Walking through the corridor with huge stained glass on both sides, Christina and Dorothy came to the Prayer Hall of St. Sherman Church.
She noticed that the internal layout of the church of "The End Church" was not much different from that of the church of "Fool". In other words, the churches of all mainstream churches followed the basic layout of bell tower, buttresses, vaults and huge hollow Prayer Hall, as if they had a common origin.
Of course, there are still many differences in details. The internal walls and stone pillars of St. Sherman Church's Prayer Hall are covered with an obsidian texture that looks like dripping lava but has a smooth and cold surface. The stained glass that shines through the sunlight forms a nearly circular shape with radial lines. The star shape, the dome illuminated by the candlestick is painted with graphics representing Calamity, such as meteorites, lightning, tsunamis, etc. Only the ground is in warm colors surrounding rows of benches, the middle aisle and the altar at the front, symbolizing the blessing of "Goddess of Calamity" to believers.
On the wall behind the altar, a huge "Calamity" holy emblem is embedded in the black wall. The thick circular outer layer is surrounded by three types of outlined in just a few strokes. The Catastrophe symbols are Man-made Disaster for the sword, Calamity for the flames, and "Chaos" like Vortex.
Because he has been in contact with students of various faiths in school, Christina also has some understanding of the teachings of the End Church. He knows that Goddess named "Calamity" can actually protect believers from Calamity, just like the "Fool" church does not make people stupid.
In addition to them, there is also "Church of the Eternal Darkness", which was developed after "Church of the Evernight Goddess" merged the beliefs of "God of War Church" and "Death" when North Continent became the mainstream belief. "Church of Steam" is based on Intis Republic but has developed in various countries because of the beliefs of many scientists and workers, as well as the secondary "Church of Storms", "Church of Knowledge" and "Church of the Earth Mother".
As for the East Continent's gradually resurrected belief in "Sun God", the Southern Continent hodgepodge generally allows all churches to preach freely but cannot involve the idea of secular government, and the many sects of the Western Continent recently discovered, Tina is not so clear.
Apart from Evernight Goddess, whom her parents believe in, the ones she is most familiar with are the believers of "Fool" and "Goddess of Calamity" who often interact with her family, such as Mr. Azik who often comes to visit her home.
This is also the current situation of most families. Members believe in different God and do not interfere with each other. Most churches do not restrict the communication between believers. Faith is just an adjustment to life.
Of course, Tina has learned about the "Eternal Blazing Sun" church in the book, which attaches great importance to issues of faith and takes drastic measures against heretics. However, they suddenly had internal problems more than ten years ago. Now they only maintain their existence in some areas of Intis and are no longer mainstream.
After sorting out the current situation of the major churches in his mind, Tina looked around the Prayer Hall, looking past the few believers and stopping at the altar carved from black stone at the front of the rows of benches.
It is said that in the church built by "The End Church" when he first started preaching, the altar still enshrined the statue of Goddess, but it was changed to its current appearance because it easily affected the believers' concentration during prayer... An idea flashed through her head, and she immediately gathered her thoughts and began to think about how to meet the requirements of "Genie".
Just like Tingen City, she had to place the golden lamp on the altar to further restore Sealed Artifact's strength.
It's okay to say that in the dead of night, it's easy to say that in broad daylight, it's impossible to do this under the noses of believers and priests. Not to mention the strange kettle-shaped lamps put up, even if you try to put up a candle, you will be stopped immediately, suspected of being blasphemous.
This is inexcusable behavior in any church.
I don't know if "Genie" can do it on his own, such as reaching some kind of unreasonable deal like when we bought steam train tickets... Tina took out the golden Sealed Artifact from his bag, touched the extremely smooth surface that was full of runes, and found that the majestic voice inside had no reaction at all.
He was always quiet in the church... With a secret sigh, Tina looked at Dorothy beside him who was looking up at the huge mural high up. He wanted to ask his sister to find a way, but he felt that he was too dependent on him along the way and was embarrassed to say this.
Not to mention that the money to buy the ticket came from the other party's accumulated pocket money. I used Arrodes's divination several times to confirm the safety of the journey and the identity of the uncle I was chatting with. Even when the magic lamp was robbed just now, I relied on Dorothy's inspiration to solve the problem. Otherwise, Christina is not sure whether he can handle the knife-wielding robber perfectly. Perhaps he can only resolve the crisis by shouting for help and being sent to Police Station by Passerby, but that will inevitably cause greater trouble.
Try relying on yourself this time... How about pretending to chat with the priest next to the altar and secretly put Genie on it? I still have a little confidence in my appearance... Several plans flashed through her mind, and while she was hesitating, she suddenly noticed that the light had become a little dimmer. She looked sideways and found that there was a young lady beside her at some point.
