Asylum

"Why are you here again?"

The tavern had just opened, and there were no guests, so Pastor Cherey walked in slowly, and sat in front of the bar with a big face, tapping the bar with his fingers rhythmically, urging Darien to serve the drink.He changed back into his dusty, dirty clothes.Darien guessed that the new snow-white robes at the funeral must be worn on important occasions.

The priest can't drink alcohol, so Darien pours him a glass of milk.Just as Pastor Cherry was about to pick up the cup, Darien quickly covered the mouth of the cup with his hand, and spread his other hand upwards, rubbing his fingers together.

"What do you mean?" Pastor Cherry was taken aback.

"Pay it! Three copper coins for a cup, the price is fair, no one cheats."

"Why are you like this?" the young pastor shook his head sadly, "I am the protector of Broken Maple Town, the guide of lost lambs, how dare you ask me for money."

"You really have the face to say it! How dare the great guide eat free food at the lost lamb's house!"

"I have worked so hard to guide your lost soul, so what if you send me a drink?"

"I don't need a guide, I just need money!"

"God, the evil money has corroded the soul of your lamb! Please have mercy on him!"

"Then please hand over the evil money, and don't let it corrupt your noble and pure soul!"

"God teaches us to serve others sincerely, so please allow me to lighten your burden of sin."

"How can someone like you wear a white robe!"

"It must be because you look dark in white."

Darien was speechless.For a moment, he really wanted to grab a guy and greet this deadbeat priest, but he didn't think it would be good to hit a clergyman openly.While he was hesitating, his younger brother Ranno ran out of the room, holding a holy book in his hand.At the sight of Cherey, his face was as if illuminated by a holy light.

"Pastor Cherey! I didn't expect you to come here!" He excitedly ran to the pastor and performed a church etiquette to him, "I am Lano, the younger brother of Darien, and I have studied under Pastor Anton."

"Oh! It turned out to be a student of Pastor Anton." Cherey put away his stern face just now, and his face instantly changed into a sacred and solemn expression, "I didn't know that Pastor Anton had ever accepted a student. What did he teach you?"

"Reading and writing and some introductory teachings, not too many, Pastor Anton passed away before he could teach us more..."

The two sang in unison: "May he rest in peace!"

Darien shivered.

"Then I'll test you." Cherry took the holy book from the boy and asked a few simple theological questions, which Lanno answered fluently.Chelei touched the boy's head kindly, "What a talented boy, come and learn from me from tomorrow, as long as you work hard, I would recommend you to go to a church school in the city. If you can If you join the church, you will definitely become a pillar of the sanctuary. But don't be like your brother who doesn't know what to do."

Darien thumped the bar angrily: "You rogue who pretends to be a ghost! You actually provoke our brotherhood!"

Lan Nuo looked at Pastor Cherey reverently: "You're right, my brother doesn't understand the noble sentiments of priests at all, so I won't learn from him."

"Lano! You—!"

The younger brother actually betrayed!How can there be any "noble sentiments" in this pastor!Are you blind from reading?Darien watched speechlessly as his younger brother brought tea and water to the pastor, rubbed his shoulders and beat his legs—Darien had never been treated like this before!As if the pastor was his brother!

The tavern owner shouted unceremoniously: "Hey! Rogue priest! I heard that you once participated in the war against demons, and you even got the reputation of 'God's Butcher Knife'. Is it true? I don't think you are Like a jihadist, probably the rumors are wrong!"

Hearing the words "God's Butcher's Knife", Qie Lei's expression darkened in an instant, like a sudden rainstorm in a summer afternoon, when the sun was warm just now, the sky was filled with dark clouds in an instant, and dazzling lightning flashes danced between the gaps in the clouds.

The pastor patted Lano's hand, but his eyes were fixed on Darien: "Good boy, go outside and play. I have something to say to your brother."

"But……"

"Get out!" Cherry yelled.

The boy timidly grabbed the holy book and ran out the door as if fleeing.Only Pastor Cherry and Darien were left in the tavern.Darien's throat tightened, as if an invisible hand was strangling his neck, making him unable to breathe.

"Where did you hear this name?" Cherey asked quietly.

Never tell him that he heard it from his brother!He might kill Lan Nuo!

"Yes... I heard what Pastor Anton said..."

The pressure on the neck suddenly disappeared.Cherry withdrew his aggressive gaze.Darien touched his chest with lingering fear, his back was soaked in cold sweat.What a terrible courage!Those murderous eyes are definitely not what ordinary priests should have!

"I did have that title once, but now I'm just a priest sitting here drinking milk." He picked up his glass and took a sip.

"So... is that true?" Darien asked softly, "Are you really that famous?"

"An asylum sent by the Supreme Sanctuary to this kind of shitty frontier town doesn't need the name of the past."

"Why you? There must be many priests in the Supreme Sanctuary who are qualified to be asylum seekers, why is it you?" The tavern owner looked at his guests with complicated emotions, "My brother said... cough cough, my brother's teacher Anton The pastor said that you are very likely to be elected as the next chief pastor. Shouldn’t you be the Grand Master in a place like Broad City, Snowfall Castle, or the Marshal of the Holy Order? How could you run away? Come to our 'never shitting frontier town'?"

