Yet, This Evil God Only Knows How to Draw Cards - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Stealing Fire (II)

Doubts were doubts, but Su Yer’s speed in responding to the summoning was not slow in the slightest.

After all, for the current Su Yer, every potential believer and every point of Faith was an incomparably precious thing. He was like a penniless vagrant who would starve to death if he didn’t eat his next meal immediately; he could not afford to let any possible opportunity slip away.

Even if the opportunity seemed utterly absurd or reeked of a trap, Su Yer had to go and see for himself.

Just in case!

He extracted a wisp of his consciousness and cast it into the summoning array before him, answering the call.

The heavy, lingering scent unique to the burning of top-grade white sandalwood pervaded the entire room. Three white candles were lit, placed respectively at three corners.

Within the inverted triangle framed by the white candles sat a summoning array drawn with a semi-liquid pigment—a mixture of expensive Purple Fennel nettle leaves and whale blubber—which was currently emitting a faint glow.

Su Yer felt as if his consciousness were floating in mid-air. Appearing here colorless and formless, he nonetheless had a full view of the surroundings.

This looked like a study, yet its magnificence surpassed the main halls of many homes. Even though Su Yer lacked a deep understanding of the definitions and metrics of human wealth in this world, nothing stopped him from recognizing that everything in this room—from the ceiling to the walls, the bookshelves to the doorframes—was a priceless treasure.

Standing before the summoning array was a youth. Not very old, appearing fourteen or fifteen at most, he had short, cream-gold hair. Beneath his bangs was a pair of bright eyes like a sea of cornflowers, and his face bore an air of childish innocence.

At the moment, the youth held a quill pen in his hand, its tip still stained with wet purple pigment identical to that of the summoning array on the floor.

Clearly, it went without saying who had created this array.

“The candles flickered three times, and the offered sacrifice has been [taken]…” The youth’s face still held some innocence and daze, as if he hadn’t processed it for a moment; but a flush gradually began to rise on his face—a sign of extreme excitement. “I… I actually succeeded in the summoning?!”

With a clack, he tossed the quill aside and lunged toward the front of the summoning array with excitement: “Did I summon You? Can You grant me a bit of guidance or a sign?”

Su Yer thought for a moment and glanced at the candles. One of the candles instantly extinguished itself without any wind. Seeing this, the youth was so excited he looked ready to jump for joy.

“Praise my Lord!”

Next, through a string of unguarded, rapid-fire pouring out of words—like beans spilling from a bamboo tube—Su Yer finally understood exactly what had happened.

The youth’s name was Charlie, and he lived in the central district of Londinium. The reason he had summoned Su Yer was that he had consistently failed to show the qualifications to become a “Divine Favored”—someone who receives the protection and empowerment of a god—even though his family had spent a vast amount of money toward that end.

Charlie was mocked by his classmates for this. Unable to swallow his pride, he mustered all his strength to summon a god by any means necessary, trying various methods for the task.

And this time, the summoning array that managed to contact Su Yer was actually something he had learned from a tattered, incomplete ancient book. With a “give it a try” mindset, he had attempted it secretly at home after his father and older sister had gone out…

“I didn’t expect it to work on the first try!” Charlie’s tone was extremely cheerful as he spoke, his eyes sparkling as if filled with stars.

Su Yer was left speechless, unsure whether to praise the child for being bold or to marvel at his sheer luck.

“So…” The completely novice god looked at his fresh-off-the-press believer and began to contemplate his next move. “By summoning me, what is it you wish to obtain?”

However, Charlie’s next request made Su Yer feel like he was truly gaining new life experiences.

“Please allow me to become Your believer!”

Su Yer: …Eh?

“I want to let them know that I am not a piece of trash that no god is willing to cast their gaze upon!”

This kid… just what does he think believing in a god entails… Su Yer was somewhat at a loss for words.

But before he could open his mouth to refuse, he heard a “ding-dong” notification in his ear. Su Yer opened it and found it was an achievement alert, congratulating him on his Faith points breaking the “0” mark for the first time.

He quickly switched interfaces and indeed saw that the number in the “Faith points” column on his system panel had changed.

Faith Points: 100

Su Yer immediately tossed his thought of refusing into the back of his mind.

