Goddess Kaleidoscope

Worried that his troublesome apprentices would cause trouble, and also to shake off Warren Charles, who clearly had ulterior motives, Lude politely said, "Excuse me," and then quickly headed towards the garden.

When they arrived, they saw Aina, with unparalleled strength, swinging one burly man in each hand and throwing him into the pond. The surrounding guests clapped and cheered, shouting for "one more time!"

Looking at the crowd of onlookers who seemed to enjoy the drama, Lude thought to himself that the Imperials' assessment of Duran as fierce and ruthless wasn't entirely unfounded.

"Aina! What are you doing?"

"Master, they're bullying us!"

Lud: "???"

Looking at the two burly men soaked to the bone in the pool, and the young master slumped on the ground beside them, clutching his crotch, his face contorted in agony as if wearing a mask of pain, Lu De had a vague idea of ​​what had happened. It was most likely because Aina and the others weren't wearing nun's habit, and this rich kid, seeing the pretty young women at the banquet with their large breasts, had brazenly gone up to them and started flirting.

It was understandable that Lu De, as the master, was very unhappy that his apprentice had encountered such a spoiled brat, but Aina's way of handling it was somewhat excessive. Simply mentioning Lu De's name would have been enough to intimidate these petty scoundrels, but instead, she had to "lose face" in public.

At this moment, Lud noticed that Aina's face was flushed and her body was swaying slightly. Seeing her like this, Lud couldn't help but frown.

Alcohol is one of the few things in this world that can have a significant impact on the gods. Shanes once went berserk while drunk, so ever since then, Rude has strictly forbidden his goddess from touching alcohol. But this banquet had plenty of drinks, and to cater to the female guests, there were also low-alcohol, sweet wines that tasted like fruit juice.

This stuff usually doesn't make people drunk, but Aina is clearly not an ordinary person.

Seeing their master frown, the other female disciples quickly stepped in to smooth things over for Aina. Olivia even pointed at the "pretty boy" slumped on the ground and said...

"It was him. This guy just harassed us and was rude to Senior Sister Romian, which is why Senior Sister Aina took action."

"Ok?"

"I... I am... hiss... ha..."

Judging from the "pretty boy's" reaction, the pain from hitting the chicken must have been quite intense. He lay on the ground groaning for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

At this moment, Duchess Anfi and Warren Charles, who had just had an awkward conversation with Lud, arrived at the scene. When they saw the young man on the ground and Lud and the others, their expressions were quite subtle.

"How is this going?"

"Mother, this man assaulted me."

"What!?"

Facing her own mother, Olivia escalated her accusations against the spoiled brat, upgrading from "harassment" to "molestation." Upon hearing this, the Duchess's almond-shaped eyes widened instantly, and a bright flame flickered between the fingers of her silently clenched right hand.

Lude noticed this scene and thought to himself that the duchess's magical skills were indeed as outstanding as rumored. She could control magic at will without chanting incantations. She was already halfway to sainthood!

Seeing this, Warren Sharl quickly stepped forward, trying to block his cousin Anfi, and nervously tried to dissuade her.

"Calm down, calm down. I think there might be some misunderstanding here."

"Misunderstanding? Would my daughter hit your son for no reason?"

"Uh……"

Upon hearing Anfi's words, Lud couldn't help but glance at the young man on the ground and the other "Duke Charles" standing awkwardly to the side. He thought to himself, no wonder the two looked somewhat alike; they were father and son. However, this made the matter a bit more complicated.

If you know that Anfi and Warren are cousins, then Olivia and the young man on the ground are naturally cousins ​​as well, just separated by a distance.

With her mentor and mother backing her up, Olivia wasn't flustered at all. Taking advantage of her cousin's inability to speak clearly while he was still recovering from the shock, she spoke first, explaining the cause of the conflict.

It turns out that Olivia and her female classmates were having snacks when a man named Suka Charles, who claimed to be her cousin, suddenly approached them and started chatting. However, Olivia wasn't particularly interested in his slick, greasy look, so she was rather cold and even found his flirtatious manner somewhat disgusting.

Things wouldn't have escalated to a fight at this point. After all, many young men from wealthy families had come to flirt with the girls at the banquet, and seeing several beautiful young women together, they naturally flocked to them like sharks smelling blood. However, these scions of middle-class noble families were relatively respectable, and some even knew that these girls were disciples of Saint Ludwig. Therefore, after being rejected, they didn't continue to pester them.

But Suka Shar was different. He wasn't a nobleman in the capital's inner circle and had only rushed over with his father that morning, so he was unaware of many important details. Before coming to the capital, his father, Warren, had given him a very important task: to find a way to win over his cousin. Therefore, upon discovering his "target," he immediately launched a fierce offensive.

