173. Houraiji Kyuushou She's... Angry
The City—vast and suffocating, yet at times so small that only the struggle before your eyes remains. Every day, bizarre and fantastical events unfold here, with commissions ranging from finding lost pet cats to hunting dangerous, twisted monsters—the list goes on.
The Brave Ones Agency.
This is the identity assigned to Xiling and his companions by the chat group. They are the agency's finishing touchers, and their agency's level is—Seventh Tier.
Of course, this is after their hard work, advancing from Ninth Tier to Seventh Tier.
Within the agency, over fifty people from the Elden Ring are active. They are scattered throughout the city like the veins of a city, carrying out their respective tasks. Besides completing commissions and maintaining the agency's operations, there is another task—
Recruiting followers.
In this city that devours dreams, the vast majority of those struggling at the bottom have long been numbed by suffering. Ideals? Luxury. Dreams? Ridiculous. Ideologies? Long buried in the mire of survival. Their only burning thought remains the most primal:
To survive.
To survive peacefully.
However, in the cruel jungle of The City, simply surviving peacefully was an unattainable luxury. The City couldn't offer them that tranquility, so Xiling and his companions decided—they would.
Thus, the Silver Church was born.
At this moment, Palo—the former pianist—stood in a relatively quiet neighborhood, gazing up at the church building before him. Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows inlaid with silver patterns, casting dappled, sacred light and shadow inside. Within the church, the low, devout prayers of hundreds of believers could be faintly heard, merging into a humming sound filled with an inexplicable power. They were praising the created—"Lord of Silver."
What people worshipped was nothing more than a blurry silver light, a symbol to unite hearts.
A non-existent deity.
No ideals or goals? Then let's weave one.
Using this fabricated faith, they would tightly bind together hearts scattered like grains of sand, numb as rotten wood, allowing them to begin to coalesce and resonate.
When these awakened minds truly realize their own power and understand what they should fight for, they themselves become a torrent capable of shaking the city.
And in the days before that awakening, Xiling and his companions will guide these lost sheep firmly toward what they believe to be the right path.
As for what constitutes "right"? Xiling's attitude is clear: there may be countless paths, but he hopes these people will have this bottom line—to treat life as life.
"This is a church I established. As you can see, it's a pretty good place," Xiling introduced with a smile.
Palo fell into a deeper silence. In the shadows of the city, so-called "churches" abound, most cloaked in charity, but ultimately, without exception, they all degenerate into cult dens that reap the blood and flesh of their followers.
The initial gentle mask will eventually be torn apart by ferocious claws.
However…Palo's fingers curled slightly in the pocket of his old trench coat.
He had made his choice. In the corner of that dilapidated tavern, before the person who extended a welcoming hand, he had already placed his bet.
He was willing to trust the gentle-smiling owner beside him.
"Boss," Palo's voice was soft, "so what is my job here…?"
"Job?" Xiling seemed to just remember, raising his hand to look at his watch.
"This…" Xiling smiled easily, "No rush, listen, my stomach is growling. It's almost lunchtime, and no matter how important things are, we have to fill our stomachs first, right? Come on, I'll take you to try our cafeteria's cooking."
Just as Xiling was about to lead Palo towards the cafeteria corridor, a familiar figure happened to walk towards them—it was Elaina.
"Yo, you've worked hard." Xiling naturally smiled and waved in greeting.
"…It's alright." Elaina paused slightly, her gaze seemingly deliberately avoiding Xiling's face. She didn't linger, her pace quickening noticeably before she disappeared around the corner of the corridor.
"Strange… I've been feeling like she's deliberately avoiding me lately."
This subtle sense of distance had persisted for several days, but upon reflection, he couldn't quite place what he'd done to offend this witch.
"Never mind," Xiling shook his head, temporarily suppressing his doubts.
"Things will work themselves out."
Leading Palo into the spacious, bright dining room, the aroma of food wafted towards them. However, Xiling's gaze instantly locked onto a figure by the window, engrossed in a meal.
