Although the town of Blackcastle is a subsidiary town of the Blackcastle Fortress, it covers an area of 25 square kilometers, which is almost the size of a city.

The high walls surrounding the town have been completed, but two gaps have not been closed, and two small forts will be built there, which shows the determination of the Yorkists to build a city here.

The town's roads are wide, lined with neat houses and shops, which are the property of the York family, which are sold or leased, and bring a lot of income to the York family every year. Most of the people who live in Blackcastle are vassals of the House of York, and they belong to the propertied class. Of course, there were many other vassals of other families who set up shop here, selling all kinds of souvenirs for the family and themselves, and purchasing all kinds of supplies needed, and now all the Pioneer Lords recognized Blackcastle as the economic and political center of the Western Pioneer Lord.

In addition to vassals, the town of Blackcastle is populated by the majority of lords and freedmen.

That's right, the freedmen, who prefer to live in the towns rather than farming and hunting in the wild, because it's much safer, with the help of the church, and most importantly, there are more opportunities here.

The lords welcome these freedmen who do not encroach on their land, and as long as they follow the rules of the lord, the administrator of the town can also provide some shelter, after all, the town needs a large enough population.

Freedmen worked in towns to support their families by doing menial jobs, such as building walls and houses, building canals and dredging sewers, cleaning streets, carrying goods, working as clerks for shops, accepting the employment of vassals to grow vegetables and raising pigs outside the city, and if they had a skill, they could live a better life, such as tailors, grooms, stonemasons, blacksmiths, gardeners, etc., and maybe even some property if they were mixed well. If your craftsmanship is indeed outstanding, the lord of the lord is not stingy to give the status of a lord, which is even more secure in the town, and after three generations, the lord will give the land and climb to a higher class.

The reality is like this, vassals, lords, and freedmen have never been slaves of the lord, as long as they pay their offerings and serve on time, they can still live their own small lives through hard work. In fact, there are no slaves in this world. If there is no large-scale war, how can the slaves come? and how can the slaves provide faith?

Therefore, the towns of the great lords have noble districts, vassal districts, slum towns, and shanty towns, and as long as they obey the laws of the towns, can support themselves, and pay taxes on time, the freedmen can live in the towns. And these overpopulated towns would also bring great benefits to the lords.

Every such town is bound to have a church of the Glorious Church, and Blackcastle is no exception. In fact, there are two churches in the town of Blackcastle, one of which stands in the center of the town and is the most striking building in the town. The other, built near the gate on the east side of the town, is the most striking building in the area, as it is a slum and outside the gate there is a large shanty town, where the freedmen live.

Compared with the desertion of the central church, this church is much more popular, and it is the time when the morning has just ended, and the believers of the church have left the church to start a new busy day, and they do not forget to respectfully greet Ivan standing at the gate when they leave.

After the last member left, Ivan closed the door and stretched, his bones crackling and crackling, and his strong body stiffened a little after an hour of morning service.

Ivan stood outside the church gate and looked out at the beautiful church in the center of the town, his eyes full of envy and longing.

When will I be able to preside over that central church?" he thought to himself.

"What for?"

Outside the church, the shouting of the paladin guards caught Ivan's attention, and he saw a cowering man looking at the door.

"Is there anything wrong with you?" Ivan asked kindly as he waved his hand for the paladin to let the man over.

"Father, I, I'm going to pray for my sins. The man stepped forward and said with some fear.

Hearing this, Ivan's eyes lit up and he looked this person up and down.

I saw that he was 30 years old, his body was quite strong, but his face was pale and frightened, and his linen robe was covered with mud and some blood.

"Come with me. Ivan made a look at the pilgrim warrior and led the man into the church.

Ivan led the man through the church's prayer hall and into a hidden prayer room.

The prayer room is not large, but in the middle of the prayer room there is an altar made of white glazed stone, and several rare white crystals are embedded in the altar, forming a regular circle.

Ivan stood still, without saying a word, and looked at the man coldly.

The man came to his senses at this time, took out a handful of copper soles, and respectfully handed it over.

Ivan took the bloodstained bronze sol and weighed it, frowned and said: "This is not enough, but for your piousness, I will preside over a prayer of atonement for you, you go and kneel." ”

As he spoke, Ivan walked up to the altar, stretched out his thick hand and stroked the white crystal, and silently recited the prayer in his mouth, and soon the white light reflected from his hand, and then the white crystal lit up one by one, and these lights converged together, and finally formed a pure pillar of light on the altar.

This is what the Church proclaims, the image of the Lord of Light, formless, colorless, pure light.

"Whatever I ask, you answer, and you can't hide anything. Father Ivan admonished the agitated man, and then he went into a compartment, leaving the man alone on his knees before the altar.

"What's your name?"

