Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 281 -280: Sanctuary (Part 2)

Chapter 281 -280: Sanctuary (Part 2)

Past the main street of the city center, the church was now within sight. What surprised Earl Blan was that although many people had gathered here, the crowd had not overwhelmed the area. The public had formed an odd manner of queuing up in front of the entrance instead of being scattered everywhere.

It was only upon his approach that he noticed many iron railings were set up in the church square. They formed an entrance akin to a labyrinth, forcing the crowd to proceed in an orderly fashion into it. Anyone attempting to cross the barriers was chased back by guards with blue ribbons tied around their sleeves.

The styles and lengths of these iron railings varied, clearly having been hastily removed from the mansions of the Inner City District.

This enforced queuing arrangement gave Lanqi a fresh perspective—the multilayered lines can undoubtedly cram the most people possible into a small area, while the spaced railings, like tracks guiding a train, made it easy to spot anyone trying to cut in line.

The person who came up with this method was undoubtedly clever.

Yet Lanqi had no desire to squeeze in with the commoners; he approached the entrance and declared his identity, “I am the lord of Thistlefort; whether you recognize me or not, it is your duty to serve me. Now, open the gate and let me in!”

He dared say this because impersonating nobility was a capital offense, and few would risk it just to enter the church.

But he also noticed that the person guarding the gate was not a follower of the Abundance Sect, but an ordinary civilian instead.

The guard visibly panicked, instinctively turning to open the gate for His Lordship. However, a cold voice stopped him, “What are you doing, what are you doing? Who are you planning to open the gate for!?”

“Uh… My lord, this man is Earl Blan of Thistlefort; I recognize him…”

Lanqi slightly relaxed; it seemed he wouldn’t need to go to great lengths to prove his identity after all.

However, the other man did not give an inch, “And what of it? I’ve said it before, unless one is a commissioner working for the Paradise Sect or in possession of a special entry pass, they may enter through this door; otherwise, everyone must queue up!”

“But he is…”

“Do you still want your pay? You take money from the Paradise Sect, you are responsible only to the Paradise Sect! If you can’t do that, quit—there are plenty who want this job! And besides…”

The man glanced at Lanqi, “Some heretics have the ability to alter their appearances; you can’t rely on looks alone. Furthermore, aren’t the nobility’s homes intact? They haven’t been touched by battle, why would they need refuge?”

“Right, right, oops!” The guard had an epiphany, “This… ahem… Your Excellency, you’d better go join the queue. This is a work passageway, not for outsiders to enter or exit.”

Arrogant fools!

Lanqi was so furious his nose was almost askew!

Outsider? The entire city was his, and he was called an outsider by a mere civilian! In regular times, his personal guards would have charged forth and given such insolence a good thrashing!

But precisely at this moment he was alone, as all his servants had been taken away by Airco; truly a case of a dragon fallen into a ravine being bullied by snakes! He glared fiercely at the “overseer”, who met his gaze with indifference, not a trace of fear in his eyes.

Damn it. For the first time, Lanqi realized just how pale his title as Earl had become.

For his wife and children’s sake, he chose to swallow his anger for the time being.

Returning to the entrance of the railing corridor, Lanqi Brindon began to queue like an ordinary person. It was nearly 8 in the evening, but the square was not dark at all. A multitude of fire pits had been lit, the flames not only holding back the night but also dispelling the chill of the deep autumn for those in the queue.

“Hey, look… Is that the armed force of the Paradise Sect?”

The murmurs of the crowd caught Lanqi’s attention.

He looked in the direction of the voices, only to see a force of over a hundred men at the edge of the square with long spears on their backs and sandbags in their arms, seemingly preparing to erect a temporary defensive line around the church. Unlike the guards maintaining order, their sleeves were tied with red ribbons.

“It’s not that at all. They were all assembled temporarily, recruited right on the street next to my house. The wages they offer are really high too, almost a silver coin a day!”

“Really or not?”

“Of course it’s true. I wanted to sign up, but they were already full.”

Earning one Serir a day per person? Lanqi couldn’t help but calculate in his mind, a hundred people would be a hundred coins, and that was just a single day’s expense, quite a substantial sum, equivalent to the turnover of a medium-sized shop.

Could it be that the Paradise Sect wanted to protect these refugees?

That would be an obviously losing business!

Unfortunately, a group of just over a hundred people was far from enough; the gangs from the Outer City District added up to at least ten thousand. If they really decided to attack, this group of a hundred would collapse in an instant.

Thanks to the orderly progress, the twisting queue moved surprisingly quickly, and it took less than ten minutes to wait. When they reached the front gate of the sanctuary, someone loudly proclaimed, “Ladies and gentlemen, do not worry. Inside, there are not only beds for rest but also free food distribution, enough to fill your bellies! We are people from the land of Paradise, aiming to spare all the people in the world from the agony of hunger and hardship and to fill everyone’s lives with joy! If you want to learn more about the Paradise Sect, you can talk in detail with the church’s pastor inside the sanctuary!”

What kind of sect was this, boldly claiming to care for everyone in the world?

It would take countless silver coins to even hope to achieve that, what made the divinities of the Paradise Sect so special? Could they conjure money out of thin air?

Lanqi was deeply skeptical.

However, he still purposely asked, “What if the gangs come to rob? Their numbers are much greater than those of the guardians!”

“Believe me, they don’t have the time to do that,” the promoter replied with a smile, “Our defense is not limited to this sanctuary, but includes the majority of streets in both the Inner and Outer City Districts. Listen…”

In the night sky echoed sporadic sounds of gunfire.

Lanqi’s expression changed dramatically as he thought of a possibility—could it be that these gunshots were not from the gangs fighting each other?

“Our forces are everywhere. They will maintain order in this city and punish any criminals who break the law. What you see of the guard is only a small part, but the number of law enforcement officers we have recruited has already exceeded three thousand.”

Three thousand?

The Earl was shocked by this number. What did recruiting three thousand people on the spot mean? That was a sea of heads, where a single voice could drown out the sound of a tolling bell; even conveying a command would be difficult, let alone organizing them into teams and assigning tasks. Such organizational capacity seemed inconceivable!

He didn’t think he was capable of this, as organizing was a measure of the upper limits of a power’s influence. If anyone in the Kingdom could achieve this, only General Fales Ben and Duke Longjiu came to his mind.

With a mix of belief and doubt, Lanqi, after registering his identity and entering the sanctuary, finally saw his wife, Alice.

“Lanqi!”

“Alice!”

Ignoring the gazes of the guiding guards, the two embraced tightly. Though they had been married for many years and knew each other as well as they possibly could, at that moment, he still found a sense of youthful impulse and reluctance.

“They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

“No, those people may not understand etiquette, but they are quite disciplined in their actions. A girl named Mingzi brought me here and left, saying you would come soon. Thank the goddess, you’re really okay!”