The Survival Rules of NPCs

Chapter 20: The Divergence at the Heart of the Forest!

"Sir, the church bells are ringing!"

Inside the villa where Home Secretary Allen resided, Allen, who was reclining on a chaise lounge by the fireplace with his eyes closed, slowly opened his cloudy eyes.

The butler beside him, though also old, stood ramrod straight, quietly awaiting his master's reply.

The seven southern kingdoms are all theocratic states, where religion is closely tied to the royal family and holds absolute authority. Every city must have a Sun Church, and when the church bells ring, all believers and nobles must gather outside the church immediately.

Anyone who rings the church bells without cause will be punished by the scorching sun. No one would joke about such a thing. And no one in Holy Stone City has rung the church bells for thirty years. Who could it be?

The butler was puzzled, but Allen sighed slightly: "I overestimated that prosecutor a bit."

"What do you mean, sir?" The butler lowered his head, a strange green glint appearing deep in his eyes!

"If his methods are limited to this, I'm afraid we'll have a long way to go before we receive a reply from that lord." Allen looked out the window to the north: "Where are we in the forest now?"

"I went to check last night, and it's basically already outside the city," the steward said quietly. "As long as the nobles with the seal of authority can organize their people to kneel and worship, the forest will soon spread into the city!"

"Those lunatics..." Allen slowly closed his eyes.

The butler remained silent. There were five people who discovered the secret of that forest back then, and Lord Allen was one of them. As a finance scholar who had a great reputation in Milandil at a young age, he should have had a better future. He could have easily become the finance minister of a count or even a marquis's territory, or become the youngest manager of the Milan Bank.

To the astonishment of many nobles, Lord Allen, in order to repay his kindness, accepted the invitation of the then Lord of Holy Stone City to become the Minister of Internal Affairs of a remote city. At the time, countless nobles felt sorry for him.

Lord Allen is a prudent person who manages Holy Stone City step by step. He has built Holy Stone City to its current scale by relying solely on the mineral veins on the edge of the forest. According to his plan, as long as the Heart of the Forest develops steadily, it will be able to gradually monopolize most of the commerce in Milandir, secretly incorporate the refugees in the entire territory of Milandir into the sect, strengthen its power, and then wait for the right opportunity to instigate Duke Os to become independent!

This is the right path that the Heart of the Forest should take.

But the radicals didn't think that way.

They believed that Allen's plan still relied on the nobles and could not make the followers of the Heart of the Forest the main body. Those nobles were only after power and would not truly respect the teachings of the Earth Mother Goddess, nor would they violate the will of the Earth Mother Goddess. They believed that those nobles were like greedy piglets, powerless to resist the divine power of the Earth Mother Goddess, and there was no need for Allen's time-wasting method.

If it weren't for Allen's intervention, the Heart of the Forest might have taken over Holy Stone City decades ago, and now they would probably have the entire Mirandil under their control.

In recent years, as Allen's plans have slowed down, more and more members of the original cult have begun to side with the radicals. Now, without any consultation, they have taken advantage of the moment when the city lord was assassinated to activate their plans!

The butler knew that the original plan was that Martin would be assassinated, and the second heir, Lance Luther, would die unexpectedly in the south. Meanwhile, many local nobles would jointly nominate Allen to take the throne. In addition, with the connections that Lord Allen had accumulated in Milandale over the years, there was a 90% chance that he would be elected as the city lord of Holy Stone City.

With the title of city lord, Lord Allen then used the vast profits in the forest to bewitch the local nobles, making them believe in the Heart of the Forest, and gradually corrupting Milandil.

The radicals originally agreed with the plan, but no one expected that they would do such a thing without consulting Martin after his assassination!

"Let's go..." Allen sighed wearily, slowly got up, and walked out of the villa with the help of the butler. At this time, many familiar faces came out of the noble district, most of them were the mistresses of the baron's family, and there were also many barons who had come back under some pretext.

Most of these country barons didn't like living in their dark castles, since the services available in the city were incomparable to those in the countryside. However, most of these barons had no soldiers, and their short-sightedness, greed, and laziness meant they posed no threat whatsoever.

"Lord Allen..."

A familiar voice came from behind. Allen turned around and saw it was the viscount of Holy Stone City who rarely appeared and was the only one without an official position: Saning Beckand.

"It's been a long time, Lord Saning!" Allen turned around and bowed.

Saning was an old man who looked older than Allen. He was one of the original shareholders of Holy Stone City and a partner with similar seniority to himself. Because the city lord of the Luther family did not fulfill his promise, he had always been dissatisfied with the Luther family and rarely participated in gatherings of noble circles. It is said that he spent most of his time traveling and studying abroad, and his children and descendants were sent to live in Milandil. He had not seen his old friend for more than ten years.

