"Where did that slutty witch come from? She's not a magic beast from the forest in disguise, is she? We should get the magi of the church to remove the spell she's cast onto her own face so all of these perverts can see what she really looks like!" an elderly nun said in a scathing voice with a hateful look on her face. She was clearly extremely displeased to see so many people on the street focus their attention on Onean, but she didn't dare to say anything to Onean's face, so she was only raising her voice now that Onean had entered the tailor shop. She was intentionally saying this for all of the men on the street to hear, but unbeknownst to her, even if Onean weren't around, none of the men on the street would be interested in an old and grouchy nun like her.

"It sounds like you have a certain mage from the Holy World Church in mind when you say that. Which mage have you sold your body to so that he'll be willing to do your bidding?" The snarky question had come from a middle-aged man who appeared to be a bandit or a jobless mercenary, and he was leaning against a wall with a sly grin.

Everyone around him immediately burst into raucous laughter upon hearing this, and even the noble women who unintentionally overheard what was being said couldn't help but cover their mouths in amusement.

With just a single sentence, the disheveled yet humorous man was able to expose the dark underbelly of the church, which was supposed to be a pure and holy sanctuary.

Generally speaking, the missionaries and administrative staff of the church didn't have any overlap. The leader of the missionaries was the archbishop, and below the archbishops were the regional bishops, followed by the pastors. The missionaries were the lowest-ranking individuals in this hierarchy, and they were responsible for assisting the pastors and nuns in spreading the religion.

As for the leader of the administrative staff, that was the minister, and they were responsible for overseeing all of the battle personnel in the church. These people were comprised of magi and priests. In reality, the priests of the church consisted entirely of martial artists, while the magi were all magicians.

The minister and the archbishops answered only to the pope, and they were both equal in rank, so neither side could enforce orders on the other.

Hence, on one hand, what the man had just said was a sly jab at the nun for her pitiful status in the church hierarchy. How was it possible for a lowly nun like herself to be able to recruit the services of a mage from the church? On the other hand, he was insulting the missionaries of the church by exposing their perverted nature. People would often hear about certain archbishops of the Holy World Church spending inordinate amounts of time in confession chambers with certain attractive women who were there to "confess their sins". However, their confessions always seemed to devolve into loud screaming and moaning for some reason. Furthermore, there were also many instances of young nuns seducing the pastors ranked above them, and there were even sightings made of Holy World Church pastors visiting cheap brothels.

Some people asked these missionaries why they would go to those places, and all of them gave the same uniform answer: "We visit those brothels in order to spread our faith to the poor women who have lost their way."

The missionaries of the church were unable to marry, so they were constantly in a state of sexual frustration and repression. However, the innate desires that were an integral part of human nature were not so easy to deny, but this was a problem that no founders of any religions seemed to have considered.

During the past few centuries, the reputation of the Holy World Church had been worsening by the day. As a result, many new churches had begun to arise on the northern continent during the past few decades, and at this point, some of those new religions were already able to compete with the Holy World Church.

The most prominent of those new churches were the New Light Church, which had branched off from the Holy World Church, and the Universal Church, whose main objective was to help those in need.

Even in a rural town like Belama, competition between the three churches was still present. Each of the three churches had sent a certain number of pastors, nuns, and missionaries to this place, and their objective was to be able to claim the trust of the local residents before their competition could.

The elderly nun was clearly furious to hear this, and her chest was heaving drastically with rage.

"You lying, blasphemous fiend! How dare you slander our church? Our almighty lord will punish you! He will be sure to punish you for your crimes!" the nun screamed in a hysterical voice, looking very much like an insane old shrew.

"Give me a break! If your god has the time to come and punish me, why doesn't he make better use of his time by punishing all of the church's clergymen for the unforgivable crimes they've committed? If he's willing to do that, perhaps the Holy World Church's reputation will be redeemed a little," the middle-aged man scoffed with a derisive expression.

His words echoed the internal sentiments of all of the spectating bystanders, as well as the missionaries of the New Light Church and the Universal Church.

