Super Righteous Player
Chapter 401 - 398: Bernardino as a Child_1

Chapter 401: Chapter 398: Bernardino as a Child_1

Denton glanced around.

...He had some impression of this place.

The unmistakably familiar humid and hot sea breeze allowed Denton to immediately recognize... this must be the Feld Archipelago of the United Kingdom.

But which island was it specifically?

The Feld Archipelago consisted of seven islands of varying sizes. The largest, Spring Island, was about twelve thousand square kilometers, while the smallest, Gemstone Island, was only six thousand square kilometers, with populations generally only in the hundreds of thousands, not even as many as in the Royal Capital of Noah.

Each of the small islands of the Feld Archipelago had once been a kingdom or duchy... As the losers in vassalage, they had offered all their possessions to the people of Dennisiowa, and in Yawen’s mercy were divided up among the small islands.

Thus, the laws on each small island were different.

Even each island had its own Wizard’s Tower — from this perspective, the density of Wizard’s Towers in the United Kingdom might be the highest.

Denton’s body, outlined in icy blue lines, suddenly received a coat of flesh and clothing, transforming into a middle-aged man wearing a fisherman’s hat, with a face slightly reddened and cracked.

—This problem was a simple one.

He just needed to look for the iconic building on the island.

The icy blue halo in Denton’s eyes briefly sparkled, then faded, and thick clouds quickly formed above the island.

As the moist and chilly sea breeze blew past... gentle, soft rain began to drizzle down soon after.

His sensory range instantly expanded across the entire island.

Thus, he clearly saw the giant dark blue lighthouse to the north. At the top of the lighthouse was a hemispherical diamond with thousands of facets, reflecting rainbow-colored auroras.

This was indeed too distinctive a landmark, impossible to imitate.

"The Azure Diamond Tower..."

Denton murmured, "So the ’Pure Medium’ is from Gemstone Island."

This was somewhat surprising to him.

Those from Gemstone Island... weren’t they usually Decree Wizards or guard knights?

How did he end up on the path of the traditional Soul Reaping Wizard?

Denton was also from the United Kingdom.

But he was different from those country folk. He was of pure Dennisiowa blood.

—Even though nominally, they were all citizens of "Dennisiowa and the Feld Archipelago United Kingdom," they themselves would rather claim "I come from the Kingdom of Dennisiowa" or "I come from such and such island."

Because in reality, their nations were forced to unite only after the brutal global war — the "Blood Vassalage." For the people of Dennisiowa, the Feld Archipelago was just a multitude of villagers whose original nations had been lost in the Blood Vassalage, conquered by their ancestors.

If it weren’t for leaving them the Feld Archipelago, allowing a part of them to mooch off Yawen’s great barrier, they would have been utterly defeated in the Blood Vassalage — either pushed to the Underworld or exposed to the mist.

To the Feld Archipelago, they never experienced national demise... they were just without people, money, or army.

To this day, they still retained the royal succession of many kingdoms and duchies, and the royal bloodlines had not been completely severed. One could say that each island was a little kingdom... only these kingdoms were so nominal that no one recognized them.

After all, lawmaking and execution were subject to the parliament and the Prime Minister’s word.

"Kings," in Yawen’s realm, didn’t necessarily have any say.

In the United Kingdom, the royal families were merely somewhat larger nobility.

"Born on Gemstone Island..."

Denton slightly furrowed his brow.

The Azure Diamond Tower was not known for the Soul Snatching School. Could this be why he struck out on a different path?

—Go ask the person himself.

Through the pitter-patter of light rain, he had located the dream owner’s position.

Denton took a step forward, his body instantly transforming into a blurry phantom.

He reappeared next to a little boy with somewhat dark skin and a lean body.

The boy was about eight or nine, with very rough skin. He wore dirty sandals, khaki shorts, and an old-looking shirt, squatting on the beach, head bowed, drawing on the ground with a stick.

No matter how you looked at it... he was just an ordinary fisherman’s child.

...Was this the childhood appearance of "The Pure Medium" Bernardino Treshaw?

That man who had driven himself into a corner, who could also be considered a top-tier figure at the Gold level?

For a moment, Denton was speechless with surprise.

But his actions did not slow down.

Although time passed slowly in the dream, it was not to be wasted carelessly.

As the icy blue flames in Denton’s eyes trembled slightly, his figure from the feet up was completely replaced.

In the blink of an eye, Denton had transformed into a stern-faced middle-aged man in a purple robe.

The purple robe was a distinctive garment of Yawen’s clergy, much like how the clergy of the Silver Baron wore something similar to white suits.

