The image of the old woman reminded Cyra of a crow.

Her nose was as high as a bird's beak, her cheekbones were full of an unusually bright red that was more vivid than that of the mountain people, and her tightly pursed lips were almost blue. A tattered black cloak covered most of her body, and her bony withered hands, stacked on top of each other to support her staff, looked like sharp claws.

She is more like a corpse that has died of poisoning than a human.

Cyra was stared at by her for a short while, and she couldn't bear it. It has nothing to do with concentration, it is a normal person's instinctive aversion to a madman.

So, to break the awkward silence, Cyra spoke: "Mother-in-law, I apologize for the wrong things my colleagues have done. ”

"You're a priest. What's wrong with you? ”

The old woman rattled in a strange laugh that seemed humble, her voice was rough to the point of harshness, and her eyes fluttered uneasily in her sockets.

"I'm here to apologize in good faith."

However, Cyra was not displeased by her faux pas. His voice was still calm and calm, full of apologies: "I know that no amount of apology I can make up for my colleagues' mistakes. But I wish I had at least known what had happened...... I'll make up for it with what I've left behind. ”

When the old woman heard Cyra's words, her face was so shocked that her eyes almost popped out.

"Make it up? Quack Quack ...... Make up for! You say make it up! Great! Make up for it...... It is...... Make amends—"

Her voice was shrill to the point of harshness, and her tone was not as graceful and calm as the nobles had suggested, but the impetuous, high-pitched, and unnecessarily tongue-flicking of the countryman's voice. The sound of saliva slapping in the mouth was unpleasant.

"That's right! You're a master! Such a good word...... Make up for! Why didn't I think of it......"

The old woman chuckled, but only a moment before Cyra relaxed. Her pupils instantly turned blood-red: "-To hell with Tyre!" To hell with the gods! We don't need to make up for it in the hell! ”

Her clumsy body straightened suddenly, and her cheeks flushed with anger. She wielded her staff like a swordsman. Staring at Cyra, she took two steps forward: "Do you know how they died? Do you know what those knights and priests did? Make up - what a make-up! What an arrogant man of culture! ”

Cylla's mouth opened, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.

The old woman did not shy away from scolding him. It was slightly deflated.

"Good, good...... If you want to know, I'll tell you. Anyway, I don't have a few days to live on the old thing, and I'm not afraid of the heat of the firewood. ”

Then, in her indistinct, country dialect voice, she said, "I don't know if you know that there was an epidemic in our village that day. First the men who farmed, and then the idlers on the street, all of them were hot. No one even cares about spring ploughing, only the women of the family take care of the fields, and they have to take care of the men of their families. ”

"Nobody cared about it back then. In previous years, there were also people who fell ill in the spring. It's just not as much as this year...... It was after the men of the village had not recovered for a week that old Locke went to the city and begged the priest to come and heal him. The women, men, and children to take care of, and they didn't take care of the fields, and if they missed the time, they would starve if they didn't get up in the summer. ”

"But, the priests are coming......"

Speaking of this, the old woman laughed and said, "There are also knights with you—there are so many knights!" Old woman: I've never seen so many horses in my life. ”

"Good fellow...... So many old men have to listen to the old pastor in front of them. As soon as the order was given, the leading knight directly drew his sword and hacked Old Locke to death. ”

“…… And then what? ”

Cyra asked.

"And then what else, hack to death, really hack to death. Locke: He was cut in two. I saw that his intestines were all flowing out and he was not dead, but in the end, he was stabbed from behind, and he was finally dead. ”

"The kids were terrified. Before they could run away from the square, they were chased and hacked to death by the old men on horseback. The women screamed and threw themselves out of the door. With kitchen knives and sticks, they tried to knock them off their horses, but how could they beat the knights, and the most powerful one cut off the horse and was kicked in the head by the horse's hoof. The eyeballs were crowded, and he ran out of gas on the spot. The rest were hacked to death without even touching them. And then the old men are not at ease. You have to poke your head and heart twice with a spear before you do it. ”

"How-"

The scene that the old woman had spoken of almost came to mind before Cyra's eyes. He couldn't help but feel sick to it.

"It's not over yet!" The old woman drew Cylla's attention back to reality with a shrill voice, "The knights have been riding tall horses around the city for a while. The roads in and out of the village were blocked. Then a group of people dressed in red were brought over by the priest. They could burn all the bodies on fire, and then they went into the house and arrested and killed the sick men - the old woman and my two sons were burned directly in the house, and then they threw the ashes in the fireplace - I was hidden in the fireplace by my daughter-in-law! I've been splashed with dust! All the ashes of my son are at one end! ”

"I ......"

Cyla couldn't help but feel her teeth tingle. The world before him was a little blurry.

For the first time in more than 30 years as a pastor, he didn't know how to appease a person.

He didn't know who those in red clothes were, but they couldn't be cardinals anyway. Then there is only the possibility of cultists—and the greater likelihood, that those people are what Claudia calls the Ring of the South Wind.

The major churches have long been associated with relatively less radical cultists. After all, without the direct threat of cultists, many people are unaware of what believing in the gods can bring them.

Without faith, there is no fundraising. Without fundraising, it is impossible to perform rituals and please the gods. There was no money for the training of the Templars, or for the soup kitchens in the slums.

The so-called wool is used on sheep. The temple for the poor was the hard-earned money of another, less poor. The middle is sifted through a fine mesh several times before the leftovers are spit out to them.

That's nothing to Cyra. However, the Priests and Templars openly murdered women and children, which almost upended Cyra's worldview.

Aren't they supposed to fight to protect civilians?

If even the priests and knights themselves exploit and harm the people, then who can people trust? How can people still have half respect for the gods? It was only the god of the raiders, not their god.

Why do they believe in God? On what basis do they unconditionally entrust their hearts and minds to God?

For a moment, Cyra was dizzy from the outpouring of anger that welled up in her heart.

Yes, they have reason to reject God. They have reason to hate God.

They have a reason to blaspheme—

Because it is the things that are high up that ruin everything for them. (To be continued.) )