CH-002

Leslie.

The male lead of the revenge novel “The Throne of Divine Remains.”

Even though he is currently a thin and weak child suffering from neglect and abuse, in the future, he will ascend to the supreme throne of the continent’s empire, becoming the first person to place royal power above divine power.

Some call him a tyrant who killed his father and brothers.

Others say he is an insidious and sinister demon.

Still others believe he is a legendary monarch who laid the foundation for the empire’s glory with bl00d, iron, and wisdom.

Shu Li remembered that before he reincarnated, he had just finished listening to the ending of this novel.

It was through a recommendation on a free audiobook website.

When he couldn’t sleep at night, he would put on some sound to help him drift off, so he wasn’t particularly picky about the content he chose.

However, the story of this male lead’s revenge was written with remarkable skill, and the main plot was very distinct, leaving a deep impression. Therefore, when listening to this book, Shu Li would specifically and earnestly watch several free advertisements before falling asleep to earn 20 minutes of free listening time.

Shu Li subconsciously looked toward that young boy, wanting to confirm once more whether he was indeed the male lead, Leslie.

The children over there had their footsteps halted by Leslie’s cold and sharp aura, and they couldn’t spare the attention to notice if anyone else was around.

Sometimes, people say that children do not know whether what they are doing is an act of malice or just play.

They say that children themselves might not believe they are doing something bad.

However, in most cases, these children are perfectly aware.

Because they never dare to do such things in front of adults. As long as an adult approaches or is present, they either quickly run away or change their faces. That proves they are aware that adults will not allow them to continue doing what they want to do.

If they truly felt that what they were doing was a good deed, why would they be afraid of being seen by adults?

In other words, children know very well that they are doing bad things.

The saying that “children are still young and do not understand the consequences of their behavior” is actually just a rhetoric used by beneficiaries or bystanders to avoid responsibility.

Shu Li’s brow furrowed slightly.

The Elder Yager beside him, seeing this, thought Shu Li was going to step forward and hurriedly leaned in to whisper a reminder in his ear: “The child who is speaking is the young master of the Duke’s family in this territory. No one would dare to truly hurt him, you don’t need to worry.”

Shu Li subconsciously evaluated the logic of this sentence in his heart.

Even if Leslie is the son of the lord, the scene before his eyes is clearly a situation where he is being bullied. Does this really count as “no one dares to touch him”?

As long as no bl00d is drawn, it doesn’t count as bullying?

I see even children dare to bully him…

Shu Li retorted silently in his mind.

Elder Yager carefully observed Shu Li’s expression and continued cautiously: “It’s best for the parish not to have any involvement with the Duke’s family. It’s better if you don’t easily step forward.”

Immediately, the old man quickly added in a low voice, “There are many matters involved in this. You’ve only just arrived; I will explain it to you later.”

“…”

Shu Li just listened intently without turning his head, but those grey-blue Sunset Mist eyes tilted slightly toward Elder Yager, glancing over Leslie’s upright little figure.

After his voice fell, Shu Li said calmly: “He looks like he can solve it himself, there’s no need for us to meddle.”

In fact, this was indeed the case.

Seeing those children stunned by a few words, a cold exhaustion and annoyance surfaced in Leslie’s pupils. After a few seconds of confrontation, he did not stay any longer and turned to leave.

One could tell this child had many thoughts and opinions of his own.

Seeing him leave on his own, the children behind him immediately shouted and yelled, “Stop right there!” “If you have the guts, don’t leave!” However, no one truly dared to step forward to intercept him.

Only after the figure had disappeared from their sight did the several children notice that Shu Li and his group had been watching them for a long time. They looked at each other, appearing afraid of being held accountable, and quickly ran back the way they came—

This scene was like a farce without a beginning or an end.

Seeing that Yager’s family was still watching his expression, Shu Li said softly: “Let’s go.”

The small restaurant they went to was not too far from the church.

It was a three or four-minute walk at most, though the road was winding and made it seem somewhat distant.

The tables were divided into two.

Shu Li and Elder Yager sat at the same table.

On the other long table were Yager’s family—his wife, son and daughter-in-law, daughter, and a pair of twins.

The table was covered with food: a large piece of lamb leg just taken off the fire, roasted to a crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, sat in the center of the table, surrounded by roasted potatoes and parsnips soaked in meat juice; a whole roasted chicken coated in herbs and salt and smelling fragrant, strings of rustic-style handmade sausages, as well as rye bread, cheese, stewed beans, and pickled cucumbers.

The elders each had a glass of malt beer by their side.

