Master the Abyss, starting from an apprentice priest.

Chapter 221 Mir's Arrival (5k1)

After Luo Xiu finished processing one day's files, he went to the reception room and met with Lord Nelson in person.

Lord Nelson had been waiting here for a long time. When he saw the church's "high priest" Luo Xiu coming, he stood up and paid a pious sacrament to Luo Xiu.

"Thank you for your time, Lord Luo Xiu." Nelson said respectfully, "I heard from the Border Court that you have judged the case of 'Death Adviser' Grion. I came here to express my sincerest gratitude to you."

"You have eliminated this scourge for me and the residents of Red Maple City. This is truly great news."

"That's just my duty as the 'High Priest'." Luo Xiu nodded and smiled, saying, "You don't need to make a special trip for this, Mr. Nelson."

"No, no, you are too polite, Master Luo Xiu."

Nelson shook his head and said:

"Grein, the 'Death Adviser', has always been a major concern for Lord 'Grand Inquisitor' Baines. I would like to thank you not only on my own behalf, but also on behalf of the 'Border Court'."

"Lord Baines asked me to tell you that he is willing to reach further cooperation with the church. To this end, the Border Court is willing to open a quarter of the treasure house for the church. At the same time, Lord Baines promised to share all intelligence with the church in the future."

"And this time, I am personally willing to donate another 5,000 gold coins to the church. Lord Baines and the Border Court have also asked me to donate 20,000 gold coins on their behalf. This is just our humble gift. I hope you will accept it. Please don't refuse."

Nelson's words were full of sincerity, and the expression on his face was full of piety and respect like a true believer. Luo Xiu looked straight into his eyes, thought for a moment, then nodded and said:

"I understand, Master Nelson. I have indeed received the goodwill from you and the 'Border Court'. I will let the clergy of the secret office hand over to your attendants later. On behalf of the church, I thank you for your donation."

When Lord Nelson heard that "High Priest" Luo Xiu accepted the gifts, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He came here again under the order of Lord Baines, the "Grand Inquisitor", and his important mission was to establish a good relationship with the church, especially the "Chancellor" of the church, Luo Xiu Carlos. Since Luo Xiu accepted these "goodwill" gifts, this mission was accomplished.

Then, Nelson heard Luo Xiu continue:

"Deepening the cooperative relationship with 'Bian Ting' is what I have been pursuing, and your arrival has given me an opportunity, Mr. Nelson."

"I hope you can go back and tell Lord Baines that if there is another danger like the 'Death Whisperer', you can send someone to the church to inform me immediately. I swear in the name of the Holy Light that such filth will be punished by the Holy Spirit."

"That couldn't be better, Master Luo Xiu."

Lord Nelson stood up and bowed deeply to Luo Xiu again.

At this time, he had already conveyed the goodwill of the "Bian Ting" and received an accurate response from the "Master Priest" Luo Xiu, so he prepared to say goodbye to Luo Xiu and said:

"Well, Master Luo Xiu, if that's the case, I won't bother you any more."

"I will convey your words to Lord Baines verbatim. He will certainly be pleased with it."

After saying this, City Lord Nelson formally bid farewell to Luo Xiu, left the reception room under Luo Xiu's gaze, and left the church under the guidance of the clergy.

Luo Xiu then left his residence and went to the Holy Office, preparing to send a dispatch to the "missionary station" to receive the "gift" from Lord Nelson.

This time, the church received 25,000 gold coins donated by Lord Nelson and the "Border Court". In addition, the "Supreme" newly built "Ring Storage Treasure House" in Red Maple City, which was managed by the "Border Court", also opened a quarter of it to the church. With the size of the "Border Court", the church no longer needs to worry about basic materials, which is really a good thing.

While Luo Xiu was thinking about these things, he was also thinking about other issues.

Since Luo Xiu officially assumed the position of "Hosting the High Priest" of the Red Maple City Wartime Church, the church has obtained a lot of resources and financial savings from various channels. The amount of "holy donations" from Lord Nelson twice reached 10,000 gold coins, and "Grand Inquisitor" Baines asked him to "donate" 20,000 gold coins... Add to that the thousands of gold coins "holy donations" from many devout believers recently, and those seized from the pagan strongholds by the Holy Inquisitor led by Anthony and Pamier, the church's current financial reserves have reached nearly 60,000 gold coins.

Although this number is not much compared to the 200,000 gold coins he once had in the "Golden Country Bank", it is still a considerable number... In a trance, Luo Xiu inexplicably felt that he seemed to have some kind of innate talent for making money.

Well, now that resources are sufficient, Luo Xiu also needs to consider recruiting and expanding the church in the future.

After writing down all these ideas, Luo Xiu took the newly written letter to the missionary center and the secret place and conveyed his requests to the chief officers of the two sanctuaries respectively.

After receiving a positive response, Luo Xiu returned to his residence from the two sanctuaries, set up the barrier and took a rest.

