No matter what kind of status they have, everyone must go outside once every weekend.
Catho stood outside the cathedral, closely observing this structure of worship for the God Eldridge.
According to the constitutions of the New Royas Kingdom, every citizen of New Royas must come to the cathedral and pay their respects at least once during the weekend. Even someone with a physical handicap must carry a simple effigy of God with them and make simple prayers.
Regardless of whether or not they honestly worshipped Eldridge, this was written as part of the New Royas Kingdom's law. Aristocrats were allowed to not go as often but they couldn't skip it entirely, otherwise, the local council would condemn them.
If the infraction was severe, they could be stripped of their aristocratic status, if not, then a heavy fine would be issued until they had no choice but to go.
There was a saying in the New Royas Kingdom: There are only two things you cannot escape from in this country, dying at the end of your life, and praying to his majesty Eldridge.
Because of this, regardless of the situation, everyone would take some time out of their lives to head to the cathedral and pray. If people had a lot of free time, they might even go more than once, expressing just how much they loved and respected his majesty, Eldridge.
This was the case for even the aristocracy. It didn't matter how sincere they actually were with their faith, the least they must do was to show it publicly. While they were in the cathedral, it wouldn't be convenient for the Pugilists to protect them, especially during their prayers.
This would be the moment when they're the least cautious. Because no one would be so foolish as to attempt anything during the praying process, otherwise, the people of the cathedral would go berserk.
Thinking of the people of the cathedral's expressions when he conducted this plan, Catho chuckled. Those people were part of the reason why the Jugus family fell to ruins.
The aristocrats put a lot of emphasis on pride, so at some unknown point, a tacit rule had been established between the aristocrats and the church, which was that the offerings of the aristocrats when they visited the cathedral couldn't be too stingy.
The amount wasn't exorbitant, even peasants would be able to provide that much, but the frequency of once per week was an issue. Considering all the spending that a failing aristocratic family had to shoulder to uphold their pride, having to pay a periodic 'fee' to the cathedral this way was also quite a bit of expenditure.
What I need to do is to ensure that I don't face any Pugilists directly.
Catho was nearing insanity, but his insanity only made his mind even clearer. He understood very well that if he didn't take this risk, the Jugus family was as good as done.
Because of this, his insanity was the insanity of being ready to try anything and everything.
…
Negary sat on top of the cathedral watching this little playground act play out.
Having planned against an unsuspecting victim, the chances of Catho's success was around 50/50.
As if seeing something, Negary reached his hand into the void and pulled a butterfly into his hand.
"Milord, are you influencing their future?"
Wearing a long dress, Lan Shan sat next to Negary while leaning on him. She continued to hold a parasol over Negary's head to help shield him from the sun, even though a little bit of sun wouldn't affect the current Negary at all, Lan Shan insisted on doing it anyway.
〖 No, I'm merely making things a little bit more interesting 〗Negary replied: 〖 According to the available information, a member of the church will be drawn by this butterfly and notice Catho's arrangements in three minutes, leading his entire gambit to fail 〗
〖 That would be much too boring. The difference between the two sides is simply too great, so the weaker side that is the boy deserves a chance 〗Negary casually replied, but his true goal was only known to himself.
Following Negary's advancement to a Pathway Entity, even a portion of him was difficult for Lan Shan and the rest to comprehend.
In a location where nobody could possibly know about, boundless golden light was radiating. Something in the Flame world seemed to be changing, which caused the world itself to change as well, obscuring certain pieces of information.
〖 This feeling of myself being history has its own charm 〗
Negary was very aware of the other party's goal. The Ghostman ritual and the Ceremonial Blade were both things that he left behind, but as time went by, these things had become myths and legends among the people, affecting them generation after generation.
The butterfly that stopped in his hand once again flapped its wings and took flight. Its flight trajectory, in Negary's eyes, slowly became determined, as everything that was considered part of this butterfly was now grasped in Negary's hands.
…
While wearing a pastor outfit, Catho slowly walked towards a certain place with a large trunk in his hand.
Since the pastors with high enough standings were busy collecting their 'offerings', as long as they had enough confidence and caution, anyone could easily masquerade as a pastor.
And most people would lower their guards against a pastor in a church.
Without any bodyguards to stop him, Catho's plan was surprisingly successful. He managed to knock the city lord Dolan's son, Parry, unconscious and shoved him into a wooden trunk.
As he pretended to be a pastor carrying offerings, by mostly hiding his face behind the trunk, some of the pastors who walked by didn't even suspect Catho.
As long as he wasn't so unlucky that he ran into the manager who knew the faces of every pastor, it was impossible for him to be exposed.
Once again, an older pastor in slightly luxurious clothing walked past and only gave him a short glance before continuing without noticing anything out of the ordinary. Catho easily carried the trunk away.
Eventually, when Catho reached a relatively secluded area, he tossed the entire trunk into the underground sewers.
The opening to the sewers wasn't very big, but the wooden trunk was just small enough to fit, and Parry's curled up figure fit snugly in the wooden trunk.
"After this, I just need to find an opportunity to go outside and find the other party in the opening of the sewers" Catho muttered to himself and quickly returned to the cathedral, taking that opportunity to remove his pastor disguise and change back into an aristocrat who was barely getting by.
…
Where is Parry?
At another location, while Dolan was conversing with the head pastor, his gaze suddenly froze and looked at his surroundings, then had an ominous feeling.
After excusing himself from the pastor, Dolan hurriedly went to search, but couldn't find his son anywhere. As his blood started to freeze in his veins, he tried his best to maintain composure and hurriedly went to the head pastor to explain his situation.
Although the cathedral's position was considerable, they didn't have the courage to offend the lord of a city, so they mobilized all the pastors to search while also temporarily sealing off the cathedral's main gates.
As he watched the cathedral's main gates closing up, Catho's expression remained unchanged. Even if he was a ruined aristocrat, he was still an aristocrat, which made it impossible for them to conduct a personal search, unless they wanted to offend the aristocracy as a whole. This was part of aristocratic pride and rules.
However, as he thought of something, his eyes slightly changed. He was fine, but what about Parry?
Being shoved into a trunk and left to float inside dirty water like that might be fine for a short while, but there was no telling what would happen after a long time.
Watching Dolan's anxious expression, Catho thought about this, then slowly closed his eyes and became calm again.
…
It wasn't until twilight that the search ended without results and Catho was released together with the rest of the cathedral visitors. He constantly complained as he exited the cathedral, acting the same way that a minor aristocrat would act whenever they were involved in an incident.
After escaping all observing eyes and confirming his own safety, Catho headed straight towards the sewers.
After searching for a bit with a torch, Catho finally found the small wooden trunk in a certain part of the underground sewers.
The trunk was very quiet. When Catho opened and illuminated the inside with the beating fire, he saw nothing but a cold dead corpse of a child, perhaps due to lack of oxygen, his skin was also a bit bruised.
"You have no one to blame but yourself, City Lord Dolan, you were the one who kept me there" Catho closed his eyes and lightly murmured. Then closed the trunk back up.
Even if the hostage was already dead, he would still achieve his goal.
