Chapter 1020 1002. Another shapeshifter


    ?His understatement made everyone except Tris feel a little dazed.


    But if this kind of exaggerated thing is considered in conjunction with him, it is actually quite acceptable.


    “But I got other news from the Mud Gang.”


    ?Lan En said to Dudu.


    “A temple guard is looking for you, Dudu.”


    “Temple guard? Looking for me?”


    Dudu repeated, looking puzzled and surprised.


    ??But Lan En, who revealed the news, was also surprised.


    He was surprised: Why was Dudu, a shape-shifter who was cautious to the point of being timid, not afraid after hearing the news.


    The Temple Guard are the Eternal Fire''s armed force in Novigrad, adhering to increasingly radical doctrines that will become even more radical in the foreseeable future.


    They hate monsters, discriminate against non-human races, and may in the future hate all users of Chaos magic.


    For non-human races, out of compromise with urban development, they may not act too aggressively against urban residents.


    But it’s a monster like a shapeshifter.


    “Come, let me hear what the news is.”


    Doodle''s halfling''s big feet paced back and forth on the wooden floor.


    “Sir Lane, please speak.”


    "The person who is looking for you is called Ritu Manji, and he is the leader of the temple guards. He used his administrative authority to ask the Mud Gang to block the transaction with you and bring down your business."


    Lan En leaned back in his chair and recounted the information he had obtained.


    “He emphasized that the important thing is to catch you as a person, and money is not important. So I think this guy is not an ordinary official who wants to take advantage of you, but for something else.”


    “Ritu Manji? Caleb Manji’s brother? Brother Manji?!”


    ?Dudu was fine, but Dandelion said in surprise.


    Geralt asked in a deep voice: "Do you know this person? It sounds like their brother is quite famous in Novigrad?"


    “There is a reputation, but it is never a good reputation.”


    ??Dandelion walked behind Lann and Geralt''s chair, propped up the back of the chair and said to the two witchers.


    “Both these brothers believe in the doctrine of eternal fire fanatically. You can imagine what it’s like to be so fanatical.”


    ?Lane and Geralt looked at each other.


    ??They are both demon hunters who have traveled in the upper reaches of the continent, and they have seen a lot of racial persecution and mutual vendettas.


    They also know exactly what the Eternal Fire fanatics are.


    ?Dandelion continued to describe.


    “No one knows whether the two brothers really believe in the doctrine, or whether they act like they believe in the doctrine in order to climb up in the sect. Anyway, it makes no difference to the result.”


    “In order to show their piety, those who died under their cruel methods have nothing to say.”


    "Just last month, the two of them presided over an execution. A half-elf woman was accused of casting black magic to curse her neighbor. The two of them didn''t even ask a professional to come over to take a look. They went through the trial process quickly and ended up in The poor woman was hanged on the gallows."


    “In my opinion, the woman’s neighbor was so angry that he lied about the case because he didn’t drag the half-elf into bed.”


    ??Dandelion introduced the Manji brothers as if announcing the curtain in a play, saying that a certain villain was about to appear.


    ?Dudu, who was not very scared at first, also swallowed his saliva.


    But he still made a difficult arc at the corner of his mouth.


    "It shouldn''t be that scary for them to come looking for me. After all, I have friends among the temple guards, right?"


    "You?" Triss asked in surprise as she sat on the bed, "A shapeshifter, or are you a halfling and have friends among the temple guards?"


    “Yes, and the status is not low.” Geralt said solemnly.


    “That’s also a few of us who know each other, the temple guard commander, Chapelle.”


    Triss and Priscilla gasped almost as soon as the name appeared in the room.


    The Temple Guard Commander''s reputation spread far and wide.


    It is said that he and his men often carry a whip called a Lamia whip.


    ?This kind of whip will be mixed with iron thorns and barbs during the leather weaving and shaping process. Many cities and countries have banned the possession and carrying of such whips.


    Novigrad was among them, but Chapelle and his men openly wore these rolls of Lamian whips on the belt buckles around their waists.


    ??The wound caused by this kind of whip will be unforgettable for ordinary people even after it heals.


    “Shapelle is not a priest, but he is the highest-ranking official in the city!”


    Priscilla covered her mouth and said.


    Even though she has been traveling and performing, she has heard of this name.


    "The most vicious and cruel man in Novigrad. I heard that even people from the city council and major guilds shudder when they see him. He is addicted to power, just like a spider is addicted to blood." The disappearance of traces, false accusations, torture, masked killers popping up on the street, intimidation, extortion, theft, coercion. Just talking about what he did is dark enough!”


    “But that’s already the old calendar.”


    ?Dandelion spoke as if singing, with a light tone.


    "I can guarantee that Chapelle is fair and kind now. It''s just in order to manage the scumbag team of temple guards that he has to hide his beautiful heart under the disguise of coldness and viciousness."