Now, most of the important matters of his new position as the "High Priest" of the church have been completed. The clergy under the church will carry out other trivial tasks, so there is no need for Luo Xiu to distract his attention.

He was then able to plan to do something of his own outside of the church.

Luo Xiu then tidied up his room, changed into casual clothes, walked out of the barrier of his residence, went to the missionary center and explained some things to Anthony, then left the church and walked towards the main street of Red Maple City.

He always remembered one other thing - to find a suitable shop for the dwarf Mil as a new blacksmith shop, and now Luo Xiu finally had free time to fulfill this agreement.

Calculating the schedule, the dwarf Mil said at the time that he still needed to deal with some aftermath matters, and now it was almost time for him to set off.

While thinking about this, Luo Xiu was strolling leisurely along the main street. He was walking around and looking around, feeling quite happy.

After dealing with a bunch of things at the beginning of taking office, now is the most sacred and precious private vacation that no one can disturb.

Luo Xiu thought so firmly in his heart.

……

A week later, it was mid-October of the Tianqi calendar year 767.

Since the unprecedented horrific plague broke out in the Nolan Empire last month, an unprecedented famine quickly swept across the eastern part of the empire and quickly spread to large areas of the empire.

The previous plague had already severely damaged the empire's vitality. The famine that followed it now exacerbated the situation and caused extremely serious turmoil in the empire.

By the time the news that large tracts of the empire's territory had suffered severe famine reached Songyuan Territory and then Hongfeng City, the famine had already caused irreparable and enormous losses to the empire.

——“October Famine”. This is the name given to this famine by the emperors of the empire later.

"Border Court" first received the news from the Law Office of Songyuan Territory, and the leader of "Border Court", "Grand Inquisitor" Baines, also fulfilled his previous "intelligence sharing" promise and synchronized the information about the famine to the church.

Luo Xiu was therefore able to learn the news first. Although the famine and plague had not completely spread to Songyuan Territory, the situation was not at all optimistic.

This means that the time when the "Judgment War" actually arrives is getting closer and closer... Luo Xiu knows this better than anyone else.

Soon, more terrorist acts will erupt in the empire - the pagan massacre of the "Rolling Stone City Sacrifice", the horrific assassination of the "Black Knife Incident"; the border independence movement of the "Bloody Declaration"... one terrorist riot after another will occur, gradually pushing the empire's rule to the brink of collapse.

Finally, with the "Night of Wailing" in which a duke, three marquises, and dozens of earls were cursed to death as the final fuse, the Dark Principality will officially declare war on the Empire, and the clarion call of "War of Revenge" and "War of Judgment" will truly be sounded.

Now, there is not much time left for Luo Xiu to prepare, and Luo Xiu is very clear about this.

But he could not and did not intend to forcibly reverse the pain and tragedy that preceded the war.

Although Luo Xiu is now at the "quadruple destiny" and possesses a strength that most extraordinary people cannot reach, he also knows that he is far from strong enough, and the initiators of these pains and tragedies are undoubtedly the games between extraordinary people who are at least above the "saint" level.

The fact that he could foresee what was bound to happen in the future was enough to give him an absolute advantage. And the result of forcing his way into such a high-end game was obvious. If he was careless, he would be crushed into dust by those truly powerful people, and there would be no recovery.

Under such circumstances, Luo Xiu still chose to stay in Red Maple City and develop steadily. Only by continuing to become stronger and truly promoted to the "Saint" of the fifth level of destiny, can he practice more. After learning that the "October Famine" had really arrived, Luo Xiu made such a decision.

……

Red Maple City, Glorious Church.

In the week after meeting with City Lord Nelson, Luo Xiu maintained his normal work pace as the "High Priest", handling various affairs of the church in an orderly manner and steadily improving his own strength.

During this period, the diocese had received notice of the remarkable achievements made by Luo Xiu after he took office, so it dispatched more clergy to the church and gave the church more support.

The chief officer of the "missionary station", Maiyev, also carried out Luo Xiu's orders very well and selected many talented and talented people from the devout believers of Red Maple City.

Some of them joined the church and, under the guidance of the clergy of the missionary house, successfully comprehended the way of [Glory] and embarked on the first level of their destiny. As "enlightened ones", they each served as trainee clergy.

Today, the number of clergymen in the Red Maple City Wartime Church has reached seventy-six, which is double the number when Luo Xiu took office as the "High Priest".

These are all good signs, indicating that the church is indeed developing rapidly and that there are no major problems with the development strategy that I had previously set for the church.

Luo Xiu was thinking happily, and he had just finished dealing with church affairs for the day, and he also received a new report from the guiding clergy on this morning.

The guide clergyman reported to Luo Xiu that there was a dwarf standing at the door of the church at this time. He told the clergyman on duty the surname "Carlos" and specifically asked to see the clergyman with this surname.

The guiding clergy also knew that in the church, the only clergyman with this surname was the "High Priest" Luo Xiu.

The guiding clergyman did not dare to delay and respectfully asked the dwarf to wait for a while at the church door, and then hurried to report the matter to Luo Xiu.

