Goddess Kaleidoscope

The next morning, Lud got up and opened the window to find it was raining heavily outside. For the villagers who had just finished spring planting, this thorough rain came at a very opportune time, seemingly foreshadowing a good harvest this year. However, for the adventurers who had come to stay, it had a significant negative impact on their journey.

Denzel and his companions were all newly registered adventurers who had just completed their registration last summer. With the "Complete Guide to Dragon Slaying" and the "Dragon-Slaying Sword" in their hands, these young men were full of confidence and eager to make a name for themselves.

This five-man squad consisted entirely of noblemen, but none of them were the eldest sons of the main branch of the family. Denzel's father was a viscount who had one wife and five concubines, who bore him a large number of children. Denzel was the youngest in the family, and his mother was a concubine.

Therefore, after my father passed away the winter before last, the atmosphere at home changed noticeably. My eldest brother, born to my legal wife, inherited the title. Although he didn't openly kick out his other half-brothers, he didn't give them any special treatment either.

Denzel had long known this day would come, so he proactively approached his elder brother and expressed his desire to become an adventurer and explore the vast world. His brother, of course, readily agreed and generously gifted him a decent set of equipment and two family heirlooms—the impressive-looking "Dragon Slayer Set."

The other members of the team were in similar situations. Because they were not qualified to inherit the family fortune, were not good enough to be knights, and did not like being managed as soldiers, they chose to be free and unrestrained adventurers, dreaming that they could make a name for themselves by slaying dragons!

Looking out at the torrential rain, Denzel and his companions all sighed. Even they, as newbies, knew that forcing their way into the forest in this terrible weather would be extremely risky.

At this moment, the mage in the group suddenly pointed to the temple located in the center of the village not far away and said to his companions.

"I say, just in case, should we go to the temple and buy some more holy water for exorcism?"

"Hanet, we're going to slay dragons, not exorcise demons. What's the point of buying holy water? Besides, we don't have much money left."

"That's not how it works. Slaying dragons doesn't require holy water, but what about before encountering a dragon? I've read some historical records with my mentor. The Void Forest was an ancient battlefield hundreds of years ago. No one knows how many people died in that great battle, and it must have produced a lot of undead!"

"You have a point, but... holy water isn't cheap!"

"Then leave the bargaining to me! Don't forget, I'm a merchant's daughter, and the most beautiful girl in the guild!"

The female assassin in the squad confidently tossed her bangs aside. The girl considered herself the "face of the team," and her reason for becoming an adventurer was different from the other four members of the squad. She ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage and was currently actively pursuing the tall and handsome Denzel.

So everyone took the wizard's advice, and Denzel, along with the wizard and the female thief in charge of bargaining, went out to the temple to buy holy water to fight the undead. The temple was less than two hundred meters away as the crow flies, a walk that would take less than three minutes.

The three of them went out and walked quickly toward the temple. As they walked, the young magician was the first to notice something that struck him as unusual: the roads in the village were quite well-maintained, with a smooth, compacted surface and drainage ditches on both sides.

If the same amount of rain were in other villages, or even in most towns, the roads would have become as muddy as swamps by now, and you would easily leave your boots behind if you weren't careful.

Besides, the village even had public trash cans, and street signs at every intersection with the street names on them. They hadn't noticed these subtle details when they arrived yesterday afternoon, but discovered their uniqueness today.

"It's supposed to be a border village, but it's been made to look quite decent!"

"The village chief here must be a capable person!"

The three quickly crossed the street and arrived at the temple. They had assumed that on such a cold, rainy day, even the most devout villagers would stay quietly at home, but they soon realized they were wrong; the temple hall was packed with children.

Each child held a black wooden board in their hands, writing and drawing on it with a small stick dipped in water. Meanwhile, on the anthem platform in the hall, an elderly priest with white hair and beard was loudly teaching the children to read using a huge upright blackboard!

End of this chapter

The arrival of the three adventurers naturally caught Lud's attention, but he was currently teaching the village children, so he didn't pay them any attention for the time being. It was Shanis who took the initiative to go up to them.

Denzel and his companions were marveling at the school in the temple when they turned around and saw Shanis walking towards them. They were immediately awestruck; it was the first time they had ever seen such a beautiful nun.

Denzel and the mage were both stunned, staring at Shanis in disbelief. The female assassin, who had been confident in her appearance, suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of crisis after noticing Denzel's expression.

This was the first time she had ever met a woman who could completely overwhelm her in terms of appearance, figure, and even temperament.

Especially the natural allure that she exudes with every gesture, coupled with that nun's dress with a side slit that perfectly accentuates her figure, revealing glimpses of her snow-white thighs as she walks—she's a total heartbreaker!

"...(Is this woman really a nun?)"

Soon, Shanis walked up to the three of them. Seeing that her two companions were still looking so absent-minded and pathetic, the female assassin was furious and nudged Denzel hard with her elbow.

"Captain! Captain Denzel!"

"Oh? Ah! Hello, nun, may I ask your name?"

