Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1381 1353. Wandering Missionary

Lan En's description was a bit wrong, because in the surging crowd, the guy who climbed up the makeshift podium made of wooden barrels had a body that was a bit of an understatement to describe as "bloated".

"He's a wandering missionary." Berengar's lips moved unhappily and he spat to the side, "Bah, a fanatical fool."

The old witcher made a pointed comment.

"There is only one law in this world!" The short and fat monk shouted loudly to the crowd in the market, which could be called a roar. "Holy Law!"

"The whole world must obey this law! All life on earth is the same! Spells and magic are against the holy law! All wizards are doomed to perish!"

"The day of God's punishment is near! Fire will rain down from the sky! Destroy them and that evil island!"

"Losha, Aretuza, Gastang will all fall! Along with the pagans who gathered inside to plot! The walls will collapse."

"And then we'll have to rebuild the damn wall," muttered a bricklayer as he pushed past Lan in the crowd without even looking up.

The bag on his shoulders was filled with a lot of bricklaying tools, and his outer coat was covered with white marks left by lime.

"I would like to advise all the pious and kind people." The priest on the pulpit continued to shout, "Don't believe in witches! Don't ask them for help or advice!"

"Don't be fooled by their beautiful or wise appearance. Their excellent eloquence is a trick of liars! Because to be honest, wizards are like whitewashed tombs. They look clean and tidy on the outside, but there is only rotten meat and dry bones inside!"

"Look at him spitting all over the place." A woman wearing a headscarf and with fish scales on her sleeves commented. "He is so hostile to wizards. He must be jealous of them."

"Of course," agreed the bricklayer. "Look at how he looks. His head is as bald as a boiled egg, and his belly hangs down to his knees. The wizards are old, too, but they're not fat or bald, and you can tell they're sensible. And the sorceresses, they're so beautiful."

A guy who had a small shoe repair stall in the middle of the road retorted: "That's because wizards sold their souls to the devil in exchange for their looks!"

"You stupid shoemaker, thanks to the sorceresses of Aretuza, you have a job now, otherwise you wouldn't even have enough to eat in Velen!"

“Not just a wandering preacher, but a preacher of the eternal fire.”

Standing in the crowd, Lan En whispered.

At the same time, his eyes under the hood were looking at the monk on the podium.

Around his neck hung an abstract metal badge that looked like a torch or a brazier.

It symbolizes the worship of fire.

"Okay, they are still the dumbest of the idiots." After confirming this from Lan En, Berengar supplemented his previous description with a speechless face.

"They are coming into the city to preach now? Is there no one to care?" Lan En said with a frown.

He still remembered that when he was still following his mentor and wandering around the countryside to earn money, he would sometimes meet these people.

People in need are good targets for missionary work.

And the cost is low.

When the village was recruiting demon hunters for work, the people of Eternal Fire didn't dare to fight the monsters.

But after the witcher killed the monster, they were brave enough to kill or drive away the witcher who came back to ask for the balance.

Then the villagers will be grateful to the Eternal Flame.

Grateful for the Eternal Fire, it drove away the monsters and protected his property from the evil mutants.

All this is thanks to the Eternal Fire.

Berengar also looked at the missionary who was still repeating his preaching over and over again with disgust. Although he had already rejected his identity as a witcher, the Eternal Fire didn't care about you.

So no matter in the past or now, Berengar completely hates this sect which was relatively mild in the first hundred years but is becoming more and more extreme now.

But even so, he still shook his head at Lan En.

"This involves the right to preach. Which king can restrict the right to preach?"

Unlike the cultural environment that Lann grew up in and is familiar with, religion and faith are deeply rooted in every aspect of this magical Middle Ages and are issues as fundamental as people's livelihood issues.

Even though witchers and warlocks generally believe in nothing, they are a minority among the minority and the fringe among the fringe.

In an environment where faith is prevalent, having no faith will be seen as unreliable and untrustworthy.

In fact, this is also a major reason why demon hunters and warlocks have a bad reputation.

Because they have no faith, other people think they are bad people.

This is what is called "justification by faith."

