Chapter 1572： after the celebration

The grand sacrificial event lasted for a whole day, until the dusk was getting deeper and the night was approaching, a series of sacred ceremonies on the Pioneer Square finally came to an end, but even so, there were still a large number of people inside and outside the Pioneer Square - the official sacrifice After the ceremony, there will be folk celebrations and entertainment. A large-scale night market will continue from night to the next day. Jugglers, dancers and craftsmen selling specialties will take over the celebration tonight.

The gifts and prayers of the day are a matter of the gods, and the celebrations and pastimes of the night belong to the world.

Enjoy the free and cheerful festival after the sacred, rigorous and cumbersome ceremonies. The Pioneer Square after nightfall is even more lively than during the day.

There are no more rules and regulations, no solemn and rigid church music, replaced by the stage set up by street vendors and mobile artists everywhere. There are local small businessmen selling souvenirs around the square, and there are also people from Kant or Tanzania. Sang's jugglers and dancers set up a stage to perform in the business area planned by the municipal department. The cheerful and lively tunes were mixed with the sound of hawking. The bright magic spar lamp array floated in the sky above the square, illuminating the night of the celebration.

This is often the happiest part for children - they don't yet understand the rigor and sacredness of church rituals, nor do they understand the allusions and inheritance of the three gods of abundance, and religious festivals like Easter are divided into two distinct categories for them. Part of it is the rigorous, boring and depressing daytime, and the night market where you can eat, drink, and play around. All over the square, the slightly anxious or helpless shouts of parents sounded behind them, which became another "scenery" of this celebration night.

Veronica, holding a platinum scepter, walked unhurriedly among the noisy crowd, looking at everything around her with a smile.

Holding a scepter, wearing a white dress and shimmering around her, the "Virgin Princess" should have been a particularly eye-catching target in the crowd, and her quiet and calm temperament was also incompatible with the surrounding environment, but the crowd in the square was not. As if not paying attention to the appearance of this big man, the flow of people coming and going is extremely natural and subconsciously avoiding Veronica's side. Everything is kept at just the right distance.

She stopped and looked forward.

There is a rudimentary stage there. It is said to be a stage, but it is actually a modified cart. The rear half of the cart is stretched out and reinforced with support columns, and it becomes the appearance of a stage. The dancer in the light purple dress spun and danced in the middle of the simple wooden platform. Although the night in the early spring was still cold, the dancer's figure was still cheerful, and the smiles were full of joy. There were two people holding flutes and lyre in the cart. It is country music with a simple tune. It is not as solemn and grand as the church music in the daytime, but the performers still do their best to immerse themselves in it - the audience gathers around this stage, some people applaud, some people Turning around and leaving, more people just stood quietly on the edge and watched.

Veronica looked at the figure standing quietly on the edge. The other person's long golden curly hair was particularly eye-catching in the night, and the latter seemed to have noticed the sight that suddenly fell on her. She raised her head, a little bit. Surprised to discover the existence of Veronica, she then showed a polite and gentle smile: "Good night, Your Highness Veronica, I really didn't expect you to appear in such a lively and vulgar place."

"I don't think this place is vulgar, it's a part of this land," Veronica also smiled back, "but you, didn't you come too - as the saint of the three gods of abundance, in the grand sacrifice Isn't there a lot of business to deal with after the ceremony?"

The one who appeared in front of Veronica was none other than the Holy Maiden of Harvest who presided over the sacrificial ceremony during the day, but at the moment she did not bring the accompanying priests, nor did she wear the robes of the priests, but stood like an ordinary citizen. Here, she looked like she was enjoying the festival. After hearing Veronica's question, she spread out her hand: "Didn't you say it too? The grand sacrificial ceremony is over - my work has been completed. , the follow-up matters will be handled by the aides and priests in the temple."

"I see—it's not the same as the Church of the Holy Light. I was much busier than you when I was a saint in the North Church," Veronica seemed to say casually, "It seems that you are enjoying the festival here. ?"

"Is this strange? The gods have blessed the earth, so enjoying the joy of the earth is the best way to respond to the gods," the Holy Maiden of Harvest said naturally, "Tonight, everyone can enjoy themselves here, of course. Including you and me."

