Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1440 Within the Church
Rosetta Town certainly has a church, unlike the Longwind Territory which just has one in its castle to make up the numbers. The church in Rosetta Town is under the jurisdiction of a regular church, with priests, knights, and nuns. Since Father Thorne has come here, his first stop must be to report to the church.

The pharmacist looked up at the church—from the outside, it appeared to be a church built under the supervision of the church's director, Christophe.

The Empire, or rather, the Church on the entire continent, is unique, and therefore does not bear any prefix or name. The doors of a proper church must be engraved with the seals of the seven righteous gods revered by the seven cardinals, and blessed by the priests of each cardinal with divine majesty. Furthermore, if Cardinal Christ is responsible for the construction of the church, then the seven chapels and the eternal sanctuary of the main hall will display clear magical pathways upon entry, allowing any member of the church to sense the location of their respective cardinal.

Once inside the church, the standards become even more stringent. From the colors used and the transitions in carving between the various chapels to the emblems depicted in the Eternal Sanctuary, everything adheres to a set of hierarchical standards. Rosetta's church is at least a second-tier standard, suggesting that Duke Torrill has made a considerable fortune here.

The personnel allocation highlights the importance the Vatican attaches to this area.

A small rural church like Father Thorne's, with only one priest and two adopted nuns, was basically a second-rate missionary site.

The church in Rosetta has four cardinal priests, more than ten monks and nuns under their command, and even five squads of hundred-man church knights. When Father Thorne walked to the door of such a church, even his usual confident smile became somewhat restrained.

The pharmacist glanced at him: "Scared?"

"No... I'm just a little moved. If I hadn't traveled far, I'm afraid I would never have seen such a magnificent sight in my entire life."

He could sense that the Saviour, whom he had always revered, was in the second chapel on his right. There was no priest of the Saviour here; he could go in and pray on his own. For the first time, this priest, who had never been particularly devout in his faith, felt an urge to pray.

However, before they entered the church, a monk and a nun came out of the church.

The monk wore a long blue robe and held an ancient, large book in his hand, bound in a metal case. A gilded chain fastened the book to his belt, and the glasses he wore on his face were clearly magical artifacts.

The nun wore a loose black robe with armor plates underneath. A large-caliber gun hung on the right side of her belt. She had at least nine leather belts on her body, carrying a large number of miscellaneous items in this way. Her black robe had a hat that was not found on other priestly robes, although she was not wearing it at the moment.

These two are clearly the people of the Secret Vision Pivot and the Burial Pivot.

Upon encountering the group at the entrance, the two were clearly surprised by the large group of twenty people, but quickly made way for them. Father Thorne didn't go in immediately, but instead took the opportunity to strike up a conversation: "Are you two members of this church? My name is Thorne, from the Church of Etoi. We are passing through here with our group to escape the war and hope to stay here for a day. May I ask..."

The nun from the Burial Pivot smiled slightly and patted the monk from the Secret Vision Pivot on the shoulder. The monk adjusted his glasses and said, "Father Thorne, hello... I am one of the four Sunday priests here. You can call me Jesse, a common name."

“Father Jesse,” Father Thorne said hastily, “we need to purchase enough supplies for our team here, which we probably can’t do today. Do you know if there’s any room in the church where we can stay for the night?”

Father Jesse smiled and said, “Of course, we will help our colleagues with any difficulties we can. However, for your group of twenty, we are afraid we can only prepare six rooms for you. The number of guest rooms in the church is limited, so we hope you can understand.”

That's enough—

Before Father Thorne could finish speaking, the nun said, "The three ladies can stay in my room with me; that would ease their stress."

"In that case, what does Father Thorne think?" Father Jesse asked.

“No problem,” the pharmacist said before Father Thorne could speak, smiling and nodding to the nun. “Thank you for your help; at least a few rooms won’t be so crowded anymore.”

This isn't a problem of five people per room; the three of them could at least free up a whole room.

