In the name of the true god

In order to have more topics to talk about with colleagues and to broaden my horizons, I developed an interest in newspapers, which is certainly a good thing.

Connor was also pleased to see that his younger brother was ambitious and knew how to improve himself in all aspects.

As for wanting to collect as many past special issues as possible instead of focusing on the latest reports, although it's not entirely understandable, Connor didn't suspect anything about it since he was unaware of the existence of the mysterious space.

"The newspapers I remember are all in the city center. I'll drive there next time and buy you a few copies." Connor considered that he hadn't driven today, and if he had to take the tram back and forth, he didn't know how long it would take. "Also, I remember you have a radio in your room. Besides reading the newspaper, you can listen to the radio more often. This will also help improve your understanding."

Only a few newspapers...

This is simply a drop in the ocean compared to their enormous needs...

Jude didn't object to Connor making the trip for him, after all, his brother was obviously more familiar with the capital and had more connections: "Brother, a few copies might not be enough. I want to understand all kinds of major events that have happened in the past few decades, the longer and the more detailed the better."

"Do you really need to know about things from decades ago?"

"right."

"Your thirst for knowledge is quite strong..." Connor sensed that Jude's demands were becoming a bit unusual. He wanted to ask if he was being kept in the dark, but then he thought that his repeated questioning of his brother's words had already made the brother somewhat resistant. To avoid creating a rift between the two brothers, he swallowed his words and said, "I'll take care of it. I'll try to get you as many special editions as possible."

"Brother, thank you for your trouble." Jude expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

Today is Friday.

Not only will he be rotating to the Heretic Ward tomorrow, but the night after tomorrow he will also meet Edmund for the fourth time to conduct experiments on timelines and causality.

Therefore, it is urgent to sort out the major events; any further delay will inevitably lead to more changes.

Before long, the two arrived at the apartment building on Hearthstone Street.

Connor paused at the doorway, as if he had been struggling with the decision for a long time, and asked in a less-than-firm tone, "The church has removed the other priests, and I can't protect you all day. Do you want to move in with me?"

Jude paused for a moment, then cautiously confirmed, "Brother, you should be living with Mr. Steele, right?"

"……Um."

"You two should live there. It would be awkward for us if I came over." Just thinking about it made Jude realize how uncomfortable and embarrassing it would be to live under the same roof as his brother and sister-in-law.

Let's not disturb their time together...

Connor didn't press the issue: "If anything unusual happens, remember to let me know. Also, if the stalkers find you, cooperate fully with whatever they ask. Don't resist rashly and make the situation worse."

Jude thought so too: "I understand, nothing is more important than living."

"...Go back and get some rest." Connor watched Jude walk into the building.

"Brother." Jude took a few steps, then turned back to face Connor. "Is something on your mind? You seem very tired."

Connor, hands in his pockets, paused briefly before abruptly asking, "Do you still like hard candies?"

Fruit hard candy.

Distant memories can still evoke a subtle sweetness on the taste buds.

Jude recalled the original owner of this body. As a child, he was introverted and rarely smiled or talked. His older brother, Connor, would often use the money he saved from meals to buy him fruit candies.

Even though he still didn't talk much when he had the candy in his mouth, at least he had a smile on his face.

Even though it wasn't something he personally experienced, Jude could still feel the preciousness of family ties from this memory.

He grinned and said, "I like it."

Connor returned a barely perceptible smile, then said nothing more and turned to leave.

The next day.

October 14, 448 of the Divine Calendar, Saturday.

Jude's squad was officially rotated to the Heretic Ward to work the day shift.

Just as his brother Connor had explained to him earlier, the real power to prevent heretics from escaping from prison actually came from the two priests who were always present.

The ordinary prison guards who came to stand guard were mainly responsible for delivering food to the heretics at fixed times and locations and emptying the sewage bins.

Without these requirements, they were not even allowed to stay in the heresy prison and had to wait on the periphery for the priests' orders.

However, precisely because the actual working time each day may not even be an hour, rotating to the heretical prison area has always been regarded as a desirable job by the prison guards.

"No, no, do not go gently, gently, gently into that, that, good night, old, old, old, old should burn, burn, burn and roar at dusk... wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath at the passing of light, light, light... (Note 1)" In the temporary rest room outside the heresy prison, the "poet" Anders held a book of poems and practiced his spoken language.

"Big Brother" Killian handed Captain Foster a cigarette, and the two of them puffed away together.

"Sizzle... sizzle..."

Colin, the "vain guy," sat in the seat furthest from the captain and Killian, holding two bottles of perfume and trying out the scents, trying to figure out which one could better mask the smell of smoke and make him more popular with the ladies at the ballroom dance.

"Fatty" Alan was engrossed in playing with a deck of cards.

Jude sat listlessly to the side, seeing that everyone seemed to have something to do, and asked Captain Foster, "Captain, are we just going to sit here forever?"

"The last shift just finished delivering food and emptying the sewage bins. The priests shouldn't call us in to work until around noon. Remember to bring a newspaper or something to pass the time tomorrow, or you'll get bored," Captain Foster said.

"Shall we play cards for a bit?" Jude asked, looking at the cards in 'Fatty' Allen's hand.

Colin, the "vain guy," glanced over and sneered, "The fat guy doesn't have time to play with us. He brought his cards here to play with the priest."

Playing with the priests?

Jude remembered his brother Connor mentioning that the priests who oversaw the heretics' quarters would call in a few guards to play cards when they were bored.

"Fatty" Alan is very popular and is probably a regular at playing cards with the priest.

Playing cards with three people is never as fun as playing cards with four people...

I should have seized this opportunity...

