LRAB Page 399
Page 399
The elf's abilities are really useful...
Latis looked at Kirito, who was continuing her introduction with a cautious expression, stroked his chin, and followed her.
According to Tongzi, the designated next village chief, the overall situation of Shuluan Village is actually quite good, and there is no need to relocate. In this area, a kind of tall rice has grown strangely. After being sown on the limited flat land, it can grow almost as tall as a tree, which is more than enough for the village's population of only fifty-odd households.
Moreover, the top of the canyon in Shuluan Village is the border of Senhai Territory, making it convenient for villagers to set animal traps and the like. Although there isn't much meat, it's enough.
If things are as they are, there is indeed no need to relocate. However, the mission from the capital requires either relocating to Yindao Town or investigating the disappearance of young and middle-aged laborers in Shuluan Village and providing detailed results. In comparison, relocation is definitely much easier.
However, after relocating them in the simulation, the result was that the Holy City of Romnia was corrupted by the Will of Light, which ultimately led to Jennifer and the Church of Light paying a heavy price to seal the Will of Light. Therefore, relocation is definitely no longer an option.
As for conducting an investigation, that suits Latis's purposes perfectly.
After briefly checking the various caves around each platform with Kiriko, Jennifer and Leafa returned to his side. The three of them looked at each other and nodded silently. Latis knew that they must have discovered something.
"Oh, gentlemen, please have a seat."
Kiriko sighed as she reached the gathering place, turned back and gestured for Latis to proceed, then sat down on a stone platform.
Latis approached the center of the gathering place, glanced at the huge, unlit bonfire in front of him, and sat down with the girls beside the bonfire. He turned to look at Kiriko on the stone platform, and immediately imagined the scene of the villagers of Shuluan Village talking and dancing around the bonfire, and the village chief or some priest standing on the stone platform chanting blessings.
This place, far from the city, really feels like a primitive tribe.
"Just now, Lady Titania, you asked about the Church of Light and the tattoos on my body..."
Kiriko hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice:
"Actually, it's like this..."
Originally, for the villagers of Shuluan Village, the first impression of the Church of Light was not that of holy knights or knights of light, but rather of mysterious disciples clad in white robes, which was also the consistent appearance of the disciples of the Holy City of Romnia.
Within Romnia's "jurisdiction," white-robed disciples would occasionally appear in various villages and towns. They would walk by silently, sometimes suddenly appearing at deserted corners, without communicating with anyone or making any unnecessary movements, like puppets being manipulated, silently observing the situation in each village and town.
Of course, Kiriko had also had the experience of inexplicably discovering white-robed disciples standing on the cliff watching him. Whenever this happened, he would feel a chill run down his spine. The white-robed disciples whose faces he could not see always gave him a non-human feeling, as if the person standing under the white robe was not a human, but some kind of incomprehensible humanoid creature.
Or perhaps it was just some kind of creature in disguise... This feeling reached its peak when Kirito discovered two white-robed disciples standing in different places looking at her with the exact same posture.
Of course, the above is just a conjecture pieced together by Latis from the sidelines. In Kiriko's vague explanation, the white-robed disciples of Romnia cannot be described in precise language.
Aside from the psychological fear the white-robed disciples of the Church of Light had, the main reason was the "rule" of the Holy City of Romnia over the surrounding villages and towns.
For a holy city, the word "rule" might not be the most appropriate way to describe its influence on the surrounding areas, but Romnia's influence was indeed not much different from that of a rule.
In short, in order to fulfill their mission of "spreading light," the White-Robed Disciples often hold sacrificial ceremonies in various villages and towns. After each sacrificial ceremony, the local light energy surges, sometimes even causing dazzling light at night, making it difficult to fall asleep.
However, as part of its rule, Romnia did manage to protect the surrounding villages and towns, though the way it did so was rather chilling—when monsters invaded, the white-robed disciples would always arrive quickly but would not immediately join the defense. Only after seeing someone injured or on the verge of death would they suddenly strike to kill the monsters.
Under the white-robed disciple's influence, the blinding light seemed to come alive, penetrating the monster's body. Soon after, the monster exploded, oozing liquid-like light. This suffocating scene continued until the disciple absorbed all the light into his body, at which point the villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The disciples would also treat the wounded villagers. This treatment might seem insignificant at first glance, but for some reason, the villagers who received the treatment would gradually and spontaneously embrace the baptism of light. If they were seriously injured and were healed, they would soon become devout believers in the religion and would voluntarily don the disciples' white robes.
