Chapter 125: Ch 124: Assassins Disposal - Part 2

Aiden finally reached the meeting hall and pushed the large doors open without bothering to announce himself, only to notice every person inside suddenly pause whatever they were doing and turn their attention toward him.

The priest who was outside, trying to stop him, realized it was too late as well, and he made a run for it.

For a few seconds, the entire room remained completely silent as everyone stared at Aiden and the snake goddess resting comfortably around his neck, their expressions filled with shock as if they had genuinely not expected him to make it this far.

Aiden raised an eyebrow at their reaction.

’They really did not expect us to arrive, did they?’

Someone finally let out a nervous chuckle and quickly stood up from their seat.

"Ah, Priest Aiden, you and your goddess made it in time. We were beginning to wonder whether you had gotten lost on the way here. It would have been rather rude if our honored guests had missed the beginning of the meeting."

The words were polite, but Aiden could easily hear the hidden meaning behind them.

They were trying to pretend that everything was normal, but in reality, they wanted to use his lateness as a point to push him down.

Aiden smiled as he stepped into the room.

"Of course, I would not want to be rude by arriving late."

He glanced around the room before calmly taking his seat, while Goddess Apophis tightened herself slightly around his neck.

’They are lying.’

’I know, my goddess.’

Aiden’s smile widened.

’Which makes me even more curious about what they were planning to do if I had arrived late.’

Now that Aiden knew that these council gods were not his allies, he wanted to smash their heads into the wall with a smile. But there was no need to make unnecessary enemies just now.

"Ahm, please come inside and take a seat. We have not started today’s agenda yet, but we are about to. Your input would be really helpful. But before that, we need you to take a few oaths just to make sure our secrets do not get out."

Everyone looked at Aiden and his goddess with curiosity. They wanted to see whether he could refuse this request or not.

Aiden, however, had no need to deny these people if all they wanted from him was a vow.

"I can take a vow. But what kind of vow do you want me to take?"

Aiden asked, and the other priests had a sinister smile on their faces as they looked at him.

"Oh, please don’t worry. It is not anything big. We just need you to recite a few words from here."

They handed Aiden a paper that seemed innocent, but the more he read, the less it felt like a vow and more like a slave contract.

There were just far too many terms and restrictions that he had to abide by, including not insulting anyone here.

"Do you expect me to make a vow using all of this?"

Aiden asked, and he noticed the slight hesitation in the priests’ faces. But the priest who handed Aiden this paper kept his smile professional.

"You don’t have to say all this if you don’t want to, but a few lines would be nice. This is to show your sincerity to our cause."

Sincerity? Aiden had nothing like that in his veins. And neither did these priests pretending to be all nice and calm around him. Each and every one of them was a ruthless criminal who wanted to catch him and his goddess and make them their slaves.

As for this contract...

"Can I use any amount of words from here?"

Aiden asked, and the priest nodded with a strained smile.

"Yes?"

"I see. In that case...I will take a vow to keep watch over the local god council. Will that do?"

There were over 100 lines of vows, but Aiden ended things at this. He could see awkward glances from the other priests looking at him in shock and annoyance. But Aiden could not bring himself to care.

He was not the one who wanted to join this council in the first place, so he was perfectly fine not joining the cause either.

"Priest Aiden, do you think this is a joke?"

Another priest asked in anger, and Aiden shook his head.

"Of course it is not a joke. After all, I am not laughing. However, you cannot expect me to seriously believe that you truly want me to bind myself and my goddess with these terms?"

Unlike Aiden, none of these priests looked like they were their god’s most important priests. Aiden could hardly feel any aura from them.

It was also likely that these were ex-priests who had taken up this role for money or resources, and as a result, their actions did not concern their god.

But things were different for Aiden.

"What apparent rudeness! All we are trying to do is help you out, but all you want to do is mock us? Where is your shame? Your sincerity?"

The priest who handed Aiden these vows asked in an angry voice, but it was Aiden’s turn to raise his voice a little.

"Huh? What sincerity? What shame? Have you seen the vows you handed me? One of them is asking me to uphold the council in a higher regard compared to my goddess. Do you even realize what that means?"

Aiden asked, and the priests went quiet.

They all might be fake priests, but they knew the code of conduct well. So they also knew that asking a devotee to devote themselves to something other than their chosen god was a huge offense.

The one who had been insulted here was Aiden, so they should consider themselves lucky to not have him take offense.

However, not all priests seemed to think the same. The priests, or, well, fakers, had no loyalty. Thus, they could not understand his feelings and ended up causing a dispute.