Vol 5. Chapter 23: Are There Really People Like That?

And Mason’s family belonged to the latter camp. They believed Vinny still could not be underestimated.

As a family that had only begun to make a name for itself within the Church of the Dawn after being promoted by the Pope, Mason’s family was rather lacking in foundation. Because of that, they needed the Pope’s support all the more.

So all along, their stance had been that Vinny must be treated with caution. If he was still only that spoiled, notorious young master relying on his impostor identity to eat and drink and run his mouth, then perhaps there was no need to pay him much attention. They could simply regard him as a clown hopping around on a stage.

But now, not only had Vinny entered Carillian Academy through his own ability, he had even gained a bit of fame within the academy. In terms of raw strength, he had even been able to defeat that genius young marquis of Camella Kingdom.

This was no longer an ordinary fake. It proved that Vinny was not only far from simple, but also very ambitious.

At least, that was what the current family head believed.

Mason, who had grown up influenced by that kind of environment, had always been a devout believer of the Goddess. In his eyes, Vinny was a shameless and outrageous scoundrel who had faked being a descendant of the Saintess in order to seize benefits and gain fame.

After seeing the true Dawn Saintess, then comparing her with Vinny, Mason felt that even a blind man could tell which one was the real Saintess.

One was slippery and vulgar, with a thug’s air from head to toe, utterly dismissive of etiquette. He could not be said to merely resemble the rumored image of an ignorant, incompetent spoiled noble son from the outside world. He was exactly the same.

The other was proper and generous, elegant and composed, kind enough to keep every person in the world in her heart, wishing she could shine her light into the heart of every single person. If such a holy and beautiful girl was not the Saintess, then who else could be?

And so, on the road after class, the moment Mason accidentally saw Margaret following behind Vinny, alarms instantly blared in his heart. He inwardly thought that things were bad, but when he remembered the instructions Her Eminence the Saintess had given them, he could not recklessly charge out to stop her either. Otherwise, the Saintess would definitely think he was following her movements.

So he had followed them all the way, believing his concealment skills to be quite brilliant.

But he had still underestimated Vinny’s perception.

Before coming here, he had still been guessing what Vinny was scheming, whether these people were Vinny’s subordinates, whether they obeyed Vinny’s orders, and whether their club really was only a front.

Up until now, he was no longer quite able to tell.

No, had they even spent time fabricating and perfecting a hobby just to hide their true purpose??

“What are you standing there in a daze for? Brother Mason, did you understand the rules I just explained or not?” Ferdi, who was guiding Mason at the side, saw his absent-minded state and immediately became unhappy. He slapped him on the shoulder, not too lightly and not too heavily.

“Ah, huh??” Mason snapped awake as if from a dream.

“Hey, hey, what kind of attitude is that, kid? You’re not serious at all, are you? You’re in a duel. Can you really afford to be this distracted? Where are you looking??” Ferdi frowned. “Brother Vinny said you came here because of our reputation. But looking at you now, did you really come because of our reputation?”

“You weren’t planted here as a spy, were you??” Ferdi pressed.

By spy, he naturally meant someone from another club.

This was something Vinny usually wanted to complain about. Ferdi always acted as if facing a great enemy. He was constantly saying things like “This must be a plot by the board game club next door!” and “Our club should strengthen its anti-theft measures to prevent confidential information from leaking!”

Other than Ferdi himself, everyone thought he was crazy. Usually, whenever he said things like that, everyone treated it as an episode and chose to ignore him.

What secrets did this lousy card club have that outsiders could not know?

The only secret they could not let other clubs know was that this club did not have a single girl—and not because they did not want to recruit any, but because they could not recruit any.

If that got out, it would turn into a huge joke. The presidents of other clubs would only say things like, “Although I don’t know what kind of club the card-player-soul club is, it really is pretty funny.”

Everyone was already used to his episodes.

But Mason did not know that. The speaker had no intent, but the listener took it to heart. Mason really had once entertained the thought of digging up intelligence on the club Vinny belonged to. So when he heard Ferdi say this, his heart thudded, and he grew somewhat guilty.