"He's right. I didn't think that the people of the Holy World Church would still have the gall to come and try to spread their filthy religion here! All you do is extort the common folk for money! Are you trying to raise funds for those disgusting archbishops and pastors of yours?" a missionary from the New Light Church said with a disdainful expression as he stepped forward from the crowd.

"What nonsense are you spouting? The clergymen of our Holy World Church have always been the most devout, and we are wholeheartedly dedicated to serving our almighty lord. Your slander has no place here, so begone, your blasphemous cur!" After hearing the enraged screams from the nun of the Holy World Church, a pastor hurriedly rushed to the scene, and as soon as he arrived, he heard the missionary from the New Light Church denouncing the Holy World Church. The pastor naturally wasn't going to just stand by and allow the Holy World Church's reputation to be dragged through the mud, so he immediately stepped forward into the public eye. On top of that, a nun who was serving under him was being insulted in public, so he had to stand up for her as well.

"Our Holy World Church has had an immaculate reputation for the past several hundred years, and never have we had any clergymen engaging in any misconduct or misdemeanor. In contrast, ever since your New Light Church branched off from our Holy Light Church, you've been constantly directing baseless slander at our church. Do you think dragging the reputation of our Holy World Church through the mud makes your New Light Church more holy and righteous? Or is it the teachings of the New Light Church to encourage blasphemy and slander? You are so wildly arrogant yet self-abasing that you don't even dare to directly acknowledge your past!" The pastor of the Holy World Church was much more eloquent than the nun, and he was speaking with a very fast cadence, yet his words weren't rushed or slurred in the slightest. As a result, the missionary of the New Light Church was reduced to a fuming silence.

The missionary from the New Light Church had several companions behind him, and they were about to hurl their insults at the nun as well, but all of those insults got stuck in their throats, leaving them feeling very frustrated and indignant. At the moment, they were all thinking about how best to retaliate against the pastor.

However, the pastor of the Holy World Church didn't give them the opportunity to retaliate as he put a swift end to this verbal altercation. "All of us believe in the same god, so there's no point in levying baseless criticisms against one another. Our lord wouldn't refuse to bless the clergymen of our Holy World Church because of your baseless slander. Instead, He will only give us further blessings to make up for the unfair criticism that has been directed against us."

Through what seemed to be a passage of generous words, not only was he highlighting the superior status of the Holy World Church, he was also completely clearing the Holy World Church of any wrongdoing while also throwing a jab at the New Light Church, implying that the New Light Church only existed thanks to the kindness of the god that they jointly worshiped. It was like the New Light Church was a bastard son, but instead of treating it with denouncement and rejection, he was affording it tolerance and sympathy. Furthermore, he was making it seem like the bastard son that was the New Light Church was repaying his kindness with slander and ungratefulness. In private, the personnel of the Holy World Church had always regarded those of the New Light Church as a bunch of heretics and deviants. He couldn't directly say this in front of the general public, but he was doing his best to make these implications.

Those on the New Light Church's side were all missionaries of the lowest level, and after being accused of deception and slander, they had no idea what they should say to retaliate. They could naturally interpret the implied accusations of heresy from the pastor of the Holy World Church, and that made them even more furious and indignant. However, they didn't know what to say, nor could they run away. If they were to do the latter, then they would be admitting their defeat. Alternatively, if they were to raise examples in retaliation, such as "I heard that Archbishop so-and-so of your Holy World Church did this and that", that would make it look even more like they were slandering the Holy World Church. Thus, they were faced with a very difficult predicament.

The nun of the Holy World Church was finally able to have the last laugh, and she put on a placid and tranquil expression as she looked at the missionaries of the New Light Church, as if she wasn't the hysterical shrew that had been screaming at them just a moment ago. Perhaps the pastor's words had instilled her with a sense of self-restraint, and it also made her understand that putting on a facade of peace and generosity would be beneficial to the promotion of their church.