"I……"

Seeing her captain, who already had her (?), shamelessly go and inquire about the nun's name, she was furious. Shanis, however, glanced at the strange Denzel with a puzzled look and said in a rather formulaic manner.

"Welcome to the temple. How can I help you?"

"Uh... I, we want to buy some holy water, the kind used for exorcism."

Upon hearing Shanis's question, the young mage was the first to snap out of his reverie. Unlike the captain, he hadn't forgotten the important matter and even "knowledgeably" reminded Shanis that they needed holy water for exorcism. This was because most temples in the world actually sold two types of holy water.

One type is ordinary water, while a slightly better one is distilled water, which is sold to ordinary believers to drink during their daily prayers, supposedly to gain divine protection and ward off illness and disaster. However, in reality, it only provides psychological comfort.

The other type of holy water is truly blessed with divine magic and has a very powerful exorcism effect. Drinking it can temporarily make people immune to the miasma unique to the undead, and it can also be used as a weapon, splashing it out to cause tons of damage to undead and other spirit-type evil spirits.

These two types of holy water have different functions and vastly different prices.

The former usually costs only a few copper coins, and can even be discounted or given away for free during holidays. The latter, however, varies in price from a dozen silver coins to one gold coin depending on its quality, making it a highly profitable product.

However, Shanis clearly didn't understand these complicated matters, but she had developed the habit of leaving things to Ludd when in doubt, so she politely asked the three of them to wait a while until her tutor finished teaching the children.

Left with no other choice, the three could only wait. Denzel wanted to continue talking to the stunningly beautiful nun, but she ignored him completely and turned back to the old priest, leaving his hand, which was raised in mid-air, awkwardly unsure of what to do.

The three of them waited idly at the temple entrance. The young mage, having nothing better to do, started counting the children in the hall, eventually arriving at two hundred and twelve, ranging in age from five or six to their teens. The priest's lessons consisted of very basic literacy and numerology.

Denzel and the female assassin didn't think much of it; they had both learned about it when they were young. But the mage was different. He knew very well that the vast majority of people in the lower classes might never have access to this kind of knowledge in their entire lives.

Soon, Ludwig's lesson came to an end. He took out a strange wooden container from behind the podium, which dripped water into the basin below when turned upside down. The young magician immediately realized that it was a "water clock".

"Everyone, take a 15-minute break. Those who need to use the restroom, go now!"

Upon hearing the priest announce the end of get out of class, the children who had been sitting quietly and listening attentively in the hall immediately stood up and bowed to Rudd, then instantly transformed back into the "children" that most people would expect—a group of lively and noisy little rascals.

Upon seeing this, the three adventurers immediately stepped forward to Rudd and explained that they wanted to purchase some holy water for exorcism.

"Exorcising holy water? I'm sorry, I don't have any at the moment."

"You...you're a temple, how could there be no holy water?"

"It is true that this is a temple, but it is indeed not available for the time being. However, if you are willing to wait a few days, I will make it."

Lud smiled and shrugged, but he didn't tell the three the truth. There was indeed no holy water in the temple at the moment, because unlike other priests, Lud didn't have a limited number of divine spells he could use each day. However, if he wanted to make it on the spot, he could make a large bucket in just a few minutes.

Exorcism holy water is simply water enchanted with divine magic. It's not difficult for priests who can use divine magic to make it. The main thing is that holy water can be kept as a consumable, and ordinary people can also use it.

The reason Lude lied and said he needed a few days was actually to take the opportunity to keep these young adventurers in the village for a while longer.

The night these guys arrived, Lud moved the demi-humans who had been arranged to stay in the village to the forest overnight. They are currently returning to the old camp site under Hume's leadership.

The reason he dared not let the adventurers see him was because they had only met yesterday, and Rude had not yet figured out the character of Denzel and the others.

It's important to know that these low-level subhuman races are basically equivalent to pests like rats and cockroaches in the eyes of many humans. The Mercenary Guild and the Adventurers' House have long offered bounties for them, and you can exchange their severed left ears for money.

The village initially agreed to take in these three hundred or so demi-humans mainly because they were captured as prisoners, and with Lude acting as guarantor, the villagers reluctantly agreed.

Even so, many villagers actually only treated these demi-humans as slaves to work, and often beat and scolded them at will. These disharmonious phenomena occurred from time to time.

Therefore, Lu De could only helplessly admit that although the villagers of Songshu Village had indeed undergone considerable changes in their mental outlook and their average quality and moral standards had improved significantly under his subtle and intentional influence, many deeply ingrained concepts could not be changed overnight.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ludwig had Hume lead all the demi-humans back to the forest, creating the illusion of a mass escape, while he revealed that he had a grand plan to give them.

End of this chapter

Unable to purchase the exorcising holy water from the temple, Denzel thought to himself that he couldn't have come all this way for nothing, so he took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Rudd, hoping to get some information about the dragons from him.

They had tried to get information from the local villagers, but they either knew nothing or were limited by their language skills, only repeatedly saying that the dragon was very big, fierce, and awesome, and could not provide much valuable information.