It was still Father Ivan's voice, but the man heard it at this time, but it was holy and majestic, and he was extremely respectful.

"My name is Barry. ”

"What are you guilty of?"

"I, I killed someone. ”

"Why kill people?"

"Yes, it was ordered by Boss Hook, and I am his subordinate. ”

"Tell me all about you in detail. ”

"My name is Barry, and I was originally a farmer from the Eastern Province, and my family fled here after the defeat of the lord. Originally, a few guys from the same village and I were under Lord Langdon and relied on building the city wall to make ends meet. Later, there was no work to do, and I heard that Lord Langdon, who used to work for us, was killed by Lord Balor. We took refuge in Lord Balor's men, Boss Hook. ”

"Boss Hook is in charge of the two streets here, and we'll follow him to collect money. A month ago, Boss Barry killed a boss in the west, and now his territory is also in Hook's hands. ”

"The protection fee for the new site is the same as the original one, which is 10 copper soles per month for one household and 30 copper soles per month. However, Boss Hook fell in love with the two shops on the new site, a grocery store and a hotel, both of which were opened by a few old cripples. ”

"Later, we also inquired that these old cripples have no backstage and are also free people. Boss Hook talked to them and offered 10 silver soles to buy their shop. When they refused, Boss Hook raised their case money to 15 silver soles a month. These old fellows refused to give it, not even the 40 copper soles. ”

"Boss Hook is going to let a few of us teach these old guys a lesson. Unexpectedly, these old cripples were all hard stubble, and a few of us were knocked over by them and thrown out. Those guys had a lot of bones broken, and I was the only one left. The innkeeper named Old John also asked me to tell Boss Hook that if I sent someone to mischief, I would break all my legs and let Boss Hook calculate the medical bills himself. ”

"I dragged a couple of guys back in a cart to meet Boss Hook. When Boss Hook heard about it, he asked me to pull these guys out of town to get rid of them. He said, "If I don't do it, I'll kill me!" He also said that only if you have blood on your hands can you count yourself as one of your own people. He told me that it was because he dared to fight and kill that he was valued by Lord Balor, and that if I wanted to come out, I had to listen to him. ”

"I couldn't help it, so I dragged Witt and the others out of town, found a pit, and stoned them all to death. ”

"Werther and the others begged me to let them go, but I can't help it, I still have a wife and children to support, I can't die!"

"After I had killed them and searched for their money, I was troubled, so I came here to pray for my sins and ask the merciful Lord to redeem my soul. ”

Barry muttered, eyes fixed hopefully on the pure light, as if there was everything he longed for.

"Sinners, your sins will plunge your soul into the abyss! Forever scorched by the fire of hell, there will be no liberation!"

The priest's voice was like rolling thunder, which shook Barry from his confusion, and he cried out: "Merciful Lord, please save me, I don't want this, I can't help it, I'm forced." ”

"The Lord is merciful, the Lord redeems the souls of the pious, Barry, are you pious?"

When Barry's cry was a little weaker, and the priest's majestic voice echoed in the prayer room, Barry seemed to see hope in the darkness, and he said in a loud voice: "I am pious, I am a faithful believer in the Lord, I am a pious, I ask the Lord Almighty to save my soul, to forgive my sins, and not to let my soul fall into the abyss." ”

"Pray, sinner, pray to the light with your greatest devotion, that the merciful Lord may see your true heart, and the Lord will save your soul and show you the way. ”

Like a drowning man grasping driftwood, Barry straightened his knees and began to recite the familiar prayer aloud.

In the cubicle, Father Ivan stared at a blood-red crystal in his hand, which began to fade in color as Barry's prayers grew louder and louder, and finally turned into a completely transparent crystal.

"Well, a devout man indeed. ”

Ivan nodded in satisfaction, tucked the crystal into his sleeve, and the light in his hand flashed, and the pillar of light on the altar suddenly became many times brighter, illuminating the prayer room like day.

Barry was bathed in light, the warm light washed over his body, and he only felt that all the sins and pains had been far away from his soul, and even the wounds in his body were much better. It made him feel like he had been given a new lease of life, and the feeling mesmerized him until the light faded and he woke up.

"Barry, the Lord has redeemed your soul. Ivan walked out of the cubicle and said to Barry.

"Thank you, Father Divine, thank you. Barry bowed to the priest and said gratefully.

"As a faithful servant of the Lord of Light, I will not reveal the contents of the prayer of atonement, but you will henceforth follow the Lord's teachings, endure, do good, and turn away from sin, you know?"

"I will, I will. Barry pulled out a dozen more coppersols, which were also stained with blood, handed them to the priest, and then, step by step, walked out.

When Barry disappeared from view, Ivan tucked the copper sol in his pocket and muttered under his breath.

"What a devout sinner. ”