Chapter 111

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

Chapter 111: A Bumpy Start on the Road of Faith

The afternoon sky had turned cold, and the streets were empty.

Jesse came out from the basement after spending a few hours by the fire. As he suddenly walked out onto the street, a cold wind blew, making him quickly wrap himself tightly in his cloak.

Jesse said goodbye to Ursula and Erlan as they left together. Jesse specifically observed Erlan’s expression to see if he was still thinking about that night.

There seemed to be some distance between them on the surface, but whether this was holding a grudge or not, Jesse couldn’t say for sure.

After his experience of Gakin suddenly blocking the alley last time, he no longer wanted to jump to any conclusions.

On his way back home, as he passed by the canal, he wished there was some kind of headphones to listen to music here too.

Even if he didn’t have a smartphone or MP3 player, a portable music box would do, or if there was any magic that could play music in his mind.

The cloudless sky, watching the sun slowly descend towards the sea, the masts of the ships standing tall dividing the sun into hazy pieces, like an arbitrarily cut pumpkin pie.

The water in the canal beside him reflected golden light and shimmered.

At this moment, if there was some light music playing in the background, he might imagine himself as the main character in a TV show, walking in the final scene’s montage. However, listening to the sound of the boat paddling through the water, along with the loud and sudden chirping of the cold-resistant birds flying from the garden in the Mage Quarter, had its own charm.

Jesse felt a bit lonely, as if something was missing.

Perhaps it was just coming out of the bonfire gathering, or maybe the nighttime scene was triggering some memories.

Just as he was about to find something fun to distract himself from this discomfort, he noticed a round figure sitting at the edge of the canal in front of his house, also staring blankly at the reddening sunset in the distance.

"Greed?"

Upon hearing his voice, the figure suddenly turned around.

"Finally, you are here. Weren’t you off work all afternoon?"

"I had a gathering in the afternoon." Jesse explained as he sat down next to Greed, asking, "Why are you here?"

Greed asked, "Haven’t we been apart for over a week? It feels like we haven’t gathered together since we returned from Redridge. I’ve been staying at home these days, not even going to the Warrior Guild. My body feels weak and flimsy!"

"Are you getting yourself into trouble again?!" Jesse felt his neck tighten.

Now, when he heard Greed talking about being idle with nothing to do, planning to move his body around a bit and talking about easy money, he started to feel anxious.

"Are you sure you are fully recovered?" he asked.

"I should be fine now," Greed said. "So I want to find a job to see if I am truly back to normal. Only real action can test my recovery level!"

"Forget it, I can’t afford it," Jesse said. "I am currently preparing for the Mage Quarter exam. If I pass, I can almost cover my travel expenses. Right now, I am broke. If I fail, I might not be able to afford the boat ticket."

Greed turned his head and asked, "You made so much money last time you went out to gather herbs, did you spend it all? And what about hunting wolves and such…"

"Go on, what happened next?" Jesse asked.

Greed understood what Jesse was referring to, cleared his throat and said, "Well, in that case, I’ll have to find someone else."

"Right." Jesse asked, "Last time you said you wanted to go to the church, did they accept you or not?"

"Forget it." Greed said, "They didn’t want me. I said I wanted to join The Silver Hand Knights, but they said they needed a priest or a warrior trusted by the church. I said I wanted to be a priest, but then they wanted me to pass some kind of test. They said I didn’t have the qualifications to be a priest because I didn’t believe in the Holy Light."

Jesse said, "You don’t know them well, so it’s not a good idea to say you want to be a priest right away. By the way, do you really believe in the Holy Light?"

"So, how do you show that you believe in the Holy Light?" Greed asked. This question left Jesse speechless. How can one show faith in the Holy Light?

"Didn’t you know a lot about the Holy Light Church? Last time you told me about how the church makes torches with sacred power for the graveyard in Raven Hill. I’ve never heard of the Holy Light Church making torches for tombs before."

Greed explained, "That’s all hearsay. I only got to know the Holy Light Church in Southshore. The graveyard in Southshore has some torches similar to those in Raven Hill. There aren’t many believers in the Holy Light in Aerie Peak, and for many dwarves who never left Hinterlands, the Holy Light is a new thing that emerged after the Orc War."

Jesse hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you believe that the Holy Light can guide your life… like, if you do bad things, the Holy Light will punish you, and if you do good deeds, the Holy Light will help you in times of trouble, something like that?"

"I’m not sure what counts and what doesn’t." Greed said, "For instance, was the Holy Light present at Sentinel Hill? The carriage was full of church people. Ever since someone in Southshore told me about what the Holy Light is, I’ve never truly felt its presence."

Jesse asked, "Isn’t that great? Have you told the church people about this?"

"I told you." Greed said, "But the priest said that only when the Holy Light brings benefits, believing in it is using the Holy Light for personal gain, not true faith, which cannot make one a priest."

"That’s troublesome." Jesse scratched his head, "It’s probably the people of that church being biased against your Dwarf Wildhammer clan."

"Why…" Greed muttered quietly.

Jesse also knew that before the scourge, joining The Silver Hand Knights was quite difficult.

All members of the Silver Hand were either brave priests, devout warriors, or noble knights.

It was only when the Scourge War erupted that the Silver Hand began recruiting normal soldiers and knights on a large scale, allowing them to join the church as Paladins, to fight against the undead army about to sweep over all of Lordaeron in the name of the Holy Light. This led to a surge in the number of Paladins in the entire alliance.

At that time, it was not difficult for a warrior who previously had no feelings towards the Holy Light to convert to the faith of the Holy Light.

Faced with countless skeletons and zombies, in moments of deathly despair, a true Paladin stood with shining golden blades and warhammers between you and absolute terror, shouting for the Holy Light, using powerful strikes to sweep away countless evils. Regardless of how much you used to dislike the Holy Light, you had to believe now.

Fighters like Greed, if they had joined the Silver Hand during the scourge, would have had almost no possibility of rejection. Now, it’s much more difficult.