After more than 3,000 years of development, the Holy Religion has become a behemoth. All human nations, with the exception of the Titan Empire and the Duchy of Saxony, have her followers and churches. The management of hundreds of millions of believers requires many complex institutions and many executives, and the complicated affairs can be piled up every day. Of course, these are the things that the big people need to worry about, and what Oss needs to do now is to take over the management of the ascetic hall of the small church in the North City, which was previously held by the Archaisan of Diruby, and after Father Etta "overrode the crowd", Os's office was determined, and although there were voices of opposition, when Father Etta made it clear that it was the suggestion of High Priest Emerd, all the opposition turned into approval. There are five governing bodies of the chapel, namely the Prayer Hall, the Foreign Affairs Hall, the Ascetic Hall, the Logistics Office, and the Knights. The easiest of these is the Ascetic, not because of its low status, but simply because the only job of the Ascetic is to serve the only three penances in the chapel.

Before going to the meeting, Auth looked through the archives and found that the first penance room was occupied by a middle-aged man, Byron Gug. His account is the most well-documented of the three ascetics, Byron, a native of Eland, who was a brilliant young man who was the head of the prayer hall of the Gothic Cathedral and a priest. However, at the height of his prime, he resigned from all his positions and became a devout penance in a small church in the northern city. This is a record in the archives, and it may involve some unknown and dirty internal information, which is no longer verifiable. The second penance room was inhabited by an old man, whose name was Curry, and everyone used to call him Old Curry. He was a minor nobleman in Ilanshire, but when he was stripped of his title, he came to do penance, and it has been twenty-six years now. The third penance chamber was also inhabited by an old man, and then there is no record of him, who was the most mysterious of the three penances.

The cornerstone of the Holy Religion is the devout believers, and even more terrible than the devout ones is penance. This sentence is the famous statement of the twelfth emperor of the Titan Empire, the greatest enemy of the Holy Empire, Inesta the Great. The emperor suffered numerous assassinations throughout his life, and the only one that seriously injured him was an ascetic. Of course, although penance can burst out with great lethality, it is basically a one-off, and the unique cultivation method of penance makes them all overdraw their vitality, so the strongest force of the Holy Sect recognized on the mainland is the three major knights, and the strongest individual combat power is the heresy inquisition. As for the ascetics, that's a bunch of madmen!

However, penances are convinced that they are the most devout believers in the gods, and that everything they do is to give everything they have, including their lives, in times of need. The gods are tolerant, but everything in the world is sinful, so they can only inflict pain on sin, so that they can perfect themselves and the world. The only principle that drives people is pain, and pain is higher than pleasure. Therefore, even the most powerful and powerful people cannot ignore the existence of that group of crazy people.

The visit to Byron and Curry Sr. was brief, so short that Oss couldn't even get in. Byron just sat in the humble penance room by himself, Oss greeted him respectfully, he just glanced at it calmly, and then continued his practice, as if his body was there, but his soul had ascended to heaven, and was deeply discussing the teachings of the Holy Religion with the gods. As for Old Curry, the door of his room was closed, and the breakfast was put aside in front of the door by the monks of the logistics department, Oss hesitated, but still did not come forward to knock on the door, he also knew in his heart that he was not as important as early food in the eyes of Old Curry, although their breakfast was just a bowl of water and the most vulgar bread, since he didn't even take care of breakfast, it was even more impossible to take care of himself.

The third ascetic who didn't even know his name, Osborne didn't expect much, but only a kind of inertia and a little persistence, he decided to continue visiting. However, when there is no hope, you choose to continue, but the goddess of fate throws a wink at you at this time, and the so-called surprise is like this.

After Oss had said what he meant, the old ascetic put down the quill in his hand and cordially invited him into the room. The old man looked less like an ascetic than a scholar, and his room had three tall shelves full of heavy books, next to which was a desk and an old dark yellow wooden chair, and most of all to Oss was a large laboratory table with glassware filled with liquids of all colors and kinds, which reminded him of a profession, a mage!

In the long history of mankind, there have been many professions, some of which have died out, and some of which still exist. There are only four main classes that run through it and are colorful and colorful, which are mage, knight, assassin, and swordsman. And the most dazzling of them is the mage, who is active in all the turning points of human life and death. It is no exaggeration to say that if there were no mages, humanity would have died out long ago.

