Chapter 179: Conspiracy
“What’s the plan now?”
One of the older noblemen furrowed his brows and said slowly, “In these years, mines, trade, slaves, the black market, there isn’t a single one among us who hasn’t been involved. Each of us has a bit of bl**d on our hands. If those madmen really cause chaos, we’ll probably be implicated. Can we ask the Temple of Wealth to intervene and drive them away? Spending more money is no problem!”
For this elder, the burly man clearly had a much better attitude, slowly responding, “That would be difficult.”
“The Goddess of Wealth is a neutral party, her priests and church are also neutral, it’s impossible for them to take action against the Paladins, as that would mean declaring their alignment with the Evil Faction. Moreover, the Silver Hand possesses the artifact [Star of Daylight], which was bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit of the Lord of Radiance. If the Church of Wealth dares to attack the Silver Hand, it would be equivalent to declaring war on the Church of Light. By then, it would not just be the Paladins but also the Clerics’ armies that would come.”
Clerics.
A more troublesome existence than Paladins; although they are not as extreme, their numbers are substantial.
This group primarily operates in the City of Radiance and occasionally helps to combat the evil Drow, yet their main focus remains on demons and devils. They tend to be tolerant of evil actions in the secular world. After all, the ruling class must exploit civilians; as long as it’s not too ugly, they tend to overlook behaviors that are not egregious.
Otherwise, they simply couldn’t manage!
Paladins rarely take action, and that’s why; they cannot ignore evil. But what if they encounter a victim seeking help?
Ignore them?
That would go against the path of the Paladin.
Help them?
How much can a Paladin really change? The order of the world is like this; if you k*ll one evil doer, will another not arise? As long as interest and power remain, people will always be corrupted and led astray. A kingdom has benevolent rulers as well as tyrants; can a Paladin overturn a kingdom just because a tyrant appears?
The Silver Hand is, after all, a special case; he possesses an artifact. He is the most powerful Paladin.
He is also a descendant of the bloodline of the Lord of Radiance.
Ultimately, it boils down to whether one’s strength is sufficient. If the Paladins’ current strength is inadequate, as soon as these individuals dare to act recklessly in their detection of evil, both the Dark Realm and the Grey Realm would eliminate them all. It’s precisely because the strength of the Paladin appeared so formidable this time, strong enough that even the City of Wealth dared not act rashly, strong enough that the Church of Wealth did not dare to expel them, that they now face this problematic situation: a group of impoverished civilians seeking justice from them. They cannot betray their belief, and in the end, they are forced to take some action.
Ignoring evil violates the Paladin’s faith.
Resisting evil is akin to opposing the entire City of Wealth!
Thus, Soren felt pity for the Paladins.
“Paladins have no authority to judge nobles!”
A cold-faced, scholarly-looking man suddenly spoke up, “The Church of the Lord of Radiance will not allow Paladins to wage war against nobles! Throughout generations, how have we accumulated our wealth without bloodshed? Even if we do not engage in mining, trade, or the slave market, there will be others to take over! At that point, the City of Wealth would no longer be the City of Wealth.”
“I think the Silver Hand understands this as well; if they are capable, they can go purify the abyssal hell!”
“Our sins are nothing compared to the devils and demons; at the very least, we maintain order in the city. We provide labor for those lowly folks, allowing them to eat, preventing the place from completely descending into chaos. Without us to enforce the law, those lowly people might not even survive their current circumstances—pirates, adventurers, and fallen beings from all around, who doesn’t covet the wealth here?”
These words garnered wide agreement.
Some nobles even exclaimed loudly that if they did not provide protection and land for those impoverished people to cultivate, they would all starve to d*ath, all be eaten by monsters.
The burly man pondered for a moment and said slowly, “The problem isn’t these! It’s how we handle these Paladins now!”
“They won’t back down. Otherwise, they would be going against their own faith.”
The cold man looked around and slowly said, “Scapegoats!”
“The leaders of those gangs responsible for the slave trade, the black market trade, and the organizations that are clearly disobedient. We can capture them as scapegoats. These individuals are all stained with bl**d debts; we can use the Paladins’ hands to eliminate them. This way, we can appease those lowly folks while also providing the Paladins with an explanation.”
“I doubt the Silver Hand will go so far as to judge all the nobles of the City of Wealth, right?”
What the ruling class lacks the least is Lawful Evil.
They aren’t as cruel as devils and demons, but the matters they handle aren’t particularly noble.
“And also.”
The cold man stood up, looked around, and said in a deep voice, “We must quickly locate that Vampire Son! It is precisely because of him that this group of Paladins was attracted. If we don’t deal with him, these Paladins may linger longer.”
