Leah's impression of the clerk was that of a fair-skinned, chubby old man with a kind face. He was so different from the skinny, tanned old man in front of her that she wouldn't have recognized him if it wasn't for the fact that he still looked like he did years ago.
"Your Highness, you still remember me. That's great, that's great …"
The old man was trembling in excitement. He wanted to go up and bow to Leah, but hesitated because he felt that his status was too low.
Leah, on the other hand, took the old man's hand with a kind expression. "Grandpa Clerk, you've worked hard all these years."
"This isn't the place to talk. Why don't we go into the tent and talk?"
Marni interrupted when he saw that.
He then glanced at the refugees who were peeking at the carriage in the dark, as if wanting to take advantage of the outsider Marni, and grinned.
Marni drew his sword and drew a line on the ground, at the same time secretly activating the warrior's skill 'Divine Earthbreaker Blade'.
Under the effect of the skill, he immediately drew a long and wide trench around the carriage!
Then, he casually smashed the ground and activated the skill 'Concentrated Bash', creating a large and round crater beside him!
After that, he casually sheathed his sword as if nothing had happened.
The sight of them casually unleashing such a frightening technique immediately made the sallow and emaciated refugees retreat and shrink back into the shadows, no longer having the courage to spy on Marni and the others.
Seeing that his demonstration was effective, Marni followed Leah and the others into the simple tent.
"Grandpa Clerk, what happened over at Lovinia?" Leah asked.
"I've failed to live up to the last trust of the late emperor. Even though I've been secretly spreading the seeds of Tierra's civilization after the imperial capital was breached, even Lovinia has been destroyed by those damned bastards. The Temple of Glory's Lightning of Judgment has destroyed every building in Lovinia, and the Brilliant White Church has summoned white flames to burn the city for three days and three nights. Everything is over …" The old man who was nearing his seventies began to bawl like a wronged child when he saw Leah. "If it wasn't for my students, I would have sacrificed this rotten body of mine to live and die with the imperial capital!"
Marni's face was impassive, although his prejudice against the other gods only deepened.
Leah, who had spent the first half of her life in Lovinia, was gritting her teeth. Still, no matter how reckless she was, she couldn't challenge those two behemoths to a duel right now. She could only keep this blood feud in her heart.
"It's not over!" The girl took a deep breath and stared at the old man. "As long as I'm alive and the God of Games is watching over me, it's not over!" she said with the most serious tone she had ever used in her life.
"The God of Games?"
Clearly, the old man was different from Leah. He didn't continue to believe in the God of Games so firmly, or Xi Wei would have sensed his predicament.
Leah turned to Marni, who nodded wordlessly.
With his agreement, the girl told him that the God of Games had awakened and was beginning to bless his believers, as well as that they had come to the refugee camp to recruit a certain number of new believers.
After listening to all of this with his mouth agape, the old man did not rush to deny it. Instead, he closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking about something.
Be that as it may, the contemplation took so long that Marni was a little impatient, even assuming that the old man had fallen asleep or died.
Just as Marni couldn't help but want to check if the old man was still breathing, a white name appeared above his head. This meant that the old man's faith had crossed over from a shallow believer to a true believer of the God of Games!
"This power … it's unbelievable!" The old man opened his eyes with a complicated expression, his voice full of disbelief and regret. "If I hadn't given up on my faith in the God of Games and continued to believe in him like you, Your Highness, even if I couldn't stop the calamity in the imperial capital, I could at least save more people …"
"Grandpa Registrar, you …" Leah stared in surprise at the name above the old man's head, not knowing what to say. It had taken her a lot of time and effort to turn the guards into true believers, but the old man had succeeded in a matter of minutes without any guidance. How could she not be surprised?
"I'm just regaining my old faith. I can't compare to Your Highness at all. It was you who discovered the revival of the God of Games. You are the greatest!" The old man became even more respectful towards Leah.
Marni glanced at the level above the princess' head, muttering inwardly that if he hadn't died a few times and lost a lot of EXP, the princess' level might not even be as high as his …
He cleared his throat and steered the topic back on track. "We'll talk about who's the greatest later. As for the plan to recruit refugees as new believers, do you have any suggestions, old man?"
After all, it was his quest, and he was naturally the most concerned about it.
"You might not get an affirmative answer from anyone else, but it's not a problem if you ask me."
After receiving the System's buff, the old man's spirit seemed to have improved a lot. He was no longer as sickly as before, as if he could pass away at any moment.
He said confidently, "I've run into countless difficulties along the way, and the best way to see a person's true nature is to see how they react in the face of difficulties. Along the way, those who had followed me for money and benefits have all revealed their true colors, and at the same time, served as a foil to those who are truly good people.This old man can pick a hundred people for you. Although I can't guarantee that all of them are dragons among men, at least there won't be any of them who are selfish and jealous! "
"That's great!" Marni couldn't help but show a delighted expression.
Although according to his plan, it wouldn't be a problem even if there were treacherous people in the group, and he was confident that he could easily crush them to death, but encountering such people would always be a pain in the ass. Now that the old man was helping to keep an eye on them, they could basically put an end to such situations.
This pleasant surprise made Marni feel that his time with the old man was not wasted.
"There's no time to lose. Before we attract the attention of the city guards, let's get this done in one go." He said decisively.