Seeing Pastor Wright standing at the door, Gawain's first reaction was to be a little surprised - this pastor rarely came to see him.
Gawain usually pays a little attention to Wright's activities. After all, he is the only missionary in the territory. He can be regarded as an extension of the Holy Light Church in Cecil Territory, although the pastor's style of painting seems to be similar. There was a bit of a problem, but just based on his connection with the Holy Light Church, it was worthy of Gawain's attention. However, after a period of observation, he found that Mr. Wright was really a person who abided by the precepts of the classical priests - —Almost all of his activities on weekdays revolve around the church. He prays in the morning, blesses holy water, entertains believers who go to the church to pray, distributes cookies (although it seems that they rarely do so), and goes to the city to preach in the afternoon. , the basic method of preaching is to help each household work, and while working, he preaches the benefits of being close to the Holy Light, such as no soreness in the waist and no pain in the legs... In these few months, he has developed a group of believers. ...
Other than that, the pastor had no extra activities at all. One of the only times he went out of the city was when he heard that someone was injured on the construction site, so he ran to help. The remaining few times were because I heard that the workers’ canteen wanted to improve the food for everyone, so I went to the forest to the west and shot a dozen bears back. In those few days, there was a wilderness legend circulating in the logging camp town, saying that there were bears in the forest. The giant chased bears all over the mountains and fields all day long...
Recalling the deeds of this pastor, Gawain couldn't help but tremble at the corner of his mouth, but because he was too excited to play satellite VR just now, He was still in a state of wanting to vomit at any time, but his expression soon became extremely serious again (mainly because he would actually vomit if he didn't tense up). He looked at Wright and asked calmly: "Mr. Wright, do you have anything to ask me about?"
Wright didn’t know why Gawain’s expression was so serious. He just immediately thought of the refugees who were taken in not long ago, and the news that the Holy Light Church was in the middle of the country should have been spread to the lord’s ears. He heard the news that the region was ostracizing believers of alien gods, so he associated these two things with his own identity, and took the initiative to say: "Lord, I am not here to ask you to expel those innocent people."
Gao Wen didn't know where this sentence came from: "Huh?"
Wright looked serious: "Your expression is so serious, aren't you thinking about the persecution of believers of the alien gods? ?”
Gao Wenxin said that his serious face was because he felt like vomiting after playing too much in VR. What does it have to do with the persecution of Ability God believers? But then he reacted and reluctantly showed his face by moving the corners of his mouth. He smiled and looked at Wright curiously: "You are talking about the Blood God and Shadow believers who fled here from the Holy Spirit Plains... You just mentioned 'persecution'. It seems that you have no regard for your churches in the Holy Spirit Plains. Do you disagree with what our compatriots are doing?"
"I... still can't believe that they are so paranoid," Wright said with a sad expression on his face, and slowly clenched his casserole-sized fists. I listened to the exiles describe their experiences, brought by the LightMy gut tells me that those people are honest, but... I still have doubts. ”
“I have heard that improvements in divine magic have made it easier for the new generation of clergy to master the power of the Holy Light, so the old method of rigidly observing classical virtues in exchange for affinity with the Holy Light has become Gradually becoming outdated, the Holy Light has changed from a belief to a skill - so I am not surprised at all about the rate of decline of the clergy in the central region, which is the most prosperous and most prone to corruption," Gawain said backwards Leaning on the back of the chair, he looked at Wright with a deep look, "Of course, I also understand your wavering and confusion. After all, you accept the same Holy Light doctrine as them, but you are completely different from them. "
Wright seemed to hesitate for a moment, but under Gawain's gaze, he still stated his purpose: "Sir, I hope to go back and see with my own eyes. "
"I guessed it," Gawain said lightly, "Then who are you planning to hand over to take care of your church? "
"I'm here to tell you this," Wright nodded. "I promised those exiles that they can go to the church for help at any time, but now I just can't help but think about it. Go back to the Holy Spirit Plains, so I hope you can send someone to temporarily manage the church - there is no need to hold any rituals, just keep the church open and have someone clean it, so that believers have somewhere to go if they want to pray. And I left enough talismans and holy water in the church, and I'll be back before they run out. "
Then, the priest saluted Gawain solemnly: "I hope you can agree to these presumptuous requests of mine. "
Looking at Wright with a serious face, Gawain couldn't help but smile and nod: "The operation of the church is also part of the territory's affairs. You are willing to leave the church to the people of the Government Affairs Department to manage it because you are comfortable with it. Manifestation of Cecil's Law. I agree, you can leave without worries. "
Wright lowered his head deeply: "Thank you for your understanding. "
Looking at the only priest in the city, who also had a style that suited his taste, Gawain couldn't help but ask: "When do you plan to leave?" Need an escort or other help? "
"Thank you for your generosity. I set out in the past two days, but I don't need help." Wright shook his head. "How did I get here? How can I get back? And there are church members who helped me get it together. For travel expenses, I can also take a caravan ride. "
Gawain casually pulled out a blank document from a pile of paper at hand, wrote something on it, and then printed Duke Cecil's mark on it and said: "Go. Find the clerk in the business district. There will be a caravan heading to the Holy Spirit Plains the day after tomorrow, and they can give you a ride. This is your current document. "
After taking the document, Wright bowed again to express his gratitude and was about to say goodbye and leave, but before he left, Gawain suddenly stopped him again.
