Chapter 142 - Bard Wendell's Information
The heretic cult believer’s identity seemed to be unquestionable already.
Bard Wendell, the previous Wolf General; the son of a duke who originally had a glorious status and an immeasurable future.
But he appeared here, defeated by Gawain with the identity of a Grade 5 fallen Druid. In the end, his arm was even blown up by a grenade.
What exactly had happened in between all these?
Being able to discover a huge blemish in the high-ranks of the neighboring country (it could even be called the enemy country now) was naturally considered a gain, but what Gawain was more curious about at present was what kind of inconceivable life journey Bard Wendell went through to come to this day. Such a staggering change wasn’t something that could be explained by the ups and downs of life; it was literally the ups and downs downs downs of life. He could not help but inquire from Miss Agent who was before him, “I don’t know much about the present aristocrats of the various countries. About that Bard Wendell and his clan, how much do you know? How much can you tell me?”
“The Mithril Vault isn’t a specialized intelligence organization. What we know is limited to the matters that can be circulated and do not involve confidentiality.” Melita nodded lightly. “Bard Wendell, Duke Ferdinand Wendell’s only son. Brilliantly gifted and diligent. At the same time, also a pious believer of the God of War, Kehr. He received the elite education of aristocrats and the guidance of the God of War sect from a young age. At the age of ten, he exhibited spiritual gifts of Kehr. —— After converting, he swiftly grew to become a powerful Revered Knight, his capabilities drawing near to the high ranks. The most outstanding supernatural figure of Typhon’s previous generation’s youths.”
“Stop,” Gawain cut off Melita. “That is to say, his Beyonder rank is at Revered Knight?”
“That’s right. —— At least, that’s what the outside world is saying, and I believe there won’t be a problem with this information.”
“When he fought me, he not only had great swordsmanship, there also wasn’t the slightest hint of Kehr’s divine power on him,” Gawain informed solemnly. “All his Beyonder powers belonged to Druid theurgies. Of this, I can be sure.”
“Perhaps some unknown reason caused him to lose the blessing of the God of War, Kehr,” Melita guessed. “This might be the reason for him devoting himself to a heretic cult.”
“Never mind, go on. —— You mentioned that Bard went missing ten-odd years ago. What happened?”
Melita nodded. “After passing God of War Kehr’s appraisal and test, Bard Wendell officially relieved his father of the title of ‘Wolf General’ that was passed down their family clan and was promoted to be Knight Lord by the Typhon Emperor, becoming one of the high-ranking commanders of the Typhon Empire’s Order of Knights. However, he only remained in this position for a year. —— During one of the routine Anzu-Typhon border confrontations, he and a team of elite knights were sent to conduct reconnaissance outside of town and walked into a cloud of thick fog in the open view of everyone, then disappearing with the thick fog. Until three days later.. several knights who had gone mad were found wandering in the wilderness, and Bard Wendell, as well as the remaining elite knights, was never found.”historical
At this point, Melita casually added, “In recent years, the relationship between Typhon and Anzu has been increasingly deteriorating. The disappearance of Bard Wendell also aggravated this trend in a large part. —— The Typhon people believed that Anzu had used sorcery to plot against their commander, while the Anzu people believed that this was a self-directed farce by Typhon, the objective being to find an excuse to reinforce troop numbers. In fact, this almost caused the two parties to directly declare war then, but when the situation was at its worst, Bard Wendell’s father, Duke Ferdinand, initiated an announcement that the disappearance of his only son had nothing to do with Anzu, stopping the outbreak of war.”
Gawain pinched his chin lightly. “Ferdinand Wendell? Is he a pacifist?”
“No, just the contrary, he was always a high military official of Typhon before that incident, and he was a firm advocate of war. The many military reforms that Typhon underwent had been done by him on behalf of his emperor. Hence, when the old Duke suddenly came forward to stop the war, it really made a bunch of jaws drop. And after that, the old Duke also turned from a war advocate to a neutral stance. — He continued driving Typhon’s military reforms but delayed the empire’s border military operations multiple times with reasons such as the timing not being right. Although many facts subsequently proved that his judgment had been right, this change in him still gave rise to much discussion in the outside world..”
Gawain slowly exhaled and pinched the space between his brows as he sank into thought.
Originally a brilliantly shining rising star, the devout and powerful ‘Wolf General’ went missing in a simple military operation. After ten-odd years with his whereabouts unknown, he suddenly appeared in such a deserted area in the south of Anzu. Not only were his powers as Revered Knight completely lost, he even became a Grade 5 fallen Druid. Not only did the old Duke who was originally an advocate for war not seek trouble with the ‘suspected culprit’, he instead stopped the break out of war multiple times — what was the link between these two matters? Did the subsequent change in the old Duke come because he knew something?
It was able to make a devout Revered Knight betray his faith, to the extent of joining a heretic cult formed by another religion; the reason for this certainly wouldn’t be simple. A thought suddenly burst into Gawain’s mind — could it be that Bard Wendell had learned of the truth that ‘the gods were dead’?!
