Chapter 213 – “…it’s not to blaspheme the gods, but to not let the gods continue to blaspheme mankind again.”

Rumor is a very powerful thing, it may be just a seed, but the weakness of human nature itself will water it and grow it little by little. It’s the same for some ‘theories’ and ‘opinions’. Some ‘theories’ are presupposed by people before they are heard, and the next ‘believe and spread’ are just logical things. Rumors stop with the wise, but not with the truth.

A rumor, as long as it is born, is a victory. No matter how you refute the rumor, how you explain it, and how you come up with the truth, there will always be people who will continue to believe it and continue to hold on to their opinions.

After experiencing the Internet explosion on Earth, Hill understands this very well.

The demons have never been the same in the realm of human thought, and from two years ago to now, it has taken on more and more weight, and its strength lies in its seeming perfection.

The greatness of the remarks spread by the church lies in two points. First, it contrasts those who have money to go to the demon realm and those who have no money to go to the demon realm. Previously, people who had no money would envy those who can enjoy the things of the demon realm with money, nobles or businessmen, but now, someone tells them that these people are stupidly losing their money, in fact, there is no need to spend so much money, which subtly stimulates the hatred of the rich in their hearts and makes them lose the envy they once had.

The second is to put the human world and the demon realm against each other: We humans have once defeated the demon race, how can we go and travel around the demon realm when we haven’t even finished traveling around the human world, the demon realm should not be so good.

In addition, the Pope has some understanding of the real situation of the demon realm in the past, so his move is really cruel.

Hill understands that with the gradual improvement of people’s intelligence, there will be other ideas one day. Dominance of one family does not mean that it will always be dominant, such development is a natural thing, but there must be a process, unlike now, with the Church behind the scenes. Hill has always been a small-minded person.

The last stroke fell, Hill looked at the writing on the parchment, he blew the wet ink, as if to himself: “Although pen and paper are better, but parchment and quill really work better. It’s more romantic.”

The words were idle and casual, in stark contrast to the harsh instructions on the parchment.

The Son of Heaven looks at the air and talks about killing people.

Outside the window, the clouds closed in and the moonlight disappeared.

一一

Five days later, the first wave of tourists from the Demon Realm Tour Group returned to the Human World, and they immediately became the focus of all banquets. Every time they appeared in public, someone would come forward and ask about it. Some of them also heard the remarks in the room, which made them very angry, and publicly denounced these thoughts many times, which made the whole situation a little better, after all, the parties involved have come forward. More people are waiting for the counterattack of the demons, waiting for the counterattack of His Royal Highness Grindelwald, to see how he responds to these remarks.

As a result, Hill remained silent, which surprised many people.

Three days later, “Demon Realm Magazine” came out, and it published two articles about travel experience, which were written by two tourists in the tour group. After all, he is an aristocrat, so his writing and so on are very good, and he has experienced it himself, so he seems sincere, and then matched with a few pictures of the demon realm, which makes people yearn for it after seeing it. Also followed by some brief comments from other tourists.

“It’s really beautiful!!!!”

“It feels like those fifteen days were all in a dream!”

“I really want to stay in the demon realm forever and never come back…”

“I plan to reconsider the future direction of development. If possible, I hope to find something to do in the demon realm, not only because of the beautiful scenery, but also because the whole atmosphere here is very good.”

These short sentences seem to be more emotionally stimulating than long texts.

Next, a promotional video for Demon Realm Tourism was launched on magic phone. After winning the approval of some tourists, they also appeared on camera and became part of the material.

Fantastic and charming scenery, rich food, excellent enjoyment, blue sky and blue sea, mist-shrouded town, firefly forest, exploring in the blood clan castle with ancient wind lanterns… all of these make people fascinated.

At the end of the promotional video, the demons stood in two rows on the luxurious stairs, and many people almost danced in ecstasy after seeing this scene. Super Girl, Hell’s Frontline, siren singer Sandy, Dragon Arman, Death Knight Goldnia… all are popular stars, and everyone said together: “Welcome to the Demon Realm.”

