When Eryi went out, he quickly changed his clothes and went to the temple in white clothes, as if he was going to cause trouble, which had a bad influence.
When she accompanied Judy to the churchyard next to the Harvest Goddess Temple, Judy's sister, Dale, stood nearby, her fists clenched and her mouth pouting. The little boy next door had red eyes and looked like he'd just cried. He had a large bump and scrape on his head, and a small wound on his knee that was bleeding.
Two younger attendants stood bewildered by, while another watched as an older attendant brought some water and wiped the mud off the boy. It seemed they had to work hard to soothe the crying boy. Judging by the appearance of his wounds, he hadn't received any treatment yet.
Judy had been extremely anxious on the way here, and when she reached the door, she practically ran into the yard, barely catching her breath. "Goddess of Harvest, what's going on?"
"It seems like there's some unpleasantness between them." A servant who was wiping the mud off the little boy with a handkerchief replied.
Judy glanced at her sister disapprovingly, then squatted in front of the little boy, ready to take the handkerchief from the waiter and help him clean up.
When parents need to work and are unable to take care of their children at home, they place their children in the care of the church, ranging from the youngest being two to the oldest being ten. Of course, even if the church doesn't mention it, they will still pay the corresponding support.
The care of children was the responsibility of attendants, usually young men who had just joined. The priests, of course, didn't bother with such trivial matters. After leading the faithful in daily prayers, they would go about their own business. The Harvest Goddess's church in Sunset City had twenty or thirty such children to care for. While a large number of children could easily lead to a commotion, injuries like this were rare.
Judy had previously been taking on sewing work at home, only delegating it to her sister next door or to church when she needed to hand over tasks. These past few days, her sister hasn't expressed any dissatisfaction with church, even boasting about the new friends she's made there. This has reassured Judy.
After Judy took the handkerchief, the situation eased a lot except that Dale still had a pout on her face.
At this time, the little boy's parents also came.
The person who came was a lady with flaxen curly hair. She hadn't taken off her apron yet, and there was some orange sauce on it. It looked like she had just been preparing dinner at home.
When she first walked in and saw the scene, she seemed stunned for half a second, then suddenly opened her mouth and burst into tears. She pushed Judy away and threw herself on the little boy. She wiped away her tears and shouted, "Dear Tom, what's wrong with you? Who the hell hit you? Tell your aunt, and she will help you."
The little boy pushed her with a little disgust, said nothing, and looked embarrassed.
"It's this little brat who has no parents, right? She was the one who hit you, right?" The lady wiped her hands on her apron, turned around and yelled at Dai'er.
"I'm sorry, this lady suggests that you calm down for a moment." The attendant reminded that loud noises were not allowed in the church.
"I'm sorry, I'm so excited." Aunt Tom took a breath with a flushed face: "This child has lost his parents since he was young. He is really pitiful. We don't have time to take care of him, so we can only send him to you, but I didn't expect that he would be beaten like this by other children." She said exaggeratedly, and while speaking, she wanted to hug Tom again, but Tom dodged.
Judy whispered an apology, "I'm so sorry." Then she turned and pulled her sister over to her, "Dell, apologize to him."
Dale stared at Tom without saying a word, and looked like she was ready to beat him up again at any moment.
Eryi casually picked up a children's edition of the Harvest Goddess's Tome, which lay on the stone table in the middle of the courtyard. The poor book had been torn apart by several children and was now somewhat tattered. She had checked Tom's status panel when she entered. The wound looked severe, but his vitality was surprisingly strong, still at 99%.
"Of course he's going to apologize. What do you mean by glaring at him like that?" Aunt Tom shook her head excitedly. "And what about the injuries on his body? He has to compensate us."
The attendants saw that the matter would not be resolved for a while: "Go and invite the priest over." One of the attendants whispered to his companion.
"We've already asked for it." His companion seemed somewhat helpless. When something like this happens, of course, it's reported to the higher authorities immediately. Now, even the parents of both parties have arrived, and the priest hasn't arrived yet.
"Then please do it again." The attendants didn't know how to deal with such a problem. After all, they had no affinity with holy elements and could not heal anyone.
"But, he..." The attendant seemed helpless.
"I'll go, you guys stay here and watch," he said, looking at the older, more stable attendant. It seemed these believers couldn't sit down and have a proper conversation, so they could only try to invite the high priest over again.
In the Temple of the Goddess of Harvest, the only priest, Jori, was lazing in the confessional. In his hand was a random book he had bought from somewhere, which contained an intoxicating love story.
The High Priest had been out inspecting several nearby towns for the past few days and was away. He had taken several priests and their usual attendants with him, leaving only two people in the entire temple. One had just gone to a nearby square to preach, and the remaining one was a newcomer.
He was the illegitimate son of a certain noble family. His father had originally not intended to take him back, but luckily for him, he was found to have an affinity for holy elements, which gave him the power to return to his family. But at the same time, he wasn't very ambitious, spending his days lazing around and living a life of idleness, with no real ambitions.
"Don't bother me with the affairs of those little brats." He closed the door of the confessional, locked it from the inside, and refused to come out: "I'm afraid of those little brats." It's so scary. Children's thinking circuits seem to be different from those of adults. They are prone to crying and you have no idea what they want to do.
"Master Priest, Tom is injured. We can't just let him go back like this." This has a slight impact on the reputation of the church. In order to survive in the fierce competition, the Goddess of Harvest can not only bring a slight increase in food production to the believers as a protection, but also has something to do with their smooth handling of things.
"I'm not good at this," Jory's voice came out of the confessional, a faint sound. "I'm new here, and I only know the usual harvest prayers."