Among all the intelligence that he had at present, only this could explain the shocking change that happened to Bard!
Gawain’s thoughts could not help stretching on: if finding out the truth caused Bard Wendell to abandon his faith, did that mean the original powers of his theurgies had been lost at the same time due to the same reason?
If one was unable to maintain faith in the gods, one would lose the corresponding theurgies?
Then what was theurgy? By firmly believing that a god was bluffing.. protecting oneself, one would receive a ‘cheap’ Beyonder power?
But for such a formidable force, it had to have a source..
Thus, after winding here and there, Gawain suddenly found himself back at the problem that was troubling him not too long before:
In the current situation where ‘the gods were dead’, those priests and believers still remained pious and obtained formidable powers from the gods, but the targets of their prayers and worship.. What exactly were they?!
“Duke?” Seeing no reaction from Gawain for a long while, Melita finally could not help but ask, “Duke, are you listening?”
Gawain was swiftly jolted to his senses. He rubbed between his brows while casually asking, “Does Bard Wendell have any offspring?”
“He had a young daughter before he went missing, Andresha Wendell. Now that more than ten years have passed, the young girl has grown up, and the blood of the Wendell clan has manifested an influence in her. — Her swordsmanship is as outstanding as her father’s,” Melita said evenly. “Now, Andresha has also been appointed Knight Lord by the Typhon Emperor, holding the post of commander of a regiment in the Empire’s Order of Knights. This is probably some kind of compensation, but the young lady has done pretty well in that position. The outside world believes that it would only take one or several brilliant achievements before Andresha Wendell can take over the title of ‘Wolf General’ like her father, becoming the next Matriarch of the Wendell clan.”
“The alias that the ‘hothead’ gave himself back then had really become the honor of his family clan now,” Gawain commented while shaking his head. He then went on to ask, “So that Andresha Wendell also believes in the God of War Kehr and is a Revered Knight like her father?”
“No, this is where it’s interesting. — She’d become a supernatural knight through the most-orthodox knight and magic training. Apparently, Duke Ferdinand forbade Andresha from converting to any religion, so the young female commander is still a non-believer.”
“Indeed, this is interesting..” Gawain repeated thoughtfully. “Interesting..”
Melita smiled. “Duke, this is all the information that I can provide. Has anything come to mind?”
“Thought of some things, but it’s all very messy. The heavens knows how a Revered Knight with a great future was reduced to a fallen Druid with no future.” Gawain let out a breath. To Melita who wasn’t considered someone he knew well, he did not reveal those shocking secrets known to him. “Thank you for your information. If you hadn’t come, perhaps I would never have guessed that the heretic cult believer’s identity would actually be this.. bizarre.”
“Then, do you want to disseminate this news?” Melita’s pair of eyes that were left outside the veil became curved. “The true identity of an Oblivion Association heretic cult believer who is active in Anzu is actually an ex-aristocrat of Typhon. The value of this news cannot be measured by a few coins..”
“No,” Gawain shook his head, “it’s pointless to spread such things now. —— If negative news is too weird, no one will believe it. Moreover, the two countries look like they’re about to go to war. At this point where they’re cursing at each other, even the most unpleasant things will appear. The dark history of a Typhon aristocrat coming from an Anzu citizen, do you think anyone would take it seriously?”
Gawain’s words had just fallen when an Amber leaped from the shadows beside him. “If the people of Anzu and Typhon won’t take it seriously, you can also make the heretic cult believer feel some nerves. —— Such an important secret of his is about to be exposed..”
Gawain looked at this half-elf and chuckled. “You’re thinking too much. He’d thrown caution to the wind and became a heretic cult believer. Would he still care about this little loss of reputation? Do you mind someone calling you a thief?”
Amber glared. “I do! I’m already whitewashed now, alright? I am now the Duke’s chief guard!”
“..Could you play conventionally from time to time?!”
Melita watched Gawain and Amber’s daily squabble with curiosity but was also polite to not join in. She only spoke up while the two stopped to catch their breath. “Then, do you have any more questions, Duke?”
“Yes,” Gawain immediately responded. “The Mithril Vault probably collects a considerable amount of treasures?”
“That’s for sure. There is such a saying. — At any point in time, the Mithril Vault will have a collection of half the treasures in this world. And it is precisely because we are able to retain such a massive amount of wealth permanently that those big figures choose to let us safeguard their treasures—”
Gawain cut off Melita’s boasting. “Then, are there things in your vault that can be sold?”
“This..” Melita hesitated for a moment but immediately followed with a smile. “Of course. There are always treasures that have left their owners, and there are always rare treasures that no one shows any interest in. We are very happy to, in the situation where the price is suitable, find them new owners that are even more suitable than the price.”
“What’s the price for the Eternal Stone Slate?”