Cthulhu Gonfalon

The small turmoil caused by the Half-Orc refugees settled down quickly.

A governor in charge of civil affairs of the Republic of Northwest stated that the Republic respected the beliefs of everyone; nobody could infringe upon the belief of others. If the refugees wanted to build an altar, they had to ask the local church for permission.

Of course, it was absolutely impossible for them to get permission. Unless one was a close ally of Sui Xiong, such as the God of Justice, no one would be allowed to build an altar for other gods in Sui Xiong’s area.

Even those who had a good relationship with Sui Xiong wouldn’t be allowed. That was a matter of principle!

Moreover, Sui Xiong and the Orc gods were just acquaintances at most. They were not even friends, nor did they have a close relationship with each other.

In fact, the key to the peaceful coexistence of all religious beliefs in the Republic of Northwest, the non-interference between the altars and divine temples of all gods and the peace among the clergymen of all factions was due to the official coordination of the Republic and the lead of the Void Mask Church. But this time, neither the Republic nor the Void Mask Church was willing to help solve the problem. Thus, how could other churches tolerate the followers of Orc gods to build altars here?

Thus, the Half-Orc refugees’ attempt to build an altar here was in vain.

Strictly speaking, they were still able to build altars for the Orc gods. As long as they built a pioneering village by themselves, they could build any altar they wished.

However, every time the matter of building a pioneering village was mentioned, those refugees who had shouted loudly before would pretend that they didn’t hear anything or change the topic immediately. In short, they just refused to do that.

Sui Xiong was invisible in the sky, looking at this. He felt this was funny, but he still felt more alert about the situation.

There were strong lights of belief on the body of those who encouraged others to build an altar for the Orc gods. Thus, they definitely had not lost the response of the Orc gods. They came to the Republic of Northwest and encouraged the Half-Orc refugees who had lived under discrimination in the Orc Empire to build an altar, saying that this would please the gods and make them respond again. But what was their real intention? There was no need to even ask.

“I didn’t expect the Orc Empire to make the first move.” When he talked to Esther about it in private, Sui Xiong had an angry face. “I thought we had a good relationship with the Orcs. It seems that I thought too much!”

“No, Your Majesty, you are too worried,” Easter said. “Most gods in the world are different from you. They don’t take care of everything like you. So do the Orc gods. I think what the Orc Empire did this time should be under the order of some high-level officials, at most of the Orc emperor, but not the Orc gods.”

“What? Why are you so sure about that?” Sui Xiong asked curiously.

“Because the Orc gods would never be so gentle or relaxed. You know their temper. They may have designed such a plan, but would they give up immediately after failing? Is that their style?”

Sui Xiong thought about it carefully. That was true.

If there were Orc gods behind this turmoil, how could it be ended so easily? According to the Orc gods’ style, even if they couldn’t kill the enemy, at least they would make a lot of trouble.

For example, they might ask a group of people to summon some demons in the Republic of Northwest. That was something the gods of the Evil Camp were good at.

With that in mind, Sui Xiong immediately strengthened the supervision over those Half-Orc refugees.

In this way, he saw something interesting again.

In the evening, one of the Half-Orc refugees who had been encouraging others to make trouble went to the place where the refugees lived together. He tried persuading them to build an altar for the Orc gods.

But this time, he failed.

An elderly Half-Orc refugee said they were no longer going to believe in the Orc gods.

“What?!” The bearded Pigman could hardly believe what he had heard. “What did you say? Do you want to betray His Majesty?”

“Belief is not just about the honesty of us. Since His Majesty has abandoned us, why should we still be loyal to him?” the old but still powerful Elephantman said as he touched his broken left tusk. “I fought twice for His Majesty. Half of this tusk was lost on the battlefield of Sun’s Death Day. And I also lost two brothers, one son, three nephews and the eyes of my other son there.”

There was a sad look on his face. “But His Majesty abandoned me.”

“We were created by His Majesty. How can we try to bargain with our creator?” the Pigman asked angrily.

“Why not?” the old Elephantman asked casually. “These days, people from the Religious Bureau of the Republic often come here to teach us religious knowledge. They tell us the division between man and god as well as the difference between piety, fanaticism, and honesty. We all agree with that. All of us have been abandoned by His Majesty. All the efforts of the past and years of devotion have been abandoned by him without mercy. Please forgive us. In this case, we can’t continue to believe in him. We can’t just keep quiet when we see no hope in front of us.”

He sighed deeply. “I’m old, not far from death. Over the years, I have done a lot of bad things. I invaded other countries and killed people there. At first, I held the idea that I did all this for His Majesty, so I didn’t care about anything. But now I do. I don’t want to go to hell. I’m scared. I’m scared to death!”

“So you choose to betray His Majesty?” The Pigman’s eyes became gloomy. “And so do the others?”

“That’s almost right. We have different reasons, but in the final analysis, it is because His Majesty has never responded to us, and we feel upset about that.”

The Pigman did not say anything; he just turned away and left. He walked very fast this time and quickly disappeared.

When he had left, the old Elephantman returned to his house with a sigh. He lived in a simple but strong and warm wooden house.

Inside the room, a blind middle-aged Elephantman sat at a table, trying to read a woodcut book through touch.

“Dad, did you drive the messenger away?” He asked.

“Yes,” the old Elephantman whispered. He sat directly on the floor. “I thought I would be afraid, but when I really made up my mind, I realized that it was nothing serious.”

“Of course.” His blind son sighed. “We mean nothing to His Majesty, and neither does our belief. It’s just that we valued our belief too much in the past! Over the past few years, we Orcs have lived only for our belief. Now, when we look back, it’s just like a tragic joke.”

The father and son talked about that with ease and calm, but there was a sad feeling in their words that made people want to cry. They had lost their status, honor, home, and belief, and now they really had nothing.

After a while, the old Elephantman stood up and said, “It’s almost dinner time. I’ll get some food for you. We can’t fool around like this anymore. Tomorrow, I am going to find a job, porting or something like that. I’m old, but I still have strength!”

“Sorry, I’ve been a burden to you.”

“Don’t say that! I’ve been inquiring about it all these days. It’s quite easy to make money here. I should try my best to make enough money to cure your eyes. And then, you will find a wife, and we will have a family again.”

With that, the old Elephantman pushed open the door and went out without looking back at his son.

Similar scenes could be seen in the homes of many Half-Orc refugees. They finally decided to abandon their beliefs in the Orc gods and embarked on the first steps towards a new life.

Sui Xiong, invisible in the air, looked at that and could not help but smile.