Chapter 250 (1/2)
Eboden Cathedral, prayer room.
The guard Knight kept his eyes on the fascists kneeling under the statue of the Holy Cross in front, waiting silently, like a stone statue in armor.
Nearly three hours have passed since dawn. The fascist kneeling on the cold slate still had no movement. The drooping head and folded hands, the solemn atmosphere, and the candlelight reflected on his cheeks seemed to stagnate at this moment.
”Bang --!”
The panicked servant knocked open the door and rushed into the quiet Temple: ”bishop Francis, I have something to tell bishop Francis...”
The words and people stopped in half. The servant who had just put one leg into the door stayed in place trembling. The bright sword edge stopped in front of his neck, and there was no shaking on the narrow sword body.
”The bishop is praying for eboden. No one can disturb him.” under the helmet, the voice of the guard knight was as cold as ice: ”who allowed you to come in?”
”I, I...”
”Never mind, let him in.” Francis slowly got up and his gentle voice echoed in the narrow prayer room: ”we are all sinful mortals. We can live in the world only by relying on the forgiveness of the Holy Cross. Tolerance is not only a gift, but also a virtue taught by the Holy Cross.”
The guard Knight bowed his head and took back his sword. The relieved servant hurried to the front of Francis, and a ”puff” knelt on the ground: ”I'm sorry, but... This matter is very important. Bishop Francis, I tried my best to escape and report to you!”
”And you are safe now. Evil has nowhere to hide under the light of the Holy Cross.” the gentle Francis patted the servant on the shoulder and wiped the blood on his face with his palm: ”say, what happened?”
”I... the priest of our church...” the frightened servant swallowed his saliva tremblingly and looked at the bishop with soft light in front of him with pleading eyes: ”there are two trainee priests in the church, a new nun, both children, twelve or thirteen years old, one of whom is a relative of the priest.
The younger priest is usually not obedient and likes to bully people and tease believers who refuse to donate money, but he is actually a good child; the older one is very sensible and the priest likes him very much. He often teaches him to read and tells him stories about church saints;
The girl is the father's niece. The poor people nearby know her. She has a good heart. She always goes to the relief center to visit the homeless poor and often asks us to look for her everywhere. The father has told her several times, but she always doesn't listen. She doesn't want to make a noise when she is beaten... ”
”They are all good children, and the Holy Cross will protect them.” the smiling fascist patiently stroked his cheek and listened to him muttering these trivial things: ”take them to the cathedral when you have a chance. I want to see them.”
”You'll never see them again.”
Francis's smile froze, but the trembling servant still said, ”they were eaten by the priest... By our fat, greedy priest who always likes to drink red wine!
Before that, he had a big mouth full of fangs, eyes on his face and six arms... Then he ate the children one by one!
I still remember him... How he pried open the child's head shell and drank the child like soup... ”
”Stop talking! You're tired and need a good rest.” before the servant fell into fear again, Francis quickly interrupted him: ”I'll prepare a room for you, rest in peace, and then pray to the Holy Cross!”
”Yes, yes!” the servant, who was about to be frightened and silly, looked forward with his eyes blankly and nodded his head.
”Before that, tell me, how is the priest now?” Francis asked softly.
”I killed him,” the servant recalled, ”before he rushed out, he smashed his head with the sculpture of the Holy Cross and the eyes full of his head!”
”Well done, the Holy Cross will reward you for your bravery - who else knows about it besides you?”
”No one.” the servant shook his head, ”I'm the only one, so I dare to come in and report to you, so that you can...”