Chapter 156 — In the Deep Sea

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."

Only after the missionary had walked off for good did Amber mutter under her breath, "I thought for sure anyone from the Daylight Church would give me trouble the moment they saw me. But how did it turn out to be such a muddle-headed... weirdo."

"Stop being so paranoid. Nobody even knows who you are, so why would they give you trouble?" Heidi shot Amber a glance, then turned to Gao Yang. "Ancestor, are you going to allow this... 'missionary' to preach in the territory?"

"Let's observe him for a couple of days first," Gao Yang said mildly. "Assign a clerk to register his basic information, then arrange lodging for him near the administrative district according to the standards for skilled immigrants, and keep a close eye on his movements. If there's nothing wrong with the man... then permit him to preach and operate within the bounds of Cecil law."

Gao Yang himself felt a certain estrangement from faith in the gods, but he had no intention of stopping anyone from conducting religious activities in the territory—because religious activity was already an "established fact" of this world, and divine magic was part of the local productive forces. Eighty or ninety percent of the people in the territory were believers themselves, whether in the Gods of Abundance and the God of Holy Light or in deities of craft, commerce, learning, and war; most were casual believers, and a minority were devout. Against such a backdrop, stopping a missionary of the Daylight Church from operating in the territory was neither necessary nor meaningful, and would only make people suspicious.

Besides, as long as this odd, blunt missionary had no suspicious background and no stains on his record, then his arrival was actually a good thing. Gao Yang still remembered what Virodai had mentioned last time, and he was sure that the holy maiden princess had not brought it up so casually. Sooner or later she would come to him again—but if, before that, a small church recognized by the Daylight Church had been established in the territory, then he would have ample reason to politely decline any church infiltration from the royal capital.

A regional church founded by a wandering missionary with the local lord's patronage would be far easier to control than a church directly commanded by the royal capital's hierarchy.

With these idle thoughts drifting through his mind, Gao Yang returned to his tent.

Looking at this tent, in which he had already lived for several months, he felt a stirring of emotion.

It really was time to move out of here, and into a house built of brick and tile.

At the very least, the new residence he had designed had a proper study, bedrooms, storerooms, and various laboratories. Whether for living or for conducting research into magic, it would be far more convenient than this place.

But for some reason, Amber also seemed full of enthusiasm about Gao Yang moving into the new house as soon as possible. Last time Gao Yang had asked her out of curiosity, and she had rattled off a string of strange remarks—things like "It's been ages since I climbed in through a window," "There isn't even a door in this tent worth picking," "What kind of noble manor has no basement and no treasure vault?" and so on... Truly strange.

Gao Yang had had to knock Amber on the head a good few times to correct her habit of saying strange things, but it seemed to have had little effect.

Several reports on population and the expansion of the territory's new residential districts lay on the desk. Gao Yang sat down beside the desk and began his daily work.