Chapter 31: A Strong Mother
After laying Knight Zorn to rest, upon returning to the church, the poor mother could not help but shed tears once more.
“My poor child, he would rather die than relinquish his knightly honor.”
“He was brave. Even in his final moments, he upheld his honor and fulfilled his will. The Lord will praise him and allow his soul to ascend to the Heavenly Kingdom, where he will never again suffer hunger, illness, or war,” Corleon comforted her.
Her husband had long since passed away, which allowed her son Zorn to become a knight and the head of the family.
But now, this knight had entered eternal slumber.
Before his child came of age, the affairs of the family would need to be managed by this woman, who had lost both husband and son.
“But he was not a believer in the Lord. He was a knight of the lord, loyal only to his liege,” the woman said.
“The Lord loves all people. This love does not distinguish based on faith. Those willing to believe and listen to the Lord's teachings bring Him joy. But those who choose to follow their own path without believing in the Lord also bring Him joy,” Corleon said.
“The Lord only detests sinners.”
“Entering the Heavenly Kingdom or falling into Hell is a judgment of the soul, not of faith.”
“Truly a merciful Lord, truly a loving Lord.” The woman knelt on the beast hide, hands clasped at her chest.
Being a collateral branch of the Elbert Family, and having produced a knight, naturally, they had servants.
However, those servants did not dare to follow the mistress inside.
After laying out the beast hides for the night, they endured the cold night outside the church.
Of course, Corleon had already instructed George to bring the servant to his small hut for the night.
“If possible, I am willing to offer beautiful garments to the church. This is my humble gratitude. I only hope the Lord will have mercy on this poor woman and allow me to enter the Heavenly Kingdom after death to see my poor child,” the woman said.
Her family was in the clothing business; all the high-end garments in the territory came from her family.
Naturally, leather armor production was also part of her family's business.
“Of course, the Lord is loving. As long as you are a kind person, like your child, realizing your own value, the Lord will open the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom for you after death,” Corleon said with a smile.
“The church does not need the beautiful garments you offer. This is not a gift from the Lord to the church, nor does the Lord require you to serve Him in this way.”
“However, the church does need to acquire some new garments. I will provide you with money for the purchase. Your labor deserves compensation; this is the Lord's teaching.”
The new lord had relaxed restrictions on the church, so the money recently received by the church could now be used.
Not only for rebuilding the church but also for clothing.
“Thank the Lord for His mercy.” The woman bowed deeply.
“Tomorrow morning, I will give you some sketches. This is the Lord's revelation to me and His blessing to His servants,” Corleon said.
He planned to create some standard garments and then attempt to use these garments to construct new Commandments.
Although there had been no high-quality believers these days, some Faith had still been accumulated.
Moreover, Corleon discovered that constructing Commandments did not require a high amount of Faith. However, maintaining the Commandments required the believer's Faith.
The stronger the Faith, the more effective the Commandments.
Once the believer's Faith disappeared, the Commandments would gradually lose their effectiveness.
If such ineffective Commandments were not promptly reclaimed, they would completely vanish over time.
“Truly a merciful Lord.” The woman praised, then said, “Priest Corleon, I have a request.”
“My grandson, Zorn's child, is only seven years old. I, an old woman, must manage the family's affairs and cannot spare the attention to care for him.”
“I beg the priest's mercy to allow my child to enter the church, to grow healthily under the Lord's protection until he comes of age.”
“This is my selfishness. I do not wish to lose my grandson after losing my husband and son.”
People of this era had much stronger physiques, so the survival rate of newborns was relatively high.
After all, even someone like George could manage to survive to adulthood.
However, among noble families and aristocrats, the survival rate of newborns was lower than that of commoners.
Typically, having three children survive to adulthood per generation was considered average.
Therefore, the culture of illegitimate children was quite prevalent.
According to scholars' research, the survival rate of illegitimate children was higher than that of legitimate noble children.
So Corleon could understand the woman's plea.
“The Lord is loving. I will not refuse a grandmother's request for her grandson.”
“But those who serve the Lord in the church must endure the Commandments. Can your grandson endure these Commandments?” Since the lord had changed, Corleon no longer refused.
“I believe in my grandson. He is an understanding child.”
“Then let him come. I will baptize him. He will become a monk until he comes of age and leaves the church,” Corleon said.
“Thank you for your mercy.” The woman bowed again.
“Then I will go rest now. Madam, please rest early as well. I believe Knight Zorn would not want his mother to grieve so deeply over his death.”
...
Returning to the back room, Corleon looked at the unchanged threads on the Light Orb and fell silent.
“...Truly a woman capable of managing a family.”
However, Corleon did not mind too much.
After interacting with the nobles these days, he no longer held hope for gaining their Faith.
Spreading Faith still relied on the lower classes.
Just looking at the threads on the Light Orb, those shallow threads.
These were contributed by the people who came to worship from Daniels Village recently.
They were poor commoners, following those who had become true believers to worship and receive the distributed Sacrament.
The white bread Sacrament was better than what they ate while working in the village.
Therefore, under Corleon's guidance that this was the Sacrament bestowed by the Lord, some became shallow believers.
Fortunately, information was not easily spread in this era.
Otherwise, commoners from nearby villages might all come.
Corleon was not stingy about the white bread.
With the Daniels Family supplying it at near cost, using it for missionary work was worthwhile for him.
But he worried that too many people coming just for the Sacrament would make the Lord's Throne noisy.
“It seems a small church should be established in the village.” Corleon thought of this.
When Lord Helvin was still in power, this was naturally not allowed. But now the lord was Sir Pegiraov.
As for the stationed missionary, perhaps this first small church could be part of Knight George's trial.
Of course, Corleon also thought the Daniels Family could find someone to teach George to read.
During dinner today, Priest Corleon taught George a few words, but George could not learn them.
He could be taught pronunciation one by one, but when connecting pronunciation with words, George could not recognize them.
Corleon felt that entrusting the Daniels Family with this matter might be better.
Their family also hired scholars to enlighten their children.