The young master of the Ciel family was indeed extraordinary, but he was also overly confident. He thought he was a charming and suave womanizer who could win over his seemingly gullible cousin with a flick of his finger and a wink. However, he never expected that after all his efforts, she not only didn't show the slightest sign of being captivated by him, but looked at him as if he were something dirty that she couldn't step on.

Olivia's reaction somewhat hurt Charles's pride, as he had always been successful at picking up girls in his home fiefdom.

In his haste, the young man made a foolish move: he wanted to take Olivia to a secluded place to have a private chat with her cousin.

Suka immediately grabbed and pulled at Olivia, while Romian rushed forward to stop her, shielding her junior sister behind her. Suka saw that although Romian was very beautiful, she had two horns on her head and a scaly tail on her back, and he immediately showed a look of disgust.

The discrimination against demi-humans by some people in the Duran Kingdom wasn't much better than that of the people in the southern empire. Suka assumed the demi-human girl was a maid or some kind of servant, so he habitually scolded Romian, and habitually blurted out "lowly thing" at the end.

This blatant racism naturally stung Romian, but she chose to suppress her anger. Olivia, however, couldn't stand it. She already disliked this idiot young master, and now he dared to insult her senior sister. So she went up and delivered a groin kick, knocking the unsuspecting Suka down on the spot.

After Suka was knocked down, two guards quickly ran over from a short distance. These two henchmen of the Charles family had been waiting by the side of the venue, and seeing their young master being kicked down, they rushed to protect him. One of them, in order to show his loyalty to the patriarch, even pretended to draw his sword to protect his master.

The two guards weren't foolish enough to actually draw their swords in front of so many dignitaries; they were just putting on a show. But Aina, who had already drunk three large glasses of "sweet juice," had no idea they were acting, and so what happened next was the scene Lude witnessed when he arrived.

To be honest, it's not a big deal. After all, drunken brawls have always been an essential part of the Duran aristocratic gatherings. What's more, one of the parties is a beautiful white-haired girl with the strength to lift a cauldron, so the entertainment value is naturally even higher.

Having learned the general outline of what had happened, Lud looked at Suka, who was still groaning on the ground. He wasn't sure if the kid was faking it or if Olivia's kick had landed a critical hit. The Duchess stood by, watching coldly, seemingly not intending to intervene, waiting to see Lud's reaction. Warren, on the other hand, tried to smooth things over, telling Lud not to stoop to the level of a "child."

Lude looked calm, with a polite smile on his face, and turned to Romian beside him.

"Romian, use your divine magic to heal this young master Suka."

"Yes, Master."

Upon hearing Lude's order, Romian didn't complain at all. She immediately raised her hand and cast a healing spell on Suka, enveloping her in holy light. Aina and Olivia, who were standing nearby, were indignant about this. Only Shanis, who was following behind Lude, seemed to understand something. Her gaze towards Suka was no longer cold, but instead held a hint of pity.

Healed by the divine magic, Suka was instantly restored to full health. The pain vanished without a trace, and he even became more energetic. So, at his father's signal, the young man quickly got up. He was about to say a few polite words in a pretentious manner when he heard Lude say in a calm tone.

"Aina, kick him again."

Warren & Suka: "???"

"Alright, Master!"

Upon hearing Lude's order, Aina disregarded everything else and kicked Suka between the legs. Suka immediately cried out in pain and fell down again, prompting many male nobles around to gasp in empathy.

"Luo Mi'an, treat him again."

"Master, this..."

"We need to teach him a lesson today."

"No, no!"

Having figured out what Lud was up to, Suka clutched his crotch and crawled backward like a maggot on the ground, while Warren was completely dumbfounded. He didn't know Lud well, or rather, he didn't know him well enough. He thought that a big shot with titles like "Saint" or "Sage" must be at least a respectable person, if not a gentle and refined gentleman.

When we actually met, we realized that this was not the Confucius who wrote the Analects, but the Confucius who wrote the Analects!

Lude didn't care what Warren thought. In front of many noble guests, he made Suka go through three rounds of "life and death experience" before Romian and Aina stopped. Then he personally went up to Suka, who was already ashen-faced, and asked him what he had learned today.

Lude's ruthless behavior was not only to vent his anger for his beloved apprentice, but also to convey his meaning to the fence-sitters like the Akigani-Shahr family present.

"Don't you dare bother me, or I'll make you wish you were dead!"

Thanks to the "sacrifice" made by the Charles family father and son, after this unique banquet, the number of "flies" that had been surrounding Ludwig was significantly reduced, because it had truly frightened many nobles.

To avenge a nun with demi-human blood, Lud dared to publicly "abuse" a duke's heir, which many people considered to be more than just disrespectful to the nobility!