“It’s alright. Colleagues in the church should always help each other. And judging from the way you came… from a war-torn land, you must be heading through the wasteland to Violet City?” the nun asked.

Father Thorne nodded: “Traveling through the wasteland may be challenging, but it’s mainly about supplies. There’s actually less danger. We will take that route.”

“If you’re setting off tomorrow, you might as well take me with you. My name is Liu, and as you can see, I’m a nun from the Burial Grounds. I believe my fighting ability won’t cause you any trouble,” the nun said.

Father Thorne looked surprised, then said happily, “How could that be? Of course I would welcome a colleague to join me! But my group still has quite a few people outside the city, so I hope you won’t mind our slow pace.”

“If I need to get going, I’ll let you know and leave on my own. Alright, Jesse, go arrange accommodations for them. I still want to wander around town a bit more.” Liu patted Jesse’s shoulder. Her grip was obviously quite strong, and Jesse’s expression faltered. She quickly waved her away and then led Father Thorne and his party into the church.

Any church member who visits a proper church for the first time will feel a profound sense of awe.

Father Thorne, Veronica and Vanessa, and even the Knight of Gael were momentarily overwhelmed by the majesty of the Eternal Sanctuary and unconsciously began to pray.

God bestows blessings, but God does not require the devotion of believers. It is precisely for this reason that God is worthy of being worshipped by believers.

The apothecary smiled slightly, his gaze falling on the seven holy emblems that formed a circle in exquisite relief.

This is what you draw when you enter the scene. It determines which cardinal you belong to and what your identity is, but besides that... it will probably also affect some subsequent tasks.

The inquisitor already held a high position of authority among the cardinals, and this wasn't the first time she had seen what the Eternal Sanctuary looked like, so she only glanced at it before looking at the Sunday priest inside the church.

Aside from Jesse, who came from the Cardinal of the Secret Vision, the other three priests came from the Cardinal of the Christina, the Cardinal of the Oath-Taking, and the Cardinal of the Heart-Releasing Priests, respectively. This was quite in line with what she had seen outside; with priests from the Cardinal of the Christina, churches were always built more ornately and artistically, and the people there all had a fanatical pursuit of architecture and art.

The presence of a cardinal priest is not difficult to understand. After all, church members themselves need to constantly manage their own affairs, and having a cardinal priest on duty saves a lot of trouble. They are often called confessors, and it is precisely because of this that they play a role in maintaining the purity of faith. But—why are there cardinals who administer oaths?
Cardinals of oath-taking are typically not sent to other places, as their duties often lead to them being avoided by their colleagues, since they are the only cardinals responsible for sentencing. The presence of a cardinal of oath-taking in a particular location signifies the existence of a "traitor."

The church does not manage its members strictly. Even if someone ultimately does not wish to believe in the church, they can leave peacefully without the church pursuing the matter.

However, as the name of the Oath-Taking Pivot suggests, if a believer breaks the oath taken when joining the church, commits a complete act of betrayal, or even conceals their betrayal, that is the target of the Oath-Taking Pivot.

The danger posed by traitors is immense, and the pharmacist couldn't help but become more vigilant. She walked towards the priest, and his gaze lingered on her.

Even if he concealed his identity, it would be meaningless in front of the true priests of the Oath-Taking Hall; they could see through him. Therefore, the apothecary went to the priest and simply drew a badge on his chest.

"Greetings, Father. You may call me the Pharmacist."

"It's actually an inquisitor priest..." The priest was slightly surprised, but still smiled. "Willard, you can call me that. As you can see, I am a monk from the Oathkeeping Council, and I currently serve as a Sunday priest here."

“Apart from a few cathedrals, the Oathtaking House rarely sends Sunday priests,” the pharmacist said in a low voice. “Could it be that Rosetta…”

There are indeed rumors of treacherous individuals, but there's no need to worry about it. You're just passing through, so there's no need to concern yourself with it.

