He finally received a reply and couldn't help but read it over and over again. The letter was copied from divine writing, and even the magic of the petals cannot be wiped out. This reminded him of another reply to Knight's Cove, an unpleasant memory which he had had to write himself in the Common Tongue. Since DeWitt Hearn grew up in Iron Claw, it would be time for him to abandon his father's scaly false gods and learn the writing of Gaia.
After collecting the letter, Payton had no intention of returning to the icon behind the church. The skirt of the goddess is inlaid with crystals and white stones, and there are emeralds hidden in the folds. These were ornaments befitting Gaia, but Shania replaced the statue's eyes with gold. "He can see through the sincerity of mortals, but black onyx cannot reflect it." The Law Wizard declared. As a result, from then on, whenever Payton raised his head, his eyes would be stung by the shining golden light, causing tears to flow from his eyes. He thought she was deliberately trying to drive him away from the goddess.
The streets of Iron Claw City were even more chaotic and crowded than when the Tower Messenger stayed. Since he could not ride a carriage, the Archbishop had to ride his own horse. For a long time, he suspected that he was retreating, because the size of the city gate in his field of vision shrank instead of increasing. Fortunately, he did not choose to move forward on foot. Although it would be more secluded, he would not be able to reach his destination before dark.
After being interrogated by the city gate guards, he was able to leave the city. Unknown to them that they had just met the Archbishop of Eastman, these men, as always, groped at his inner arms and waist pockets, trying to find contraband and gold coins. In their eyes, these are actually the same thing, and they need to be kept on their behalf. The only way to avoid the detection station is to use magic, but Peyton knows that Shania and her wizards are extremely sensitive to the power of faith.
There were still crowds of people outside the city, and huge carriages were lined up waiting to enter the city. A few mud huts with thatched huts were built on the ground, and homeless children covered in mud wandered among the wooden sticks and straw. What decorate these simple houses are not green pines and green trees, but black tree trunks with withered leaves and fruitless trees, as well as garbage hidden in the bushes. The cleaning workers in the city will not care about the environment outside the city, and the vendors, bakers, blacksmiths and cobblers will not easily give up the protection of the city wall. If it were not for the Jinque River, these people would have starved to death. Payton put on his cape and avoided the men and women begging for alms from the convoy. They were hungry from poverty, languished from hunger, and all looked the same. And they never pay attention to travelers who seem to have nothing. Gaia on top, he thought as he walked, all I can do is pray for you.
Seeing the condition of the poor, he was almost ready to forgive the nuns at the House of Charity. The mortal world has no mercy for these poor people, unless they go to the goddess' heaven to obtain salvation. Payton had been a wandering ascetic in Knox, a time he often spoke of and glorified. But one thing is that now that he is old and frail, the tenacity and energy of his youth have left him, if he falls into their situation, he may have no choice but to die.
No, that won't be the end of him. Peyton Forest is the Archbishop of the Eastman Kingdom and the spokesperson for the goddess Gaia. He will wear a beautiful crown and sleep among the silver lilies, with a white dove covering him in a white cloak. Tens of thousands of people prayed for him under the coffin carved with black crystal. The band's songs echoed throughout the city. Her Majesty the Queen of Eastman only wore a black and white dress for two weeks to express her memory. Although she may not feel sad in her heart, and may even curse him to hell, the goddess's will is absolute.
Some people may not care about his life or death. Some people wandering outside the city will eventually understand that their prayers for the high wall are meaningless. At that time, these people will give up the crucian carp in the river and leave with others. Some people reclaim wasteland and plant fruits and vegetables. They became villages, farmers and hunters, away from the unreachable stone walls and cavalry teams under hunting flags, building houses and walls to protect themselves. If the lord of the land discovered them, the men would have to pay taxes for their work. The ascetics and missionaries of the Church of Gaia will also spread the faith among them, but the Knights of the Cross and the priests and nuns are often locals, and the ascetics will not stay in one place.
Others choose to live on horseback. They plundered towns and kidnapped women, never produced anything, and naturally did not need to pay taxes to their lords. When the priests of Gaia encountered them, the only thing they could do was to send them to the goddess to atone their sins. Needless to say, these bandits certainly don’t care who the bishop of the kingdom is!
And Payton is about to arrive at a former village.
