Chapter 78 I didn’t steal bread
October 4, 1444 in the imperial calendar, morning.
This is already the third day since Horn and others left.
Nine command companies led by Prince Condai arrived near the Gulag Monastery.
These nine command companies are not nominally Condai's personal troops, but the kingdom guards of the Kingdom of Leia.
Kong Dai is only the Royal Guard Captain under the Guard Captain of the Kingdom of Leia, but he can still control 9 command companies.
First, the influence of the previous royal family was too far-reaching. Everyone had in-laws inside and outside the family. It was impossible for the nobles to let the Blue Bee Dynasty kill all Jinque, and it was impossible for Jinque to return to the throne.
The second reason is that many of these Knights of the Order are ancestral Golden Bird loyalists. Instead of letting them defect to the Free City or Norn, it is better to let them stay under the name of Kong Dai.
Thirdly, Kong Dai himself is very ambitious. He was born as a temple knight and was promoted to the ninth degree knight at the age of twenty-five. In the past twenty years, he was the only knight to kill the vampire archduke and got the Pope canonized in person.
Due to the origin of the Temple Knights and the support of the church, among the nine companies of orders led by Condai, there are a large number of Temple Knights who have returned to secular life and their illegitimate children who have become regulars.
Condé was often accused of using the land of the Kingdom of Leia to support the church's army.
But this cannot break Kong Dai's triple golden body of blood, legal principles and religion, allowing him, a remnant of the remnants of the previous dynasty, to master nearly one-fifth of the kingdom's high-end extraordinary power.
When Condai stepped onto the road at the entrance of the Gulag monastery, looking at the dilapidated monastery in front of him, he sighed helplessly.
It’s not that Kong Dai has never been here before. He had visited before when he was studying in Gaobao.
But the dilapidated Gulag monastery in front of him was really different from what he had remembered.
If Horn were here, he would definitely lament that he was wrong.
After he left, the Gulag Monastery has undergone tremendous changes.
The nearby villagers and refugees emptied the Gulag monastery after Horn and others left.
Whatever tables, chairs, benches, pots, pans, doors, windows and bricks, if no one is looking at them, no one wants them. If the automatic pickup is turned on, they will all be picked up.
Not to mention the dog head hanging on the stag room, even the big bell of the monastery and the slag of the electric arc furnace were taken away, leaving only a shallow layer of dung in the manure pit.
Walking leisurely up the steps at the entrance of the monastery, Condai casually trampled to death two sleeping refugees lying on the steps and walked into the monastery.
The once gorgeous flower beds have been cleaned up, leaving only bare branches.
A few unshaven bandits were squatting expectantly by the dilapidated flower beds, lighting flower branches and making soup.
A human hand can be seen floating in the soup with blood foam.
Kong Dai walked over, cut off their heads with his long sword, and then continued forward.
But when he saw that those beautiful flower windows and arches were gone, leaving only empty monasteries, he still sighed.
Especially when black smoke is billowing out of these hollows.
“Your Highness, don’t you want to take a stroll around?” The monk in black appeared elusively behind Kong Dai.
Kong Dai shook his head: "I originally wanted to revisit my old place, but this group of refugees disturbed my interest. What are you doing in such a hurry?"
"Over there at the church? A letter came to you.”
Condai opened the letter in front of the monk, glanced at it casually, then tore it up angrily and threw it away.
"It's still the same old thing. Grandiva said that he can talk and he can support me."
"Then what do you think, Your Highness?"
Kong Dai's eyelids moved: "You want to test my tone?"
"Don't dare." The monk immediately bowed and saluted.
Kong Dai looked at his slender neck, seemed to laugh in anger, turned around and left.
"Your Highness, since the rebels have left, shall we continue to pursue them?"
"Pursue."
"These refugees notified Gaobao to come. Expulsion? Or should we do it ourselves? "
"It doesn't matter. If you want to vent, go ahead. They stole the church's property and should be punished. "
When the news about Prince Condai reached the Papal State, it was already night.
In the valley, the villagers have fallen asleep after evening prayers.
In the center surrounded by thatched huts is a large tent, which is the new Papal Palace.
The lights in the Papal Palace are brightly lit, and the top cardinals of the Papal State are holding an emergency meeting.
At this critical moment, Madeleine, as a cardinal, came to the hillside and found Danji sitting idle.
"Refugees just came here to report." Madeleine stood opposite Danji and said in a confused tone.
Under the moonlight, Danji silently sharpened the sword in his hand with the whetstone in his hand.
The moonlight flows on the sword, washing away the rust and blunt edge.
“Those knights came very quickly. They arrived at the Gulag Monastery this morning.” Madeleine narrated calmly. “After discovering that we were gone, they massacred the five surrounding villages.”
Danji stopped sharpening his sword, and the harsh squeaking sound also stopped.
"The refugees who reported the news had no shoes. They passed the news one by one and completed our two-and-a-half-day trip in one day.
There were ordinary refugees, as well as mobs and bandits.
I asked him why. Tell us, he said, they don’t know either, but at least this way they can feel at ease.
I have been to all those five villages, some have sold food to us, some have scolded us, and some of them have scolded us. I have met many of them, and I know them all."
Danji put down his sword and threw it aside: "If you want, you can beat me up."
"I won't do it." Madeleine shook his head, "You are an innocent person, I can't do such a thing."
Inserting the long sword into the scabbard, Danji spread his legs and leaned on On the hillside: "I would rather you beat me up."
