Isle of Wight

As the sun sets, the afterglow shines in from the west side, and is divided into several colored fragments by the stained glass—this is the only light source in the church.There were no extra decorations in the empty room, only the stone statue of the guardian stood silently at the end of the sanctuary.You recognize that this is the most familiar place in the temple except your own room, but you don't understand why you are here.

A white figure broke in, his robe was a little wrinkled, and his silver hair was messed up.The room was as empty as ever, with soft sobs echoing, he staggered to the statue, and fell at the foot of the statue.You frown, not because of his disrespect for the idol, but because you remember who he is, and some unpleasant memories come with it.You thought you got rid of them long ago, or threw them into the darkest corners. When the Holy Light shines on this land, they will be wiped out along with the darkness.But in fact, they did not disappear, but melted into the light, waiting for the moment when you showed your fatigue and fragility, and bit your throat with sharp teeth unexpectedly.

Darkness and light go hand in hand.You think of something your mentor and adoptive father said to you, and he articulated it well himself.He is like a craftsman who picks you out of the stone pile, polishes you finely, turns you into a gem, and locks you in the golden ring forever.

The silver-haired boy is lying on the feet of the statue, weeping silently, and you are watching coldly by the milky white stone pillar—that young self.If He is merciful, then He must bestow His kindness.But you know that no matter how scriptures and believers sing about him, he is indifferent.He overlooks all living beings, watching you killing each other, struggling, crying, whining and praying to Him, but still sitting on the clouds without moving.Just like you who are coldly looking at the crying child.

You lean against the stone pillar, and your thoughts start to wander, but soon fall back here.The idol squatted down and patted the child's back lightly.You start to tremble, envy swallows you up, and even though you know it's a dream and the child is you, you still can't hold back the emotion.Since the day you were selected as a candidate for the high priest, you began to *pray and confide to it... You imagined it would come alive countless times and respond to you like a friend, even in a dream.Now that you no longer have such unrealistic fantasies about it, it bends down to hug this crying silver-haired boy.

What does it mean?Leave a burning fire alone, and pour a bucket of water over the cooling ashes afterward?You clenched your fists, your nails dug into your palms, and the pain finally freed you from this dream.

What catches the eye is the pale golden arabesques on the ceiling, and the direction of the pattern in the northeast corner is wrong—this is your room.

You turned your head, the metal tray with a glass of milk and a few slices of soft bread was placed on the bedside cabinet, and there were no flowers in the brass vase.You raise your right hand and look at the four nail prints on the palm. The red crescent moon is very much like the eyes of the god who bends down to comfort the child, laughing at you with its mercy and the jealousy in your heart.With a sudden wave of your hand, you swept everything on the cabinet to the ground.The water and milk in the vase soaked the bread, and the pieces of the cup tumbled and twirled on the ground with other objects, which seemed to knock off other objects before they hit the ground.

You didn't care about the chaos on the ground, you hastily changed a piece of clothing, opened the door and went out.The servant standing outside the door looked at you in horror, perhaps because you frightened her too roughly when you pushed the door open.In fact, you are very angry, you go out angrily, and go to the church, as if you want to ask someone to blame you, but when you really arrive at the church, the fire in your heart is inexplicably extinguished.You can only stare at the statue, and look at it carefully for the countless times: long wavy hair, loose robe, half of the chest exposed, a long-tailed bird standing on the right shoulder, and long hair hanging on the left shoulder, open outwards Greeting hands, swollen soles—and finally, a face without any facial features.

You look up at its face and slowly approach it.Your mentor told you that His face is not for mortals to covet, so the sculptor did not carve His face, only a vague outline in the middle of the face that serves as a nose.That's right, the idol has no face, how could it make an expression of mercy or mockery?This is just a statue made of inorganic matter. Its interior is solid, and there is no space to accommodate the illusory soul.You have cried to it countless times, and your cry has never penetrated into its half-cut ear hidden under the hair, and your tears have never wet its polished robe. Delusional thinking it can give you a hug?When did that stupid and innocent silver-haired boy realize his mistake?

—You should pour out your allegiance to Him, instead of falling at His feet and weeping.

