CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42 - IMPERIAL CHURCH OF SEVEN VIRTUES

Logan started reading through the private messages he’d gotten, all of them from large corporations and guilds all over the planet.

’All these people offer different but interesting additional benefits,’ Logan thought, skimming briefly through the messages.

A particular message from the Imperial Church of the Seven Virtues, the largest religious order in the world, stood out to Logan.

’They are offering 200 million dollars and 100 million worth of raw mana stones,’ Logan thought, surprised. ’But that isn’t all.’

’If I promise not to auction off any copies of the manual, they’ll grant us access to church-protected grounds and offer a single favor in return.’

But that wasn’t the only offer that surprised him.

’Even the Meridian Guild offered some very interesting benefits,’ Logan thought, scrolling through their message.

Switching off the hologram, Logan decided to go to sleep.

’They might add more benefits tomorrow after all,’ he thought, grinning.

Logan woke up feeling completely refreshed six hours later.

"Nothing’s really changed," Logan muttered, having pulled up the hologram once again.

Logan found a few more messages from large guilds and companies, but that was it.

"The day is still long," he muttered, clicking away from the website.

Logan stretched, then got out of bed and changed into his training clothes.

He continued on his normal daily routine, starting the day off with physical training, then mana spell training with Edric, reading through documents, and finally some meditation.

Even if it was always the same, Logan loved the routine.

’Growing stronger feels great,’ he thought, laying down on his bed.

Glancing at the clock, he found that it had already reached 11:30 PM, meaning the bids had finalized.

"Time to check the final offers," he muttered, pulling up the site once again.

This time, the highest bid on his manual had reached 500 million dollars.

"It’s from the Imperial Church of the Seven Virtues," Logan read, raising an eyebrow. "It seems like they are pretty determined to get this manual."

The 500 million had been split up into two sections, 300 million in dollars and 200 million in raw mana stones.

"The second largest offer is from the Holy Grail Guild," he read, interested. "They are offering 250 million in raw mana stones and 200 million dollars."

’I’ve heard about them before,’ he thought. ’This guild has 12 S-rank hunters and, if I didn’t hear wrong, they should have two SSS-ranks.’

There was a reason why he’d heard about both the Holy Grail Guild and the Church of Virtues before.

’The two have been locked in a bitter conflict for years,’ Logan thought. ’Both believe in something completely different and believe their religion is the right one.’

’Which brings me to a small problem,’ he thought, looking at both offers. ’If I choose one, the other one will obviously not like me.’

Even though the website was anonymous, Logan wasn’t sure what either of them could do if he sold it to the other.

’I could sell it to the third-highest bidder,’ he thought, scrolling down. However, seeing the difference in price, he decided against it.

After contemplating some more, Logan sighed and made his decision.

’I’ll just sell it to the highest bidder,’ he thought, confirming the Imperial Church’s offer.

’I’ll also accept their offer to keep the manual private,’ he thought, nodding. Logan was, in fact, very interested in the favor the Church would owe him.

’According to Edric, the top three virtues should all be SSS-rank hunters,’ he thought. ’Having them owe me one would be super useful in the future.’

Naturally, he also understood that a favor wasn’t all-mighty. ’If the situation is too risky or causes them losses, they’ll very likely back out immediately.’

A few minutes after accepting the Church’s offer, he received a private message from them.

Logan’s face changed slightly after reading through the message.

"Your decision brings light to a world clouded by sinners. This manual shall be restored to the hands of the worthy, as was always intended. The Seven Virtues will remember your name in prayer."

Logan blinked. That... definitely didn’t read like a normal transaction.

’I suppose they’re happy?’

he thought, unsure what to say. Shrugging it off, he kept reading.

"We kindly request the formal details of your organization to arrange retrieval in the coming days," the message continued. "In the name of the Divine One, we vow to act with silence. No word of this exchange shall leave the hands of the faithful."

"That’s doable," Logan muttered, still somewhat weirded out by the language they were using.

’Not really my type to hang around with,’ Logan thought, shaking his head.

Sending them the required information, he closed the hologram and thought it through for a moment.

’I’ll have to make sure I tell the mana stone processing department about this in advance,’ he thought. ’As for the other three hundred million, I think I’ll just keep that on my private account for future system draws.’

He had no idea how he was going to explain the Imperial Church delivering such a large amount of raw mana stones to their company, but Logan figured he’d just improvise something on the spot if necessary.

Having thought everything through, Logan continued cultivating for a few more hours before finally getting some sleep.

Waking up after only a few hours of sleep, Logan found a new message from the Church.

"May the light of the Divine One guide and protect you. In accordance with sacred custom, a Holy Envoy shall be dispatched in three days’ time to receive the manual. They will be joined by trusted attendants, chosen to handle sacred items with care and devotion."

Logan blinked. "Did they really need to say all that?" he wondered. ’Wouldn’t just giving me a pickup date have been enough?’

Shrugging, Logan closed the message and sent Edric and Silas a quick message about the Church’s coming visit.

Silas replied almost instantly.

"You did what?"

It didn’t take long before both Silas and Edric were standing in Logan’s living room, staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

"Let me get this straight," Edric said slowly, eyes narrowing. "You managed to buy two hundred million dollars’ worth of raw mana stones..."

He paused, then raised his voice slightly.

"From THE Imperial Church?"

"Yup," Logan nodded, grinning.