A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

After the workout, change your clothes and go to the library.

Chapter 17 Old Friend 1

There are more than one library or book collection belonging to the church in the entire city.

The collections in each library are very rich. It would take at least ten to eight years to read them all.

Even if Thomas was looking for a book instead of reading it, it would take a long time.

After all, there were no computer databases back then, so there was no way to find the target by just clicking "query".

Thomas is now going to the nearest library.

Following the road, it is easy to reach the library.

There were monks guarding the door, and outsiders or suspicious people were not allowed to enter, but Thomas was one of them, so of course he was not restricted.

"Brother Thomas, you're here again," the monk complained. "You stayed here all day yesterday!"

His complaint was justified. If it weren't for Thomas, he would have left work long ago, but Thomas was inside, so he had to wait here patiently until closing time.

Otherwise, no one can take responsibility for the loss of the books.

"I'm sorry, my dear brother." Thomas nodded at him and gently stuffed a few florins into the other's hand.

The latter's expression suddenly softened a lot.

"Brother Thomas, please be careful. If you're looking for those... unusual books, you'll probably have to look in the bookshelf on the far left. The right side is mostly collections of essays... Someone from higher up will be coming to inspect this place in a few days. If you hear any noise, it's best to go to the right. Please be careful."

You get what you pay for.

Before I paid him, he looked dissatisfied. After I paid him, he told me everything, big and small, including precautions.

Thomas nodded in understanding. "Thank you!"

The other party took the money and left happily.

Will someone still come to check the library, to prevent the monks from going astray?

Thomas has clearly felt in the past few days that the situation in this city is not as relaxed as it seems.

It seems that pilgrims come and go, and pilgrims are everywhere.

It seems that anyone can wander around here without any restrictions.

But in fact, Thomas's spiritual field these days told him that there are actually many masters here.

Elite warriors can be found almost everywhere.

In fact, when walking on the street, you can spot elite soldiers every few minutes on average.

Very high frequency.

All this shows that this city is far from as simple as imagined.

Thomas went in and hadn't even flipped through a few books when he suddenly heard footsteps.

somebody is coming.

Having been reminded just now, Thomas hurried to the bookshelf on the right and picked up a theological treatise at random - about how many fingers to use when making the sign of the cross.

It is a book of tens of thousands of words, not too thick but not too thin either.

He casually raised his eyes and looked towards the door, but saw that the person who came was not someone from above who came to inspect, but a man wearing clothes similar to Thomas, that of a lower-level priest.

Moreover, it was a face that looked vaguely familiar.

This is……

Otto?!

The name came to mind in Thomas's mind.

Chomutov Monastery, son of former abbot Konrad.

He was also a classmate of Thomas.

For a secret treasure, Conrad was plotted against and seriously injured, and almost lost his life.

Thomas finally remembered that when they met for the last time, Otto did say that he would go to Rome to treat Conrad.

But I didn't expect to meet you under such circumstances.

Otto also recognized Thomas.

After all, it's only been two or three years, and there hasn't been much change in either of their appearance and figure.

If anything, Thomas was wearing a priest's robe.

As for Otto's case, well, at least in terms of clothing, Thomas was wearing brand new (custom-made) robes, while Otto was wearing an old robe of a lower-ranking priest.

Thomas remembered very clearly that when ordinary pilgrims or saints entered the city of Rome, many specialized priests and monks would come up to sell various holy objects of unknown origin, as well as crosses, iron belts, scourges and other sacred objects, or holy water, holy oil, holy bread... But the most common ones were indulgences. For all sins, even those you had never heard of, you could find the corresponding piece of paper here.

However, Thomas, who had entered the city in ascetic attire, was not harassed by these salesmen.

Any fool can see that the salesmen who actually sell these are the lowest of the low in the church.

You can indeed make money, but your status is the lowest.

Otto's outfit at this moment was just like those salesmen.

"Otto?" Thomas asked unsurely.

"Thomas?" Otto also opened his mouth wide.

He never expected to meet Thomas here.

What was even more unexpected was that Thomas actually took off his knight's armor and put on a priest's robe.

Of course, the robe was roomy enough to hide both light armor and weapons. But what was this place? This was the library!

"It's you!" Otto looked Thomas up and down.

After not seeing each other for a few years, Thomas's face had lost the last trace of childishness and he had become a handsome young man.

The warrior's temperament was even more evident in his expression. Clearly, regardless of whether Thomas was now a priest or something else, he had not given up his martial arts.

Thomas wanted to speak, but suddenly found that he had nothing to say to the other person.

Because it can be seen that Otto is not having a good time here - just look at his old robe, the tiny holes and stains on the hem of his robe, and you can guess a general idea.

