Whispering Verse

"I've heard Rat mention you before. Good morning, Mr. Hamilton."

In the early morning mist, three people standing in front of Dawn Church and talking greeted each other.

Although Bishop Owen looks old, he speaks with great energy. He looked at Shade up and down, and lamented to Priest August that young people today are more energetic than they were in their time.

Bishop Owen was quite talkative and easily introduced Shade to the issue of the Feast of Holy Prayer activities they just talked about.

The Feast of Holy Prayer every year is the busiest time for Dawn Church, but every year it must come up with something new. The Zhengshen Church is not a pedantic organization that does not know how to keep pace with the times. For example, this year, the church plans to hold annual traditional religious activities, church visits, religious story performances in the side hall of the church, and large-scale sermons and sermons in Dawn Square. Produce some simple propaganda materials and distribute them to pagans to spread the influence of the Feast of Holy Prayer and the Church of the Dawn.

“What promotional materials did the church ultimately choose?”

Shade was very curious about this and asked the two old people.

"It has the widest impact on the atmosphere, and once you get it, you will never throw it away, and you will cherish it very much."

Priest August said, and then Bishop Owen, who was close to the wall, smiled and handed the thing in his hand to Shade:

"Mr. Hamilton, how about you talk about this from your perspective."

Shade stretched his head to look, and then saw a silver coin in the bishop's old palm.

"silver?"

Twist the coin. The upward side is the number "1053" and the words "Holy Prayer Day", and the side behind is Mr. Dawn's holy symbol. After tiptoeing twice, I was sure it was not sterling silver.

An old gentleman walked out of the church next to him and greeted Bishop Owen, and looked at Shade curiously. Judging from Bishop Owen's response, this old gentleman had the title of Viscount.

Priest Augustus introduced to Shade:

"It's not pure silver. The center part of the coin is mixed with some alloy. It's just a commemorative coin. According to the market price, it can be exchanged for about 4 shillings and 7 pence. But the cost is not particularly high. We cooperate with the church of [Lady of Creation] , using the special metals they sold to us at low prices, which deducted part of the cost. Those alloys were scraps, originally commissioned by the Kingdom of Delarion... Ahem, I can't say this."

Priest Augustus' tone was somewhat complacent:

"We have prepared 20,000 coins and will wait until the Feast of Holy Prayer to distribute them together with the promotional leaflets near the Plaza de la Dawn. This is not a violation of Delarian's minting policy, it can only be regarded as a commemorative small coin. Detective, this idea How about it?"

"That's a pretty good idea."

The outsider praised the idea, and then looked around the side of the coin and saw densely packed letters, which together meant:

[The light shines in the shadows, and the shadows follow the dawn. 】

This sentence is usually used as the beginning or the end of the prayers of believers of the righteous god [Mr. Dawn].

This kind of behavior, which is equivalent to direct payment of money, is simply the most powerful propaganda method. The cost of 20,000 coins would not exceed 8,000 pounds, which was nothing to the wealthy Orthodox Church.

He originally thought that he might be able to come up with some good ideas to help Priest Augustus, but no idea was better than sending money directly. In particular, the Kingdom does not intend to pursue the coinage issue.

"However, we still need to do a good job of publicity work in advance to let people know as much as possible what will be done on the day. Moreover, we must also be prepared. Once too many people come and the 20,000 coins are distributed, people who come later will If you have any opinions, how should you respond? I would say, it would be better to distribute it in different time periods, such as 5,000 in the morning, 5,000 in the morning, 5,000 in the afternoon, and 5,000 in the evening. Ensure that people in each time period have opportunities. "

Shade said casually while observing the details of the coin. Priest August glanced at him in surprise:

"This makes sense. We were actually planning to give out one-shilling coins once more people came than expected."

The church is richer than Shade thought.

"But people must realize that God's favor is not unlimited. Generous giving cannot leave a deep impression on people, but conditional gifts can make people understand God's strictness and love."

Shade concluded that he had seen many of this "limited edition gift-giving" idea in his hometown.

At this time, even Bishop Owen looked at Shade with some surprise. He waved goodbye to the Viscount. He was very satisfied with Shade's ideas and opinions, so he asked with a smile:

"Mr. Hamilton, there are not many young people with ideas like you. Speaking of which, have you studied theology?"

The bishop examines the teachings.