Veronica didn't answer for a while, she just looked up at the dancer spinning on the wooden platform, and after a long time she said softly as if talking to herself: "Every year there is a recovery festival, before the establishment of the Theocratic Council, it was established. After that, for believers of the God of Harvest, this is the day when the three goddesses bless the earth, but for most non-believers, Easter is just a celebration.”

"I agree with you," the Holy Maiden of Harvest said calmly, "For non-believers, today is just a celebration, but this celebration has been passed down for thousands of years. It is undeniable that the influence of the three gods of fertility has become this An essential part of the celebration, people will hang dry ears of wheat at the door when Easter comes, will dew on the grass on this day as a good omen for the beginning of the year, will eat sweet pies on this day, This practice is spread across several countries, regardless of whether the people in these regions believe in the three goddesses - but you, the executive of the council, should know that these so-called customs are actually variants of some items of the ancient doctrine of fertility That's it."

Veronica listened quietly, she knew what the other party said was true, and she admitted these facts from the beginning, just as Gawain had told her - the power of faith has grown on this land for thousands of years, This is not an impurity that can be removed from the culture, nor is it a "disease" that can be "cured" in a short period of time, it is not a ritual, norm derived from belief , Dogma has become an essential part of the operation of the mortal world in a subtle way, they have become the habit of ordinary people's speech, they have become the etiquette in interpersonal communication, and even become people's daily judgment criteria for good and bad luck.

Theocratic councils can reshape the church, they can adjust their mindsets, they can loosen beliefs as a harmless force, but in the end, some things that have evolved into social conventions are extremely difficult to eradicate because these things... already are part of civilization.

Just like this celebration tonight, like the dancers dancing in the cold wind, like the children who put on new clothes and walk through the crowd, and the parents who can only helplessly restless no matter how mischievous the children are—

God has said that children should be tolerant on the night of Recovery Day, because God will be displeased by the crying of children. Ordinary people outside the Church may not know the existence of this commandment, but almost everyone knows about Recovery Day. Don't hit children.

This is the part that is difficult to interfere with the power of the Theocratic Council. It is the "projection" left by religious activities in cultural heritage - but in the final analysis, the Theocracy itself does not intend to interfere with such harmless things.

"The operation of the Theocratic Council is only to make the world safer, we never intend to eradicate the church, let alone the enemy of the gods," Veronica smiled and shook her head, "Everything we do is to help you. "

The Holy Maiden of Plenty smiled and seemed to ask casually, "For example, this unusual celebration today?"

Veronica raised her eyebrows: "Oh?"

"I can feel that today's sacrificial event is very... unusual," the Holy Maiden of Plenty responded to Veronica's gaze calmly, "This is an extraordinarily grand event, not even in the 'old times' It is common, and the support of the royal family and council is unprecedented, and some people in the church are excited because of this, thinking that this is a sign that the 'wind direction' is about to change, but I...not as blindly optimistic as they are.

"His Royal Highness Veronica, I don't know what the council and your majesty want to do, but tell me rationally, you will not do all this for no reason. You said that the council is not the enemy of the gods, but I know that the old Some belief orders will never be tolerated by you, and in a sense, the old belief orders are about equal to their 'god' for each church, and from this point... everything from the council is hard to fathom , whose true purpose must have terrified us old priests.

"I dare not guess what this 'real purpose' is, but I think... it must not be because His Majesty suddenly wants to awaken the devotion of all beings?"

Veronica looked at the smiling fertility saint in front of her with some surprise. In a sense, the other party should be regarded as her "peer", and the agility of this peer surprised her. After a moment of surprise , she smiled as usual: "But you still cooperated with the council's instructions without hesitation. I saw your performance on the sacrificial arena. It can't be faked."

The Holy Maiden of Harvest was silent for a while, and suddenly said softly to herself, "...because they are very happy."

