— "No, everything is fine. It is my duty to watch over all the children of the light, especially to keep an eye on the sorry sheep, like the dismissed monks, for once they sinned before Demur's light!"
— "That's right, Your Radiance."
— "If you notice anything about him, you must tell me, alright?"
— "Agreed, Your Radiance."
— "Go, child of the light. May your fire never go out!"
— "May your fire spread upon all, Your Radiance."
— "And if it's not too much trouble, visit the treasurer brother. It seems he wanted to talk to you."
"And here we are, the second part of the Church took interest!"
Alexander bowed and left.
The Church of Light had no competitors in human holdings but was divided within. Holding a complete monopoly on banking, the priests were split into two factions, sometimes pursuing different interests. Part of the priests was responsible for the souls of the people, while others handled financial matters. Within the church, both halves shared power, often through rather dirty means. This was exacerbated by the fact that within each part, there were their own factions. The financial elite was divided by sectoral distinctions, the spiritual elite by territorial ones.
Added to this were minor sects and differences in approaches to the Work of Light. Therefore, while appearing as a unified and monolithic church from the outside, it was torn apart internally by serious intrigues and covert struggles. And now the financial elite of the church had taken interest in the village. Apparently, they sensed a profitable venture.
The treasurer's office was quite modest, if one didn't pay attention to the details. Expensive leather upholstered the chair. A quill, exquisitely adorned with semi-precious stones — one such piece cost more than all the stones! Amber rosary beads! The owner of the office tried to display modesty, but his true nature could be seen in almost every crevice. He loved money. And he loved everything that could be obtained with it!
The conversation didn't drag on. It turned out that the treasurer's interest was purely professional for now, and he didn't want to get involved in a profitable business. Apparently, he didn't see much profit in it. Just ordinary milk! So the merchant representing the interests of the vampire dairy farm requested a loan for business development, and the priest needed some information before making a decision. The merchant asked for a very large sum. After answering the questions of the local lord of financial flows, Alexander finally left the city for home.
Unfortunately, he resolved the issues with the churchmen too quickly, and the Sands were still in sight. And today, the elder decided once again to remember his parental duties. It was impossible to dodge, so he had to visit and provide a brief report on his daughter's condition and how things were with her. The parents couldn't insist on more; in this world, giving a daughter to another family meant considering her almost a stranger in the future.
However, the situation here was somewhat delicate — the girl didn't have a husband. Therefore, instead of bluntly dismissing the elder and his questions, the knight had to sit down and drink cranberry juice, answering his inquiries. Sometimes maintaining good neighborly relations requires significant sacrifices.
Finally returning to the village, Alexander fell into the hands of Oleg, who led him into the dungeons of the tower allocated to the gendarmes and showed him a living goblin.
— "Thirty years! He commanded a small squad of hunters. Captured during the day!"
— "Does Gena know?"
— "You're kidding! Of course not! We'll go from noble gendarmes to goblin hunters!"
Laughing, the friends went their separate ways.
First, the triumvir found Leonid and tasked him with publicly defeating the goblins by the end of summer, with maximum publicity. The Church needed to be mollified, and preferably not with money! Then it was Gennady's turn, who had to recount in detail his conversation with the treasurer. Fortunately, his friend didn't ask to drink blood to not miss any nuances. Coming up with excuses and not letting slip any information about the goblins and their financial value was a truly non-trivial task.
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