Lude didn't care what those opportunists thought of him. When the Charles father and son left the manor that day, Warren had fiercely declared that he would never let it go. But several days later, Lude, who was looking forward to what big job the other party would give him, learned that Warren had gone to King Duran to complain, and as a result, he was scolded again, and then nothing happened.

You said you wouldn't let this go so easily? And this is the result?

Frankly, Ludwig was very disappointed with the conservative nobles' attitude of simply lying down and waiting to die. You see, the new government had announced from the very beginning that its first task would be to take back most of the power from the local noble lords and complete the integration of the entire country.

Ludwig had expected this to provoke fierce opposition from conservative nobles, who might even launch an armed rebellion.

This was not without precedent. The previous King Duran had also considered following the Empire's approach, but it touched upon the interests of the nobles. A dozen or so lords in the South immediately united to force the king to abdicate, threatening to launch a rebellion and compelling him to retract his decision.

However, times have changed, and most conservatives have chosen to remain silent this time, not because they don't want to oppose, but because they lack the power to do so.

After the war, tens of thousands of royal soldiers did not return to their homes. Instead, after dismissing some of the old, weak, sick, and disabled, they gathered the elite troops together to form a true national army.

The main force of this army consisted of the original Northern Alliance Army, remnants of the Southern Border Army, and the King's personal guard, with a total strength of about 36,000 men, most of whom had just been through the baptism of brutal warfare.

Ludd held a gun in his hand, and he deliberately leaked information during the formation of the government in order to "fish for fish".

It's a pity that the "fish" who survived until now, even if they're not smart, are at least not stupid. They know that the tide has turned, and they're all desperately trying to get into the new government, but none of them dare to stand up and oppose it. As a result, Lude's fishing trip ended in failure, which is a bit of a shame.

"Damn it! Why aren't these insects causing any trouble?"

In the study/office, Ludwig, resting his head on Aina's lap with his eyes closed, muttered to himself in annoyance. Hume, who had just returned from the Empire, looked at him and said somewhat irritably.

"With your current power, if you want to take action against that person, why don't you just do it directly?"

"That won't do! This kind of thing must be justified to be legitimate. A large-scale purge without a reason will only cause unnecessary panic. We must prevent the situation from escalating."

"So you called me back just to order me around again, to dig up dirt on those nobles so you can legitimately raid their homes?"

"Emmm...that's roughly the idea."

"You really don't treat me like a god at all!"

Although she complained, Hume did not refuse. She had long since regained the strength of a fourth-order god and controlled the Black Hand Brotherhood's intelligence network, so she didn't have to do many things personally. She was now more like the leader of the Pantheon's intelligence agency and had no shortage of capable subordinates.

"Speaking of which, you really don't plan to stay in the capital?"

Why stay here?

"Becoming an official! If you want to be prime minister, it's a piece of cake. You'd have real control over the entire country. Aren't you even a little bit tempted?"

Hume was curious as to why Ludd would leave so easily, handing over what was rightfully his to someone else. Ludd simply smiled, until Hume, annoyed by his pretentious act, took off his shoe and stepped on him. Only then did Ludd cough lightly and explain.

“My return to Pine Town is merely a way of distancing myself from the background, not a real withdrawal from the center of power.”

"What?"

"It's simply that I don't want to stand in the spotlight. And don't forget, I still have that person's entrustment to me. I don't know how long this trip will take. I can't let the public see that the new prime minister has just taken office and then disappeared."

"That's true."

Lude's reminder brought Hume back to reality. He had indeed promised the Lord of Light, Carius, that he would explore the Earth's core, a place inaccessible to the gods. Given the status of the client, this matter could not be neglected.

"Speaking of Hume, when my teacher went to the center of the earth, it seems that you and Fallen Leaves assisted him. Was the journey down easy?"

"To be honest, it was very difficult to walk on; the thickness of the earth was far beyond my imagination."

"What if I let the three sisters dig vertically downwards?"

Lud, who had played Minecraft in his past life, came up with the simplest and most direct method, but Hume sneered and said...

“Then you can let them dig and see, but I must warn you, the closer you get to the land of the fire, the more the divine power is suppressed. They can only dig down a thousand kilometers at most before they can’t dig any further.”

"Wait, didn't the god who sealed the ratmen open a hole that led directly to the Land of Fire? Is that hole still there?"

"It's long gone! Those gods filled the hole on the spot."

"Okay, then tell me how you guys got down there back then."

Under Lude's questioning, Hume recounted in detail the entire process of how she and Fallen Leaf escorted the old astrologer deep underground.

Just as Lud had guessed, another world did indeed exist underground, connected to the surface but independent of it. The once-prosperous dwarven kingdom controlled one of these passages.