807

The curfew in Beckland, though nominally over, is still a tacit rule.

In the current economic conditions, there are more and more unemployed people, and there are more and more homeless people on the road. It is said that the economic downturn caused by the impact of the war this time has caused a large number of people to move into the East End, and almost refill the homes that had been emptied due to the "great smog".

Not only that, but there were also frequent starvation and fainting people going down the wrong path, and the news of the murder of street girls, homeless people, and men and women who lived alone appeared in the newspapers again and again, and the people of Beckland were numb and panicked at the same time as they were looted of their belongings and food. As a result, not many people risk traveling at night, and even when they have to go out for work, they often travel in groups.

But now—

The first wave of people who rushed out included the believers of the Thunder Church, and there were also those who held the idea of "give it a try", "It is impossible for anyone to dare to deceive people in the name of the Thunder Church, right?" Rushing to the nearby food distribution point.

Mrs. Starlene Summerr was among them, panting with the lady she knew, and running with the crowd to the target street. Older and housewives, they had difficulty outrunning other workers or young people, and although they came out early, there was already a long queue outside the food distribution point when they reached the food distribution point with their hands on their waists.

After arriving at her destination, Starling hurried a short distance from her friend before she could catch her breath.

In the face of food and life, even the best friends should avoid suspicion a little, which is also one of the ways not to destroy friendship.

The "middle class" is simply a self-paralyzing scam. The aristocrats and factory owners have enough funds, contacts and channels to deal with risks, and the people at the bottom have become accustomed to surviving in risks, and only those who usually live an upper-middle life, intersect with the small aristocrats, and lack the funds and connections to deal with large risks, are the people who suffer the most in this long-term accident. The housewives felt the devastation, and with the reduction of the necessary socialities such as banquets and balls, the contacts between them and their friends disappeared.

- The lady also distanced herself from Starling in tacit understanding, and each competed for the top spot in the line.

Soon, Starling squeezed into the unsettled crowd and stood more than ten meters away from the food distribution point. Looking at the more than twenty people in front of her, Starling couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and the bad memory of waiting for a long time in the morning but finding nothing resurfaced in her heart.

While waiting, Starling looked nervously to the left and right, and she was pleasantly surprised to see several priests in the distance, dressed in the dark clothes of the Church of Thunder, with the emblem of Thunder and the Tower embroidered on their chests. Each of them was tall, and it seemed effortless to push a cart loaded with mostly grain crops, as well as a lot of flour and bread.

"So much!"

Never before has there been so much food!

The ranks erupted in cheers and praise, and Starlene's breath became rapid—so many! She'll definitely be able to take some back! - But the church says that according to the head, what if the people in front of them are all a big family and have more than a dozen family members? I'm not a believer in the God of Thunder, what if they don't give me food? Starin's mind was dizzy, and the people around her began to pray to the god of thunder for various reasons, and she subconsciously followed along. The priests were handing out food, and she somehow had an anticipation for the deity.

The first man left with a small bag of flour, some unseen crops, and a bag of bread.

The second man took two bags of bread and a small bag of flour.

The two priests at the front were in charge of the distribution, and the other kept notes in their notebooks, occasionally pushing the glasses on the bridge of their noses.

Starlene craned her neck to look ahead, and it wasn't just her, everyone was looking intently at the cargo on the cart. People's eyes widened for fear that the food would glow before it reached them.

What made them even more frightened was that this time the supplies seemed to be more abundant than usual, which made people sweat.

In a state of trepidation, the food on the first cart glowed after the ninth person in the line left, and people watched nervously as the Extraordinaries of the Church of Thunder pushed the second cart up and fetched the food from it. Seeing these priests talking and laughing and pushing the cart away, people's hearts couldn't help but rise with a glimmer of hope.

Finally, someone couldn't help it and said loudly:

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency!"

Although I don't know what the positions of these priests are, there is certainly no problem in calling the bishop.

"I am a devout disciple of the God of Thunder."

The man who spoke licked his lips nervously, he emphasized that he was pious, but he was a little nervous that he had not seen these priests in front of him, who seemed to be of a good position: "I, I have donated twenty pounds to the church, please, may I ask, how much food is left in this batch?" ”

Hearing the donations and devout believers, the people in the team immediately let out a buzzing discussion.

Starling's face changed slightly.

The Church of the God of Thunder has always had the greatest official relief in Rune, but at that time, the conditions for receiving it were only believers, or they were converted on the spot.