He strode over, stopping at the other person's table, his tone clearly puzzled:
"Kiana? What are you doing here?"
Kiana, who was stuffing a large mouthful of stew into her mouth, looked up at the sound of his voice, a little sauce still on her lips:
"Oh! Xiling! Sister Lemuen asked me to come help!"
"Lemuen? Asked you to help?" Xiling tilted his head in confusion. What did Lemuen need to ask Kiana for?
"Yeah!" Kiana replied matter-of-factly.
"As for the specifics… You can ask Lemuen herself! She just told me to come and wait, but she hasn't said what I need to do yet." She shrugged, indicating she was just following orders.
Placidusax, following behind Xiling, subtly twitched her small nostrils, observing Kiana as she ate her meal. A faint scent… that was the scent Xiling carried that night.
"Xiling was with her that night…" A subtle emotion flickered in the ancient dragon girl's eyes.
"Alright," Xiling smiled helplessly.
"You eat first. I'll take the newbie to get food; it's not good to leave them waiting hungry."
"Mmm!" Kiana, her mouth full, mumbled in response, continuing her focused "battle" with the food on her plate.
At the food counter, the woman serving the food saw Xiling and immediately put down her spoon. A reverent and devout smile spread across her wrinkled face, and her right hand expertly drew a spiral symbol representing silver in front of her chest.
"Greetings, Father Xiling," she said, her voice filled with heartfelt respect.
Xiling gently returned the same gesture:
"Greetings as well, Xipei. Three servings of today's special meal, please."
She found a seat against the wall.
Watching Palo practically wolf down her food, as if trying to make up for all the nutrients he had missed in the past, Xiling smiled and asked, "Is it to your liking?"
Palo, his mouth full of food, could only nod vigorously and gratefully.
Xiling smiled, not disturbing him further, and quietly began his own meal.
Meanwhile, the entrance to the cafeteria became lively. Members of the chat group returned to the church base one after another through the chat group teleportation system.
Kevin, the Tarnished, Luo Tianyi, Dan Heng, Lemuen, Elaina, and others gathered at Xiling's table.
Kevin had just sat down when he forked a large piece of fried chicken and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing while complaining, "Even though I was mentally prepared, this place is just too damn unreasonable! I was just chasing a wanted criminal today, and suddenly a bunch of lunatics jumped out! Without saying a word, they grabbed weapons and started hacking at me! How could I tolerate that?"
"You're lucky," the Tarnished said, poking at the vegetables on his plate with his fork, his face filled with despair, lost in painful memories, "Alley 23... that place is not a place for humans! I just went to deliver a letter, and guess what?"
"It's less than a ten-minute round trip, and I've witnessed over a dozen shops... dragging live customers inside and turning them into fresh ingredients!"
"Ugh!" Luo Tianyi immediately covered her mouth, the meatball she had just picked up falling back onto her plate.
"I'm eating! Can you not talk about such... such disgusting things?" she protested.
Dan Heng, standing beside her, calmly nodded, silently supporting Luo Tianyi.
"Okay, okay, my fault, my fault." The Tarnished also realized the topic was inappropriate and quickly clasped his hands together in apology, but the scene had clearly left a considerable shadow on him.
Lemuen, who had been eating quietly, looked around and asked with a hint of doubt, "Huh? Why hasn't Kyuushou returned yet? With her speed, she should have already dealt with that meat-grinding gang, right?"
Elaina's hand holding the spoon paused slightly.
"She... I hope nothing happened to her?"
Xiling closed his eyes and, after a moment, opened them; his brows furrowed deeply.
"...She's alright." He spoke slowly, his voice lowering, "But..."
"But what?" Luo Tianyi, closest to Kyuushou, pressed urgently.
Xiling's gaze swept over the tense faces of everyone, emphasizing each word:
"Kyuushou...she's angry."