass for a pittance,

Suen thought for a moment and said, "Those are the spoils of war for me and my two companions. You still have to ask their opinion."

The halfling's smile remained unchanged. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure walking towards them. He clasped his hands together and rubbed them together. "Understood, understood. This is a big deal. I'll visit you again another day."

Suen nodded.

"Thank you for your trust!"

The halfling smiled slyly, glanced behind him, and quickly left.

A cold, rational voice sounded behind me.

The newcomer was dressed in an elegant black dress, her bare jade-colored shoulders glistening with morning dew. She wore a black veil hat that covered her face, but the thin veil could not conceal her aggressive demeanor.

"Your Excellency Duke Belin!" Suen immediately smiled, and Urd hurriedly bowed.

Duke Belin glanced coldly at Old Black and said, "Marshal Urd Ravengard, we still need you to coordinate with Marshal Makarov regarding the list of victims in the Upper City! As soon as possible!"

Sun and Urd exchanged a glance and gave each other a wry smile; the nature of this funeral seemed to have changed long ago.

-

The funeral is still ongoing.

The rumored duchess exudes a cold, mechanical aura.

Suen's knowledge of magic is too limited to discern anything special about her at the moment.

If, as Urd says, the duchess's mind is filled with mind fluid, then she should be a puppet now. Where is her controller?

"A lady in front of you has forgotten even the most basic manners!"

Belin's voice suddenly became sharp.

Suen's face stiffened. He took the Duchess's hand and gave it a deep kiss. "I'm sorry, I got too excited! Blessed Bahamut! It's so good that you and Duke Dillard are safe and sound!"

"Bahamut? Do you worship this deity?" Duke Belin casually glanced at Suen. "You look neither human nor dragonborn."

Bahamut's worshippers are mostly metal dragons, and a small number of dragon-blooded creatures, such as the Dragonblood Sorcerer family.

However, most people have misconceptions about the Dragonborn, believing that they worship Bahamut or Tiamat!

In reality, the vast majority of Dragonborn are unrelated to the native dragon races of Faerûn. It was only because of the magical plague that Dragonborn came to Faerûn in large numbers.

Their original plane of existence is called Eberron.

In Eberron, the Dragonborn have a long history of being enslaved by dragons. The hatred between the Dragonborn and the dragons is comparable to that between the Gith Yankees and the Mind Flayers, or between the Black Man and the Manor Lord.

Therefore, Dragonborn rarely worship Bahamut.

Even if they worship dragon gods, they will only worship the sky dragon Siberius and the earth dragon Eberron.

Suen's tone suddenly turned cold. "That's why I admire Bahamut! Wise dragons don't ask such trivial questions."

"hehe!"

Duchess Belin chuckled hoarsely and said indifferently:

"To be honest, Suen, I don't have high hopes for you! Although you've become a hero of the city, heroes are not immune to flaws; their spirit can be killed by anything except swords!"

"Of course, you too can become a hero forever!"

Belin took out a ring from her bosom; it bore the image of a strange shield. "Go find a man called the Monarch. If he accepts your service, a powerful organization will fully support you in becoming a councilor!"

Su En was clutching the ring when suddenly, the panel flashed.

A notification popped up for Jinlong's daily quests.

[Join the Dark Shield Legion?]

Ok?

"I believe you will make a wise choice!"

Belin glanced behind her and quickly left.

Before Su En could react, an exaggerated laugh came from behind her.

"Ahem! What a beautiful day!" Duke Dillard strode over.

Suen looked up at the overcast, almost dripping sky. "Yes, it's absolutely wonderful!"

Duke Dillard couldn't hold back any longer. "Haha, I hope this city has left a good impression on you, and I hope you understand us; humans also have their own hardships, haha!"

He stared at the horned crown growing from Suen's head, the words of the Sea Queen priest lingering in his mind. He had initially been somewhat skeptical, but now he had no choice but to believe.

"You should be familiar with Baldur's Gate's electoral system!"

Duke Dillard coughed and continued, "Under the witness of the Goddess of Wealth, we gathered public opinion and selected the three most popular candidates as councilors. From these three outstanding individuals, we chose the most suitable one to participate in political affairs. Good news! Your Excellency Suen, you are highly likely to become a councilor of Baldur's Gate!"

"Oh! Really?"

Seeing that Suen did not show the expected enthusiasm,

Duke Dillard looked puzzled, but continued:

"We investigated the Silver Shield Duke's mansion and found substantial evidence proving that you were framed by the former Duke Thorlin—a framed hero. People sympathize with you. Secondly, even while being framed, you remained determined to fight against the Silver Shield Duke, and people witnessed your indomitable fighting spirit! Of course, most importantly, you are a hero of Baldur's Gate; you saved the city!"

You have all the qualities people love!

Duke Dillard showered him with flattery until his mouth was dry.

Suen listened without changing her expression.

Duke Dillard's forehead vein throbbed as he continued, "But if I may be frank, your opponent also has a significant advantage."

"Sharkfin, the owner of the One-Sail Tavern, is backed by the Nine-Fingered Thieves Guild!"

"The second is Artorias of Candlehold. You should know him. This master of the Conjuration School has been serving as the Warden of Wyvern Rock. Recently, there have been rumors that this Artorias is the legendary, enigmatic Ratkeeper!"

Artorias?

That old bastard actually didn't run away!

No, wait, he's the ratherman, so who am I?

Suen's expression was strange.

Seeing Suen's expression turn ugly, Duke Dillard couldn't help but feel smug.

"You should know that the ratman participated in the battle against the Sons of Baal. While you and Grand Duke Flamefist were fighting against the incarnation of Baal, those brave rats were also actively rescuing people. Without them, the number of wounded would have been far greater!"

"Forgive my bluntness, but a hero's name alone might not be enough to defeat your opponent! However, it's not without a way; my second daughter is still unmarried..."

[Jinlong's Daily Routine: I just arrived at your store and I noticed three issues.]

As the most powerful metal dragon, your bloodline forbids you from being low-key. Although you are just a young dragon, your brilliant mind is already prepared to lead the world. Join an organization of good or personally transform an organization of evil.

[Reward: +1 or +10 Praise for High Morality]