In the name of the true god

After paying the astonished waiter, Jude returned to his apartment, lay on his soft bed, and pondered his plans for the next few days in a half-asleep state.

We may have money now, but it's far from the time when we can just relax and enjoy life.

Since the start date is expected to be Friday, and I no longer need to worry about survival, I should continue to train my mental strength and improve my control over the Law of Contact.

There was also Edmund's request.

While it's debatable whether to reveal his future trajectory to him, gathering more information about him and the major events that have occurred around the world over the past twenty-nine years can't hurt.

Okay, let's do it this way!

With his plans clearly laid out, Jude actively applied the Law of Contact on Tuesday and Wednesday, gathering some basic information to solidify his foundation.

At the same time, he would visit the nearest tavern every night, pretending to chat, and inquire about Edmund from some of the older drinkers.

Unfortunately, too much time has passed. Even Edmund's death was twenty-one years ago. The drinkers basically only know that this terrifying heretic had set foot in every corner of the continent and had the audacity to claim that the four existing orthodox gods were actually false gods.

This left Jude deeply puzzled.

How did Edmund know that the four great gods were false gods? Did he really find any evidence, or was he just trying to smear the church?

Should we ask his brother Connor?

As a priest, he must have heard about some of the secrets of the Holy Church.

Moreover, when brothers chat, Connor will most likely just think he's being overly curious, and even if he doesn't answer, he doesn't need to worry about arousing suspicion.

As for the major world events from the Church of Jesus 419 to the present, which Edmund had entrusted to him, Jude also had a way to collect them.

This matter is relatively much simpler.

Major newspapers publish a special edition on major events at the end of each year or the beginning of the following year.

All I need to do is find a few established newspapers and spend a lot of money to buy their stockpiled special issues from previous years.

Even though the early special issues have disappeared due to the passage of time, this systematically compiled incomplete data is still much more complete and reliable than oral interviews and investigations.

But before Jude could even try his luck at the newspaper office, on Thursday morning, October 4th, Connor arrived at the apartment with two breakfasts.

"Brother? What brings you here? Is there news from the prison?" Jude, wearing flannel pajamas, took breakfast from Connor's hands.

"Okay, you can come with me tomorrow morning to complete the onboarding process." Connor walked to the sofa in the living room and sat down. "How have you been these past few days?"

Jude put down his breakfast and poured Connor a glass of water: "Very good. As far as I can remember, it's been a long time since I've slept for two days without having to worry about anything."

Connor was slightly moved, and his cold tone unconsciously softened a little: "Jude, is there anything you want to do?"

Jude was puzzled as to why Connor asked such a profound question right off the bat.

He thought about how he had been tormented by illness in his previous life, and then about the perilous situation he was in now, and said sincerely, "Just live well."

"It's too blurry."

"well enough."

"The more vague the pursuit, the harder it is to achieve." Connor didn't delve into it further. "...I'm on the night shift today, so I came here this morning specifically to tell you about the prison situation."

Jude glanced at Connor's packed sandwich: "Shall we eat and talk?"

"You eat first." Connor started talking about the prison, "The official name of the Royal Capital Heavy Prison is Montorus Men's Heavy Prison..."

The Montorus Heavy Prison for Men in the Kingdom of Florence, commonly known as the Royal Capital Heavy Prison.

Built in 367 AD, the prison underwent a complete renovation in 431 AD. After the renovation, the production and labor area was connected with the factory buildings established by private enterprises, which significantly reduced costs and effectively achieved a balance between the prison's income and expenditure.

The originally chaotic and bloated prison area was rationally divided into four sections: the general prison area 1, the general prison area 2, the death row and solitary confinement area, and the heretical prison area.

In addition, the original single-layer wall was expanded into two. The outermost wall is as high as 9 meters, and the two walls are connected only by the administration building.

As of last month, the Royal Capital Heavy Prison held 1844 inmates, more than 80% of whom were life prisoners or death row inmates.

The prison has 357 on-staff guards and 7 resident priests appointed by the Holy Wind Church.

"...Warden Adel is a retired Army colonel, personally appointed by His Majesty Leonard. There are two deputy wardens, one is Steele, and the other is a senior priest from the Holy Wind Church. There are four First-Class Wardens, including myself, each in charge of a prison ward. I am in charge of the Heretic Warden Warden. Below the First-Class Wardens are Second-Class Wardens, Duty Captains, and then the ordinary prison guards." Connor explained the prison's layout, personnel composition, and rank division as meticulously as possible.

After hearing this, Jude first asked the question he was most concerned about: "How many heretics are imprisoned there?"

"Thirty-nine."

"Uh... is that a lot or a little?"

"Any heretic arrested in the capital will be imprisoned in the capital's heavy prison. However, some of them are publicly executed, some voluntarily join the Holy Church, and some neither cause any serious harm nor submit, so they can only be imprisoned for life," Connor replied.

Jude was puzzled: "So only a minority were actually burned at the stake? The king and the church preferred imprisonment to killing them?"

"Heretics possess a special power that doesn't dissipate with their death but randomly transfers to others. In other words, killing them is equivalent to releasing that power again. Imprisonment is the best way to control them." Connor took a sip of water. "Therefore, only when heretics cause extremely serious consequences are they publicly executed as a warning to others."

I see……

The Holy Church also fears the "transmission" of the Law of Contact and the Law of Similarity.

The fact that the original owner only witnessed the execution of a Resonance Sorcerer once does not mean that the number of wizards and Resonance Sorcerers involved was small; it only means that most of those arrested never had the chance to be seen by the public.

"Any other questions?" Connor waited for Jude to continue.

Jude looked at Connor: "Brother, you're a priest too. I'd like to know what kind of power priests possess."

Connor spoke frankly: "Priests of different holy churches worship different gods, and the powers they acquire are also different. For example, I worship the wind god, Viridian, and I can control the power of the wind element through prayer."

"For example?"

Connor slowly closed his eyes.

After about two steady breaths, a sudden gust of wind rose from the closed doors and windows of the room!

Fortunately, the strong wind only raged for a moment and did not leave the living room furnishings in a mess.

"This..." Jude vaguely recalled the scene when the priest Rodney quietly appeared behind him earlier.

Connor's expression remained calm, his tone so flat it seemed devoid of any emotion: "This place is not suitable for casting spells. In short, the more one believes in the gods, the stronger one's mastery of the wind element. And the most common uses of the wind element are three—wind blades, wind shields, and riding the wind."