Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 297 - 9 Team Collaboration_1

Chapter 297: Chapter 9 Team Collaboration_1

The Temple of Balance worships the God of Balance and is one of the smaller sects on the Yarran Continent, with a congregation of less than fifty thousand believers and fewer than ten temples or churches under its jurisdiction.

The Temple of Balance adheres to the doctrine of balance. From their perspective, a perfect world is one where all things exist in equilibrium. Good and evil, beauty and ugliness, life and death - everything should be balanced. They have often done some radical things in order to maintain this worldly balance.

Oftentimes, people confuse the druids, or the Children of the Forest, with these advocates of the God of Balance. Indeed, there are some similarities between the two groups. However, those who truly understand the sect know that in practice, the Druids Sect is often at odds with the Doctrine of Balance. As druids, their first faith is nature, and they follow the path of balance in order to protect it. But from the standpoint of the Doctrine of Balance, nature and non-nature should exist in balance, so the druids who pursue nature in isolation naturally become their enemies. The same goes for devotees of justice, as they believe justice and injustice should also strike a balance. Thus, justice seekers also become their adversaries.

The survival of this deity, who has managed to antagonize many after the War of Gods in the Third Epoch, is nothing short of miraculous. The Doctrine of Balance managed to survive and gradually develop over the thousands of years of the Fourth Epoch, achieving its current scale. While small in size, it has vastly expanded from its few hundred followers at the dawn of the Fourth Epoch.

"Mr. Enbow, hello," Mr. Pannis greeted, looking a bit serious. He wasn’t sure about the appropriate etiquette for offering respects. At his greeting, the stunning Enbow smiled nonchalantly, placing his hand on his chest and offering a slight bow, adhering to the male tradition of greetings.

Lina’s eyes bulged in surprise, transfixed by the androgynous Enbow, oblivious to her own impolite behavior. However, it was apparent that Enbow was used to expressions of shock and pity, casually nodding at Lina with a smile.

"Is this part of the Doctrine of Balance too?" Mr. Pannis asked in jest, noticing that despite his feminine appearance, Enbow was very amiable. "A woman’s appearance and a man’s spirit achieving a balance within the same body?"

"Ha, ha, ha! Don’t make fun of me!" Despite his soft, feminine tone, Enbow laughed heartily. He responded jovially to Pannis’s playful dig at his sensitivity, replying, "The adherents in our church are quite normal; I am the exception. Be careful not to say that to our other followers, or they might take offense."

"That is unbelievable," Lina finally regained her composure and exclaimed. "You are even more beautiful than I am. You could put most women to shame."

"It’s not something to be proud of," Enbow responded with self-deprecation, "For me, it’s quite troubling."

"But you don’t seem troubled at all," Lina said, maintaining a cleric’s sanctity and solemnity. "I believe you don’t care that much, do you?"

"Indeed, I don’t," Enbow said, "My appearance was decided by my parents at birth. It is the will of the deity, not something mere mortals can speculate. If the deity has chosen to make me special, why should I be troubled about it?"

"Interesting fellow, may the generous deity be praised, I think perhaps this collaboration won’t be as dull as we’d imagined," hoping for a pleasant cooperation, Lina made a square with her fingers on her chest, expressing gratitude to the divine. "Now, if it’s convenient for you, could you please bring us up to speed with the current situation?"

"I’ve only been here for two days, so I don’t know too much," Enbow explained, "But I do know some basic facts. There are five temples involved in this investigation. The original plan was for each temple to form its own investigation team, with everyone coordinating amongst themselves to find the culprit. If someone found a valuable clue, they could call for a meeting to share it with everyone, saving others from going in circles."

"That sounds fine to me," Pannis shrugged. "Are you suggesting there’s been a change of plans?"

"Two of the temples are too far away for everyone to come," Enbow answered. "And our temple has too few members to form a team. In the end, only your Church of the Earth Goddess and the Wind God Church could participate. Given these circumstances, the higher-ups had no choice but to alter the plan. Now, a few churches have to join forces to form a single exploration team to jointly search for the villain."

"Wouldn’t this lead to chaos?" Lina exclaimed, surprised. She offered a short prayer before speaking. "May the Goddess of Mercy forgive me, but many issues are unavoidable. Because of the conflicts that have been handed down from the previous epoch, many churches are not very harmonious, and I think you, as a guardian of the church, know this better than I do. If everyone starts working together, I fear we might get into internal conflicts."