Then the camera turned, it was the Blackrock Tower in the dark, the bloody full moon hung on the spire, and then Hill’s voice appeared:

“Welcome to the Demon Realm, you will find that the scenery of the demon realm is very good, and it is not only the scenery that is good.”

He never appeared in the camera from the beginning to the end. After all, he is a demon king to the outside world, so sometimes, he still has to maintain a bit of dignity. —This is also the biggest reason why Hill made his identity into a prince at the beginning.

This promotional video is as perfect as the previous ones, and there are tourists who come out to speak out, so the voices of the folks are much quieter.

Oitin Empire. White Holy City.

When Teresa found the Pope, he was coming out of the Oitin Palace with the King of Oitin. Teresa and the king saluted each other. The King was still wearing his white soft armor this day, his hair was silver, rumor had it that he was of elven ancestry. His noble silver-white hair was tied back, his features were exquisite, his lips always had a smile as if nothing was wrong, almost no one knew what he was thinking, everyone only knew that he listened to all the words of the pope.

Compared with him, the Pope looks more majestic, with a white vestment dragging on the red carpet of the steps, with the white palace with its gorgeous tall towers behind him. When he lowered his head to look at Teresa, Teresa felt for a moment that he had been seen through, and then he lowered his eyes and said clearly: “Your Holiness the Pope, the demons have released their promotional video.”

“Looking at your expression, we don’t seem to be going well,” the Pope said.

Teresa glanced at His Majesty the King and said nothing.

King Oitin said with a gentle smile: “Then, Archbishop Shelley and Your Holiness the Pope will get down to business first, I’ll go first.” After speaking, he bowed to the two of them and turned to leave.

Teresa muttered in his heart why His Majesty the King was so obedient. He deliberately used that look to indicate that he was an outsider, but he really did admit his identity and leave. But since the king had left, Teresa continued to say: “The promotional video is as perfect as the previous films of the demons, and the reactions of those who went to the Demon Realm are the same as those who were bewitched by the demons in the past.”

The Pope frowned, he pondered for a moment, and said, “Teresa, you have been in the Demon Realm for a few months. Do you know what the Demon Realm looks like?”

“I know.” Teresa said, in fact, when the Pope used this trick, Teresa sweated for Hill, “It’s completely different from what they described,” he said.

“So many changes in such a short period of time.” The Pope was still frowning.

“Are you saying that the demons have changed the demon realm during these two years?” Teresa asked.

“If nothing else, it’s just that floating island…” The Pope repeated softly: “Where did they get so many supplies and magic crystals?”

“Maybe they’re overdrafting?” Teresa guessed.

“The Demon Mall has plundered a lot of human resources,” the Pope said.

Teresa’s heart jumped.

“The Demon Realm Shopping Malls in various places continuously earn a lot of gold coins to build the demon realm,” the Pope continued.

Teresa felt some sweat rise on his palm.

“It can only be explained by this, the demon realm has its own supplies, and the human world is added…” the Pope said, “By the way, did the demons directly respond to the rumors?”

“No,” Teresa said. “They just killed our exposed spies.”

“They didn’t hide?” asked the Pope.

“No.” Teresa said, “The people who participated were soul searched by necromancers. Many people were left with sequelae, and many people lost their lives directly.”

The Pope paused, showing a sad expression, and then crossed his chest: “The God of Light will bless them, poor children. Damn demons.”

“Damn demons.” Teresa followed, with hatred in his tone, but the Pope didn’t know who the hatred was aimed at.

“It seems that this attack has basically failed.” The Pope shook his head and walked down the steps with Teresa, “I didn’t expect that the demons actually built the demon realm, it was a misstep.”

“I lost some precious hidden lines this time.” Teresa sighed, “Your Holiness, forgive me for being presumptuous, I think we’d better act more cautiously in the future.” It’s better to be so cautious that no action is taken and let the Demon King and the others smoothly annex the continent for good… Anyway, the longer it drags on, the stronger the demon’s side will be.

“You’re right, Teresa,” said the Pope, “but those children gave their lives for their faith, they died for a good cause, so you don’t have to take it personally, and you still need to bless them.”

