That morning, the caravan arrived at the village of Verde amid a burst of jingling bells.
The richly dressed caravan leader found Simon and asked him to allow the caravan to stay in the village for a few days.
Simon agreed, but he proposed that all transactions in the village must be conducted and recorded in front of Father James, and then one-tenth of the transaction amount should be paid as a transaction tax.
In this way, a small market was set up in the small square in the center of Verde Village, with various hawking sounds coming and going.
"Come and take a look, everyone, I have here rare treasures from all over the world, altar candles from the Franks, wine made from grapes growing on rose bushes, rare condiments and dyes, magical relics, Miracle ointments and powerful elixirs!”
A guy with a big curly beard, wearing a simple brown pilgrim uniform, with a rabbit paw pendant hanging around his neck, and large and small bags wrapped around his waist, was in front of his carriage loaded with goods, looking around at the lively Fore. The villagers of De Village kept promoting the product with eloquent words.
In addition to the pilgrim selling holy objects of unknown origin, the caravan also included pharmacists selling various potions, butchers selling various dried meats and animal fats, wine merchants selling spirits, red wine and beer, and various other products. Grocers who produce tools and more.
However, it is obvious that these ignorant villagers who are very fanatical about religion are more around the pilgrim.
"Praise to Christ, this respected gentleman, can you please introduce in detail the holy objects you sell?" Pierre, a wealthy free farmer, pinched the small silver cross on his chest, kissed it, and asked the eloquent pilgrim.
"Of course, look at this," the pilgrim said, turning his back and carefully picking up a piece of filthy rag among the cargo of the carriage, "This is what St. Thomas did in Sendaluk." The fragments of clothing left behind when the city attended the wedding banquet of the king’s daughter!”
"Huh?" Pierre, the free farmer, bent down enthusiastically, put his face in front of the pilgrim's palm, and looked closely at the rag left by the saint.
It was a piece of rag that was sticky with mud and exuded a putrid smell. There were also traces of insect infestation on it. It must have been polished over the years.
"When I was traveling in Sendaluk City, I used rare crystals produced under the Kieferhoiser Mountains to help a local noble official family get rid of the evil curse that haunted them. As a thank you, their family will pass it down from generation to generation. This sacred object was given to me."
The pilgrim spoke impassionedly in a tone as pleasant as that of a bard, which was very pleasant to listen to.
"Excuse me, if I own it, will it bring me any protection?" Pierre, the free farmer, his eyes lit up when he heard this, and he asked the pilgrim urgently.
"Well, St. Thomas was one of the thirteen disciples of Jesus. He personally touched the wounds of Jesus' crucifixion on the Day of Resurrection. So, when you die and are buried, take this piece of clothing left by St. Thomas Put the fragments into the grave, and you can be reborn like Jesus!"
Pierre, the free farmer, stared at the rag blankly and rubbed his eyes, as if he could see the rag emitting a faint yellowish holy light.
"Friend, you can have it with two Denier silver coins!"
"What, it's so expensive!" Other serfs and free farmers who were interested in purchasing retreated.
They don't have that much money. Of course, if the pilgrims only sold ten copper coins, they would definitely fight for this sacred rag.
"I bought it," said the free farmer Pierre with a pained expression on his face. This had emptied out all the savings he had saved through three years of hard work. "Wait a minute, I'll go back and get the money!"
After Pierre finished speaking, he impatiently ducked out of the crowd, while other villagers asked the pilgrims to introduce some cheaper goods, and the scene was even lively.
"Wait, Pierre."
When Pierre squeezed out of the crowd, he heard someone calling his name.
"Good day, my master!" Pierre turned around and saw that it was Simon.
"That pilgrim's words are unfounded. How do you know if he is lying to you? I believe that you definitely don't want to spend two Denier silver coins to buy an ordinary piece of rag that is just packaged with his eloquence. ?”
"Oh no, my lord!" Pierre thought about it again and realized that what Simon said did make sense.
He has not yet seen the pilgrims prove with his own eyes whether the holy relics he is selling have the miraculous effects he claims. If it is a scam, he will really lose all his money.
"It's very simple, just verify it like this..."
………………
The free farmer Pierre returned to the carriage and found that Father James had also arrived. Several villagers were already wearing amulets or holding brightly colored feathers in their hands.
When everyone turned their attention to Pierre, they were surprised to find that Pierre did not bring a money bag, but a logging ax used to chop firewood at home.
