Chapter 1377: Chapter 1377: Confrontation at the Church Entrance

The Dawn Chapel does not have a specific day for worship, so it is not necessary to visit only on weekends.

The land area of the Dawn Chapel in Randall Valley is larger than that of Tobesk, but its interior decoration is relatively old. Although Shard and Luviya were unfamiliar faces in this parish, it was not uncommon for believers from afar to visit big city churches to worship, so no one probed into their identities.

Shard missed the morning worship service that day, so he sat alone on a bench in the hall to pray. The entire process was fairly simple, after all, in a world where True Gods exist, there is no need for the church to rely on cumbersome and meaningless rituals to prove God’s majesty.

However, the final part of the worship still required a confession of one’s recent wrongdoings. Shard thought for a long time and couldn’t figure out what mistake he should confess, so he admitted that he seemed to have been too harsh on Mia lately, making this cat, who was quite fearful of environments outside the home, go out far more frequently than last year.

After completing the worship, there was still some time before nine o’clock. Luviya originally wanted to tour the local church with Shard, but Shard thought of something else:

“After the exams at the beginning of the year, you and Dorothy left immediately. Priest Augustus mentioned something to us at that time, that in his youth, he came to Randall Valley and lost a bet of 10 pence to Father Mephistopheles of the local church, which he never paid back. Since we’re here today, why not visit Father Mephistopheles and help the priest repay the debt (Chapter 1162). This way, when we return to Tobesk, we can give Father Augustus a nice surprise.”

Shard suggested, and Luviya nodded, showing interest:

“But August Priests actually gambles with people?”

However, she suddenly realized something was amiss, furrowing her pretty brows as she looked at Shard:

“Wait, how did you talk about Randall Valley after the exams? I only got news I was coming to this city on a business trip half a month after exam week. Did you start discussing Randall Valley long before that?”

That was because Shard wanted to find the Black Time Key, so he talked to the priest and the doctor about his travel plans.

“This is the guidance of fate, indicating that there were signs long ago that you would come to Randall Valley.”

Shard firmly stated, pushing down the head of Mia, who popped out of his pocket:

“Let’s hurry to find Father Mephistopheles, don’t miss the time of Ston Osenfort’s arrival.”

Shard didn’t know the exact age of Father Mephistopheles, only that he was older than Priest Augustus. He was initially worried that the common priest might have passed away or could no longer handle church duties due to health reasons, but unexpectedly, the old priest was still serving in the church.

However, unlike Lat August, who remained an ordinary priest, Father Mephistopheles had actually become the Bishop of the Dawn Chapel of that parish. Shard and Luviya were quite surprised when they learned of this:

“So, should we still visit him?”

Luviya asked.

“Of course, but use your identity. You met Priest Augustus in Tobesk City, and before leaving, he specifically asked you to visit Father Mephistopheles.”

Shard instructed, as for himself, he was just a friend Luviya met locally, and coincidentally bumped into at the church.

The work of a parish bishop is very busy, as Shard knew from Parish Bishop Kanas Owen in Tobesk. It’s very difficult for ordinary believers to meet the district bishop at will, and today, the difficulty wasn’t that they didn’t have an appointment, but that Bishop Mephistopheles was simply not at the church today.

Due to the Petrified Plague, the bishop had gone to the hospital early in the morning to visit believers and was said not to return until the afternoon. So even though Shard was at the Dawn Chapel today, he still had to wait for the next opportunity to learn about Priest Augustus’s past.

Luviya looked forward to this.

As time approached nine o’clock, Shard temporarily handed Mia over to Luviya for care, and had Luviya stay in the church’s main hall, looking outside from the window, while he went to the church entrance.

At 8:59, as another four-wheeled carriage stopped at the church entrance, Ston Osenfort jumped out from the carriage. It seemed to be his private carriage, as Shard noticed he did not pay.

Although Osenfort was wearing a black hat and a silver pin on his chest as Shard requested, he didn’t carry a red rose but an uncommon black rose.

Shard walked towards him, and they met at the foot of the grand steps in front of the church, where the flow of people intersected, while Luviya in the church could also see them.

Shard asked with a smile:

“What’s the matter, your rose isn’t fresh, so it changed from red to black?”

The tall man uttered a not-so-vulgar curse:

“Why did you ask me to come here exactly?”

“Don’t you like churches?”