"But now they seem to be going too far." Berengar shook his head and said, "In the past, they would not have come to Gos Velen to preach."

"Most of the people in the city are not poor, and this place relies on sorceresses to make a living. The missionaries are not stupid either. Why would they waste time here for no reason? But now..."

The old witcher speculated a little uncertainly. "Is it because the world is in turmoil and the missionary situation outside is so good that they are getting cocky? Do they think they can make some achievements by coming to Gos Velen?"

It is easier to preach when the world is in chaos. There is nothing wrong with this logic.

Lan finally looked at the Eternal Fire missionary who came to Gos Velen to preach with some surprise, but still shook his head and left with Berengar.

They were already in the middle of the market square, squeezed by the crowd. If they wanted to go out, they might as well keep going forward. At least they could visit the market at the same time.

After walking for a while, the missionary's passionate and inflammatory speech was buried in the noisy noise.

But there is always something new at the market.

This was the center of the square, and suddenly there was a sound of drums and shouts for the crowd to be quiet.

Although the crowd looked completely indifferent, the announcement reader standing on the wooden platform was very familiar with it and didn't care at all.

He had a loud, well-honed voice and he knew how to use it.

"Tell the people around you!" He shouted with full energy, shaking out a roll of parchment from his palm and unfolding it to the crowd.

"The halfling Hugo Ansbach is wanted! Because he once provided shelter and food to the evil elves in the Scoia'tael."

"And Justin Ingvar, the dwarven blacksmith who forged arrowheads for those villains."

"The mayor has announced that these two men must be brought to justice. Whoever can catch them will receive a reward of fifty crowns. Anyone who dares to provide them with food or shelter will be regarded as an accomplice."

"If they were caught in a village instead of in the wild, the entire village would have to pay the fine as well."

"Who would give shelter to halflings?" someone in the crowd shouted, "We should arrest them all on the farm, all non-human races should be arrested!"

"Why not just not arrest him and put him in jail?" someone else suggested, "It would be quicker to just hang him."

The two witchers walked past the pulpit and continued through the crowded and noisy market without stopping.

"Even around big cities like Gos Velen, there's a large-scale Scoia'tael disturbance now?"

Lan En frowned and leaned down to ask.

"It's getting worse and worse." Berengar said briefly.

"The city defense forces have gone out to sweep the city several times and killed many people, but it's no use. The situation is only getting worse."

"They indiscriminately attacked and killed all humans they saw in the wild, including merchants, car repairmen, medicine sellers, and farmers. They killed them all."

"Look, we are already out of the market. In the past, this stall would have to be moved forward a long way to reach the end."

Lan shook his head and sighed slightly.

Although he had already reached a consensus with Iorveth, the leader of a small group of Scoia'tael guerrillas, and the green dragon lady Sakia who transformed into a human.

Together, they came up with a path that could make a huge advance toward peaceful coexistence between non-human races and humans.

But execution takes time, it takes time for influence to spread, and it takes even more time to put the idea into practice to test whether it works.

These Scoia'tael who killed indiscriminately outside the cities and villages deserved to die.

It's a pity for Lan En that under the current situation, their actions have only exacerbated racial conflicts.

"These things can be left alone for now."

Berengar said as he walked.

"Let's talk about your business first. Let's go, as usual?"

Now the two of them have walked out of the market square, and although the crowd is still large, it no longer feels crowded.

The old witcher has been working with Lan and caring for each other for a long time.

Berengar had known the whole thing since he had made the agreement with the Lady of the Lake.

Therefore, every time Lan En came back to see him, he basically didn't need to say much, the old demon hunter would prepare and replenish those miscellaneous consumables for him.

In Aretusa College, the respected dean always wanted to give him the most expensive and best.

But only professionals who have personally experienced wild hunting and adventure can accurately know what is most needed for this kind of work and journey.

If Margarita was allowed to prepare the supplies, Lan En felt that the bread and bacon in his alchemical leather bag, which were hard enough to hit people, would probably be turned into dessert cakes.

"Yeah, let's start with the usual set."

Lan nodded to Berengar with the same familiarity.

(End of this chapter)