Chapter 457: Speculations

Ren and the others searched the Temple of the Goddess of Light and were surprised over and over again by how rich this Temple was. The more they saw the less it looked like a Temple. Still, even with everything, the most eye-catching things were the abnormal amount of artwork in regards to the Goddess they were worshipping. Every single hallway, every room, basically every corner of this place had some sort of artwork of the Goddess of Light.

There were also a lot of rooms that seem to be for sermons, and there were even rooms labeled as rooms for the homeless. Still, based on the way this Temple works, the homeless people would be humans, and the non-humans would most likely never get to see those rooms.

The more Ren and the others saw the more they learned that aside from this Temple treating every other race as dirt, it was pretty amazing. They had technology more advanced than any other race, they had the riches to support an entire kingdom, they had the ability and the heart to help others well as long as they were humans.

'Really if they're able to change their ways and treat everyone equally, this place would really become a paradise... I wonder what the Goddess of Light is thinking doing this. From the information given to me by my past incarnations regarding world deities, there are only a few ways to become one. You could inherit the title of a deity if a former deity passed it to you. The second option would be if a mortal kills a deity. The last option would be if you can somehow accumulate enough believers while being a mortal, after that you would ascend into the realm of a world deity.'

Ren looked at the various paintings of the Goddess of Light and frowned. 'The person in these paintings doesn't look like the type that could defeat a deity as a mortal. So she either was given the title or she ascended with her own merit by accumulating believers. Well, with the way she looks I guess I can imagine her tricking people into becoming her believers. Also since I'm going against her she should become an opponent at some point... World deities have the power of law given to them by the world, and the strength they can muster depends on how much faith is given to them. I wonder what kind of law did she received that she was named the Goddess of Light? Does she control all forms of light, or does the Light in this a different kind of Light? Also, how strong would she be as she does have a tone of believers?'

As Ren continued to speculate about the Goddess of Light, he suddenly felt someone's presence. It was not only him but everyone else who noticed it too, well except for Mir who was unable to sense the presence of the newcomer. Kor started to sniff around while trying to get hold of the person's scent.

"How about you show yourself already? If you keep on hiding like this, one of us might accidentally kill you." It was at that moment after Ren spoke those words that Mir noticed that everyone except for him and Ren were on guard. He felt embarrassed at the fact that he was the only oblivious one that wasn't able to sense the newcomer's presence.

"I apologize for not greeting all of you dear guests upfront. Seeing as the guests were all entranced by the paintings, I hid my presence as I did not wish to disturb you." A rather pretty-looking man wearing a pure black outfit with glasses on appeared before the group. Ren licked his lips as the man appeared out of nowhere.

'He was able to get this close without me noticing immediately. This guy's level of concealment is at the same level as the Shadow Clan of old. How interesting, how very interesting. He's also able to conceal his mana fluctuation to a degree that even I can't quite grasp how large his mana supply is. This guy is getting even more interesting by the second.'

The man unaware that Ren's battle hunger was rising bowed in front of all of them. Kor and Mir were rather surprised. This was the first time they had met a person from the Temple of the Goddess of Light that looked at them with no disgust evident in his expression.

"Oh, how curious do you not find demi-humans hateful?" Ren asked the question every one of them were thinking at the moment.

"I am not one to discriminate, and for as long as you are designated as guests, then I will try to accommodate you to the best of my abilities."

"Hmm, is that so? So who are you, are you perhaps not part of the Temple of the Goddess of Light?"

"That is correct, I am Luke Nestor, I'm just a hired hand transferred from a different temple."

"Oh, a Temple that is an ally to the Temple of the Goddess of Light, is there really such a temple?"

"All temples that worship the different deities are neither allies nor enemies."

"Is that so... So tell me what temple do you hail from?"

"I apologize dear guest, but that is one of the few pieces of information that I cannot tell you."

"I see... How about if I ask you for a battle will you comply?"

"If it is a fight you seek, then I would usually comply, but unfortunately dear guest, right now I have other tasks I need to fulfill. One of those tasks is to inform you that the head priest of this Temple wishes to speak with you."

"Did you hear that Kor? They're finally willing to talk." Kor didn't even hear what Ren said as the moment he heard that the head priest wishes to talk to them made him feel truly excited and at the same time anxious. This was the chance that he was working so hard for, and now that it was finally in front of him, he was being overwhelmed by his emotions.

'What am I feeling scared for? Isn't this the chance I wanted?... Still, what if everything goes wrong because I'm the one who is doing the negotiations. Will I be the reason as to why we had a chance for peace but weren't able to get it... What if I say something that would offend the head priest and things go south from there? Should I really be the one to talk?'

As Kor was slowly being drowned by his own anxieties, Ren's voice suddenly sounded by his ear. "Why are you hesitating? What happened to all that resolve you showed me before, surely that wasn't all a lie? Was this all your supposed ideals amount to?"

When Kor heard Ren's voice he snapped out of his trance and looked at the smiling Ren, as he too started to smile and shake his head. That's right this wasn't like him to be so hesitant.

"Of course, this isn't all that's there to my ideals. I will show you that I will realize my ideals with my own two hands."