God says that if there is something that makes a person belong, it is a seal.

The coat of arms of the Raonis family was not as elaborate as the other nobles of the Empire, and a golden spear was engraved in the middle of the black iron half the size of a palm, and the sides of the spear were engraved with dark patterns of blooming thorn flowers. It's funny to say that some of the nobles of the Golden Lance family with the surname of Raonis never received such a three-inch black iron badge in their lifetime.

When the first rays of the morning sun shine through the castle's window lattice, engraved with roses, a woman and child sit in the spacious dining room. Arthur was a snooze child who preferred to sleep more than his peers, and was woken up by Rena in a daze, watching the maid habitually pull away the sheets, and he was still yawning with his little mouth open.

After a light breakfast, the woman and the children went to the back garden of the castle, where there used to be a three-acre lake, but now the lake was almost dry, and the bottom of the lake was covered with mud and grass. Fortunately, there are still a few clusters of phoenix flowers to decorate the façade, otherwise the little owner of the castle really can't be cheeky to greet guests here.

"Little Arthur. ”

"Teacher?"

The woman stood on the shore of the overgrown lake, looking at the swaying grass in a few shallow depressions at the bottom of the lake, still stubbornly rooting her roots into the sparsely watered soil, and asked in a calm tone as always: "Do you want to see the outside world?"

The child squatted in the grass and played with great interest, the clothes on his body did not fit very well, and the cuffs were a little worn, but fortunately, he was still clean and tidy, and looked up ignorantly: "Why do you want to look at it?"

The morning sun shines through his black hair, the child's eyes are as clear as a lake, and the lines of his facial features are not as handsome as his father's. Hearing the child's question, the woman did not give an answer for the first time, and Arthur did not dwell on the topic, and the two suddenly fell silent with a tacit understanding. At this moment, a breeze blew, Arthur's forehead was blown by the tips of the grass blown by the wind, he instinctively closed his eyes, the woman sighed lightly, raised her hand, and the two figures disappeared in the back garden of the castle at dusk in an instant.

Arthur opened his eyes again, and in front of him was the tall and majestic church, the majestic statue of St. Severus in front of the door, the cardinal, the white-robed priest, and the expressions on the faces of everyone who entered and exited the church were meticulous and serious. And this is the capital city of Philip Cathedral, the source of the Pope, where the Pope is located, and mortals must be modest and prudent at this point.

Behind the majestic statue of St. Syphus stood several angelic statues that Arthur did not recognize, with beautiful faces and different postures, one of which held a pillar of fire and carried six wings, and the statue of a particularly strong body made little Arthur look twice. The Sage glanced at him and explained in a slow voice, "This is the Archangel Metron, the youngest son of God. ”

"Wow, it turns out that God has children, too. Arthur stared at the old man of the main god with a pair of big eyes, and tried to recall the story of Western Christianity in his mind, but unfortunately the memory of only going to the temple to worship Buddha and seek immortals could not remember any relevant information at all.

"Shut up. ”

"Oh. ”

The saint took the child's little hand and walked into the church calmly. Passing through the gate, the first building is the golden chapel of the church, the high dome of the hall is covered with mysterious oil paintings, the doors and windows of the intricately carved confessional room are arranged on the ground in an endless way, and the sermon platform at the end is surrounded by a grand candle flame, behind which the huge multicolored glass with the portrait of the main god is refracted by the sunlight, as if the whole golden hall is shrouded in neon.

"Return to the bosom of God, be forgiven from all sin, and gain peace. ”

Nearly every preacher in the empire took this inscription on the front of the oak altar as a motto, and the sage walked to the front of the altar with a child in a light smoke, and stood still at the foot of the seven steps, gazing silently at the statue of the main god on the glass. This position was the place where the Pope himself preached on God's Birthday and where every emperor of Taryn was crowned, and Arthur looked up at the bottom of the ladder, and the expression on his little face involuntarily became solemn.

At this moment, a bishop in a red robe walked past the altar, holding a cigarette and curling the incense burner, but he did not see the pair of master and apprentice, and walked into a confessional room, closed the doors and windows, and was quiet.

"Teacher. ”

"Hmm. ”

"Is this Little Red Riding Hood blind?"

"Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Yes, or you don't have any status here, and people won't greet you when they see you. ”

"Little Arthur. ”

"Hey, teacher. ”

"This "Book of Genesis", I will recite one article every day and write one article silently. ”

The Sage walked up the stairs and picked up a thick book from the altar, turned his back to the student, and said lightly. When Arthur's eyes almost popped out when he saw the book, just looking at the thickness of the binding, which was comparable to the original "Cihai", Arthur smacked himself hard in his heart.