——That was the dwarf Mil, he was finally here! He had said before that it would take about half a month to deal with the aftermath, so he finally arrived at Red Maple City on time.

"That's an old friend of mine, Artz." Luo Xiu smiled and said to the guide, "He's finally here. You go and lead him in first, Artz, to the reception room of my residence, and I'll be there soon."

"Okay, Master Luo Xiu." The clergyman named "Altz" nodded and said, "I will go and guide the guest and arrange for him to meet you in the reception room."

After that, Artz said goodbye to Luo Xiu and left. Luo Xiu tidied his clothes, sorted out the files on the table, and then went to the reception room.

……

Outside the main entrance of the Glorious Church, Mir was looking up at the clergyman standing guard in front of him with a curious expression on his face.

When he told the two priests on duty the name "Carlos" and specifically asked to see the priest with this surname, Mir keenly noticed that the expressions on the faces of the two priests on duty seemed to become a little subtle for a moment.

Why... when I told them the last name "Carlos", they had such expressions on their faces? Mir wondered with some confusion, but at the same time he was even more curious about the identity of the Holy Inquisitor friend who had been "missed" for half a month.

Since Luo Xiu had asked Mir to buy the "Heart of the God", Mir knew that Luo Xiu's status in the church must not be simple. But there were precedents in the past where clergymen purchased for their "priests" and "bishops", so Mir did not think too deeply about it.

A clergyman on duty asked Mir to wait for a while, and then went into the church to report these to the "high priest".

Mir waited patiently and chatted with the remaining clergy about Red Maple City and the church. The clergy who had entered the church to report came out quickly and said to Mir:
"The 'High Priest' has learned of your purpose and has allowed you to enter the church to pay your respects."

"Please follow me, guest. I will take you to the residence of the High Priest."

The chief priest...why should we go to the residence of the chief priest? Mir wondered in his heart.

He hadn't figured out why the "High Priest" of the church wanted to see him when he was only here to see his friend the Holy Inquisitor... He didn't remember any encounters between him and the High Priest. Of course, it could be that his "Holy Inquisitor" friend was a close aide to the "High Priest" of the church, and his "Holy Inquisitor" friend might have already introduced him to the "High Priest" of the church...

While thinking about this, Mir restrained his spirituality, kept a low profile as much as possible, and followed the guide of the clergy to the inner courtyard of the church.

During this time, Mir looked around with some curiosity, and as a "dwarf", Mir also attracted the attention of many clergymen.

But no priest came to talk to Mil. Although "dwarves" were rare in Red Maple City, they could often be seen in various fields throughout the Nolan Empire.

For example, in the Red Maple City Church, dwarves were often seen when the building was being built. And Mil was still dressed as a craftsman, which made the clergy believe that he was the builder who came to the church to inspect the inner courtyard.

As the guiding priest led Mir to the "High Priest's Residence" and allowed him to pass through the barrier and truly enter the residence, the priest said to Mir:
"Sir, the high priest is waiting for you in the reception room on the first floor. Please go there by yourself. The high priest will only allow you to go in alone."

Only I am allowed to go in? Mir's mind raced, and he could sense something bad in the words of the guiding priest.

But now that they have entered the core of the church, Mir can only bite the bullet and respond: "I know, I will go in by myself."

Mir was confident that he was a rune magic forger with [Intelligence] "Quadruple Destiny". If the high priest really wanted to do something bad to him, he would have enough cards to escape...

While thinking about these things and watching the priest who led him here take his leave, Mil's face darkened and he strode towards the high priest's residence.

The structure of the first floor of the residence was not complicated. Mir quickly found the location of the living room and walked to the door and knocked lightly.

"——Come in." A calm voice came from behind the door. It should be the voice of the "host of the high sacrifice", which made Mil feel somewhat familiar.

But Mir didn't think too much about it. After getting permission from the high priest, he pushed the door open.

Then the expression on his face froze.

"Long time no see, Master Mir."

The "high priest" Luo Xiu was sitting quietly on the first seat in the reception room, looking at the visiting guests with a smile on his face.

After truly seeing who the "high priest" of the church was and repeatedly confirming that he was not dazzled, Mir finally couldn't hold it anymore.

"……what?"

Mir blurted out "Ah", he could no longer hide his surprise.

He wanted to ask something else, but great shock and strong doubts had already surged into Mil's heart, making him temporarily forget what he was about to say, and he just stood there in a daze.

When he saw his old friend standing there in a daze, Luo Xiu smiled knowingly. He was very satisfied with Mir's mixed reaction of shock and confusion when he saw him.

"Before, I did not fully tell you who I am, my friend."

Luo Xiu stood up, walked to Mir, stretched out his right hand to him, and said solemnly:
"I am the 'High Priest' of the Red Maple City Church. My name is Luo Xiu, Luo Xiu Carlos."

"I am very happy to see you again after half a month's absence. I welcome you on behalf of myself and the entire church."

"——Welcome to Red Maple City, my friend."

……

(End of this chapter)