Iron Powder and Spellcaster

A heated debate was going on at the Mitchell family dinner table.

To be precise, this was not an evenly matched debate, but a one-sided defeat.

The old mendicant was victorious, and Father Anthony was getting closer and closer to being pissed to death.

Priest Anthony of the Wolf Town Church blushed and said in a hurried voice: ...The essence of Catholicism is the worship of personality. The Lord is truly incarnated as a human being, and not in the image of a pharaoh, king or emperor, but in the form of a Galilean The image of the humble farmer. This is an unprecedented concept, and it is this that makes more and more people convert and accept the gospel.”

The old beggar monk Rhett chuckled and asked: Then you go and tell the believers that the Son of God is just a humble farmer in Galilee? Let's see if they are moved or if you are stoned to death? What does it mean if a god becomes a human? Here Thousands of miles away to the east, there are still people who can turn into a god of religion!

“But doesn’t it mean that our ability to replace the ancient cult just shows the destiny of the Catholic Church?”

The rise of the Catholic Church only shows one thing, and that is that there are people above who are easy to get things done. The Western Church was supported by the empire, and finally changed from a church of the poor and oppressed to a church of the powerful. I would like to ask you, in Sarah In the land of the Sen people, another pagan religion has also achieved the same status as the Catholic Church. The Eastern Church there can only be treated as second-class citizens. Do you also agree with the destiny of paganism?

Father Anthony's breath was stagnant and he almost lost his breath.

The old mendicant monk took a leisurely sip of wine. The smile on his face made Father Anthony suddenly want to punch him in the nose.

The two of them used old dialect, with many ancient dialect words mixed in.

Except for the two people who were arguing, the only people in the Mitchell family who could understand these words were Father Carman and Winters.

The Mitchells' son Pierre went to see the ponyboy Angelou, and there were only the Mitchells and their unmarried little daughter Scarlett at the table.

Girard's little daughter's thoughts were all on the ensign, and she kept glancing at him secretly. Girard didn't understand why the two priests were quarreling, although he couldn't understand what they were arguing about.

However, the Mitchell family should be grateful that they could not understand the shocking speeches of the two clergymen, which were considered heretical in the eyes of ordinary believers, so that they can continue to respect the two priests.

Of the two people who could understand, Father Carman was expressionless, while Winters was absent-minded.

The pursuit of the ferocious beast yielded nothing, and the traces of blood and breath disappeared at a creek. The thing waded some distance through the water, and the current obscured its tracks.

Winters led people to search for several kilometers up and down the mountain stream, but the best hounds in Dussa Village could not smell where the thing came ashore.

This primeval forest is so vast that hundreds of people pouring it into it is like pouring a glass of water into the desert. The search range is extremely limited, like finding a needle in a haystack.

Seeing that the sun was gradually setting in the west, it was difficult for humans to move at night, but wild beasts were at ease. Worried that man-hunting beasts would become beast hunters, Winters had to ask the militia to withdraw from the forest.

What made Winters even more angry than the failed hunt was the indifference of the two Protestant villages to the beast's disaster.

Before leading the Dussacs into the mountains and forests, Winters sent riders to the remaining four villages to summon the militia. The militia teams from Hedong and Hexi villages rushed over under the leadership of the village chief and joined the search operation.

The two villages of Nanxin and Beixin did not send any manpower from beginning to end.

But when Winters questioned the village chiefs of the two villages, they both used the excuses of thinking Dusak was teasing us and it doesn't matter whether we go or not.

More hateful than an enemy's attack is only betrayal.

If it weren't for the fact that the two Protestant village chiefs were not soldiers, the furious Second Lieutenant Montagne could have killed these two losers on the spot.

An outsider would be so indignant, let alone what the Dusaks felt in their hearts.

Sergey, the elder of Dussa Village, almost drew a knife and hacked the two protestant village chiefs to death. The old man who was pulled beat his chest and swore that he would never lend a helping hand to them even if the traitors died.

In a small wolf town, the people's sentiments are so complicated that they can't be sorted out.

Winters has no intention of getting involved. He just hopes that all villages can work together to solve the wolf plague as soon as possible. Because he knew that sooner or later he would return to Veneta, and he didn't want to leave a mess behind.

But now that the ferocious beast has not been seen, a fight is about to start between several villages.

Lieutenant Montagne even missed the hard battles in Taneria. At least at that time, the enemy was the enemy and the friend was the friend. There were no such trivial matters in front of him that were boring.

Winters really had no appetite, so he thanked Mrs. Mitchell for her hospitality and left the table.

