Chapter 1572 After the Celebration

The grand sacrificial activity lasted for a whole day, until dusk deepened and night approached, and a series of sacred ceremonies in Pioneer Square finally came to an end, but even so, there were still a large number of people staying inside and outside Pioneer Square—the formal sacrificial ceremony After the ceremony, there are folk celebrations and pastimes. The large-scale night market will continue from nightfall to the next day. Jugglers, dancers and craftsmen selling special products will take over the celebration tonight.

The gifts and blessings during the day are the work of the gods, and the celebrations and pastimes at night belong to the mortals.

Enjoy the free and cheerful festival after the sacred, rigorous and tedious ceremonies. After dark, the Pioneer Square is even more lively than during the day.

There are no so many rules, no solemn and rigid church music, replaced by street vendors and mobile artists who can be seen everywhere on the stage built by themselves, there are local small businessmen selling souvenirs around the square, and there are also people from the Kant area or Tanzania. Sang's jugglers and dancers set up a stage to perform in the business area planned by the municipal department. Cheerful tunes and shouts were mixed together, and the array of bright magic spar lamps floated over the square, illuminating the night of the celebration.

This is often the happiest part for children—they don’t yet understand the rigor and sanctity of church rituals, and they don’t understand the allusions and inheritance of the three gods of abundance. Parts are the rigorous, boring and depressing daytime, and the night market where you can eat, drink, and play around. When the priests left, these children who put on new clothes became excited and began to walk through the Around the square, the anxious or helpless cries 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 on her face.

Holding a scepter, wearing a pure white dress and shimmering around her, the "Saint 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 As if not noticing the appearance of this important person at all, the flow of people coming and going avoided Veronica's side very naturally and subconsciously. She walked forward slowly, but she was in harmony with the surrounding people as if she was walking outside this world. Everything is kept at just the right distance. .

She stopped and looked ahead.

There was a crude stage there, which was said to be a stage, but it was actually a modified cart. The back half of the cart was stretched out and reinforced with support columns, and it became the stage. A woman in The dancer in the light purple dress twirled and danced in the center of the simple wooden stage. Although the night in early spring was still cold, the dancer was still cheerful, her smile was full of joy, and there were two people holding flutes and lyres in the cart. It's country music with simple tunes, not as solemn and magnificent as the church music during the day, but the performers still try their best and immerse themselves in it-the audience gathers around the stage, some applaud and some applaud. Turning around and leaving, some people just stood quietly on the edge and watched.

Veronica looked at the figure standing quietly on the edge, the other'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, somewhat I was surprised to find Veronica's existence, and then showed a polite and gentle smile: "Good night, Your Highness Veronica, I really didn't expect you to appear in such a lively but vulgar place."

"I don't think it's vulgar here, it's part of this land," Veronica also smiled back, "It's you, didn't you come too—as the saintess of the three gods of abundance, in the grand sacrificial ceremony Isn't there still a lot of business to deal with after the ceremony?"

The person who appeared in front of Veronica was none other than the rich saint who presided over the sacrificial ceremony during the day, but at this 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, and she spread her hands after hearing Veronica's question: "Didn't you also say that? The grand sacrificial ceremony is over - my work is done , the follow-up matters will be handled by the deacons and priests in the temple."

"I see—it's not the same as the Holy Light Church. I was much busier than you when I was a saint in the Northern Church," Veronica said casually, "It seems that you are here to enjoy the festival ?”

"Is this strange? The gods bless the earth, so enjoying the joy on this earth is the best way to respond to the gods," the saint of abundance 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 whispered as if she was talking to herself: "There will be a recovery festival every year, before the establishment of the theocracy, After that, there will still be, for believers of the God of Harvest, this is the day when the three goddesses bless the earth, but for most non-believers, the Festival of Resuscitation is just a celebration."

"I agree with you," the Saintess of Abundance 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 Abundance has become such a An essential part of the celebration, people will hang dry ears of wheat on the door when the Easter Festival comes, regard the dew on the grass leaves on this day as a good sign for the beginning of the year, and eat sweet pies on this day, This custom spreads across several countries, regardless of whether the people in these areas 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 in the ancient doctrine of abundance That's all."

Veronica listened quietly, she knew what the other person said was true, and she also admitted these facts from the very beginning, just as Gawain told her - the power of faith has grown on this land for thousands of years, It runs through the history of Loren civilization from the beginning to the end. 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 a ritual and norm derived from belief Dogmas have subtly become a necessary link in the operation of the mortal world. They have become the habits of ordinary people in speech, etiquette in interpersonal communication, and even become people's daily criteria for judging good or bad fortune.

The Theocratic Council can reshape the church, adjust the trend of thought, and loosen the belief into a harmless force, but in the final analysis, some things that have evolved into social customs are extremely difficult to completely eradicate, because these things... are already part of civilization.