"Oh, my friend, you are finally back! However, I don't seem to smell the smell of silver coins. Do you plan to use this shabby-looking ax as two silver coins in exchange for my sacred object? "
When the pilgrim saw that Pierre did not bring the silver coins as promised, his face instantly turned cold, and his tone was not as gentle as before, but also a little more disdainful and mocking.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Hahaha, Pierre, is your brain broken?"
The surrounding villagers were amused and laughed. Everyone knows that the ax in Pierre's hand is only worth five copper coins at most.
"Sir, since your holy object has such a miraculous effect and can bring people back to life, then I would like to ask you to verify it for yourself. If this holy object really has the miraculous effect as you said, I will I'll pay you two Denier silver coins." Pierre weighed the ax in his hand with a smile.
"You, what do you want to do?" The pilgrim opened his eyes wide in shock and fear, and took a step back with caution.
"I will chop your head off with an ax now, and then ask the gravedigger to dig a grave for you, and bury you with this rag. If you come back to life, I will pay you two Denier silver coins, so , for you, you got another silver coin and experienced a resurrection yourself, it’s a very good deal!”
Pierre's words made the pilgrim shudder, and he was so frightened that he could not speak properly.
"First, don't do anything. In fact, I don't know if the noble official family has ever used this sacred object before..."
"You damn liar, how dare you sell it out like this? Do you believe I will let you see God now?" Pierre asked angrily to the hesitating pilgrim.
"cut!"
"Pooh!"
Father James and the villagers booed and booed, embarrassing the pilgrims.
At this time, Simon behind the crowd smiled, shook his head, and moved to the next stall.
Coming from the later generations, he knew that the so-called curses, amulets, and resurrections, even if they were told about flowers, would not change the fact that they were deceptive tricks.
But the pilgrim's eloquence was indeed very good, and he could fool the ignorant villagers into stunned silence with just a few words.
Simon only promised Pierre that if the holy object was really valid, he would pay for the two Denier silver coins, so Pierre picked up the ax and directly exposed the cheating pilgrim.
No longer thinking about these things, Simon came to another carriage.
On this carriage, there are many ceramic bottles, each with different symbols painted on the bottle, and the mouth of the bottle is tightly sealed with a cork stopper, making it impossible to know what is inside.
Standing behind the carriage was an old man with sideburns as white as snowflakes and wrinkles on his face like ravines. He was wearing a bright blue felt hat and a green tunic. He looked like a pharmacy merchant.
"Hello, dear lord, do you need anything?" The pharmacy merchant bowed slightly and saluted Simon, and said humbly.
"You are a pharmacist, right?" Simon found it very novel.
After Simon traveled through time, he rarely saw the pharmacist.
Except for the special medicine shops in Cologne, Wiesbaden and Dresden, he had only seen similar medicine collectors in the wilderness and forests during his travels, or alchemists in towns who also made medicines. .
"Yes, sir, unlike those ignorant alchemists and herbalists who know witchcraft in the wild woods, I am a professional." Speaking of his old profession, the old pharmacist's tone was a little excited and proud. replied.
"Professional?" Simon scratched his head with interest and looked at the rosy pharmacist with doubtful eyes.
"Yes, sir, the prescriptions I master have been carefully studied and passed down from generation to generation in the family. I can understand herbal medicine books written in Latin, and I can accurately master each blend based on my many years of experience. Dosage of pharmaceutical raw materials.”
"So that's it. Very good. Come and introduce your potion to me." Simon nodded and picked up a bottle of potion with an eye painted with white paint from the carriage. "What potion is this?"
"Owl potion," the potion merchant said, taking the potion from Simon's hand, opening the cork, and passing it back to Simon's hand, "This is made with a large amount of eyebright powder, a trace amount of belladonna tablets and cave. Made from mushrooms, the drinker can see as clearly as an owl in the dark night."
Simon put his nose to the mouth of the bottle and smelled it. A pungent and pungent smell made him sneeze.
"This prescription was brought back from Lombardy by my grandfather. It is said that noble ladies there would drop belladonna juice into their eyes in order to make their pupils bigger and more beautiful. Although this gave them better vision It caused irreversible damage and even blindness, but people there also discovered that trace amounts of belladonna toxin can enhance people's night vision."
"After so many years of continuous improvement by our family, the owl potion I have concocted now allows the drinker to gain enhanced night vision for a whole night without suffering any harm. How about it, Sir, you want to buy some for your soldiers Is it useful?"
The old pharmacist was able to calmly and clearly explain the ins and outs and ingredients of the medicine. No matter how you looked at it, he was much more reliable than the pompous pilgrim next to him.
