877

"It's better than I thought...... It's just a remnant of spirituality and breath, which is at least left over from Sequence 6. ”

The two substitutes, of course, would not explain the matter of the gold coin in detail to an old man whose knowledge of the extraordinary was unknown, so they discussed it in front of the little cart on their own.

"This is dangerous, there may be some conspiracy, could it be a precursor to the start of the activities of some 'demon'?"

The spell in his hand dimmed most of the light in a blink of an eye, and it could last for more than two hours or so, but after "identifying" the demon's item, it actually depleted his spiritual energy in less than two minutes...... The punisher looked at each other, their expressions very nervous.

They didn't dare to touch the coin directly with their hands, and they didn't know what kind of danger and effect the item had, so after a whispered discussion, they decided to put it with the "Tranquility" charm, and returned to the Basilica of the Holy Wind as fast as they could.

The man with lighter hair immediately asked, "Old man, who gave you this gold coin?" ”

The old man clutched the hem of his clothes and whispered:

"Yes...... Be...... I went to sell goods in the morning and met a kind gentleman who bought me half a bag of corn and gave me this gold coin. ”

The penalizer with the gold coin blurted out:

"Don't you know how much corn you can buy for a gold coin? He must have his own purpose for giving you so much! ”

One pound is enough to buy you whole! It is difficult for a substitute to let himself not have thoughts of contempt and contempt, and besides, only an adult worth more than 100,000 pounds would be willing to give up a gold pound to a foreign old man who bought corn on the side of the road, right?

"I ...... I ...... "The old man couldn't speak completely."

As he spoke, his eyes were still looking at the gold coin, and various complex emotions such as longing, weakness and anger frequently flashed in the depths of his eyes, but the extraordinary strength and physique of the other party made him feel irrepressibly afraid, and he did not dare to do anything.

Is half a pocket of corn worth a gold coin? The substitute looked at the gold coin that was held up by the wind and floated in mid-air, and then at the corn kernels in the old man's cart, and his expression inevitably showed a trace of contempt and distrust.

Although it was a demon-related item, it was only attached to the aura and some extraordinary abilities that they couldn't detect, and this gold coin had the head of a king, and it was a very ordinary rune gold pound.

With the spread of paper money, people gradually began to abandon carrying large quantities of heavy gold and silver, but as long as the gold pound was pegged to gold, there were certainly people who continued to trade with state-issued gold coins. Some businessmen, and many veteran gentlemen, would carry a gold coin or two in the secret place of their body, just in case something unexpected happened.

And a gold pound, used to exchange for half a bag of corn, is a scam no matter how you look at it!

But the old man was clearly in need of money, so he ignored the danger under the temptation of gold and his own desire.

The two penalizers glanced at each other, and had already determined in their hearts that it was the demon who had given the gold coin to the old man, hoping that the old farmer who bought corn would achieve some of his goals. Although it seems that the other party has not been brainwashed by hypnosis and has not been contaminated with any demonic breath at the moment, the light-haired substitute said in a voice that the old man could not hear:

"Do you want to bring him back too?"

The other man's lips moved slightly, and he used the wind to convey his words: "No, if the demon needs him, then we should immediately go back with the gold coins and report it, and then send someone to carefully observe this old man." ”

"Yes."

The substitute punisher thought about it and agreed, after all, the Church of Thunder was now the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and the Goddess of the Night, and most of these members chose to work in the hands of another righteous god after crying. It's just that I have changed my boss, and the content of my work has not changed much - it is inevitable to cling to people and small groups, but when any church selects extraordinary people at the grassroots level, it must pay attention to their hearts and sense of justice, which also leads to the fact that extraordinary people in the church often have a good reputation.

Even in the mysterious world, the "substitute punishment" who is recognized as a simple and rude style of behavior is only simple and rude, and the disadvantage is only simple and rude, and it is not close to people.

Seeing this, the two substitutes summed up and decided to stabilize each other's emotions first to prevent any uncontrollable incidents.

It just so happened that there were other traders selling corn in this makeshift little market, and the light-haired substitute took a few steps around, inquired, and came back with a soothing smile at the old man:

"Old man, you must have been deceived, this gold coin will make you encounter very dangerous things, so we must take it away."

The old man was silent.

He seems to have become accustomed to silence, to powerlessness, to submission to powerful things and rules. Because he can't make any changes, he can only show deference and humility, and expect the strong to treat him well.

"Two adults......"

But when he was hungry, homeless, and could die at any time, he still mustered up the courage and humbly said: "That's the income I get from selling corn, that's me, the only money I have......"

His attitude also relieved the two substitutes, who continued:

"Well, it's okay, you don't have to worry too much. After all, this is your income from buying things, and we will also give you some compensation. Well, I'll buy all the rest of your corn. ”

"You're going to pay out of pocket?" The colleague was surprised, then he grabbed the corn kernels and rubbed them in his hands, and nodded, "It is indeed Fenerport's good corn, sweet and crispy, it is best placed in a creamy soup, and it can increase the flavor in other foods and Fenerport noodles." ”

Hearing this, a trace of hope appeared on the old man's face.

