Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1620: Chapter 347: Farewell

When Vasco stepped into Father Strala’s church again, Father Strala was in the yard hanging out his many colorful underwear.

Under the old guy’s black priest robe, it was indeed so colorful… Vasco abruptly shook his head, casting aside these bizarre thoughts.

“That guy with the parted hair, didn’t come?” Seeing Father Strala still hanging his underwear with no intention of stopping, Vasco couldn’t help but ask.

The church was unusually calm, as if nothing had happened… yet Vasco clearly felt the fluctuation of a powerful force—definitely the pulse of divine power, and it was obviously not Strala’s divine power.

Speaking of which, Vasco still felt strange in his heart—Strala was obviously called a god defiler by that descending angel, yet he could still wield that mighty divine power.

“Parted hair?” The priest stopped his hands and fell into recollection, then displayed a look of grief, “They’re all dead.”

Vasco opened his mouth—he clearly didn’t believe it.

“All dead?” Vasco immediately sneered, “Where are the bodies? Not a single body to be seen, or did you feed them all to the cats?”

“How did you know?” Father Strala was suddenly shocked, then angrily said, “Vasco, I considered you a good brother, but it turns out you always had a habit of peeping on me? Tell the truth, back when we were in the training camp, what exactly were you doing behind my back in the showers?!”

The priest at this moment was both shocked and angry, even trembling with rage, looking extremely aggrieved.

Vasco could only stare fixedly at the other person… even now, he couldn’t determine whether Strala’s mental state was good or bad, or whether what he said was true or false.

But to say the Holy Church’s paladins and clergy all perished here, Vasco absolutely did not believe it… no matter what, it shouldn’t be this peaceful.

He had just taken the squire candidates and settled them before coming back, how much time had passed?

Shaking his head, Vasco could only directly walk into the church… perhaps the Holy Church’s forces hadn’t fully arrived yet, that powerful burst of divine power earlier might have been from their vanguard, just repelled by Strala’s chaotic fists.

The main force should arrive soon… Vasco thought so, deciding to stay and wait.

Most importantly, he calculated that within the Holy Church now, it seemed only he could reasonably converse with a half-crazy Father Strala.

“Hey! Vasco, I have a black-and-white film of the nun of the wind and the moon treasured for forty-three years, want to watch it together?!”

Alright, even he probably couldn’t hold a proper conversation… With a bang, Vasco closed the room door, then picked up the satellite phone.

“It’s me… it seems the church’s main force hasn’t arrived yet… Anyway, I didn’t see them.”

“This time it’s Angel Hamaliel leading, it’s a mid-tier descending angel… Maybe something happened on the way, after all, it’s through the Unhuman Domain… Hmm, try to persuade Strala, make sure he doesn’t provoke Hamaliel…”

“Pope, if Strala becomes a god defiler, what do you want me to do?” Vasco asked in a deep voice at this moment.

The other end of the phone was silent for a long time.

When there was a response, the pope simply said softly: “Act according to your own will, Vasco, trust yourself, which is to trust your faith.”

“You old guy who’s almost dead, you might as well have said nothing!”

The infuriated veteran paladin abruptly hung up the phone… Vasco took a deep breath, simply sitting cross-legged on the floor to meditate and restore his power—his divine power had undergone a transformation ever since being suppressed by that mysterious young man, and it hadn’t fully recovered until now.

…

Holy City.

“Truly, not giving any face at all.”

Inside the pope’s private chamber, after the personal call ended like this, the aging pope couldn’t help but shake his head with a slight bitter smile.

But after the bitter smile, there was melancholy… Within the vast Holy Church, perhaps only Vasco could speak a few unreserved words with him now?

Since Strala left the Shenwei Prison.

The nostalgic look on the old man’s face grew stronger… Memories had long returned to the distant childhood—the time when he was just an unremarkable shepherd boy in the village, while Vasco was the coachman’s son.

As for Strala, he was the landlord’s dim-witted son.

The recollection was very brief… after which, the nostalgic expression on the pope’s face instantly disappeared, replaced by solemnity, doubt… even fear.

At this moment, on the desk before the pope, there were five palm-sized angel statues, and without exception, all of them were in a beheaded state.

They… should have had heads—each statue represented the status of the descending angels this time.

Angel statues without heads signified that…

“How could this be… not a single unit dispatched made contact, Vasco said he didn’t see the main force either, but the statues…”

An ominous premonition was spreading in the heart of this elderly pope… After a long time, as if making some decision, he resolutely reached out and twisted the ornamental carving on the armrest of his chair.

With a snapping sound, the wall behind the chair in the pope’s private chamber slowly opened… it seemed something was released, a crack in the wall opened a little, and something suddenly emerged.

The pope drew a sharp breath, startled, and pressed both hands on the carving of the armrest, turning it back in the opposite direction.

The wall… once again slowly closed.

At this moment, the pope was as if exhausted, already slumping on the chair, his face pale, cold sweat pouring.

The sound, a faint sound, seemed to come from behind the pope…

“You will find me… you will find me again… I know… you will find me again…”

The pope suddenly scrambled to his feet, not looking back, and hurried out of the private chamber.

…

…

“… Today’s lesson will end here.”

In the classroom, Teacher Prin was tidying up his lesson plans as usual, but the dismissal bell hadn’t actually rung yet—this didn’t match Teacher Prin’s daily routine.

Everyone knew that Teacher Prin had a habit of giving a “few more minutes” of lecture after class.

