In Terra, she is a hunter and a bad woman.

"Were you born in the Sarkaz?"

"It's not..."

"Have you and your family never been exposed to the Lateran teachings?"

"My parents have their own beliefs, but I can be sure that they will never be exposed to the Lateran teachings in their lifetime..."

Maria seemed particularly calm in the face of the old man's obviously suppressed emotions.

She was even a little curious as to why the other party behaved like that.

The old man was silent for a long time, and then he rubbed his eyebrows helplessly when he saw Maria's unchanged expression.

"I trust you wouldn't lie about something like this...but, in the name of Maria."

The old man was silent for a long time, then he sighed.

As Maria watched, he began to explain.

"Maria, the Virgin Mary!"

……

Santa Maria...

The Mother of the Lord.

In Lateran teachings, it is a symbol of redemption and forgiveness, as well as beginnings and changes.

There are not many records about it in the doctrine, but it is extremely important.

Even after the Lord created everything, the first chapter is a description of human virtues... and among them, the existence of the Virgin Mary occupies courage, love, firmness and salvation.

It can be said that in the interpretation of doctrine by some Laterans, the existence of the Virgin Mary may be superior to that of the Lord.

Its guiding significance is a key chapter in the entire Lateran College of Decrees.

As time goes by, the doctrine occasionally receives new interpretations, and St. Mary is no longer a concrete person, but a spiritual entity.

But this does not mean that the meaning of Mary has been completely replaced by that of the Virgin Mary.

The two are still equal and in a position of contrast to each other.

Mary is the humanity, the Virgin is the divinity.

If this name appeared anywhere else, it would be at most a rare coincidence.

but……

Appearing in Lateran?

This is a bit too subtle.

The old man sighed and finished recounting the record about the Virgin Mary in the scriptures.

To his surprise, Maria showed no sign of interrupting him. Instead, she listened carefully and gave her own answer.

"It's an interesting teaching, it leads people to goodness and beauty... but I should have nothing to do with this lady."

Maria sat aside, legs crossed, arms folded over her knees, silently looking at the old man in front of her.

"I will not forgive, much less redeem... unless death can be called redemption and forgiveness."

"..."

The old man fell silent.

After a while, he rubbed his eyebrows helplessly.

This interrogation was actually to confirm whether Maria had any relationship with the person who had been reported recently and was said to be a fallen angel.

But after going around in circles for half a day, the old man was a little confused.

His energy, which was not particularly good to begin with, was almost gone by now.

But fortunately, when he was really at a loss, someone finally came out to help him.

Just behind the old man, a woman in white clothes and white hair walked out.

Her body was hidden in the darkness, but her bright golden eyes could not be obscured by the darkness.

"This lady has already done her research. She is a trustworthy person..."

"……I see."

The old man was obviously stiff for a moment after seeing Raynay appear, but after a moment, he still nodded and gave his answer.

Maria also exchanged glances with Raynay.

Then, he turned and left...

……

After Maria left the notary office, the guard at the door had already disappeared.

There were still people walking casually on the streets in the distance.

After seeing Maria coming out of the notary office, although he was a little surprised, he nodded to show his goodwill.

Maria didn't leave immediately. Instead, she found a nearby dessert shop and ordered two seaweed pies...

It has to be said that the Lateran people do have extraordinary creativity in cooking... It's just a pity that this creativity seems to ultimately lead to desserts.

Maria didn't have to wait too long. Soon, the woman in pure white appeared in front of Maria again.

"Seaweed pie? It's the latest flavor, but it seems not many Rutlanders like it. Most people think that if you remove the seaweed, it's still a good pie..."

The woman sat down opposite Maria very naturally and began to eat the thing with a strange name without any grace.

Not sure if she was really hungry or just liked the pie, but Raynay quickly finished the pie in front of her. After seeing Maria was just drinking black tea silently, she looked at the untouched pie in front of her in surprise.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"I bought two for you..."

"Um...thank you?"

