Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 529 Calming the Raging Spirit (Part 11)

[Wen Duo'er's Old Camp]
[Partial Account]
“[Hede] Old man, I’m telling you the truth.”

Winters, with a bruised eye, sat imposingly on his cot, staring intently at the tall, thin old man below.
"[Hede] I understand even less why you have only been harmed now than why someone else has harmed you, old man. Your Ayinle is too small to cross the great river of the wilderness; your Ayinle is too weak to stop the plunder of the tribes."

Winters's gaze was so intense that the tall, thin old man dared not look at his face.

He asked seriously, "[Hede] Tell me, why has it taken your herds only now?"

“[Hede] My Ayinle is too poor to be shot with an arrow,” said the tall, thin old man.

"[Hede] There are always tribes on the steppe that are poorer than you."

“[Hede] The poor will not harm me, but the nobles are cold-hearted.”

Winters hesitated for a moment, glanced at Father Kaman beside him, and asked directly, "[Herd] Do you know 'Saul'?"

"[Hede] What... 'Saul'?" The tall, thin old man was utterly bewildered.

……

After ordering someone to lead the tall, thin old man away, Winters looked at Kaman and frowned slightly: "The more I ask, the stranger it seems. Does this old man have anything to do with your Reformed Cult?"

“I didn’t…” Kaman instinctively retorted, but he had already corrected Winters too many times today and was too lazy to waste his breath, so he shook his head and changed his words to, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Winters frowned, crossed his arms, and glanced at Kaman with only his right eye—because his left eye was so swollen that it was barely a slit—looking utterly ridiculous.

However, Kaman felt that Winters' gaze was full of contempt and mockery towards the abuser, which made him feel guilty and furious at the same time.

Just as Kaman was uncontrollably conjuring up the idea of ​​punching the wolfhound's intact eye again, Winters sighed.

“It seems you’re genuinely unsure.” Winters wiped away the tears streaming from his left eye and asked, puzzled, “Didn’t you get any ‘results’ from this old man? Is the translator incompetent? After the banquet, I’ll have Bell translate for you, and then you can talk to him again?”

“No need,” Kaman refused outright. “I already know everything I need to know.”

Winters was taken aback at first, then slapped his thigh in feigned anger: "Then tell me!"

After an internal struggle, Kaman finally determined that the matter concerning the old man Hurd did not involve the oath of secrecy, and thus told him the truth:

"The situation is, I found the right things in his beliefs, but... but there were also some things that were completely wrong..."

"What's right and what's wrong? You religious folks, you're so good at beating around the bush!" Winters bluntly exposed the misunderstanding Kaman was reluctant to discuss, getting straight to the point:

"Are you trying to say that what that old man believes in isn't purely the Catholic doctrine, but rather somewhat like Catholicism, though not entirely Catholic?"

For Winters' swollen eye, Kaman swallowed her anger and replied, "Yes, the old man's beliefs... 'things,' whether in rituals or doctrines, have Catholic influences. When I spoke to him about heaven and hell, original sin and sacrifice, judgment and resurrection, he quickly understood everything I said..."

Winters listened intently, nodding frequently to encourage Kaman to continue.

Although Kaman became increasingly reluctant, he continued to explain, for the sake of his one eye: "But his beliefs were mixed with many impurities of Hed paganism. They believed in an all-knowing and all-powerful God and the Son of God, their 'Mass' were presided over by their 'shamans,' they used mare's milk instead of wine, and milk curds instead of unleavened bread..."

Kaman bit his lip and whispered, "But these are all just appearances—I don't know how much of what he believes in is our 'thing' and how much is pagan 'thing.' To find out, we have to talk to their 'shaman.'" "What?" Winters raised an eyebrow: "Isn't that old man a 'clergyman'?"

“No.” Kaman shook his head. “He’s just a ‘layman’.”

“It’s similar, but not entirely similar.” Winters pondered for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. He stood up, cheerfully put his arm around Kaman’s shoulder, and asked with a grin, “Isn’t this the thing you hate the most?”

Kaman's face flushed and paled in turns. He pushed away the wolf's paw and angrily demanded, "What do you know? This... is different, understand? Different circumstances, different judgments; different targets, different treatment; different times, different interpretations..."

Kaman never mentioned the word "heretic" again, but he kept bringing it up in every sentence, which made Winters want to laugh.

"Fine, fine, I don't understand." Winters raised his hands in surrender, but his words were still sharp: "Then how are you so sure this wasn't the work of the Reformation Order? Doesn't your Reformation Order love to disguise yourself as 'barbarians,' infiltrate 'barbarian kingdoms,' and study 'barbarian' divine arts? And developing some followers along the way, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

“I told you, you don’t understand at all!” Kaman retorted indignantly. “The mission of the Reformed Order has never included missionary work!”

As soon as he said it, Kaman realized something was amiss and quickly added, "Of course, spreading the gospel on earth is the mission of every believer, but reformed religious orders have a better way to serve the Lord."

Upon hearing this, Winters joked, "So, the 'Pope' of the Excommunication Reformed Order must be a sentimental person who prefers a more traditional way of service. He doesn't seem to approve of the Reformed Order's service?"

Kaman found it uninteresting and continued, "More importantly, I'm certain that the old man's doctrines are heretical to the Reformed Order monks as well."

"What? There are heretics too?" Winters became interested, sat back on the cot, adjusted to a comfortable position, and patted the bed: "Sit down and tell me slowly."

Kaman ignored Winters and went straight to the point: "Do you remember the murals in the Wolftown church?"

Winters was speechless: "How could I not remember?"

Memories of the past were suddenly stirred up, flooding my mind like a tidal wave, as if it were yesterday, yet also as if it were another world.

“Is that the mural Brother Reid said was a work of heresy?” Winters sighed softly. “It was destroyed in the turmoil.”

“Yes, that mural.” Kaman’s voice was cold and deep: “Do you know what era that mural is from?”

“I don’t know.” Winters shook his head.

“I don’t know either,” Kaman said emphatically. “Nobody knows!”

Winters shrugged, indicating that he was listening.

Kaman explained quickly, "The church in Wolf Town was expanded from the old chapel, and the wall with that mural is from the old chapel. But when was the old chapel built? Nobody knows."

“Bishop Gervodan believes the old chapel was built by the immigrants, but I asked Mr. Mitchell, and he said the old chapel was already there when they immigrated to Wolftown. In fact, Wolftown is in its current location because of the existence of that old chapel.”

Winters quickly processed what Kaman had said, recalling the history that Brother Saul had told him, and asked in return, "Are you suggesting that the old man's 'Order' originated from the 'First Rupture'?"

“No, even earlier than that.” Kaman’s expression was enigmatic. “Even to the heretics of the First Rupture, that old man’s beliefs were heretical. If I’m not mistaken, his cult, like that mural, can be traced back to the Arians, who were suppressed after Dalic II issued the Edict of Mia…”

Kaman paused for a moment: "That was a thousand years ago."

[The preceding events can be found in Chapter 26 of Volume 2, "Gold Bars and Conscription," and Chapters 13 and 14 of Volume 4, "The Oath" and "Divine Magic," respectively.]
[It is common and natural for "heresies" not accepted by mainstream sects to flourish on the fringes where the mainstream influence is weak. This is true of Arianism, and it is also true of Sufism. However, this book merely borrows the name Arianism and its history, nothing more.]
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