NOVEL NEXT Chapter 56: Disturbance
"May the blessing of our Lord be with you all."
Looking at the relatively huge crowd that gathered below the stage, I allowed my lips to form a slight, ironic smile. The way in which I started the rite was something I actually thought quite a lot about.
Because I didn't openly claim who the lord I was referring to was. Starting off, in this new era of magic and wonders, who could've known if I openly started praying to ultimately a devil? Being quite a religious person before the apocalypse, I didn't dare to push those buttons too far.
And openly admitting to celebrating devil would destroy the impression of being backed by the Vatican that I made sure to forge!
"Today, as this site will soon open to the public, I want to tell everyone what is the purpose of this sanctum."
Instead of following a mystic route of the rite, I went with something easier to relate to. Scanning over the mass of faces, I made sure to take my time before once again picking up my sentences.
"The group that I do represent praises one's own involvement in one's fate. While others cultivate, we use the unique quirks that make us different from animals to pursue greater good for humanity as a whole. That's what the Boruta's faction is."
As little as I wanted to do it, revealing the name was something that I had to do it. Once again, given how everyone suspected that ever since the apocalypse, religious cults managed to obtain a strange kind of power other than cultivation. And it wasn't something I was willing to miss on in my situation.
"The reason why I appeared here only recently, should be fairly obvious to everyone. Just a few days ago, a family of the pioneers, aiming to make this place better for everyone, were killed."
This fact was something that I had to reveal, or rather, push the focus on. If I attempted to somehow hide it, it would only make it more obvious that there was something more to the entire situation. And I couldn't afford to start my career with bad rumours going around.
"I decided to settle this place according to our tradition, by using their martyr bones as the foundation for this holy place. I won't let their efforts and sacrifices be buried by time in vain."
Reaching forth with my hand and tightening my fist, I finally played out the small trick that I prepared in advance. With just a tiny amount of glitter ground up to be even finer and a slight push of my repulsion, the small container containing the decoration broke up, releasing a small golden aura around my hands.
Given how it was evening already, it was something that only a few would see. But those few could easily spread the rumours about this event, with the low number of initial witnesses only serving to hide the drawbacks of such an obvious trick.
In this situation, I simply relied on a pretty important part of human perception. People saw what they expected to see.
"This is not true!"
Suddenly, a commotion broke out somewhere at the back of the crowd. With how some kind of retaliation was only to be expected, I calmly raised my eyes only to spot a small group. A small group that I didn't actually expect to see here.
"Krist did not die. That is something I'm sure about. Don't you dare to make up some stories about his deceased family just to profit from it!"
Despite being separated from my position at the stage by nearly the entire crowd, when Martha raised her hand and pointed her finger at me, I could tell that everyone in the area was bound to hear her words. Be it some kind of cultivation technique or a smart usage of a convenient tool, Martha definitely achieved her purpose.
In one second, what seemed like a perfectly planned event, turned sour. Especially given how I still could recall how they were responsible for the entire situation that led to my family's demise.
"That's funny of you to bring that topic up. After all, aren't you the ones responsible for their deaths?"
Completely ignoring the entire point that Martha brought, I replied in a calm manner. As immoral as it was, only by pushing the blame on her family could I buy myself some time. Only if Martha had to bear the burden of her own sins could I appear as being clueless about the involvement of the military, something of insane importance in my current situation.
And ultimately, my words still were true. As she said herself, it was the moves of her family that brought the military attention to my home, and it was her people that started the invasion. No matter what their intentions were, they were responsible for everything that happened.
"That's… That's a lie!"
Trying to rebuke my words, Martha stuttered. And that alone was enough for the simple people gathered below the stage to make their own judgments. Just from how her voice broke as she attempted to accuse of me lying.
"I will not have people with their hands stained with the blood of the martyrs remain on this holy ground. Pavlo, could you do me a favour and remove them from the scene?"
There wasn't any point in keeping my debacle with this girl at this moment. For now, I just got a way to end this rite without any big conclusion to it on a silver platter. And I would have to be dumb to not use this opportunity to my advantage.
"Are you really sure that was smart?"
Whispering to my ear a few moments later as his people kindly guided Martha's entourage outside of the area, Pavlo looked with worry at the crowd.
"You have our full support, but keep in mind that her family… They are not exactly an opponent we could face off against right now. Be it in terms of influence or even raw power. Not yet."
As on the point, as Pavlo's notions were, this wasn't the time to discuss them. It was clear that the young master of Baskar family was scared of making huge enemies so early. Something like that could easily dampen the growth that all the tools that they received from me would cause.
But with the ultimate enemy being the military, for me, making Martha my personal rival and enemy was actually the easier way to go about things.
Sadly, this wasn't something that I could explain on the spot, or explain it at all. That's why I had no choice but to ignore Pavlo's protests before facing the crowd once again. The recent situation already stirred up most of the gathered people into thinking, so I had to make sure to act fast.
"Everyone, I'm sorry. With the recent disturbance, I dare not to attempt blessing this land. That would be a disrespect to those, whose bones we laid in the crypt. The rite will be repeated in two days time. I do apologise, and may our lord's blessing be with you!"