Outside an open-air cafe near the Municipal Square, there are three people waiting.
In front of Ringer was a glass of boiled water, in front of Metien was a cup of Ceylon black tea, and in front of Alice was a piece of buttered toast, a piece of mashed potatoes with bacon, a piece of Motosh country-style grilled sausage, and a piece of bacon.
A large glass of milk and a lemon pudding.
The brother and sister spent a total of 4 pence, and Alice spent a total of 1 shilling and 10 pence.
Medien took a sip of black tea and thought silently, if sister Alice dares to say that Ringer treats her badly in the future, she must stand up and refute loudly.
She raised her head and glanced in the direction of Saints Street, feeling a little uneasy.
In the transparent glass window, the clock hanging on the wall of the cafe points to 9:15 without any bias. The negotiation meeting started at 9 o'clock, and it has only been 15 minutes, but the little pink-haired girl has already begun to feel
Anxious.
What if there is no negotiation between the two parties?
What if the United Order refuses to give in?
What if...the Religious Mutual Aid Association excludes the Holy Goddess Religion?
This is not impossible. After all, Tianxin Church is the only church that is subject to the control of the "Religious Decree" so far. To them, it is equivalent to a traitor.
Normal people will naturally not have a very good attitude towards traitors, so they can use interviews with peace of mind to create an advantage in public opinion for themselves.
But here’s the problem, when you first established the Linwell City Religious Mutual Aid Association, you didn’t invite the Holy Goddess Cult!
He was inexplicably forgotten, inexplicably shut down, and inexplicably used... Medien felt very depressed when he recalled his experience during this period of time.
However, Ringer looked quite indifferent, and Alice, the messenger sent by the goddess, was not very reliable, so he could only bear the pressure silently and contribute an insignificant amount to the survival of Tianxin Church!
Metien quietly clasped his hands together, placed them on his chest, closed his eyes slightly, and began to pray with the most pious attitude in his life.
Please, goddess.
Please, definitely, definitely bless your believers in the world.
Because.
You are my last hope.
***
"..."
The girl leading the sheep suddenly stopped. Her smooth feet without shoes and socks were like the most exquisite handicrafts. Even if they stepped between the mud and dust, they were still not contaminated at all.
She looked up silently and saw the shadows of high-rise buildings cutting the sky into pieces and tangled up the connections.
The roads in the city are like the blood vessels of a giant. She wanted to find the singular point that made it dent in this intricate web of fate, but she accidentally got lost in it and couldn't find the direction.
She thought her search was in vain again, but she heard a voice just now.
A very clear girlish voice that is easily associated with the sky, lakes, crystals or other pure things.
What exactly she said was too far away to be heard clearly, but the sincerity and anxiety in it were beyond words.
That girl needs her help.
Of course, this seems inaccurate.
What she needs may be help from something else, and I can bring it to her.
For example.
"Destiny".
The girl with long cyan hair and emerald eyes gently tugged on the gray rope in her hand and said, "Let's go, little sheep."
"Help me find that person."
***
At the same moment, in a spacious conference room on the fourth floor of the Maintis Conference Building, the atmosphere was freezing to freezing point.
As the chairman of the Linwell City Religious Mutual Aid Association, Mr. Closier, the bishop of the Crimson Prayer Society, sat in a relatively relaxed posture on the soft leather sofa, separated by a rectangular table, and spoke with the representatives of the United Church
, Mr. Langning, the tribune of the Diocese of Linwell City, looked at each other with a casual arc at the corner of his mouth, as if he did not take this negotiation to heart.
Mr. Clermont, the general director of the city and parish, and Mr. Rondenel, the representative of the city and parish believers, who were supposed to attend the negotiations together, were not at the negotiating table at this time. Only Mr. Ronning represented the United Church and was fully responsible for the negotiations.<
/p>
In contrast, the Religious Mutual Aid Association of Linwell City sent quite a few representatives. In addition to Bishop Clouser, there were about a dozen people from larger organizations such as the Providence Order, the New Cross Society, and the Lion Order.
The small church itself was not very strong, so Lang Ning did not take them seriously.
Some insignificant little characters can hardly affect the overall situation. Let alone them, even the original vampire in front of him, Clouser, whose strength is equal to that of Sequence 5, is not worthy of his attention.
In the entire plan, the only person who needs attention is the mastermind behind the blood-red feast of the cult, the pseudo-demigod of Sequence 3, "The Celestial Eater".
Facing these guys who have repeatedly obstructed the great cause of association, Mr. Ronning's tone seemed a bit cold.
"Your request is unacceptable to us." He put aside the document in his hand and said to Bishop Clouser: "You request a complete suspension of the implementation of Article 124 of the Supplementary Regulations of the Religious Decree; the lifting of the
Article 21, Article 78 and Article 104 Supplementary Regulations impose restrictions on the religious community; they even allow non-Orthodox churches to have certain private armed forces... In our opinion, these demands are extremely unreasonable
, and unrealistic."
