Gawain was surprised to see Reverend Wright standing at the door. The reverend rarely came to see him.
Gwen would usually pay attention to Wright's activities. After all, he was the only missionary in the territory and could be seen as an extension of the Church of Holy Light in Cecil Territory. Although the pastor's style seemed a little problematic, his connection with the Church of Holy Light was enough for Gwen to pay attention to him. However, after a period of observation, he found that Mr. Wright was really a man who abided by the classical precepts of the clergy. Almost all of his daily activities revolved around the church. He prayed in the morning, blessed the holy water, entertained the believers who went to the church to pray, distributed cookies (although it seemed that he rarely distributed them), and went to the city to preach in the afternoon. The basic method of preaching was to help each household with their work while preaching the benefits of being close to the Holy Light, such as no pain in the back or legs … In these few months, he had developed a group of believers …
Other than that, the pastor did not have any other activities. One of the few times he went out of the city was when he heard that someone was injured at the construction site, so he went to help. The other times, he heard that the workers' canteen wanted to improve the food for everyone, so he went to the forest in the west and hunted a dozen bears back. During those few days, there was a wilderness legend in the lumber mill town, saying that a giant appeared in the forest and chased bears all over the mountains and plains …
Recalling the deeds of the pastor, Gwen could not help but twitch the corner of his mouth. However, because he was too excited playing the satellite VR game and was in a state where he was about to vomit at any time, his expression quickly became very serious (mainly because he would vomit if he did not). He looked at Wright and asked faintly, "Mr. Wright, are you looking for me?"
Wright did not know why Gwen's expression was so serious. The first thing he thought of was the refugees who were taken in not long ago, and the news that the Church of Holy Light was ostracizing the heretical believers in the central region should have reached the Lord's ears. So, he connected these two matters with his own identity and took the initiative to say, "My Lord, I'm not here to ask you to expel those innocent people."
Gwen did not know where this sentence came from. "Ah?"
Wright's face was solemn. "Your expression is so serious. Aren't you thinking about the persecution of those heretical believers?"
In Gao Wen's mind, Wright's serious face was because he had played too many VR games and wanted to throw up. It had nothing to do with the persecution of heretical believers. But soon, he realized what Wright meant. He forced a smile and looked at Wright curiously. "You mean the believers of the Blood God and the Umbra who fled from the Holy Spirit Flatlands … You just mentioned 'persecution'. It seems that you don't agree with what your church brethren did in the Holy Spirit Flatlands?"
"I … still can't believe that they have become so paranoid." Wright's face showed a sad expression, and his big fists slowly clenched. "I listened to the experiences of those refugees, and the intuition brought by the Holy Light tells me that those people are honest, but … I still have doubts."
"I once heard that the improvement of the divine arts made it easier for the new generation of clergy to master the power of the Holy Light, so the old method of rigidly adhering to the classical virtues in exchange for affinity with the Holy Light gradually became outdated. The Holy Light went from a belief to a skill. So, I'm not surprised at the speed of degeneration of the clergy in the central region, which is the most prosperous and most prone to corruption." Gwen leaned back in the chair and looked at Wright deeply. "Of course, I also understand your doubts and doubts. After all, you accept the same doctrine of the Holy Light as they do, but you are completely different from them."
Wright seemed to hesitate, but under Gwen's gaze, he still said his purpose. "My Lord, I hope to go back and see it with my own eyes."
"I guessed it," Gwen said faintly. "So, who are you going to let take care of your church?"
"I'm here to tell you this." Wright nodded. "I promised those refugees that they could go to the church for help at any time, but now I really can't help but want to go back to the Holy Spirit Plains. So, I hope you can send someone to take care of the church for the time being. There's no need to hold any ceremony, just keep the church open and clean so that the believers have a place to pray. And I've left enough talismans and holy water in the church. I'll come back before these things are used up. "
Then, the priest bowed to Gwen with a solemn face. "I hope you can agree to my presumptuous request."
Looking at the serious Wright, Gwen could not help but smile and nod. "The operation of the church is also part of the territory's affairs. You're willing to let the people in the government office manage the church, which is also a sign that you're adapting to Cecil's law. I agree, you can leave without worry. "
Wright bowed his head deeply. "Thank you for your understanding."
Looking at the only priest in the city, who was also a priest to his liking, Gwen could not help but ask, "When are you going to leave? Do you need an escort or any other help? "
"Thank you for your generosity. I'll leave in two days, but I don't need any help." Wright shook his head. "I can go back the same way I came. And there's a group of believers who'll help me with the travel expenses. I can even take a caravan's car."
