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Chapter 230

Dran and the delegation he was leading had just returned to Bern village with fourteen men and women from Jarla for an inspection tour.

In the rapidly developing barony of Bern, a specific group of people had been gathered by the baroness, Christina, and her secretary, Dramina of the Raider Knights. A total of seven people, excluding Christina and Dramina, had been summoned to the baroness’s residence.

The room was not luxurious by any means, but it was a delicate harmony that would be ruined if any of the paintings in the room, the unlit candlesticks, the round table in the center, or the intricate doorframe of the glass doors were missing.

These seven were politely invited in and served herbal tea by Lynette, Kyrlinne, and Gundeus who were dressed as attendants. Once they had enjoyed a sip of tea, they turned their attention to the baroness, whose back was facing the terrace leading to the courtyard.

The exact same bracelet was on the left arms of both the baroness and her secretary, raising the attention of those present. However, this thought was swiftly banished to oblivion by the crimson eyes and beauty of the young baroness who looked back at them with a serious gaze.

In Dran’s absence, Christina and Dramina had gathered the representatives of the various religious establishments in Bern village. In the wake of the war with the goblins last summer, these various religious factions had remained here.

There were supposed to be more people than those present right now, but representatives were selected for groups that worshipped the same god. The aim of this meeting was to discuss and hear the opinions of each faction, in a bid to prevent hoards of people from swarming the residence.

Among the attendees, Leticia was the only one acquainted with Christina and Dran. She was a follower of Mairahl who had relocated to Bern village, whereas the others were newcomers to the village. Leticia was also accompanied by the priest of the Mairahl Order due to the order’s large number of human followers and the widespread influence they had. At present, Leticia was acting as an advisor to the priest.

In addition to the Keios Order, Aldeath Order, Aldin Order, Jareid Order, and Mairahl Order, there were a number of followers of other gods present. It was not particularly strange for such people to be gathered, considering how it was customary for members of these orders to be dispatched to new cities and developing towns.

Rather, their presence at Bern was proof that the village had a promising future. Their congregation right now was a matter for Christina and her family to rejoice over as lords of the village.

More astonishingly, this was the third time religious officials and the lords of Bern were meeting—but the third time in history!

First and foremost, High Priest Reulbein of the Chrono Maze Order was present. This religious order was relatively low-ranking and a weak force among the gods of time. Even the number of followers they had were few.

Reulbein, a man nearing his sixties, was in a sleeveless, thin robe decorated with the symbol of Chrono Maze. A gentle smile adorned his wrinkled face. If Yachiyo or Fuuko, guards of the royal castle, were present right now, they would have reminisced about their hometown and commented that Reulbein was smiling like Jizō, the saint patron of unborn children.

The other religious orders had dispatched their highest-ranking religious leaders to Bern village. On the other hand, the Chrono Maze Order was an oddity here. They had the unusual situation of their high priest present, the third in rank after the head and vice head of the order.

The other religious followers present had been taken aback at the sight of the high priest of the Chrono Maze Order. No matter how weak the order was, dispatching the high priest seemed like a rather unimaginable move.

However, a second peculiarity caught the attention of the attendees. A man in his mid-thirties, with tanned skin and long blond hair was sitting to the left of Reulbein. His appearance was wild and brutish, with a pair of gray horns, one large and one small, protruding from his hair. A leather strap of some kind bound these horns, and his gray eyes had thin and elongated pupils.

His muscled body was covered in a short-sleeved shirt that had been dyed green and indigo trousers. Despite his rather ordinary attire, he was covered with gray scales from his elbows to his neck, and bulky claws extended from the tips of his fingers.

Even though this man displayed clear characteristics of a dragon, he was not a dragonian. He was Denat, the representative of the Dragon Order, a religious group that worshipped the wise dragon rather than a god. As an order, they sought to acquire the attributes and abilities of dragons by making contracts with dragons and imitating their mode of life.

These peculiar cults that were devotees of dragons rather than gods existed sparsely throughout the continent, and they did not have deep solidarity with each other. A group that devoted themselves to closely observing the dragon species in some deep mountain valley had visited Bern village.

Although the Dragon Order did not worship gods, they were not an evil cult bent on exacting vengeance on mankind, nor were they heretics hostile to human society. They were a group of sensible individuals who shared the logic and ethics of ordinary folks. If folks met members of the Dragon Order on the streets, the most common reaction would either be, “Wow, that’s unusual,” or a curious question of “What’s the Dragon Order?”

Regardless, there was someone else—a much greater problem— that overshadowed these two unusual individuals. She stood quietly beside Christina and smiled amicably at those in attendance.

This gathering was meant to be a regular meeting organized to coordinate the distribution of land and the schedule of festivals for each religious order in Bern village. However, it was no exaggeration to say that this particular congregation was also an attempt for these people present to gather as much information as possible about the person, or rather the being, standing next to Christina.

In this room where silence overhung heavily, making the air prick against one’s skin, Christina finally spoke.

While the attendees from the various religious orders were on the edge of their seats, Christina had recently regained a relaxed demeanor after growing accustomed to her duties as the baroness. Her voice rang out with such a dignified tone that even those who were unfamiliar with her would assume that this was the voice of a valiant warrior inspiring courage in her fellow soldiers.

「Thank you very much for taking the time to come here. It has been some time since your arrival in Bern village, and I hope you have settled in well. We are very fortunate to welcome guests from far and wide, so much so that I would love to boast about our lively and glorious days to the rest of the world.」