The other person looked to be only about 20 years old, with a thin build. His long brown hair was simply pulled back on his head, but a few strands were left hanging naturally by his cheeks, creating a lively look.
Her eyes were shining, her nose was high, her eyebrows were thin, and her thin lips were wide. She seemed to be smiling at any time. When she saw Tina looking at her, she tilted her head, revealing a more obvious smile.
This kind of pure beauty without any other emotions came into view, and Tina was a little sluggish for a moment, not knowing whether to use cute, mature or other words to describe the other party.
Only a little worse than her mother... Not counting the "family affection" bonus, maybe even more beautiful than her mother... She thought about it for nearly ten seconds before she realized that this behavior was not polite. She quickly looked away and then looked back quietly.
What made her slightly relieved was that Dorothy on the side was also looking at this strange lady blankly, and her performance was no better than hers.
"Good morning, are you here to listen to the sermon, or do you have something on your mind that needs to be confessed," the brown-haired lady said softly, her voice soft and delicate, like a feather across Tina's ear. "Didn't your parents or elders come with you?"
Sure enough, they still treat us as children, although this is correct... Tina didn't dare to say directly that they came from afar, Tingen, and didn't want to deceive the beautiful lady in front of him. I didn't know how to answer for a while.
Suddenly, she noticed that the other party was wearing a black conservative robe. From the stand-up collar that wrapped around the neck to the skirt that reached to the ankles, they were all in the same style as the priest who was at the altar.
She is also a staff member of the church. She is so young. Could it be that she is a trainee Pastor? Maybe we can take advantage of this... Tina This thought flashed through his mind and he hesitated:
"My sister and I want to come here to pray to Goddess and ask her, His blessing, to keep our parents away from Calamity...
"I brought a lamp pot from home and wanted to place it on the altar to receive the gift and then take the gift home to them... but there were too many people here."
As she said that, she took out the Golden Lamp with "Genie" locked in it from her bag, pretending to hand it to the brown-haired girl Pastor, but took it back at the last moment, lowered her head and said:
"Let's forget about such troublesome things, which may make other believers dissatisfied."
From an angle that the female Pastor couldn't see, Tina's face became red and hot, feeling ashamed and a little excited for her impromptu performance.
"No, it's not troublesome at all," the beautiful brown-haired lady shook her head and continued in a melodious tone, "This does not violate the teachings of Goddess, and getting rid of disasters and protecting believers is exactly what He encourages."
"In fact, this church was built on this street in East Borough to commemorate a Goddess believer who died in Great Smog 19 years ago. She gave her young life to alleviate the harm caused by Great Smog.
"After that, the young Miss had a second life with the help of God, and became Angel under Goddess, bringing Calamity to the fallen in the world, and getting rid of Misfortune to the devout believers."
It turns out that there is such an allusion, it couldn't have been made up by Holy Bible... And how could there be a major Catastrophe like Street Park in Tingen City North Borough. Is there any reason why "Genie" specially picked such a place? As Tina's thoughts turned around, Genie's whisper came to his ears:
"Huh, Great Smog? That's just a 'plague' amplified by the environment. It's probably the product of a 'desperate' Demoness digesting Potion and seeking promotion."
Desperate...Demoness?
When she first heard this term, Tina was a little confused, but she quickly understood that it was "Demoness" Pathway among the 25 Paths of the Divines that Genie had taught before. It belonged to Sequence who had changed the form of life and stepped into the "Demigod" personality.
One such Beyonder can easily cause the death of 100,000 people? Will the Goddess of Calamity believer who sacrificed himself to stop the other party also be such a powerful Beyonder?
Tina guessed, and seeing that the brown-haired lady was still waiting, she handed over Sealed Artifact in her hand.
The latter took it and looked at the exquisite workmanship and simple style Golden Lamp. His eyes flashed with an inexplicable light and his expression changed slightly, but he quickly recovered and walked towards the altar with the magic lamp in hand.
I almost thought "Genie" was also speaking in her mind... But this guy seemed to be very quiet after entering the church, probably because he was worried about exposing his existence... But he just explained the cause of "Great Smog"... Tina, who already had a basic understanding of the relationship between the church and Sealed Artifact, had some guesses. He watched the female Pastor communicate with the priest next to the altar, put the lamp on the black stone platform, lowered her head and prayed to the "Calamity" holy symbol.
At this moment, she seemed to see the wick on the spout of the pot light up, and the golden figure spurted out, letting out wanton laughter.