Who would have thought that he would happen to be in Holy Stone City at this time?

"It's been a long time." Saning bowed, looking coldly at the highly regarded Minister of the Interior in the city, and said rudely, "What? Didn't expect me to come back?"

"Lord Saning, you flatter me." Allen smiled and said, "You are one of the founders here. Without you, there would be no Holy Stone City as we know it today. Many people don't know about your contributions, but I do know that if you hadn't sent troops to stabilize the countryside back then, those short-sighted barons probably wouldn't have even been willing to offer grain as tribute, let alone the current situation of Holy Stone City."

"The current situation?" Saning sneered, "What situation? Even the city lord's offspring were almost wiped out. I just got back and this is what happened..."

So you just got back?

Allen was certain that this man hadn't shown up in Holy Stone City for a long time and spent most of his time living in Milandir. In addition, his attire was rather casual, so the soldiers at the city gate probably thought he was some kind of foreign merchant.

The two arrived at the church together, supported by the butler. At this time, a large crowd had gathered outside the church.

Those who rushed over immediately upon hearing the bells were people from the noble district and those from Rose Avenue, which is closest to the church. These were middle-class people working in high-end industries in Holy Stone City, such as medicine, law, finance, and education, including some merchants who had done very well doing business in Holy Stone City.

These people were well-dressed, but none of them looked well, and they were all coughing violently.

"Lord Ryder!"

As the bells rang, the person inside the church came out. It was Prosecutor Ryder, and the first person to question was Allen.

"The bells of the Sunrise Church are only rung on occasions of great importance, enough to startle the entire city into dropping everything and rushing over. What do you have to announce to us? Let me remind you, even if you are the prosecutor, you cannot bear the charge of disturbing the divine by ringing the alarm bells without sufficient reason!"

"Naturally, it's because something serious has happened." Lady gave Allen a cold glance, then looked at Lord Knight Orland.

"Lord Orland, shouldn't you provide an explanation for closing all four city gates last night?"

Everyone looked at Orland. Holy Stone City mainly relies on the mineral trade for its livelihood, with a large volume of shipments every day. What is Lord Orland trying to do by sealing off the city gates? There are still many people who need to ship their goods this afternoon.

Orland stepped forward slowly and said calmly, "I received news yesterday that an epidemic has broken out in the city. Before confirming whether it is a dangerous disease, sealing off the city is what I, as the sheriff of Holy Stone City, should do!"

"This..." Everyone looked at each other and discussed among themselves. The middle class mostly had their own ideas. Many people supported it, while many others opposed it, and everyone had their own opinions.

"How many businesses will be disrupted by closing the city gates? You shouldn't make this decision on your own; you should initiate a council discussion and let the city lord make the decision, shouldn't you?"

"Is the current city lord capable of making decisions?" Orland looked to the left corner, at a woman dressed in a black veil. "Lady Eliza, your attire suggests you've also been infected, haven't you?"

"Cough cough..." Eliza coughed lightly twice, seemingly still a little out of breath. Before she could even speak, she had already confirmed Orland's statement.

"The city lord has been assassinated. As far as I know, at least half of all the nobles have been infected. Under such circumstances, the nobles' vote is no longer fair. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, starting today, not only will the city be locked down, but everyone will also need the permission of the sheriff to go out. Unless necessary, it is better to stay at home."

"Are you trying to enforce the law by force?" Lady sneered.

"I am doing this to ensure the safety of the empire, and also to ensure your safety."

"According to Imperial law, Knight Commander Orland!" Lady said dangerously, "What you have done is illegal. I will temporarily suspend you from your position as sheriff, in accordance with Imperial law!"

"I had no choice but to do this." Orland stepped forward, his eyes filled with defiance: "Your Excellency, without the consent of any nobles, you sent your nephew to Saint Thias to request support. By doing so, you are betraying everyone here!"

"What?"

A group of nobles looked at Lady in shock!

Many nobles touched the mutated skin inside their bodies in extreme horror.

In an instant, the nobles who had just been dissatisfied with Orland all turned to look at Lady with anger.

Reporting to the imperial central government without the consent of the local nobles is a serious violation of the nobles' interests. Although the prosecutor has this right, such an action is undoubtedly a betrayal of the local nobles.

Not to mention... they may actually be contaminated with something that needs to be purified.

No one was willing to attempt the purification by the Sunfire Cult.

Lady's expression finally changed.

Does the other party know where Will is?

Doesn't that mean... Will might be... right now...?