Chapter 40 40 – A Special Guest

Father Jude sat on the ground in my base, constantly looking around. Meanwhile, I'm cooking water using a bonfire.

"Quite a cozy place, lord Vorn." The former religious leader looked at the workers digging the cave walls by hand, then turned to Garthur, who was snoring.

His face still showed discomfort. He was in the same room as the monstrous demons that should only exist in legends. His fear is normal.

"Two days of sleepless horse rides are extreme." I smiled, putting the dried tea leaves into a clay kettle. "You better rest, Father Jude. You must be exhausted."

I found this old man almost falling off his horse from sleeping at the cave entrance. He had only woken up after a few hours of being here.

"Don't call me father again, please. Just Jude." The old man rubbed his tired face, decorated with dark bags under his eyes. "I think I've had enough sleep. I have an important message to deliver, Lord Vorn."

"You can reach Charlia, who works at the mayor's house, you know?" I raised an eyebrow. "She's visited you before to introduce herself, right? You should have just left a message for her."

The old man grimaced, watching me pour boiling water into the teapot. Maybe it was because I held the scorching pot with my bare hands.

"I've come to her, lord Vorn. She showed m iae this place."

Looks like I need to scold the succubus and give clearer orders. Well, obstacles like these are inevitable in leading individuals. What I need to do is learn from such things.

"So, what..." My question was cut off by Emily, who suddenly came out of a room.

"Why is there a member of the prophet Lyra cult here?" The undead supreme, now her head was fully bandaged except for the eyes, asked in a fierce tone.

Her somewhat gruesome appearance had made Jude flinch.

"I haven't finished taking care of you, lady Emily." Ayre appeared behind the general.

Jude lifted the winged circle pendant on the necklace he was wearing. With the corner of his mouth down, he looked at that thing. "Ah, out of habit, I keep wearing it."

"Relax, Emily." I poured tea from the teapot into two mugs. "Jude is already a part of us."

"We can't trust people of that faith!" Emily clenched her fists. "They hunted my former master for studying what they called black magic five hundred years ago."

"Five hundred years ago?" Jude's chin dropped. "Are you a friend of Zhoal, the world's first necromancer?"

"Ooh, it turns out that the religious activists of prophet Lyra today still remember that." Emily folded her arms across her chest. "Zhoal is my late master. Do you know how miserable it is for us to constantly run from the faithful followers of your religion? What keeps me from slaughtering them is my master's request!"

"All of that is irrelevant to Jude," I responded with a firm tone. "He is now my guest, so please treat him well, Emily."

"At the very least, I will keep an eye on him, my lord." Emily's gaze was fixed on Jude, who could only look down.

I shook my head, slightly annoyed at the behavior of one of my generals.

"Forgive my comrade, Jude." I stirred the tea that had been mixed with honey. "So, what do you want to tell me?"

Jude was silent and only spoke when I placed one of the mugs in front of him. "Can you do that miracle again, Lord?"

I studied the old man's face. It seemed he had to suppress his great fear to ask me that question.

"Depends." I sipped my tea. "A miracle like that can't be done as I please, Jude. Who had that request?"

The former religious leader gulped. "I don't want to talk at length. In essence, there was a man whose wife died. Because he loves his wife so much, now he is very depressed."

"Sorry, but every human will feel lost. If I do the miracle again for something like that, many people will ask me for the same request."

Jude closed his eyes. "Please, my lord. He had almost committed suicide several times, but his loved ones always stopped him. It was only a matter of time before he managed to kill himself. I'm just asking you to bring the wife over to calm the man down."

While this old man still had his eyes closed, I put my finger to my lips while glancing at Emily. The ex-keeper must have been surprised by this chat and probably thought I could do necromancy.

"Things like this had come to my temple many times before you even came." The former religious leader massaged his forehead. "I'm tired of just asking them to pray and give words of reassurance. Those shattered souls need real action like you did to me."

I looked up, staring at the cave ceiling, which was still stained with traces of blood from Emily's face. Honestly, I was expecting requests like this to come.

Of course, I can do those 'miracles.'

However, if the people asking for it become so many, I need quite a lot of resources. It seems I must set limits on who will get it.

"I need time, Jude." I only have one mare, Szur. To make another mare, I still need the general here. "As I said earlier, this is not something that can be done carelessly."

The former religious leader breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, lord. I really appreciate it. Finally, that man can get closure like me."

"But remember, I can't immediately accept many requests like this at once." I finished my tea in a few gulps. "You don't know, and you won't understand the length I did to be able to perform this miracle."

Moreover, I still have to manage my darkness points. Yes, its growth is decent, but that doesn't mean I can use it at will.

Jude pressed his hands to the ground, bowing. "I understand, Lord Vorn. I would not carelessly bring something like this to you."

I glanced at Emily again. Even though her expression wasn't visible because her face was covered in bandages, I knew she had a lot of questions.