"...The head priest once praised you for healing your wounds, saying you could even compete with some of the priests of the God of Light. I really don't recommend lying in the church. The Goddess of Harvest is watching us."
"I know, that's why I'm in the confessional and I'm confessing now." He turned a page of the book in his hand and didn't seem to intend to leave at all.
"Alas," the attendant sighed. "That's not a good idea. When the Head Priest returns, he'll probably make you copy the Holy Scripture a hundred times." Their Head Priest was a reliable man, fond of locking people up in the confinement room to copy the Holy Scripture. "Even if we don't tell anyone, the believers will spread rumors."
The sound of groping came from the confessional, and soon a handsome priest with a somewhat romantic look opened the door and walked out. His priestly robe looked a little untidy, with a bulge in one place, as if something was hidden.
"Okay, let's go." He confidently reached out and smoothed his smooth golden hair. The sunlight shone through the glazed roof onto his teeth, making them shiny white.
As Jory entered the backyard, he heard Aunt Tom's voice. She was the only one cursing, and no one else was saying anything. Even the two children were stunned by the speed of her words.
"I never said I wasn't good at dealing with this kind of thing besides the little cubs..." Jory muttered softly, his steps slowed down, and he wanted to walk back, but he couldn't.
"Priest!" Aunt Tom saw Jory come in and immediately changed her expression. She stepped forward and pulled him. "Goddess of the Harvest, please give us justice. Look at how badly the child has been beaten..."
"Ma'am, let go of your hand." Jory's handsome face was distorted with fear.
While accompanying the attendants in search of the priest, they had already learned some of the situation through communication. Tom spoke rudely, calling Dale a poor, parentless person. As for why he said that, it was because he himself had no parents and was in a state of self-destruction and self-blame. Dale simply went forward to comfort him, but he ended up scolding her as well.
Then you have to beat him up.
Judy was hugging her sister with red eyes to comfort her, no longer putting on a friendly expression like before. She was only sixteen years old, and she was no different from losing her parents.
"Tom is so young, how could he understand the meaning of those words by himself unless someone taught him!" Judy retorted excitedly.
Aunt Tom seemed to be provoked by something and jumped up and down, "What are you talking about? Are you blaming me indirectly? You are an uneducated child. Goddess, if it weren't for us, he would be homeless!"
"Look, you mentioned this to him again!"
Can I go back? Jory mouthed to the attendants, then he noticed Eryi, who was flipping through the holy book next to him. "Isn't there a priestess over there? You go find her. I have something to do, so I'll leave first."
Aunt Tom heard this and darted her light brown eyes back and forth between Eryi and Judy. "Who is this? Are you the believer who betrayed the goddess? And you brought a priest who believes in a new god with you. What do you mean by that? You want her to back you up?"
"With a sister like you, it's no wonder there's a sister like this."
Judy seemed to be choked and couldn't speak.
Eryi walked over to Aunt Tom, holding the Children's Bible and flipping to the first page. "Let's see. Article three of the Harvest Goddess's Codex demands friendship, honesty, and kindness to those around you. Article five prohibits slandering others or spreading rumors. Do you dare to swear to the Goddess that you are truly friendly and kind to Tom? Have you truly not slandered or spread rumors about anyone in front of him?"
“…”
Most of the time, the scriptures are used for preaching, popularizing science, and praying. Over time, people naturally no longer think that the things written in them are really binding. Sometimes it’s okay to play by the rules. The goddess really doesn’t have that much free time to watch you every day.
But she swears, she really doesn't dare.
If Judy had said this, she might have been able to refute it, but the woman before her, while not wearing priestly robes, had already been pointed out by Jory as a priestess. Would she dare to cross a high priestess, even one of a new god?
Seeing the situation quiet down for a while, Jory came out to smooth things over. "Let me take a look at Tom's condition... It doesn't look good, but the goddess will protect you. Come here." He squatted beside Tom, muttering to himself.
- Goddess of the Harvest, please grant me the power to heal the wounds. Your believers are hurting.
A warm yellow light gradually emerged from Jory's hand, and he placed the light in his palm on the wound on Tom's knee.
Tom
HP 99% Fatigue 68/100
[Healing of the Harvest Goddess: Duration: 24 hours]
When the light faded, Tom's wound still hadn't healed completely. An attendant stepped forward, washed the wound with holy water, and bandaged it.
"The wound is not serious and will heal in less than an hour." Qiao Li concluded.
Because it was an accident that happened within the church, there was no charge for the treatment. Normally, such healing would cost at least 30 silver coins.
That day, because of this farce, Aunt Tom had to take Tom home early. She kept nagging all the way, and Tom looked very ugly.
He was different from other children; their parents were busy, so they sent them to church. His aunt didn't actually have to work, and usually did chores around the house, but they seemed reluctant to see him. He had heard her family call him a jinx.
Although he was young, he could roughly understand what this meant. He had heard the adults in his family talk about his parents: "You know, his parents lost their lives because of that kind of thing. God knows if he was also affected by it. That would be terrible."
"Aunt, please take me to church on time tomorrow," said Tom.
"Okay, you're really sensible."
Judy was a little embarrassed because her sister had just gotten into a fight. The church friends knew Tom better than Dale, who was new there, and they seemed to have some issues with her.
"Bring her here when you go to work next time," Eryi suggested. "You can let her bring her usual toys, including her children's Bible. You can even bring her to our place for daily prayers."
"Really?" Dai'er reacted faster than her sister: "Won't it disturb you?" She looked very sensible.
Eryi smiled: "No." Little cutie, you come to the prayer room and stay there. Twenty minutes can increase your energy by 1. How can I disturb you?
Dale closed her eyes and clasped her hands together. "May the goddess bless you."
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