The master and apprentice walked through the hall along the long corridor, and the further back they went, the more preacher they met, one of them turned out to be the level of the archbishop with a golden crown and red robe, Arthur was accustomed to this way of shuttling and wandering like air, and gradually understood what kind of magic the teacher might have used to hide his body, but when he passed by the archbishop, the old man with a hook and a big nose glanced at them faintly, his eyes were cold.

Arthur, who had been walking for a long time with Cihai in his arms, secretly shook his arm, forgetting to look at the road for a while, and the steps he took made him plunge into a soft place, Arthur looked up blankly, and found that he had actually hit the teacher's cloak, and the sage glanced at him and said, "Come in with me." ”

The Sage pushed open the golden door in front of him and walked in, and Arthur hurriedly followed with his short legs. It was a very large room, with an oval room filled with bookshelves three or four meters high, and an ivory statue of the main deity hung behind the desk, on which the incense burner was emitting a faint light smoke. Stepping on the soft and expensive carpet on the floor, Arthur moved his toes in his shoes and looked at it all with curiosity.

"Ah, Rise, my child, you're back at last. As the old voice came from behind the bookcase, a slightly plump white-haired old man walked out in surprise with round eyes.

"His Majesty the Pope. The Sage bowed his head and saluted.

"Pope?!" Arthur's eyes widened behind him.

"Time flies. The white-haired old man gave Rhyth a fixed look and stood still at his desk. For this Scepter Sage who has been out for no reason for a long time and has caused a lot of dissent in the upper echelons of the Pope, the old man's wise eyes are full of pampering, who makes this the youngest Sage in the history of the Imperial Pope.

"It's only been ten years, Your Majesty the Pope. Reth said lightly, gently rubbing the emblem ring in his hand.

"Nonsense, given the long lifespan of your sub-elves, ten years is really not worth mentioning. The old man rolled his eyes in a very childish manner, and his stubby fingers propped up the table, and he put his fat ass on it without any manner.

"Elf?!" Arthur's eyes were about to fall out of his sockets.

In fact, although elves and sub-elves have the same root and origin, there are essential differences, elves are demigods of the forest and have their own doctrines and beliefs, while sub-elves are the crystallization of elves and humans, and have been influenced by human life since childhood. As one of the few rare sub-elves in the Empire, the most obvious feature of Reth Sibila is that her eyes are as green and deep as a lake.

Facing the Pope, who was as ruffian as an old child, the Sage, who had always been plain and calm, couldn't help but glare at him with disgust, and pulled out the child who was hiding behind him.

"Oh my God, you have an illegitimate child?!" the old man asked, swooping off the table, dumbfounded. The Pope does not object to the marriage and childbearing of ministers with clergy, but not the Pope and the Holy One, who are the spokesmen of the Lord God to mortals, and the Holy One is the earthly apostle of the Lord God, and is the candidate of the Pope, who must strictly abide by the divine oneness, and the doctrine clearly stipulates that these two cannot intermarry with mortals.

The Sage took a deep breath and said indifferently, "This is my student, Arthur Raonis. ”

"Leonis?" the Pope, with cynical eyes on the child, walked up to Arthur with his hands behind his back, and the old man, whose face was as old as a wrinkled orange peel, looked at the child carefully, while the child looked at him blankly with his small mouth open. After a moment, the old man smiled inexplicably, reaching out and groping the top of Arthur's head, like a kind elder. But only the Sage standing beside him knew how powerful the old hand that caressed the child's head, the same hand that ten years ago had personally unscrewed off the head of a heretical sect leader in the Pope's Doctrine of the Holy Faith.

"Grandpa Pope. Arthur called out in a childish voice.

"Grandpa Pope?" Reth was slightly surprised, and a smile of approval appeared in his eyes.

"Grandpa Pope?" the old man was stunned, smiled thoughtfully, raised his hand, turned back and walked back to the large desk.

The pope's rattle, who was not very tall, called his servants to bring him afternoon tea, and sat down with the visiting guests at the small round table by the window in the living room, smiling and communicating quickly with Reth in a language that Arthur had never heard before.