Therefore, Denzel pinned his hopes on Lud, who seemed to be a cultured man, thinking that the old priest couldn't possibly be completely ignorant.

As it happened, Lud also wanted to get some information about the outside world. He had spent most of the past year in Pine Village, but the news from there had been very limited, making it difficult to know about many major events happening in the outside world. Adventurers who travel all over the world happen to be the most well-informed people in the world.

So Ludwig revealed some limited information about Nidhogg, and he also learned some rather important information from Denzel.

Because of the rumors of dragon sightings, many local guilds are currently issuing exploration missions for the Void Forest. They don't have any ulterior motives towards the dragons like Denzel's team; they simply want to obtain accurate information related to them.

Denzel, now possessing the "Complete Guide to Dragon Slaying," is single-mindedly focused on achieving fame through dragon slaying. Ludwig, too, must admit that the "Complete Guide to Deception" is indeed remarkably adept at misleading people, demonstrating a profound understanding of human nature.

The intense magical fluctuations and the words written with dragon blood ink give this book a highly deceptive first impression. Furthermore, the content itself is a mixture of truth and falsehood, written with great earnestness. Without knowing the actual facts, it's indeed easy to be fooled.

The book repeatedly emphasizes that all dragons share a common weakness: the reverse scale located on their lower abdomen. This scale, which grows upside down, is the hardest scale on a dragon's body, but it is also its weak point, directly facing its heart. Therefore, as long as the right tactics are used and one has a "divine weapon" capable of breaking the dragon's scale, slaying a dragon is not a difficult task.

But Ludd asked Hume, and he learned that the idea of ​​the reverse scale was actually a rumor. The reverse scale did exist, and it was indeed the hardest scale on a dragon's body, directly opposite its heart. But the problem is, a behemoth like a dragon doesn't just have one heart!

So, Lud, who had already peeked at the "Complete Guide to Deceiving People," directly recounted the embarrassing story of Hamilton and the Silver Knight being chased by a dragon and becoming terrified last year. Then, pretending not to know, he asked Denzel, "How did you newbies get such confidence in killing a dragon?"

If he wasn't given a convincing reason, Ludwig would never allow a young man with such a bright future to blindly go and die.

Lude's words were righteous and reasonable. However, he underestimated the wariness of these novice adventurers, who refused to tell the truth, making the conversation impossible to continue.

Denzel and his companions clearly believed in the "Complete Guide to Dragon Slaying" and were convinced that both the book and the sword were treasures, not to be easily seen by outsiders except for a few like-minded team members. While Rudd had a kind face, he was ultimately a stranger and not yet someone they trusted.

Seeing that the conversation was stalled, Lud had no choice but to give up. Fortunately, it wasn't all for naught; at least he learned about the outside world's reaction to the dragon, and it was expected that a large number of stronger and more professional adventurers would arrive soon.

The current development plan for Pine Tree Village is to completely replace Riverwood Town, attract all the mercenaries and adventurers who want to explore the Virtual Forest, and make money by providing various services to these outsiders.

Lud also supports the plan, hoping that more outsiders will flock to the village this year to further develop and expand his sect, but only if all of this is kept under control.

It's important to understand that many adventurers are reckless individuals who act without considering the consequences, or rather, they simply don't care about the lives of others.

Take Denzel and his team as an example. These young people weren't necessarily malicious; they were simply instilled with a strange confidence by the "Complete Guide to Dragon Slaying," believing they were doing the people a favor. They never considered the consequences if they went too far and angered the dragon.

Fortunately, Ludwig's relationship with the Nidhogg family is relatively harmonious, so they will not allow the tragedy of last winter to repeat itself.

That very night, Lud secretly left the village and went to the demi-human camp, where he used dragon scales to lure Nidhogg out.

Upon meeting, Lude first gave a brief explanation of the situation: several young human adventurers had arrived in the village with a "trick book" written by the lapis lazuli dragon Sanders, which made them believe they possessed the strength to slay dragons and they were preparing to cause trouble for Nidhogg.

Nidhogg paid little attention to the human adventurers, but upon hearing the name of the lapis lazuli dragon Sanders, he couldn't help but frown. This name was legendary among dragons, so famous that almost every dragon knew it.

This guy is a notorious prankster among the dragons. He has spent his entire long life on how to wreak havoc on other members of his race. There are many famous incidents about him, and even Nidhogg has heard of them.

However, this guy last appeared more than fifty years ago, and has been missing ever since. Many dragons believe that he must have done many evil deeds and finally got himself killed by other dragons.

Ludd was intrigued by the mysterious Sanders's exploits, but something else was more pressing.

"My friend, I have a plan that needs your help?"

"You want me to kill those hotheads?"

"No, no! It's not worth it. They haven't committed any major crimes. If they really want to die, I certainly won't stop them, but we shouldn't be the ones to take the initiative."

"So what are you planning to do?"

"Old Ni! Do you want to be the final boss?"

"Clam!?"

Hearing Ludwig's so-called plan, Nidhogg was completely bewildered. He didn't know what "final BOSS" meant, but he felt it wasn't a good term.