Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 338 Zoe's Family

Religion is a business. This description is not a deliberate disparagement, but rather a description of some facts.

Some people go from the city to the desert, and they gain fame; some people go from the desert to the city, and they gain status…

With the establishment of monasteries, more and more people systematically acquired the status of “monks” and engaged in religious professions.

At the same time, religion is a business, and it does not specifically refer to religious personnel, but also to the general public.

A big difference between humans and animals is that humans are smart enough to think about a lot of "unnecessary" things.

Who am I, where am I, what am I going to do...

Why do people live? What is the purpose of living...

These thoughts about the meaning of life drive people to update their moral systems and philosophical thoughts.

People are smart enough to think about the truth of the world and the meaning of their own lives, but not smart enough to truly understand the truth of the world.

In this contradiction, religions such as Christianity and Buddhism, which are rich in philosophical ideas rather than simple worship of gods, have ushered in their own prosperity.

Whether the answers are right or wrong, at least they provide solutions.

So, the believers used their own labor to build churches and monasteries, and used the wheat they earned from their hard work to feed the clergy.

Lost material wealth, gained spiritual peace...

However, history has proven one thing countless times: it is normal for the guest to become the host.

The people, as the creators of history, will always be forgotten.

In the end, only kings, princes, generals and ministers can leave their names in history books.

Religious figures who control the spiritual needs of the people can easily use this to pursue personal gain.

While Gellis was still gaining knowledge and experience in the monastery, Alexandros was facing a dilemma.

It was obvious that the village did not welcome them, or more precisely, did not welcome Zoe.

Massena, who was beside Alexandros, could not help but put his hand on the hilt of the sword in the face of the villagers' hostility.

As for Alexandros, facing the villagers' pressure, he said to Manuil: "I think there must be some misunderstanding here."

"Even if she is a witch, what mistakes has she made?"

"As you can see, Zoe's leg is broken. She needs a place to recuperate. It's not very convenient where we are. If she is really from your village, please accept her."

Alexandros' words were straightforward and did not contain any threat, but rather were somewhat humble.

However, before Manuel could respond to Alexandros' words, other villagers nearby started talking.

"She didn't make any mistakes?!"

"If she had no problem, why would Dean Nicodemus be so angry that he scolded her for half an hour!"

"Besides, if it weren't for her, Basil wouldn't have died."

"Now her mother is dead, maybe it was her who cast the witchcraft!"

"That's right! That's right! If a mother is possessed by a devil, there must be a witch daughter!"

Faced with such a torrent of accusations, Zoe did not defend herself, but hid behind Alexandros.

As for Manuil, he did not join in the villagers' verbal insults, but showed a hint of apology and shook his head in the direction of Alexandros.

"Is it really inconvenient for you to accept Zoe?" "We came here with the Turks to herd sheep, and there is no room for more people there."

Hearing this, Manuil made a gesture to invite Alexandros and his party to visit his home, amid the puzzled looks of the other villagers.

But obviously, Manuil does have a certain prestige in this village, so when he made this move, no other villagers continued to express strong opposition.

Compared with other villagers, Manuil's house is indeed bigger, or neater.

After everyone sat down, Manuil tried to pour a cup of hot water to entertain these guests.

Alexandros and others, like Gairis, claimed to be monks who came here from Cyprus.

But his statement is different from that of Garys.

Alexandros said that he and his people came here to preach to the Turks.

The reason for living with the Turkic people is to make them understand that the true way to salvation is to promote Christ.

Listening to Alexandros' words, both Zoe and Manuel had subtle expressions.

Zoe muttered something like why didn't she listen to the lecture before.

And Manuel sighed.

After briefly explaining her own background, Zoe also learned about her mother's situation from Manuel.

Alexandros, who was standing by, understood a little bit.

Zoe's family does have problems, and they are quite big.

Her father theoretically still owned the land in the Cardia Military Region, but he died a few years ago when Zoe was still young, leaving the mother and daughter to live in the village.

And Zoe's mother, for some reason, was possessed by the devil not long after. She started shouting that the end of the world was coming, the Millennium Empire was about to end, and that the priests were all rubbish and were lying...

As far as Alexandros knew, if what Gellis said was true, then this was actually a mental illness, or simply crazy.

Of course, in this day and age, it is really ahead of its time to be able to correctly understand what mental illness is.

Plus, Zoe has some special "knowledge".

As Zoe said, she is a witch.

A witch recognized by the Monastery of Saint Barsanofius.

To be honest, the word "witch" does not actually have a bad reputation for ordinary people.

After all, in this era, the identity of a witch actually means a woman who knows herbs and medical skills, or an astrologer, medium, or psychic.

But if it is recognized by the monastery, it will no longer be a small matter, but will involve political escalation.

Indeed, there were no large-scale witch-hunting movements during this era, and the Eastern Empire generally would not directly execute people on suspicion of witchcraft.

But the empire still believed that witchcraft was both a superstition and a threat to national and social stability.

Moreover, the word witchcraft is often associated with heresy.

As a result, she naturally could not stay in the village. At the request of the monastery, Zoe was sent to the monastery for purification, leaving her mother alone in the village.

And Zoe's mother is in a situation where it is not easy for her to take care of herself...

Even with Manuel's care, it's obviously not easy to survive.

(End of this chapter)