At first, these villagers were able to communicate, and some were even very excited and passionate, saying that they would use their own strength to protect the village. However, before long, they all became as silent as the other disciples, until their pale faces blurred into their white robes and could no longer be recognized by their former companions.
The villagers remained silent in fear of this.
Latis also sensed something was amiss. After all, judging from Jennifer's performance, the power of the God of Light was actually quite limited in its healing effects, and even removing toxins required the help of holy water to be effective.
So, what power did the white-robed disciples use to heal the villagers? Or perhaps... it wasn't a form of healing at all?
In short, in addition to these indefensible defensive assistance efforts, Romnia also has requirements for each village and town: to respond to the restlessness of the Light Force at all times, and to immediately carry out sacrificial rituals when the Light Force in a village or town exhibits a "rampant" phenomenon.
Although the villagers didn't understand what the request meant at first, the power of light soon really "went berserk".
The rampaging power of light seemed to contain some incomprehensible murmurs. Once they were heard, they caused the villagers splitting headaches. Coupled with the occasional glare, it was almost as if they had instantly fallen into some unknown dream. Only when the villagers followed the last bit of consciousness in their minds of "performing a sacrificial ritual" and calmed the power of light did the terrifying state slowly dissipate.
This is one of the reasons why Kirito turns pale at the mention of the Church of Light. When facing the White-Robed Disciples, they cannot vent their fear. When Latis and the others mention the Church of Light, Kirito subconsciously thinks that he is about to experience the same terror as the White-Robed Disciples again. It is not until they recover from the shock of the Church of Light that they urgently express their protest.
Latis felt that the villagers shouldn't be blamed; if he were in their shoes, he might also feel fear if he encountered these overly Cthulhu-like disciples.
Fortunately, Latis knew of the existence of the Will of Light, so he was somewhat reassured, while Jennifer and Leafa were clearly uncomfortable upon hearing this.
"I understand. I will also consider the Holy City of Romnia. After all, you are unwilling to relocate, so I will try to find out if I can get any results."
Latis put down his pen, checked the notes in the mission manual, nodded slightly, looked at Kirito, narrowed his eyes, and asked:
"So, what's the story behind your tattoos?"
"Ah, this..."
Kiriko looked at the tattoos on her arms, hesitated for a moment, and fell silent.
……
……
A few minutes later, Latis and his two companions emerged from the canyon. After walking several dozen meters, they stopped beside a large rock on the undulating road and fell into deep thought.
Compared to the affairs of the Church of Light, Tree Peak Village seemed to be quite secretive about the tattoos.
According to Tongzi, this tattoo is a custom in Shuluan Village. When young and strong men in the village come of age, they will choose a "clan crest" to be engraved on their bodies. As time goes by, the tattoos on their bodies will magically grow naturally until they cover their entire bodies. The man with the most tattoos will become the next successor of the village chief.
Kirito has the most naturally occurring tattoos among the young men of his generation, so perhaps in another year or two, he will become the new village chief of Shuluan Village. This may be one of the reasons why he is unwilling to relocate.
Latis could only silently complain to himself about this.
The tattoos you regard as "tribal crests" and symbols of growth are actually silver patterns etched by night elves! They're as abstract as a black person who tattooed "I am a black guy" on their face in Eastern script in their past life!
These days, not knowing a foreign language is a real killer!
Moreover, those "naturally grown" tattoos are probably not naturally grown at all!
Although I don't know the specifics, is it possible that you were dragged away by the Night Elves to get a rag while you were sleeping?
Night Elves! You guys are playing really hard!
Latis couldn't help but slap his face and let out a long sigh.
Even a master of obscene theories like him, a collector of countless erotic games, was filled with intense emotions upon witnessing this situation.
The key point is that the villagers of Tree Peak Village have compiled all the "clan crests" that have appeared into a "Divine Revelation Book". Although Latis didn't have the chance to see that thing, he was familiar with Elvish and didn't want to see it at all.
It's definitely going to be an eyesore!
In short... he had a pretty good idea of the situation in Tree Peak Village. He would go to Romnia to investigate further, and after calming down, he would study how to drive away the Night Elf tribe that was most likely located underground in Tree Peak Village.
