Duixicheng, Holy Order Arbitration Tribunal, Resident Registration Office.
"Hello, my lord. I heard that a new king's decree was issued in the city. Can foreign immigrants obtain kingdom resident status by farming and paying taxes?"
Brother Qiao, who was busy checking farmland registration and distributing farm tools, said without raising his head: "Yes, the order was just issued two days ago. If necessary, you can go to the office..."
Friar Joe suddenly stopped talking and turned his gaze to the questioner. After a moment, he shouted in disbelief: "I know you! You are the priest from Qianmu Village near the monastery. Your name is..."
"Murubert."
Qiao put down the book in his hand and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes! That's the name! I still remember that when the Holy Son was studying in the monastery, he even went to your village to exorcise demons!"
"Yes, the Holy Son performed a miracle there! He saved the two possessed men from the hands of the devil." When talking about the past events, Father Moore's eyes flashed, as if the scene was still before his eyes.
While laughing happily, Qiao stretched out his right palm, trying to pat the other person's arm.
After touching Moore's cuffs, his palms stayed in the air and the smile froze on his face.
"Where's your left hand?!"
In response to the monk's question, Moore pursed his lips, lowered his head, and said slowly: "It's a long story."
It was only then that Qiao, who was a little nervous, realized that the young priest in front of him was only in his twenties. His identity was that he was a popular figure in the Western Diocese in the past.
But now, he is wearing a linen jacket that smells of chicken manure and pig urine. His long dark brown hair is also covered with silver threads. The wrinkles on his face are as dense as dry land. The left hand is also empty.
replaced by sleeves.
It seemed that only the clergy cross on his chest was still well preserved.
Holding the book in his hand under his arm, Joe gestured for Father Moore to follow him.
The two walked through the busy and noisy office hall and walked into a relatively quiet reception room.
Instructing his subordinates to prepare two cups of fruit tea and a plate of snacks, Qiao asked Moore to sit down while he spread his books on the table and started chatting casually with him.
"I remember back when I was an ordinary scribe at the San Sidro Monastery. I was very hungry at night, thanks to the bran cakes you sent." Joe touched the bald head of his head and said to himself
He laughed first: "At that time, the captured mice had their meat cleaned and then put into bran cakes. They were called heavenly delicacies in the scripture-copying room."
Moore hid the sleeve of his left hand behind his back and laughed too.
Seeing the reverence and respect on the other person's face, Qiao stopped laughing and shook his head without any trace: "Moore, tell me your story during this time."
Mentioning past events, pain and struggle appeared in Moore's eyes.
"When Yinhuan and the Barbarians first formed an alliance, letters were constantly exchanged between each church. Everyone was discussing only one thing, what should we do in the future?" Moore's eyes were unfocused and he looked at the floor.
Nothingness on the topic: "After repeated discussions, three paths were laid out in front of everyone."
"One, stay. After all, the Silver Ring Kingdom was once the parish of Heavenly Father, and the kingdom has the obligation to protect its subjects and beliefs. Besides, the business that generations of people have been running in the village cannot be given up simply..."
Moore closed his eyes and trembled slightly: "You should also know the fate of these people."
Qiao sighed, nodded and said, "Well, it's not very good."
"Two, go west and join the Muxi Kingdom. Of course, at that time, the Muxi Kingdom had not yet been established, and it was still called Muxi Town. The reason given by the person who proposed this method was that the Muxi Knights were the last members of the Western Diocese.
As a military force, the Holy Son can create miracles and can naturally protect believers. But those who oppose it emphasize that the Muxi Knights cannot protect themselves, and there will be no way out if they flee to the seaside."
Qiao straightened his body: "Facts have proved that this is the right way."
"Yes, it's a pity that most people at that time were not optimistic about the Muxi Knights. There were very few people who were really willing to go west..."
"What about the last way?"
