Currently in the capital of Nevan.
A huge mass of people had gathered in the open streets and before them, there was a wooden platform on which men dressed in white cloth stood, and behind them was a line of paladins and infantry.
They were priests who had gathered the crowd in the King's absence. There wasn't any hint of mercy that a holy priest should have rather there was an indifferent and cold expression on his face.
Barry, the head priest who used to be a priest in the Church of Nevan left it after its downfall.
When everyone wondered where he had gone, this guy suddenly appeared with a group of dogs.
He looked more like a threatening bandit than a priest.
He glanced at the people kneeling before the platform and spoke with a calm tone"Citizens of Nevan we have received a report about the King of Nevan."
"King of Nevan Alex was just a pathetic imbecile who might have been a sinner in his previous life and he was punished in this life by the Goddess turning him into an imbecile."
"But how can that guy become normal who had been punished by a goddess? For not too long we received reports of him using black magic in the battle against Amidon. We suspect that his mind had been taken over by a devil who wanted to destroy peace and cause chaos."
"We even feared that he had sold his soul to the devil and tried to corrupt the masses. So, we seek your active corporation in warding off evil."
"God's children don't doubt this father's fairness. I promise you that we, the servants who were chosen by Goddess herself, are most fair and noble and as soon as we find that you don't have any connection with the devil, I will personally walk you all out."
The words spoken by Barry caused a huge commotion among the crowds shocking everyone present out there.
Everyone started to chatter among themselves thinking about the words said by the head Priest.
A man mustering his courage stood up and asked"Father, aren't you accusing our king falsely?"
"You all have left Nevan when we were in trouble and now that Nevan is rising because of our king's effort, you are trying to prove our king as a heretic."
Barry smiled hearing the man's words and said,"Child, listen to me first."
"I already had a prediction that big trouble would happen in Nevan. So, I started to prepare for it right away. I know things have been delayed but things aren't too bad for now."
"Just think carefully, King of Nevan just became normal a few months ago and he had waged war on Amidon slaughtering many innocent people"
"He killed many innocent citizens and children without any mercy."
"Only a person passed by the Devil can commit such atrocities."
Barry's reason instantly terrified everyone across the streets planting a hint of doubt.No one knows the real situation nor do they know what had happened really and Barry took the opportunity of Alex's absence and started to preach against him trying to turn the masses against him.
On the continent, no matter how prestigious or powerful you are, once you are leveled as a heretic and a person dealing with the devil by the Church you are going to be haunted down for eternity.
Demons who are known as worshippers of the Devil were criticized for that reason. Although everything was far from the truth, this was the church's way to destroy its enemies in the name of religion and belief.
Still, openly condemning a King, for this reason, was no exaggeration and was a shocking incident in itself.
The quick-witted people started to wonder from where this man got the guts to challenge their King.
But knowing the authority of the Church they knew that their king was nothing before the might of the church.
Barry's simple words had suddenly put everyone on the path of despair.
Many tried to raise their voice and retort to Barry that what he was saying was nothing but false.
But it only worsened the condition as they were dragged out of the crowd as a group of prisoners who committed heinous crimes.
Those who accepted their fate were not treated harshly but those who tried to resist were subjected to harsh cruelty.
While such a scene of chaos was going on, Bassie looked at the group priest with bloodshot eyes from a distance.
He was the one to whom Alex had entrusted all the administration and powers and he had done his duty with the utmost importance.
Although he was not a saint, he had never done any cruel deeds.
The only mistake he committed was being blinded by greed. He embezzled some funds but he stopped after seeing Nevan's worsening condition and he even pleaded with others to stop but none of them listened to him.
He always had a guilty feeling for doing this and when famine struck and food resources were scarce, he used all the money he had stolen and even spent his own money to help the people.
He had made sure that none of the people in his territory had to go to sleep with an empty stomach. He still had not reached a point where he couldn't feel empathy and sympathy for others.
And now the scene before him was truly out of his expectation. With the absence of Alex for more than a month, many negative rumors were being spread about him.
And now the Priest was running negative propaganda about Alex, he knew that someone had pushed and used force to do these things.
He wanted to take action but there were three Epic rank paladins in the troops and currently, Nevan had none.
He even thought of sending some assassins in decreasing their force but that would lead to more trouble.
As Bassie was trying to figure out what to do, he saw the entire crowd suddenly descend into silence.
Barry had a golden scepter in his hand and nodded proudly seeing that no one raised his voice against him after harsh treatment.
He was about to return when he heard a loud crisp voice.
"Father! How can you bully people like this unreasonably? Didn't the priest preach that God is kind and merciful? Where is that kindness?"
"The only thing I can see here is violence."
