Silver Ring City, St. Peter's Cathedral, 4:30 in the morning.
Bishop Fabian came to the vestibule early, holding the letter from the church station, and whispered: "Seventeen boxes, one hundred and forty-one items..."
After putting away the letter, he turned to the aide beside him: "Where is the carriage?"
Glancing at the sky outside the window, the latter respectfully replied: "Sir, we should have reached the south gate now."
The bishop nodded and asked: "The matter of Crystal entering the city must be kept secret."
The deacon nodded quickly in agreement.
Slowly walking to the door of the church, Bishop Fabian was still worried and emphasized again to his confidants: "During the last palace banquet, the internal affairs officer asked me about this matter, and I pretended not to know. In short, it must be
It cannot be made public, the less people know about it, the better..."
As the bishop stepped out of the door, before he finished speaking, he was so frightened by the scene in front of him that his feet slipped and he almost sat on the ground.
It was still dark, and the square in front of the cathedral was crowded with carriages. Hundreds of people turned their heads when they heard his voice.
"Mr. Bishop! Are you okay?" The aide hurriedly helped his boss and helped him stabilize his body.
With trembling steps and an awkward smile, he walked into the crowd. Looking at the many familiar faces, Bishop Fabian said hello as he walked: "Hello, Mr. Schubert, Chief Internal Affairs Officer, how are you doing?"
It’s rare to see you so early.”
"Master Bishop, don't pay attention to me, I'm here to watch the sunrise."
"Justice Di Noir, good morning. I remember you retired to the manor last week, didn't you?"
"Yes, living on the farm is a bit boring. I came here to watch the sunrise."
…
After a round of greetings, the bishop felt as if he had eaten a dead fly.
A bunch of hypocritical guys, as if they had made an appointment, saying they wanted to watch the sunrise, but they all turned their faces to the south. Could it be that the direction in which the sun rises is different today than in the past?
This person obviously heard the news that Crystal had entered the city, but he still pretended to be unaware of it.
Little did he know that since Todd's performance on the Twilight Coast, various versions of the description of the treasure had spread throughout the royal city. The initial rumors were probably 70% true and 30% exaggerated, but
The more you go on, the more outrageous it becomes. Some people even believe this nonsense, "Pour pure water into a sacred object and drink it to prolong your life."
Under this situation, Bishop Fabian was so anxious that he could do nothing, but he could not order the people to be driven away, so he could only wait in place like ants on a hot pot and join the "watching the sunrise" team.
At 5:20 in the morning, a carriage guarded by the knights of the Holy See appeared in everyone's sight.
The carriage was equipped with shock-absorbing devices on the wheel axles, and the carriage floor was covered with thick straw. Even so, the carriage's speed was still not much faster than walking.
There was a small commotion in the crowd.
"Finally here."
"Watch carefully, don't lose me..."
Such words kept coming to his ears, making the old man, a bishop, look increasingly ugly.
The carriage finally arrived at the square of the cathedral. The driver was a groom from the church. He looked at a group of richly dressed, ferocious-looking nobles and high-ranking officials blocking the front of the carriage. They stared intently at the cargo compartment behind his carriage, and he hugged himself in fright.
He picked up his riding whip and huddled in the car seat, shivering.
The Holy See knights who were supposed to maintain order looked at each other and did not dare to step forward. Some of the people in the crowd were their superiors, friends and even relatives. At this time, turning a blind eye was naturally the most reasonable choice.
Bishop Fabian couldn't stand it anymore and opened his arms to the crowd: "Please listen to me, please listen to me! Please make way for the holy objects."
A moment of silence.
Perhaps realizing that in this kind of public place, one should still pay attention to some behaviors and demeanor, everyone slowly backed away, leaving a space.
The carriage slowly drove into the back courtyard of the cathedral, and the nobles and chiefs of the Silver Ring Kingdom followed behind, keeping a close distance.
The church clergy opened the back door of the prayer hall, removed the baffle behind the carriage, pushed aside the thick straw, carefully took out the crates one by one, and walked towards the main hall.
The crowd followed the unloading team, crowded towards the back door, and entered the lobby.
The bishop watched everyone filing in, closed his eyes and shook his head helplessly.
Seventeen wooden boxes were spread out on the church floor.
Before the wooden box was opened, Fabian felt it was necessary to emphasize the necessity of order and order to the crowd: "Everyone! These crystal products are sacred objects of the church. They have the words of Heavenly Father engraved on them. They should be
Submit it to the Archbishop of the Western Diocese and then submit it to His Majesty the Pope!"
After saying this, seeing everyone nodding piously in agreement, the bishop felt a little at ease and nodded to indicate that he could open the wooden box.
The Cathedral of San Marco adopts the dome design of ancient Terro architecture. The deep longitudinal windows at the top can introduce a small amount of morning light, and more light sources come from the holy candles on the shelves.
Sunlight, candlelight and glass reflect each other, forming a wonderful optical phenomenon. The pure glass surface is coated with a layer of golden light, and the light of the hall is refracted by the transparent crystal to create colorful light.
This scene is like falling into a fairyland or ascending to heaven.
Even the bishop, who had been mentally prepared beforehand, was so shocked by the beautiful scenery that he forgot to speak.
After a long time, when he came back to his senses and looked around, he saw a pair of green eyes in the crowd, his heart skipped a beat and he secretly exclaimed.
"Something bad happened!"
Fabian raised his arms towards the clergy behind him and shouted: "Close the boxes and take them..."
It's too late...
The first person to attack was the retired justice. It was hard to imagine that a thin old man who was nearly seventy years old and had gone home to recuperate could act so quickly and strike so decisively.
I saw him turning sideways, sliding his steps, using the cover of the people around him, pretending to be unsteady, and stepped hard on the bishop's foot.
Taking advantage of Fabian's scream, he leaned over and fished it out, and the item he had already set his sights on - "Eared Crystal Pendant Slim Mouth Pot", was hidden in his loose robe.
Maybe there were some people who were afraid of the majesty of the church at the beginning, but after seeing someone taking the lead, people started to take action based on the idea that "the law does not punish everyone".
At first it was just stealing secretly, but eventually it turned into an open robbery.
Putting aside their restraint and self-respect, the nobles also lost the slightest psychological burden. While opening the other wooden boxes with their hands, they picked up the holy objects and discussed them loudly with others.
The shouts and persuasion of the bishop and other clergy, amidst the laughter of others, unsurprisingly became the background sound of this contention.
In the end, the dignitaries of the Silver Ring Kingdom left with satisfaction, leaving only a pile of straw in the hall and a mess in the house.
"My Lord Bishop, you...your shoes..."
The deacon walked to the boss who was pushed to the corner and was sitting on the ground with a dull expression. With trembling hands, he handed over a cloth shoe whose original color could not be seen.
The muscles on Bishop Fabian's face trembled, and he took a deep breath. His expression was like that of a victim who suddenly recovered after being robbed, and he cursed in pain: "A bunch of robbers! Barbarians!
"
After scolding for a while, he stood up slowly with the help of others and asked seriously: "How much is left?"
"There are twenty-six pieces left, four of which are broken."
The bishop was stunned, thought carefully for a while, and then said: "If I remember correctly, these holy objects were brought back from the north by the monk named Todd?"