After a while, Father Carman also stood up and left. After he left the restaurant, he headed toward the back of the house.

There, Lieutenant Montagne was pacing and thinking.

Awakened by Kaman's footsteps, Winters asked casually: Your Red brother dares to speak, and he is not afraid of being burned on the stake. Is it because of this that you placed him here with me?

Brother Red is just deliberately irritating Father Anthony and teasing him. Father Carman made a bow and sat casually on a barrel: The debates of theologians are like blasphemy in the ears of believers. This It’s normal. The Catholic Church doesn’t have the habit of burning clergy. What’s more, Brother Rhett has a special status and can speak freely.”

What's so special about it?

Father Carman replied calmly: The special thing is the 'introducer'. Twenty-nine years ago, the Saracens captured Rhode Island. Abbot Philip of the Knights of Rhode Island Monastery was martyred and later canonized. Brother Rhett originally He was a Bodhisattva monk who converted to Catholicism under the inspiration of Saint Philip and was ordained to the priesthood by the saint himself.

“It turns out the Saints are nepotistic too.”

It is said that when we recognized Brother Red's priesthood, we wanted to send him to the Far East to preach, but he didn't expect that he would stay here and not leave, which made the previous pope very angry. Kaman said with a smile: Brother Red traveled the world , well-informed, and cited many sources when debating. Although his theological views were very dangerous, no one could refute him, and many famous debaters were beaten into disgrace by him.

For such a dangerous man, your church doesn't put him under house arrest and lets him run around?

Who makes him just a powerless mendicant monk? How many priests in the church can abide by the vow of celibacy and poverty? With Brother Rhett's noble conduct, it is not an exaggeration to be canonized after his death.

Winters didn't take it seriously: Does the old man still have such ability? Then I should ask him to go to Nanxin Village and Beixin Village to see if he can settle the farmers there.

Haha, if you send Brother Rhett over, maybe you can relieve the bishops' worries.

Sickness?

Heart disease. Father Carmen stretched his waist and said lazily: I can't defend myself, and I can't kill him. What else can I do if it's not a heart disease?

Mr. Carman, I'm afraid your followers will be sad if they see you like this.

But you don't believe it. Father Carman yawned: So there is no need to do those ritual things between us, it's boring.

As he spoke, Father Carman took out a pipe filled with tobacco leaves from his pocket and handed it to Winters.

Winters was stunned: I don't smoke.

I'm not handing you a cigarette. Kaman said with a smile, I'm asking you to light it for me.

What do you mean? Winters became alert.

Stop pretending, Lieutenant Montagne. Carman asked with a smile: You are a magician, aren't you?

Winters snorted coldly and was noncommittal.

Father Carman continued, minding his own business: There are only two types of people in the South who are not believers, one is magicians, and the other is devil worshipers. Are you a devil worshipper? Lieutenant Montagne?

Winters ignored him.

Since you are not a devil worshiper, you can only be a magician. Father Carman shook the pipe in his hand: Second Lieutenant, I have no ill intentions towards you.

Winters took the pipe and lit the tobacco with silent fire.

Magic and evil wizards are always confused among the people, so Winters never revealed his identity as a spell caster after coming to Wolf Town. This was also the first time he showed magical abilities in front of others.

Those who say they mean no harm are often the most malicious. Winters handed the pipe back.

Father Carman took the pipe, but just held it in his hand without enjoying it: I'm just curious.

What are you curious about?

I understand your concerns. Father Carman sighed and said seriously: But please don't worry, as long as you don't harm the believers of this diocese, I will not reveal your identity as a magician, let alone take it away. This will do nothing against you.

Winters sneered and said, It seems that spell casters are no different from devil believers in your eyes.

Father Carman laughed and asked, Don't priests look the same in your eyes?

Winters suddenly looked into the distance, and he vaguely heard the clatter of horse hooves. The sound became closer and clearer, and soon Father Carman could hear it clearly. That's right, a rider was racing towards the Mitchell House.

Winters and Carman looked at each other and immediately headed for the front door.

The rider brings another bad news, the evil beast has appeared again.

After receiving the news, Winters and Girard immediately took out their horses, fully armed and rushed to the scene.

It was too late to call in the militia, but Father Carman volunteered to go along.

…

This time, the place where the evil beasts showed off their ferocity was not in the five villages under the jurisdiction of Wolf Town, but in the forest farm.

A lumberjack stepped out of his shack to urinate, only to be confronted by a vicious beast. Other lumberjacks heard the wails and calls for help coming from outside the house and rescued the unfortunate lumberjack by banging on iron tools.

