Chapter 619: Bet
Frida pointed at the orders of the various gods standing in front of them.
The Order in dark brown workers' clothes.
"The Order of Pester, the God of Mining."
The Order in orange and steel-colored clothes.
"The Order of Friebel, the Goddess of Smithing."
The Order wearing yellow robes.
"The Order of Tjusko, the God of Yellow Flowers."
"Yellow flowers? Does that mean there are gods of other flowers?"
"Yes, there's a Goddess of Flowers."
Lastly, Frida's hand landed on a group of people draped in robes, both dark and light blue.
"The Order of Ulra, the God of Rainfall. And if I'm not mistaken, that's the Priest of Dark Rain, Laro."
"Wait, the God of Rainfall. That's the guy you mentioned back then? What are the odds?"
"Well, we are neighbors, so…"
"Ah. He's probably the reason they're all gathered here, then?" Zach asked, shooting Frida a glance.
"Probably. It's the Order of Ulra or Tjusko, at least. The other two aren't famous for information-gathering skills," Frida answered.
"Are the two of you done talking now?" The man in the front of the yellow group asked.
"No," Zach answered without looking away from Frida.
"But, uh…They all seem pretty weak? Are they planning to take over the tunnel and share it among themselves?" He asked.
Frida nodded.
"Most likely. That's what we were trying to do, after all."
"I see." Zach nodded.
Gjula could handle Bartuk, his fellow believers, and the few believers of Vatar that they had allowed entry. But four more Orders, three of whom seemed to be led by decently powerful figures, would be a logistical nightmare.
Zach exchanged looks with Violina, Dukiel, Nessa, Anerias, Rienne, and Yan. They were the representatives of Gjula. It was their responsibility to keep the inflow of outsiders in check.
Zach turned to Frida again.
"Can you tell them to back off?" He asked.
"I can, but they won't listen. At best, they'll take a step back and wait until we leave, since we won't be able to defend the tunnel forever. I should also mention that the more time passes, the greater the odds of other Orders discovering the tunnel." Frida glanced back at the tunnel
She didn't want to collapse it. She still considered it, though. She didn't want her competition to get stronger. Unfortunately, they had the Order of Pester on their side. The God of Mining. Digging tunnels was their thing.
"Do we kill them all?" Zach whispered to Frida and the others.
Frida shook her head.
"Their gods know, and the rest of their Order knows where they are. If they die, they'll know what happened."
Zach frowned. That made things tricky. He looked at the tunnel.
A barrier could work. But followers of the God of Mining could probably dig around it unless he made it ridiculously big, but that would make it weak.
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the followers of the gods who had yet to visit Gjula.
"I have an idea," He said simply and walked forward before any of the others could ask him what that idea was.
He looked at the leaders of the different orders. A man dressed in yellow with dark blonde hair. A muscular woman with tan skin dark hair, exposed tanned arms, and a robust hammer hanging from her belt. A short man with scruffy hair and beard carrying a pickaxe. A tall, dark-haired, broody man.
They returned his gaze.
"I guess you have figured out who we are by now and what's going on. Except you, of course," Zach said, nodding at the Priest of Ochre Petals.
"We don't want you guys to enter the tunnel, and you guys want to enter the tunnel. Now, I'm confident in my strength, but just getting rid of all of you won't solve the problem. So, I propose a bet of sorts. Interested?"
"No. Get out of the way, and we won't have any problems, peasant!" The Priest of Ochre Petals, Yubo, said, angry at Zach's insulting words.
Zach ignored him and looked at the other three.
Laro, the Priest of Dark Rain, was silent. Not a surprise.
The Goddess' Hammer, Vera, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized Zach. He was confident in getting rid of all of them? She almost wanted to see it. But on the off-chance that he was speaking the truth…It was better to hear him out first.
"Well, what is it, boy?" Mort, one of the Apostles of the God of Mining, asked impatiently.
Zach smiled.
"We'll settle it with a duel. You all may choose your strongest fighter. And then you may choose who among us you think is the weakest. If we win, you leave and don't tell anyone about the tunnel or think about spreading to Gjula for at least five years. Swear it on your gods."
"And if we win?" Vera asked.
"We step aside without raising a fuss." He winked at Vera. She ignored the wink and glanced at Laro and Mort.
"I'll do it." Yubo stepped forward.
Mort, Vera, and Laro looked at him.
"No, you won't."
"He told us to pick our strongest fighter, boy."
"Step back, Yubo."
Laro turned to Frida.
"What about you?" He asked. Was she part of the outsiders' side? Would she interfere in the bet?
"I'm just here for the show by this point," She said with resignation. She was happy as long as she could get out of there with Violina at this point. She didn't have a say in what was going on.
Laro nodded in satisfaction. Frida's interference would be annoying.
"So, who goes?" He asked the other two.
Mort cupped his eyes and glanced at the sun pouring down between the trees.
"It doesn't seem like it's your time to shine, Laro."
"I don't mind."
"Vera?" Mort asked.
"I want to fight him," She said pointing at Zach. But he wasn't the weakest, and there was no guarantee of success. Considering what was at stake, they couldn't risk it.
Mort would fight.
Now, it was just a question of who he was going to fight.