Chapter 252 Faith and Knowledge

The two left Snow Manor on horseback and returned to the river along the way they came.

Joan wakes up the sleeping boatman.

It took Rebecca double the cost to persuade the boatman to cheer up and send them across the river.

After disembarking, the two continued to ride, and when they returned to Custis Manor, it was past midnight.

The two of them were sleepy and tired. Under the service of the servant, they simply ate something and then washed and rested.

Joan has a "life-support ring", and she recovers after two hours of sleep, and gets up before dawn to study spells.

Rebecca slept until it was broad daylight before lazily getting up, and went downstairs to have breakfast in her pajamas.

At this time, Joan and Miss Martha had already had breakfast and were drinking coffee and chatting at the dining table.

Joan had briefly told Miss Martha what happened yesterday at Snow Manor. Because he had been instructed by Rebecca in advance, he did not explicitly state that Joseph Adams was likely to have contact with Sir Custis, so he couldn't help but feel ashamed. When he saw Rebecca coming to the restaurant, he quickly "blame the blame".

"Miss Martha, I can't remember what happened at Snow Manor yesterday. If you have any questions, just ask Rebecca."

Miss Martha glanced at him suspiciously, as if she was sympathizing with his memory loss at a young age, and turned to look at her sister, and was about to ask questions, when Rebecca had put on a bewildered expression, her eyes were out of focus and she was muttering to herself .

"Who am I? Where am I?"

"Oh! My head is dizzy, why can't I remember anything?"

"Oh, Martha, you know I forget things when I'm sleep deprived!

"As for Snow Manor, let's talk about it another day."

"You two brats, did you discuss it? There's really nothing you can do about it!"

Miss Martha couldn't laugh or cry, she simply got up and left the restaurant.

As soon as her sister left, Rebecca immediately regained her senses, lowered her voice and asked Joan, "You didn't say anything, did you?"

"Of course not, but I don't want to do this kind of thing in the future." Joan replied angrily.

"Okay, I promise this is the last time! Actually, I don't want to hide it from Martha, but I just don't want her to worry." Rebecca said quietly.

"Stop talking about this, let's eat quickly."

"Well, we will go into the city after breakfast. On the way back to school, we happened to pass by Mr. Snow's official residence. Would you like to accompany me to meet the Director?"

"Not interested!" Joan replied decisively.

"Then can you wait for me in the carriage for a few minutes?" Rebecca asked with pleading eyes.

Joan nodded helplessly.

The next itinerary is as arranged by Rebecca.

After breakfast, the two of them went into the city in the Custis family's carriage, passing the official residence of the Director of Customs on the way. Rebecca got out of the carriage with the letter, and Joan would rather stay in the carriage and read a book to pass the time.

After waiting for about half an hour, Joan saw Rebecca being escorted out by a well-dressed middle-aged couple. After exchanging cordial farewells, Rebecca returned to the car and stretched with relief.

"Finally solved."

"Mr. Snow read the letter, what do you mean?" Joan inquired casually.

"A high-ranking official like him, even if he is so angry that he scolds his mother, his face is calm and calm. How could he lose his composure in front of me, an outsider, even if I am just a little girl who doesn't understand anything in their eyes."

Rebecca smiled slightly.

"On the other hand, Mrs. Snow seems a little excited. It seems that there are threatening words in the letter."

Joan was not surprised by the threat in the letter, what really surprised him was Rebecca's attitude.

"You seem to be enjoying it."

"what do you mean?"

"The whole thing and the complex relationships, power struggles and conflicts of interest associated with it."

"Hmm~ more or less."

Rebecca shrugged and seemed to be ten years older than her actual age in an instant.

"What's the fun in that? I don't understand..."

"The fun lies in the 'complex interpersonal relationships, power struggles and interest entanglements' you just mentioned. If we compare our society to the human body, each person is compared to the smallest unit of society, and different families, ethnic groups, Classes and interest groups represent different tissues and organs of the human body, and the emotions and power disputes between people are like the driving force for the operation of society. Isn’t the law in it worth our in-depth exploration?”

Rebecca asked seriously.

"Just hearing you say that, I feel that it is very troublesome to deal with these complicated interpersonal relationships, it is scary!"

Joan made no secret of his disgust from the bottom of his heart.

"If possible, I really want to hide on a deserted island away from the crowd, and fend for myself..."

Realizing that his tone was too extreme, Joan hurriedly made amends.

"Of course, this is just an impulsive thought. If I were to be thrown on a deserted island, I would not be able to bear the life of lack of clothes, books and arcane experiment equipment. I would also miss my relatives and friends. In such an environment, I am afraid that people like me will give up on themselves and eventually become a beast...even a monster."

Joan was silent for a while, but couldn't help but confide the truth.

"Even if it's just to maintain my humanity and prevent myself from becoming a monster, I have to grit my teeth and insist on living among the crowd, and strive to overcome my weakness of character, just like..."

like what? Joan couldn't find a suitable analogy for a while.

"It's like a trial," Rebecca went on, "like a test from the gods."

Joan nodded in agreement.

"You are more like a 'seeker' than I am, but what you seek is not the revelation of God, but the enlightenment brought by knowledge and the liberation of the soul."

Rebecca looked at Joan in a daze, her eyes became extremely bright, and suddenly found a soul that was sinking in the darkness, and only she could redeem it.

For a clergyman like her, this is undoubtedly a sacred challenge!

"Similar blood flows in our bodies and bears similar curses. I can generally understand your plight."

"Joan, you may not like to hear some words, but I still want to tell you that what can really help you integrate into society is not knowledge, but belief."

"The more knowledgeable you are, the harder it is to tolerate those ignorant and boring people around you, such as people like me."

"If you had chosen to be a priest instead of a mage, you would have found a sustenance for your soul, and perhaps you would be happier than you are now."

Rebecca's sermon was sincere, but it was not enough to convince the lonely and stubborn boy opposite.

"Rebecca, I respect the gods, but I can't worship any of them from the bottom of my heart, and I don't want to entrust my destiny to others, even if the other party is an omniscient and omnipotent god."

Dissecting his own soul in front of the girl made Joan feel embarrassed, and he didn't want to continue this topic.

"I heard Thomas say that only a small half of the seminary graduates are actually devoted to missionary work, and more are 'politicians in vestments'. Is this true?"

"There are elements of exaggeration, but it is generally true."

Rebecca nodded with a smile.

"Aunt Claire often said to me, 'Theology is politics', and if I were a man, I would probably be a politician in the future."

"Is that so……"

Qiao An had mixed feelings in his heart, and he didn't know how to continue this topic, so he simply remained silent.

Rebecca didn't speak any more, and the carriage fell into silence.