The Devil's Tongue
"W-What is the meaning of this?! No matter how absolute the Prince's orders are...!"
The unrest in Canaan Castle is rising.
The First Prince's Infamy is increasing.
"Haha! The First Prince ordered it, so blame him!"
Tae-hyun ignored the protests and gestured for them to hurry up and search. Cain grabbed the NPC with a deeply conflicted expression.
Is it really okay to live like this?
You have acquired an item.
You have acquired an item.
◈ Durability: 1/1
◈ Description: An ordinary-looking statue. It appears to depict one of the many gods of the continent.
As the Pope of the Archisus Church, you can recognize statues of other religions.
◈ Durability: 1/1
◈ Description: A statue secretly carved by the Sadiq Church to expand its influence. Ordinary people will not be able to recognize that this statue depicts Sadiq.
Tae-hyun stared at the statue in surprise. Yong-yong had sensed Sadiq's energy, but he hadn't expected this.
"Where did you get this?"
"T-That is..."
The NPC hesitated. It was obvious Tae-hyun didn't have good intentions, and they were starting to get worried.
Noticing this, Tae-hyun spoke up.
"If you don't talk, I'll start with you, then your family, your friends, your family's friends, your friends' families, your family's friends' families... Ah, forget it, too much work. I'll just round up everyone I can find and drag them to the First Prince."
"Hieeeek!"
You receive an additional bonus from your Intermediate Speech skill.
Your Threaten skill has increased.
The level of your Beginner Threaten skill has risen. Beginner Threaten has evolved into Intermediate Threaten.
With Intermediate Speech, and both related skills, Threaten and Deception, at Intermediate rank, Tae-hyun had achieved a triple crown that even classes heavily focused on speech could rarely attain!
At this point, it was becoming difficult to distinguish whether he was a human or a demon.
"I-I'll talk! Please, just spare my life!"
"See? Isn't it so much easier for both of us when you cooperate?"
"Sob... They were good people who treated us well..."
"...?"
Tae-hyun tilted his head. Was the Sadiq Church really that kind of organization?
"What did they do?"
"They paid the First Prince's high taxes for us, treated the injured, and even covered the gold we had to pay for the construction of that damn Archisus Temple..."
"...Hey, that's my temple."
"Heek!"
"Forget it. Let's go. Where are they?"
The Sadiq Church's influence within Canaan Castle is rising.
"We don't have much gold left."
"How much?"
"Only 420 gold."
"If we request support from headquarters..."
"The Order is broke too, so they won't help. Besides, the amount of gold Lord Antonio is spending right now is astronomical."
The Sadiq priests and paladins grumbled, looking at their deflated coin purses. Even though the church was in a dire situation, Antonio, the uncle of King Damiano II of the Attali Kingdom, was still living in extreme luxury.
"Is there really a need to treat that man so well? We couldn't even capture the King of Attali. Isn't he worthless now?"
"Shh. Keep your voice down."
Burford listened to the Sadiq Church NPCs' conversation with great interest.
The Sadiq Church had recruited Antonio and his faction to assassinate King Damiano II and place Antonio on the throne. However, the existing Sadiq Church members did not look kindly upon Antonio's faction.
The rift between the two groups was widening.
Burford had a strong feeling that a power struggle was about to erupt within the Sadiq Church! One had to be quick-witted in these matters to snag the best quests.
Hehe. I haven't completely lost my touch yet. To think I noticed this...
CRASH!
"?!"
The door of the building they were hiding in was blown off, and someone suddenly appeared.
Of course, it was Tae-hyun.
"You wicked Sadiq Church bastards! To harbor evil intentions and commit the heinous act of distributing gold!"
"...?? Is that an evil act?"
"It was distributed with evil intent, so of course it's evil! On the other hand, I extort gold with a pure heart, so look how righteous I am!"
"K-Kim Tae-hyun!"
Hearing the nonsense spewing from Tae-hyun and Cain, the Sadiq Church members shrieked.
To them, Tae-hyun was a figure who proudly held a permanent spot in the "Top 10 Public Enemies of the Church"!
Tae-hyun stepped inside. The Sadiq Church members, disguised in ordinary clothes, glared at him tensely.
"Oh, wait. You're..."
Tae-hyun frowned as he recognized Burford.
Seeing that, Burford felt a brief surge of pride, completely forgetting the danger of the situation. Even the great Kim Tae-hyun recognized him! It felt like all the time he had spent doing trivial, scrap-like quests given by Antonio in some corner of the continent was finally being rewarded.
"You're the guy who stole my ring."
"..."
"What was your name again?"
"Burford! You bastard! It's Burford!"
"Hmm. Naming your character 'Burford You Bastard'. You must really hate Burford."
"...No, it's just Burford—cough!"
While Burford was shouting in anger, Tae-hyun swiftly leaped forward and drove his sword into Burford's chest.
A cheap, underhanded attack completely devoid of any sportsmanship or honor!
However, the strike was blocked by the others.
CLANG!
"Kim Tae-hyun! I will avenge our past defeat!"
"Kim Tae-hyun! Prepare to pay for my comrades' lives!"
The eyes of the Sadiq paladins blazed with fury. It was clear how deep their grudge ran.
Tae-hyun, who had hoped for an easy kill, smacked his lips as his sword was deflected.
"Tsk. Why are you guys protecting a guy like him?"
"You cowardly bastard!"
"But you're not running away? Are you actually confident you can beat me?"
"Kim Tae-hyun, aren't you being a bit too arrogant? We might have been defeated and driven out, but we are still the Sadiq Church!"