    "Are you sure of it? Are you sure of the complicated and unpredictable human heart?"


    Priscilla and Dandelion''s tongues were equally powerful, and they struck immediately after the poet''s words.


    “Speak as if you know him well.”


    ?Dandelion opened his mouth, but did not rush back.


    ??Geralt also tilted his head and looked at Dudu. While looking at him, he raised his chin towards Priscilla.


    Dudu nodded: "Tell me, Geralt, Dandelion. There''s nothing I can''t say. Although I didn''t catch this girl, I know her at least. She is a kind and tolerant woman who has no ill intentions towards non-human races." No prejudice either.”


    After receiving Dudu’s confirmation, Dandelion continued.


    “Of course I know Chapelle, because he is now the Commander of the Temple Guard of the Eternal Fire.”


    "Wait a minute." Lan En sat upright from the back of his chair, "He''s a shapeshifter too?!"


    “You’re right.”


    ?Dandelion pointed at Lann with a ''you guessed it'' expression.


    "Two months before we got to know Dudu, the real Chapelle died of a stroke. Now this Chapelle simply became him. The shape-shifter is kind-hearted in nature, and he and Dudu began to take care of each other. This is what Dudu The reason why it’s so easy to get status in Novigrad.”


    Except for the three insiders present, everyone was a little stunned.


    No one would have thought that within the Church of Eternal Fire, which is the most radical and discriminatory against non-human races, the commander of the temple guard force, the most radical and discriminatory against non-human races, turns out to be a shape-shifter!


    "So I''d say, this shouldn''t be a big deal, Chapelle can handle it with just one sentence. That''s his guy, isn''t it?"


    ?Dandelion said matter-of-factly.


    Dudu also relaxed a little with the poet''s relief.


    ??But after Lan En received the new information, he thought about it for a moment, and then he picked up Dudu''s heart again.


    “That is to say, the Manji brothers may have begun to doubt the identity of Shapelle’s shapeshifter.”


    ?Dudu’s body twitched suddenly and he looked at Lan En in horror.


    “After all, Dudu Bibwit’s identity has very little overlap with Chapelle’s identity, right? At least in public, very little.”


    “Both of you are shapeshifters, so you won’t let your apparent identity come into contact with you because you are both very cautious.”


    “But a notorious temple guard leader is still eyeing you. He doesn’t want money, property, or stocks, he just wants you.”


    With the help of Mentos in his mind, Lan En quickly clarified the relationship and even made a schematic diagram of interpersonal relationships.


    “Dandelion said that this matter should be left to Chapelle, but in my opinion, the Manji brothers were probably rushing to knock Chapelle down from the beginning.”


    "Shapelle''s power comes from the Temple Guard Force of the Eternal Fire. Even if he is the commander, he cannot change the nature of this force, that is: this is a force loyal to the Church and the teachings of the Eternal Fire. Armed Forces."


    “Once his identity as a shapeshifter is confirmed, no, even if his identity as a non-human race is confirmed, the rights in his hands will disappear in an instant, and in turn he will be killed.”


    “Being the commander of a force and being able to fully control the force are two different concepts.”


    ?Lan En said calmly, but his words made Dudu, who was not very nervous at first, panic again.


    ??Dandelion was also speechless with his mouth open.


    ?The poet has actually seen a lot of situations where the lower class suppresses the upper class, but there is no doubt that his knowledge and vision have not penetrated deeply into the core of the power structure.


    It is just a poetic view that the change of rights is due to vague expressions such as human desire or impulse.


    But in Lan En’s education and worldview, the operation of power is a real materialization process.


    There are traces to follow and follow a set of internal logic.


    He can understand this logic, and he can even play it well if he wants to.


    ??Although Lane did not mean to look down on Dandelion’s seven liberal arts degrees, he believed that poetic expression was sometimes an obstacle to understanding the real world.


    “The Manji brothers want to investigate Chapelle!”


    Potting his head and muttering in a cold sweat, a pair of halfling''s big feet made a loud sound on the wooden floor.


    "I have to. I have to inform him! Yes! Inform him! As long as he knows, he can deal with it!"


    "But two people have begun to doubt him, which means that secretly more people already think that he is abnormal."


    ?Lan En''s left hand emitted a cold white magic aura, and he was using the [Yaxi Sign] to calm down Dudu.


    "The shapeshifter is kind-hearted in nature, but just hearing about what Chapelle did is enough to make people scared. He has taken over Chapelle''s identity for so long, and it must have been a long time since he showed such cruelty to his subordinates and colleagues. If you lose your character, you will be suspected sooner or later.”


    “Rather than remind him now, you might as well advise him to leave Novigrad.”


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    (End of this chapter)