Crown of the Soul

"God will bless the believers!" As the sky approached dusk, the young disciple bid farewell to the middle-aged couple at the door and turned away. "God will bless the believers!" They quickly replied, watching the departing disciple. The middle-aged couple then closed the door and handed the holy bread distributed by the disciple to their nephew Paul and their daughter Lena. They said, "I'll go cook dinner. We have cured meat today." "That's great, Aunt Maggie!" Paul smiled happily, his joyful expression undoubtedly infecting others and bringing a pleasant atmosphere. Watching the busy aunt and uncle, Paul still put the holy bread in his mouth, feeling the burning pain. "I must find a way to leave the Holy Harmony Kingdom." Paul endured the pain and finished eating the remaining holy bread in his hand, unable to help but start pondering. The holy bread was made by the church disciples by baking wheat flour with holy water. It was not particularly special in itself, but because the holy water had been blessed by the church disciples, it carried a faint sacred power. Therefore, it could dispel evil. Paul happened to be among the "evil" that was dispelled. Paul's original name was not Paul Boku, nor was it the former name Naiser Riggs. It was a name that didn't fit into this world.

"Unknowingly, it has been thirteen years in this world," Paul had such a thought flash through his mind.

He was originally an ordinary person from another world. While driving home from work, he collided with a black hole that appeared out of nowhere and was reincarnated into this world—a world with divine arts, magic, and various creatures.

Unfortunately, he was reincarnated as a kind of creature that was rejected by most human forces—a werewolf.

The so-called creatures and humans didn't actually have much difference; they just had certain characteristics that set them apart from ordinary people, hence they were called "creatures," and werewolves were one of them.

The biggest difference between werewolves and humans was that most werewolves would lose control on the night of the full moon, growing sharp fangs and turning into giant wolves standing on two legs. They would often lose their sanity, becoming bloodthirsty and hunting down the lives around them.

Fortunately, Paul was part of the minority. He could control his transformation and suppress his bloodlust, maintaining a certain level of sanity after transforming.

This involved the innate and acquired differences of werewolves.

Innate werewolves were born to werewolf couples, just like humans. These werewolves were called purebred werewolves. Acquired werewolves, on the other hand, could be transformed through infection, curses, spells, and other means.

Paul was a half-purebred werewolf. His biological father was a werewolf. It was because he was a half-purebred werewolf that Paul could hide in the border city of Roya in the Holy Harmony Kingdom. As long as he didn't transform, he was no different from humans.

The Holy Harmony Kingdom was a theocratic nation with a large number of church disciples. Due to various reasons, regardless of which church it was, creatures were considered the greatest enemies. There were specialized teams to hunt down and kill creatures. Once a creature was captured by the church, they would either be burned to death, hanged, or imprisoned until death.

In short, most creatures had only one outcome—death.

Therefore, Paul's goal was to cross the walls of Roya and go to the neighboring kingdom of Loken, where the living conditions for creatures were said to be much better.

Paul had inquired and found out that the wilderness of this world was filled with monsters, and the journey between the two countries was even more dangerous than crossing the border wall.

Currently, he was staying at the Boku family's house, ostensibly as the nephew of the male head of the household, Aris Boku, but in reality, they had no blood relation.

The real Paul had died at the hands of bandits. He was a naive young boy who came to Roya to seek refuge with his uncle after his parents died of illness.

When Paul first met the real Paul, he learned most of his information without any need for small talk. The second time he saw the real Paul, the naive young boy had become a lifeless body in the hands of the bandits.

Witnessing all of this, Paul understood that he needed an identity. So he helped avenge the real Paul and, while he was at it, eliminated any witnesses. Then, assuming Paul's identity, he arrived in Roya.

"Brother Paul!" A voice made Paul turn around. He saw a seven or eight-year-old girl running towards him and hugging his legs. Looking up at him with her bright eyes, she asked, "Did you finish eating your holy bread?"

Lena Boku, Aris' daughter and Paul's nominal sister. After half a month of getting along, she had come to trust him deeply.

"I finished eating it. I'll make sure to save some for Lena next time, okay?" Paul smiled and tousled her messy hair, then helped her tie it into a braid.

