Rock Fortress, Priest Wright has a strong memory of this fortress - not because of its unique location and history, but because he spent his childhood in a town not far north of this fortress.

At that time, he was just a fatherless and motherless orphan, a small handyman adopted by the abbot, and the few years in the small monastery north of the fortress were the most peaceful and comfortable days of his life, although at that time he had not yet awakened the gift of holy light, and had not yet become a "transcendent" who was feared by ordinary people, but at that time, the old abbot of the monastery was still alive.

The Rock Fortress itself was a huge city, but it was not self-sufficient, and many of the resources in the fortress depended on the surrounding towns and villages, and the monastery where Wright lived at the time was responsible for providing holy water, holy oil, and amulets to the knights in the fortress. At the end of each month, Wright would follow the old abbot from town to the fortress in a creaking old carriage to deliver the new relics to the governor.

The sprawling military facility was full of fierce knights and pugnacious soldiers, but they were all very polite to those who came from the monastery, and on the days of delivery, Wright would go around under the noses of the soldiers, between the battlements of the lower part of the fortress, the black, inlaid with shiny copper bars, and the trebuchets placed on the walls, which fascinated Wright the most.

But after a few years, the old abbot was sent to the central part of the plain of the Holy Spirit, and Wright went with him, and then a few years later, the old abbot died, and the new abbot took over the monastery, and Wright became a priest and was incorporated into the clergy of the central diocese...... More than ten years have passed in a blink of an eye.

The next time he saw the Rock Fortress was two years earlier, when he had been kicked out of the church by the bishop of the central diocese as a missionary priest, and then went south along the banks of the Dolgon River, where the former handyman had left the place had become a missionary and returned to the place in a priest's robe.

Wright didn't stay long at the Rock Fortress that time—while there was much to remember about the city, the familiar faces in the fortress were almost invisible, and even the strong, fierce, and fearsome Fortress Commander had left his post a few years earlier due to old injuries, so he just stopped in a hurry, replenished his rations, and water, and left the place, stepping into the desolate and savage land of the South.

Little did he know that after just two years of missionary time, he would return to this place.

Before entering the city, he saw two long groups of civilians, one walking towards the city and being inspected in a line, and the other coming out of the city. The main members of these teams were caravans, others were mercenaries and adventurers in armor and swords, and only a few ordinary people were mixed in the ranks, and most of them were commoners living in nearby towns - in this era, it was not easy for commoners to obtain passes issued by nobles, and few ordinary people would make "long journeys" except for Cecil leading a large and steady stream of immigrants.

Wright honestly lined up in the line, and waited a long time before it was finally his turn, and he stopped at the table where his name was registered and the passage papers were checked, and as he pulled the papers from his bosom, he said to the soldiers who were languishing behind the desk, "May the Holy Light protect you." ”

Feeling a huge shadow looming over him, the soldier's eyes widened suddenly, and then he heard the deep voice of "May the Holy Light protect you", and when he looked up, he saw a man stronger than his own chief standing in front of him, wearing an old priest's robe, and from the robe he took out two supporting documents - one with the seal of the Church of the Light, apparently to prove the identity of the priest, and the other was supposed to be a common document issued by the noble.

The lazy soldier suddenly came to his senses, and while taking the paperwork quickly, he greeted with some courtesy: "The Holy Light protects you—Mr. Priest." Actually, you can skip the line. ”

Although it was a little strange that the priest in front of him was wearing a slightly old robe, the priest was a priest, a transcendent being, a superior person, and this was the pastor of the Holy Light Church, which was currently strong, of course he did not dare to slack off.

"Everybody's in line," Wright smiled mildly, and said casually, "a lot of people—I don't remember that many people here." ”

"Ahem, that was last year, and this year is different," said the soldier, shaking his head, "a large number of merchants have started a potion business between the Whitsunday and the South, and there are many bankrupt peasants who don't know what they have heard and are going to the South to make a living—many merchants have a passage document issued by the Grand Duke to transport these people south, do you see those caravans with three bundles of straw?" Those are, they're heading to the Whitewater River Pier......"

Wright blinked, and there was some emotion in his heart: even here, what the lord did had such a big impact?

As he spoke, the soldier had already checked Wright's certificate of priesthood, and saw the imprint on the passage document below, the soldier stopped in the middle of speaking, and his expression was a little strange: "It's Duke Cecil's certificate again......"

Wright asked curiously, "What, is there a problem?" ”

“…… Oh, of course, it's the duke's mark, and there can't be a problem," the soldier said hurriedly, and then explained a little awkwardly, "but half of the papers I've seen every day lately have Cecil's insignia......

"The Pioneer Collar always needs men and supplies," Wright said unhurriedly, "It's just that there have been no new Pioneer Leaders for so many years, and I'm afraid everyone has forgotten about them." ”

"It has nothing to do with us, anyway," the soldier muttered, handing the examined papers back to Wright, "you can go into town, Mr. Reverend." ”

Wright took the paperwork, put it away close to his body, and turned and walked towards the heavy door that was familiar to his memory, covered with black steel and copper bars.

Passing through the deep gates, through the fortified first and second layers of the fortress, the inner city area of the Rock Fortress is reached.