"No, my education level is very low."

After speaking, he winked at Priest August, hoping that the other person would get rid of this topic. He is not the original Shad, and this kind of problem may cause problems no matter what.

"Detective Hamilton's background is not very good, but I have always believed that a humble background can reflect the value of a person's efforts."

Priest August tried to change the topic. Seeing that the bishop still wanted to ask Shade a question, he took the lead and asked Shade without retreating:

"However, Detective Hamilton is indeed a very thoughtful young man. Not only what he said just now, he also often asks some interesting questions. Even if he does not study theology, he is still willing to think about life and the world. Oh, poor young man , if he has money to go to a higher education institution, he might be able to become a university student."

"Mr. Hamilton, what kind of questions have you thought about?"

Bishop Owen had a good impression of Shad, but at this time, his curiosity was aroused by Priest August's words, so he asked Shad again with a smile.

Priest August wanted to smooth things over, but Shade thought about it and shook his head slightly at the priest. Not all questions need to be avoided, but he is very interested in discussing issues with theologians who truly exist in the world of God.

So he looked like he was thinking, and then raised his head slightly to look at the sky:

"Standing in this world, there are always many thoughts. For example, I once thought about whether our world has a name."

"Oh? This is a really interesting question. Why do you think so?"

Bishop Owen frowned slightly and asked inquiringly.

At this time, the three of them were still standing at the door of the church, with the church's grand door beside them. The morning fog made this morning seem a bit gloomy, and people kept passing by the three of them. However, because of Shade's question, the three people's attention was focused on the next words:

"Bishop Owen, Priest August, you see, since cities have names, countries have names, even compared to the New World, our place is called the Old World. So, does this world have a name?"

The name Shade mentioned does not refer to the name "material world", but the name of a wider world.

"As far as I know, our world has no name. It is usually just called the world..."

The old bishop nodded and said, and Priest Augustus on the side also echoed:

"Neither religious texts nor mythological stories give this world a name. It's really interesting, detective, what is the purpose of this question?"

Shade considered his words and tried to express his thoughts clearly. He has thought about these things many times since coming here:

"You see, only when people realize that there are two cities, will they name their city; after the great geographical discovery fifty years ago and the discovery of the New World, they will call the current continent the Old World. So, this Whether the world has names like 'Azeroth' or 'Ionia' also depends on whether people realize that there is another world... If the world has no name, then it means that at least In the current understanding of God and man, the world is unique.”

He hoped that he could express what he wanted to express clearly, but he felt quite regretful when he said this. Knowing that this world that is in the midst of the steam age has no name means that it may be very difficult to find the direction home from the worldview of this world.

"This... is really interesting. Few people can think about the relationship between man, God and the world from such a high position."

Bishop Owen took a long time to say that the old man looked at Shade a little differently. To outsiders, pondering this question is commonplace, but to people in this world itself, it is an almost out-of-the-world kind of thinking;

"Wonderful thinking, very theological speculation!"

Bishop Owen hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Priest August was still thinking, he asked kindly:

"Mr. Hamilton, maybe you could actually study theology... Speaking of which, which god do you believe in?"

"Faith? I..."

He was surprised by this question and asked in his mind:

"What do I believe in?"

【Why are you asking me? 】

Foreigners have never considered this kind of thing before, and it is definitely not acceptable to say that they are unbelievers at this time. Among the five options of the Zhengshen Church, Mr. Ming Ming was the first to rule out such a lie. This kind of lie would be easily exposed by the bishop in front of him. However, among the remaining four options, every one of them seemed to be acceptable.

He winked at Priest Augustus, but the latter seemed to be helpless. So I could only bite the bullet and say:

"I should actually be considered a casual believer of [Lady of Creation]. I like the Church of Creation's outstanding contributions to steam machinery in recent years."

"You shallow believer, have you ever considered converting to my Lord [Mr. Liming]?"

Bishop Owen asked again, this kind of question is insulting to devout believers, but it doesn't matter to casual believers.

"For now...maybe...think about it."

There was uncertainty in his tone.

"That's really a pity, but Mr. Hamilton, you can learn more about our beliefs from Priest Augustus, and you might be interested. An outstanding young man like you will definitely be helpful to the development of the church... ..I won’t say more, it’s better than having to fill the wall of unbelievers after their death.”

Bishop Owen expressed regret.