Shard shook his head, looking at the obviously wilted flower in his hand:

“A withered rose is still so beautiful.”

For some reason, Shard’s words seemed to hit Osenfort’s sore spot, making his impatience and annoyance even more evident on his face:

“What do you really want? Did you find that Sapphire Earring?”

“Not yet, but I think I’ll find it soon.”

Shard wasn’t just boasting, Old John had mentioned some time ago that he had ways to get Special Coins, which should be in his hands soon. At that time, Special Divination by Luviya could pinpoint it:

“You did arrive on time, but remember? I asked you to stay here for three minutes.”

“Do you want to test the church’s power, and its resistance to ‘it’?”

Osenfort’s expression turned more serious:

“It’s useless. If it worked, I would have hidden inside the church long ago.”

This means that although the Stone Mirror Demon: Goethe still fears the power of True Gods, hiding inside a church wouldn’t prevent it from fulfilling its contract power.

“Think whatever you want. I want to ask, have you ever seen a gemstone about this size? A hexagonal gemstone.”

Shard opened his notebook and presented a pencil sketch hand-drawn by Luviya.

He originally just wanted to stall for time so that Luviya could observe carefully, but unexpectedly, Osenfort’s expression changed immediately upon seeing the sketch of the gemstone:

“Where did you see this?”

“I haven’t seen it, that’s why I’m looking for it.”

Shard looked at him inquisitively:

“Some souls are guiding me to find it, you know what I mean… you’ve really seen it?”

Ston Osenfort hesitated for a moment, and his impatience disappeared:

“Three years ago, ‘it’ had me look for gemstones of this shape in the area. Four in total, green, crimson, golden, and white.”

The four colors should represent the colors of the four seasons, and the one Shard obtained from the memoirs is the crimson one representing summer.

“It’s also searching… how many did you find?”

He asked inquisitively, Ston Osenfort crossed his arms and looked at Shard:

“Why should I tell you?”

“It seems you’ve gotten at least one, is that gemstone in your hands now or in ‘its’ hands?”

Osenfort squinted his eyes slightly:

“When you met it outside Worsent Manor, what exactly did it make you do?”

It seemed like he wanted to exchange questions for questions.

Mr. Lyman’s cemetery is of great significance, and the glowing key indicates that the secret is likely related to the truth of the Guardians, and even to the Heart of the Earth.

“It asked me to teach you a lesson.”

After considering, Shard spoke:

“It guided me to acquire a great weapon, and the raw material is something the Worsent Family planned to use against it. However, the weapon still needs one or two weeks to be prepared, as the raw material is very special.”

Osenfort nodded with his arms crossed:

“The white gemstone is in my hands; in the winter of 1852, I discovered it from an antique dealer who came to do business locally from elsewhere. I knew this gemstone might be really important to ‘it’, so I didn’t tell ‘it’ that the gemstone had been found, nor did I bring the gemstone back to the manor.”

“The merchant’s location and information.”

Shard said, and Osenfort’s face turned gloomy:

“Tell me, what power does the weapon you prepared have?”

Shard shook his head:

“I told you, how can I complete my task? Besides, I don’t think telling you would enable you to prepare.”

“Even if you don’t say it, I can guess, a weapon to deal with my immortality, right?”

Ston Osenfort’s words were a statement, and his face became gloomier in the morning fog:

“Help me do one thing, and once it’s done, that white gemstone will be yours.”

“No.”

Shard shook his head:

“I’ve had enough of your endless commissions and tasks, are people from Randall Valley all mentally ill or something? Finding wedding gifts, gemstones, weapons, I’ve had enough.”

He turned, pretending to want to step up the stairs into the church, and Osenfort indeed stopped him:

“Wait. Negotiations require patience, and if you’re not satisfied with my offer, then aside from that white gemstone, I can also tell you the contents of the contract I signed with it.”

“Oh?”

Shard stopped, interested, and turned back around:

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t know if you’re prepared beforehand, if we weren’t meeting at the church door, I wouldn’t even be able to propose this condition.”

Ston Osenfort moved a few steps closer to Shard, the two almost sticking together, while passersby curiously watched them, but quickly drew away because they seemed about to fight:

“It gives me the strongest immortal power, gives me luck that always wins, and it wants me to do a few things and wants my soul. But the soul isn’t given directly to it; we agreed that if someone can break the immortal power it gave me, then my soul will fully belong to it.”