In the beginning, there were not many people of other faiths who received relief food, but with the successive events and the loss of the emperor, the number of relief points set up by the state gradually decreased, and the charitable foundations without political positions gradually became difficult to protect themselves. The former "Rich Mr. Dantès", who was quite famous in Beckland, was used to help orphans and the sick, and some of the charitable foundations for the war wounded were forced to stop distributing relief because part of the financial chain had been broken, and I heard that several of its directors had resigned and left.

The extraordinary, who was asked, looked at the believer, but not because of the worthless £20:

"And many more."

Seeing that the civilians around him had turned their eyes, the Extraordinary One also cleared his throat and said loudly:

"The food was brought in from Fenerport—Fenerport, you should know, right? It is a famous land of abundance! ”

"Oh! Fenerport, I know! It is said that their wheat is ripe several times a year, and everyone can afford bread...... "and someone in the crowd immediately chimed in."

"I remember, the grain from Fenerport is of better quality than the local one in Rune, and the price is relatively cheap, so with these imported grains, Rune's grain can't be sold......" Another person whispered, "I know a grain merchant, because he couldn't sell the grain, all rotted in the barn, and finally his family was ruined, and he committed suicide." ”

Starling listened intently to the conversations of the people around her, and she was annoyed to find that she didn't actually know anything about these topics that had been used as her talking point and had frequently appeared at past banquets.

"From Fenerport?"

Starlene asked dumbfoundedly, "Where's Fenerport?" Seems to be on the far left of the map? With such a long distance, it would take several days just to transport food here and distribute it to different relief points, right? ”

The male believer was surprised by this answer:

"Why did Fenerport give us food?"

If memory serves, at the very beginning of the war, when the Vorsack Empire declared war on Rune with great fanfare, Fenerport also seemed to show his intentions? Why is this giving itself food aid?

Finally hearing this question, the backs of the surrounding Thunder Church priests involuntarily straightened a little, and a proud smile appeared on their faces. The extraordinary person who answered this question couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth:

"Of course, it's because of the divine might of the God of Thunder!"

"His divine might shook the heavens and the earth, and also frightened the goddess who sheltered Fenerport. The goddess decided to make an alliance with the Great Lord and become an ally with Rune, so we brought in a lot of food overnight from Fenerport by airship. ”

"For a long time after that, people didn't have to worry about their livelihoods. Praise the great God of Thunder, praise the Lord! ”

What?

The crowd fell silent, almost incredulous.

Starin's head was also dizzy, stuffed with all sorts of things: airships? Of course she knew about airships, but she had heard about them when Beckland was bombed, and it turned out that such a terrifying military weapon could still be used to transport food? In addition, the god of thunder really convinced the mother earth goddess of Fenerport, so that Fenerport abandoned Fursack and chose Rune as an ally, providing Rune with a lot of food? Did the god of thunder save us? Is this, is this true?

The Extraordinary said something again, and the cheers in her ears brought Starling's mind back.

While she couldn't help but feel excited, Starling suddenly panicked again:

She is not a believer in the god of thunder.

Now, will the other party give him relief food?

In this case, most people had to change their faith, convert to the church of the God of Thunder and attend at least two services, and gradually developed a true faith in food and relief, and became completely transformed into the God of Thunder and Truth.

But both Starlene and Luke are believers in the goddess of the night. Although it is not very religious, it is also a habit that the family has been exposed to for generations...... Time was not waiting, and Starling had made up her mind after a little hesitation now.

God punished her for lying about her beliefs, and she was willing to convert for the sake of her children and to get food to get through.

That way, she could come and receive the beit alms in the future, and Luke wouldn't have to convert if he didn't want to...... Anyway, Mrs. Starlene also chose to take the other party's surname after marrying Luke, because she did not have a job like those women who believed in thunder.

"Next!" The priest in charge of recording in front shouted, "Next! ”

The man behind Starling was on the verge of taking the first step, but Starling took a step out of her thoughts, and walked briskly to the small table with her skirt in her nervous and excited mood.

"Name?"

"Starlene Summer."

The bespectacled priest read the name over again, and quickly found the corresponding information from the thick manual in his hand.

"Four people?" The "reader" said to herself, "A family of four, two adults and two children, will receive one portion of flour, two portions of bread, and one portion of corn flour. ”

Ecstasy surged in Starin's heart, but it was then extinguished by the other party's next sentence.