“H-how could that be? Of course I came here because of your reputation. In fact, I’ve admired President Ferdi for a long time.”

“Admired me for a long time? Then when I gave you a detailed introduction to the basic rules of Deity Cards just now, why weren’t you listening carefully at all??” Ferdi snorted. “This president personally teaching a newcomer—do you know how rare that is? If word got out, people would be jealous to death!”

“Yes, yes, yes. I was listening carefully just now, President Ferdi.” Mason shrank his neck.

Something was wrong. Why did the mental state of the people here feel like none of them were faking it?

This god-tier-weirdo flavor was way too strong. It was completely natural, without a single trace of artificial workmanship anywhere?!

Could it be that the people in this club were not Vinny’s adherents, but real god-tier weirdos??

Crap. He hadn’t stumbled into a madman’s nest, had he??

“Hey, hey, forget it. Listen up, kid. I’ll explain it to you one more time.” Ferdi once again repeated the rules of Deity Cards. This time, Mason did listen carefully, and he did take it in.

One had to admit that when it came to explaining card games, Ferdi was professional. What he said was simple and easy to understand. It was very easy for others to grasp and comprehend the rules.

“How is it? If you have any questions, ask.”

“Mm, no. I think I basically understand.” Mason really had taken it in, and he unexpectedly felt that this low-class game played only by commoners and street people seemed a little interesting. It looked crude and simple on the surface, but in truth, it had quite a bit of depth, with very diverse ways to play.

Hm? No, wait.

He actually thought this low-class card game that only appeared in small-town taverns was interesting??

That wasn’t right, was it? He couldn’t have been infected until his brain broke too, right??

For a moment, Mason began to doubt his own mental state.

“Wait. You said just now that quick-attack cards are judged the fastest, even faster than guard cards. Then if I use a quick guard card, wouldn’t I be able to block a quick-attack card?” Mason suddenly realized.

“Congratulations. You’ve even learned how to answer ahead of time. Not bad, kid! I can see you’ve got a strong ability to draw inferences from one case!”

“Good. Since you say you understand, then let’s see whether you really understand.” As he spoke, Ferdi beckoned toward the crowd beside him. “Aiden, come here.”

“Come. It’s time to show off the old guys’ hidden skills. You—give the newcomer a practical lesson.”

“Huh??” Mason froze. “Me? Practical?”

“Yes, exactly. Otherwise, how do we know whether you really understand or only half-understand? Practice is the key to testing everything.”

“Come on, Brother Aiden. Show your full strength. Don’t hold back. I’ll guide Brother Mason from the side.”

“Don’t worry, Brother Ferdi. But take it easy. Don’t guide him so much you guide yourself into losing.” The corner of Aiden’s mouth curved up.

“You brat, you really dare to say that? We’ll see. I’ll let you witness the strength of the number one Deity Cards player.” After saying that, the two of them picked up their respective decks.

“Huh??” Caught between the two of them, Mason somehow felt that the moment they picked up their decks, their eyes changed. A beam of laser light seemed to pierce out from within them.

It was like the art style of a gag manga had instantly transformed into the art style of a magnetic-field lunatic manga.

“All right, Brother Mason. I’ll temporarily lend you my deck. Take my deck and start playing. I’ll guide you from the side.”

As for that, Mason could only accept.

The round began. Draw cards.

“Junior, I’ll let you take the first move,” Aiden said. Then one foot touched the ground, and he struck a golden-rooster-standing-on-one-leg pose.

“???” Mason was dumbfounded.

These people had such pure content it did not look like bait at all.

“Brother Mason, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and play a card!” Ferdi slapped Mason’s shoulder.

“Ah, yes.” Mason looked at the cards he had drawn, pondered for a moment, then reached for one of them and was about to play it.

“Wait.” Before he could move, Ferdi pressed down on his hand. “Brother Mason, let me ask you. What is the card you’re about to play?”

