Fortunately, unlike many plots, there were no more unexpected twists at the end, and Duanmu Huai successfully obtained the Skull Staff. After that, he directly set the entire monastery ablaze—there was no other way. All the nuns and guards in the monastery had already been converted into undead creatures by that damned vampire necromancer. If they weren't burned, they would only crawl out again to wreak havoc.
Standing in the pouring rain, looking at the burning monastery, the novice priestess's face was filled with sorrow. "Why… why did it turn out like this…?"
"I advise you not to overthink it."
Hearing the novice priestess's whispered self-talk, Duanmu Huai's eyes sharpened, and he said coldly.
Upon hearing his rebuke, the novice priestess trembled. "But…"
"I can pretty much guess what you're thinking. You believe they had faith in the Lady of the Lake, but they didn't get a good end. Instead, they died in pain and even became evil undead creatures, so your faith is starting to waver, isn't it?"
"...…" The novice priestess didn't speak, but it was clear she didn't deny Duanmu Huai's words.
"Listen up, little girl." Duanmu Huai lowered his head, staring at her. "Don't forget what the Abbess once said. Their mission here was to guard the divine artifact, and they were prepared to sacrifice their lives.
Of course, this wasn't the outcome they wished for, but where in this world do things go as one wishes? Knights shouted about fighting for the goddess, but how many were cut down by Green-skinned Orcs? This is how the world is; get used to it."
"But, but… what should I do?"
At this point, the novice priestess finally couldn't hold back. She looked up at Duanmu Huai, screaming loudly. "If even the Lady of the Lake is unwilling to protect us, then who can we rely on?"
"Ultimately, only yourself." Duanmu Huai sighed, patting her shoulder.
"Remember, little girl. Placing your hope in others is a very foolish thing; it's the helpless choice of the weak. If you want to change your destiny, then you must stick to your original intention, become strong, face everything… endure everything… and not always think about running away, escaping, or finding someone to protect you.
Of course, you also need to pay attention to the methods. If you choose to rely on the power of evil gods, then… you know what the consequences will be." Looking at the novice priestess before him, Duanmu Huai's eyes showed no fluctuation. He wasn't sure if this child could emerge from the shadow of this incident.
Perhaps she would be struck down by it, becoming a follower of an evil god… This possibility was not small; in fact, it was quite large. At that time…
"Or, if you feel that living is too tiring, I have a better idea." Saying this, Duanmu Huai drew the mechanical sword from his waist.
"Let your soul return to the side of the goddess. That way, you will no longer have to endure the suffering of the world."
"...…" This time, the novice priestess remained silent for a long time. Finally, she made up her mind and looked up at Duanmu Huai.
"I'm sorry, Sir Knight, I don't know… what I should do. I think, perhaps I can no longer believe in the Lady of the Lake as I used to… Is that okay?"
"That's normal." Duanmu Huai nodded, putting away his mechanical sword. "And, I think you might have some wrong ideas about faith and gods."
"Huh?" Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the novice priestess was stunned for a moment, staring at him in surprise.
"Perhaps in your eyes, as long as you devoutly believe in a god and dedicate everything to them, you can receive their protection. But in fact, most of the time, that's not the case."
"Is… that so?"
"Exactly." Duanmu Huai nodded. "Nothing falls from the sky, whether it's a god's blessing or a pie. In my hometown, there's a saying: 'Do your best and leave the rest to fate.' Simply put, after a person has done everything they can, whether they succeed or not is up to heaven and destiny.
It's not about giving up from the start and waiting for a god to save you." Saying this, Duanmu Huai turned his head and looked at the forest not far away.
In fact, this was a common problem among many believers. They all felt that they had dedicated everything to their god, believing so devoutly, reciting scriptures and bowing to Buddha every morning and evening.
So, when they encountered difficulties, the god should naturally help them. If the god didn't manifest, then it meant the god had betrayed them. I'm so devout, yet you're unwilling to save me from this crisis… It's all your fault!
This was also why many seasoned believers, after abandoning their faith, immediately went to the other extreme. They believed they had done nothing wrong; it was the god who failed to meet their expectations. So, the fault wasn't theirs, but the god's. Since the god betrayed them, they might as well fall into Chaos.
But in reality? That's not how it works at all! Gods also look at performance and effort. If you do nothing, just recite scriptures all day, or give a large sum of money, or work for the temple—is that considered effort? Of course not.
Take the Lady of the Lake, for example. Do those knights who go to church every day and devoutly pray get to see her? Of course not.
To receive the Lady of the Lake's blessing and become a Grail Knight, one must embark on an adventurous, difficult, and life-threatening journey before they can achieve their wish, right?
So, who should take the blame for this? Naturally, it's those who preach.
Think about it: "As long as you believe in the Lady of the Lake, she will bless you with wealth and protect you from evil,"
versus
"To receive the Lady of the Lake's blessing, you must become an adventuring knight and undertake a life-threatening journey to possibly achieve your wish."
Which one is more likely to attract followers?
Of course, it's the former. After all, most people don't have the courage to die. (This excludes a few idiots with chuunibyou, of course.) To be honest, Duanmu Huai often felt that those outwardly devout types might as well be double agents sent by the Chaos Gods—their methods of "guiding" believers looked suspiciously like they were designed to make people lose faith and fall into Chaos.
That was also why most Inquisitors didn't hold a good opinion of clerics. These bastards, with just a few silver-tongued words, unknowingly lured countless potential future fallen ones to the Chaos Gods. And they themselves would walk away smugly, thinking they had made a tremendous contribution to the deities they worshipped.
They couldn't even imagine that the gods they claimed to serve might be so angry up in the heavens they'd want to strike them down with lightning on the spot.
Duanmu Huai didn't want to see this little novice priestess fall one day and end up among the ranks of Chaos. So, he figured he'd give her a little "preventive shot" now.
If she could just strengthen her mind and look at the world from a broader perspective, that would already be a good start.
After listening to Duanmu Huai's words, the novice priestess lowered her head and thought for a while."I… I don't know… but I'll try my best to understand…"
"Keep at it."
That was all Duanmu Huai could say.
After burning down the monastery, Duanmu Huai brought Olgis and the novice priestess to a nearby temple of the Lady of the Lake and reported everything that had happened. The temple staff were shocked to hear about the vampire invasion and said they would immediately dispatch people to investigate and handle the aftermath.
As for the novice priestess, Duanmu Huai left her at the temple. The path she chose from here on out… was up to her.
"That was truly a close call; I almost messed up."
Leaving the temple, Duanmu Huai recalled what had happened earlier and broke into a cold sweat.
Thankfully, he'd acted fast. If he had arrived just a few days later and only seen the ruins of the monastery, he'd probably have ended up with a system-issued tracking quest. And if that happened… Duanmu Huai would have wanted to die. He absolutely hated tracking quests—they were time-consuming and incredibly annoying.
That was also why he prioritized the Skull Staff. Compared to other artifacts buried deep in ruins, these sealed ones were the easiest to obtain. And thankfully—he finally got it!
(End of this chapter)