Blade of Dawn - Chapter 156 — In the Deep Sea - 清風書屋

The missionary Wright's answer was short and plain, and it left Gao Yang stunned for quite a while. He had already prepared a whole arsenal of reasoned, tactful, and courteous arguments to counter the missionary's inevitable pestering—arguments covering, but not limited to, "the territory has no money to maintain a church," "the territory has no money to support priests," "you will have to pay for the church's bricks and tiles yourself, you know," and so on and so forth. Yet he had never expected that this missionary—a man who looked like a gladiator turned preacher—would simply let it go... simply let it go...

This fellow couldn't be an undercover agent the Shadow Church had planted inside the Daylight Church, could he?

"You're just letting it go?" Even Amber could not help blurting out, "You're not going to try persuading us a bit more?"

"The Way of Holy Light tells me that if I do good deeds, the Holy Light will naturally illuminate people's hearts; and if I do not do good deeds, then even if I talked my tongue off it would be useless," the big man drew the emblem of the Daylight Church over his chest with one hand. Despite the stubble and the bulging muscle, he managed to force a saintly expression onto his face. "So it doesn't matter if you're not interested. When you are, it won't be too late to come find me."

"What an interesting fellow, really," Heidi shook her head in disbelief. "By the way, you're from the central regions, aren't you? Why would the church in the Holy Spirit Plains send you all the way to the Far South to preach? And they only gave you a single document... Where are your attendants and guards?"

This was long past the age when civilization had just emerged from chaos and the various sects struggled through the wilderness. Even itinerant missionaries were no longer ascetics wandering alone—especially those setting out from the wealthy Holy Spirit Plains, who almost always traveled with a considerable number of attendants and guards. Such a retinue was even called a "mobile church," meaning it was equipped with armed men, servants, and priests, everything a church ought to have. Yet this Mr. Wright had walked all the way here from the Holy Spirit Plains with nothing but a battered document in his pocket. Attendants? He had none—he had even earned his own travel expenses and food by the sweat of his brow.

For a moment it gave one a strange sense of crossing through time, as though this missionary had stepped straight out of the savage ages recorded in history books.

Hearing the question, however, Wright merely smiled carelessly. "I set out alone. The bishop gave me a document and told me to go south to preach, so here I am. As for attendants and guards... I'm a lowly junior priest. Where would I get attendants and guards? And I don't need any."

With that, he flexed his muscles. "Plenty of paladins can't beat me in a fight, and plenty of attendants can't work as deftly as I do. So what would I want them for?"

Then he looked up and glanced around, noticed that another batch of bricks had been delivered to the construction site, and stood up to brush the dirt off his trousers. "Looks like there's work again. Any more questions? If not, I'll go help unload this batch of bricks."

Gao Yang's expression was peculiar. "...Go ahead."

Wright waved a hand. "Then I'm off. Ah, right—don't forget to pass my document on to your lord for me. I need the lord's permission before I can build a church and preach openly."

Gao Yang was caught between laughing and crying. "Don't worry. I'll be sure to pass it on."

Wright nodded and turned toward the construction site, but he had taken only two steps before turning back. "Oh, right—there's something I forgot to ask."

Even Heidi was caught between laughing and crying. "Ask away."

"Where do I go to eat after the work's done?"

Heidi sighed. "...Just follow the workers. Everyone who works gets fed, and fed full."