Rayna was indeed different from ordinary Laterans. At least, at this time, she did not pretend to refuse.

She really does love seaweed pie.

Pushing the pie in front of the woman, Maria looked at Raynay who was still eating the food in front of her and blinked.

“You helped me…”

"...So be it."

"...You know him?"

“I don’t know him.”

"..."

"Okay, I think I answered a little too early."

The woman smiled, then stopped eating for a moment, touched the corner of her mouth with her hand, and put some residue into her mouth.

"From the perspective of status, he should be considered my senior?"

As Raynay said this, she also looked at Maria in front of her.

"I don't know if he's ever mentioned this to you... He's actually a Sarkaz, in a sense... His adoptive parents are both Sarkaz, and he grew up among the Sarkaz. He was brought back by other Laterans when he was a teenager."

"Because of his life experiences and identity, he's never been accepted by most people... Of course, no one's going out of their way to bully him, but not many people like to interact with him unless it's absolutely necessary."

"But I was an exception at that time... I always found him very interesting."

"The education I received since childhood has repeatedly told me that the Sarkaz are evil and they only bring disaster and destruction... The meaning of their existence is actually the opposite of Lateran..."

"Sometimes, I wonder if everyone's rejection of him is because they've accepted that the Sarkaz also have kindness, and that Lateran, as their counterpart, also has evil."

Rayna said, turning her head again and looking out the window.

This is a one-way glass, so the two people can easily see the confused refugee children walking outside.

They were dressed in rags and looked malnourished.

but……

"The Lateran is neither holy nor redemptive."

Rayna whispered.

"After all, Lateran is just a small country. Although we have a lot of wealth due to many things, this wealth is far from enough to support us in taking care of everyone. All we can do is give these children clothes when the weather changes, and give them food when they are really starving to death..."

"Because of religious teachings, we will never allow these children to work, but this also cuts off their only hope of becoming self-reliant."

"To those parents, their children have entered a holy land, but in reality, they are just trapped in a cycle of starvation and starvation... When I see scenes like this, I also think, perhaps, this is even more cruel than the Sarkaz..."

"Give people a little hope, but never give them a chance to change..."

The woman whispered, her words were faint and silent.

After a long pause, she received no response.

He smiled bitterly a few times before turning his head away.

"I'm sorry for making you listen to some of my complaints... I know it's not nice, but I just can't help it."

Rayna said, trying to look at Maria.

But she was surprised to find that Maria had disappeared.

She was stunned for a few moments, then suddenly felt something and immediately turned her head.

Just outside the glass window, the black figure was silently handing the food in his hand to the children.

She looked so indifferent, but she stretched out her hand very gently, touched the children's heads, and then slowly walked into the store.

Rayna looked at Maria in front of her helplessly, her tone somewhat helpless.

"There's no way to save all the children this way..."

"……certainly."

Maria did not deny it.

She just paused for a few seconds before continuing.

"I can't save people, and I don't know how to save people... The most I can do is give these people some temporary help..."

"There are still many children who are starving..."

Rayna said, looking at Maria in front of her.

Maria, on the other hand, just kept a calm expression.

"I know……"

"but……"

“That doesn’t stop me from doing these things…”

"The opportunity to save everyone will not go away just because you help a few people..."

411

Chapter 411 Even though this may be the last resort.

"Except for those who have already been arranged, there are still about 500 homeless children left in this city... and the monastery is almost full. Taking in more people may cause some uncontrollable problems."

Rayna said, explaining to Maria the difficulty of the current problem.

But Maria didn't say much, she just sat quietly in the chair and drank her black tea silently.

Outside the window, the sun is shining...

……

A few days later, a caravan went to Yan State to trade... and a letter was also sent out.

About a month later, diplomats from Dayan came here in the name of a visit and conducted an inspection.

Although the Lateran side had doubts about this, at this time they were happy to maintain good relations with Dayan, so they received him.

But for some reason, they were a little nervous... This was unexpected for the Dayan people who always paid attention to their demeanor.