Naimes couldn’t help but smile at this moment.

“You really can’t underestimate anyone.” Naimes was, after all, not someone who had never missed anything.

He had simply had a different perspective and had gone through a few more years of backstabbing in the Abyss, that was all—not that he was incapable of making mistakes.

“Life is like that too. People will make mistakes, but what matters is how they deal with them afterward.”

“It’s their tolerance for error.”

Naimes took this thought seriously.

For now, no matter what, the old priest had to die.

That man knew far too much;

if he reported these things, Naimes’s future within the Oath God’s church could easily be jeopardized.

Although Naimes could seize a new identity again—he wasn’t afraid of soul inspections—this would still expose certain information about him…

“The Oath God is probably still looking for me,” Naimes thought. “They will pay attention to any related information.”

“If word gets through that ‘a cleric who passed a soul check suddenly betrayed us,’ that would likely trigger a reaction from the Oath God. Even if I changed identities then, sneaking back into the church and rapidly climbing the ranks would become extremely difficult.”

The True Spirit hidden deep inside Nael’s soul fluttered slightly, emitting a chill.

Naimes quickly suppressed it again.

At this moment, he wasn’t even certain he could kill the old priest.

Moreover, even if he did kill him, it was not guaranteed that his own information wouldn’t be exposed.

He had to seize the right moment and then present his optimal solution.

“…I still need to use other people as my scouts to probe for more information.” Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs Nove1Fire.net

“After walking in circles, I’m back to this issue again.” Naimes found the situation curiously circular.

His original purpose in infiltrating the material plane, hiding within the demon statue, and signing a contract with Nael had been to get Nael to kill the old priest and monopolize the village church’s faith.

He had also sent Tangs, who was possessed by a demon, to test the old priest.

Only after discovering the old priest was a Steel Seed did his actions against the priest slow down.

Then events such as the village guard, the Whale Transformation Disease, whalehide ore, and agents from the church siphoned off his attention.

Unexpectedly, after all those twists and turns, he had looped back to the starting point: he needed to test the old priest again, and then kill him!

“Only test personnel—need to choose carefully.” Watching Lia’s continual struggles, Naimes slightly activated the Oath Rope tied to the village guard.

Right now, this situation was a perfect probe.

“Let’s see how you’ll respond.” Naimes knew that at this time he could not act rashly, but he also could not be a coward and ignore potential dangers.

Letting hidden enemies move in the dark would only increase their advantage;

when the tide finally turned against him, escape might be impossible.

So probing was necessary, and after probing, making decisive responses based on the intelligence was also necessary.

After the village guard arrived, Naimes immediately assigned a task—steal the organs.

The village guard was stunned for a moment, but then agreed at once.

In the contract Naimes had signed with him, there was a clause guaranteeing Lia’s life safety, promising food and water and doing their best to ensure Lia’s whale transformation was handled.

The village guard also had a clause in the contract allowing Naimes to use him at will, which Naimes counted as part of “do their best.”

In short, this was a loophole Naimes had buried in the contract.

If it had been earlier, the village guard might have had other thoughts, but now he really didn’t dare.

The previous nest beast attack had caused more than a dozen deaths.

Those bodies had been buried quickly;

with the coffins sealed underground, oxygen didn’t circulate.

According to custom, they had been washed with herbal extracts beforehand, which had a preservative effect, so their organs underground hadn’t rotted completely.

Ten days was still usable.

“When you go, activate the whale transformation in advance.”

“Then make sure Isabella is at the church at that time.”

“If possible, find a way to get Isabella’s attention,” Naimes issued the orders.

The village guard’s eyes trembled, but he still agreed.

To be exposed directly in front of the clergy would be a death sentence.

If fully investigated, it would be very difficult for him to hide.

Given Naimes’s current goals, he would most likely be sacrificed.

“Please, Lord Nael, spare my daughter’s life,” the village guard said at last;

that was all he had left to say.

“…I will do my best.” Naimes replied after a moment of silence.

Neither of them mentioned the contract;

the village guard himself also knew he couldn’t outplay Naimes and the others.

A contract on paper might seem to guarantee safety, but in reality, all contracts are made to be broken.

Facing someone like Naimes, breaking a contract was as easy for him as breathing.

Their evil lay in despising all other beings and focusing solely on their own goals—a pure, unadulterated malice.

In that case, the phrase “I will do my best,” though not entirely reassuring, still gave the village guard a certain comfort.

It was at that moment Naimes sensed information from the divine aspect—

[Commandment Change Detected]

[Primary Commandment: Oathkeeping]

[Commandment Feedback: Added — (Fatherly Guard): The protective power of paternal love. It grants others a mountain-like sense of security and enhances the defensive capabilities of Contract Artifacts.]

Naimes’s eyes narrowed;

he had not expected that an oral agreement, outside of a formal contract, could trigger feedback from the commandment.

He carefully pondered the difference in this commandment change.

His response had no emotional involvement.

He was not going to be moved by the village guard’s so-called fatherly love—everyone had such emotions to some degree;

so what?

When interests clashed, Naimes would not spare someone simply because they were a good father or a dutiful son.

Just as he had told the village guard—“I will do my best”—if it didn’t affect his own interests, there was no need to waste the effort killing someone.

“This is probably not my effect but rather the village guard’s intense belief in the promise that triggered the commandment change,” Naimes concluded, gaining a deeper understanding of how the commandment operated.

After the village guard departed, Naimes set off as well.

He strolled slowly toward the church.

On the surface, he and the village guard had no significant connection.

If the village guard’s actions were discovered by Isabella, then, given Isabella’s distrust of him, she would surely notify the old priest.

Let’s see how the old priest would deal with this kind of “evil” once the situation was exposed!