Chapter 156 - In The Deep Sea (1/2)

The briefness and understanding in missionary Wright’s reply instead left Gawain stunned for a good while. He had initially prepared a big pile of justifiable, well-grounded, and polite excuses to cope with the missionary’s ceaseless chatter. The contents included and were not limited to ‘the territory has no money to sustain a church’, ‘the territory has no money to provide for priests’, and ‘you’ve got to spend money to buy the bricks for the church’; but he didn’t expect this suspected-gladiator-turned-cleric missionary to actually forget it just like that… He actually dropped it just like that…

This big brother couldn’t be an undercover agent from the dark sects that infiltrated the Church of Holy Light, could he?

“You’ll drop it just like that?” Even Amber could not help but burst out. “You do not plan on persuading more?”

“The way of the Holy Light tells me that if I do good, the Holy Light will naturally illuminate hearts. If I do not do good, even if I speak till my tongue breaks, it wouldn’t work.” The big fellow used his hand to draw an emblem of the Church of Holy Light on his chest. He had a face full of stubble and muscles, yet he forcefully pushed out a holy and pure image. “So it’s all right even if you all are not interested. It’s not too late to approach me again when you’ve gained an interest.”

“You’re really such an interesting fellow.” Heidi shook her head in disbelief. “Say, you’re from the central region, right? Why would a Church in the Plains of the Holy Spirits send you to the end of the southern borders to preach? And they only gave you a document… Where are your attendants and guards?”

The present was no longer the era where it was the dawn of civilization and the various sects were canvassing with difficulty in the wild. Even missionaries who traveled everywhere no longer moved alone like an ascetic monk, especially missionaries setting off from the rich Plains of the Holy Spirits. Basically, they would move about the world with a considerable number of attendants and guards. As such, those contingents were also known as ‘moving churches’, which meant that the armed personnel, the servants, and the priests of a church were all present. However, this Mr. Wright had walked from the Plains of the Holy Spirits here with just a tattered document. Don’t mention attendants, even his traveling expenses and food were earned by selling his own hard work.

This sudden trance gave one a feeling of the unreal as if this missionary had walked out from the primitive era in history books.

And Wright only smiled offhandedly after hearing this question. “I got on my way alone. The bishop gave me a document and told me to come to the south to preach, so I did. As for attendants and guards… For a minor low-level cleric like me, where would I get attendants and guards? Besides, I don’t need them either.”

With that, he displayed his muscles. “Many paladins are no match for me. Many attendants aren’t as efficient in working as I am. Then what do I want them for?”

He then lifted his head to look around, realizing that a new batch of bricks had been sent to this building site. He stood up and dusted off his pants. “Looks like there’s work to be done again. Do you all have any more questions? If not, I’ll go help unload this batch of bricks first.”

Gawain had an odd expression. “…Please go ahead.”

Wright waved his hand. “Then I’m coming. Ah yes, don’t forget to help me pass on the document to your feudal lord. I need to get the lord’s permission before I can build a church and preach publicly.”

Gawain was at a slight loss of whether to laugh or to cry. “Don’t worry, I will definitely pass it on.”

Wright nodded and turned to walk towards the building site but turned around again after taking two steps. “Oh yes, there’s something I forgot to ask.”

Even Heidi found it both funny and annoying. “Please fire away.”

“Where do I go to eat after work?”

Heidi sighed. “…Just follow the workers. Everyone who worked gets food, to one’s fill.”

Only after the missionary had left far did Amber mutter softly, “I’d thought people from the Church of Holy Light would definitely find trouble when they see me. In the end, why is it such a foolhardy… weird person.”

“Don’t be delusional about persecution. He doesn’t even know who you are. Why would he find trouble with you?” Heidi darted a look at Amber and then looked towards Gawain. “Ancestor, are you going to allow this… ‘missionary’ to preach in the territory?”

“We’ll first observe him for two days,” Gawain said coolly. “Send a clerk and get his basic information registered properly. Then arrange lodging for him according to the criterion of technical migrants —— have it near the administrative area. At the same time, pay close attention to his movements. If this person isn’t problematic… allow him to preach and move within the laws of Cecil.”

Gawain himself was estranged from the gods and beliefs in his heart, but he did not intend on stopping people from carrying out religious practices in the territory ——because religious practices were the ‘established facts’ of this world. Theurgies were a part of local productivity Eighty to ninety percent of the populace in the territory had beliefs: either in the Goddesses of Fertility and the God of Holy Light, or gods in the domains of craftsmen, commerce, knowledge, and warriors. The majority were shallow believers, while a small group were pious believers. In such a context, preventing a missionary from the Church of Holy Light from practicing in the territory was both meaningless and would even breed doubt in hearts.

And as long as this strange, candid missionary had no questionable points or blemishes in his background, his arrival would instead be a good thing. Gawain still remembered what Veronica mentioned the last time, and he believed that it certainly wasn’t as simple as a casual mention for the Saint Princess. She would approach him again sooner or later. However, if the territory had built a small church recognized by the Church of Holy Light before that, he would have sufficient reason to decline the infiltration by the church from the capital.

A church that a wandering missionary built with financial aid from the local feudal lord would be much easier to control than a church directly commanded by the capital’s church.

As these random thoughts spun in his mind, Gawain returned to his tent.

Looking at this tent that he had been staying in for several months already, he was also rather emotional at heart.

It was indeed time to move out of here, into a residence made of bricks.

At the least, the new residence that he designed would have an official study, bedroom, storehouse, and all kinds of laboratories. Whether it was for living or carrying out magic research, it would be much more convenient than things were in this tent.

However, it was simply unknown why Amber also appeared to be delighted that Gawain could move into his new residence as soon as possible. The last time Gawain had asked her out of curiosity, in the end, the latter came up with a heap of strange remarks: ‘I haven’t climbed through the windows into a house for a long time’, ‘this tent of yours doesn’t even have a door that can be pried’, ‘without a basement and vault, how could it be considered an aristocrat residence’ and more… Truly odd.

Gawain had no choice but to give Amber a round of knocks on her head to correct her shortcoming of saying strange things, but it seemed like there wasn’t much effect.