The Chesapeake, a cargo ship between Plymouth and La Rochelle, rowed through the moonlit waves, and sailed straight to the other side of the water with its swollen sails blown by the night wind.

Known as the Catamaran, this large cargo sailing ship has recently become popular, and it was widely praised by Charlemagne, who had many landlubbers, by placing two ships side by side and connecting them with a deck in the middle to improve stability and increase cargo capacity. In particular, the Cantabrian Sea and the Strait of La Manche, where there are no winds and waves, are particularly popular.

It is about 150 meters long from head to tail and about 160 meters in width like an enlarged raft, and it is better to call it a moving wooden island than a raft, and it can be accurately described as a steady attitude of sailing.

Since it is a cargo ship, the main cargo is naturally all kinds of cargo, and considering that the cargo owner occasionally rides with it, there are also guest rooms on the ship. However, after all, it is used to make do on an improvisation, and you can't expect the internal facilities to be as high-end as a passenger ship. As a result, the crew is more sympathetic to the passengers' efforts to improve their travel comfort, as long as they don't go too far, and mostly turn a blind eye.

But at the moment the serious guests did not all rest in the cabins, and many of them ran barefoot with the sailors on the sand-strewn deck, carefully searching the sea by the moonlight and the oil lamps on the side of the ship.

"It's murderous. ”

Roland muttered quietly, put down the binoculars and rubbed his eyes, it is easy to get tired of eyes when looking continuously in an environment where the light is too poor, and it will cause vision damage if you are not careful. For this purpose, the crew responsible for the lookout needs to change shifts at regular intervals. It was not time yet, and after taking a little care of his eyes, Roland searched the dark sea again.

Although he was muttering, Roland knew very well in his heart that until he reached Albion, this ship would not relieve the atmosphere of war. If you want to say why, just look at what cargo is in the hold.

The hold was filled with porcelain, cotton, refined iron ingots, saltpeter, and other contraband, some of which had to be subject to high customs duties before they could enter the country. Like saltpeter and refined iron ingots and the like. Even if you pay taxes, you can't pass the customs. As for the hiding cabins, the Huguenots who went to Albion to escape the "dragoon movement" were even more contraband.

That's right, the Chesapeake is a vessel engaged in the smuggling of contraband and stowaways. Take a run like this. You can get 4 or 5 times the cost of income. It can also slap the royal government and the chaebol in the face, which is a very good deal for the Huguenot merchants of La Rochelle. But high incomes always come with staggering risks, once Charlemagne Navy and V.E Company find out about their business. None of them, from the crew to the client, could escape, and they were all hanged in the harbor. On the other hand, it is not the stormy waves of winter, but it is not the Thermidor and Fruit Moons of the Strait of La Manche, and if they encounter winds and waves or sea monsters, they should not expect anyone to come to their rescue, not even the boat that salvaged the remains.

Therefore, passengers are also responsible for their own safety during the voyage, assisting the crew to look out at the sea, and participating in battles when fighting - these are the unwritten rules on smuggling boats.

"We're about to cross the middle line of the strait, and there's going to be an Albion ship to meet you after that, right?"

The flat sound came along with the smell of lavender, and Christina Bell walked on the deck without making a sound.

"If we are a qiē shun lì, we will be able to enter Lundinum tomorrow morning. ”

"Sister Bale has been to Albion in the past?"

Continuing to look out at the sea, Roland carefully chose his words.

"I've been there two or three times because of official business. ”

"That's ......"

What kind of official business is it—such a question, Roland did not ask, and did not want to know.

"Is it strange? brother, Roland, I actually flew on a ship that transports heretics without any discomfort?"

"Ah...... Sort of, indeed. ”

"Quite simply, fundamentally, I don't have any feelings for heresies, such as 'hate' or 'hate'. ”

In an instant, a layer of goosebumps stood up on Roland's back.

It was obviously a very calm word, but to Roland's ears, there was a strange emptiness and coldness.

"I don't know what the other heretical inquisitors are like, but it seems to me that because they have the power to decide the life and death of others, they should look at things calmly and comprehensively. Carefully distinguish between heretics and misguides. For this reason, I worked in the mission department for 5 years before becoming an inquisitor of heresy. Studying theology and law, he travels around the world and examines the local economy and folklore. In order to one day become a heresy inquisitor, he can not misjudge an unjust case, and not miss a heresy. ”

"That's amazing perseverance. ”

It's a compliment, but it's appropriate.

The so-called mission department, as the literal meaning suggests, is a department under the Church's Foreign Affairs Bureau and responsible for missionary affairs. He also investigates the language, customs, and folklore of the places where he preaches and communicates with the locals, and is also responsible for managing and rectifying the discipline of the young clergy who have been sent abroad, communicating with churches in other places, and learning theological knowledge. It is a boring, unobtrusive job, and without the perseverance and excellent performance that goes with it, it is impossible to persist in five years and be promoted to the rank of Inquisitor of Heresy.

Perhaps Christina Bale was a fanatical believer, who worked hard to achieve beyond her imagination with a pure and devout faith.

Experience tells Roland that the more such people tend to be, the more dangerous they are.

"That's not something to be thankful for. ”

Bell shook her head, her face half obscured by her hood, and a smile appeared from the corner of her mouth.

The smile adorned by the gold cross earrings is very sacred and cruel.

"It's just—to expel pests. ”

Bell's pupils, without any emotion, reflected straight on Roland's dull face.

It's like seeing cockroaches and flies, even if there is no reason for them, humans will expel and destroy these bugs. In the eyes of those who believe in pure faith, heretics are not the same human beings as themselves, but like flies and bugs, they must be unconditionally exterminated.

In this way, I am afraid that Bell herself is not aware of it, and her so-called rational and objective examination of heresy is, in the final analysis, just another expression of fanatical faith. Although it is not as careless as other heretical inquisitors, creating senseless unjust, false and wrongful convictions. But there is no doubt that this is also a kind of madness disguised as reason, and there is no dialogue and reconciliation, but simply the repetition of the act of eliminating "people who think differently than yourself".

(But isn't this an endless cycle? because of the fear of different ideas, the fear of change, they go to persecute other people, and other people rise up to resist in order not to be persecuted, in order to defend their ideas, and eventually it becomes endless hostility and strife......!!)

Almost ignoring these thoughts, suddenly, the fierce bell rang throughout the ship, and everyone looked at the bridge in unison, their faces full of nervousness. (To be continued......)