169 Phrases of Love Every Roman Must Know

Zhou Yun paused slightly and lowered his head, only then noticing a child standing beside him, dressed in a linen robe with a silver cross hanging from her chest.

That child was the one Zhou Yun had met at the market entrance earlier... Oh, right, this was the only Catholic church left in all of Macragge City.

So Zhou Yun held out his hand to the little girl.

"Fish sauce." Zhou Yun smiled at her.

"Ah!" The little girl froze for a moment before realizing Zhou Yun was asking for the complimentary fish sauce. "Sure thing. Please have a seat for a moment. I'll get it for you right away."

As she spoke, the little girl ran to a shelf in the corner of the church, then swiftly ran back and handed Zhou Yun a glass tube about the size of his finger.

Zhou Yun pinched the tiny glass tube between two fingers and held it close to his eyes. Squinting hard, he finally saw that it contained half a tube of thick, dark yellow liquid like amber.

So little...

The little girl smiled. "Our fish sauce is all fermented in-house. It tastes better than the stuff imported from Talassar. If you like it, you can come buy a few bottles."

"We also have bread here. You can try it right now."

Zhou Yun shook the fish sauce, which probably amounted to half a mouthful at most, and asked hesitantly, "Then... shall I try it?"

"One serving of bread costs two Asses," the little girl said with a smile.

"...Why don't you just rob me?" Zhou Yun could not help rubbing his temples.

"Robbery is illegal!" The little girl frowned and looked at Zhou Yun with faint helplessness, as though he had asked an especially stupid question.

So if it weren't illegal, you really would just rob me...

Zhou Yun felt that this Catholic church had a very different vibe from what he had imagined.

"I came to see your bishop." Zhou Yun pocketed the sesame-seed-sized tube of fish sauce.

"Ah!" The little girl blinked, then said, "So you know Bishop Agrippa. My apologies!"

"Yes, so could you please—"

"I misspoke earlier. The bread costs three Asses." As she spoke, the little girl extended her hand toward Zhou Yun again.

"Uh, Old Mr. Lucretius introduced me." Zhou Yun slapped his forehead helplessly and explained again.

The little girl suddenly understood. "So Old Grandpa Lucretius introduced you!"

"Yes, yes, so—"

"Four Asses." The little girl stretched her hand farther forward.

Zhou Yun's expression froze.

"Please don't be upset. When Old Grandpa Lucretius comes himself, we charge him five Asses!" the little girl said solemnly.

Half off for strangers, full price for acquaintances, huh...

In the end, Zhou Yun still took out two Asses and stuffed them into the little girl's hand.

"Lucretius and I aren't close. I don't know your bishop either. I just need to see him about something."

After receiving the money, the little girl quickly took a piece of bread from the nearby shelf and handed it to Zhou Yun, then ran toward the back of the church.

Holding the bread the little girl had shoved into his hands, Zhou Yun found a seat in the front rows of the church.

He tore off a piece of bread and put it into his mouth.

He did not add the fish sauce. That bottle of Talassar fish sauce last night had made him feel as if he had swallowed two Nurglings whole... Hm?

Zhou Yun let out a contented hum.

The bread contained walnuts and cranberries. The aroma of wheat, the slight bitterness of walnuts, and the sweet-tart flavor of dried cranberries intertwined into a surprisingly distinctive taste.

As he ate, Zhou Yun began admiring the mosaic before him.

A silver dragon, a golden knight, a pure silver lance, a scarlet banner, a steed blacker than night, scorching sand...

Gradually, fragmented visions appeared before Zhou Yun's eyes, and certain memories rose within his mind.

He felt his perspective slowly overlap with that of the Golden Knight.

He felt the sand striking his face, while the light reflected from the Silver Dragon's mercury-like scales shone upon him.

The scent of spices permeating North Africa filled his nostrils, and the pure silver lance that Erda had personally carved with runes was clutched in his hand.

He saw all things rise into the sky in ways that defied physical laws. He saw gravity reverse... No, it was the dragon redefining the concept of up and down. Thus, up became like down, and down became like up...

He saw the banner wrapped around the lance catch around the dragon's neck. He saw the dragon let out a piercing wail. He saw Mars drawing closer and closer.

He heard the sharp explosive roar the dragon made as it was dragged beneath Mars, and he felt the dragon's emotions.

It had once roamed the stars. It had slaughtered countless races. It had fed upon stars. Even Vaul, the Aeldari god of smiths, had been no match for it, and even the Old Ones had fallen before its hand.

But now, it...

You fucking primitive knight!!!

Zhou Yun rubbed his brow several times, breaking free from that fragmented memory.

Another memory from the Emperor... But this time was different from the last. The Emperor's memory had truly given him knowledge and skills.

He had learned one of the Emperor's myriad skills. He had learned... 169 Phrases of Love Every Roman Must Know!

"You fucking primitive knight!" Zhou Yun could not help cursing along with the dragon.

That memory gave Zhou Yun a headache. The form displayed by the dragon had utterly surpassed the limits of human comprehension, leaving him dizzy and muddled. He could not help lowering his head and rubbing his temples.

His gaze unconsciously fell upon the base of the mosaic, where a string of names was engraved. They seemed to be the donor list from when the church had been built.

One name among them inexplicably caught Zhou Yun's attention...

"Ollanius, Ollanius..." Zhou Yun read the name aloud, inexplicably finding it familiar.

Before Zhou Yun could carefully consider where he had heard that name, footsteps sounded behind him.

Agrippa, bishop of the Catholic church in Macragge, rubbed his eyes several times.

Could the hallucinations from that Elyrium temple be coming for him again?

Just now, he had actually seen a Golden Knight sitting in the front rows of the church, a Golden Knight identical to the one in the mosaic...

Agrippa blinked several times and found that the Golden Knight had vanished, leaving only an utterly ordinary-looking man from Macragge sitting there.

So it really was a hallucination?

Agrippa thumped his head several times. That expeditionary war in the far north had not only taken one of his legs, but also his sound mind.

Ever since destroying that Elyrium temple, he had often seen visions.

He saw winged angels, pale phantoms in dark blue armor, and black-armored lions raining phosphorus fire from the sky and destroying Elyrium...

Only within this Catholic church did his symptoms ease somewhat.

"Are you Lucretius's friend?" Agrippa walked over on his prosthetic leg, came to Zhou Yun's side, and sat down.

"Zhou Yun, student of Teacher Lucretius." Zhou Yun inclined his head slightly in greeting.

"Agrippa. Uh, I suppose I count as the bishop of this church." Agrippa shrugged. "What do you need from me? If you want to convert, the baptism fee is six Denar. If you want to hear the story of how my Lord made a virgin pregnant and then gave birth to himself, that's twelve Denar."

Zhou Yun looked at Agrippa and suddenly felt that he and this bishop might have quite a few things to talk about.

But business came first.

"I wanted to ask..." Zhou Yun briefly explained how he had ended up owing money to the Semoneta Church.

"...You came to the wrong person. There's really nothing I can do about that."

Agrippa waved a hand.

"My relationship with the other temples is terrible. I've isolated all of them."