When Winters and others rushed to the forest farm, they saw only a bloody injured person lying on a wooden bed dying. The injured person's part below his left ankle has disappeared, leaving only a horrific cut of flesh and blood.

An old worker with some medical skills strangled the injured man's calf with a hemp rope in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but dark red liquid was still seeping out from the wound, and the sheets at the injured man's feet were soaked with blood.

For this poor lumberjack, death was only a matter of time, and Father Carman was already saying his last prayers for him.

Did he see what it was? Winters went to the foreman and asked, Did you see what it was?

It's a bear! The foreman's body was still shaking uncontrollably: A bear as big as a house!

…

The unfortunate lumberjack died in the night.

The foreman assigned two workers to dig a shallow pit and bury the body. The others divided up the deceased's tattered belongings, and the funeral was completed. The entire process is shockingly sloppy.

When he first learned that there was a forest farm in Wolf Town, Winters thought it was a small lumber factory with a dozen employees.

After arriving at the forest farm, Winters discovered that it was a large logging team of hundreds of people, about the same size as a small village.

The logging team's camp is deep in the forest, far away from human habitation, and is simply a meal in front of the ferocious beasts. When the manager heard about the wolf plague, he ran back to the county office long ago, leaving only a few foremen here to maintain order.

Not only that, the living conditions of the lumberjacks were unimaginably crowded and harsh. Winters didn't even know where the supervisors hired workers who were willing to work in such a place.

I guess the bear will come again. Winters and Girard discussed: This team of lumberjacks are all young and strong. Can they be incorporated into the militia?

I'm afraid not. They are not residents of Wolf Town, they are just hired to cut down trees. Gilad said with a wry smile: They left after cutting down these hundreds of acres of forest land. The wolf disaster has nothing to do with them, and we have nothing to do with them. There is no jurisdiction. If they are allowed to serve as militia, the businessmen who bought the logging rights will not agree, and even they themselves will not agree.

Didn't I buy the logging rights from you?

No, I bought it from the county. This forest, this land, and this river all belong to the county.

I'll give it a try and see if I can convince them.

Negotiations with the logging teams were a complete failure, and Girard was right. The foremen claimed that they dared not make the decision without the supervisor, and no loggers responded to the offer to join the bear trapping party.

A foreman went to Winters privately and explained: Sir, these workers live a very hard life on weekdays. Most of them are Protestants, and they are often looked down upon by the villagers. A small number of Catholics go to the town to worship on weekends. Those who The Tusa people will also cause trouble for them. It is impossible for them to help the people of Wolf Town risk their lives to hunt bears.

Those villages are outside the forest, but your logging team is inside. Wouldn't that bear come to you first when it's hungry? Winters was a little unhappy.

I understand this, but the workers don't! the foreman said helplessly: In their opinion, there are more than a hundred people here, but they are no safer than the villages outside.

The idea of ​​recruiting the lumberjack into the bear trap failed, but now Winters at least knew the beast was a bear, a big one.

Lieutenant Montagne, who returned to the town from the logging camp, immediately formed a bear hunting team and sent people to Blackwater Town to borrow more heavy muskets and hounds.

The main members of the bear-catching team are Dusak from the village of Dusa. The Dusa people have war horses and weapons, and they also have a big grudge against the bear. However, Nan Xincun and Beixin Village did not send anyone to join the bear hunting team.

In response, the bear trapping team from Dousa Village also refused to patrol or hunt in the forest near the Protestant village.

Second Lieutenant Montagne had nothing to do about this. The militiamen were not soldiers, and he had no power to dispose of them. He was able to command everyone based on trust and respect.

Winters can only ask hunters to patrol the woodlands near South and North New Villages as much as possible.

For three consecutive days, Winters led the bear hunting team to search almost all of the forest near Wolf Town, but found nothing.

The giant bear was not found, but the old mendicant monk came to the door on the third night.

Please tell me quickly if you have anything to say. Winters was sleepy and tired after spending a day in the deep mountains and old forests. He was too lazy to talk nonsense with this old bastard: Otherwise, I have to rest.

Don't worry, Mr. Second Lieutenant, I'm here to help you. The old man said with a smile: I have been observing you for a few days. When it comes to fighting, ten of me combined can't compare to you. But there is one thing that a hundred people can't do. All of you are not as good as me.

What's the matter? Winters asked with a sneer as he took off his boots.

The mendicant monk pulled Winters' chair over, sat down in full clothes, and uttered one word seriously:

politics.

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