Demon Bible

Chapter 129: Huh?

For a split second, Isabella's body trembled as if she were being preyed upon by some ferocious beast.

However, that feeling vanished in an instant.

"My apologies. My power is currently in its final stage of rapid growth, so I am struggling to control it," Nemus said with a smile.

Isabella nodded and offered a smile. "It has been a long time, Nels."

Although she vaguely sensed that something was wrong with Nemus, she had no evidence at the moment. She could not label him a bad person based solely on her intuition.

At the very least, she could not display her wariness openly for now.

"I heard you had arrived, but when I went to the Redemption Department and found you absent, I knew you would be here," Nemus remarked.

The smile on Isabella's face faded as she observed Nemus's condition.

The aura radiating from him had become incredibly powerful, rippling with an intense, oppressive presence.

This overwhelming pressure stemmed from a fundamental gap in their life essence. Judging from this alone, Nemus had already progressed quite far within the Iron Rank."Then, Your Excellency the Great Knight, are you aware of the situation at the Redemption Department?" Since the topic had been brought up, Isabella decided to ask outright.

"I am aware, very much so." Nemus's expression turned solemn. In this exact moment, he genuinely looked like a capable and devout cleric.

"I have looked into this matter, and the problem lies at the very core." Nemus turned his head toward the direction of the church's Divine Idol.

Isabella paused in surprise.

"In the past, although nobles and wealthy merchants would occasionally cut the line at the Redemption Department, there were never this many empty queues. If commoners with severe conditions lined up a few times, they could eventually receive treatment."

"But a few years ago, that situation changed." As Nemus explained, Isabella realized what he meant and fell into a brief silence.

Many clerics were actually aware of the God of Precepts' current condition.

The biggest issue was that the collection of the Power of Faith had slowed down significantly.

If not for the occasional trickle of the Power of Faith still flowing into the Divine Kingdom from certain areas, news of the God of Precepts' fall might have already spread.

Under these circumstances, the greatest benefit of the Redemption Department vanished.

Previously, the most significant reward for saving lives at the Redemption Department was the pure Power of Faith generated the moment a patient recovered.

Only those who had endured illness truly understood the value of health.

The walls of a hospital had heard more devout prayers than a church.

When this massive amount of devout Faith flowed into the church's Grid, the Grid would become much more active.

If a Priest tried to comprehend Divine Arts at such times, their cultivation efficiency would receive a substantial boost.

This was considered a hidden perk for the Redemption Department, compensating for the mental strain of casting Spells every day.

Now, that hidden perk was gone.

Devout Faith entering the Grid barely triggered any reaction anymore. It would simply be stored and, after a long wait, directly siphoned away.

Consequently, healing had devolved into a form of mandatory volunteer work.

Gradually, this led to the situation they saw today.

"In fact, most of the people who donate tokens to reserve spots at the Redemption Department are merchants tied to medicinal herbs and hospitals."

"By doing this, they successfully cut off an avenue for commoners to seek treatment, making the skyrocketing cost of medicine completely expected," Nemus pointed out the true cause behind the scenes.

"If you want to change this, the first thing you must do is challenge all the medical merchants."

"Secondly, the Redemption Department is ultimately under Bishop Rhine's jurisdiction. It is not my place to interfere."

"I could only propose adding more permanent Priests to the city Outposts. This way, when sick commoners truly cannot survive, they can cause trouble, get injured, and get arrested just to receive treatment."

In principle, Priests stationed at the Outposts were only allowed to act when casualties arose from vicious incidents within the city, such as cult riots, the infiltration of Dangerous Creatures, or the emergence of Demons and other supernatural threats.

Therefore, under these circumstances, the populace had no choice but to stage a commotion, screaming that they were members of the Construct Protocol before letting out a dramatic wail and conveniently collapsing to the ground.

To investigate the suspects and ensure they did not die before interrogation, the Priests would then be forced to treat them.

Isabella's beautiful face twisted into an expression of sheer disbelief. She furrowed her brows, her mouth slightly ajar as if a bewildered "Huh?" was about to slip out.

Because this was simply too...

"The official clerical healing department has lost its ability to treat people, so commoners must commit crimes just to be healed by a Priest. I..." Isabella was momentarily at a loss for words.

"Get used to it. There are plenty of other absurd things in Tail Fin Town," Nemus shook his head, wearing an expression that practically said she was still too young and naive.

Let alone Isabella, even Nemus had found the sheer absurdity of this world staggering when he first learned the inside story behind some of these matters.

Some of these schemes were so twisted that even Demons from the Abyss would likely struggle to concoct them.

After all, Demons were cruel, tyrannical, and chaotic.

They had far too many unstable elements. A regulatory system this warped and bizarre would actually find it difficult to exist within the Abyss.

"Therefore, I would like to invite you to leave the Redemption Department and join the garrisoned forces. This way, you can actually do more practical work for the people." With the groundwork already laid, Nemus's invitation sounded perfectly logical and reasonable.

"I... I need to visit the various Outposts to see for myself." Isabella had initially intended to agree immediately, but she ultimately decided to play it safe.

"Of course. Think it over carefully. You are always welcome here." After chatting casually with Isabella for a while longer, Nemus took his leave.

Throughout the entire interaction, Nemus had played the part of a dutiful Holy Knight doing his best to consider the plight of ordinary commoners.

In reality, however, he had practically anticipated Isabella's entire psychological thought process and deliberately set this trap.

The moment Nemus saw Isabella, the fluctuations in his aura were not actually caused by his Attribute Values rising too quickly and compromising his control.

The true reason was that the feedback of Destiny had manifested at that precise second.

As early as half a year ago, Nemus had used Krew to gain a slight premonition of his own crucial Destiny, one that would involve Isabella.

Now that he was face-to-face with her, the magnetic pull of that Destiny had become much more tangible.

That was the real reason Nemus's power had fluctuated slightly.

Subsequently, the advice he offered had an obvious superficial motive: an indirect approach to saving the situation and treating more citizens.

In reality, the Outpost garrisons involved patrols, combat, and other related matters, meaning they generally fell under the jurisdiction of Nemus, the Great Knight.

In other words, Nemus wanted to transfer Isabella right under his nose.

"After all, Rhine is a bit difficult to see through," Nemus muttered as he returned to his Office, narrowing his eyes slightly as he opened the Book of Ages in his hands.