Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 75 Sending Warmth

Gua! Gua! Gua!
The cawing of crows that rang out early in the morning made the housekeeper's already bad mood sink even further, and Lyudmila stomped her flat shoes so hard they made a clattering sound.

Arriving at the small garden in front of the house, they found the priest in black robes directing several people to level all the vegetation, with cut plant roots scattered everywhere.

Rubbing her throbbing temples, Lyudmila barely suppressed her anger. "Father, what are you doing? You know, these plants have been growing for many years and are of good quality."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm going to make use of this place for other purposes." The priest in the black robe patted the mud off his hands and said casually.

"doing what?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Look, they're here!" The priest in the black robe pointed outside.

Dozens of handcarts appeared outside, carrying black coal chunks. The faces of the workers pushing the carts were covered in dust, making it impossible to see their true features.

The handcart is ready to be brought in.

"What are you doing! This is a private residence! Who gave you permission to trespass!" Lyudmila shouted from the front.

"Madam, the master here sent us to haul coal," the foreman explained after taking off his hat and bowing.

"The master here?"

“That’s right, I’m the one who had them bring the coal over.” The priest in the black robe walked over and stuffed the banknotes in his hand into the workers’ hands.

"Alright, believer, dump the coal in the yard, take your pay and go rest."

“Yes, Father!” The worker bowed again, and the others filed in, piling the black coal into the yard, quickly forming a small hill that contrasted sharply with the fallen plants on the ground.

“Father Pugin! This is so rude! Can you explain this?!” Lyudmila was trying hard to suppress her emotions.

“Oh, I’m preparing fuel for the coming winter,” the priest in black robes said confidently.

"Prepare fuel? I'm in charge of coordinating the heating for the house, and are you planning to burn ten years' worth of coal all at once?" Lyudmila's voice rose another notch; she felt the other person was completely unreasonable.

“Madam, I have just received a revelation that this winter will be particularly cold, which is why I am making preparations early,” the priest in black robes said, before dumping the last cartload of coal into the yard.

"This is outrageous! As the housekeeper, this expense is clearly over budget, and I cannot get reimbursed!"

"It doesn't matter, just deduct it from the personal allowance His Majesty gave me." The man in black shrugged and said nonchalantly.

The housekeeper let out a sigh of relief, trying her best not to appear flustered. Then she pulled out her notebook. "Alright, Father, since that's the case, I won't say anything more. But when do you have time to discuss the meeting with the Holy Bishops' Guild?"

"Please tell them that I am going to help a group of the Lord's most devout believers, and that I will personally visit them once the trip is over."

"You need to at least give me a timeline..."

"Oh, speaking of time, it really is almost time. That's all for today. I'll leave the situation at home to you." The priest in the black robe took out a pocket watch, glanced at it, and hurriedly called over a servant. The servant then carried a pile of things from the storeroom before leaving in a hurry.

The housekeeper, who was completely bewildered, was left standing there.

Lyudmila stamped her foot, deciding to make a note of this inexplicable fellow in the report to come.

On the other hand, Mr. Fabergé noticed that his apprentices were in particularly high spirits lately, with some even volunteering to work overtime to finish their tasks.

As he quietly approached the vicinity of the workshop, he heard this sound.

"Hey, Zhikov, I heard Father Putin went to your house?" someone asked curiously.

"Yes, I went yesterday. He brought my family flour and eggs, as well as coal for heating in the winter. The priest is really as you say, a humble and kind man. He even hugged me and blessed me personally."

"Yes, yes! My family received things too, and the priest massaged my grandma's legs!" someone chimed in.

"My family is the same. When the priest came, he even taught my sister to read!"

"Me too." "My family too..."

The apprentices' voices rose and fell, and it was then that the old Frenchman realized that the black-robed priest had been going out to visit one of his apprentices almost every day, bringing him supplies.

Where did the priest go today?

"The Moliniev family, theirs was the worst off, now things are much better..."

Fabergé did not go inside, but silently left and went to his supervisor to ask if there was an apprentice named Molineev.

"There is such a person, whose home is in..."

Having obtained the answer, the Frenchman summoned a carriage and went there alone, following the address.

Then he saw a scene he had never imagined: Father Putin, the Tsar's favorite, the Tsarevich's hope for recovery, was actually lying on the roof of a slum, his backside sticking out, holding a hammer...

There…

Repairing someone's leaky roof?!

The apprentices standing below were both embarrassed and touched, holding their share of flour and repeatedly calling for the priest to come down.

The frail old woman in the room, dressed in tattered clothes, saw this scene and her cloudy eyes shone with a different kind of light. She held the water jug ​​in both hands and stood there waiting for the priest to climb down.

Her hands trembled slightly, but she remained standing there, refusing to sit down.

As the holy water and the cross were imprinted on the old woman's forehead, she bowed down with utmost devotion.

Even when he was leaving, the young apprentice's family saw the priest off to the street corner.

On the carriage ride back, the Frenchman looked at the priest and hesitated before asking, "Father Pugin, do you think I'm too harsh on the workers?"

“No, I didn’t mean that at all.” The priest in black robes drank the water in his glass and said, “It’s not your fault, it’s just a problem of the times. It’s just that as an ascetic, it’s my duty to be there for believers when they are in trouble.”

"Shouldn't this be God's responsibility?"

“Of course, but as a devout believer, I sometimes help God take care of his flock when he’s busy.” The priest in the black robe pointed to the sky and winked playfully.

Fabergé remained silent.

The next day, Fabergé’s workshop announced that each apprentice’s salary would be increased by ten rubles.

By the time the Holy Bishops' Guild extended the invitation for a meeting for the third time, Fabergé's thirty apprentices had already been visited by the black-robed priest.

Qin Hao simply set his sights on the poor people around him.

Thus, a strange sight appeared in St. Petersburg: every day, a black-haired priest would push a handcart into the street, find the poorest family, knock on their door, and distribute the prepared coal to them.

Some people think he is a very kind-hearted priest who truly treats his parishioners like children.

Some of the slightly wealthier citizens, however, were dismissive. St. Petersburg was a big city, and coal prices were controlled by the government. Although the poor might not be able to afford good coal every day, they could still use cinders and broken wood for heating.

"You stingy coward! Giving out broken coals is not as good as giving out some black bread," someone said sullenly from the side.

However, soon no one said that anymore.

Two weeks later, St. Petersburg was hit by a sudden heavy snowfall and the temperature plummeted.

The snowfall came a full month earlier than usual!

Life suddenly became difficult for the citizens.

(End of this chapter)