The children had freshly squeezed apple juice.

The apple juice had not been filtered, so one could see flocculent apple pulp sediment at the bottom of the cups.

After finishing the prayer with the adults, the twins couldn’t wait and pressed their mouths against the rims of the cups, happily drinking the apple juice.

Seeing this, Elder Yager was anxious to stop them, as their Priest, Shu Li, had not yet started eating.

However, Shu Li didn’t seem to notice this and simply told everyone to help themselves.

Such a lenient Priest was naturally a good thing for Yager’s family.

Elder Yager felt slightly more at ease.

However, for the Savoy Parish, being easy to get along with might not necessarily be a welcome thing.

Elder Yager was so worried he had no appetite, and was now seriously wording things to protect Shu Li’s young mind, “Father Alist, since you came over, I have been looking for an opportunity to explain the situation here clearly to you, fearing that you might find it unacceptable, feel pressured, or even have your confidence shattered.”

After all, the work of a parish priest is for life.

Unless there is a transfer order from the Archbishop of the Metropolitan, he will be trapped here for the rest of his life.

“Go on,” Shu Li spoke calmly.

“Our parish basically has no believers.”

The Northlands are far from the center of church control.

Furthermore, the Duke of the territory does not like divine power interfering with his right to rule, so the church clergy in this territory have been more or less suppressed.

The so-called church influence exists in name only; the church clergy in the Northlands only perform basic religious activities such as teaching and preaching, and have no right to interfere in political or economic affairs.

The Savoy Parish belongs to the north of the Northlands, the furthest from the core church group. It was precisely because the church’s influence was so weak that they only noticed there was a barren parish here twenty years later.

When Shu Li came, he had already done basic research and had a rough idea, so his heart was mostly filled with gratitude for Yager’s family’s persistence, “You’ve worked hard.”

Elder Yager hurriedly said humbly, “This was our duty to begin to with. What’s more, the harvest from the church farmland has been supporting our entire family. We have always been deeply grateful to the church.”

Shu Li didn’t like this back-and-forth modesty, nor did he want the topic to just drop. After responding to Yager’s gratitude, he said: “By the way, are there any special matters regarding the Duke that need attention?”

In fact, when Shu Li went to the small restaurant, he had already begun to recall the plot of the novel.

This book told the story of a boy’s rise.

The story was divided into two parts:

The first part—the young Leslie fakes his identity and enrolls in the Empire’s First Military Academy as a commoner, attempting to find out the truth about his mother’s death. At the same time, he gains support from various forces through “tactical genius” and “psychological games,” successfully instigating internal strife among the nobility, and subsequently discovering the corruption of divine power in this school story.

The second part—after Leslie graduates, he is sent by the nobles to the front lines of the battlefield to suffer, but he didn’t expect that he would not only rise quickly through military merit but also secretly form his own mercenary group and intelligence network. His strength approached that of the church’s Paladin Order, he toppled the divine statues, and re-established a new order himself.

The story did not write about Leslie’s childhood in great detail.

Only when he recalled his childhood past was it once mentioned that it was a dark childhood—he was judged as a “Demon Reincarnation” by the parish priest when he was young. This news not only shook the entire Northlands but also alarmed the Metropolitan, even drawing the attention of the Pope. Thus, the Duke of the Northlands did not hesitate to completely imprison him, locking him deep in a dungeon like a disaster and scourge, leaving him to suffer in solitude, humiliation, and darkness.

This incident became the root of Leslie’s hatred for the church and all clergy.

Upon finally reaching the top, he even deliberately returned to his homeland. Learning that the priest who had called him a demon years ago had contracted a malignant disease and passed away many years prior, he ordered people to dig up the priest’s bones, crush them into powder, and scatter them in the manure pit of the sheepfold.

Just by recalling the story plot, Shu Li felt his body turning hot and cold.

Because according to that calculation, it was very obvious that Shu Li had taken the quest card for “proclaiming the male lead is a demon.”

And this matter was actually very likely a misunderstanding.

The reason the priest in the story believed the male lead was a demon was likely due to the “testimony” among the children; perhaps adults had also seen the male lead touching a dead cat and believed he was likely a killer as well.

Everyone was afraid to accuse him because Leslie was the son of the Duke.

However, if there were a declaration from a clergyman, the common people would have a reasonable excuse to denounce the “demon” they believed should be expelled.

This was logical within the novel.

However, the priest had now been replaced by “Shu Li.”

In fact, when Shu Li had contact with him on the first day, he knew he was not the murderer.

At that time, he said the cat’s bl00d was warm.

