Half-step Purgatory

Durin stroked the black cat on the armrest of his chair, sitting on the black leather sofa. Through the glasses perched on his nose, his gaze passed over the long table in front of him and settled on the man kneeling on the carpet:
"I understand, you've made money in Naples, your business has been very successful, and you've led a happy life. You've had those secret police, friends in both the law and the underground, and even the Royal Family speaking on your behalf."
"You don't need a friend like me, I know that. You're afraid of owing me a favor, and you don't want to get involved in troubles."
"But now you come to me and say, 'I beg you, Mr. Durin of the Corleon family, please help me seek justice, so that my life and my family will not suffer and sink into despair.'
Yet, in your eyes, I was nothing more than a second-rate artist involved in movies and music. Even at the brink of death, you still show me such disrespect, not even willing to call me by my title... Keeper of Secrets."

Durin's Diary

·Why do you have such disdain for the gods?


   After the old and sickly No-name left, Big Orange asked this question.


·Indeed, when it comes to gods, the True God is obviously much more useful than those deities created in literature within my timeline. Look at No-name and the Dual Mothers; they are truly Good Gods. Their churches' followers are mostly good people, even if mortal bishops may conflict with you, but in the end, they strive to protect their homeland, don't they?


   Eleven also couldn't understand why Durin detested the gods.


In my timeline, the gods had long since departed. They had become beings of legend, and while humans professed belief in god, they had long since lost their reverence. In their eyes, loyalty to the gods was nowhere near as reliable as self-interest.


Chapter 266: Mine