After a moment of pause, Moore used his remaining right hand to hold on to his pants, and spoke in a terrifyingly low voice: "Go east and seek help from the church's reinforcements."
Qiao swallowed and asked in a low voice: "The group of people heading east didn't encounter the church's army in the end?"
"No, we found them." Moore said with dazed eyes: "There are thousands of villages, large and small, in the Yuexi Plain, and people all have the same idea - to seek help from the church.
.At first, the church’s army did promise: they promised to send us into the territory of the Holy Acropolis.”
"Under such a guarantee, tens of thousands of civilians accepted the shelter of the church army and began to move to the east... However, the good times did not last long. In Watching Canyon, the barbarian coalition discovered our traces and sent a large number of troops
Follow and attack migrating people.”
"After discovering traces of the enemy, there was a dispute within the church coalition forces and they were divided into two groups. The army led by the church abandoned their baggage and used civilians as shields to flee the battlefield. And most of the troops in the Holy Acropolis,
He stayed behind and distributed weapons and shields to the people."
With his nails deeply embedded in his skin, Moore spoke of an extremely tragic massacre in an unusually calm tone: "In my lifetime, that was the longest day in my memory. Tens of thousands of civilians and
Soldiers huddled in the open space in the middle of the canyon, desperately facing the enemies in front, behind and even above their heads. Arrows and stones fell like raindrops on the crowd, and the blood gathered into lakes, turning the hard soil under their feet into
Turned into blood mud..."
Friar Joe's body trembled slightly. He made a cross on his chest and crossed his fingers: "Oh God..."
Moore struggled to squeeze out a smile at the corner of his mouth. He pointed to the top of his head and said, "After that day, I understood a truth."
"What's the point?"
"At least one sentence in the Bible is wrong."
"Which sentence?"
"God is both almighty and loving."
Friar Joe opened his eyes wide in confusion.
Moore said word for word: "If God is almighty, then he must have the ability to prevent the pagans from massacring God's people. But if he did not do so, then it proves that he must not be cruel to his own people."
Loving; if God is loving, then He will definitely want to stop the pagans from massacring God’s people, but if He fails to do so, then He must not be Almighty!”
“So, one of God’s omnipotence and love must be a lie…or, both of them are lies…”
After hearing this, Qiao was stunned.
He wanted to refute this point of view, but from a logical point of view, he didn't know how to start.
At this time, he remembered that the priest in front of him had even received personal praise from the Pope for his debates and preaching in the past.
"During that massacre, dozens of Qianmu Villagers who followed me died and fled. The village chief Ackerman Xiaokuola was captured by the barbarian soldiers and turned into a slave. In comparison, I was just
I just lost one left hand, I am really lucky..." Moore said in despair, grabbing his empty left sleeve.
Qiao sighed: "In order to protect the retreating people, the Holy Son was willing to put himself in danger and stay to fight against the powerful enemy. At this point, I don't know how many times better than those in the church... By the way, you
At the beginning, I said, do you want to apply for farmland?"
Moore nodded: "I no longer want to go back to the church, and I don't have the face to face the villagers in Qianmu Village. Being a farmer may be my best choice."
"You once studied in the Capital Theological Seminary and can read and write four languages. Whether it is theological theory or eloquence, you are a rare talent. Being a farmer? What a waste! Let me think about it..."
Qiao touched his bald head, thought for a while, and then
He said: "Muxi College has always planned to establish a theology department. In addition, in the spring of next year, Muxi Cathedral will be officially completed. The deacons, masters of ceremonies and stewards all need to recruit manpower. I can help you write a recommendation letter,
Find you a good location.”
For the first time, Moore's face showed a sincere smile: "That would be great!"
Later, he saw a hint of embarrassment on Qiao's face, and couldn't help but asked worriedly: "What? Is there any difficulty?"
The monk waved his hand and smiled reluctantly: "I can't talk about the difficulties, but the king has been a little busy recently. I haven't seen him for a few days. The list and recruitment may be a little later..."