Demon Bible

Chapter 200: Transition of the Historical Stage

With the Demon incident resolved, the days ticked by one after another.

A month later, a knock echoed on the door of Nemus's office. Krew opened it to find several priests standing outside.

"Grand Knight, you have to do something about Priestess Isabella!" the priests immediately complained the moment the door opened.

The scorching heat outside did not affect the refreshing coolness within the office.

Krew's everyday spells were quite proficient, easily maintaining a comfortable temperature in the room.

Seeing these priests come to plead their case, Nemus wore an expression of sheer helplessness.

"What is it this time?" Nemus asked.

Normally, the personnel of the Redemption Department wouldn't be this one-sided; their wealth granted them formidable capability.

However, the shifting tides of the current situation forced them to tread carefully.

During the Demon Warlock incident a month ago, Dong He's performance had been an utter disgrace.He had made several disastrous decisions in a row, not only costing his grandfather's life but also completely ruining his own reputation.

Although he was still technically a Bishop Candidate, no one was willing to support him anymore.

Over in the Missionary Department, most members simply minded their own business. Unless he issued formal, strictly regulated orders, no one bothered to pay him any attention.

Dong He himself had garnered very little personal loyalty; the people had always respected Dong Luo more.

Now that Dong Luo had been "killed" by Dong He, people felt it was only right to sever all ties. Even though it was a family matter and they had no grounds for revenge, cutting off contact was the appropriate response.

As for the business at the Tavern, following the merchant Dass's maneuvering, most of the connections quickly shifted to a new "master," choosing to follow Nemus's orders instead.

It was safe to say that aside from his terrible reputation, Dong He had absolutely nothing left.

However, ever since then, he had spent his days in a daze, rarely bothering to manage any affairs.

He knew deep down that he no longer had any chances left.

His grandfather was dead, his connections were gone, his reputation was in ruins, and his own abilities were mediocre at best.

The position of Bishop was nothing but a terrifyingly distant dream that had once seemed within reach.

Under these circumstances, with Roman in the Confession Department struggling to produce results, the most likely person to ascend to the position of Bishop was Isabella.

There were plenty of observant people who naturally recognized the current landscape, causing Isabella's popularity to skyrocket.

With the "investments" from these individuals, implementing her reforms in the Redemption Department naturally wasn't too difficult for Isabella.

Since Isabella was highly likely to become the next Bishop, the merchants who had previously dumped massive investments into the Redemption Department now found themselves in a dilemma.

Over this period, as the Redemption Department reopened its doors to the public, a few commoners had gathered the courage to seek healing there.

Consequently, this caused the profits of the herb and medical merchants to plummet.

In the past, these commoners—who had a little money but were far from wealthy—had no choice but to visit the privately owned pharmacies and clinics for treatment, even when riddled with injuries and illnesses.

Whether it was a major illness or a minor ailment, the merchants could squeeze a massive amount of profit out of them.

But now, these people ran to the Redemption Department whenever they had the chance. The priests' spells and divine arts essentially only required a single cast to completely cure them.

Once the effectiveness became known, throngs of ordinary people were naturally willing to line up at the Redemption Department instead of visiting the merchants.

"We are casting spells all day, every day. Our minds truly cannot take the strain anymore," the priests from the Redemption Department quickly bemoaned.

"Oh, the financial report for the clinics came out this month, right?" Nemus asked, ignoring their complaints. Cold sweat instantly poured down the backs of the priests.

Over the past month, Nemus's power had grown even further. At present, matters big and small in Tail Fin Town were largely under his control.

Faced with Nemus's question, these priests abruptly snapped out of their tangled web of vested interests and chaotic emotions.

"Lord Grand Knight, it has," one of the priests replied. He could not help but curse himself internally—why had he been so blinded by greed as to come see Nemus? At this point, he had no choice but to tell the truth.

"As Clerics, you should involve yourselves less in such matters. You serve God, not those merchants."

"Krew, send someone to warn those medical merchants!" Nemus ordered, refusing to spare the priests another glance.

The Church in Tail Fin Town was now practically his semi-private domain. Yet, these merchants were somehow able to use financial incentives to make his priests run errands for their benefit.

This was, in reality, chipping away at the Church's authority.

As the historical trajectory continued to shift, he needed to maintain a firm grip on the changes within Tail Fin Town. He had to consolidate the majority of the town's factions in the palm of his hand; at the very least, he could not allow those people to do whatever they pleased.

'It is entirely predictable that many things will occur in the coming days.'

'And once these matters slip beyond my control, they will gradually pile up as heavy weights of fate pressing down upon me.' Nemus could sense the underlying issues.

However, he had no way of resolving those problems right now.

Take Isabella, for example, or Rhine, or that Saint Child, as well as Baiter, who likely harbored secrets of his own.

These key figures were either deeply intertwined with Nemus's future and still held value for his upcoming plans, or they simply weren't that easy to kill.

Nemus was currently standing at the very cusp of history. After weathering the Demon Warlock incident, the entirety of Tail Fin Town had entered a state of calm before the storm.

'So it is highly probable that the issues will stem from my end, causing all my various secrets to be dragged into the light one by one.'

'In the end, if I fail to handle it properly, I will face the hostility of the entire town.'

The previous Grand Knight, Westbin, had suffered a similar fate. At a critical juncture, the situation with Lao Mushi and Op's Merchant Caravan blew up, dragging the Floating World Society into the open.

Then the Judgment Hall came to investigate, "accidentally" discovering that Westbin had deep ties with the Floating World Society, complete with irrefutable evidence.

Consequently, he was stripped of his position. Nemus, the man who took over his role, quickly seized upon his weakness to threaten him.

In the blink of an eye, he went from a universally revered Grand Knight to a despised rat scurrying across the street.

And now, Nemus was approaching this exact same stage. In this unique phase, the driving force of the historical trajectory would intensify, and the risks he faced would multiply exponentially.

It was just that, at such a time, it was incredibly difficult to patch up any loopholes, and equally hard to discern right from wrong.

For instance, Nemus had just ordered Krew to send someone to warn the Medical Merchant Guild.

This was Nemus's method of elevating the Church's authority and further consolidating his power.

However, it was entirely possible that certain individuals within the Medical Merchant Guild would refuse to resign themselves to their fate and attempt to struggle for self-salvation.

During that process, they might, quite bafflingly, acquire intelligence detrimental to Nemus.

For example, they might investigate Op's Merchant Caravan and choose to use that leverage to threaten Nemus.

But should he refrain from dealing with them just because problems might arise?

No, doing so would only make them think Nemus was afraid, leading them to push their luck and cause even more trouble.

Therefore, all he could do right now was proceed step by step and wait for the problems to surface.