With the paladins standing in front of him, Burford shouted noisily from the back.
"Did you think we retreated from the Valley because we couldn't handle you players? If it weren't for the Kingdom's army and the other churches' forces, you guys would have been obliterated!"
"Well, that's true."
The core members of the Sadiq Church had fled during the battle in the Valley of Despair and Sorrow. That wasn't because they feared the players' strength, but because they feared the royal army and the allied churches backing them.
The Sadiq Church certainly possessed enough power to deal with a single ranker.
"You walked right into our trap today! Your mistake was thinking the paladins here are just ordinary paladins! Do you think ordinary paladins would have come when the Flame of Sadiq appeared?"
"Huh? What Flame of Sadiq?"
"The Flame of Sadiq that appeared in the Auston Kingdom! Didn't you know? That is undoubtedly a revelation bestowed upon the Church by Sadiq himself! More Sadiq-related quests will definitely appear in the Auston Kingdom! The Sadiq boom is coming!"
"...I'm the one who set that fire, though."
"...What? What did you say?"
"Haha. Well, it's none of your business anyway. Thanks for the info."
Tae-hyun raised his hand. Burford tensed, expecting some kind of magic to fly from Tae-hyun's hand.
However, Tae-hyun merely pointed at Burford.
"It's them. Get them!"
Rumble!
At that moment, a swarm of soldiers rushed out from behind Tae-hyun!
"!!!!"
"Did you think I came alone? Capture every single one of them."
"Yes, Count Kim Tae-hyun!"
The First Prince's soldiers were well-trained and heavily armed.
Burford ran to the window and looked outside.
Swarm!
They were completely surrounded! It was impossible to tell just how many soldiers he had brought.
"C-Crazy... You brought an entire army?!"
"Well, I told the First Prince that you guys looted the royal treasury, so he sent an army on his own. He seemed pretty angry."
The absolute pinnacle of speech skills!
He cleared a quest for the nobles, erased the traces of his own crimes in the process, and took down the Sadiq Church all at once!
"What treasury?! We never looted anything?!"
"You probably did. Think carefully."
"We didn't, you bastard!"
"Oh dear. It seems there's been a misunderstanding. Why don't you sort it out with the soldiers?"
"C-Curse you!"
As the soldiers flooded in like a tidal wave, the Sadiq paladins realized the situation had gone terribly wrong.
"Retreat! Fall back!"
Mist of Sadiq's Power
As one of the Sadiq priests cast the spell, a thick smoke spread throughout the narrow building.
Intermediate Dispel Magic
Intermediate Dispel Magic
The mages in the First Prince's army tried to dispel it, but it didn't dissipate immediately. The Sadiq priest was indeed skilled enough to justify Burford's boasting.
"Ugh! I can't see a thing!"
"You idiot! Why are you attacking me?!"
As the soldiers fell into confusion, Tae-hyun issued commands from the rear.
You receive a command bonus from your Intermediate Tactics skill.
The soldiers recover from their confused state due to the skill's effect.
The soldiers' morale rises due to the skill's effect.
On top of that, Tae-hyun used one more skill.
"If you hesitate and let them escape, I will tell the First Prince that it was your fault!"
Harsh Whipping
With the activation of the skill, the soldiers' HP and MP were temporarily reduced, but their other stats surged.
Spurred by Tae-hyun's threat and the skill's buff, the hesitating soldiers charged!
CRASH! BANG! BOOM!
"They escaped through the floor!"
"Chase them! Capture as many as you can!"
The Sadiq Church seemed to have prepared an escape route beneath the building's floor. As expected of an experienced organization, they were highly meticulous.
Should I build an escape route like that in my temple too? It seems pretty useful.
Burford managed to escape, but several Sadiq paladins and priests were captured. Naturally, they were dragged before the First Prince.
"Ugh! Just kill us!"
"Long live Sadiq!"
No matter what they babbled, the First Prince, his face flushed red with rage, roared:
"You bastards! Are you going to play dumb?! Return the gold you stole from my treasury this instant!"
"???"
The Sadiq paladins and priests looked at each other. What on earth was he talking about?
"We know nothing of such a thing!"
"Even when I show mercy, you dare defy me! Torture them until they reveal where they hid the gold!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"We don't know! I said we don't know! Argh! You bastard, First Prince! Sadiq is watching you!"
"Sadiq or whatever, how dare a believer of a god commit theft! You aren't even fit to speak of your god!"
Tae-hyun felt a slight pang of guilt at the First Prince's words.
"Count Kim Tae-hyun, thank you truly."
Behind the First Prince, who was practically foaming at the mouth with rage over his lost gold, the nobles of the First Prince's faction offered their hands to Tae-hyun in deep gratitude.
Expose the Sadiq Church
📍 Status: Successfully Completed
🎁 Reward: The nobles of the First Prince's faction are deeply grateful to you. You have acquired gold.
"Haha, you really didn't have to..."
Tae-hyun stuffed the pouch of gold into his breast pocket with lightning speed.
Fortunately, the Orc army hadn't marched toward the Valley of Despair and Sorrow, but he still needed a massive amount of gold.
It's a shame I couldn't scrape more gold out of the First or Second Prince's treasuries. Is there really no way?
Unaware of the schemes brewing in Tae-hyun's mind, the First Prince continued to scream at the Sadiq paladins.
"I told you to return my gold!"
"Ugh! We don't know!"
"Stubborn bastards! Let's see who breaks first!"
"Aaaaaargh!"
No matter how much he tormented them, the location of the nonexistent gold would never be revealed.
Tae-hyun slowly took a few steps back, quietly distancing himself from the First Prince.