Chapter 61: Gratitude

'Sir Arthur is really sly.'

That flashed through Sana's mind as she listened to Arthur's plan. The detail was something totally unexpected and... bordering on something someone from the slum and underground would think.

'Maybe it's because of his upbringing in an orphanage. But it's an effective method and not an evil one, as we are dealing with the father of a Sinner, the mastermind behind the attack on Castitas Church's Paladin.

There was no mercy to Goddess Teri's enemies, including Sinner, or those who attacked the Paladin that the church had longed for a long time.

'Still...'

The Archbishop was speechless. She glanced at the boy, Alexander Bluerose, on the ground and used <Appraisal>. The boy's status was completely messed up.

Name: Alexander Bluerose (Charmed)

Race: Human

Lv: 1

Sins: 35

Virtues: 0

Status:

HP: 100/100 (MAX 100)

MP: 1/1 (MAX 100)

STR: 1 (MAX 100)

VIT: 1 (MAX 100)

AGI: 1 (MAX 100)

DEX: 1 (MAX 100)

INT: 1 (MAX 100)

LUC: 1 (MAX 100)

Skills:

[???Error???]

Titles:

[Sinner] [Duke Bluerose's Heir]

Not only was there (Charmed) beside his name, all his status was reset to 1, and his skill showed up an error message.

Sana had seen an error message when someone with a rather high Level, more than 10, got killed repeatedly until they became Level 1. Meaning Sir Arthur had killed Alexander Bluerose using his newfound knowledge, and he also at least had Lv 5 <Appraisal> skill, like her, to see the Sinner's title.

'He's really an amazing person.'

Without Arthur's knowledge, Sana looked at him more favorably now.

'I didn't tell him about Sinner's punishment yet. But he delivered the correct one. It is indeed written in our Holy Texts, but someone would only skimp that part. To think he would remember it.'

Her cheek turned red as she turned to Sir Arthur again. He had arrived at the later part of his plan before finally stopping.

"So that's the gist of it. Can I count on the church to prepare the bait? I will train the knight squad and prepare the assassin girl to move for me. I think 3 days are enough to gain her loyalty after releasing her. Please also spread the rumors around the civilians starting tomorrow."

"Absolutely. You can leave those things to us, Sir Arthur." Sana replied with a wide smile.

"Your enemy is also the enemy of the church. We have been too lenient toward the nobles in the past few years, and it's time to establish our authority again. Fufufu, they will understand that the church isn't afraid of them."

"Great!" Arthur replied with a soft smile. "Ah, right. I almost forgot."

At that moment, a blue light appeared on the table. The Archbishop looked really shocked. Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped as she saw what had appeared after the light subsided.

"Please take these for my donation. I realized I hadn't given the church anything, so feel free to use these."

"T-These are..." Her voice cracked as she reached toward the pile of gold coins on the table. She took one and looked at it, immediately knowing it was real. "Gold?"

"Indeed." He nodded. "The total is about a million. Just think of this as my thanks to the church for helping me with a lot of things."

"N-Not at all! It's an honor to help you." She immediately shook her hands in front of her chest, flustered at the big amount of money the Paladin suddenly took out.

Then she rose from her couch, leaning forward to grab his hands. "Thank you very much! This is... such a wonderful gift. May Goddess Teri's blessing always be with you, Sir Arthur!"

Overwhelmed by emotions, she couldn't stop her tears and smile. The church was actually low on budget for this month because the support from the nobles and Royal family was mostly stopped a year ago.

That was why they made a deal with the King; the meeting this morning was related to that. Thanks to Paladin refusing the marriage, the talk was a bit stalled.

Thankfully, though, they had a hidden trump card, namely an assassination attempt. That put King Cassius in an unfavorable position, securing the negotiation table for the church.

However, the fruit of this morning's negotiation would only ripen in a few months. During that time, the church would need to depend on commoners' donations which usually only amounted to a few coppers and silver, hoping to survive with that money.

Indeed, the amount would be massive when combined, but the expenditure of the church also wasn't that small.

In this country, the church helped many orphanages that got no support from noble families. The total of orphanages supported by the church was more than 5000 in the Virtue Kingdom.

Not only that, there were many nuns and priests who needed food to survive. They also conduct morning prayer every month, and the preparation and maintenance of the church building also needed money.

On top of that, the church also gave people from the slums free food, among other things. Many unfortunate but talented people from the slums would also be given an education.

Most of them would join Castitas Academy when they were big enough, and some who were not given enough of the gift of intelligence would train in the way of the sword and join the church knight to repay the church.

But they planned to cut off the support because they didn't have enough money. A lot of people would suffer, but they couldn't do anything.

So this big amount of money, a million Gold, was really a big help. It could last them for at least 3 months and more if added. The Paladin just saved more unfortunate people with this money. No one would suffer thanks to this big donation.

"What can I do for you, Paladin?" She asked sincerely. But then she stopped as she remembered something, and once again, she felt heat coming to her face, turning it as red as a tomato.

There was one thing she could personally do to repay Sir Arthur. Something that she had done once already.

"R-Right. Please follow me! I don't know if this is enough, but... Please allow me to show my thanks."

At that time, Sana was determined. Never had in her life this kind of thing flashed through her mind. But today, she felt a new emotion after knowing Sir Arthur a bit more.

'I think I really like Sir Arthur. Ah! Goddess! I am eternally grateful to you for sending such a kind Paladin to us!'