"Do you think I should go?" Gray asked Black Cat, Catherine, Vivian.

"I think you'd better go there. The threat in the letter is too obvious." Black Cat replied.

"I think you'd better go there, too." Catherine said: "According to your agreement with the Holy Spirit, if humans launch a crusade because they know your identity as a lich, then heaven will also attack you. At that time, it is still unknown whether the power of the Demon Lord can work. Even if it works, you cannot rely on it to defeat the Holy Spirit."

"Is the Holy Spirit sure to attack me?" asked Gray.

"It must be. It's a resolution, not a resolution that a certain Holy Spirit can change alone. It's even more like a contract."

Gray was silent.

"I hope you can understand one thing." Catherine added: "If your identity is revealed, human beings launch a crusade, and heaven follows it, then everything you do now will be invalidated. Let alone continue to move forward, everything before will be denied and everything will return to its original state. Do you want this?"

"I don't want to, but..." Gray didn't continue, he just stood silently and quietly. The soul fire was burning quietly, a little dazed.

After a while, Gray whispered: "I'll go and do my own business first."

As he said that, Gray turned around and left his room and brought the door with him.

Only Catherine, the Black Cat, and Vivian, who had not spoken, looked at each other in the room.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Catherine said softly: "You have always encouraged Gray to fight injustice. Yes, I know he has enough power. Punishing evil and promoting good is also a very great thing. But... Gray is a lich after all, and this is his biggest problem. Once revealed, everything is over. When you find that your identity is the biggest obstacle to the road to justice... how can that feeling be good?"

"I don't understand what you are talking about!" Vivian said angrily: "Grey can defeat the siege of heaven. Even if he can't, he can at least get a draw."

"Is that so? Are you sure Gray can? Without the support of the Demon Lord, can he still do it?"

"The Demon Lord will definitely support him!"

"Why would the Demon Lord support him, because he is a lich, an alien, that can divide the Holy See. But if Gray did not divide the Holy See but rejuvenate the Holy See? Will the Demon Lord support him? If the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to rejuvenate the Holy See? Which side will Gray stand on? Will Gray help the Demon Lord or the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit is helpful, will he become an abandoned son? Have you ever thought about him?"

After a series of questions, Vivian was speechless for a moment. The black cat listened quietly.

Catherine continued, "'Free things are the most expensive.' Isn't this a famous saying of your demon? The Demon Lord lends Gray power without any claim. But is it really free? While he lends Gray power, he actually also puts a spell on Gray. That is, he cannot lose, absolutely cannot lose, and even cannot violate the wishes of the Demon Lord. As long as he loses or violates the wishes of the Demon Lord, all those on his side will be implicated. The more brilliant the success today, the more intense the counterattack tomorrow will be. And the Demon Lord has mastered the power to deprive Grey of the foundation of success at any time. How do you think Gray should face this? Because of his identity as a lich, surrender to the Demon Lord, give up the justice he has been pursuing, or ignore the life and death of all those close to him? This is not just a matter of him."

Vivian shut up completely, opened her eyes wide, and looked panicked.

"Now is just the beginning. Gray wants to leave the urgent matter at hand to meet Cedric V, or continue to do it according to his own wishes and take huge risks. Playing this kind of game, whether it is the Demon Lord or the Holy Spirit, is much higher than us. Gray wants to give justice to everyone, but who will give justice to Gray?"

Black Cat and Catherine looked at each other silently, and Vivian opened her eyes wide.

After a long time, Catherine sighed softly: "If possible, I hope Gray will stop now. I know this is not what an angel should say, but I really think so. I know he will not agree, you... it's better not to persuade him to be radical."

...

Time passes by bit by bit, and there is a kind of tranquility, like the eve of a storm.

Everyone and every creature on the Celtics continent continue their own lives. Whether they are willing or not, "tomorrow" will eventually come.

Gray did not let go of everything as Cedric V's request and immediately went to the capital of the Gustav Empire, Black Dragon City.

"I will not leave what I should have done and go to Black Dragon City for personal reasons. There is no doubt that what is waiting for me there will be a secret agreement. If I agree, then what is the difference between me and the Cardinal that I am judged? Faith is the foundation of everything. If I cannot keep the bottom line of faith, then I cannot keep anything."

Yes, if we move forward step by step, it is for compromise, then what is the point of everything we have done before? Why not be a lich quietly?

So, in the tranquility, there was another undercurrent.

As Grey proceeded to the Cardinal Trial, the pirated "The Lich Paladin" appeared one by one on the market. These books were not sold because no one bought them at all. People who were hostile to Grey adopted the gift method. "Grey, the Paladin who never uncovered his mask, is actually a Lich." Such rumors began to appear everywhere.

One of them was even delivered to Yilin. Yilin sent it to Gray, and the same one was also a blank letter paper with only the head-up and the signature.

Gray just took a look and put the letter paper silently in the drawer.

"What does Yilin mean? Blank letter paper?" Vivian asked in a low voice.

"I think she is suspicious, too." Black Cat said helplessly.

"But she didn't question it."

"Because she is not qualified to question. Without Gray, there would be no everything she has today. Maybe she sent a piece of letter paper to Gray, just want Gray to give her an answer."

The entire continent of Celtics was filled with whispers, whispers against Paladin Grey.

"Why doesn't Paladin Gray respond to such rumors? As long as he uncovers his mask, no one will doubt him anymore."

"How do you know that uncovering a mask is not a confirmation of the rumor?"

"If this is the truth, why didn't he ban the spread of such rumors? Isn't it because he is generous?"

"It may also be because he is speechless."

Among the people who were talking a lot, there were even many people who were familiar to Grey.