But nothing happened. The lamp was just placed quietly on the altar. After a while, it was picked up again by Pastor who had finished praying and brought back to Tina.
"It has been blessed by Goddess."
The brown-haired woman said.
It wasn't until he took this Sealed Artifact and felt the smooth and moist surface touching the palm of his hand that Tina secretly breathed a sigh of relief and showed a grateful smile:
"Thank you, Ms. Pastor."
"Praise Goddess, it's just a simple effort." The other party raised his hands in front of his chest, and his ten fingers faced each other in different postures, forming a pattern of two triangles combined, which vaguely corresponded to the holy emblem on the wall. "May Calamity be with you, but do not harm him."
This is the blessing that believers of "Goddess of Calamity" often talk about.
After praising God, female Pastor's eyes lingered on Tina's face and immediately asked:
"Can you tell me your name?"
If it were before helping to send "Genie" to the altar, Tina might have made up a fake name or refused to answer, but now she was too embarrassed to do so, so she answered without hesitation:
"Christina·Moretti."
Anyway, my family lives in Tingen City, there is no way she has heard of it... Tina comforted himself in his heart.
Sure enough, the female Pastor did not react to this name. She just smiled and said:
"I hope this lamp can bring blessings to your mother and father."
When I can make a wish to "Genie", I will naturally be able to do so... Tina muttered, seeing Dorothy start to wink at her, and said goodbye to this kind person:
"Goodbye, enthusiastic Ms. Pastor."
"You're welcome, Christina, you can also call me Shermane."
The brown-haired lady, who was wearing an archbishop's robe that was different from other priests and priests, with many uneven flame patterns on the skirt and chest, answered softly.
Shermane...St. Sherman Church...Tina was stunned for a moment.
"The saint who can protect a church is at least Sequence 4, and may also be Sequence 3. This means that the lady is a powerful High Sequence Beyonder."
As soon as they walked out of the church, Tina couldn't wait to say to Dorothy.
"Is this what 'Genie' taught you?" The latter frowned and looked at Sealed Artifact who was put back into the bag, "But why would such a Archbishop help you put the magic lamp on the altar and pray to that Goddess of Calamity?"
"That's because she was moved by my piety, and of course, a little bit of communication skills." Tina pouted, feeling proud that he solved the problem on his own without relying on his sister's strength. "I feel that I should believe in this friendly 'Goddess of Calamity' in the future."
She made the gesture on her chest that Shermane had just made, but her expression dropped in the next second, she touched her belly and said:
"I'm a little hungry. Is it time for lunch?"
"It should be around 11 o'clock now, we are two hours away from home."
Dorothy looked at the sky and guessed based on the approximate position of Sun.
This judgment made Tina feel that all his strength had been drained away from him. His excitement because he had completed another location quickly cooled down, and he muttered:
"I always feel like a whole day has passed... Do you want to go to Aunt Melissa's house? We can have lunch there, take a rest, and then see where the next location designated by 'Genie' is."
Dorothy glanced at her and said angrily:
"Then how do we explain coming to Backlund alone? Your excuses to deceive that Archbishop are fine, but Persuasion can't fool Aunt Melissa."
"I can cry to her and she will definitely agree not to tell her parents."
Tina retorted.
The two of them stood on the street and stared at each other, hesitating between the choice of exposing their whereabouts but being able to eat a sumptuous lunch, or heading directly to the next destination.
But before they could make a decision, a four-wheeled, single-horse black carriage with the double swords and crown logo of the police system on the side of the carriage stopped on the side of the road. Two policemen in uniforms with short sticks jumped out of the door, followed by a middle-aged woman with a somewhat bloated figure.
"It's them, I saw it just now," the woman pointed at Tina and Dorothy, and said to the two policemen, "Only they and that man went into that alley, and they were the ones who did it!"
The two policemen wearing soft hats originally had serious faces, but when they saw that the "suspects" identified as the murderers were only two half-year-old girls, their expressions were a bit dumbfounded.
But they still dutifully blocked Tina and Dorothy on the side of the road. The older one said in a low voice:
"An eyewitness reported that you were suspected of hurting a man. Please come back to Police Station with us."
Since the other party did not look like he could hurt anyone, the policeman did not directly arrest him, or announced the matter loudly to embarrass the two girls.
Immediately, he looked at the middle-aged woman who was actively reporting, nodded and said:
"Thank you for the clues you provided, let us handle it from now on."
"Praise Goddess, this is just a little effort."
The lady made the gesture of the holy symbol "Calamity" on her chest and said piously, which was the same as Shermane's posture when praying to Goddess just now.
Tina suddenly felt that he didn't like that "Goddess of Calamity" again.
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