As a huge fortress, the Rock Fortress is not just a military building, it is the most important clearance barrier between the southern border and the Holy Spirit Plain, and it is also a place for business travelers to rest and distribute, in order to achieve these functions, but also to ensure the life of nearly 10,000 soldiers, knights and mages in the fortress, the interior of the fortress is actually a well-equipped, prosperous and lively city.

The city has still not changed much.

As Wright walked down the streets of the Rock Fortress, the blurred images of his memory gradually became clear again in front of these familiar street scenes, and he saw his favorite pastry shop when he was a child—on the days he came here every month to deliver "goods", he had eight copper coins of pocket money, just enough to buy a cheap cake or a sweet cake in the store, and he also saw the greasy "slaughterhouse", and saw the tall wooden shelves erected at the edge of the square, which he remembered were used to whip thieves and deserters— However, since there has been no war in the south for a long time, serving as a soldier in a fortress is a comfortable and good job, so its main role is to whip thieves.

Basically, every month, thieves are hung from wooden shelves with their hands tied, and the skin of the whipped flesh is broken, and the biggest pastime of the residents and many soldiers in the Rock Fortress City is to come to the "Slaughter Square" to enjoy this kind of whipping scene, and Wright also remembers that on the second rest day of the Fire Moon every year, there will be a celebration in the Rock Fortress City to celebrate the completion of the city, and the main part of it is to tie the first thief caught by the Fire Moon to it and whip it for an hour.

If the thief is not caught in the month, the slave drawn by lottery is used instead.

Slave owners were happy to send their slaves here to be whipped, which seemed to be a good deal for them, and more importantly, the fort commander would have money to compensate them - even if a slave was accidentally killed during the whipping, the compensation would be enough for the slave owner to buy two more healthy new slaves, so the slaves in the city would even use the celebration of the Fire Moon as a raffle, and would pay off the soldiers who were responsible for the whipping......

These memories popped up in Wright's mind, and he couldn't help but frown.

He used to feel this barbarism, he thought it was cruel, but he never felt it so sinful as he does today.

Seeing so many serfs, slaves, and slave laborers working hard in exchange for freedom, having their own houses and property, and even going to school to read and write, becoming "Cecil citizens" like everyone else, and seeing with his own eyes that those who were regarded as "stupid and stupid" could live with dignity like ordinary people, he found it difficult for him to accept these so-called "elegant entertainments of civilized society" in the central region.

And there is also this unchanged city...... This city that hasn't changed for decades, if not a hundred years.

Not even a newly built house could be seen in sight.

Wright shook his head, turned away from Slaughterhouse, and was no longer in the mood to stay or rest in the city.

He simply replenished some dry food, water, and beer for easy preservation, and quickly left the Rock Fortress, and through the northern gate of the fortress, he officially set foot on the land of the Plains of the Holy Spirit.

He walked long in the wilderness outside the city, all day, until he finally saw a small village before the sun went down.

Glancing at the sky, Wright decided to rest in the village - he didn't pay much for the journey, but the villagers usually didn't refuse a priest's accommodation, and he could chop wood for dinner for a meal, which was much cheaper than spending the night in the city.

He walked into the village, and walked on the potholed dirt road, beside which were low, dilapidated huts and wooden huts, and he inquired about the location of the village manager, and walked in that direction.

But a sudden commotion came from behind him, causing Wright to stop.

He turned around and saw that the pedestrians on the muddy road behind him were scattering, while two soldiers in armor dragged a man out of a nearby house by the arm and hair, and a woman in a shabby dress ran out of the house, crying and kneeling at the feet of the two soldiers—followed by a priest in a priest's robe and a white gold-rimmed hat.

Obviously, the Holy Light Priest, who is transcendent, is the one who controls the situation.

Wright immediately stepped over.

"What happened?" He approached the robed priest of the Holy Light, frowned and asked, "What crime has this man committed?" ”

The woman who was on her knees saw another priest appear, and immediately cried even louder: "My lord! We really don't believe in evil gods! It's just an old ledger—"

The woman's crying came to an abrupt halt as a decree—a silent spell—fell on her, and she could only open her mouth wide and stare at her throat hard, while the priest of the Holy Light who had unleashed the spell withdrew his hand and glanced at Wright in front of him with a little curiosity—after confirming that it was a fellow Churchman—he spoke: "Brother, it's none of your business - I suspect that this family has something to do with the cult." ”

The man who was dragged on the ground by two soldiers muttered in a low voice, "There really isn't...... There really isn't a ......."

Wright looked at this scene with a frown, and looked at the priest in front of him with the greatest patience: "What evidence?" ”

"A book has been found in his house," the priest said, waving an old booklet in his hand, "and this is evidence of exposure to blasphemous knowledge!" ”

The man who fell to the ground cried: "That's just an old ledger...... I just want to teach my mother-in-law a few words......"

Before he could finish his words, the soldier next to him kicked him with his iron boots, making him swallow the rest of the words with blood foam, and the soldier stepped on his head and said in a stern tone: "Don't be demagogic!" What words do civilians recognize! How is it possible for a commoner to have a book in his home? ”

"It is a sign that the common people have a collection of books in their homes, and this collection is likely to have been placed in their homes by the devil, even if the books are written in normal words, the blasphemous knowledge will be hidden between the lines, and the illiterate civilians look at these books, and they do not read the words on them, but the words of the devil," the priest said, drawing a symbol of the Lord of Light on his chest, and said with a serious face, "This is a warning from Bishop Megaor. ”

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