I will become a spreader of God’s glory and bring prosperity and well-being to this world;
I will become the enforcer of God’s justice, bringing justice and strictness to this world;
I will be a giver of God's love, bringing peace and serenity to this world. ——Paderosi Ecclesiarchy, Patroknight of the Yetina Sect, "Declaration of Glory"
…
Throughout history, it seems that many things born in this world will inevitably become intertwined.
Long before the Lamanite Empire was established and the word "civilization" was defined. In the more distant era, most of which have been lost due to lack of written records, at many nodes in the long history, humans in various places also established glorious kingdoms.
Many words we know today are actually named after them.
The eternal maritime power, Morbigas; the legendary civilization that once unified the west coast, Scia. Any country, any civilization, any faith, or any city-state has had its glorious era. In those years, in the records of ancient murals that have been lost in the wind and dust, and covered by newly grown green plants - their names mean the supreme pinnacle, It means wealth, it means prosperity.
The eternal empire, the miracle of eternal night. In their prosperous times, no matter who they were, they would think that all this would last forever.
But nothing lasts forever.
Because humans are stupid.
A sage once said in the glorious Laman Empire: "All wars are civil wars, because all human beings are compatriots." This is a warning. However, the irony is that the Laman Empire itself enslaved other ethnic groups by going out to fight. Thus gaining supreme status - and ultimately, being destroyed in the civil war.
The uneven distribution of power, the difference between a fertile territory and a barren territory. Wealth, status, and even beauty. These factors that jointly promoted the demise of an empire that had reached its peak of prosperity can all be classified under the category of "**".
Human desire is the root cause of beautiful things becoming no longer pure, but if we want to achieve permanent prosperity. Then one must abstain from self-denial - the White Church, which preached this theory, was carried forward in the era when the Laman Empire began to decline. The royal family itself became the most loyal believers of the church, but what this religion preached did not bring it any benefit. to exist for eternity.
on the contrary. Many scholars and historians today believe that the emergence of the White Church only contributed to the earlier division and subsequent demise of the Lamanite Empire.
True, the teachings it preaches are on many levels. played a vital role. However, once something develops and grows to a certain extent, as people of all statuses begin to come into contact with it, it is inevitable that all kinds of ulterior thoughts will be mixed into it.
What Henry and Mira are seeing right now is exactly such a scene.
It was probably just after lunch time, and the church was still distributing food to the poor. The woman who escaped and left, most likely from the grassland, ran towards the road behind her. Passers-by in the city seemed to have become accustomed to this. Many people quickly ran away.
"Clang--" "Crack-crack-crack--" Twenty or so soldiers in half-armor all chased after her. The woman looked back, gritted her teeth, and then rushed in front of the church. Lifted the hot iron pot.
"Ouch!" The poor people and church staff nearby exclaimed, and she spun and threw the entire iron pot in this direction.
"Bah!" "Ahhhh--" The hot soup splashed onto the soldiers' faces that were not protected by face armor. Several of them immediately dropped their long contradiction cards and covered their faces and began to scream in pain. The woman turned around. He ran to the path on the other side. Mira and Henry were among the crowd of onlookers. The sage keenly noticed the noise coming from the front, and then everyone saw the woman who had just ran in. Slowly withdrew.
It was another group of soldiers using the same equipment. The two noticed the names of the residents of the small town next to them. These soldiers seemed to belong to the church.
But consider the fact that the White Church itself doesn't have an army. This should be the army under the command of the local Lamanite nobles - the group of soldiers in front of Henry and Mira flattened their spears and began to push forward, and cooperated with the soldiers on the other side to form a complete encirclement. They gripped their spears tightly, as if intending to kill her on the spot.
"Stop!"
The sound that followed came from somewhere behind him. The sound of heavy horse hoofs trampled on the soil, and many people turned around. A group of knights and nobles riding war horses and wearing plate armor came over, but the appearance they showed without wearing helmets was not the traditional Raman. Or maybe they look like people from the West Coast, but they all have dark brown skin, a relatively low nose bridge and a relatively thin face.
"Exactly. Naturalized people." The arrival of these people seemed to make many local residents give up watching. They waved their hands and left with disdainful looks, while the knights and nobles called naturalized people quickly He rushed to the front and blocked the women and these Holy See troops.
"This is the daughter of Lord Saches, what do you people want to do!" She is obviously a prairie person, but she is wearing West Coast-style clothes and equipment. Coupled with the fact that the residents called them "naturalized people" and the fact that this woman was not good at martial arts before, their identity has been revealed.
The demise of the Laman Empire and its westward migration happened hundreds of years ago. During this long time, all kinds of things could have happened, and this naturally included many years of edification and exchanges. Among them, some, at least a small part of the grassland people, chose to naturalize.
"She stole something and according to doctrine, she must be punished!" The soldiers of the Holy See did not seem to intend to give these people any face. They still raised their spears. The knights gritted their teeth and were weighing the consequences of the conflict. At this time, another character appeared.
"Stop it, everyone. This lady is going to marry a member of the Hoffman family."
Holding a scepter, the loose and flat robe was a special kind of purple red. Mira noticed that Henry next to him stared at this person for a while, and this newly appeared figure obviously had considerable status, at least he As soon as he said that, the soldiers put away their weapons.
"Knights under Lord Saches, please restrain your anger. Take your young lady back to your house."
