Angel on earth

Soon, everyone could see the sandy beach clearly, and they all stretched their necks, chirping and discussing; whether it was the large oval leaves whose edges seemed to be sawed or the clusters of white fruits below, or the pure sandy beach. The white-gold luster made them feel very novel, and for a while, they seemed to forget the terrible encounter a few days ago.

The Potosi officer who sang the hymn before shouted happily: "Where are we going, Your Highness Kupala?"

Mikhail shook his head honestly: "I don't know, there is no such a large island in the records of the church. You wait on the boat for a while, and I will go ashore to check the situation. If there is a church on the island, the church will be responsible for sending you back. Home."

"If there is no church on the island, knock down the island and build one! This is what we should do, isn't it?" The young officer said happily, "Your Highness, what do you think of me? It's not me, I'm also one of the best in the Golden Eagle Corps The knight..."

He suffered from seasickness before, and was taken to the front boat for treatment. Now he was overjoyed, and when he looked beside the boat, Arnold spit water all over the place right in front of him.

The young officer was taken aback, but he didn't feel impolite, and said worriedly: "Doctor Hunter! You have worked hard for several days, why didn't you eat anything? Well, it's thanks to you that we survived." , I’ll treat you to a meal after landing! Don’t worry about gold coins, I—”

"You went to the bottom warehouse before jumping off the ship, and your pockets were full of gold nuggets. You are a brave warrior who is not afraid of death." Arnold tilted his chin at Mikhail helplessly, "His Royal Highness Kupala still here I am."

The young officer shut his mouth, Mikhail also looked away, and slowly slowed down the speed of the ship.

Three quarters of an hour later, Mikhail walked around the island and returned with a frown.Arnold cleared his throat and asked:

"Where the hell is this place?"

Mikhail turned slightly sideways and said, "Lava Island."

The passengers looked at each other in blank dismay, they had never heard of it, let alone the black man who had been abducted outside for so long.However, everyone instinctively trusted Mikhail and followed him ashore.

Church monks in black and white costumes were already singing "Piety" on the bank. Behind them were soldiers with red cloths tied around their waists and holding spears, and behind them were a small number of fully armed knights with their visors pulled down.Mikhail stepped on the beach for the second time. Everyone put their legs together, raised their hands high, and shouted: "God of the sun, Mithra!"

The monks of the church can more or less speak a few words of Mithraic official language, and they all look serious, only slightly softening when facing Mikhail, but they definitely do not have the fanatical respect of normal church believers.Mikhail patiently explained to people in different languages, and repeatedly promised that the king of Lava Island would send them two ships to Caesar Port and Noah Plain in two days, but he still did not let Captain Fox and his men go.

An ominous premonition suddenly rose in James Fox's heart, and he looked up at Mikhail vigilantly.Against the afternoon sun, half of the young priest's face exuded a kind of immature majesty, and the moment he glanced at those blue-purple eyes almost made people have the illusion that there were a pair of golden pupils in them.

Mikhail ignored them for the time being, and stepped forward to negotiate with the prime minister.Lava Island is a large island in the west of Glorious Port. It is a country of its own. It is different from the natives of the Crescent Islands. It is quite civilized. It is led by a king, subordinate to prime ministers, ministers and various nobles, and has nothing to do with the outside world. Communication, but not only the road is straight and smooth, there are row upon row of houses on the roadside, there are also several Lieyang churches and monasteries.This is what alarmed Mikhail: the parish of "Lava Island" was completely absent from his memory.There are indeed islands to the west of Potosí, all of which are the Diocese of Mithra, but they should all be further west. Sunrise Island is close to the Principality of the Rhine, and Sunset Island is the outpost of the Noah Plain.Lava Island was much larger than all of them, but Mikhail had no impression of it, either found or conquered.

The chancellor was an old man of medium build and capable stature, with long gray hair and a beard of the same color, and kindly brown eyes sunken into wrinkles.He wears simple official uniform, with a sun cross hanging from his chest.According to him, he came to the border area on behalf of the king to observe the situation of the people; the high priest predicted that a ship was shipwreck nearby, and a saint of the church was on board, so he asked him to stay for two more days and obey orders.

Even though Mikhail felt that there were many doubts, for the lives of those hundreds of thousands of people, he didn't say much, but thanked His Majesty "Piliguo" and His Majesty the King for their kindness, and reassured the passengers to follow the National Defense Forces to settle down.

The brown-skinned monks and children sang from "Piety" to "Lord, come among us."Passengers and Negroes were gone, and the ordinary sailors and crew were still waiting for the captain.Mikhail dragged the Fox captains out, several ropes flew up automatically, and tied their hands behind their backs to the wooden stakes on the beach.