Of course, the spectating common folk of the town weren't going to say anything, and even the middle-aged man who had insulted the nun of the Holy World Church earlier didn't say anything to support the missionaries of the New Light Church. They didn't stand to gain anything from involving themselves in a verbal altercation between the two churches, and most of the citizens of Belama didn't hold any religious beliefs anyway, so they certainly felt no obligation to stand up for either side.

However, everyone knew what the archbishops and pastors of the Holy World Church were like, and there was no way that a single eloquent pastor would be able to repair the reputation of the Holy World Church, which had been in a state of constant decline over the past few centuries.

A young man wearing a linen robe was unable to stand watching this any longer without saying anything, and he stepped forward as he said, "I saw the pastors of your church going to..."

Before he had a chance to denounce the Holy World Church for their filthy acts of misdemeanor, one of his older relatives beside him clasped a hand tightly over his mouth so he was unable to finish what he was about to say, and his voice faded away amid the melodious music of a woodwind instrument.

The woodwind instrument in question was a lute, and it was being played by a set of slim fingers. The music of the lute was also accompanied by some singing from a deep voice.

Life, you are so wondrous and beautiful, but who has placed these shackles upon you?

Was it these intelligent people before me?

Be careful, intelligent people, for we do not know when the rain falling from the clouds 

Will be torrential rain, rain that destroys our homes

Rain that inundates all things

But even as we advance arduously through the fierce wind, we must smile

We must smile as we face ourselves, who are embracing us tightly

Even though his face is drenched in rain, sweat, and tears

We must hold him tightly

For regardless of what time it is and what place you're in

He is more reliable than anything else unless you betray him first

If you remain loyal to him, he will never betray you

Intelligent people, remember to be vigilant

And remember not to betray yourself

...

The person playing the lute was a traveling poet who had been silent this entire time, but the intriguing scene unfolding before his eyes had struck him with some inspiration. Thus, he set down the beer in his hand before picking up his lute.

...

Meanwhile, Erwin was trying out clothes on the second floor of the tailor shop, and he also witnessed the verbal altercation that had taken place between the two churches. Thus, he asked the elderly manager of the shop what was going on down there, and after taking a glance out the window, the manager immediately knew what was happening. The man wearing the navy blue robe was the pastor of the Holy World Church, while the group of men wearing white robes were the missionaries of the New Light Church. Having identified that, the manager gave Erwin a detailed account of the history between the two churches.

"The churches here are a little different from the ones where we come from, but it seems like all religions are roughly the same no matter where you are," Erwin remarked after hearing the manager's story. At this point, he had already changed into the clothes that he had just selected, which consisted of a dark brown robe with a green internal garment. The attire that he chose gave him a prominent hillbilly vibe, making him appear as if he were a handsome young man from the countryside, and a rather wealthy one, at that. The main problem was that he didn't have much time on his hands, so he couldn't wait for the shop to tailor something specifically for him. Thus, he had to select a set of clothes from the limited options in the shop, and he was planning to get a new set of clothes once they reached a larger city. 

Meanwhile, Onean was still going through some clothes in the changing room, accompanied by the daughter of the shop's manager. Erwin sat back onto the sofa and got into a comfortable position, preparing himself to wait for the long haul.

"Young man, I wanted to ask you this earlier: where do the two of you come from?" the manager asked as he took a glance at Erwin. He had taken a look at the tattered robe that Erwin had taken off, and he had noticed something quite interesting, which was that the robe was made in a style that was rarely seen around these parts.

"We come from the south," Erwin replied in a straightforward manner.

"Where from the south?" the manager asked with a curious expression. "The Effer Kingdom?"

Erwin nodded in response.

"How did your clothes become like this?"

"We ran into some magic beasts in the Terarody Mountain Ranges," Erwin replied.

"I see," the manager replied with a nod, following which a stunned look appeared on his face. "How did the two of you manage to cross over the mountain ranges and get to this place? Could it be that you've been fighting magic beasts all the way here?"

A wry smile appeared on Erwin's face as he replied, "Yeah, that sounds about right."