As for why life is not going well...even if I can only guess, I can only give a rough idea.

After all, the abbot of the Chomutov Monastery might be a big shot in Bohemia, but he was nothing in Rome.

I want to say something, but I don’t dare to bring up the past.

Human self-esteem is very fragile, and Thomas does not want to mock Otto's current state.

After all, although Otto had wronged Thomas in the past, with the letter of introduction, the old matter was settled.

"It's me. I haven't seen you for a few years. How are you?" Thomas asked.

He didn't dare ask about the vice-president's situation for fear of provoking him.

"Not bad." Otto lowered his head and replied.

"Are you looking for a book here? I'll help you."

"No, I was just passing by and came in to take a look." Otto looked a little uneasy. "I'm leaving now."

He said goodbye to Thomas awkwardly and left in a hurry.

Thomas sighed and continued searching in the library.

Chapter 18 Old Friend 2

Otto walked out of the library and walked towards the other two people on the street.

"Have you seen him?" one of them asked.

"Yes," Otto replied. He didn't know what had happened—early this morning, two emissaries had come to him, a poor fellow at the bottom of the church, whose affiliation was unclear.

Since he was from the Bohemian Chomutov Monastery, they sent him to see someone.

Otto didn't know what was going on, but the two men immediately took him away.

They passed through and entered the residences of high-ranking church officials, which Otto had never been qualified to visit before. They came to a small building and went up to the second floor.

The room nearly blinded Otto.

Even in the Chomutov Monastery, during the golden years of Otto's life, he had never seen such a room.

Take the magnificent canopied bed, for example: its headboard was carved with scenes of satyrs and nymphs frolicking, its capitals covered in gold, and its frame was made of oxhide straps, not wood that would mold or infest. Smooth mink fur covered both the body and the body, and gold-embroidered pillows filled with goose down stood high at the head of the bed.

The owner of the room sat at the desk, staring over here.

You don't need to look at the cardinal ring on his hand, just look at the red color on his clothes, hat, and shawl to understand his identity.

This is a cardinal, the highest official in the Catholic Church, second only to the Pope.

Why meet a cardinal?

Otto found his legs shaking. It seemed like a miracle that a man like him would be summoned by a cardinal.

"Child," the cardinal began. "Are you Otto of Bohemia? From the Chomutov Monastery?"

"It's...it's me!"

"Do you know that man?" The cardinal spoke in a calm tone, but his eyes made people instinctively think of Blade.

"Yes, his name is Thomas..."

"Those who tell lies will be destroyed," the bishop's gaze became increasingly sharp. "Child, only heretics would use the Lord's name to speak the devil's words."

Otto didn't know how to answer, but finally said, "I believe I am not wrong."

"His name is Thomas?"

"Yes."

"From the Chomutov Monastery, like you?"

"Yes?"

"You can be sure."

"I spent a long time with him." Otto recalled the past. With his father's protection, and everyone in the monastery giving him face, his future life would have been smooth sailing... If it weren't for that damned love affair... that damned woman! He unconsciously clenched his fists!

His expression fluctuated, but the cardinal's gaze softened.

"Is Thomas... a farmer?"

"It seems so," Otto thought, recalling what he had learned about Thomas's past. "But both his parents had passed away before he entered the monastery."

"He studied in the monastery for three or four years...Did he specialize in anything in the monastery?"

"Martial arts. He wants to be a knight... an armed monk!"

"But he seems to have studied all the other courses?"

"Yes, I've heard from people in the monastery before that he passed all the exams." Otto said, trying to recall.

"Do you know where he went after he left the monastery?"

"I don't know, but he was loaned out to the nearby church as a knight. I thought he would stay there for a long time."

He noticed that the cardinal had a pen in his hand and wrote a few words from time to time, obviously writing down the main points of their conversation.

"Did he do anything in the convent?"

"Nothing much," Otto thought back to the past. "But he was very smart and alert, and he mentioned several times that he had seen through the villains' plot to invade the monastery."

Just a little bit, just a little bit, and they could have escaped those evil plots and despicable schemes. Unfortunately, they finally fell into the trap of those plotters.

"Are you and him friends?" the cardinal suddenly asked.

Otto was stunned, and now he understood more and more that Thomas might have done something wrong.

The cardinal summoned him ostensibly, but was actually investigating Thomas.

It was hard to explain the feeling, but Otto felt as if his mind had split into two distinct parts. One part told him that he had to help Thomas—after all, Thomas had saved him several times in the past. But the other part reminded him that he had no obligation or responsibility to speak well of Thomas.

It was obvious that Thomas was in big trouble after being under such strict investigation.