Work Prophet
Chapter 321 - 79 Divine Pattern Embroidery

Chapter 321: Chapter 79 Divine Pattern Embroidery

The biting winter had passed before anyone realized it, and the weather began to warm steadily, with new buds sprouting from the little trees in the courtyard.

Clara and Ruby chatted for a while before the former asked the latter to continue teaching her embroidery.

Perhaps because she was bored of being confined, having played nearly every game available, the little maid had recently taken up needlework, unprecedentedly.

After practicing for several days, she could now embroider quite skillfully.

Having finished embroidering a rose, Ruby turned her head to the little maid and curiously asked, "What are you embroidering?"

"Divine Pattern," Clara didn’t look up.

"Divine Pattern, from the Double Rest Sect? What’s it for?"

"It’s for praying to Saturday, hoping one day I can return to Green Field," Clara embroidered with great earnestness.

Ruby watched for a while, feeling that the design of the Divine Pattern was indeed profound, but as to there being any Divine Power within it, she could not sense any.

After a moment, she again spoke, "Do you want help?"

"Yes," the little maid didn’t hesitate, "another person adds more strength, and might make Saturday notice me sooner."

So Ruby took out a new handkerchief, imitated Clara, and embroidered the Chinese characters for "save me" in a blank spot.

Three days later, this handkerchief bearing the plea for help arrived before Hirodod, along with a letter.

The letter was written by Ruby, who detailed the life she and Clara had lead over the past six days, including every word spoken during their casual conversations, which Ruby recorded without missing a single word.

After reading, Hirodod picked up the handkerchief and carefully examined the pattern on it.

As the custodian, he oversaw all of the Silver Moon Church’s scriptures and documents, some of which dated back as far as three thousand years.

They recorded various Divine Patterns, and although the pattern before him was not among them, Hirodod could tell at a glance that this Divine Pattern was not randomly drawn.

It clearly contained some regularity. But, as Ruby said, as an outsider, he couldn’t feel any Divine Power from it.

Hirodod continued to scrutinize the handkerchief for a while, transcribing the Chinese characters for "save me" several times, growing increasingly impatient.

This was the fifth letter he had received from Ruby, yet progress was still minimal; Hirodod still didn’t understand how Li Yu communicated with Saturday, performing various miracles.

On his end, he hadn’t heard the goddess’s voice for a long time; even if he lit the Moon Spirit Essence and inhaled the smoke, entering that ethereal state of mind and spirit unity, Hirodod could no longer hear the goddess’s teachings as before.

This had caused his mood to be particularly restless lately, and those around him could feel his emotional changes, but they merely thought it was due to Priest Martina’s presence.

In just half a month’s time, Priest Martina had secured the support of more than a dozen Noble Families and raised a Church Protection Army exceeding five thousand, assembling outside Lake City.

Once they were ready, they would march towards Duolin City.

Looking at Hirodod’s side, he was still sluggishly recruiting members, and so far, he had managed to recruit less than three thousand people, most of whom were untrained civilians, along with a handful of mercenaries looking to take advantage of the chaos.

Actually, among the laypeople and the lower ranks of the Church, the majority supported Hirodod, which was because he had seized the initiative from the start.

Taking advantage of the time when Priest Martina was still on the run, he preemptively grabbed the right to speak, and he was very clever, mixing truth and lies in his statements.

For instance, the meeting between Priest Martina and Ireya in Rock Snow City was witnessed by many, but in reality, Priest Martina had intended to persuade the Lady to reconsider, even offering generous terms.

And then there was the matter of Adelle, and because Adelle was a disciple of Priest Martina, Hirodod used the young girl’s defeat as evidence of Priest Martina’s collusion with the Double Rest Sect.

Moreover, the recent defeat of the Silver Moon Church in Green Field had left many people simmering with anger, needing to find a reason for the defeat, and at the same time seeking a way to overcome Li Yu and his Double Rest Sect.

While Hirodod’s proposal was somewhat radical, it gave quite a few people hope for victory. Additionally, Hirodod gained control of the Seven-Person Council, securing legal support from the Church.

On the other hand, Priest Martina, although she had refuted the previous accusations one by one after entering Lake City, was a step too late.

And alone as she was, she still managed to garner the support of a portion of the Church because of her previously acquired great prestige. Of course, her main supporters were the Noble Families of the Western Territory.

Besides Ireya, the nobles of the Western Territory were all followers of Pisya. Yet they were accustomed to the non-militarization of the Silver Moon Church and were not eager for the Church to organize its own armed forces, even in the face of threats from the Double Rest Sect.

This was also why an increasing number of Noble Families ultimately stood behind Priest Martina.

This development caused Daijius, Kerkwon, and others to feel insecure. They had been pulled onto Hirodod’s war chariot and could not bravely resist like Priest Hesiod, so they were forced to become Hirodod’s followers.

If Hirodod were to fail, there would certainly be no good end for them.

The internal conflicts within heretical factions could be even more brutal than those between Pagan faiths. The only good news was that the Church Protection Army was on their side.

Otherwise, the three High Priests, who were well aware of the Church’s dark history, would probably not be able to sleep soundly.

But as strong as the Church Protection Army might be, their numbers were ultimately limited and could not defeat a real army in a head-on battle, and the odds and ends Hirodod was now gathering did not look like they could win a battle.

Priest Kerkwon stood atop the city wall, gazing at the tents pitched outside the city and the disorderly crowds, his expression sour. Those fellows looked more like refugees than soldiers.

Even so, Priest Kerkwon had previously consoled himself that having some men was better than none.

But in the past dozen days or so, the number of believers enlisting in the military had visibly dwindled. It was out of the question to muster five thousand people as the opposition did. By the time Priest Martina led her forces to attack, they would be fortunate to scrape together four thousand militia.

Priest Kerkwon knew clearly why this was the case.

It wasn’t that Priest Martina had pulled out some clever trick; it was simply because the time for spring plowing was approaching, and the majority of believers were busy with farming tasks.

Priest Kerkwon sighed, unable to help but complain, "What on earth is Hirodod doing now, if he has any tricks up his sleeve, he better hurry up and use them."

Priest Daijius frowned; although he said nothing, he too was dissatisfied with Hirodod’s performance during this period and found it was far removed from the decisiveness and cunning he had previously displayed.