"I just asked, and the market price of corn kernels is now 5 pence a litre......"

The old man's cloudy eyes widened slightly, and even under the stern gaze of the substitute, he still tried his best to squeeze a faint breath out of his throat like a dying man: "No! Fenerport's corn is the best corn that the entire Northern Continent can produce, even the Southern Continent is far inferior! Usually, you can buy ...... for 10p or even 1 sole"

His voice grew smaller and smaller under the gaze of the substitute, and finally, these few words exhausted his strength and courage.

The corn of your native land in Rune is dry and woody, and the corn fields are deserted, and they are all coarse food that can only be swallowed by grinding into flour...... How can it be compared to the quality crops that we have grown and improved for generations, and have been blessed by the Church!

"But now the market price in Rune is five pence, and this is what our bill says, and if we let a large amount of foreign grain disturb our prices, how will our farmers live?"

"Your Feneport's grain is of good quality, and now our grain merchants can't sell anything because of it!"

"This, this ......"

The old peasant tried to argue, but could not speak. He was dumbfounded by the words of the punisher, and never imagined that the food and crops that his country was so proud of would one day be guilty of being too good.

Didn't he just buy it because of the high quality of his corn? Now it's your fault that it's good quality?

"Don't say it, since you're in Rune, you have to follow Rune's market price."

The penalizer spoke angrily, and was not going to raise the price on official business. He directly reached out and grabbed the pocket on the other party's cart, stretched out his hand to weigh it, and said, "Your corn here is not even a liter, it's just that, I'll count it as your one liter." With that, he took the pocket containing the corn, took out five coins directly from his pocket, and put them in the cart in a friendly manner.

"Let's go." He said.

……

Unwilling to lower the price and be bought in large quantities, he spent three days on the streets barely selling half of the corn he had brought.

This morning he plucked up the courage to strike up a conversation with someone who clearly shouldn't have been his client, and although he felt insulted by the act of feeding the pigeons with his carefully bred crop, the anger didn't last long, and that was the power of money.

If it's a gold pound — if it's a gold pound, there's still a lot that can be done.

Rune's gold pound was the most valuable currency in the Northern Continent, and he could go and eat a good meal and spend it before finding a cheap hotel to sleep in. After recuperating his spirits, he could return to the outskirts of Rune, go to the vacant wastelands where crops were originally grown, and give a few sures of bribes to the people in charge of dividing the land, so that he would receive the same food and lodging arranged by the church, and a piece of land on which he could live for a while.

And after that, there will be more than ten sures left in his hands, which is a huge amount of money!

He would save the money, hide it under his bed, sew it into his clothes, and occasionally take out a little to give himself something good.

As an old man, it was necessary for him to do so. He had no relatives or concerns, so he could only try to save money for himself and donate it to the church when the time came, so that he could get a requiem and a funeral. Dying peacefully in the small window of the church of God in which he grew up, and going to the kingdom of God with the blessings and singing of priests and pastors, this was the best thing he could think of.

Before that, he was going to sell the half of the sack of corn that was left—the gentleman told him to feed the pigeons, and he was not willing to do so, so he took his precious gold pound and corn with him into the small market in the East End.

Then the gold pound and the corn were gone, and only five pennies lay at the bottom of their little cart.

Five pennies?

He stared blankly at the five coins in the car, his brain seemed to be rusty, and a large number of emotions and thoughts were mixed together, and he couldn't think at all.

5pence? What is 5p enough?

Even the coarsest food, rye bread mixed with sawdust, now costs 9p a pound! He could barely eat a meal for 5 pence, and then he lost all his money and goods, and a peasant of his age could hardly get a job, even if he went to help with the delivery of goods.

He was a very obvious Fenerporter, and therefore had little access to the Church's relief food.

He could only enter the Eastern End, and sooner or later he would lose his cart, either sold by him for a penny or two under starvation, or taken away by someone else because he was too hungry to protect his property...... When this last piece of property is taken away, what will he be left with? He had nothing left but a worthless soul and life, and the clothes and teeth on his body would be worth more than his soul.

At that time, will the benevolent mother find that a peasant who has worked silently all his life in the land of a fertile country has quietly starved to death in a corner of a foreign land?

"Gentlemen!"

In despair, he shouted to the backs of the two tall sailors:

"One Suller! Please, give me a sult! ”

"Ten pennies! Ten pennies are also ......"

The two sailors ignored it, still talking and moving on.

The people around him looked at him with a mixture of pity, envy and helplessness, and no one dared to catch up with him, and no one dared to speak for him.

Sudden anger rose in his heart—anger was born in his despair, he clenched his fists tightly, his strong and thin body suddenly grew from his anger and despair, and the back of his hand burst into veins—and after the anger, a terrible thought suddenly appeared in his mind like lightning.

