A Core Ship From The Start

Standing in the pouring rain, the novice divine officer watched the burning monastery with a mournful face.

“Why… why has it come to this…”

“It is better not to dwell on this.”

Hearing the novice divine officer’s murmur, Duanmu Huai’s eyes narrowed, he coldly said, which caused the novice divine officer to tremble.

“But…”

“I can roughly guess what you’re thinking. You believe that they worshipped the Lake Goddess faithfully yet did not meet a good end. Instead, they died in pain and even turned into evil undead creatures, so your faith began to waver, right?”

“………”

The novice divine officer didn’t answer, but it was clear she did not deny what Duanmu Huai had said.

“Listen up, little girl.”

Duanmu Huai lowered his head to gaze at her.

“Don’t forget the abbess once said, their mission here is to guard the Divine Artifact, hence they were prepared to sacrifice their lives. Of course, this is not the end they had hoped for, but where in this world can you have everything your way? Knights shout of fighting for the Lady Goddess, but have those who got killed by Green Orcs been any fewer? That’s how this world is, get used to it.”

“But… what should… I do?”

Upon hearing this, the novice divine officer could no longer control herself and lifted her head to stare at Duanmu Huai, crying out.

“If even the Lady Goddess is not willing to protect us, then who can we rely on?”

“In the end, you can only rely on yourself.”

Duanmu Huai sighed, patting her shoulder.

“Remember, little girl. To place hope in others is a very foolish thing. It’s a choice of those who are weak and powerless. If you want to change your fate, then you must be committed, make yourself stronger, face all this… bear all this… instead of always thinking of running away, seeking someone’s protection. Of course, you must choose your method wisely. If you elect to rely on the power of the Evil God, then… you know what the consequence would be.”

Looking at the novice divine officer, Duanmu Huai’s gaze remained unwavering. He was uncertain whether this child could overcome the shadows of this incident. There was a high probability that she might become dispirited and end up as an adherent to the Evil Gods…

In that case…

“Or, if you find life is too wearisome, I have a better solution.”

Upon saying this, Duanmu Huai unsheathed his Mechanical Sword.

“Let your soul return to the Lady Goddess, this way, you won’t have to bear the sorrows of the world.”

“…”

This time, the novice divine officer was silent for a long time. Finally, she made her decision and lifted her head to look at Duanmu Huai.

“I’m sorry, Sir Knight, I don’t know… what to do. I guess, I might not be able to believe in the Lady Goddess as I used to… Is that okay?”

“It is normal.”

Duanmu Huai nodded and put away his Mechanical Sword.

“Moreover, I think you might have a misconception about faith and deities.”

“Huh?”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s statement, the novice divine officer was taken aback, gazing at him in surprise.

“You might think that as long as you devoutly worship the deities and dedicate everything to them, you can receive their protection. But most of the time, it doesn’t work like that.”

“Is… is that so?”

“Exactly.”

Duanmu Huai nods.

“Nothing falls from the sky, be it divine blessings or a windfall; in my hometown, we have a saying, ‘Do everything humanly possible and leave the destiny to gods,’ meaning you should do everything you can and then whatever happens next is up to fate and the heavens, not sitting around waiting for a deity to rescue you.”

Speaking of this, Duanmu Huai turns his head to the woods not far away. This is, in fact, a common problem among many believers. They all think, since I’ve dedicated everything to the gods, such sincere faith in you, praying morning and evening, you should help me when I’m in trouble. If the god doesn’t answer, it’s a betrayal by the god, I am so devout, and you are reluctant to rescue me… this is all your fault!

That’s why many old believers, after giving up their faith, immediately go to the other extreme because they think they’ve done nothing wrong. It’s the gods who didn’t meet their expectations; therefore, it’s not me, but the gods who are at fault. Since the god has betrayed me, I might as well turn to the chaos…

But in reality? It’s not like that at all!

The gods also value performance and behavior. If you do nothing but chant all day, or donate a large sum of money, or work for the temple — is this performance?

Of course not.

Take the Lake Goddess, for example. Do knights automatically see her if they go to worship every day with devout hearts?

Of course not. To receive the blessings of the Lake Goddess and become the Holy Grail Knight, you must embark on a dangerous and perilous journey. Right?

So, who should we blame for this?

Naturally, it’s those preachers.

Think about it, “Just believe in the Lake Goddess and she will bless you with prosperity and protection from evil” and “To receive the blessings of the Lake Goddess, you must become an Adventurer Knight and survive a life-threatening journey”; which one will attract more believers?

Of course, the former.

After all, most people don’t have the courage to face death.

Of course, there are exceptions for some idiots who are obsessed with childish fantasies.

To be honest, many times, Duanmu Huai thinks that these superficial believers must be spies sent by the Chaos Evil God — their methods of inducing believers seem purposely designed to prepare them for a faith crisis and a fall into chaos.

That’s why most judges have no good feelings towards the clergy… these bastards just know how to talk and have hoodwinked many potential fallen ones into the service of the Chaos Evil God.

And they are still smugly thinking that they have made great contributions to the gods they believe in.

They can’t imagine that the gods they worship might be so angry in heaven that they can’t wait to strike these bastards with lightning.

Duanmu Huai doesn’t want to see the Novice Divine Officer’s faith shattered and find her standing on the side of the Chaos Evil God one day, so he decided to give her an inoculation — as long as her mind is firm and she can view the world from a different perspective, it’s a good choice.

After listening to Duanmu Huai’s words, the Novice Divine Officer bowed her head to think for a while.

“I… I don’t know… but I will try to understand…”

“Good luck.”

That’s all Duanmu Huai could say.

After a fire burned down the monastery, Duanmu Huai took Ogis and the Novice Divine Officer to a nearby Lake Goddess Temple, where he told the clergy what had happened in the monastery. The clergy were astonished to hear about the vampire invasion and promised to send someone to deal with it immediately. As for the Novice Divine Officer, Duanmu Huai left her in the temple, and where she goes from here is up to her.

“We had a close shave this time. We almost hit a snag.”

Leaving the temple, Duanmu Huai recalled what had happened, cold sweat forming on his forehead. Fortunately, he acted quickly; otherwise, if he arrived at the monastery a few days later, he might have found only ruins. If by then the system gave him a search and track mission, Duanmu Huai would have felt like dying.

What he hates most is this kind of search and track missions, which are time-consuming, long, and annoying.

That’s why Duanmu Huai was the first to take the Skull Staff. After all, compared to other divine artifacts buried in the ruins, this sealed object is more likely to be coveted by others.

But fortunately, he finally got it!