The opening remarks of the old man who looked like a mage were also unexpected.

"Little Oss, we're meeting again. ”

Did we meet before? Oss muttered to himself, but no matter how much he recalled, he couldn't find any memory of the old man, so he asked directly.

"Have we met before? I'm sorry, but I don't have any impression of that, and by the way, I don't know what to call you yet. ”

The old man smiled heartily and replied, "You can call me Old William, or you can call me Godfather if you like." ”

After hearing the old man's words, Oss felt like he had been electrified, and the hairs on his body stood on end. In the Holy Religion, the godfather and son are not called arbitrarily, but are another form of paternity that, once determined, cannot be changed even after death. Moreover, strictly speaking, in the case of the Holy Religion, the inheritance of godsons is superior to that of biological children. That is to say, after the death of the godfather, his godson must be the first in line to inherit all his inheritances such as status, property and other inheritances in the Holy Church, and if he violates it, it will be a challenge to the canons of the entire Holy Church, and what awaits him must be the pursuit and trial of the Inquisition.

Maybe he thought he scared Os, but he did. The old man's face softened and he continued his words.

"Don't be nervous, you really won't be impressed with me. The last time we met, you were a newborn baby, and I did your baptism for you, and your parents and I are very good friends. As for me saying that you can call me Godfather, it is because this is something that I have discussed with your parents for a long time, but when you were full moon, they died in an accident, and you were so young at the time, so this matter was put on hold for the time being. Of course, I'll need your consent now, little Os. ”

The old man's explanation was reasonable, but Oss still had a lot of questions.

William。。。。。。 That's what I'll call you, uncle. I can fully understand what you said, and I believe that what you said is true, but why haven't you come to see me for so many years? And, if we are godfather-godson relationships, why did I grow up in this chapel and you didn't let me be there for you after my parents died? ”

Indeed, there is such a doubt in the old man's words.

The old man was still kind, and explained with a smile: "It is your parents' last wish to place you in this small church to grow up. And I had to go back to the Punishment Hall headquarters after your parents died, and you weren't right to go there at the time. I came here after you had an accident, and I won't see you because I can't take the initiative to look for you, and you can only see me naturally, so that you can avoid many troubles in the future. As for the reason, now I can't tell you. ”

Oss listened quietly, although the old man's words and his expressions and actions did not seem to be fake, but nine truths and one falsehood are the most deceiving, and the beginning of many conspiracies is beautiful and true. Of course, if it was really the old man who had a plan against him, given that the old man had the background of a mage and the Holy Punishment Hall, he could only deal with it passively now, and the trouble he needed to face to automatically find the door was not bad, anyway, there were many more. Therefore, the best thing to do at the moment is to delay the army.

"Uncle William, I still can't completely digest such a big thing at once. I guess I need time to think about it slowly. ”

The old man's eyes were soft, but he seemed to have a power that could see through everything, reaching people's hearts.

"Of course, this kind of thing needs to be carefully considered, and I can't force it. Little Os, you just need to rely on your own mind, follow the guidance of the light and the light, and time will give you the answer. ”

Everything was sudden, with a sudden start and an abrupt end. In the ensuing conversation, both sides avoided the topic of godfather-son relationship. After the atmosphere relaxed, Oss was obviously more interested in magic, and asked the old man a few questions about magic, and the old man was very patient to answer them one by one. And when Oss left, the old man gave him two magic books. They are "Introduction to Basic Magic" and "Encyclopedia of Basic Magic Circles". Oss who walked out of the room exhaled easily, originally he could pretend to be the stupid Oss before, but in the end he changed his mind, he couldn't keep pretending to be another character, it was too tiring, and it was not conducive to the current situation, so when Elena asked that question before, all of Os's behaviors were more mature and sophisticated. Anyway, all the transformations can be attributed to the miracle of the almighty.

When Oss left, he didn't know that the old man had been staring at his back, and the moment Oss walked out of the dark stone house and bathed in the daylight, the old man's eyes suddenly burst into a strange light. At this moment, the old man's mind suddenly remembered the sentence recorded in the twelfth chapter of the Bible.

"Coming from the Darkness and Being Reborn in the Light"