"Are you sure? I came here with the team from Changfeng, where they found plague-infected people. I don't know if the plague apostles have touched this place."

“Even if they did, we won’t let them touch Rosetta Town in the slightest,” Willard said with a smile. “You don’t need to worry. The fact that the Church has placed four cardinal Sunday priests here means that the affairs here have received sufficient attention.”

"I hope so," was all the pharmacist could say.

Monks in the Oath-Taking Hall are generally very confident in their abilities, and they certainly do have those abilities; at least within the church, probably not a single rat could easily sneak in.

Now the pharmacist couldn't say anything, so after everyone prayed, he quietly entered the chapel of the Salvation Pivot.

She didn't actually need to come in.

The position of the overseer is special; anyone who can hold this position must be someone who can connect with the Kingdom of God through their own actions. Therefore, the priest who was in charge of the oath did not question the pharmacist's identity. She could communicate directly with the Kingdom of God from anywhere within the church.

However, she still wanted to see for herself whether there were any problematic cultivators under the Salvation Hub here.

As the pharmacist closed her eyes slightly, her spirit quickly aligned with a divine light within the church. In the instant the connection was formed, she stepped into the divine realm in the form of a spiritual body.

The divine realm was lush with green grass and dense vegetation, and simply being there gave one a sense of clarity and well-being. This was not an illusion, but a benefit offered by the divine realm to cultivators capable of communicating with this place.

The pharmacist pushed aside the branches hanging in front of him and walked into the depths of this divine kingdom.

She would answer Veronica and Vanessa with certainty, naturally because the gods truly exist in the world. Even though they reside in the realm of the gods and cannot manifest themselves on earth, the gods do indeed have ways to bestow blessings upon their agents.

However, what she didn't mention was that the divine might be different from what the two nuns, or even Father Thorne, thought.

Passing through the pleasant forest path, the apothecary saw the deity worshipped by the Savior's Pivot. In a spring among the countless giant trees, bubbles were slowly rising. The water was clear, but at a glance, the bottom was completely invisible.

Fountain of Youth.

Many cultivators would likely find it hard to believe that the deity they worship is merely a spring of water. Gods have neither human appearance nor human consciousness, and for this reason, there are never any idols in any of the church's chapels. Even if the Pharmacist doesn't know what the other six deities are like, they are probably not much different from the Fountain of Youth, and the true nature of the seven deities is known only to the Pope.

The apothecary stirred the spring water with his palm, and in a moment, a powerful magical force formed from it. All divine spells under the Savior's Throne are used within the divine realm without any cost; the energy is provided by the gods.

Soon, the apothecary saw several figures reflected in the spring water: Father Thorne, Veronica, Vanessa, and several coachmen who had come with them.

These people all had their faith directed toward the Savior's Nexus, and only their faith could be examined by the Pharmacist. However, none of their faiths were problematic, even though they didn't actually have much faith—Veronica had the most.

"Fountain of Youth...will you still guide your followers?" The pharmacist rose with a sigh and asked the question.

Of course, there was no answer. You can't expect a spring to respond to a person's call. The gods don't respond proactively, and all prayers are merely providing a place of peace for one's own heart. The power it unintentionally radiates will be interpreted as divine magic by those with exceptional talent and passed on.

After his reflections, the pharmacist returned to the church.

There was no need to worry about Father Thorne's competence; he had already inquired with the church staff about where to collect supplies. Veronica and Vanessa, filled with curiosity, toured the church, and Father Jesse patiently showed them around, explaining everything to them.

As for Knight Gael and his companions, they remained somewhat fearful at the entrance. Knights were resident guards inside the church, and their power was far beyond what Knight Gael could match. He only stepped through the door and dared not venture further inside.

But the church is open to believers from all over the world, so what are these people afraid of? The apothecary sighed, went over and greeted them. With her guidance, Knight Gael and the others entered the church with some hesitation.