No, it's not the first time it's been there.

When family members die, when the church can't do anything, when they are forced to leave their homes, when they are driven away because they can't afford bribes...... This thought came up again and again, but he also lowered his head again and again, and he, like everyone in this world, thought that things would take a good turn, that he could not do anything, that he could always find a way to survive with his own hands.

For this reason, I kept deceiving myself, constantly becoming weaker and more pitiful, but "good things" never happened.

This time, the idea is as hard to ignore as a light in the dark, like a wildfire in a wasteland, and like an emphasis: "You have been plundered and have nothing left."

……

"Let's go faster."

The lighter-haired substitute said, the investigation was complete, there was no need for them to linger outside, and if there was any change in the gold coin before it was sent to the church, wouldn't the two of them be in trouble?

But his companion was clearly in a good mood, and he was not as anxious and nervous as he had been. His gaze swept back and forth in the little slum market, looking at the worthless knick-knacks, and laughing, "I can't wait to get my wife's creamy mushroom soup with these fresh corns in it." ”

"It's less than a liter, and one sule is a bit high, but it should be about the same for 6 or 7 pence, right?"

"But I only brought fivepence." The punisher shrugged, "I'm just going out on a mission, what are you doing with so much money?" I usually work long hours on duty, and my salary is basically handed over to my ......"

Blood suddenly burst out of his head, and the metal cart was swept off with incredible force, slamming into the back of his head, and the piece of iron cut the back of his neck.

Bang Dang!

With a loud bang, the trolley slammed to the ground, and the wheels were bounced off, completely shattered into a pile of scrap metal, provoking a scream.

Behind him, the old peasant stood in the distance, panting, his eyes full of mad hatred.

The substitute didn't have time to struggle, the "phantom scales" on his body actually didn't block the blow of an old man's dying struggle, he fell face down, and the red liquid quickly converged under his face.

The lighter-haired substitute opened his mouth wide, he hadn't experienced a sudden attack, but he had never seen anything like it. Barely having any chance to resist, his companion's life and death were unknown, and subconsciously, he thought that it was the power of the devil, and a wind blade flew directly out of his hand, leaving a fatal wound on the neck of the old peasant who was still standing in place.

The gold coin smashed to the ground, stained with crimson blood, rolling out a long streak of blood.

Eventually, it fell, the blood-stained reverse side up.

TBC

——————

It wasn't until noon that Audrey left the Cathedral of Light.

The priests' interpretation of the Bible gave her a deep sense of God's power, God's omnipotence, God's contempt, dictatorship, and mercy, and Audrey felt that she needed more time to think and think about her purpose.

Irena had already gone back first, and had ordered the carriage to wait for Miss Hall outside the church.

For a long time to come, Audrey would live in Montmar's house. She doesn't hate her new friends, and Irena can just add to her knowledge and understanding of the Aurora Society, and tell stories and fables from ancient books where the Aurora Society was once held, all of which can help Audrey get to know the Creator more deeply, or God, the ancient and mysterious deity.

Do you really want to do your best for the "kingdom of heaven" in this church?

Audrey got into the carriage, the coachman closed the door for her, she looked out the window at the street, and suddenly saw a gray mist cascading in.

Immediately afterward, the carriage she was in suddenly became infinitely wide, and the gray mist seemed to take her to another place, where the kingdom of the gods she was familiar with, the place where her friends gathered, and there was also a tall being sitting at the end of the gray mist, quietly watching her.

Seeing this scene, Audrey could not hide the joy in her heart, she immediately stood up and happily saluted the being:

"Good afternoon, Mr. 'Fool'!"

"It's nice to see you again...... I'm very, very happy! Excuse me, will we have a normal tarot meeting tomorrow? ”

Her words seemed to be thrown into the mist, and an extremely faint echo was heard in the empty kingdom of God. The god above seemed to show a smile, and then the other party's calm words sounded in Audrey's ears:

"You have been inspired by Him."

Audrey was stunned for a moment, the joy gushing out of her heart gradually calmed down, and she asked carefully: "Yes, for various reasons, I joined the Church of the Creator with the Psychological Alchemy...... Mr. 'Fool', will my behavior make you feel unpleasant?" ”

The gods watched her quietly.

The silence was always difficult, and after a long time, or perhaps only a few seconds, Audrey heard the other party again:

"You've already made your decision?"

"I ...... Maybe this decision will be made. Audrey still had a lot to be sure, so she didn't answer directly, she settled down and said calmly, "I have received revelations from the Creator twice, and I have also met the legendary Hermes. During these two days of communication, I found that their teachings were indeed in line with my thoughts. ”

"I see."

The "fool" was not angry or surprised, but still responded flatly: "You will have enough time to make this decision, it is your choice, don't worry about what I think." ”

"And do not call Him the Creator, but call Him God."