Chapter 1938 - 529: The Demon King's Power Far Surpasses That of the Enchanting Demon (Part 2)

He tidied up the somewhat washed-out shabby tie, clutching a small, densely written slip of paper.

It was written overnight by his accountant Elsey for him.

Honestly, Elsey wrote it too formally, and besides, the guy was at work yesterday, so he probably didn't go to see the play.

Obviously, this was made based on the newspaper summary.

Horace had indeed gone to see it.

He wouldn't be reading from the original text, but would use the kind of plain language that dock workers could understand to explain those complicated principles in human language.

"Mr. Dibico spoke very well."

Horace's voice was airy, tinged with the cunning of a businessman, which also brought a smile to Dibico's face.

It seemed Mr. Horace hadn't taken to heart the light insult he received yesterday, or maybe he didn't understand Dibico's sarcasm at all.

That was when the stage play ended.

He came out from the VIP box and greeted Horace's wife, pretending to be surprised: "Nice to meet you. Were you in the box next door? Please forgive me for not coming over to greet you, the performance just now was so touching, my wife cried for a long time, I just finished comforting her."

The only flaw was that Horace's wife just smiled and greeted him, then said hello to his wife.

Just as Dibico regretted not seeing Horace's embarrassed expression, his feigned gentlemanly smile quickly froze on his face.

"...But I must say, this is just giving a pat on the back to good people, useless aside from self-congratulation."

Laughter came from the conference room, even louder than before.

Especially from the guy who had inexplicably been glared at by Dibico earlier, this time not only laughed loudly, but also made noise with his chair in a rather ungraceful manner.

This behavior prompted the chairman to strike his gavel for the second time, causing Dibico to feel embarrassed and grit his teeth.

Humorous Horace didn't look at him but surveyed the Parliament hall, continuing in a haggling-like tone.

"Without the Chastity Tax, there would be wear fees. Without the Crown Tax, there would be money for lubricating gears, money for polishing the bell clapper, or money for painting the Ancient Bell... Oh, I'm not implying our Mr. Dibico — I remember he does paint business."

"Mr. Horace, this is your first warning." The chairman struck his gavel for the third time, squinting as he issued a warning, interrupting the clown's joke.

Horace coughed and pulled the topic back on track, suddenly speaking righteously.

"What I mean is that the important thing is not paint, nor the crown, not even the church bell... Of course, whoever wants these things can pay for them, it's their freedom. Horace Textile Factory can even design ribbons for them — oh, Mr. Chairman, please don't strike your gavel, let me finish the advertisement — no, let me finish my words!"

"As long as the bell-rope is held by a small group of people, those greedier than me can think up a hundred ways to slip their hand into the poor's pocket; even someone like me can think of fifty ways... and this must be stopped!"

The chairman's gavel hovered in mid-air, his cloudy little eyes widened in shock, the gavel rocked up and down, uncertain whether to strike it or not.

Murmurs spread in the conference room, the faces of those laughing a second ago tightened, no longer able to laugh.

Including Mr. Dibico.

His eyes were wider than the chairman's, glaring at Horace who stood there speaking eloquently, as if watching a corpse ghost devoured and spat out by a Demon.

Saint Sis above—

He had never seen someone so shameless!

Is there anyone more greedy in Thunder City than this guy?

This was like the Demon King invoking Holy Light!

Yet Horace still didn't look at the man glaring at him intensely, only leaned on the table, causing a pressing creak.

"As long as the bell tower belongs to the castle, belongs to the Church, the tragedy of 'Eloise' and 'Matthew' will never end! We will mourn over and over again in the name that is sacred and undeniable!"

"The love between two Souls is the mandate of the Divine; only the two who truly love each other can decide when the bell rings! The sacredness of marriage does not need the stamp of a Lord, nor the nod of a Priest!"

"We must regain the power of the bell-ringer from the hands of the castle and the church, bringing the power of notarized law back to our country!"

The resounding voice echoed in the Parliament hall, followed by a long silence.

Dibico stared dumbfounded at the miser with a heavy shabby aura, as if meeting him for the first time.

This guy... is nuts?

The shock silently pervaded.

Not just Mr. Dibico was stunned, even the journalists sitting beside were amazed, involuntarily straightening their backs that were slumped from boredom.

Especially the journalist who'd written "Mother is in pain" earlier in his notebook.

Thinking it over, he couldn't help but cross out the uninspiring story, replacing it with the "heartfelt words" Mr. Horace had just said—

"The love between two Souls is the mandate of the Divine; only the two who truly love each other can decide when the bell rings!"

No special reason.

He just thought this phrase was perfect for tomorrow's headline, not even requiring a single word change, could be pasted right on.