CG Chapter 66: Those who came before us.
A year passed by in the blink of an eye, and Tom quickly began to influence the church of Lumina.
Using both his charisma and psychological guidance he quickly gained the attention of important religious figures, nobles, and even some royal princes who began to notice his existence.
He used this attention to get people to his side. Additionally, he tricked many ladies into falling for him. By capturing their hearts, he was able to use them to gain the political support of the powerful families behind them.
He built connections with higher-ranking people and delivered sermons that shook the souls of the followers.
Some followers even began to think of him as a saint or god child.
Thanks to his efforts, he achieved something unprecedented: within just one year, he ascended from being a mere priest to an honorary bishop, acquiring power that rivaled that of an Archbishop.
…
Sounds of Toms sermon filled the fully occupied cathedral.
"According to Lumidex 15:3, her kingdom is far above us. We, you and I can all become saints and scholars in her kingdom. Just like how Solarus has his warriors, and Allopus has his artisans, we can become her servants in the afterlife and live in eternal peace."
"Now I ask you, my brothers and sisters, aren't we all her disciples? Her believers? So why do we fear?"
Tom stayed silent before suddenly shouting, "Kingdom come, for not this life, but the one that comes after, we shan't fear, for we live by following the supreme."
Just as Tom ended his sermon, a few believers began to cry repenting of their mistakes.
Seeing this, Tom's face had a gentle smile on his face, however, internally he was thinking of the events of the last year.
During his stay in the church, Tom kept feeling as if an eye from outside the world was spying on him every once in a while. Because he already knew where that feeling was coming from, he kept his calm as if he were completely ignorant.
After he made his way through the ranks of the church, he entered the library multiple times. Unfortunately, he didn't find what he was looking for. Not only did he fail to uncover any big secrets, he didn't even find any other books from the Bon Vincent collection.
'I think I should continue my work,' Tom thought as he walked past the guards of the library.
…
Inside the library, Tom walked past all of the books that he read before, and within one of the deepest parts of the library, he picked a new book…
This one had an interesting title, "The Legends of Ador."
Flipping through its pages, he read, starting with an introduction from the author.
"What is a legend? A legend is outside of good and evil.
A legend is a person who surpasses everyone, leaving a trace in history for people to look at.
Many times, their true names are forgotten, however, their legacy will last as long as men last."
"Throughout the known history, many people left such traces, but I, as an admirer from afar, will tell you which of those people are actually worthy of the title 'legend'. I will show it to you through a simple ranking I call the top five."
"Out of everyone, the pioneer, the explorer, the rebellious child of the continent deserves first place. He is the definition of what a true man should be. Do you understand how much courage a person needs to face the whole world alone? The mere thought would scare you, yet, he is able to do what he wants while evading the pursuit of all seven kingdoms combined. He is like a fire burning so bright that you will be forced to look away from how bright he shines. Bon Vincent easily takes first place.
For some reason, when Tom read the way the author described Bon Vincent with such passion, he had a smirk on his face. The author was obviously a big fan.
"The second-ranked person would be the shaman of Danloor. Unlike Bon Vincent, she doesn't travel much; actually, there is no record of her leaving the dark forest. You, reading this, might question the ranking, but your opinion will change once you know that the thorn sisterhood of each generation is solely raised by her. Such a figure, of course, deserves to be ranked high on the list. Even without any connection to the royal families, there is high likelihood that she is a bone fide grand knight."
"The third place is taken by the mystery man, the man of one thousand secrets, the dancing sword man, the strongest knight that came out of nowhere. He rose like a star, defeating numerous knights; unfortunately, just like his rise, he disappeared even faster. I know little about him other than that If he didn't disappear so fast he might actually outrank Bon Vincent"
When Tom tried to flip the page for the fourth person, he noticed that the page was ripped out, as if someone was trying to hide something. However, why would someone want to hide the identity of the fourth ranked and not the first three?
"Last but not least, the supreme teacher, the healer, The Sage. I said previously that a legend exists outside of good and evil, but extremes of either are exceedingly rare. Most people fall in the in-between, and to find a person such as the sage who healed thousands of people, bringing some from a death-like state back to life, he earned his spot as a legend. He is even rumored to have the ability to heal people just from passing his hands over their bodies; but of course these are just rumors."
Reading about these people, Tom felt that he would meet many of them sooner or later if he wanted to achieve his grand plan for this world, a plan that was laid long before he came here.