Angel on earth

They were moved again by each other's kindness and love. There is hardly anyone in the world who is more considerate of others and more suitable to be a saint than each other.

Peter became furious when he heard this, and became worried again. He looked at Mikhail frequently because of this, but the latter didn't have any special feelings. After all, he had seen more evil and twisted interpretations of the Sun God's tome than this. It is normal to justify the bad habits of thousands of years.

The consul walked away with the guards and hounds, and Peter asked Mikhail again: "Are you sure you can pay off the debt, sir? I mean... I am very grateful that you saved me, but... But if you Can't do it..."

Mikhail solemnly assured: "I am sure that the treasure I have prepared is worth more than six hundred crowns."

Peter was skeptical, but at this time he had no other choice but to walk home with Mikhail dejectedly.He has been used to it since he was a child, and sadness, anger, and despair can't change anything. This is the fate that people like them are born to bear, and there is no other way out.

At noon, the two finally arrived.There was a vague smell of barbecue in the distance, and the Browns had already had a hearty lunch.But in the depths of the forest, because the carpenter himself was busy earning money to pay off debts, and couldn't afford good wood, the house was small and dilapidated, and the rain leak was a trivial matter. The foundation was not very solid, and a column was simply crooked.

An old man with gray hair and dark skin was doing carpentry in the open space.In fact, Hubert carpenter is only 37 years old this year.

The carpenter saw Peter at a glance, stood up happily, opened his mouth but made no sound, hurriedly grabbed Peter's arm and entered the house, the front door made a precarious sound under his hands.Mikhail was not invited, so he stood at the door and waited.After all, this is an occasion for a father and his lost and found son to greet each other, and he doesn't take offense.

"Where have you been these days, Peter? Do you know that the Browns are looking for you everywhere! Yesterday, almost killed your mother... oh, forget it. It's Maria's problem.—Are you all right, my son?"

"I'm fine, father, don't blame Maria too much." Peter said briefly, remembering Mikhail at the door, "This is Mr. Mikhail who saved my life."

"Thank you, thank you, sir, thank you for saving Peter, he is our family's hope..." The carpenter rubbed his eyes and invited Mikhail in.The latter was not polite, nodded, and bent over to enter the door:

"You're welcome, that's what I'm supposed to do. In fact, I'm going to apologize in reverse - I'll have to trouble Brother Peter to hide here for two days. Don't worry, old sir, I'll take care of the Browns. "

Hubert asked cautiously: "You...the Brown family? Is there any trouble?"

Peter glanced at Mikhail, then at the deepening wrinkles on his father's face, and said impatiently: "Okay, this gentleman said it will be resolved. If we really want to mess with those vampires, we will also I can't escape."

"Vampire?" Mikhail asked suspiciously.

Peter shrugged and lowered his voice under his father's stern gaze: "Oh, it's just..."

"I'd rather they were real vampires. At least, the latter would be satisfied with blood." An indifferent female voice interjected with a little sneer.

Peter shrugged and said, "Yeah, they're a pack of wolves.—Maria, why are you making a sound now? Go get a glass of water!"

Mikhail bent his body, following the sound, he saw a beautiful girl with blond hair and blue eyes who only wore a sack all over her body.She sat tinkering in the light that leaked in from a crack in the wall, expressionless, her bare feet on the hem of the dress to hold it in place.For some reason, Mikhail felt that she looked a little like Margarita.

The girl calmly raised her head and glanced at her brother, then lowered her head again, sewing clothes on her own.She said softly to herself:

"He will avenge the poor of his people, save the needy, and crush the oppressor.[2]"

"Maria! How can you be so impolite?" Hubert said angrily, "Even if you encounter so many difficulties, you shouldn't give up on yourself. Even if you come from a low background, well, I have no conditions to ask you to go to school and go to church, but Did Lisa and I teach you how to be polite to guests?!"

"Is she Maria?"

Peter said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Mikhail, she is my sister.—Maria, after all, it's because of you that this happened to us. Can you stop being like this all day long?"

Maria didn't raise her head, but Mikhail stopped her: "It's okay, I'm not thirsty, please don't blame Miss Maria."

"What kind of lady is she?" Peter was about to yell again, but was slapped by the carpenter and lowered his voice resentfully, "There is no need to give people like us such so-called respect, sir, you are the only one who does this, instead call us ...In short, you must know what we shall do or do when you leave."

Mikhail frowned sadly, and was about to ask about the condition of the bedridden woman in the back of the room, when Maria suddenly said:

"someone is coming."