Reverend Cherry twirled the milk glass.Darien found that his fingers were covered with calluses from holding a sword, but they were as slender and slender as a monk who had been dealing with scriptures all year round.

"Are you curious?"

"I always have the right to be curious."

The corner of Pastor Cherry's mouth twitched, as if he was laughing: "Do you know what I used to do? I mean before I became a pastor?"

Darien shook his head.

"I'm a killer. Although I've washed my hands for many years, my reputation in the underworld in Yuanda City is still much greater than in the church. I'm an outcast, because I was born sick and was thrown on the street by my parents. The assassin guild of the underworld in Yuanda City adopted me. I was trained as a killer since I was a child, and everything I learned was for killing people. I saw blood when I was ten years old, and when I was 16 years old, there was no one in Yuanda City. I have heard my nickname - 'White One'. Then one day, I was sent to assassinate the chief priest. At that time, the demon legion was approaching Yuanda City, and the chief priest led the holy army to meet it. Many civilians were drafted to fight, so I pretended to be I joined the army as an ordinary person, as an apprentice squire. I lived a period of military life, which is amazing to say. I became good friends with other squires in the same team, and I was elected captain by everyone. You may be surprised , How could a killer have friends, but the harsh and hard life of the army will produce a wonderful friendship. Later, in a mission to escort food and grass, we unfortunately encountered a demon army. Have you ever seen a demon? It’s not a cannibalism in the mountains and forests Beasts or monsters, but real demons, from hell, with the breath of brimstone."

Darien shook his head.

"Never seen the best. You don't want to see them. I think it's best for humans to stay away from demons in their lives. They are... very scary. How can humans be opponents of such monsters? My team was wiped out almost instantly Yes, I narrowly escaped with the skills I developed since I was a child. I ran away with my life, and the devil laughed and chased me behind me. Afterwards, I guess I may have run for 10 minutes, but at the time I felt that it was a lifetime .

"If I hadn't happened to meet the head priest's convoy, I might have died. The head priest was an old woman, but she moved like a lioness. She led a group of priests in front of me, stopped the demon army, and the call came from the sky The divine light wiped out the group of monsters. Then she turned back to treat me. I was 16 years old and a famous killer in Yuandacheng, but I was frightened by a group of demons, and the target I wanted to assassinate was rescued from the monsters. In order to encourage me, the head pastor taught me how to pray to God, so I stuttered and cried while praying. I told the head pastor my origin and purpose, thinking she would put me in jail, But she forgave me. So I converted to the holy religion, became a soldier, studied theology and law codes, and finally obtained the qualifications to perform divine magic, and went to the front line of war to fight against demons. I think I finally have the power to drive out demons and protect My companion, can demonstrate the majesty of the gods. But I was wrong. Demons are far more powerful than I imagined. We were beaten by them again and again, and we picked up weapons again and again. When we finally chased the demons After leaving this continent, when the class teacher returned to Broad City, I found that I had a new nickname - 'God's Butcher Knife', and it was rumored that I would be the successor of the chief pastor.

"But I'm not happy about it. I don't like the nickname, but I can't say why. The head priest thinks I'm faithful enough, I've walked the darkest paths, and no devil heresy can shake my faith. But I I lack certain qualities necessary to be a high priest, or even an ordinary priest. So she sent me to Broken Maple Town as an asylum. She said it would help me find my own It's a pity."

"So you came?" Darien asked. "No complaints? After all, uh, don't be angry, it seems to me that you fell straight from the sky into the pigsty, or a pig covered in dung and mud lock up."

Pastor Cherey shrugged: "Since the chief pastor said that, she must have a reason. She hasn't reached the level of dementia. The sanctuary asked me to kill demons, so I will kill demons. The sanctuary asked me to be a protector, so I will Be a patron. Nothing to be dissatisfied with."

"Is that true? Huh, you still call our town 'a small town on the edge of the border that doesn't shit'. I think you're very angry."

"That's not called resentment, that's called explaining the facts."

"You, you, you! Get out of here! We don't welcome you here!"

Darien grabbed an empty glass from the bar and threw it at Cherry.The pastor jumped up from the bar stool, and the glass fell over his shoulder and shattered with a smack.

"Okay, I'm leaving now, but remember, I'm leaving for you! If you keep throwing things around like this, the tavern will go bankrupt and close sooner or later! I'm all for your own good!" Chelei ran out of the tavern while shouting. Leaving the furious Darien furious on the spot alone.

Time moves forward a little bit.When Darien was arguing with Pastor Cherry, the boy Lanno hid behind an elm tree in front of the tavern, watching the three figures in the distance.He recognized Scarface, the town's notorious gangster, and his two henchmen.The three of them were sneaking and walking towards the woods outside the town, carrying something in their hands, as if they were going to do something bad.

If they really mean something wrong, Ranno should stop them.Of course, the boy had been taught by the priest to know that people should not be inferred from mere assumptions.Talk about evidence.Without evidence, he couldn't make irresponsible remarks to Scarface and the others.

But no one said he couldn't follow and have a look.