Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 690: Section 478: Rhythm (Part 2)

Chapter 690: Section 478: Rhythm (Part 2)

He bowed to the Paladin who had opened the cell door for him, and Goethe lowered his head as he entered the somewhat cramped cell, with a certainty already in his heart—in the Church of Justice, the size of a cell reflected the value of its occupant.

A larger cell wasn’t actually good because it usually meant it was a group cell, or it needed to be covered with Sealing Magic Circles, special rooms; Like his sister, who was using a small cell with some light, not so dark that one couldn’t see their own hand before their face, this, in fact, was the type that only prisoners of the highest concern to the Church of Justice were qualified to inhabit.

Goethe’s sister sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing Goethe had come, the young girl finally showed a hint of emotion. She lowered her head, trying hard not to let her brother see the tears on her face.

"Do you know where you were wrong?" Goethe sat opposite her. The King sat on an extremely simple chair and posed the question without further interrogation, waiting for his sister’s response instead.

And finally, Linz nodded.

Goethe finally breathed a sigh of relief—no matter what, knowing that one was wrong was a good thing, even though he did not know what exactly she would consider her mistake to be, but it was at least better than believing she was not wrong: "Do you know where you erred?"

"Malin’s strength is already evident, and with the Church of Justice and the Church of the Goddess of Harvest as his foreign deities’ backing, he pays us absolutely no mind," Linz responded this way.

This made Goethe both angry... and amused.

Angry that his own sister could think this way, and amused that his sister could indeed think this way.

"That you can think this shows that you still retain some logic, realizing where you are lacking, but I must tell you, my sister, do you really believe that the Noble God and the Master of Wisdom care so much about us?"

"They are the deities of our world, brother," Linz asked with some confusion.

"Yes, the deities of our world, one pressed by the Mimicking Bird with a hammer, the other escaping death by playing dead, they are the least qualified to criticize foreign deities. The Lord of Justice has been saving our wavering civilization for hundreds of years, while the two foreign goddesses who have been performing the duties of the Goddess of Harvest have been aiding us all this time, their churches have always been helping the farmers, without them, we wouldn’t even have enough to eat. My sister, why would you listen to the nonsense of those insincere and weak deities and their hypocritical servants?" Goethe said this with a face full of frustration.

His sister was really incited by those hypocritical Church bishops, even now trapped in a cell... Damn them all, those people.

"But Malin has grown to be a thorn in the side of our Mowish royal family, brother, think about it, the workers in his factories only know their boss is Malin Gaiate; as for you, they never mention your name in their daily lives, not even in prayers before meals, where they would rather beg Malin."

"So you want to strike him down? My sister, I never knew you could become so narrow-minded, have you forgotten how our Mowish family became the royal family? It was the previous royal family that bled for this kingdom, they never retreated in the face of the Tide of the Dead, and it was because of such, the last Prince allowed our ancestors to achieve supreme renown..." As he spoke, Goethe looked at his sister, "If one day, the Tide of the Dead causes our Mowish family to bleed dry, then I would rather let Malin and Faye’s descendants rule over this kingdom; though our Mowish family will have died out by then, Faye’s children will still call me ’grandfather,’ and he will still be the rightful owner of this kingdom."

Linz fell silent for a moment before looking at her brother with a sorrowful gaze, "Have the astrologers confirmed it yet?"

"It’s basically confirmed. Out of the eleven divinations, seven predict that the Mowish family will meet their end in this Tide of the Dead." Goethe sighed softly as he continued, "The astrologers always say, without the unanimous agreement of all eleven, such divinations can’t be considered highly credible, but... my sister, the Goddess of Fate enjoys playing cruel tricks. To her, such fate is nothing more than a minor mishap, so we must prepare for the worst. The child of Faye bears the name Gaiate and has caught the attention of foreign deities. His father is a legendary figure not governed by fate, and he too is bound to break free from a preordained destiny... My sister, do you still not understand? It’s Malin’s presence that threatens our native gods. He’s aiding the child Nova in suppressing Farole’s nobles, and his group’s literacy classes are spreading knowledge to everyone, which runs counter to the Master of Wisdom’s belief that knowledge should only belong to the elite. My sister, if you still don’t grasp what I’m saying, then I can only watch you be hanged."

"...I understand, but I have one more question, how can I earn his forgiveness?" Linz furrowed her brows, evidently still recalling the enraged remarks made by Malin.

"It’s simple, be my witness of indiscretion," Malin’s reply came from outside the door.

.........

Entering the cell, Malin looked at the two members of the Mowish family: "Linz, I’m giving you a chance. Write a confession stating that it was the Bishop of the Noble God who instigated you, one who has surely deviated from the teachings of the Noble God. His identity as a Chaotic Believer has been confirmed."

"Aren’t we also dragging the Bishop of the Master of Wisdom into this?" Goethe asked.

His sister looked at her brother like she was seeing a new side of him for the first time.

"I believe our Bishop of the Master of Wisdom hasn’t left us any handle to grasp, but it’s not the same with the Bishop of the Noble God. They are clearly much dumber than their colleagues, right?" Malin asked Linz, and the former princess nodded somewhat helplessly, "Yes, you’re not wrong, Malin... you know more than I realized or imagined."

"What the Master of Wisdom has done is not exactly the same as what the Noble God intends to do. The former despises me for sharing knowledge, which is not a matter of life and death, but the Noble God sees me as someone who will challenge his priesthood, so he and I are mortal enemies. By realizing this, we can divide and conquer," Malin finished in one breath and looked at her, "You can take a moment to recall and see if it isn’t exactly as I said."

In the end, Linz nodded.

Her compliance made Malin decide to abandon the thought of killing her—but that would be after she finished writing everything and published it.

So, Linz had to complete this written confession against the unfortunate soul within the next three days.

Only then would her brother have a chance to pull his sister out of this predicament.

Malin could forgive Linz, offering her a way out, because it was necessary for him to caution the Bishop of the Church of Justice... to kill one as a warning to others.