"What!?"
As soon as this was said, Bishop Clouser had not yet answered, but the church representatives around him all showed expressions of astonishment. One person even stood up directly and asked: "Klosser, what's going on?
What happened? Isn’t the agreement you submitted different from what we discussed in advance!?”
Because he was so shocked, he even forgot that he should add honorifics, because in the eyes of Bishop Clouser, he was just a small character in Sequence 7.
Fortunately, Clouser didn't seem to care about his offense, but chuckled: "Because I felt that the original agreement was not comprehensive enough, so I improvised and added some additional content to it. How do you feel about it?
What about surprises? Human beings always need some humorous cells, right?"
It’s more of a shock than a surprise.
In the original agreement, they never thought of abrogating any of the supplementary provisions of the "Religious Decree" through negotiation, because they all knew that this was impossible. The alliance of religious orders was too powerful. Fighting against such a behemoth was enough to make anyone despair.
.
So after repeated discussions, they decided to cut out the words. The "Religious Decree" forces non-Orthodox churches to close their churches and not preach in public, but there are no restrictions on private or small-scale preaching. So, how does "private" here mean private
At the end of the day, "small scale" specifically means how small a scale it is, and there are many things worth bargaining over.
They feel that this level of concession is more or less acceptable to the United Order. They will not fall out with all the churches in Linville City for a piece of refining magic that is a bad street, right?
But.
"What a stupid idea." Clouser shook his head slightly, feeling sorry for the IQ of these people.
He stretched out a pale finger, shook it slightly, and told them: "Let alone a little concession, even a punctuation mark on the "Religious Decree" cannot be modified by the United Order. The only thing they can do is
The thing is to eliminate threats. What’s ridiculous is that you actually think you can survive. Maybe those mad dogs of the Scales of Order have already set up cannons against your gods?”
The church representatives' expressions changed upon hearing this, and they all looked at Ronning, who was sitting opposite.
Mr. Tribune looked expressionless, seeming to acquiesce.
The Balance of Order, a subordinate agency of the Judgment Holy See, has a similar positioning to the Night Watch of the Night Habitat. The difference is that the latter guards the human city, while the former carries out ruthless cleansing in areas outside the city.
In addition to aliens, monsters and unregulated magicians, uncontrollable gods are naturally also on this purge list.
In the past, cults were more harmful than false religions, so the United Order's control over the latter was relatively relaxed, and they were even allowed to build churches in cities for surveillance purposes.
However, after the proliferation of refining magic, the situation changed. The terrifying magic that can create gods and refine people's hearts makes it no longer possible to distinguish between cults and false religions, evil gods and false gods, and they are all enemies to be destroyed.
The latest supplementary regulations of the "Religious Decree" are just a strategy to boil the frog in warm water, and a more thunderous offensive is yet to come.
It's ridiculous that some people have lived a comfortable life for too long, and they can't even understand the simplest situation, and they still hope to solve the problem through negotiation. If they can recall their meager knowledge of mysterious history, they should know that the sect unites itself.
Since its establishment, it has never reached any form of reconciliation with its enemies.
"In other words, the negotiation was a joke from the beginning, and I made it even funnier. Before, it could only please the common people, but now it is enough to please the sages." Clouser raised his hand gently, as if to please himself.
Serve a glass of scarlet wine, smell its fragrance, slightly outline the corners of your mouth, making you look noble and elegant: "This is what the upper class praises, the elegant taste."
The church representatives looked ugly, and no one answered. Only Lang Ning was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "You are the only smart person among them. This is not surprising to me, because of the position of people.
It often determines their vision."
Later, he admitted his statement.
"Thank you for the compliment."
Klosser nodded slightly, then sat up straight, his temperament suddenly changed, from relaxed and casual to serious and solemn. He carefully arranged his appearance: lightly relaxed his collar, tightened his tie, smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt and cuffs...
...The movements are meticulous, like a classical nobleman making final preparations before going on stage at a dinner party.
Lang Ning watched this scene silently, while behind Clouser, the church representatives had already had a premonition of something, and quietly retreated, observing the movements around them secretly, and being ready to escape at any time. p>
After all, he is a magician whose average strength is around Sequence 7, so he cannot be captured without hesitation.
At this time, after finishing tidying up his appearance, Bishop Clouser, who looked elegant, slowly stood up from the sofa, faintly showing the fangs under his lips when he smiled: "Thank you very much for bringing me such a pleasant pastime, but it's a pity that
Unfortunately, today’s sideshow has come to an end.”
"It's almost time."
"Let's end this boring charade!"
As he finished speaking, there was a commotion in the street outside.