"Well, it shouldn’t be as bad as you imagine," Enbow responded with a strained smile scratching his head. "The five temples affected just happen not to have any deep-seated hatred for each other. As long as I, a representative of the Temple of Balance, don’t do anything foolish, there should be no conflict."

"You are quite self-deprecating," Pannis laughed, patting Enbow on the shoulder. "But who did you mean by ’the higher-ups’? Someone has to lead this collaborative investigation, right? Who is it?"

"Ha, ha, it’s not self-deprecation. It’s just a better understanding of our church’s way of doing things," Enbow replied, blushing slightly under Pannis’s patting but maintaining his composure in his voice. "As for the leader, it’s of course the official of Diersalem City. Such a significant event, with over two hundred victims, the city has to respond. Even if there are no powerful individuals in the military or the police to send out, at least they need to show they are taking the matter seriously."

"After all these years, these bureaucrats haven’t improved at all," Pannis sighed, then gave Enbow a sideways glance. "Wait a minute, we’re both men, why did your face go red when we touched? Don’t tell me you’re, you’re not a pervert, are you?"

"Calling me a pervert is quite rude," Enbow complained. "It’s just a normal physiological reaction, nothing more. Why did you back off? Listen to my explanation."

"I don’t talk to perverts," Pannis backed away behind Lina. "Don’t come any closer, I’ll cry out for help if you do."

A heavy punch by Lina silenced Pannis. He cradled his head in pain, a hurt expression on his face. Lina sighed and maintained her holy posture. It was hard to tell that she had just delivered a violent punch. "Sorry for the trouble," she said. "He often acts up like this, thinking everyone is as twisted as him. I hope you don’t mind, he means no harm."

"Uh, I don’t mind," Enbow twitched and witnessed the violent act that just took place. He stared at Lina’s glowing fist and dryly said, "But... does this gentleman need some medical attention? That punch seemed quite lethal."

"May the merciful God forgive my sins, I am a healer," Lina said, in a saintly manner. "Don’t worry, he’s got a hard head, he will be fine. Anyway, thank you for the information. We look forward to working with you."

"Are you leaving already?" Enbow said in surprise. "Don’t you want me to introduce you to the person in charge?"

"Thank you, but not necessary for now," Lina bowed apologetically. "We just arrived in the city and need to report to the temple first before starting our work. I believe the Archbishop will arrange for us to meet with the person in charge."

"Well, that makes sense," Enbow thought, flashing an intoxicating smile. "I wish you the best of luck. We look forward to working together."

"Oh right, allow me to introduce myself," Lina smiled, "I am Lina, travelling priest of The Church of the Earth Goddess. Pannis here is a friend, not officially part of the church, just here to help."

"A pleasure to meet you both." Enbow tilted his head, making a deliberate effort to remember this. "I’ll not disturb your plans any further, then. I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Whew, such a handsome man sure does put on the pressure," Lina sighed in relief, nudging Pannis with her foot. "Hey, he’s gone now. Get up."

"He’s gone?" Pannis looked around in disbelief, clutching his chest in relief, "That was close."

"Stop messing around," Lina said, "following your cues, I’ve already shooed him away. Let’s head to the temple. But I don’t quite get it, was something wrong with him?"

"Huh? My cues?" Pannis looked clueless, "What cues? When did I give you any cues?"

"The way you acted awkwardly just now - that wasn’t you hinting me to get rid of him soon?" Lina asked, fed up with Pannis’ act. "Otherwise, why else would you do something like that?"

"Oh, right, cues. That was a cue," Pannis scratched his head nervously and laughed. "Definitely, that was the meaning. I definitely didn’t act like that because he looks too feminine and I wanted to tease him. Absolutely not. As for problems, let me think, there must be something wrong. I’ll figure it out soon. Just wait."

"So that’s how it is," Lina’s fists glowed with power again, her clenching hands making crunching noises as she moved closer to Pannis, a tremor in her lips, "I think it’s time for a serious talk, dear Mr. Pannis."

"Hold on, let me explain," Pannis moved backwards, fluttering his hands in defense. "Calm down, trust me. Listen, we are still on the streets, you should uphold the image of the church. Hey, don’t rush me... Ahhhh~~~" (to be continued. If you like this work, please go to qidian.com and vote for it. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users can read on at m.qidian.com).