Letters were sent to Mount Azrant.

"Sir Paladin, I think you should clarify. Such rumors are really ridiculous." This was sent by Mike.

"Sir Paladin, if you can, I think you should remove the mask. If you really don't want to, you should at least tell everyone why you are unwilling to remove the mask." This was sent by Halls.

"I heard such a rumor a month ago. I severely punished the housekeeper and did not allow anyone to mention it. But now everyone is saying that I don't know what to do. Maybe you should enter a new decree to list the book called "The Lich Paladin" as **. By the way, the author was arrested and executed. If you don't want to do it, you can do it." This was sent by Camilla.

"Maybe you have your reasons, maybe to show your generosity. But in reality, these rumors have begun to affect your reputation. I really don't understand why this ridiculous rumor has fermented to this level, and you could have easily let it disappear." This was sent by Abby Robles.

"You are my grandson-in-law. I respect your ideas and have become accustomed to you that you refuse to let anyone see your face without any reason. However, from a political perspective, this kind of rumor should be stopped. Anyone can see that someone is pushing it behind it. Do you want them to succeed?" This was sent by Earl Grugru.

"Dear Paladin, we are familiar with your character and know that you will never be a lich. There is no lich like you in this world. However, not everyone believes in you as much as we do. Bob told me that you may be an elf. In fact, I have thought about it. If this is the case, it is indeed impossible to uncover the mask. After all, the human paladin is an elf, which is not good news. But I think you should at least make some responses, even if it is fake." This was sent by Benedict II.

Of course, there were also those who did not write to Gray directly. For example, Camilla's father, Gene II, Duke of Bert. He directly arrested those who spread the "rumor" and slandered them for the crime of slandering the Paladins. For this reason, Gray had to write to plead for them.

"I'm very worried about you, you'd better come back early. It's not that I don't support you, but I think you should spend more time with Ritchie and me." This was undoubtedly Shelley's letter.

Of course, there is also a letter from Ritchie who secretly sent: "Father, the situation seems to be moving in a bad direction. I think you should make a quick decision and solve it quickly. I mean, by force. I know you have this ability."

The whole world is whispering.

I have to say that a rumor that uses stories and books as the carrier has a strong expansion force. And when there is power behind it actively pushing, this expansion force is even more extraordinary. Of course, the main problem is that Gray did not respond.

Yes, there was no response, no evidence to prove that he was not, and there was not even a single denial. He just continued to work hard on Mount Azrant, focusing on his religious reform. He seemed to have not heard of all kinds of rumors.

Almost all bishops stationed abroad wrote to Gray, asking him to explain. After all, although many of them opposed Gray, rumors such as "the Holy See was controlled by a lich" were even more deadly. At least before Gray stepped down.

However, Gray did not reply to these letters.

Time passed by bit by bit, and in a blink of an eye, it was December of the 10757 calendar. Five months have passed since Grey controlled Mount Azrant.

The trial of the cardinals on Mount Azrant was finally settled. All four paladins were removed from office. Twenty-one of the thirty-one cardinals were removed from office. One of them was the one who supported Gray at the time. Among the twenty-one cardinals who were removed from office, seventeen were directly expelled from the church, and fifteen had to face various other punishments.

Even the ten cardinals and the new Pope Darren IV who remained were not completely fine. They were just doing less, and before the new blood was replenished, the Cardinal needed a minimum number of people to maintain operation. They needed to convert the mistakes they made into whip of varying amounts and continue to be executed until they were fully repaid according to the doctrine.

Among them, Dominiel converted 600 whips, and at the rate that ten whips each month would not endanger his life, he needed to be beaten for five years.

"Gray, I think you'd better think clearly." Black Cat suggested: "If you announce the results like this, it may be very unfavorable for you."

"Because it's not good for me, do they need not be punished if they make mistakes?" Gray asked back.

Such a penalty can be said to be extremely harsh. Although Gray did not think it was very harsh when he looked at the case file, he was already kind enough.

For a time, rumors such as "The Paladin is a Lich, and the judgment of the Cardinal is part of the Lich's plan to master the Holy See" became even more noisy.

In the beginning, people regarded the incredible "rumor" such as "the Paladin was a lich" as a topic of conversation after dinner, just like discussing how many mistresses the king had. Now, with Grey's heavy punishment on the Cardinal, various conspiracy theorists began to come to the forefront.

In February 10757, an armed fight occurred in San Lorenza. Two people died and many were injured. The cause of the incident was that someone openly claimed in the market that Paladin Grey was a lich, while the other person disagreed. At first, it was just a quarrel between two people, but it eventually turned into a bloody armed fight involving thousands of people.

When I met the family of the deceased, an old man held Gray's hand tightly and said in tears: "Sir Paladin! My son was beaten to death, but I don't regret it! You exempted the sacrificial tax, you punished the sacrificial sticks, you are the greatest Paladin ever, we can all feel your integrity and kindness! How can we allow them to slander you like this? I am old and have not been able to live for a few years. I beg you to uncover the mask and let them all see! Let them all see how ridiculous the rumor is!"

Gray could only look at the old man quietly. He could see expectations in the old man's hazy gaze, but he could not respond to this expectation. He could only watch quietly, watching the expectations drop by bit, and even dare not take away his hand. He didn't know how to comfort an old man who had just lost his beloved son.

"Vivian." Gray asked softly: "Are these news sure that Cedric V released?"

"Confirm." Vivian replied: "Both Cardinals were under house arrest by him, only he has the ability to do so. He wants to force you to go to Heilong City to see him."

"I understand, we will set out to Heilong City tomorrow."
Chapter completed!