"Well, little Arthur, this is a gift from the Pope's grandfather. The old man quipped kindly, took a emblem ring from his embroidered gold robe, and handed it to the child, whose mouth was full of snacks. Arthur looked at the teacher, and after receiving the affirmation, he stretched out his little hand to take it, the weight of the little ringman was quite heavy, the ring was carved with a skull wearing a crown, the carving was extremely exquisite, exuding a sacred and secret atmosphere, Arthur took it in his hand and looked at it with interest.

After saying goodbye to the Pope's room, Arthur still couldn't believe that he had afternoon tea with such a brilliant existence at the top of the human race, his little head was still confused, and the Sage led him to stand in front of the door, his eyes were complicated, and he said softly: "His name is Ornest, remember?"

"Hmm. Arthur nodded.

Pope Ernest I, the king of the spiritual world of the Tyranid Empire and the right hand of God, crowned the three Tyranid emperors.

Along the way, Arthur saw young priests in white robes soaked in puddles of water, praying with their eyes closed, old men dressed in rich clothes but looking terrified or crying in repentance, and black-clothed deacons who methodically shuttled through the corridors of the church, lowly servants who were reprimanded by the cardinal for pouring spices, paladins hurrying with huge shields, and every brick and stone seemed to be whispering but wrapped in silence with a noise that deliberately lowered their voices. The path the Sage took him on like an open sightseeing path, and he took in the characters of the church of Philip, and then stopped at the end of the road, where a gate made of black mythril was hidden behind a candle flame with the inscription 'Ministry of Doctrine of the Holy Faith'.

Even a young child like Arthur knew that the Pope had such a presence, passing the Imperial Senate and the civil justice courts at all levels to conduct a trial of faith on the object of his suspicion, and if the person who was judged by this department as contrary to the Holy Doctrine of the Pope, there would be a general name in the official documents of the Pope - heresy. And behind this black door, countless heresies have been wiped out and dusted here for thousands of years.

There was silence behind the black gate, facing the narrow corridor, and the cold aura made the candles on the wall flicker, Arthur shivered, and his little hand involuntarily tugged at the sleeve of the saint's coat. If the Pope is the Pope's public bright side, then the Department of the Doctrine of the Holy Faith is the Pope's outright dark side, a shadow refracted by the Holy Light, even a person like the Holy One who is respected in the Pope's status has always stayed away from the department behind the gate, and seeing the child's appearance out of the corner of his eye, Reth sighed lightly: "Let's go." ”

She didn't tell her child that one day he would have to deal with the world behind the door, and that planting the sprout of fear in his heart too early might not do much good in the future, since he had already branded himself with the traces of Leonis, and the time was too long, so what was the point of waiting. Raising his hand, the candle flame of the Yongdao was suddenly extinguished, and the two figures disappeared into thin air.

When they returned to the garden, the not-so-hot sunlight had only deviated at a slight angle, and their eyes were suddenly pierced by the bright light, and Arthur narrowed his eyes and covered his face with his free little hands.

"Little Arthur. ”

"Teacher?"

"Tomorrow to school at Deppshire School of Magic. ”

"Oh, then you ......"

"I'm going to be out for a while. ”

Arthur quietly rolled his eyes and said confidently, "Lawrence doesn't have the money to pay for tuition. ”

"No money, no room and board. Replied angrily, Reith didn't expect that his dignified Pontifical Scepter Sage would be discussing with a child about mundane things.

"That's okay. Arthur's eyebrows widened, and his back to the tree was good for the shade.

"Don't tell anyone that I'm your teacher and everything that happened today. Squatting down, the woman whispered to pull a thread from her cloak and thread it through the emblem ring in the child's hand, and then hang the ring around his neck. The hair brushed Arthur's face itching, and there was a faint fragrance of a woman's body in his nose, and the child squinted his eyes slightly, and responded in an old-fashioned manner: "Teacher, you are so good-looking." After thinking about it, he was busy and added seriously: "It's better than the angel statue." ”

Reeth stood up expressionlessly, glanced at the "Book of Genesis" that the child deliberately threw in the grass, and understood the child's flattery, and the hidden smile in his eyes disappeared in a flash. Arthur looked up and muttered, "And when are you coming back?"

"Wait until the lake rises and the phoenix blooms. Looking at the dry lake, Reth raised his hand, frowning slightly, "Little Arthur, let go." ”

Arthur reluctantly let go of his little hand from the woman's sleeve, a little lost, and lamented: "It will be two months before the rainy season arrives." ”

A breeze blew, and only the thin and lonely figure of the child was left under the clear sky.