Chapter 43
At first, Roland found it expensive, but then he realized he was wrong.
Two gold coins for a life was a fair deal. He thought it was expensive mainly because of the contrast.
Falken in Red Mountain Town was also a reverend of the Church of Life, but he never charged for treatment.
Falken’s service was free, and this reverend charged for two gold coins. It seemed that this reverend was a fraud.
But actually, what this reverend offered was the market price. Few people lived in Red Mountain Town, but Delpon had a million residents. If his treatment was free, this middle-aged reverend would die of overwork.
On the ritual table, the girl’s wound was healing. She looked healthier and healthier. Even her breathing could be heard.
Relieved, Roland took out two gold coins that he picked up only recently and gave them to the reverend.
Seeing that, the soldier said to Betta and Roland in admiration, “Your Excellencies, I’ll ask Old Vincent to take his daughter away.”
After the soldier left, Roland and Betta sat down on the stone chair and breathed hard. They were exhausted after running for such a long time and did not want to stand up again.
The middle-aged reverend had brown short hair and no beard. Tossing the two gold coins between his hands, he observed Roland and Betta with great interest and finally said with a weird smile, “Two gold coins to save an untouchable woman who is not beautiful at all. You are truly generous.”
Betta frowned. He was not happy to hear that.
Differently from Betta, Roland had worked for years and had more social experience. He knew that the middle-aged reverend’s sarcasm was actually a compliment.
He smiled at the reverend but did not talk.
Betta, however, said angrily, “You could’ve saved more people. Why do you charge so much? Have you abandoned the poor people who are dying? Does the Church of Life prefer money over life?”
The reverend looked at Betta with a smile. “Are you angry with me, young lord?”
Betta was about to say more, but Roland stopped him. “Stop talking. You may have misunderstood him.”
Betta believed in Roland, so he stopped talking, but he was obviously not convinced.
The middle-aged man looked at Betta and smiled. “I wouldn’t say anything if you only questioned me, but since you’re questioning my faith, I have to explain myself!’
Betta was still as pissed as before.
“I can tell that you know magic, too. So, you should know that there is a cooldown before we can cast a spell again. For me, I can cast six Advanced Treatment spells, like the one that I used just now, every three hours. That is to say, I can only use the spell eight times a day even if I don’t sleep at all.”
Frowning, Betta said, “But you can at least save eight people, instead of refusing ordinary people with a high charge.”
Having lived in Red Mountain Town for more than a month, Betta had learned that most of the ordinary families were not able to save a gold coin in a whole year.
It meant that two gold coins was indeed an insurmountable price for them. If they were truly in need, it was impossible for them to pay the money.
“That’s why you are a young lord,” said the middle-aged reverend with a weird smile. “You may be kindhearted, but you are too naive.”
Betta frowned even harder, wondering how the reverend would defend himself.
Roland, on the other hand, had vaguely guessed what he would say.
“It’s true that the civilians will thank me if I rescue them for free, but more people will be indirectly killed,” said the reverend casually.
Betta scorned him. “How’s that possible?”
“The Church of Life brings food for the poor every day. It’s safe to say that many of them will die without our aid.” The reverend said with a patronizing attitude, “Where’s the money for the food from? The nobles like you.”
Betta was of a mind to argue that he was not a noble, but remembering his identity as a Divine Noble, he did not refute that but said, “But it doesn’t mean you can’t treat civilians for a lower price.”
Roland sighed, knowing that Betta did not follow the reverend.
The middle-aged reverend laughed. “If I use all my spells on civilians, where can we earn money? Besides, nobles appreciate dignity and distance. If I treat civilians for free, they will never visit my temple, because they will think that civilians are nobler than them. Without the nobles and their money, we can’t even feed ourselves. How can we help the poor people?”
Betta opened his mouth, only to come up with nothing.
He couldn’t find any rebuttal.
The reverend looked at Betta with a faint smile. “I don’t ask for your understanding, but don’t mock my faith. The benevolent Life Goddess cares for everyone. Take a rest here. It’s not usual to see kindhearted nobles.”
The reverend left after saying that.
Betta was deep in thought on his chair. He was only eighteen and had been a student. Naturally, he was never faced with such dilemmas.
Roland did not say anything. He was taking a rest.
It was better for Betta to be taught a lesson by NPCs in a game rather than people in reality.
At this moment, a bunch of people appeared at the temple, and several men in ragged clothes rushed over. They were delighted to see the girl on the ritual table.
Then, time and space were frozen. Time was up for today’s game.
As usual, Roland took a shower after he crawled out of the virtual cabin. He opened the forum and uploaded the video he recorded earlier, with the title “Need forensic scientists or police officers to search for Clues.” The video was the site of the corpses in the cave.
Of course, the private parts of the victims had been censored.
He had saved the girl and finished the quest, but Roland felt that it was not over yet!
He was very interested in discovering the criminal behind it.
In less than ten minutes, the post was pinned, and the number of replies was soaring.
Every reply was filled with rage.