" The Cecil Territory will accept those believers of various sects who have been persecuted and can be proven innocent," Gawain looked into Wright's eyes, "As long as they are willing to abide by the Cecil Territory.Regarding the rules of faith and obeying the rules of this land, the exiled people can also find refuge here. Can you accept this? "
Wright almost did not hesitate: "It should be so - protecting the innocent is also one of the teachings of the Holy Light. ”
But then the pastor showed a somewhat worried look: “But sir... you have to know that once you accept those exiles openly and on a large scale, it will be a great stimulus.” Go to Holy Light Church. Although you have accepted a small group of exiles now, you can still use the term "refugees" to cover up the past. Accepting exiles on a large scale is a completely different concept. "
"Of course I know," Gawain said with a normal expression (the VR sequelae gradually improved), "but I don't think Cecil needs other people's permission to accept refugees. And I don't believe that the priests who expelled the refugees would come here from the Holy Spirit Plains for this matter, unless those refugees are really the so-called 'favorites of the evil god' - for what reason were those refugees exiled? The priests who collect atonement money must know this well. "
"Since you already have a plan, I won't say more. "Wright looked at Gawain's face and swallowed back all his words of dissuasion. He bowed deeply in the form of a Holy Light cultist, turned and left the study.
After Wright left, Amber's figure Gradually emerging from near the window, the half-elf lady said in a raised tone: "Although he is a believer in the Holy Light...but this Wright is quite interesting. "
Gawain had just sensed Amber coming in, so he was not surprised at all. He just turned his head and glanced at the half-elf: "Have you put the things away? "
"It has been put away, and the treasure house door has been sealed according to the containment rules," Amber waved her hands, "Speaking of which, what do you think of the recent changes in the Holy Light Church? "
"On the surface, it looks like he was stimulated by the activities of the cultists, so he carried out drastic 'purification' actions, but in fact I think this is just a well-founded and premeditated act. It's just expansion and embezzlement," Gawain snorted softly. "Since the establishment of the Holy Covenant, various sects have maintained peace for seven hundred years, but not everyone wants to remain peaceful like this - and for the world composed of mortals, For sects, eternal peace itself is unlikely. Each church wants to develop, expand its influence, and earn glory for its gods, but there are only so many potential believers and lands available for missionary work, so conflicts are inevitable. I believe that every sect secretly has a desire to become the world's leader, but the sacred covenant is always weighing on their heads to prevent them from moving. But if there is a chance-"
"So The Holy Light Sect can't help it, right?" Amber pouted, "It's really a simple and easy-to-understand process. But to be honest, are you really not afraid of irritating those priests with brain problems? They are very difficult to deal with! ”
Gawain smiled slightly, stood up from behind the desk, and slowly walked to the wall of the study roomIn front of the map of the Southern Territory hanging.
"Exciting as it is, this is the southern border - the Cecil family has declined, but before its decline, it also operated on this land for six hundred years. The instructions I left back then, the church The royal authority cannot be exceeded. Although the descendants failed to live up to expectations and ruined the family, at least they did a good job in implementing this order. This southern region is not the world of their Holy Light Church - nor is it the world of any church!"< /p>
Amber blinked and looked at Gawain blankly for a few seconds before muttering: "It turns out that besides the nonsense you talked about after drinking with the king, you also left behind reliable ancestral precepts. ...But how did you think of leaving such an injunction? At that time, you thought that the development of the church would threaten the local rule?" "I...was not so unpredictable back then," Gawain said calmly. He laughed a little, but his mind could not help but think of what he had seen in the dream lantern, the scene where the leaders of several major sects set out in spacesuits to find the Kingdom of God, as well as the Druids of the Holy Spirit School, the Church of Dreams, the Storm The church had degenerated into three major dark sects, and what finally came to his mind was Selina Gerfen, who had become the leader of the cult. He sighed softly, "If you had seen the three major dark sects seven hundred years ago, If this dark sect caused too much turmoil after its sudden fall, you will understand why the kings and lords of our generation were so wary of uncontrolled church armed forces... It is a pity that today, seven hundred years later, the royal power is nothing As we progress, the power of each sect is getting stronger day by day - even the cult is getting stronger day by day."
Amber stood silently beside Gawain for a while, and then sighed: " Hey..."
"Why are you sighing?"
"I didn't know - I saw you sighing too."
" ..."
Shortly after that, as the merchants of the Cecil Chamber of Commerce were walking around and the officers of the Military Intelligence Bureau were conducting secret activities, a new piece of news quietly spread.
It spread first in the south and then all the way north, spread by word of mouth among those displaced by penances, heresy trials, and conversions:
Sisi Our land is the "new sanctuary"...