However, it seems that this matches up with simulations from a long time ago?
Latis recalled for a moment that he had indeed entered the underground world in a simulation long ago, and at the request of a spider-like elf named Rosette, he had conducted a great training ceremony with twelve holy maidens of the night elves, the purpose of which was to address the declining reproductive status of the night elves.
Could it be that the villagers of Shuluan Village were actually captured and used as a medicinal ingredient?
Probably.
If that's the case, he might actually be able to help...
"Anyway..."
After pondering for a long time, Latis raised his head, looked at the two girls sitting around him, and said:
"I've almost figured it out. Do you have any information that can help me supplement my reasoning?"
“Hmm…” Jennifer nodded, stroking her chin, and said somewhat solemnly:
"I didn't notice it when I first arrived here, but after staying for a while, I felt something was wrong... There's a strange feeling hidden in the light power here. Although it hasn't been condensed yet, once it does, it will cause uncontrollable agitation."
She paused, her brow furrowing slightly, and continued:
"This might be the berserk situation that the prospective village chief was talking about. It's very unusual. Although the light power in the Wilderness Territory itself has a scorching and restless corrosive nature, it's not quite the same as this vague feeling."
“It’s a bit like…” Jennifer pondered for a moment, then said, “A bit like the ‘swarm consciousness’ that plant-based mages have studied. It’s the planned, organized division of labor and cooperation that occurs when a large swarm of bees gathers together.”
"Is this so..."
Latis crossed his arms and fell into deep thought. He knew that after the will of light leaked from the ground, it must exist in some form within the power of light. If Jennifer's perception was accurate, it could indeed be a state similar to "swarm consciousness".
"I, I've also discovered some problems."
Leafa looked at Latis and Jennifer, whose faces were solemn, and weakly raised her hand to speak.
"Oh?" Latis looked at Leafa with some surprise, nodded encouragingly, and asked, "What did you discover?"
"Hmm...that's how it is."
After spending some time with her mentor, Latis, Leafa became less shy. She organized her thoughts and said somewhat uncertainly:
"Logically speaking, given the unusual rice in Shuluan Village that grows almost as tall as a tree and the sheltered geographical environment here, they shouldn't lack staple food..."
She looked up at Latis and, seeing that he still had an encouraging expression, breathed a sigh of relief and whispered:
"But just now, I discovered that in the caves where the villagers live, there are many fine-grained rice grains produced in the western part of the Wilderness Territory, which are completely different from the grains of the tall rice here."
"In other words... someone is trading rice with them."
Latis scratched his head, muttering to himself in confusion:
"But why is that?"
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Chapter 395 In the Name of Light
With the unresolved questions in mind for the time being, Latis and his companions immediately set off for the holy city of Romnia.
Even if the issue of missing persons in Tree Peak Village is most likely unrelated to the Holy City of Romnia, since these strange behaviors of the Holy City's disciples have been mentioned, visiting Romnia is unavoidable as part of the investigation mission.
However, in the simulation, Latis always thought that Pope Toylai had some secret relationship with the capital, which was why his mission book was directly directed to Tree Peak Village, in order to relocate the villagers of Tree Peak Village so that the Holy City of Romnia could occupy the underground passage that Tree Peak Village might have.
But on second thought, if the goal is only this, then why add another option, "or investigate the cause of the incident"? This option is of little benefit to the Holy City and doesn't seem like the result of a cooperation between Pope Doyle and the capital.
The capital city couldn't possibly be unaware that these two options would lead to completely different outcomes. Could it be that, for the capital city, these are actually two options of varying difficulty? Depending on Taratis's different choices, the capital city will also gain different rewards?
Therefore, Latis ultimately concluded that the Holy City of Romnia might have some channel to influence the decisions of the Imperial Capital, but in return, the Imperial Capital also had the purpose of checking and balancing the Holy City. Although it is unknown what the Imperial Capital's ultimate intention is, it must have already made a well-thought-out plan when it issued this mission order.
Considering the grain Leafa had seen, Latis was even more convinced that the royal capital or the Black Hat forces were definitely involved. Otherwise, a normal caravan wouldn't have trekked through the demon-infested wilderness to transport grain from the west to the east for such a small profit, especially since there was no shortage of grain here.
Therefore, there must be other purposes involved.