The mountains are rushing in the moonlight like a sea tide, the white moon is like a lake, and billions of grass and trees are breathing loudly With. At the bottom of the mountain waves, the campsite is a narrow river, and those straw huts are fishing boats on the river, swaying back and forth with the wind.
“They are all innocent people.” Danji pointed to the thatched house below.
No reply.
"I don't know if I am still a knight." Danji retracted his finger.
Still no reply.
"That day, I heard you and Frick talking, and overheard your story." Danji's face melted in the moonlight, and his expression could not be seen clearly, "Would you mind telling me how you got into it? "Is he in prison?"
Madelan turned his head and stared at Danji's face expressionlessly. After a while, he spoke:
"When I was seven years old, the children from the Sitang family next door bought an amulet from the church. I clamored for one, but my family was poor and I had younger brothers and sisters, so I couldn't afford it."
Alone Sitting, Madeleine seemed to be sleepwalking, her voice was not loud, but Danji could hear it clearly.
“When I got tired of the quarrel, my father beat me up. I cried all night. The next day I went out to play and saw Si Tang hanging the amulet on the window. No one was watching. I took it.
When my parents saw the amulet in my hand...haha, I had never been beaten so hard in my life.
They told me. , If you want something, earn it yourself, with your own hands.”
Madeleine took out a talisman from his collar. The talisman was wrapped in blackened silver, and the face of the patron saint could not be seen clearly.
“This is St. George, the legendary St. George who slayed the dragon.” Shaking the amulet in her hand towards Danji, Madeleine chuckled, “You don’t recognize it, I don’t recognize it either.
So when my mother gave it to me, I was so angry that I felt it was no better than Stongo, so I threw it away.
My father beat me again, and he ran away. After searching in the mud for half a night, I found it."
Madelan's voice was as calm as the moonlight, echoing in the night wind.
"I cried at night and was not convinced. My mother said that my father did not rest during the rest time when repairing people's roofs. Instead, he went to the roadside to find white stones and used a chisel to carve out shapes.
My mother went When the citizens had time to cook and cook, they used the fire to smelt silver coins and set them on stone statues.
If they were not well chiseled, they would be re-melted.
If they were not set well, they would be re-melted. They spent only one dinar to create this holy statue. One dinar could not buy such a beautiful amulet."
Compared with the first time he got the amulet. , the amulet was much smaller in his hand.
The slender fingers covered with mud have become thick black hands.
The fingertips passed across Saint George's face that could not be seen clearly, and Madeleine said to it: "My mother said that this amulet is ugly, but it was saved by my father and mother little by little. Hang this amulet Stay alive, Father and Mother and Saint George will be by my side to protect me.”
The quiet wind blew the moonlight and the house swayed, and Saint George on the amulet opened his arms as if to embrace Madeleine.
“I wore this amulet and never stole anything again. I entered a bakery and worked from a handyman to a laborer, from a laborer to an indentured servant, and from an indentured laborer to an apprentice.
I learned to bake surprisingly quickly. The white cheese bread baked with my new recipe is fragrant and soft. My master told me that I can start baking in two years at most
During that time, my father and mother were so happy that our family was going to have a baker.
I was so happy, so on my birthday, I asked the master chef if I could take the moldy bread from the bakery home. I asked him, I asked him!
He said, take it back as a reward for you.
The next day, I was arrested and imprisoned for stealing bread. When I looked into my father and mother’s eyes, it was like they were on fire. ”
The wind blew through the valley, making a whistling sound. Apart from this sound, there was no other sound in the valley.
Danji asked softly: "What happened next?"
"Originally, I would have been found not guilty. There was physical evidence and witnesses. They saw the moldy bread I took away in front of the baker.< br>
Then a knight and a baker came into the court, and they exchanged three or four sentences.
I was sentenced to twelve years. Two years later, my father fell in love with alcohol and broke his neck
Four years after she was imprisoned, my mother could not bear the criticism from people around her, so she pretended to fall into the river and committed suicide.
I escaped and wanted to see my mother one last time, but she committed suicide and was buried in a mass grave.
I can’t find my grandmother. All the tombstones have collapsed. Her bones are mixed with others and I can’t tell them apart. "
Danji's heavy breathing was gone.
"The priests of the church said that transcendence is a gift from God, and they also said that God is merciful.
Extraordinary beings are noble people, why don't they seek justice for me? Why do they want to help evil instead? "
Time seemed to have stopped for a second or two after Madeleine asked.
Danji placed the sword representing the knight across his knees, and grabbed the scabbard with his right hand. Trembling slightly: "One day, you will be able to clear your grievances. "
Madelan clenched the amulet on her chest and murmured to herself: "But what's the point? My family is dead and I was a thief until their last moments. "
Danji forced a smile and said: "That knight, he doesn't follow the rules of chivalry, he, he can't be considered a knight..."
"Knight, knight..." Madeleine still lowered her head, but she held the amulet pendant in her right hand tighter and tighter, and her voice went from low to high.
Finally, he straightened his body and bounced off the rock, as if he wanted to roar.
But when he finally spoke, for some reason, only a dry and hoarse voice remained: "I didn't steal the bread..."
After saying that, he stood there as if he had lost his soul.
After standing for a long time, he stuffed the amulet into his collar and walked towards the thatched houses without saying a word.
The howling wind stirred the grass blades and tickled Danji's ankles.
Danji watched Madeleine's back disappearing on the edge of the hillside.
He took out the knight's sword in his hand, it was so blank and dazzling.
(End of this chapter)