Teresa: “…Oh.”

Okay. as long as you are happy.

“But, despite this, some of the effects of our previous actions are indelible. They can try this tactic more in the future. For example, next time, we can…” The Pope looked at the sunset on the horizon with a compassionate expression.

Teresa’s expression changed, and he finally lowered his head.

一一

The people’s voices about the suspected tour group have basically subsided, and many people have written to the magazine, hoping that His Majesty Grindelwald can publicly express their views on this matter. There are more and more voices of this kind of petition, and it has become a mainstream voice for a while. Everyone is curious and expecting Hill to stand up.

Even Theodore ran over and asked twice.

In the end, Hill wrote this paragraph in the preface to the next issue of “Demon Realm Magazine”:

“I’ve known about this for a long time, this matter is not simple, there are other forces pushing it, and similar remarks and even rumors will probably appear frequently in the future. The reason I didn’t respond is because I didn’t care to respond, others use all kinds of means to suppress the demon race and discredit the demon realm, but we don’t need to say anything at all, directly showing the real demon realm is enough to hit them in the face. Back then, the Church talked about how brutal the Demon King was, how ugly the demon race was, how terrible the Demon Realm was, and now, you have all seen what the real us is like. So, I didn’t do anything, just implemented the previous plans step by step. I don’t think you need to pay attention to these things, let’s watch “Iron Man 2”, it will be released soon.”

There are no sharp words, and there are no hot-blooded demagogic words, just a few light words, but they are domineering and have the function of provoking people’s hearts.

…In fact, these seemingly “indifferent to the world” sentences are quite clever.

He directly brought out the rumors about the demons and the comparison of the demons today to demonstrate, and at the same time, laid a psychological foundation for the public not to believe when encountering similar theories in the future.

Hill certainly understands that since the Church has done it once, it will do it a second and third time. The Pope is not a vegetarian (triple meaning), he can appreciate the benefits of such public opinion attacks. The current behavior of the Pope, first, he has studied this aspect, he can become the Pope, and naturally, he has a set of control over people’s hearts, there is nothing accidental in this world; second is through the study of the behavior pattern of the demons, that is, learn the demons.

“Rumors stop at the wise, and I believe we are all wise people.”

In the end, Hill said so at the end of the frontispiece.

The effect of these words is a bit like “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. “You don’t believe in demons” means that you are not “wise”, because “wise people” can “distinguish right from wrong”, and under such circumstances, believing the demons is right. Hill has worked so hard to build it up for so long, but behind him stands the entire Earth, a mere Pope, a mere church, a mere thousand-year heritage… How can you compare to him?

“Everyone, ministers, city lords, famous people, officials, everyone, give them enough money to open a bargaining chip they can’t refuse.”

The sky was covered with fine snowflakes, which were so small that they melted immediately upon landing, which made the snow as soft as the cowlick drizzle that falls in spring. Hill sat in the carriage and spoke to Macmillan Warren outside.

Macmillan, who had just returned from the Fussen Empire, hesitated and said, “But Your Majesty, you may not be aware that the Church of Light is out there now, strictly investigating all kinds of things that are tied to the demons, and there are already quite a few people in Fussen who have been implicated.”

“Of course, I know about this, so all I ask you to do is send them money,” Hill said kindly, “You don’t need them to do anything, just send them money and things, and that’s it.”

Macmillan Warren used to be a trainee mage of the Fussen Empire. When he came to the Magnolia Empire to study, he was completely bewitched by the demon culture. Then Theodore made him a big businessman who traveled between the Fussen Empire and the Magnolia Empire, specializing in the sale of demon goods. Macmillan kept a low profile, so he narrowly escaped when the Church of Light conducted a thorough investigation a while ago, but some of his clients paid a heavy price for it. Now, under the promotion of the Church of Light, Macmillan has changed from a human being inclined towards the demon realm to a human who completely fell to the demon race, on the one hand, because of conscience, on the other hand, for his own survival.

