In Leah’s memory, the registrar was a plump and pale-skinned elderly man, a far cry from the frail and tanned old man that stood in front of her. Had it not been for the fact that he still looked somewhat like the way he did back then she couldn’t even recognize him.
“So you still remember me, Your Highness? This, this is such an honor…”
The old man trembled with excitement and wanted to step forward to bow down towards her, but his current pathetic state made him pause.
Seeing this, Leah warmly stepped forward and held his hands gently. “Grandpa Registrar, these years must have been so hard for you…”
Seeing this, Marni interjected, “This isn’t a good place to speak, let’s continue this in the tent?”
He then cracked a smile and glanced around pointedly at the other refugees who were secretly peering at the carriage, as if they wanted to take advantage of him.
To this, Marni calmly unsheathed his sword and swung it promptly at the ground, silently activating the warrior skill Divine Earthspilt Blade.
As an effect of the skill, a long and wide trench was immediately gouged out of the ground surrounding the carriage!
After that, he then smashed his sword towards the ground and activated the skill Focused Slam, blasting a large round pit around him!
After doing all this, he casually sheathed his sword again.
The way he used such a terrifying move without breaking a sweat intimidated the refugees immensely, causing them to retreat back into the shadows, no longer having the courage to spy on them again.
Seeing his demonstration of power, Marni then followed Leah into the crudely set up tent.
“Grandpa Registrar, exactly what happened at Lovinia?” Leah asked in concern.
“According to His Majesty’s final wishes, I continued to spread the sparks of civilization of Tierra after the royal capital was invaded, but now even the royal capital has been destroyed by those degenerates. The Temple of Glory unleashed Judgement Bolts onto the city, destroying every building we built while the Brilliant White Church summoned white flames to burn the city for three days and three nights, everything was over…” the old man who was almost seventy years old said in anguish, then started bawling.
“If it weren’t for the fact that I needed to take care of my students, I would have sacrificed this old and decayed body to defend the capital to the death!”
Marni was expressionless after hearing the old man’s testament, but his contempt towards those other deities grew deeper.
In contrast, Leah who had lived a good half of her life in Lovinia grit her teeth in frustration and hatred as she listened. That being said, she wasn’t reckless enough to go and seek revenge on those two churches just yet, only keeping this blood debt in her heart.
“It’s not over yet!” The young girl inhaled deeply, fixing the old man with a serious stare as she said, “As long as I’m still breathing, and as long as the God of Games is looking down on me, then it’s not over!”
“T-The God of Games, you say?”
Evidently the old man didn’t continue to believe in the God of Games as Leah did, or else Xi Wei would have been able to sense the plight they had been through.
Leah turned to Marni for confirmation, the latter nodding his head wordlessly.
After getting his consent, Leah started talking about how the God of Games had been revived and had started to bless His believers, as well as the fact that they were here at the refugee camp to recruit a certain number of believers.
The registrar listened to all of this in disbelief, but he didn’t rush to rebut her and instead closed his eyes, as if he was deep in thought.
However, the time that he took to think was so long that Marni got impatient, to the point where he thought the old man fell asleep or passed away.
As Marni was about to test if the old man was still breathing, a name in white font popped out from the old man’s head, meaning that his belief had surpassed that of a shallow believer and was now a true believer!
“This power… Incredible!” The old man opened his eyes with a complex expression, his tone full of amazement and regret. “If I hadn’t given up my belief in the God of Games, and had continued to believe in Him like Your Highness did, then even if I wouldn’t have been able to prevent the tragedy that befell our capital, I would still have been able to rescue more people…”
“Grandpa Registrar…” Leah stared in awe at the name floating above the old man’s head, not knowing how to react. It took her a lot of time and energy back when she tried to lead her guards to become believers, but the old man succeeded in a few minutes without needing any guidance. How could she not be surprised?
“I’ve only regained my past beliefs, Your Highness. I can’t even hold a candle to you, who discovered the revival of the God of Games, you are the most honorable, Your Highness!” The old man seemed to become even more reverent of Leah than before.
Marni glanced at the level displayed on the princess’ head, and grumbled inwardly. Had it not been due to the fact that he died a few times and lost some EXP, perhaps this princess wouldn’t even be at a higher level than he was…
He cleared his throat and turned the focus of the topic back. “We can debate on who is the most honorable later. About the plan to recruit some refugees as new believers, what ideas do you have sir?”
It was his quest after all, so he was the most concerned about it.
“If you asked someone else this question they might not have an answer, but you came to the right person.”
The registrar who had just gotten the blessings of the system seemed much more energetic and lively, completely different from how sickly he looked a few moments ago.
He said confidently, “At this point in our journey, we have already met with a lot of problems and difficulties on the road, and the best way to see a person’s true nature is true their reactions in the face of disaster. Those refugees that followed me for money have all shown their true colors, at the same time showing me the ones that could truly be trusted. I can pick a hundred people for you, and while I can’t promise that they are all the cream of the crop, but I am completely sure that none of them are selfish and greedy!”
“That’s wonderful!” Marni couldn’t help but smile in response to the old man’s statement.
Even though according to his plan, there wouldn’t be problems with there being sly and selfish ones as he was confident he could easily get rid of them. That being said, it would always feel terrible to have backstabbers so it was a great help that the registrar could help prevent this situation from happening.
This unexpected surprise let Marni feel like his time here was not wasted.
“Then we have no time to waste. Let’s get things done before we attract the attention of the city guards,” Marni said firmly.
Leah nodded in agreement, it evidently wasn’t the time to reminisce with the registrar. She was still being chased down by Rotten Bones, so the best course of action for now was to finish their business here and leave Wickidor.