He didn't have to come in person, there were clergy or cross knights for him to drive, but Peyton couldn't let Shania hear about it. Iron Claw City is currently the territory of the wizard. Although he lives in seclusion, she still spreads informants in the church and buys people's hearts, even if it is just to make him feel uneasy. Her approach was indeed effective, and Payton admitted that he couldn't imagine what His Holiness the Pope would do if he learned of the matter. There will be no white doves or prayers at his funeral then, no, I must come in person.
As he walked past the stable, a woman carrying a bucket walked around him cautiously, splashing water in front of Peyton's toes. She was built like a donkey, and her wrists were as thick as teacups. Farmer's daughters, Peyton thought, the goddess doesn't care about their origin, and even always prefers them. This kind of people are indeed the least likely to fall. Beauty is both a luxury and the source of sin. It is enough for a woman to exist only as a wife. A good-looking face will turn a girl from a poor family into a bitch, and a noble lady will become a wealth for clinging to and forming a party. This is not what they want.
But the goddess knows right from wrong and administers justice. He also had enough compassion for sinners that the church established the House of Charity. Payton stood in front of the church, looking at the crude decoration above his head. There should not be a monastery in this kind of village. People only need a rope to treat criminals, unless someone goes to great lengths to hide it here to prevent it from being discovered by the church in Iron Claw City. Before he had taken two steps, he saw the rotten head stuck on a wooden spear, and thought that after Shania and her bunch of damn wizards returned, they would find the culprit no matter what.
A nun opened the door for him after a knock on the door. She is a mortal and has no resistance to divine magic.
"Good boy, I'm not the first weird guest you've had in recent days, am I?" he asked.
The nun pursed her lips, looking uneasy. "Dean Barnza, she is dead..."
"Tell me something I don't know. Two Sky Realm messengers from Croita have been here. I just saw your dean. They hung her outside."
"No, that was done by someone else." The nun now answered every question, meticulously. "They were two people, a man and a woman, and a mysterious creature with a lion's mane."
The Witch and the Lion of Destiny. Peyton thought to himself that there was another person, probably Bai Zhizhi. "Go on, how did they find them?"
"That young man - Uriel, he is very familiar with the church. Manai said he was a messenger sent by Gaia... He killed Sister Parnsa and asked me where Rome was. I don't know... He promised Gotta find those kids.”
Payton had never heard of this name. However, Bai Zhizhi is indeed familiar with the Gaia Church, and there is no organization in the mysterious field that he is not familiar with. This tower leader is a well-deserved leader of the Sky Realm. After the Catastrophe of the Undead, he gave all mysterious pivots a new definition of diplomacy.
In a tower dominated by astrologers, it is normal to withhold names. Payton never knew that Bai Zhizhi had revealed his real name. But the time was wrong. At that time, the White Envoy should be dealing with the rebellion in San Carlos, the city of fog. There is no doubt about the authenticity of this information. "What is the relationship between this Uriel and the others?"
"I don't know," she said confused. Because they continued the question and answer session in front of the door for too long, some passers-by already looked at them strangely. The Archbishop stepped into the goddess' sanctuary and closed the door. "However, I see they all have exactly the same rings."
"Exactly the same?" He caught this feature.
"Only the size is different."
Croita's nightwhisper ring belongs only to members of the Council of Destiny, but that's not enough. According to the letter, Payton had someone else in mind. Maybe I just didn't want it to actually be him. "Did you know he was a demon hunter?"
"No," the nun replied quickly.
It's really not... He praised Gaia happily from the bottom of his heart. The White Envoy wears the symbol of the Demon Hunter on his body all day long, and only a blind person would not recognize it. He knew every Kukyou Lord in Croita clearly, and that young man was probably a newcomer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He suddenly remembered something mentioned in Nightingale's letter. It was him, Peyton understood.
Under the light of the Sky Realm and his mentor, Uriel seemed to have nothing worth paying attention to, which almost made Payton ignore him. But the Lord of the Tower is unlikely to be interested in the dirty little things in the monastery, let alone the Lion and the Witch of Destiny. They will try their best to understand the whereabouts of Rome, but they will not make any promises to a mother who has lost her son. It must be him, Peyton thought, who got the White Envoy to pay attention. It's all Shania Ravenas' fault, otherwise why would my information be so blocked!
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