Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 892 - 13 Renewal Congress

Chapter 892: Chapter 13: Renewal Congress Chapter 892: Chapter 13: Renewal Congress “The vast majority of people in Iron Peak County consider you my man, no matter if it’s true or not, am I right?”

“So your actions not only represent yourself, but also my attitude, do you understand?”

“We just went through a very tough battle; what Iron Peak County needs the least right now is internal conflicts. I cannot openly confront the church, you should be clear about that.”

Besides seizing the initiative when he entered, Winters had no further aggressive behavior.

He calmly discussed facts and reason with Caman, without even a hint of reproach in his tone.

“Father Edmund just gave me an ultimatum.” Winters sighed heavily: “For such matters, you should have consulted with me first. Otherwise, it ends up like this—putting me in a very passive position.”

Caman’s cheeks flushed to a deep purple. He stood up stiffly and, with reluctance, bowed, his voice as faint as a butterfly flapping its wings: “I’m sorry.”

...

Actually, Winters had a bit of a playful thought to tease Caman, given that Caman was usually indifferent to him.

But seeing Caman bow and apologize due to a sense of guilt, Winters didn’t feel any triumph, instead, he felt quite uncomfortable.

“Hmm, such a good attitude, I’m actually not quite accustomed to it!” Winters quickly pushed Caman back into his seat, jokingly said: “You couldn’t have really gotten yourself into some big trouble, could you?”

Upon hearing this, Caman tried to stand up again.

Winters sensed a whiff of danger.

“Mr. Caman.” Winters held Caman’s shoulder, asking: “Are we friends?”

Caman was first taken aback, then glared at Winters angrily.

“We’ve been through so much together, even if we’re not friends, we’re close to it. I would never betray you, and I believe you wouldn’t betray me either.” Winters earnestly said: “But right now I still don’t know what I’m being dragged into, I think you should give me some explanation.”

Caman hesitated, struggling for a long time, finally gave up: “I’ve taken a vow of secrecy before the True Holy Emblem…”

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Caman didn’t need to mention it, but mentioning the “vow of secrecy” somehow piqued Winters’ interest—because the last time Caman talked about the vow of secrecy was when discussing Divine Arts.

Winters immediately left the room, ordering Xial to stand guard outside the door, not allowing anyone to approach.

After closing the door, Winters poured Caman a glass of water: “A vow of secrecy? Can you tell me the wording? Is it stringent? Maybe I can find a loophole.”

Caman snorted disdainfully, without responding.

“How about this? I ask questions, you only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”

Caman shook his head: “No.”

Winters suggested a few more methods, all rejected by Caman.

“Ah, I see. Any response you give would break the vow.” Winters grew increasingly intrigued: “That’s pretty stringent.”

“This matter won’t involve you for too long.” Caman said with difficulty: “I just need to buy some time.”

“Suppose there’s another country to the east, suppose that country has another Heretic Church, suppose that country’s Heretic Church also has another vow of secrecy…” Winters interrupted Caman, pacing the room: “Our discussion is all about hypotheticals, can we circumvent the vow this way?”

“You can fool others, but not yourself.” Caman shook his head: “Even if you can fool yourself, you can’t fool the Lord.”

Winters as if didn’t hear Caman’s words, he stopped pacing, and presented the final solution: “No other choice then, how about this—I’ll state the facts, and you don’t need to respond or show any opinion, just listen to me speak.”

Caman was somewhat irritated: “How do you not understand? Just by me tolerating you talking about this topic, I may have already breached the vow.”

“Possibly?” Winters caught the loophole in Caman’s words: “You said ‘possibly,’ right? Since there’s a possibility, it means the vow does have some room for flexibility.”

Caman clenched his mouth shut in anger.

“I’m curious, how can those of you who took the vow of secrecy communicate? Can’t be that the vow restricts you to ‘speak only with another person who has taken the vow’,” Winters, grabbing onto the oversight as if in a swordfight, pressed continuously: “If I take a vow too, would you be able to talk to me?”

Caman’s shoulders and hands were trembling.

“Nevermind, let’s not talk about that today.” Winters rationally decided not to further provoke Caman; he poured himself a glass of water, not caring whether Caman wanted to listen or not, just talked to himself: “Major Ronald mentioned in a letter, he rescued an old slave from the hands of the Herders, who claimed to be Father Saul, no further details…”

Caman sat with an expressionless face.

Winters carefully observed Caman’s expression. To him, the fact Caman did not stand up and leave meant victory.

A vow? No matter how stringent the words are, it’s ultimately people who carry out the vow—people are the biggest loophole.

“…the old slave who claimed to be Father Saul, after coming to Central Iron Peak County, you were the first to see him…” Winters paused for a moment, saying each word deliberately: “and it was you who hid him.”

Caman stared at the water glass, showing no reaction, but his emotions involuntarily betrayed him.

Winters’ tone was plain, as if he was making small talk: “You wanted to move in secret, but there are no secrets that don’t get out. The monks at Revodan Monastery learned of this, and their reaction was beyond your expectation. You had no choice but to use my name—or rather, you wanted to leverage my reputation to buy time for yourself…”