"You are not a believer in the Lord."

The reader looked up and looked at Starling through the gap above his glasses, "Your whole family is a believer in the Goddess of the Night, well, you haven't received supplies from the relief point set up by the Thunder Church before. ”

"I've decided to convert!" Starlene immediately said, "I've decided to convert, and I'm going to persuade my family to convert!" ”

The reader laughed noncommittally, his movements slow, not taking Starin's nervousness to heart in the slightest.

"It stands to reason that the almsgiving food we have here should be given only to believers in the Lord, or to fellow conversions who have attended at least one church service......"

He lengthened his voice, and little by little, Starlene's heart was consumed by despair.

At that moment, the reader quickly wrote her name on his hand, as well as the names of Luke and her two children. Then, with a smile on her face, a mixture of stunned and sad expression, he asked his companion to help bring the food:

"Take this back to your home, ma'am, and your children should be waiting for their mother's return."

"I shouldn't have done this, I'm going to take a risk. And, if we give an extra serving to other believers, our fellow citizens will have less food. But now that you have been converted, I will make an exception to give you this food - Mrs. Summer, there is a collective prayer service at the Cathedral of the Winds this Wednesday to thank God for giving us food and saving us from fire and water, and to welcome a new goddess as our ally. I hope that you, your family, and your children, will be able to show up at your seat at the Cathedral of the Winds on that day, or in the square outside. ”

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

Starlene was so moved that she tightened her grip on her clothes. Soon both of her hands were used to hold large portions of bread, and her pockets were full of things, and she had no hands at all to wipe the tears that had flowed from her joy and emotion.

"Thank you, thank you, praise the God of Thunder, praise the God of Thunder, He is the benefactor of our whole family, I will definitely bring them to the Cathedral of the Holy Wind!"

"You're welcome, Mrs. Summer."

The reader smiled and said wittily:

"I hope you have understood the purpose of our doctrine beforehand—that the wife is the guardian angel of the family, and the Lord has watched over us, and now it is time for you, the guardian angel, to distribute the salvation of the Lord to the family members who await you."

She smelled the peculiar aroma of the bread in her hand, which stimulated her to swallow. She hadn't eaten for a day, but at this moment, the first thing that came to Starin's mind was not delicious bread, but faith and gratitude for the god of thunder.

The reader politely said goodbye to her, then shouted, "Next!" ”

The street lights were also lit up one after another due to the sudden situation at night, and there were many people on the street, as if time had turned back to the afternoon. Starling walked briskly for a long distance with the bread in her arms, and the people on the road were full of people who had received food and were shouting praises to the god of thunder, and in this atmosphere, Starling soon became less nervous, as if as long as the god of thunder was still there, there was nothing to fear.

Soon, Starlene saw her oncoming husband.

"Luke!"

She could not wave, so she happily ran two steps towards her husband, standing on tiptoe:

"You see, these are all given to us by the God of Thunder!"

She happily showed the food in her hand, imagining the children smiling, imagining the children's bloody faces and calling for their mother beside her. But Luke was silent, and Starlene, noticing the unnaturalness of his expression, said tentatively:

"Luke, let's convert to the God of Thunder, and with our children, we're going to the Church of Thunder service this week."

"Luke, look at the food...... These are all things that He has given us, and only He will save us. ”

Luke, whose face had been much thinner, was silent, his gaze swept over the fluffy, soft, fragrant bread, over his wife's expectant face, and finally, he nodded a little lost, and said:

“…… Good. ”

……

"Benson Moretti? What are we going to do with him, government employee? ”

A police officer looked over and over at the information in his hand, and looked suspiciously at the two "senior police inspectors" with dark blue hair in front of him. Probably not his delusion, he felt that these two people were more like the priests of the Thunder Church than the police inspector.

"It's classified."

One of them says:

"Benson Moretti is involved in a state-secret incident, so we need to protect him and his family, Melissa Moretti, from accidents or hostage threats that could lead to the leak of secrets."

The police officers will be suspicious, but the two certificates of the senior police inspector are genuine and cannot deceive anyone.

In order not to bear the charge of obstructing the affairs of the state, he still nodded, entered the police station with two police inspectors who suddenly visited late at night, opened the map, and pointed out the location on it.

TBC

——————

I found a problem that I have to complain about for this article. (End of chapter)