That bl00d was the bl00d after the cat had been disemboweled, directly exposed to the air. This meant the rate of temperature drop would be faster than the theoretical original. At the same time, it was not yet near summer and the temperature was still relatively low, allowing one to infer that the time of death for the cat was within 30 minutes to 1 hour.

If Leslie were the murderer, the biggest suspicion would be the lack of a murder weapon.

Shu Li had observed the surrounding conditions at the time, and there were no foreign objects. So if Leslie really were the murderer, either he was capable of tearing a cat apart by hand with wounds as neat as if cut by a knife, or after killing the cat and disemboweling the organs, he first spent time hiding the murder weapon somewhere before quietly enjoying the warmth of the bl00d.

If it were the former, then one must consider the novel’s setting. Granted, magic did exist in this novel world. But society was still a low-magic society, and the male lead did not have such a setting for monstrous strength. Therefore, the male lead’s suspicion could be ruled out based on the setting.

If not discussing the setting, then there was another suspicious point: why were there no bl00d splatters at all on his clothes?

These thoughts could be completed in barely three or four seconds.

It was also because Shu Li was certain that Leslie was not the cat killer that he approached.

After all, he was no saint; he wouldn’t take the initiative to strike up a conversation just because he saw a strange kid on the roadside. One must know that sometimes, a child’s malice is not even half a bit less than that of an adult.

Shu Li was not the type of person to meddle in other people’s business.

In fact, seeing his strange behavior of touching the corpse reminded Shu Li of a rumor at the time.

The rumor spoke of a college student who, after giving her pet hamster a bath, discovered her hairdryer was broken. Out of necessity, she chose a drying tool between the electric oven and the microwave. In the end, it was a tragic story.

At that time, there was a sharp comment: “A fool is more terrifying than a pervert.”

Consequently, when Shu Li looked at the child’s actions then, he only thought that the child had not received a relatively suitable logical education. Besides that, he didn’t think too much of it.

Shu Li would never think the child was the murderer.

But now, knowing the other party is the male lead, Shu Li suddenly felt that while Leslie might not be the murderer, he might know who the murderer is. That child saw the person who truly killed the cat and simply chose not to speak out…

Seeing Shu Li take the initiative to ask, Elder Yager said with certainty: “The Duke hates people from the church.”

Was there no room for more updates on this piece of information?

For example, the reason for the hatred, or related incidents?

Without waiting for Shu Li to ask, Elder Yager comforted Shu Li, saying: “The Duke doesn’t like to come here either, so you don’t have to worry too much about running into him.”

“Tomorrow is the first public mass. Lord Alist, you must do your best!”

Elder Yager seemed truly worried about the lack of believers.

However, Shu Li didn’t care about this matter at all.

No believers was even better; he could leisurely live his own little life.

In any case, he was supported by the church and should have a regular income every month. For instance, when he came over this time, there were 70 silver coins in Shu Li’s luggage.

Based on prices and purchasing power, it was roughly 3,500 Huaxia coins.

As long as he was frugal every month and stayed out of trouble, he could have plenty of freedom to do what he liked.

Thinking of this, Shu Li asked Elder Yager after the hearty dinner if the church had any account books.

He wanted to see the cash flow of the Savoy Parish church and, by the way, calculate the wages for Yager’s family.

Of course, he wouldn’t put it so directly; he was very subtle, not wanting Elder Yager to think he suspected him of wasting or misappropriating assets.

However, to his surprise, Elder Yager waved his hand and said: “Lord Alist, you don’t need to calculate our wages for the past 20 years. The church farmland has supported our family for a long time.”

At this time, Shu Li still didn’t quite understand and was just a bit dazed, “If the church forgot to pay your wages, I can write a letter to ask for them. You must definitely fight for the rights you deserve.”

“…Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine, after all, we have no believers. This is very normal.”

Shu Li still didn’t understand, “?”

At this point, Elder Yager finally realized the reason why Shu Li wasn’t nervous even after hearing there were no believers. His heart pounded wildly as he cautiously pointed out: “Lord Alist, don’t you know that all the church’s funds for operation rely on donations from believers?”

Ah…?

Elder Yager simply spoke plainly, saying: “The church does not pay salaries to the clergy. We follow in the footsteps of the Divine Lord. If one becomes a clergyman because a salary is paid, it would pollute our pure faith.”

How could this be?

Shu Li was truly dumbfounded.

At this time, the shop manager handed over the last bit of change: “Father Alist, here is one copper coin in change.”

Would begging for food bring in money faster?

Shu Li stared at this single coin and couldn’t help but think despairingly.