The middle-aged man, who had a bald head and looked like a regional bishop of the White Church judging from his clothes, said this, and the converted knights were silent for a while. Then one of them got off the horse and went to help the woman from the grassland.
"I won't leave! I don't want to marry someone from a settled ethnic group. I'm free. Prairie people have the freedom to love!" She shouted loudly: "I'm not like you women from settled ethnic groups who are just political. props!"
"I hate my father! He doesn't have the pride that prairie people should have at all. He is a coward, no different from these settled peoples!"
"Pa--" A loud slap echoed in the square. The woman covered her cheek in a daze, and soon began to shed tears.
"I'm sorry, miss..." The middle-aged knight with a black beard who slapped her first apologized, then put on a serious expression and began to scold loudly: "I'm sorry, but you It’s time to realize your position and your responsibilities!”
"Lord Saches has doted on you since you were a child, but you have passed the age where you can act willfully. Look at the scene around you! How much trouble have you caused to other people for your own ideas, and how many innocent people have been involved? People!" The knight shouted loudly: "Everything we have now, the reason why you can not grow up in intrigues and experience bloody battles. The reason why you can resist loudly here instead of dying early The unknown place was devoured by coyotes and wild beasts, all because Lord Thashes chose to become a naturalized man and chose to live in such an area protected by city walls and troops."
"You have no right to curse your father like this."
The loud words echoed in the square, and the woman covered her face and lowered her head, just shedding tears silently.
"Calm down. Please come back with us to prepare for the wedding." The knight looked down at her, with a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he still did not forget his responsibilities.
"I..." The tearful woman turned her head and searched carefully for a while, and then noticed Mira's white hair. Walked this way.
"Shua—" The troops of the Holy See raised their spears again, but they all took them back as the bishop waved his hand. "Tch, it's coming this way." Many residents who had already left when the knights arrived now dispersed again because of her walking over, leaving only Mira and Henry standing in the same place. , the woman walked upright in front of the Luoan girl.
"Please return the knife to me." She didn't even say an apology. He pointed directly at the scimitar she dropped before Mira's waist and said this. The girl frowned, but still picked up the machete and handed it to her.
"Thank you." She clapped her hands and grabbed it. Although she said thank you, her face was cold. She was obviously still angry about the girl spraining her wrist before, but then she looked at the scimitar in her hand and looked at it. The child became softer.
"This is something very important..." The woman began to cry again: "Hiss-" She sniffed hard, then wiped away her tears and turned to look at Mira and Henry.
"You guys are so nice..."
After leaving such words, the woman turned around and walked towards the knights.
The middle-aged knight at the head looked at her and sighed, and then the woman got on the horse and sat behind him. The sound of horse hooves "tap, tap, tap, tap" could be heard densely. The group of people who had been having a lot of fun were like this. Leave far away.
"Okay, okay, it's time to disperse!" A captain-like figure among the soldiers of the Church Army waved loudly to drive away the crowd. The regional bishop turned around and walked towards somewhere behind him. Henry looked at Looking at Mira below, there was a trace of thought on the girl's face.
"Tch, I couldn't kill these rubbish." "Forget it, they have a large number of people in the city now. I don't know what will happen if they fight."
"Yes, otherwise why would the Hoffman family choose to marry?" "What a bunch of parasites, low-grade trash. They can't do anything except the most menial jobs."
"After all, they are guys who only know how to herd cattle. They are stupid and stupid. Hahaha, they can't even farm -"
Discussions came one after another from the surrounding civilians. With just a few words, the two of them constructed a picture of the current situation of these "naturalized steppe people" in this town - and even within Thoradin Highlands as a whole.
"Remember what happened to the Luoans?" Mira felt a warm touch on her head. She nodded, then looked up at Henry.
"After leaving your home and your familiar way of life, will it be so difficult to just survive?"
"She... no... they should be in a very difficult situation." The crowd gradually dispersed. Only Mira and Henry were still standing there. The girl continued in a not too high voice: "Leave. The homeland that I am familiar with no longer follows the original way of life. Maybe... the real prairie people will be disgusted with them."
"Then they are not accepted by the people here. If they steal something while escaping, they will be executed on the spot. The people here obviously hate them, but even so - even so, they still have to survive here. What are you going down for..." The white-haired Luoan girl looked at Henry and asked in a low tone.
"If you have to leave, there must be some reason." Henry touched her little head again.
"It's just like your ancestors chose to leave after being defeated."
"By insisting on staying here, you are taking responsibility for the decision you made in the first place. It may be said that you are stubborn and want to save face, but some people are like this. Even if life is very difficult and there are many pressures in various places, they will still persevere. Go down."
"To put it in a nicer way, they believe that as long as they persist in this way, things will turn around."
"Suffering will eventually pass. Since you have chosen it, you must persevere until the day you see hope."
The sage said this, Mira nodded with understanding, and then seemed to have noticed something, and said, "Teacher, have you... ever known such a person?"
"Yes." Henry hesitated for a rare moment, and then nodded. The girl then asked: "Then that person...sees hope?"
This time the hesitation was slightly longer, lasting about five or six seconds before the sage continued.
"I don't know." There was a smile on his lips, and a look of nostalgia appeared on his face. This answer was somewhat beyond Mira's expectations, but just when she wanted to continue asking, Henry rubbed her little head for the third time, and then took the lead and walked forward.
"Let's go, we have to find a bookstore."
"...Hmm!" With a thoughtful expression, the girl followed. (To be continued.).