Refuse? Why refuse! What a good child! What pious faith! This is exactly the kind of talent I need!

Charlie waited with some trepidation.

After he had made such an arguably rude inquiry, the divine will had not descended. As the excitement brought by the realization of “I successfully summoned a god’s consciousness” gradually faded, Charlie began to calm down and realized the impropriety of his previous actions.

Had he been too rude? Would the god dislike him because of it?

As the youngest son of the family, Charlie had grown up spoiled by his father and older siblings and complimented by servants. In his past life experiences, there had never been a precedent for needing to please someone else; thus, encountering such a situation for the first time, he actually didn’t know what to do.

Just as Charlie was so anxious he was about to burst into tears, he heard that god’s voice ring out with a hint of a smile.

“If you have the heart for it, then naturally, you may.”

“Show me more of your value.”

“Yes!” Charlie’s cheeks instantly flushed red with excitement, and his heart thudded wildly in his chest. No moment had ever been more exhilarating than this. “I certainly will not disappoint You!”

The god laughed once more, and then Charlie perceived the other’s intent withdrawing and fading away. Clearly, the god upon the high throne was no longer casting His gaze upon him.

But it didn’t matter; he had already received the god’s promise. As long as he demonstrated his value, that gaze would surely find him again.

Now no one could call him a godless piece of trash!

Charlie spent quite a while being happy all by himself before suddenly remembering something: “Ah!”

He looked at the three completely extinguished white candles and the summoning array that had evaporated cleanly as if it had never existed after fulfilling its purpose. He slapped his forehead in great annoyance: “I forgot to ask for my Lord’s Divine Name!”

But asking next time… should be the same, right?

Wuwu, it’s just that Purple Fennel is really expensive; it’s already used up all my pocket money for these two months!

How can I get some more pocket money from Father, Brother, and Sister?

Su Yer did not know the troubles of his little believer. In fact, even if he did, he would only pretend he had never heard of them and skip over it.

He was an Evil God, not a God of Wealth.

Su Yer himself was currently being supported by Tonatiuh!

The young Charlie’s family was truly wealthy; the things he had offered to Su Yer as sacrifices—though Su Yer couldn’t identify exactly what they were—he could tell were definitely extraordinary.

The stroke of luck that brought a believer right to his door… Su Yer’s expression was complex.

I really hope more of these come along.

Because he now had his first believer, the system panel had undergone some changes. Su Yer opened it to check and found that in addition to the original card slots for Cthulhu mythos deities, a new Believer tab had appeared.

Name: Charlie Secard Age: 14 (Minor) Strength: 55 (Ordinary human strength) Agility: 60 (Ordinary human speed) Constitution: 40 (Your constitution is on the weak side) Intelligence: 70 (You possess slightly more intelligence than the average person) Willpower: 75 (Though not obvious, you possess a resilience far beyond your appearance) Divine Favor Level: 5 (The gods have not particularly favored you) Faith Level: 23 (You are not pious)

From this moment on, Su Yer officially unlocked the system’s “Believer” function. Every believer would provide him with a varying amount of initial Faith points, and thereafter, as long as the believer’s faith remained unchanged, they would provide a certain amount of Faith points every day.

Mhm… just like a chicken that lays eggs every day.

And as the believer’s degree of faith increased, the amount of Faith points provided to Su Yer each day would also gradually increase. It was important to note that if a believer’s faith level continued to drop toward 0, there was a risk of the believer leaving.

Through the believer cards, he could better determine a believer’s situation and faith, choosing the appropriate way to treat them or arranging them in suitable positions.

All in all, it could be considered quite practical.

In any case, being able to have a stable daily income of Faith points was indeed something to be happy about. Su Yer felt pleased, and on that face—which possessed an exquisiteness far beyond what a normal human could have—a genuine smile emerged.

And this smile, which was beautiful enough to be worthy of the word, was not without an audience.

In another apartment a few streets away from No. 221 First Avenue, a black-haired man stood by the window. He might have simply wanted to push the window open to soak in the sun, but he unintentionally caught sight of this distant smile.

His body began to tremble involuntarily.

“…Ah.” The man’s grayish-green pupils constricted, revealing an extreme state of excitement. “How beautiful.”

“The next prey… I’ll choose him.”

Lying carelessly at his feet was a small knife stained with blood.

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