Mikhail wiped his hands and said solemnly:

"In the name of the 'Sun Knight', the 'Harvest Priest', the High Priest of Lieyang City, and the Chief Exorcist, I sentence the captain of the 'Golden Fox', James Fox, and his accomplices to death for crimes of human trafficking and piracy, and they will be executed today. .”

"What are you doing?" cried the captain, not just James Fox, but the entire crew, stunned. "You're condemning me to a bunch of lowly slaves, James Fox, a decent citizen of Aden,— —Death penalty?! Your Highness—”

Mikhail remained expressionless: "Yes. I will judge you, and I believe God the Father will make the same judgment in front of the kingdom of God."

"Why the hell didn't you set fire to Lieyang City and tell my employer to go down together?!" Fox's words caused Arnold to take time out of his busy schedule to applaud, and the serious citizen of Aiden shouted, "Yes, this was originally It is the slave that Aiden wants to buy, but who the hell started it, Your Excellency the High Priest? There is no 'Red Moon Priest' Isabella's development and the 'Sword of God' Matthew's fingerprints, no Church started, who he Mom earns this money?! Our customers are still the Bianchi family, Jonathan Bianchi! Your Highness Kupala, if our brothers enter the Gate of Hell with Lieyang City, we will line up until Christmas!"

"The slave trade is a crime," Mikhail said calmly. "I didn't know there was such a trade, but now I know. I will uproot this devil's trade. You are the first, I promise, no. Will be the last."

Fox laughed out of breath, with his arms still tied, he stretched out his upper body and said, "So, should we feel honored?"

Mikhail thought for a while, but refused to speak with a stiff neck.On the other side, the Defense Forces of the church and Lava Island remained indifferent.On the one hand, there is a language barrier, and on the other hand, the face of the high priest of Lieyang City does not belong to the currency in circulation here.

"Is there no execution?" Mikhail asked, turned around, and when no one looked up, he nodded and said, "Okay. I shouldn't bother you outside, I'll do it myself."

He rolled up his white sleeves with a red belt, quickly borrowed an ax nearby, sharpened it carefully, tried it on a stake, and walked to the coast.

The hot afternoon sun shone on the young man's fair cheeks. Arnold touched the scorched blisters on his face, and saw a bit of sacred meaning from them, as if Mikhail had beheaded at the gate of heaven.

The waves rolled over with white foam and swept away several headless corpses.Mikhail washed the axe, purified it with holy fire, returned it to the fisherman, and walked back unhurriedly.

"Sorry, Your Excellency, for causing trouble to your country." Mikhail bowed with his right hand on his chest, sincerely apologizing.The other party waved his hand and said with a smile:

"It doesn't matter, this is the right way to treat criminals! The high priest also mentioned the slave trade, and told us not to let slave ships pass through our waters. If we see them, we should set off a storm and overthrow them. You are right, but we are rude, you I know, the small country of Lava Island is really..."

The two apologized to each other again, and Mikhail proposed to meet His Majesty the King of Lava Island and the High Priest of the Church.

Upon hearing this, the prime minister pointed to the carriage team behind the cavalry: "Of course, the palace has already prepared carriages, horses and fine wine. As long as you order, we will set off right away."

"Then I will trouble you all." Mikhail tied the "Glorious Maiden" and "Prayer of Chastity" on his back, picked up the suitcase, and looked at Arnold with a little trouble.

Arnold's face was pale, and there were still a few broken blisters on his cheeks and the back of his hands. His expression was not very sad, and he was even vaguely at ease.He hid under the canvas he got from nowhere, took the same unknown plantain flower and ate the petals, took two bites and spit it out, grabbed his hair and tossed and turned to find some usable herbs in the soggy paper bag.The painkillers Denier prepared for him were used up on the boat, and the black man with a hole in his stomach used the most. Arnold told Mikhail that it was because they were also living a difficult life, and they paralyzed themselves with the hallucinations brought by the spices. , eating too much nutmeg, gradually developed a tolerance to anesthetics; boiled soups such as turmeric and ginseng were given to the wounded and women, and the remaining herbal residues were damp and spoiled.

The sun on the sea in summer is too strong, and Arnold is not particularly sensitive to light, but this kind of sunlight, which looks like Mithra himself is looking for someone with a red-hot iron chain, is too much.But the sea was humid, and it was colder at night, so his bones hurt, and he couldn't help but bask in the sun during the day.Arnold thought, next time he will go to the south, where the Red Moon Empire and Flanders meet. It is far away from the sea and not very humid, but there are woods and plenty of clear water. The climate is warm but not hot, which is not suitable for virus mosquitoes to wreak havoc. ;or sneak back to the Commonwealth, it’s dark under the lights, there is a mild moonlike sun shining in the middle of the year all year round, and the sky will show a dreamy gradient from light blue to lavender...

"—Ah, I'm sorry, and Mr. Edwards, please come to the king's city for the honor." The prime minister followed Mikhail's gaze and added with his smile unchanged, "This is the order of the high priest."