Chapter 374 — The Priest Who Lost the Holy Light
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
It took Wright a long time to complete the handover at the docks. Only after he had watched the refugees from the Spirit Plain finish all their registration, undergo the physicians' plague checks, and be led by soldiers to the staging camp to rest did he finally set his mind at ease.
These people had chosen to leave their homes and come to an unknown land like the Southern Region out of trust in him. They had been attacked by the Church of the Daystar and hunted by local lords, and had no way out, but the Southern Region was not their only possible road. Still, since they had chosen to follow him, he had to carry the responsibility to the end.
Only when each person fulfills their duty can one speak of morality. That was what the Holy Light had taught him.
The Holy Light...
At the edge of the dock square, Wright looked down at his thick, powerful hands. On his palms two wounds were still healing, left from a clash with several Church soldiers while passing through Carroll Territory. Two small wounds had bought the life of an innocent girl condemned as a heretic. It was a price well worth paying, but the fact that those two small wounds had still not fully healed could only mean that the Holy Light had truly left him.
Wright sighed softly, then raised his head and looked at the prosperous, lively districts of the city.
"Cecil... I'm back."
He passed through the busy streets of the dock district, thick with the smell of fish, through Pine Nut Street and Pebble Park, and at last arrived at the lord's residence.
In the study of the lord's manor, Gao Yang, who was reviewing reports, saw Wright Aiviken dressed in ordinary cloth. He was somewhat surprised that the priest had returned early, but before Wright entered, he had already heard from Amber what had happened at the dock square. He nodded to the sturdy priest: "Welcome back. I heard you brought back more than a dozen refugees? Was the journey smooth?"
"Thank you for your concern," Wright lowered his head slightly. "Those people were encountered on my way back, an unexpected situation, so to speak."
He truly had not expected to bring back so many. At first he had only meant to bring the young couple he had met in a village north of Stonehold Fortress back to Cecil. But on the return road he met more people in need of help, and in the end more and more followed him, until they formed a small procession. Fortunately, after crossing Carroll Territory he encountered a merchant caravan preparing to return to Cecil; otherwise the journey would certainly have been far harder.
"Where is your priest's robe?" Gao Yang looked at Wright curiously. "And the prayer book you usually carry at your waist?"
"I sold them," Wright said calmly. "More than a dozen people needed to eat, and my travel funds were insufficient. They were poor common folk, and most had already had their property seized by the local lord or the Church. When they set out with me they had nothing at all, so I sold my robe and prayer book."
Gao Yang was startled: "Sold them? Weren't those very important to you?"
Wright smiled faintly: "That robe was only an old robe. The cloth was good, but it was still just a garment. The prayer book was one I copied myself back then; I can recite everything in it, and later I can write out another copy from memory. The teachings of the Holy Light do not lie in the vessel but in the heart."
Looking at this Holy Light priest who seemed so calm, Gao Yang felt a faint stir in his heart. He nodded gently and did not bring up the robe or the prayer book again. Instead he asked about the other man's journey to the Spirit Plain: "Since you returned early, you must have seen what you wanted to see?"