Macmillan is not an idiot, he understood some of Hill’s intentions after thinking about it carefully, although the temperature is still very cold, he feels sweat oozing from his back: “But Your Majesty, some people may not be moved by gold coins.”

“Everyone has a bargaining chip, even the king.” Hill’s voice calmly uttered terrible rebellious words, “Go and investigate, offer what they can’t refuse. And I will also offer you something you can’t refuse.”

Macmillan froze for a moment: “What…”

Hill snapped his fingers, and a flame flew out from the carriage and fell quietly into the wind lamp in Macmillan’s hand, and then a voice sounded: “Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Owen, a fire elemental spirit.”

Macmillan blurted out: “Can I have my own exclusive chef in the future?!”

When he said these words, Hill was speechless for a few seconds, and after a few seconds, Hill said: “…If you want him to cook, it’s fine, but I thought that the first reaction of a qualified magician is the fire elemental spirit will take you to the realm of the great magician.”

Macmillan: “Uh.”

Macmillan was embarrassed: “Sorry, Your Majesty, I’m a little too…”

“…Forget it, it’s a double happiness.” Hill shook his head helplessly, and then he lowered the curtain, “Okay, that’s it. You have shown your worth, but I hope you go further and better, and show more of your worth.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Macmillan bowed to the carriage, and the flame in the wind lamp in his hand no longer flickered.

一一read at awanderingpotato.com

Mulheim.

The bell of the Church of Light rang for the last time, loud and powerful, shaking the air, and gradually spread throughout the entire Winter City.

Dark Pope Monroe and Ice Emperor Claude stood side by side in front of the Church of Light, and Ice Emperor Claude hesitated a little: “Do you really want to do this?”

“You don’t have to,” Monroe said.

Ice Emperor Claude thought in his heart that the Dark Pope was a good talker, and then he heard Monroe continue: “But I may secretly laugh at you for backing out.”

Claude: “…” This man is the same type as his wife!

“But rest assured, Your Majesty, I won’t say it out loud,” Monroe continued.

The expression on Ice Emperor Claude’s face became even more depressed: “Forget it…” He waved his hand and his expression became serious: “Set fire.”

The soldier next to him got the order, and a team took the torches and walked in. Various combustibles had been poured into it in advance. As the torch was thrown into the church, Claude closed his eyes.

The flames spread rapidly, wood beeped, pillars overturned, and carved glass was smoked black.

“Am I blaspheming?” Claude asked softly.

“If one of us is blaspheming, it’s me not you,” Monroe said.

Claude didn’t know whether Monroe was talking nonsense, so he sighed slightly. His heart was a little heavy. He thought that maybe he would be relieved after today. After today, there will be no Church of Light pressing on his head, but now he still feels heavy, after all, the Church of Light has been on Mülheim for too many years, so his mentality can’t be reversed for a while.

Monroe didn’t look at the church anymore, but looked at the sky in the distance. His voice was still the same tone he usually used to chat. He was different from Hill. Hill’s speech was always casual, but his tone was serious and solemn. “Accurately speaking, it’s not to blaspheme the gods, but to not let the gods continue to blaspheme mankind again.”

Claude froze for a moment and looked at Monroe, but Monroe tidied up his instrument: “I’ll go back first, Your Majesty.”

“Well.” Claude said involuntarily after nodding: “Your Holiness, you used to be…”

“Since the investigation has been completed, there is no need for special confirmation,” Monroe interrupted him.

Claude was silent for a few seconds, then bowed: “You have worked hard.”

“At least I’m fine now.” Monroe seemed to laugh a little, then said, “At least I’m watching it all fall down now.”

The setting sun is like blood, the clouds in the sky are messy and scattered, and they are all dyed into different shades of red by the setting sun, and there are golden splashes of ink on it, obliquely wrapped in bright red, it is like a beautiful dream that has been shattered by the wind and spread on the sky. The birds in the distance are like black raindrops, falling into the sky far away. Everything is amazingly beautiful.

When Monroe turned to leave, the Church of Light behind him collapsed.

Tomorrow, “Iron Man 2” will be released to the public.

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