Then she paused and repeated: "They're happy—I can feel it. Did I tell you? Although I'm not the chosen one, but at least I'm the chosen one, and I can feel it. The gaze of the goddess can also feel their joy at that moment, whether it is the revelation before the sacrifice ceremony, or the joy reflected in my heart during the ceremony, it shows that the three goddesses are looking forward to it. It depends on what happened today. Since they are so looking forward to it... then I will execute it unconditionally, which is my duty."

Speaking of which, she looked up at Veronica and added: "Besides, I won't explore anything, and I'm not interested in the real purpose of the council, so you can take everything I say as Let's have a small talk - otherwise, it will be hard to hold back."

Veronica quietly watched the "peer" in front of her. After a long time, she nodded gently: "You are smarter than I thought. You have both the wisdom of being a priest and the agility of being a human being."

"Thank you for your compliment." The Holy Maiden of Harvest smiled lightly, then turned her head and looked back on the stage - the dancer in a long dress had stopped, she was resting on the edge of the wooden platform, covered with a A warm coat, she greeted the audience who were still in front of the stage with a smile, and talked about her travels with her father and brother with a few people who dared to approach her. The people around seemed to be completely unaware that there were two "big men" talking a few meters away, both living their own lives in their own worlds.

"...Actually, when I was a child, I even had a far-fetched dream," the Holy Maiden of Harvest said suddenly, "I want to be a dancer—just like the lady on the stage, traveling around, dancing, and occasionally a dancer. A little adventure..."

Veronica glanced at her in surprise, then shook her head: "When you were a child... It was not as safe to be a dancing girl who wanted to travel around in those days, but I am even more surprised that you are such a 'saint of abundance' I still have such a dream.”

"When I was a child, who didn't have any whimsical thoughts when I was a child? What's more, I was adopted by the church since I was a child, and my daily life was so boring that I stood in the tower of the temple and glanced at the crowd in the square after the annual Easter celebration. Occasionally listening to the priestesses talk about the process of the celebration has become the greatest entertainment and the source of all fantasies," the Virgin of Plenty said mockingly, then glanced at Veronica, "Did you not have this kind of thing in your childhood? experience?"

Veronica stiffened for a moment, her expression a little weird: "When I was young... I only made people around me nervous when I was young."

"It seems that we all had uneasy childhoods," the Holy Maiden of Harvest, of course, couldn't imagine what kind of distress the "Princess" in front of her had experienced, she just smiled and shook her head, "The mother who took care of me back then. Because of my whimsical thoughts, I am not less angry, but because of the omens of kindness I showed since I was a child, I can't get angry, so I can only go to the temple to pray every once in a while to ease my mood..."

The scheming negotiation at the beginning turned into a small talk, but Veronica did not resist such a relaxed atmosphere. She asked casually, "What about later?"

The Holy Maiden of Plenty fell into memory, and a smile slowly appeared on her face: "Later, I felt the existence of 'them' for the first time."

She turned her head and looked into Veronica's eyes, her expression became calm and firm: "That was the first time I felt that kind of gaze beyond the earth, and a kind of sincere warmth and 'love' - now I think about it , that may be just a glimpse of them, but at that moment, I realized what kind of existence I would serve, and realized their pure and deep care for this world... From that day on, I really decided to become their followers.

"His Royal Highness Veronica, you may think that I am a fanatical believer, which is true, but what I want to say is - if they are really happy, then I am willing to cooperate with the action of the Theocratic Council, not only this time , and after that.

"As long as they're happy, I'll do it."

After saying this, the blond saint took a slight step back and bowed slightly to Veronica: "I'm sorry to bother you for so long, let me retire first - please continue to enjoy this celebration Well, maybe you don't think it's a gift from God, but at least it's what mortals deserve."

The Holy Maiden of Plenty turned and left, and Veronica's gaze didn't withdraw until the other person's figure disappeared from the crowd. She stood there for a while, then turned her head slightly, as if talking to someone in the distance. : "...A proximity scan has been performed, and her mental state is stable... Yes, as you heard, sane and sober, and seems to be more sane than we previously judged. Others directly involved in the sacrificial ceremony Priest? Yes, the Arbitration Tribunal has arranged for personnel to follow up and monitor it for 24 hours..."

(End of this chapter)