“Ah, huh? A quick-attack warrior card?” Mason asked.

“Wrong.” Ferdi’s tone changed, correcting him with profound mystery. “It is a warrior quick-attack card.”

“???” Mason was dumbfounded. “Is there a difference? What’s written on it is quick-attack warrior card, right?”

“Of course. There’s a huge difference.” Ferdi shook his finger. “Quick-attack warrior card makes it sound as if you’re trying to defend. But right now, we are clearly the side with the advantage. We are the attacking side. So we have to say it with a bit more spirit. It has to be called a warrior quick-attack card!”

Mason fell silent.

Several turns passed. Mason felt himself gradually getting into the rhythm.

Just as Mason wanted to set a card facedown, Ferdi stopped him once again.

“Don’t rush to play it. Let me ask you first. In this exchange, where is the opponent’s goblin warrior?” Ferdi once again pressed Mason down, his face solemn.

“Huh? Goblin warrior? Why are you asking that?”

“Just answer. Where is the goblin warrior?”

“This.” Mason racked his brains and thought hard. “Last turn, Upperclassman Aiden ambushed it on the field?”

“Wrong. Last turn, the goblin warrior was ambushed on the field by Aiden.” Ferdi denied him again, his finger still pointing over and over.

“???” After hearing this, Mason felt like his brain was about to overload.

No. His head was so itchy. Was he about to grow a brain?

He felt he needed to drop out of school to ponder this lifelong question.

“Now, at this point, although you’ve confirmed that his goblin warrior has been ambushed, you still cannot be one hundred percent certain.” Ferdi did not wait for Mason to digest it and continued speaking. “So what do we do at a time like this?”

“Ah, this is where we need to activate our hypothetical principle.”

“?? What hypothetical principle??”

“Very good. You’ve already learned to answer ahead of time. Then let’s continue the lesson.”

“Ahhhhh!”

And while Mason was suffering under the torment of Ferdi, Aiden, and the others, Vinny was not idle either.

“So, Upperclassman Vinny, your club activities on ordinary days are only playing cards?” After listening to Vinny’s explanation, Margaret seemed especially confused. “Forgive me for not quite understanding. How does this method transmit the themes of love and bonds?”

“Ah, that’s exactly why I say you still have a very long road of enlightenment ahead of you.” As the vice president of the card-player-soul club, Vinny’s ability to talk nonsense was also extremely formidable. “Then what do you think transmitting love and bonds means?”

“Mm. I believe it should begin with preaching doctrine and ideals, so everyone understands what doctrine is.” Margaret thought for a moment, then answered.

“Doctrine?” When Vinny heard this, his brows rose. He had wanted to keep rambling, but Margaret’s words left him a bit unable to get his head around it. “What does this have to do with preaching doctrine?”

“Of course it is so everyone can understand the Church and the Goddess better.” Margaret clasped her hands together and spoke devoutly.

“What’s the point of understanding that?” After hearing this, Vinny fell silent for a moment. “Does understanding that help the people trapped in the whirlpool at all?”

“Letting them understand the Goddess’s doctrine more deeply, conveying the Goddess’s words to every person in the world, every believer—that is my mission.” Margaret tilted her head, with an expression that seemed to say, Isn’t that so?

“Margaret, I think all that doctrine and understanding you’re talking about is far less practical to people trapped in hardship than a bowl of hot soup.” Vinny looked at Margaret, something flickering in his expression. “Do you expect a group of people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from to patiently listen to you read those lofty principles that sound like castles in the air?”

It was about as funny as setting up a stage to give a speech in the slums.

“They won’t. Their thoughts are much simpler than you imagine. All they think about is when they’ll get their next meal, and whether they can eat until they’re half-full today.”

“People who don’t know where their next meal is coming from?” When Margaret heard this, shock appeared on her face. “Are there really people like that in this world?”

“......”

Vinny did not know how to answer.

Because a person like that did not even need to be found deliberately. Right now, one was standing in front of her.