“I suggest we send out our armies to search for his whereabouts and then let the Silver Hand handle him.”
This statement momentarily silenced the room, then others nodded in agreement: “Exactly. We must find that Demon Son of Fear. Otherwise, the Paladins won’t leave so easily.”
All of this arose from that Vampire Son.
If he hadn’t come to the City of Wealth, the Paladins wouldn’t have pursued him here, the impoverished people wouldn’t have sought justice from them, and the nobles wouldn’t have found themselves in such an embarrassing situation. Without the Silver Hand here, simply dispatching a few people to expel the Paladins, or even making them disappear, would have been a small matter. But since the Silver Hand has appeared, certain attitudes must be made clear. If the Noble Council were willing to help him deal with the Vampire Son, then the Paladins wouldn’t be mad enough to judge them.
Do they really want to throw the world into chaos?
“Good!”
The burly man slammed the table and said solemnly, “Send out the guard squad, dispatch the city legions! Conduct a comprehensive search of the City of Wealth; we must find that Vampire Son! Then capture those disobedient fellows; we don’t need the Paladins to take action; we will put these individuals to d*ath according to the law! We cannot let the appearance of a Paladin destroy the rules of the City of Wealth!”
“As for those lowly people, there will be plenty of time to deal with them later.”
At this point, the burly man revealed a trace of a cruel smile, unable to suppress his anger at being forced into this situation by a group of lowly people using the Paladins as weapons.
One order after another was issued.
The previously cold man couldn’t help but show a hint of a smile, a strange light flickering in his eyes. “This should be able to force you out, right? Stupid fool! Do you think power can suppress everything? Now I want to see if you live or d*e!”
A conspiracy was already brewing.
Once the Paladins appeared, they had become a blade—a blade that the weak use to seek justice, and that the evil use to deal with enemies.
Paladins are a tragic profession, but also an extremely fragile one.
As long as a kind-hearted and honest victim seeks their help, they must face a choice: to help or not to help? If they refuse to help, the victim kneels before them, grasping their thighs and bowing their heads in supplication; at that moment, will they help or not?
Once they refuse to help, they can do so once, but twice or thrice, and their faith will crumble.
Hence, there are so many former Paladins in this world. Helping isn’t a problem; there are plenty of people in need of help—ordinary people harmed by gangs, impoverished people oppressed by nobles. Everywhere you look, there are tyrannical forces; if you help a good impoverished person eliminate the gang threatening to destroy their family, must you then also eliminate that gang? If the gang is eliminated, must you also take down the officials and nobles who are the masterminds behind it?
After maintaining justice and walking away, it won’t be long before the second gang appears.
How many times can you fight? How many people can you defeat?
Backing down is a loss of faith, and a Paladin’s power will turn into that of an ordinary warrior; if you cannot tolerate evil, evil will not tolerate you.
Want to uphold justice?!
It’s really too simple; every town has its bullies and rogues, and any detection of evil immediately reveals the execution of innocent civilians.
Can you k*ll them? How many evils can you judge?
Paladins are very powerful, yet extremely weak; they cannot change the world but can only guard the justice within their hearts along a difficult path.
That’s why the eyes of older Paladins are filled with sorrow!
Because they have endured trial after trial, facing not just strength, but also the heart and will. Without the Silver Hand, they would amount to nothing.
One Silver Hand can force the City of Wealth to compromise.
Two Silver Hands can cleanse the evils of the City of Wealth.
Three Silver Hands can redefine the rules of the City of Wealth, bringing it closer to a Lawful Good alignment.
Five Silver Hands can turn the City of Wealth into the next City of Radiance.
Unfortunately.
The Silver Hand is always just one.
They cannot change the City of Wealth, nor can they change this world; the Abyss and Hell have existed for countless years. How many deities of the Good Faction have fought for this? The Lord of Radiance has viewed it as a tumor and has launched how many wars of the Divine Kingdom against it!
What’s the final result?
The Abyss is still the Abyss, Hell is still Hell.
Paladins are thus a group of stubborn and faith-keeping tragic figures; they can only firmly believe in the justice within their hearts and cannot turn the world into justice.
Because the world is the world, and you are still too weak.
………………
Soren seemed to see something.
He heard the clarion call of the army mobilizing, could see the city guard squads assembling urgently, and the guard units had already begun to depart. It appeared that the noble powers of the City of Wealth had compromised; they were beginning their own clean-up operations to prevent the Paladins from rampaging and disrupting the order here. They would use a small-scale purging to appease the civilians and then exchange this for the Paladins not taking action.
This was undoubtedly a clever choice.
It seems there are also some formidable individuals among the nobles of the City of Wealth. (To be continued ~^~)
