"No harm, this was not intentional on your part."
After exchanging a few more courteous words and saying their goodbyes, Laine sighed in relief. He was finally rid of the young aristocrat. In fact, he was already regretting the encounter a bit.
Reincarnation had brought back many old habits from his mortal life, such as making small talk during meals. Who would have thought he would end up meeting someone so earnest that they followed him all the way to his doorstep?
After closing the front door, Laine entered the house and set down the small packages he was carrying.
"The materials are finally complete."
"This local aristocrat is somewhat useful after all; at least he knows where to buy these things."
After changing out of his outer clothes and unpacking his items, the packages Laine brought back contained nothing else but gold powder, spices, salt, and floral essential oils.
These items were not rare, nor were they prohibited, but since they were mostly used in places of deity worship, ordinary people had no clue where to purchase them.
Fortunately, that aristocrat youth interested in 'Classical Era Government' had the connections—though Laine still couldn't remember his name.
He closed the doors and windows, drew the curtains to block out external light, and the room instantly plunged into darkness.
In the darkness, Laine lit a scented candle and soon mixed the gold powder with some materials to create a pale blue liquid. Using this as ink, Laine drew a circle encompassing the entirety of the room.
Several runes were drawn, distributed inside and outside the circle. When the last rune was inscribed, a feeling of 'isolation' from the outside world immediately permeated the small room.
After completing all this, Laine finally extinguished the candle.
"Had I not asked those few questions, I might not have known that there's still some trouble in this city now."
In the darkness, Laine surveyed the spirituality barrier he had created and nodded silently.
This barrier wasn't defensive; its sole purpose was to isolate the interior from exterior essences. And the entity Laine needed to isolate... naturally, it involved those young men who, under threat, had 'reformed,' dropping their bladed weapons in favor of clubs.
Saint Knights, special Godhood Practitioners active on Earth even before the New Chronicle, were a group of fanatical adherents to justice and goodness, created by Themis herself.
Strictly speaking, however, the Saint Knights weren't necessarily all followers of the Goddess of Law and Justice, though most of them were—but not absolutely, despite many of their critical powers indeed stemming from that Goddess's blessings.
They believed in justice, and those who shared the same understanding of justice as Themis naturally offered their faith to her, but there were others with different interpretations, who chose to purge evil for other deities, or simply professed justice itself.
Fortunately, as a form of Godhood Practitioner, these firmly believing Saint Knights found another source to provide them with Sacred Power, which was a collective of human beliefs in truth, goodness, and beauty, an outer realm known as Seven Hills Paradise. Thus, even without divine favor, these purely willed individuals could still perform Divine Arts.
Of course, regardless of their faith, as long as all Saint Knights strictly adhered to basic codes and creeds, the power of the Divine Artifact, the Sword of Judgment—stemming from the Goddess of Justice and Law—could be freely utilized by them. It was for this reason that these individuals had certain abilities that many vehemently despised.
"For instance, the exclusive Divine Art, Detect Evil, is among them...
because fighting without lethal weapons and causing death are categorized under 'brawling' or 'manslaughter,' while using lethal weapons falls under 'gang violence,' 'murder,' and 'looting.' The 'evil degree' shown under Detect Evil varies between the two, and the time it takes to erase a large part of this evil degree also varies.
Thus, under the threat of Saint Knights, even those low-status individuals in society have abandoned knives and swords and switched to clubs."
"Tsk tsk, what a peculiar development. However, looking at it this way... you, too, have essentially realized your own 'justice.'"
Laine felt somewhat awed, yet pleased for Themis.
As an Innate Deity, conflicting with one's own Godhood was anything but a pleasant feeling. It seemed she had ultimately found a balance between law and justice, at least to some extent.
Returning to the main point, the arrival of the Saint Knights was not without reason. According to Wes, Turingen City did not have a temple to the Goddess of Law and Justice, and the Saint Knights recently active in the vicinity were said to be tracking traces of cultists.
While the cultists had not yet been found, the city's public security had directly improved by several levels, even the aristocrats had become much more compliant, which was rather ironic.
However, none of that was of concern to Laine. What truly mattered to him was what he was about to do next, something that shouldn't be known to those dedicated to justice.
After spending several days powerless as a mortal, Laine had largely resolved the questions of 'who I am' and 'where I am.' Now, what he needed was 'what I should do'.
But whatever it was, he first needed to master the transcendent powers he could utilize.
"Logically speaking, as my human avatar, this body and soul possess extraordinary talents."
"If I choose to, whether on the path of the Wizard or now what is mainstream called the Knight, with myriad career options, I can easily reach the realm of Demigod, but..."