He didn't like eating the tasteless holy bread that brought him pain, but he had to give others a 'normal' impression in order to avoid exposing himself.

Watching Lena happily jump into her mother's arms and ask if her braid looked good, Paul turned his head and walked upstairs. He looked out of the window on the second floor, gazing at the twilight scenery of this border city.

"I must leave as soon as possible..."

The next morning, Paul left the house and started selling the Boku family's homemade pickled vegetable cakes. He greeted the neighbors and started his day.

The neighbors around also became familiar with Paul, calling out his name with smiles on their faces.

Half a month ago, this nephew of the Boku family came to seek refuge with his uncle after his parents died of illness. On the way, his face was stung and swollen by a poisonous wasp. After the swelling subsided during this period, he turned out to be a handsome young man.

Paul collected information while selling pickled pancake. It seemed that his disguise was still effective. He didn't resemble the real Paul, but Alyss still had some impressions of his nephew, even though they hadn't seen each other for many years. If she saw a completely unfamiliar person at first glance, she would likely be suspicious.

That's why Paul deliberately made his face swollen. Over the past half month, as Paul's face gradually slimmed down, Alyss had enough impressions of him, which made her not suspect anything from beginning to end.

While calling out on the street, Paul started to scout, glancing at a distant mansion with his peripheral vision. That was his target.

The Kingdom of Saint Tanyin and the Kingdom of Loken are currently in a hostile state and the border is not open. It is difficult for ordinary people to get close. If they want to pass through the Rua border defense line, they must rely on the power of the nobles. Most of the nobles in the border cities are involved in smuggling.

Generally speaking, it is almost impossible for a commoner to get involved in noble smuggling business, even if they spend several years or even more than a decade of effort. Their servants are usually passed down from generation to generation, inheriting their fathers' business, serving the nobles for generations, in order to gain their trust.

An outsider, no matter how they prove themselves, cannot make them trust easily.

However, there is an opportunity now.

"The man behind those bandits is Baron Mansla." Paul remembered the information he obtained from those bandits and secretly memorized the terrain of the baron. After calling out for a while, he left.

He still had a lot of preparations to do. Otherwise, whether it was the nobles or the church in the city, they had the ability to deal with him, an underage werewolf.

When he returned to the Boku family, Alyss and Marjorie had not yet returned.

The Boku family was not wealthy, barely able to maintain a basic standard of living, especially after Paul's arrival.

"It's about time," Paul rubbed Lena's head as she ran over upon hearing the commotion. He calculated in his mind. In order to avoid suspicion, he had to be cautious and not draw too much attention to himself.

But now that he was gradually becoming familiar with the situation, Paul felt that he could start taking appropriate actions to help the Boku family become slightly more prosperous, at least not becoming a burden to himself.

"Bringing knowledge from another world would be too abrupt, and the world has changed. Some things are completely different, and that knowledge may not be useful."

"Even if it is useful, if it is too far ahead of this era, it might be seen as being possessed by the devil. I could end up on the stake. Or perhaps, if it conflicts with someone's interests, I could be labeled as a lowly thief who stole noble secrets." Paul was well aware of the nature of the church and some of the people in this era.

His gaze swept across the modest home, and Paul noticed a book with a painting on the cover.

"Perhaps I can try to become an artist."

Being an artist in this world could be a decent path, especially if he engaged in religious-related artwork, which happened to be an area Paul was quite familiar with.

"The group of beasts on the ground shouted 'No need for God', and God followed it and left his position."

"Endless light falls, and the starry sky, bright moon, and scorching sun appear in the sky at the same time."

"The beasts howled in the light, praying for God's return."

"When the light cleanses the earth, God returns, leaving tears for the dead beasts, nourishing the earth, and restoring its vitality."

"That tears are pity." - "God's Word: Desolation Era"

Paul closed the book in his hand and did not continue reading. He was very clear about the content behind it, and he only read this book for the illustrations on it.

Due to limited printing capabilities, the illustrations in the preaching book "The Word of God" with the same content vary from region to region and are generally drawn by the best local painters.