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

God has something to say, you should be tolerant to your children on the night of the Easter Day, because God will be displeased by the crying of the children. Ordinary people outside the Abundance Church may not even know the existence of this admonition, but almost everyone knows about the Day of the Easter Day Children cannot be hit.

This is the part that is difficult to interfere with the power of the Theocracy Council, and it is the "projection" left by religious activities in cultural inheritance-but in the final analysis, the Theocracy Council 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, "All our actions are to help you. "

The Holy Maiden of Abundance smiled, as if asking casually, "For example, today's unusual celebration?"

Veronica raised her eyebrows: "Oh?"

"I can feel that today's sacrificial activity is very... unusual," the saint of abundance responded to Veronica's gaze calmly, "This is an extraordinarily grand event, even in the 'old times'. Common, and unprecedented support from the Royal Family and Council, some in the Church get excited about it as a sign that the 'wind' is about to change, but I'm... not as blindly optimistic as they are.

"Your 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 equivalent to their "gods" for each church. From this point... everything from the council is hard to fathom The real purpose of the order must be to make us old priests feel terrified.

"I don't dare to guess what this 'true purpose' is, but I think...it must not be because His Majesty suddenly wants to awaken the reverence of all living beings, right?"

Veronica looked at the smiling and fertile saint in front of her in surprise. In a sense, she should be regarded as her "peer", and this colleague's agility 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 field, and you can't fake it."

The rich saintess was silent for a while, and suddenly said softly as if talking to herself: "...because they are very happy."

Then she paused and repeated: "They're happy—I can feel it. Did I tell you? I'm not Chosen, but at least I'm Chosen, and I can feel it." The gaze of the goddesses can also feel their joy at that moment, whether it is the revelation before the sacrificial ceremony or the joy reflected in my heart during the ceremony, it shows that the three goddesses are looking forward to What is happening today. Since they are looking forward to it so much...then I will carry it out unconditionally, this 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 just take what I say as Let's have a chat—otherwise, it will be hard to hold back."

Veronica quietly stared at the "peer" in front of her, and nodded slightly after a long time: "You are smarter than I imagined, you have both the wisdom of a priest and the wit of a human being."

"Thank you for your compliment." The Holy Maiden of Abundance smiled lightly, then turned her head and looked back to the stage—the dancer in a long skirt had stopped, she was sitting on the edge of the wooden platform resting, wearing a Wearing a warm coat, she greeted the audience who were still in front of the stage with a smile on her face, and talked with a few people who dared to approach her about traveling with her father and brother. Those around seemed completely oblivious to the fact that standing a few meters away stood two "big men" talking, each living their own lives in their own worlds.

"...Actually, when I was young, I even had a far-fetched dream," the Holy Maiden of Abundance said suddenly, "I wanted to be a dancer—just like the lady on the stage, traveling around, dancing, and occasionally having a dream." 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 traveling around as it is now, but I am even more surprised that you are such a 'sacred maiden' I still have such a dream.”

"When I was a child, who didn't have any whimsical ideas in childhood? 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 every year after the celebration of the Resurrection Festival and took a look at the crowd on the square. , Occasionally listening to the priestesses talking about the process of the celebration has become the greatest entertainment and the source of all fantasies," the saint of abundance said mockingly, and then glanced at Veronica, "Didn't you have this kind of magic in your childhood?" Did you experience it?"

Veronica froze for a moment, with a slightly weird expression: "When I was a child... when I was a child, I only made the people around me nervous."

"It seems that we all had troublesome childhoods." Of course, the Holy Maiden of Abundance couldn't imagine what kind of distress this "Her Royal Highness" had experienced. She just smiled and shook her head, "The nanny who took care of me back then Because my whimsical thoughts are not less angry, but I can’t get angry because of the signs of favor I have shown since I was a child, so I can only go to the temple to pray every now and then to relieve my mood..."

The scheming negotiation at the beginning turned into a small talk at some point, but Veronica did not resist such a relaxed atmosphere, she asked casually: "Then what happened after that?"

The rich saint fell into memory, and a smile slowly appeared on her face: "Later, I felt the existence of 'they' 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 mundane world, and a kind of sincere warmth and 'love'—now that I think about it , That may be just a casual glance at 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.

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

"As long as they are happy, I will do it."

After saying this, the blond saint took a half step back and bowed slightly to Veronica: "I'm sorry to have disturbed you for so long, let me take my leave first—please continue to enjoy this celebration Well, maybe you don't think it's a godsend, but at least it's what mortals deserve."

The Holy Maiden of Abundance turned and left. Veronica didn't look back until the other person's figure disappeared into the crowd. She stood there for a while, then turned her head slightly, and said softly as if talking to someone in the distance. : "...A proximity scan has been performed, and her mental state is stable...Yes, as you heard, she is sane and sober, and she seems to be more sane than we judged before. Others who directly participated in the sacrificial ceremony Priest? Yes, the arbitral tribunal has arranged for personnel to follow and monitor, and it will last for 24 hours..."