The Grand Temple of Destiny, the center of the Far Eastern Holy See at Sindra, sits in the middle of the city of Krasbourg, with its soaring spire reflecting a dazzling white-gold hue in the bright summer afternoon sun. Few people know that in the basement of this majestic temple there is also a cell that rarely sees sunlight all year round, and the wall lamp outside the cell is constantly "unquenchable", but the magic light is cut off by the "anti-magic field", and it cannot shine into the cell.

The young Reverend Beatreau carefully picked up the candlestick and moved it toward the desk, so that the teacher, who was copying at his desk, could see the dense small font on the newspaper.

"Teacher, you take a break first, have a cup of tea, and I'll help you copy it for a while." Witt whispered.

Philip looked up, took off his glasses, rubbed his swollen eyes, silently accepted the teacup from Werther, got up and left the desk, and paced back and forth in the cramped cell.

His Excellency the former Governor and Archbishop of the Far Eastern Province had lost a lot of weight during his three years of captivity, and his face, which had not seen the sun for many years, was sickly pale.

Witte took over the teacher's job and continued to extract data from the newspaper, condensing the long story into a short summary. Philip had been engaged in this work since the day he had been granted the right to read books and newspapers, and having lost his freedom, he could only learn indirectly about the changes that had taken place in the Far East through various newspapers and periodicals, and in three years he had accumulated more than a foot of notes alone.

Since the independence of the Far East, the coronation of Rudolf Koras as king, and the establishment of Sindra Church as the state religion of the Far East, Pastor Perot has become an undesirable outlier in this land. The former Grand Temple of Pero has now been changed to the Grand Temple of Destiny, and the Seminary of Pero was first requisitioned by the government of Kolas and rebuilt into the Sindra Theological Seminary, and not long ago it was built on the site of the seminary and expanded into the "National Colasburg University". As for the priests who originally lived in the cathedral and seminary, almost all of them chose to return to the Assanian Empire, but Witt insisted on staying, and was specially accommodated by Prince Roland, who allowed him to go in and out of the dungeon to take care of his teacher.

After finishing his excerpt from today's issue of the Fatherland Daily, Witte put down his quill pen, rubbed his somewhat sore wrist, turned to look at the slightly hunched figure standing in front of the ventilation window, and couldn't help but ask a question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time.

"Teacher, do you have any special intention in transcribing these news reports?"

Philip came back from his contemplation, turned to the young student and smiled, and replied calmly, "Nothing special, just to kill time." ”

This answer disappointed Werther, who for a moment did not know what to say.

"Werther, you don't have to run to me all day in the future, instead of wasting your time here, you should wander around, so as not to waste your youth."

"Don't say that!" Witt hurriedly stood up, his face flushed, "Serving the teacher is my only mission, how can it be said that it is a waste of time. ”

Philip shrugged helplessly, "Forget it, don't talk about this, you also saw the headline in the newspaper today, the Koras government claims that the Far East agriculture has once again enjoyed a bumper harvest, and the average yield of wheat per mu on state-owned farms is as high as 600 pounds, do you think this figure is credible?" ”

Werther hesitated for a moment, and replied cautiously: "I have taken the time to go to the farms outside the city to investigate the field according to your instructions, and according to my observations, the report of the Kolas government should not be too outrageous, of course, I am not sure that the harvest of other farms is also so good." ”

"Even if you discount it, based on the average yield of 400 pounds per mu, it is quite a remarkable achievement." Philip stroked his gray hair and sighed, "I have been in charge of the Far East for 20 years, and I have done everything possible to promote agricultural production during my tenure, but I have not achieved much success. ”

Witte nodded approvingly, "The Far Easterners I have come into contact with, no matter what industry they are engaged in, almost all of them are full of praise for the Kolas government, which shows that people's lives are indeed much better than before, but then again, if it were not for General Krautz's impulsive mistakes, the teacher's reform plan could have been successfully implemented in the Far East, the Kolas father and son would not have the status they have today, and the living standards of the Far Easterners may not be as good as they are now." ”

Philip smiled dumbly and patted Werther on the shoulder, "A missed opportunity is a missed opportunity, making assumptions about what has happened can only show that you can't afford to lose, don't say such childish words in the future." ”

"But ......," Werther was still a little unconvinced, "if the teacher could be free in the future, would he still stick to the original path of reform?" ”

Philip pondered for a long time and nodded heavily.

"I will! The life as a prisoner did not dampen my fighting spirit, and the changes in the Far East over the years have strengthened my belief that there are only two ways for the empire to go, either reform or perish! As soon as the words came out, he shook his head self-deprecatingly, "Don't talk about this, it's pure fantasy!" ”

At this moment, footsteps were heard in the hallway, and two figures appeared side by side outside the cell door. With a soft sound, the door lock opened, and the Koras father and son stepped in.

Philip looked back at the two uninvited guests, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, revealing a look of surprise.

"Old friend, we're meeting again." Rudolph greeted him with a spring breeze on his face and couldn't help but give Philip a warm hug.

"Wait!" Philip pushed Rudolph away, undisguised the vigilance on his face, "What do you mean, and what tricks are you going to play?" ”

"It's just to visit an old friend, don't think so badly of me." Rudolph spread his hands aggrievedly.

"Put away your rhetoric! I don't know who you are? Philip snorted indignantly, "Let's be straightforward, what do you want to do?" Do you dislike me, an old prisoner, for wasting food, and plan to send me to my lord Pero, so that he can free up his cell to hold some wretched creature of greater value? ”

Rudolph laughed and waved his hand repeatedly: "My old friend, your long life in seclusion has caused you to suffer from paranoia, in fact, not only do I not want to harm you, but I want to give you back your freedom. ”

"Give me back my freedom?" Philip's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Times have changed, relationships between people have changed over time, we have had some conflicts, but fortunately they are all in the past, and now it's time to restore our friendship."

Philip dragged out a long note and nodded: "Although I don't know what happened, one thing I am sure of is that I, an old prisoner, still have value for you, right?" ”

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