Chapter 129: Ch 128: Foolish Incompetence - Part 1

The entire temple shook as Aiden’s temper started to get out of control. He looked at the foolish priest who had suggested that he ’abandon’ his goddess, and Aiden could not help but let out a chuckle.

"You want me to abandon my goddess for something this minor? I would much rather prefer to destroy the Church of Prey than to do this."

Aiden replied calmly, but the priest he was intimidating gasped out loud and clutched his chest in pain.

"I-I understand what you mean, but the Church of Prey is not something you can handle like that. It will—"

The pressure increased until the man lost consciousness.

Aiden let out an annoyed sigh as he looked at the priests who were looking at him with uncertain expressions. They all needed to learn their place here.

"Unfortunately, I have no desire to back down, so these people from the Church of Prey will have to be silenced soon. If anyone else has a problem with this, then they can raise their hands now."

Aiden looked back, but no one seemed to show that they had a problem. It was just as he expected.

’After all, these people are all cowards. There is no way they will show any courage now.’

He let out a sigh and decided to head back to his village. Now that his work here was done, it was time to start making his way back to safety.

...

The village had evolved a lot in the three days he was gone, but Aiden still recognized it as the place he had left behind. He hosted his goddess on his shoulder and entered the village once more, but the air in there was a little tense.

Something had clearly happened, but it must not be urgent enough to have reached his ears.

Still, Aiden decided to look around the village to see what had happened.

"Priest Aiden, can we help you?"

The shopkeeper who noticed his presence forced himself to be cheerful as he greeted him. But the signs of fatigue were clear on his face.

Not only him, but the other merchants looked equally as tired as him, which made Aiden feel sorry for them.

"What is going on here? Why do you all look like you want to go to sleep? Did something happen?"

He asked, and the merchants quickly shook their heads and forced smiles onto their faces.

"Nothing happened. We are all fine. You should not worry about us—"

Aiden did not believe a single word that came out of their mouths, and he decided to sit with these merchants and find out the truth.

Unfortunately, his presence was too distracting for these merchants, and they kept looking at him the whole time, making him feel a little guilty.

’Should I leave them alone for now? It might be better for them. Instead, I can keep an eye on them from a distance.’

Besides, now that Aiden was back, he wanted to let his goddess rest as well. She had been away from the temple for too long.

"I will take a walk back to the temple. Please enjoy your stay and let me know if anything happens."

Aiden told the merchants, who looked relieved that he was going away. But it was not a sigh of relief that people gave when a superior left.

Rather, it was the sigh of relief people gave when a burden was lifted from their shoulders. Aiden was even more sure that something was wrong here.

"Are you going to leave those people alone? They might need your help soon."

His goddess told him, and Aiden let out a sigh of regret.

"I want to help them as well. But you saw them, right? They looked so jumpy. I think they would rather run than allow me to help them out." ℴ

Aiden pointed out in a sincere voice filled with regret, and his goddess just sighed with him. The fact that she did not say anything anymore meant that she agreed with him.

But something was still nagging Aiden, and he could not help but feel annoyed. That’s why he headed back to the stalls to talk with the merchants one more time.

And that was when he saw some outsiders trying to make trouble in his territory.

The merchants looked annoyed, but they simply heard the customer out and even maintained a calm look on their faces.

But that only served to make the customer angrier, and they smacked the desk of the shop with their bare fist.

Aiden was curious about what was being said, so he went a little closer to be able to hear.

"—did you not hear us? Give us a hefty discount, or we will not allow foreign merchants onto your territory. We are the only people willing to trade with you recently, right?"

The outsiders asked in a self-assured voice that got on Aiden’s nerves. But he wanted to know more, so he kept himself hidden.

"Discount? Sir, we are already selling this to you at a loss. We cannot go even lower than this for our goods. As for the merchants you are blocking, are you not afraid? What if our goddess decides to take action—"

"As if she can do anything outside her territory. In fact, it will only cause her problems, right? You know this as well, so you have not reported me yet. Now, let’s see what I need to buy today."

The shopkeeper had gone quiet as soon as that trump card by the opponent was brought up.

Aiden had no idea that something like this was going on behind his back.

"It looks like some pests have crawled inside our homes while we were not around to take care of them. Don’t worry, Goddess Apophis. I will do some house cleaning for you. These pests that have crawled inside...it is time to get rid of them once and for all."

Aiden smiled when he spoke, but it was not a pleasant smile. Anyone who saw this smile would be too afraid to speak up.