Gwen pulled out a blank document from a stack of papers at hand, scribbled something on it, and then stamped it with the Duke of Cecil's seal. He said, "Go to the business district and find the officer there. There'll be a caravan leaving for the Holy Spirit Plains the day after tomorrow. You can take a ride there. Here's your travel document. "
After receiving the document, Wright bowed again to express his gratitude and was ready to leave. But before he left, Gwen suddenly stopped him.
"Cecil Hill will accept those who have been persecuted and can be proven to be innocent." Gwen looked into Wright's eyes. "As long as they are willing to abide by Cecil Hill's rules on faith and obey the rules of this land, the exiled can also be sheltered here. Can you accept this? "
Wright almost did not hesitate. "Of course — protecting the innocent is also one of the doctrines of the Holy Light."
But then the priest showed some concern. "But my lord … you have to know that once you openly and massively accept those exiles, it will greatly irritate the Church of Holy Light. Although you have now accepted a small group of exiles, it can still be covered up by saying that they are refugees. But accepting the exiles on a large scale is a completely different concept. "
"Of course I know." Gwen's face was as usual (the aftereffects of the VR were gradually getting better). "But I don't think Cecil Hill needs other people's permission to accept refugees. And I don't believe that the priests who expelled the refugees will chase them here from the Holy Spirit Plain, unless those refugees are really the so-called 'Evil God's Worshippers' — I think the priests who collect the ransom are well aware of the reason why those refugees were exiled. "
"Since you have a plan, then I won't say more." Wright looked at Gwen's face and swallowed all the words of dissuasion. He bowed deeply in the manner of a Holy Light believer and turned to leave the study.
After Wright left, Amber's figure gradually emerged from the window. The half-elf lady said in a raised tone, "Although he is a believer of the Holy Light … this Wright is quite interesting."
Gwen had just sensed that Amber had come in, so he was not surprised at all. He just glanced at the half-elf and asked, "Have you put the things away?"
"Yes, and the door of the treasury has been sealed according to the rules." Amber waved her hand. "By the way, what do you think of the recent changes in the Church of Holy Light?"
"On the surface, it looks like they were stimulated by the activities of the cultists, so they carried out a drastic 'purification' action. But in fact, I think this is just a well-founded and premeditated expansion and embezzlement." Gwen snorted softly. "Since the establishment of the Sacred Covenant, the various sects have maintained seven hundred years of peace, but not everyone wants to be so peaceful forever. And for the sects composed of mortals, eternal peace is not possible. Each church needs to develop, expand their influence, and earn glory for their gods. But there are only so many potential believers and lands available for preaching. Conflicts are inevitable. I believe that in private, every church has the heart to be the only one in the world. It's just that the Sacred Covenant has always been suppressing them, making them unable to move. But if there's a chance — "
"So the Church of Holy Light can't help it?" Amber pursed her lips. "It's really a simple process. But to be honest, aren't you afraid of provoking those brainless clerics? They're super hard to deal with! "
Gwen smiled, stood up from behind the desk, and slowly walked to the map of the Southern Territory hanging on the wall of the study.
"So be it. This is the Southern Territory. The Cecil family has declined, but before that, they had been operating in this land for six hundred years. I left behind an edict that the church could not overstep the royal authority. Although the descendants failed to live up to expectations and lost the family, at least they did a good job in carrying out this edict. The Southern Territory is not the world of the Church of Holy Light, nor is it the world of any church!"
Amber blinked and stared at Gwen for a few seconds before muttering, "So in addition to the nonsense you spouted after drinking with the king, you also left behind a reliable ancestral edict … But why did you think of leaving such an edict? At that time, you thought that the church would develop and threaten the local authority? "
"I … I wasn't so clairvoyant back then." Gwen smiled faintly. But in his mind, he could not help but recall the scene he saw in the dream lantern, where the leaders of several major religions set out in spacesuits to find the Kingdom of God, and how the School of Holy Spirit, Druil, the Church of Dreams, and the Church of Storms degenerated into the three major dark cults. Finally, what came to his mind was Selena, who had become the leader of the cult? He sighed softly. "If you had seen the great turmoil caused by the sudden degeneration of the three dark cults seven hundred years ago, you would understand why the kings and lords of our generation were so wary of the uncontrolled church forces … Unfortunately, seven hundred years later, the royal authority has not made any progress, but the power of the various cults is getting stronger day by day. Even the cult is getting stronger day by day."
Amber stood silently beside Gwen for a while and sighed. "Sigh …"
"Why are you sighing too?"
"How would I know? I saw you sighing too."
"… …"
Not long after that, as the merchants of the Cecil Chamber of Commerce walked around, and the agents of the Military Intelligence Bureau secretly worked, a new news quietly spread.
It first spread in the Southern Territory, and then spread all the way to the north. It was spread by word of mouth among those who had lost their homes due to atonement payments, heresy trials, and conversion activities.
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