Denton briefly skimmed the heart, learning that this was the person little Bernardino respected the most, a renowned sculptor, and also a priest of Yawen.

"Bell."

Denton’s commanding voice came from behind Bernardino.

Upon hearing this, Bernardino immediately lifted his head, stood up swiftly, and dusted the dirt off his body, his response muffled:

"Yes, Father Ludwig."

"Have you done your homework today?"

"Yes... I have finished it."

Young Bernardino did not look up but mumbled with his head lowered, "I had finished shaping the clay model before I came out to play."

"You should work harder, Bernardino."

Using the memories stolen from Bernardino’s heart, Denton gave an authoritative piece of advice, "Have you finished reading ’On the Human Body’ and ’The Beauty of Solidification’ that I gave you?

"Practice your skills diligently. You are very talented... Even if you don’t become a famous sculptor, selling dolls won’t have you living like your father did..."

If it were the genuinely gentle nature of the real "Father Ludwig," he certainly wouldn’t mention this.

Bernardino’s father was a fisherman.

He had been lost at sea due to sudden wind and waves while out fishing. His only remnant left in this world was the somewhat worn fisherman’s hat on Bernardino’s head.

But Denton’s ultimate goal was to subtly shatter Bernardino’s self-confidence.

This setting was what Bernardino subconsciously considered the most important scene of his life - if Denton could destroy the positive impact this scene had on him, or even instill in him impulses of self-destruction and suicidal desires, those memories would be overwritten and implanted into Bernardino’s mind.

Once Denton left his dreamscape, it would be a simple task to trigger these emotions and cause Bernardino to commit suicide on the spot.

This wasn’t the first time he had used this technique to kill.

Even as a Gold-level Transcendent, he had once used this tactic to kill one person and severely injure another.

The only drawback was that he existed as a Spiritual Body within the other person’s memories. If the person was a Soul Reaping, Idolatry, or Decree School wizard, or a clergy with purifying abilities, they might realize something was amiss and launch a deadly counterattack against him.

However, for Bernardino, it was already too late for a counterattack.

Denton’s skill was too proficient - he didn’t destroy all of Bernardino’s mental defenses, but rather skillfully bypassed them.

This was like infiltrating without triggering any alarms. As long as Denton’s modifications weren’t too outlandish, Bernardino wouldn’t realize it.

Unless Bernardino himself became conscious that he was now in the deep layer of his sea of consciousness... otherwise, he wouldn’t have his guard up at all.

Yet, facing the "Father Ludwig" portrayed by Denton, Bernardino suddenly lifted his head.

"But Father Ludwig... I don’t want to become a sculptor."

He said softly.

"Nonsense!"

Father Ludwig frowned slightly, "Are you tired? You can rest if you’re tired, but not studying is not an option.

"We are neither relatives nor friends; I can’t possibly provide for you your whole life. Bernardino, I have my own children to care for, I am providing for your lodging and food because you are my apprentice.

"If you don’t study sculpting, there is no need for me to support you anymore. Do you understand?"

"No, I am—"

Young Bernardino’s voice suddenly got a bit louder.

But as he looked at the priest, his words abruptly stalled.

Looking at that plain, nondescript face, Denton timely showed a hint of disgust and annoyance, "What do you want to say?"

"I want to study natural philosophy, Your Reverence."

Bernardino said earnestly, "I want to read."

"Who will provide for you then?"

Denton retorted, "I will not provide for you."

His cold and rational words didn’t surprise Bernardino.

He simply hung his head, silent for a long time before replying softly, "Yes, I will study hard..."

Just then, something stirred in Denton’s heart.

The moment he uttered those words, Bernardino wavered a bit more, opening up more of his heart’s defenses. Denton also took the opportunity to dig out more profound memories from within Bernardino:

This familiar conversation occurred four years later in little Bernardino’s memory. At that time, Father Ludwig had contemplated and expressed that he had grown up, become mature, and that he could recommend him to study at Dennisiowa Theological College.

If all went well, he might become a clergy of Yawen, a philosopher, a natural scientist.

...But the letter of recommendation that Father Ludwig wrote for Bernardino, along with the priest’s token and the tuition given to him, had been lost along the way.

At that moment, Bernardino was disheartened but didn’t dare to go back home. He could only wander in Dennisiowa, becoming a scavenger in the city of arts, subsisting on his half-baked sculpting skills.

And it was then that he met a wizard from the Tower of Black Radiance, a Soul Reaping wizard. Impressed by his sculptures that seemed to possess souls, the wizard wanted to invite him to become a craftsman at the school.

Perhaps this is where I could modify his memory—

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.