"Hey, I've got nothing better to do anyway, how about you call me when the priest plays cards?" Jude volunteered.

"I advise you not to go," Captain Foster cautioned.

"What's wrong?"

"Playing cards with priests involves money," 'Fatty' Allen explained with a light laugh. "They have rather bad tempers, so if you don't want to cause trouble, you'd better lose more than you win."

"Then why are you still playing?"

"I think it's worth spending some money to build good relationships with the priests," said 'Fatty' Alan, who has his own way of dealing with the world.

I also think it's worth it...

Jude thought to himself.

If you give the priests a little treat, they will naturally be more likely to let you go to the heresy prison to play cards more often.

Doesn't this increase the chances of getting familiar with the heretical prison, or even coming into contact with the implicated wizards and resonance sorcerers?

"It's alright, I can't lose much money," Jude said magnanimously.

Even "Fatty" Allen can afford to lose, so why can't he afford to lose his own salary?

"Fatty" Allen glanced at him: "...Okay, if the priest calls later, I'll ask him for you."

"Alright!"

Half an hour later, the landline in the temporary rest room rang.

"Fatty" Alan stepped forward and answered the phone: "It's me, okay, okay, right away."

"Clatter".

After only a few replies, "Fatty" Allen hung up the phone.

Jude, who was watching eagerly from the sidelines, couldn't help but ask, "Was that a call from the priest? Why didn't you mention me?"

As "Fatty" Allen handed the playing cards to Captain Foster, he laughed and said, "No need to mention it, they specifically asked you to come with me."

It seems his reputation has already spread throughout the prison.

As Connor's younger brother, whom he had never mentioned to his colleagues, these priests were certainly eager to meet him.

Something I've been longing for but can't get!

Jude stood up: "Let's go!"

The two said goodbye to Captain Foster and his two other colleagues, Killian and Colin, and went down to the last gate of the heretical prison on the second basement level, where they rang the bell.

Soon, the gate was opened, and two priests looked out from inside.

Jude also looked inside and immediately recognized them as the two men who had been on duty when his brother Connor brought him here last time.

"Do you still recognize me?" the young priest asked with a mocking smile, raising his chin at Jude.

The middle-aged priest also revealed a playful expression: "Come in."

Jude sensed that the two priests had ulterior motives, but he wasn't too flustered.

He had noticed during their last meeting that the two men didn't have a good relationship with his brother. Now that they were inviting him to play cards, they were most likely trying to make him lose and have fun with him.

But that's the most they can do. They certainly wouldn't dare to do anything too extreme to themselves, otherwise they wouldn't be able to explain themselves to anyone.

"Fatty" Allen noticed that Jude seemed to know the priests, so he didn't bother to introduce them. After a respectful greeting, he followed Jude to the priests' lounge in the center of the prison area.

"Playing here?" Jude glanced around the messy lounge.

"Yes, sit down." The middle-aged priest took the lead and sat down at a table. He casually waved his hand across the tabletop, and a gust of wind that appeared out of nowhere easily blew the cigarette ash, nut shells and other trash on the table to the ground.

Jude, the young priest, and "fat" Allen sat on the other three sides respectively.

The middle-aged priest pulled out a deck of cards, raising an eyebrow first: "Fatty probably already told you, we play cards for money."

"He told me. I don't mind playing with money, but I didn't bring much today, so it's best not to gamble too much." Jude currently has a little over a hundred gold coins in his pocket, and he's not sure if that's enough.

"If you don't have the money, write an IOU, or ask your brother. If your brother can't pay that either, then ask Deputy Warden Steele. Anyway, the Fernando family is richer than a country, so you can do whatever you want with them." The young priest teased deliberately, exchanging a smile with the middle-aged priest.

Jude picked at his ear, finding their laughter particularly noisy.

"Let's play blackjack, do you know how to play?" The middle-aged priest began dealing the cards without further ado.

"Never played it." Jude shook his head.

The middle-aged priest explained the game quickly: "It's very simple. Each number card represents a corresponding point. Face cards are all worth ten points. Aces can be worth either one or eleven points, whichever is most advantageous for you. The goal is to make your hand equal to or infinitely close to twenty-one points..."

Blackjack, also known as 21.

Number cards, i.e., 2-10, are scored according to their corresponding face value.

Face cards, namely J, Q, and K, are all worth 10 points.

A, or Ace, is the most flexible, and players can decide whether to count it as 1 point or 11 points.

The general process is as follows:

The dealer deals two cards to each player, one face up and one face down, while all players' cards are face up.

Then, based on each other's cards, players take turns choosing to draw, stop, or double down.

After all the players have taken their turn, the dealer turns over their face-down card. If the total points are less than or equal to 16, the dealer must continue to draw cards. If the total points are 17 or higher, the dealer must stop drawing cards.

Finally, compare the number of points.

If a player's points are greater than 21, it's considered a bust, and they lose immediately.

If the dealer's score is greater than 21, all players who did not bust win.

If neither side wins, the side with the score closer to 21 wins.

If a player happens to draw an A+10 card in their first two cards (i.e., any one of the 10, J, Q, or K), it is the highest hand in blackjack, also known as "Blackjack". Unless the dealer also draws "Blackjack", the player wins immediately and usually receives a payout at 1.5 times the stake.

"your."

Just as Jude had finished figuring out the rules, the middle-aged priest placed two cards in front of him.

The 6 of spades and the 7 of diamonds make a total of 13 points.

Taking in the cards, Jude suddenly had a new idea.

Who says that only by constantly losing to the priests can one get them to invite him to play more often so that he can observe the situation in the heresy prison more closely?

If I can squeeze these two gamblers dry, they'll be begging me to come even if I don't want to!

Note 1: "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas, English poet.