Alien Knights

Muxi City, Holy Order Arbitration Tribunal, Resident Registration Office.

"My lord, hello. I heard that a new king's decree has been promulgated in the city. Can foreign immigrants obtain the status of kingdom residents by farming and paying taxes?"

Cultivator Joe, who was busy checking the farmland registration and the distribution of farm tools, said without raising his head: "That's right, the regulations just issued two days ago, if necessary, you can go to the office..."

Brother Joe suddenly stopped talking, turned his gaze to the questioner, and shouted incredulously after a while: "I know you! You are the priest from Qianmu Village near the monastery, and your name is..."

"Moore Rupert."

Qiao put down the book in his hand and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes! That's the name! I still remember that when Master Shengzi was studying in the monastery, he went to your village to exorcise demons!"

"That's right, Lord Son performed a miracle there! He rescued the two bewitched from the hands of the devil." Talking about the past, Father Moore's eyes shone brightly, as if the scene was still in front of him.

While laughing happily, Joe stretched out his right palm, wanting to pat the opponent's arm.

After touching Moore's cuff, his palm stayed in the air, and the smile froze on his face.

"Where's your left hand?!"

Regarding the monk's question, Moore pursed his lips and lowered his head, and said slowly, "It's a long story."

Joe, who was a little nervous, only realized at this time that the young priest in front of him. Lun's age, but only in his twenties; Lun's identity, he could be regarded as a celebrity in the West Parish in the past.

But now, he is wearing a linen jacket that smells like chicken manure and pig urine, his long dark brown hair is also covered with silver threads, the wrinkles on his face are as dense as dry land, and the original left hand has been replaced by an empty sleeve.

It seems that only the clergyman's cross on his chest is still well preserved.

Tucking the book in his hand under his arm, Joe gestured for Father Moore to follow him.

The two walked through the busy and noisy office hall and walked into a relatively quiet reception room.

After ordering his subordinates to prepare two cups of fruit tea and order another plate of snacks, Joe asked Moore to sit down, while he spread the books on the table and chatted casually with each other.

"I think I was an ordinary scribe when I was in the Abbey of San Sidro. I was very hungry at night, thanks to the bran bread you sent." Joe touched the top of his bald head, and laughed first: "At that time, the caught mice were cleaned and put in the bran bread. They were called "heavenly delicacies" in the scribe room."

Moore hid his left sleeve behind his back and laughed too.

Seeing the respect and respect on the other side's face, Joe stopped laughing, and shook his head indistinctly: "Moore, tell me your story during this time."

Mentioning the past, pain and struggle appeared in Moore's eyes.

"When the silver ring and the barbarians first formed an alliance, there were letters between every church. There was only one thing everyone discussed, what should we do in the future?" Moore's eyes were unfocused, and he looked at the nothingness above the floor: "After repeated discussions, there are three roads in front of everyone."

"One, stay. After all, the Silver Ring Kingdom used to be the parish of the Heavenly Father, and the kingdom has an obligation to protect its subjects and beliefs. Besides, the business that has been run by generations of people in the village cannot be simply given up..."

Moore closed his eyes and trembled slightly: "You should also know what happened to these people."

Joe sighed, nodded and said, "Well, it's not very good."

"Second, go west and join the Muxi Kingdom. Of course, at that time, the Muxi Kingdom had not yet been established, and this place was still called Muxi Town. The person who proposed this method gave the reason that the Muxi Knights are the last military force in the West Diocese. The Holy Son can perform miracles, so he can naturally protect the believers. But those who oppose it emphasize that the Muxi Knights cannot protect themselves, and there is no way out if they flee to the seaside."

Joe straightened his body: "It turns out that this path is the right one."

"That's right, it's a pity that most people at that time were not optimistic about the Muxi Knights. There were very few people who were really willing to go west..."

"The last way?"

Pausing for a moment, Moore grabbed his trousers tightly with his remaining right hand, and spoke in a low and terrifying voice: "Go east and seek the help of church reinforcements."

Qiao swallowed, and asked in a low voice, "The group of people going east didn't meet the Church's army in the end?"

"No, we found them." Moore said with blank eyes: "There are thousands of villages, large and small, on the Moon Creek Plain. People all have the same idea - to seek help from the church. At first, the church army did promise: they promised that they would send us into the territory of the Holy Acropolis."

"Under such guarantees, tens of thousands of civilians accepted the custody of the church army and began to move to the east... However, the good times didn't last long. In the watch valley, the barbarian coalition found our tracks and sent a large number of troops to follow and attack the migrating people."

"After discovering the enemy's traces, a dispute arose within the church coalition forces, and they were divided into two factions. The church-led army left behind its luggage and used civilians as shields to flee the battlefield. Most of the troops in the Holy Acropolis stayed behind and distributed weapons and shields to the people."

With nails deeply embedded in the skin, Moore spoke in an unusually calm tone about the tragic massacre: "In my lifetime memory, that was the longest day. Tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers crowded into the open area in the middle of the canyon, desperately facing the enemies in front, behind, and even above their heads. Arrows and stones fell on the crowd like raindrops, and the blood pooled into a lake, turning the hard soil under their feet into bloody mud..."

Brother Joe's body trembled slightly, he made a sign of the cross on his chest, and crossed his fingers: "God..."

Moore struggled to squeeze out a smile from the corner of his mouth, and while pointing his finger to the top of his head, he said, "After that day, I understood a truth."

"What's the point?"

"At least one sentence in the Bible is wrong."

"Which sentence?"

"God is both almighty and merciful."

Brother Joe opened his eyes in confusion.

Moore said word by word: "If God is omnipotent, then he must have the ability to prevent the pagans from slaughtering God's people, but if he did not do so, then it proves that he must not be kind to his own people; if God is loving, then he must want to stop the pagans from slaughtering God's people, but he failed, then he must not be omnipotent!"

"So, God's omnipotence and love, one of the two must be a lie... Or, both of them are lies..."

Hearing this, Joe froze.

He wanted to refute this point of view, but from a logical point of view, he didn't know how to start.

At this time, he remembered that the priest in front of him had even gained the Pope's personal appreciation by debating scriptures and preaching in the past.

"During that massacre, dozens of villagers from Qianmu Village who followed me died or fled. The village chief, Ackerman Xiaokuola, was captured by barbarian soldiers and turned into a slave. In comparison, I only lost a left hand, which is really lucky..." Moore said in a daze, grabbing his empty left sleeve.

Qiao let out a long sigh: "In order to cover the retreating people, Lord Shengzi was willing to take risks and stay to fight against powerful enemies. In this regard, I don't know how many times better than those people in the church... By the way, you said at the beginning that you wanted to apply for farmland?"

Moore nodded: "I don't want to go back to church anymore, and I have no face to face those villagers in Qianmu Village. Being a farmer may be my best choice."

"You once studied in the Capital Theological Seminary. You can read and write four languages. Whether it is theological theory or eloquence, you are a rare talent. Be a farmer? It's too wasteful! Let me think..." Joe touched the top of his bald head, thought for a while, and then said: "Muxi College has been planning to establish a theology department. In addition, the Muxi Cathedral will be officially completed in the spring of next year. Deacons, celebrants and stewards need to be recruited. I can write a recommendation letter for you and find one for you. Nice location."

Moore's face showed a sincere smile for the first time: "That's really great!"

Later, he saw a trace of embarrassment on Joe's face, and asked worriedly, "What? Is there any difficulty?"

The monk waved his hand and said with a forced smile: "It's hard to talk about, but the king has been a little 'busy' recently, and I haven't seen him for a few days. The list and recruitment may be a little later..."