Hubert and Peter would not doubt her in this matter, the former immediately pushed his son, and the boy nimbly and skillfully got into the debris pile in the house, and just disappeared.Hubert looked nervously inside the room, then at Mikhail, and yelled "Alas", but it didn't look like a sigh, but more like blaming himself and God for his incompetence.

Maria put down her sewing, got up and scooped up a glass of slightly cloudy water for Mikhail.For some reason, Mikhail understood what she meant at once, took the water glass, went out of the doorway, sprinkled some water on his body as if it was sweat, then leaned against the door frame and drank cold water, saying at the same time:

"Thank you for your kindness, sir! It's so hot in the woods that there isn't even a brook."

"Then... I mean, the creek is on the other side of the logging camp." Hubert's voice trembled and returned to normal.

"That's far enough."

After Mikhail finished speaking, he saw someone coming.

It's Delgado.Of course, as always with a team of attendants.Judging from the reaction of the Yu Bell family, this guy came here not once, and he came to beg for Maria on behalf of the Brown family.

Seeing Mikhail at the door, the clerk narrowed his eyes: "What are you doing here?"

Mikhail said calmly: "As you can see, felling trees, tired, come to ask for some water."

"Cut down trees?" The clerk's round eyes narrowed slyly again, and then he said kindly with a smile on his face, "You are really hardworking and have good physical strength. However, it is getting late, and such a tall tree , can you drag it back alone?"

Mikhail nodded and took a sip of water.The clerk asked again: "What is that?"

Although he was in a hurry to go out, Mikhail still brought a weapon, but this time it was not the "Prayer of Chastity", but the "Glorious Maiden", wrapped in a clean old canvas and tied behind his back.When Mikhail entered the door, he untied it and put it at the door. At this time, the overly clean canvas and the weight of the deep sinking into the ground aroused the clerk's idea.

Mikhail said: "Father God. This is the product I am going to help the carpenter's family pay off their debts. Come here and ask them if they would like to accept my help. You know, it is an offense to help others without authorization, and even guilty of arrogance."

Delgado showed an expression of seeing people eating shit, probably thinking that Mikhail spoke too much like an old-fashioned priest, but he was so young.He raised his chin: "Can you show me? You also know how much their family owes. If it's not enough, it will save you a waste of time."

Mikhail turned his eyes without pupils: "I brought this treasure from Bronzini, and it is related to a saint."

The clerk shut his mouth and nodded to him in a friendly way.This is considered a holy relic, so it should be his owner, the lord of this place, Judge Brown, who was the first to see it, and he is not qualified.He didn't realize that as long as Mikhail spoke, he didn't have the slightest thought of questioning.Anyone who sees Mikhail will feel that he is a person who cannot lie.

But the blond man didn't intend to leave. Instead, he twisted a strand of long hair from his sideburns and chatted about other topics: "How is your tree felling, sir?"

"Thanks to the sun god our father," Mikhail replied, "I found a nice cypress tree yesterday, and today I am going to cut down a pine tree. Of course, I will pay the price."

"Cypresses and pine trees!" exclaimed the clerk, struck by lightning, and stopped playing with his hair. "My God! These are the most precious trees in the woods. You'd better not have some used shackles as a gift, and you Probably have to choose between trees and carpenters."

Mikhail asked suspiciously: "Isn't Oak City a place where wine is produced? You said a few days ago that you should not cut down oak trees, because the oak trees are all named Brown, and I also know that wine should be made. What happened to the pine and cypress trees?"

"But there are fewer pine and cypress trees." The clerk spread his hands confidently, "Let me teach you a lesson, country people. Generally speaking, the rarer something is, the higher the value is. This is true for gems and kings. , as well as wood."

Mikhail will not be deceived: "There is a demand for value. Pine and cypress are not so much in demand here."

The clerk asked back: "What are you doing with these logs?"

Mikhail said: "Make a coffin for my wife."

"My God!" said the clerk angrily, "the coffin! Yes, you've been talking about it for days, coffin! Don't you know that the maid whom Lord Bartholomew loved most loved died of a serious illness a few days ago? What a good coffin!"

Mikhail was deeply shocked by his shamelessness.

"I only cut down two trees of average quality." But his voice was still gentle, as if trying to awaken a little conscience of the other party, "Although I am prepared to pay, I also know that it is not easy for trees to grow tall. , so without the permission of the owner of this place, I did not attack the old and big trees."

"All men are created equal[3]." Mikhail couldn't believe that this man had the guts to quote this motto from the Pope's sermon, "So how can we talk about the quality of trees? Trees are also equal."

The author says:

[2] Psalm 72:4

[3] In reality, this sentence should be said by Pope Gregory I in the real world at the earliest, before the beginning of the Middle Ages.Just any pope here (hey)