So, in the large classroom, dozens of pairs of eyes were now all fixated on Teacher Prin—who smiled slightly, then slowly said, “Additionally, this will be my last class teaching you all.”

The room immediately filled with murmurs and sounds of surprise.

Teacher Prin motioned with his hand to quiet down, “Because of some personal reasons, I’ve resigned from my position at the academy. But rest assured, after I leave, the vice principal will temporarily take over my classes. When the new semester begins, a new teacher should take office, and your studies likely won’t be affected… or perhaps, you’ll find it easier to earn credits from the new teacher.”

Laughs… naturally, no student managed to laugh.

Though credits from Teacher Prin were hard to get, he, like those aged professors, had a wealth of knowledge, so he was quite popular in the academy, ranking among the top ten.

Though not particularly handsome, he was exceptionally pleasing to the eye—always in a white shirt, black trousers, and gloves, always with round glasses and a long braid, and that harmless air was very appealing to a large number of daring female students in the academy.

A student stood up to ask a question, it was a girl.

But Teacher Prin clearly didn’t intend to entertain student questions. After bowing deeply, he packed his things and briskly left the classroom—a few bold girls hurriedly chased after him, but his presence was already gone from the corridor.

…

[Butterfly Society].

You could say he was a regular… aside from Claudia who had already started a new life, Teacher Prin was probably the one who came to [Butterfly Society] the most since its opening.

However, in the previous instances, only Boss Luo was left in [Butterfly Society], but this time the Maid was evidently also there.

Regarding this female student’s impression, from just a week or two ago, Teacher Prin apologetically said, “What’s your name again?”

“You Ye.” The Maid replied with a smile.

“Feels happy, eh?” Teacher Prin turned his head to look at Boss Luo, then self-deprecatingly said, “I’ve lived for over thirty years and just realized I’m still alone.”

Boss Luo casually asked, “When do you plan to officially leave, Teacher?”

“In the next few days,” Teacher Prin thought for a moment and said, “I have some matters to wrap up before leaving… I probably won’t return to this place. I don’t have the habit of staying in the same place twice… I think.”

“So to speak…” Boss Luo pondered. “If we meet again, Teacher, it would likely be in another place, right?”

“Isn’t there a phone?” Teacher Prin jokingly said, “Though I rarely use it, I do have a phone number. Besides, I do check my emails. If it’s you, I will remember to occasionally look at my mailbox.”

As he spoke, Teacher Prin asked for a piece of paper and scribbled an email account on it.

The Maid took care to keep the paper safe, then poured Teacher Prin a cup of tea and brought a few plates of snacks.

Quite abundant, because of that “Feels happy, eh?”

Boss Luo thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t finished reading your fairy tale book.”

“You can have it, given that I’ve bothered you so many times, and always came empty-handed…” Teacher Prin smiled, “It’s nothing valuable, just something I bought from a farmer while traveling, supposedly the original manuscript, but they were probably lying to me to charge more.”

“It’s the original,” Boss Luo unexpectedly said, “and quite valuable… To me, every story on each page speaks like a beautiful tale whispered by the ear.”

Teacher Prin was taken aback, then chuckled, “You know, I’m just a lazy bachelor in my thirties, are you brushing my favor for no reason?”

“I also have a little gift for you.” Boss Luo said, “Consider it a farewell gift.”

A gift box was soon handed to Teacher Prin from the hands of the Maid… Teacher Prin didn’t have the habit of opening gifts only after he returned home.

Opening the exquisite gift box, inside was yet another box, wooden and the size of a jewelry box. Once opened, it contained nothing but a small handful of black soil.

“What are these…”

“The soil from a Manjusaka flower,” the Maid smiled slightly, “it’s said that besides being able to plant the death flower, it also has the function of stabilizing the soul… Of course, that’s what the florist who sold us the soil said, perhaps also to deceive us, sell more for a higher price.”

Teacher Prin fell silent for a moment but eventually took the box, looked at Boss Luo, and pondered, “I do like this gift… I’ll accept it then.”

“As long as you like it.” Boss Luo nodded.

Teacher Prin then stood up, saying earnestly, “Although our time together was short, it’s been a pleasant memory, I hope we’ll have the chance to meet again in the future… Oh, I’ll still be around for two or three more days, perhaps we’ll meet one last time, you never know.”

With that, Teacher Prin pushed open the door of the [Butterfly Society] and walked out of the old school building, while the tea he drank was still warm.

In fact, he barely touched it, and so were the snacks.

The Maid regretfully said, “Such a waste… What should we do.”

Boss Luo casually tapped the table, and the snacks vanished, he chuckled, “Send them to Zhao Le and Chen Mingming, as consolation.”

That was naturally a good idea, and the Maid responded with a sweet smile.

Then, the door of the [Butterfly Society] was knocked open once more… and in walked Lamias, dressed in a quite formal suit.

The professional suit perfectly showcased the Nun’s long-trained, slim and well-proportioned figure… except perhaps the buttons on the chest appeared a bit strained.

“I saw you guys on the new student roster,” Lamias entered with a smile, “Only two new students this time, a boy and a girl, must be you two… Luo Qiu, that’s your name, right? I’ve just found out.”

As she walked, the heels of her black high heels clicked on the wooden floor, making a clacking sound… suddenly, Lamias’s coy expression became rigid like an overdose of Botox.

Her right heel sunk into the floorboard and then… it broke… snapped… off.

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PS: (10/82)