Although Danitz was already feeling hopeless, thinking he was done for, Lynn was reveling in simultaneously messing with The Fool and his messenger, and he had no intention of stop messing with them.
Lynn eagerly followed the predetermined steps of his preaching, then turned to look at Danitz, who seemed to have turned completely pale. He seriously asked, "So, Danitz, will you join the Church of The Fool and become a believer?"
"Can I... refuse?" Danitz's lips twitched, and after several seconds, he managed to squeeze out a voice from his throat.
"You want to refuse?" Lynn appeared stunned for a moment, then showed a regretful expression, shaking his head. "That's such a pity. If you don't want to join the Church of The Fool, we'll have no choice but to deal with you..."
Danitz: ... 'Damn it! I knew this was coming.'
At this moment, Danitz was torn. Logic told him he absolutely couldn't join this newly emerged Church of The Fool; worshipping an evil god would lead to a fate worse than death. But it also told him... if he didn't join, he'd die right now, while joining might at least extend his life for a few more days.
'And there were so many who worshipped evil gods, like members of the Aurora Order, who lived just fine. Maybe...' Danitz thought, and then something else occurred to him. He pursed his lips and asked, "If I join you, do I need to leave the Golden Dream?"
"Of course not. Our organization is very free. Whether you're part of a pirate crew like the Golden Dream or some secret organization like the Moses Ascetic Order or the Aurora Order, we don't require you to leave. We're all about having members spread across the world."
Lynn patted Danitz's shoulder and assured him, "And you can rest easy. I've already told you, we have no ill intentions towards Iceberg Lieutenant Edwina Edwards. We only intend to make a deal with her."
Hearing this, Danitz relaxed a little, though he couldn't help muttering, "It doesn't sound like a proper organization..."
"Hmm?" Lynn suddenly smiled at him.
Danitz's (Cowardly) Hunter instincts kicked in at once, and he quickly said, "I will definitely worship the Fool. but... but I absolutely won't let you hurt the captain."
"Then we're colleagues from now on!" Lynn waved and gave Danitz a bright, warm smile. "And you don't need to be so wary. The Fool is no evil god. Our church cooperates with the churches of the true gods. If you don't believe me, I can take you to the Storm Church next time. We're all on the same side."
Lynn wasn't surprised that Danitz had relented. Based on his original behavior, it was clear that this cowardly hunter wasn't overly opposed to worshipping evil gods. He wasn't a devout believer of any other deity, so naturally, the threat of death swayed him easily.
—Though in reality, there was no death threat at all. Lynn wasn't a villain. If Danitz had truly refused to join the Church of The Fool, Lynn would have just sighed and waited for him to come asking for help in the future.
The real Fool, Klein, watched this scene unfold: "..."
He wasn't sure what to say or even how to react.
He felt like an accomplice in something bizarre.
"What?" Danitz was stunned by Lynn's words, incredulously asking, "You have a partnership with the churches of the true gods?"
Danitz wasn't surprised that Gabriel here claimed The Fool wasn't an evil god—every cult tried to promote themselves like that—but to claim they cooperated with the true god churches? That wasn't something you could just make up.
"Of course!" Lynn nodded confidently. "If you don't believe me, once we reach Bayam, I can take you to the Storm Church. I need their assistance anyway."
Lynn spoke with such confidence, as though he had long established a rapport with the church. While he had never personally met the Lord of Storms in this era, he had a close connection with the Evernight Goddess, who was allied with Leodero. In his view, this alliance made it perfectly logical to say he had ties with Leodero as well.
And Lynn was confident that, if he gave the Storm Lord a heads-up, regardless of the Lord's attitude toward him, he'd tolerate it begrudgingly.
"Ha?" Seeing Lynn's unwavering confidence, Danitz, who had been skeptical, suddenly became curious.
'Could this Church of The Fool actually be a legitimate secret organization?' Danitz wasn't entirely ignorant of the fact that not all secret organizations were hostile to the true god churches. The Moses Ascetic Order, before its fall, had maintained a good relationship with the Evernight Church.
And as a pirate, or adventurer, Danitz had learned much of this from his captain's relentless lessons.
But I've never heard the captain mention any hidden existence called The Fool having good relations with the church... Danitz scratched his head, feeling thoroughly confused.
"Stop scratching; scratching won't grow you a brain," Lynn suddenly said from the side.
"What brain? I already have one! What do you mean it won't grow?" Danitz clearly didn't get the joke.
"Sigh, Danitz, show some common sense!" Lynn sighed heavily, sounding genuinely disappointed.
Danitz was left utterly bewildered.
Klein, who fully understood the joke: ...
"Ahem..." Klein cleared his throat, realizing he couldn't let the conversation derail any further. He turned to Lynn and, deciding it was time to discuss business, asked, "You need assistance from the Storm Church?"
"Oh, right! I haven't told you yet!" Lynn, looking like he had just remembered something, grinned and enthusiastically said, "The Sea God Kalvetua is about to die. Let's go to its Funeral, Gehrman!"
Klein froze for a moment, then information about the Sea God, Kalvetua, surfaced in his mind: The Sea God was a local faith in the Five Seas, primarily followed by the indigenous inhabitants, many of whom were members of the Resistance fighting against colonization by nations like Loen and Intis.
(End of Chapter)
If you want, support me on Patreon and get access to 60 translated chapters in advance:
p@treon.com/IHaveNoNamingSense