Chapter 32: The Small Chapel
The next day, Corleon handed the sketch to the woman.
“I will complete it as soon as possible and deliver it to the priest,” the woman said as she took the sketch. “Of course, I will also send my grandson over at that time.”
“May the Lord bless you.”
After seeing her off, he saw Yara arriving.
There was still some dew on her clothes; she had brought two guards and a child.
Considering the distance from Daniels Village to the church, she must have set out while it was still dark.
“Good morning, Miss Yara,” Corleon greeted.
“Good morning, Priest Corleon,” Yara replied.
“George is still doing his morning exercises,” Corleon offered.
“No, this time I just brought my Ando,” Yara said calmly.
She beckoned, signaling the boy to come over.
“Yesterday, Knight Wolf had someone come to Daniels Village to inform us about the new lord and instructed us to go to town to swear allegiance to the new lord.”
“So I set out before the Morning Star had risen, but I remembered the request I made to the priest earlier, so I brought Ando along.”
“I hope the priest can perform the baptism for Ando in the coming days.”
She spoke, and the Ando she held looked at Corleon with a curious gaze.
“I haven't forgotten our agreement, but the baptism might have to be postponed for a few days,” Corleon said.
“Knight Zorn's child will also be baptized in the coming days, so I plan to arrange for them to be baptized on the same day.”
“Knight Zorn's child?” Yara frowned, then looked toward York Town, where she could see the figures of a master and servant hurrying back to York Town.
“Is it that bitch Terry Adams?” she blurted out.
“……”
Corleon's eye twitched; this was the first time he had heard Yara curse.
It seemed there had been some previous conflict between them.
“That woman is no good,” Yara said. “She is known as the Fraudster Terry; breaking promises is as easy as drinking water for her, and her subordinates are not clean in their dealings either.”
“If it weren't for her husband and son being knights, and the Adams Family being blood relatives of the Elbert Family, that bitch would have been expelled from York Territory long ago.”
It appeared that it was more than just a minor conflict; perhaps she had suffered a significant loss.
“You agreed to shelter her?” Yara inquired, her tone returning to elegance.
“I merely agreed to a grandmother's request, to let her grandson grow up healthily under the Lord's protection until he comes of age,” Corleon said.
“Oh, you shouldn't have agreed to her request. She will definitely go around saying, ‘Look, the church's priest has taken in my grandson, and my grandson is the future head of the Adams Family. You must not harm the Adams Family; that is my grandson's wealth, or you will face the lord's wrath.’ She will definitely say that,” Yara mimicked.
It had to be said, her imitation was quite accurate in tone, though the emotion didn't quite match last night's.
“Miss Yara, the Lord is transcendent, the Lord is merciful, and children are pure, newly born, and represent an infinite future. Therefore, the Lord will not refuse to shelter a pitiable child,” Corleon's voice grew heavier.
“Just as I agreed to your request to baptize Ando, so he can grow under the Lord's protection.”
“I will also agree to Terry's request.”
Yara calmed down.
“Forgive me, priest; anger made me speak out of turn,” Yara bowed deeply in apology.
“Last year, a batch of goods from our family was plundered, and the place where it was plundered was on the Adams Family's territory. Half a month later, my people discovered that the Adams Family was using that batch of goods.”
“Your anger is understandable, but the Lord has taught us that anger is original sin, and original sin is inherent in humans. We cannot remove it, but we must learn to restrain it,” Corleon nodded and said.
“I will remember the Lord's teachings,” Yara said.
“Just please do not refuse to baptize Ando because of this.”
“Of course, children are innocent.”
“Thank you.”
“You can take him to stay in town for now. Once the baptism time is confirmed, I will have someone notify you,” Corleon said.
“Alright, I will wait expectantly for your message,” Yara said, and then she was about to leave.
They had only eaten a little something to fill their stomachs early in the morning, and now she was feeling a bit hungry.
“Wait, I have something I would like to ask Miss Yara to help with,” Corleon called out to her.
“Please, go ahead,” Yara stopped in her tracks.
“The believers from Daniels Village have to travel long distances to come to the church for worship; this is their devotion, but the Lord has mercy on them.”
“They lack proper shoes, their clothes cannot withstand the cold of the night, and wild beasts lie in wait by the roadside, threatening their lives.”
“The Lord told me that they are devout and should not suffer such hardships.”
“So I hope to establish a small chapel in Daniels Village to facilitate the believers' worship.”
“However, the Flower Church is the Lord's original throne, and I cannot leave.”
“Therefore, I plan to send Monk George to Daniels Village as the monk of the small chapel, to preside over the believers' worship.”
“So that the believers do not have to travel long distances and can avoid the dangers on the road.”
“But it would take too long for Monk George to build a small chapel by himself, and the Daniels Family are devout believers, so I hope to ask the Daniels Family to help build the small chapel.”
“Of course, I will pay a reasonable amount of gold coins.”
Yara was quite surprised; she was delighted in her heart but still restrained herself and said,
“Being able to build the Lord's sanctuary on earth is the Daniels Family's honor; this should not be measured by gold coins.”
“This is the Lord's recognition of the believers, and the Lord has also said that laborers must receive due rewards, so you must not refuse,” Corleon declined Yara's offer to help for free.
Some money can be taken, but some money is best settled clearly.
Now those nobles understand the rules; when the church helps them lay their family members to rest, they will give the church a reward.
At least there won't be a situation where a knight's remains are worth only ten gold coins.
“Since it is the Lord's teaching,” Yara lowered her head, “the Daniels Family will certainly build a fine chapel.”
“No,” Corleon shook his head, “every chapel will be the Lord's throne, so the Lord has revelations about the appearance of the throne.”
“When Monk George goes to Daniels Village, I will have him bring the sketch. You can build according to the specifications on the sketch.”
Since Corleon had said this much, Yara naturally would not object further.
She agreed.
“Besides these, I have a personal request,” Corleon relaxed a bit and said.
“Please, go ahead.”
“I have recorded my conversations with the Lord; this will be the church's Holy Scriptures. I originally wanted to copy it for Monk George to study, but due to his background, he is illiterate.”
“The Lord is omniscient and omnipotent and will not abandon Monk George because he cannot study the Holy Scriptures.”
“But as a monk, George needs to read the Holy Scriptures; this is his own cultivation, and he also needs to convey the Lord's teachings to the believers through the content of the Holy Scriptures.”
“So I would like to ask you to find a scholar to help George get started and teach him literacy.”