You recall again what your mentor said to you.

"Heh." Short laughter rang out in the church, which was quickly swallowed by silence.You touched the corner of your upturned mouth, only to realize that the laughter was actually from you.Why are you laughing?you ask yourself.Because you are mocking that statue, you only have his appearance, but you have nothing to do with him.This statue may also be his believer, but it has no mouth, no heart, and cannot move. Will he find out its sincerity?How many years has this statue stood here piously—much longer than your mentor's mentor, and you swore your allegiance to him with it, and now you have become his spokesman, but it still stands here.

"Lord Gabriel."

The sound seemed to come from far away.You turned around and saw Olivier kneeling outside the door.

"What's the matter?"

"Your Excellency Kang Duo wants you to go and see the child brought back from the witch's manor."

"What about my punishment? Didn't he tell you at the same time?" You said lightly.

Olivier hesitated, and then said: "Yes, the completion of this task has also been submitted to the court, but the official judgment will be after the Holy Prosecution Day."

By the way, holy check day.You almost forgot about it, how could you forget about it?Maybe it's because it's only held once a year, and there's just so much going on lately that you overlook it.After all, you don't have to worry about this matter like other people in the Holy See, and prepare such and such things to "redeem". You just need to attend this ceremony, stand on the stage, and listen to their confession and merits and demerits, that's enough .

You nodded and signaled Olivier to lead the way.

You walk through corridors of marble and vines, and your shadows pass through the fences on either side.You can't help but start to recall the scenes of the past holy inspection days: the low-level monks confessed to the white doves in their arms, and then released the white doves in their hands together.Whoever's white dove struggles out ahead of time means that his crimes will not be forgiven, and he will be deprived of his identity and power and sent to the Court of Justice—his end is usually exile or death penalty.After the doves are gone, the twelve bishops and the three archbishops will line up to tell you one by one what they have done this year, whether they have repented or not, and then offer their apologies—— Money and Treasures - these things will end up in your safekeeping, and you decide what to do with them.In the end, you have to accept His will, choose three lucky ones from the sick prayers, and use your power to save them from suffering.Will they be more faithful to the church afterwards...or will they pray more devoutly?

Anyway, that's none of your business.For you, the holy inspection is just like a cookie-cutter task, which is arranged in the itinerary, erased when it is completed, and then the next task.

"Lord Gabriel, we're here."

The dark-haired knight stopped and stepped aside.You put away the emotion you inadvertently revealed, and walked into the house.

There was a small figure on the wooden bed, with its back facing the door.The child seemed to be twelve or thirteen years old, with yellowish skin and a little malnourished appearance, but with beautiful orange hair.Her shoulders twitched, as if she was sobbing with her legs hugged.Her orange hair, like fireworks, was now as pale as a candle in the wind.

You sat gently behind her, she didn't notice, she was still crying silently.

You don't understand why she was the one who survived—that witch did enough to make the children feel resentful, so the other seven children were purified by you, leaving nothing behind.But she, she survived—you can't figure it out—until she brushed her long hair down her back, revealing a brown mark on the nape of her neck: a half-closed Guardian Eye .

Who is more familiar with this mark than you?This child is the same as you once, the chosen one, the next high priest.This made sense, after all, He would not allow His servant to die before serving Him, so He brought her back from the chaos when she was wiped out.

You ask Oliver to bring you a cup of hot water.Crying is tiring work, draining energy and water, and this girl had clearly been crying for a long time and was about to stop crying (or calm down, who knows).

"Thank you." The girl said hoarsely after taking the water that Olivier handed over.She took a sip of water, and a few drops of liquid overflowed from the corner of her mouth because she drank too fast, and flowed down her collarbone along her thin neck.

"Thank you for saving me, my lord." The girl wiped her mouth, "I just, I just don't understand, why me? Why I survived? Someone was waiting for them to go back, but I... I'm just a Just homeless orphans."

Why her?I am afraid that only He knows this question.You touched the girl's head, she was very thin, but the long orange hair was surprisingly good to the touch.

"What's your name?"

"Illya."

"Illya. My name is Gabriel, and I'm the high priest here." The girl's name is very nice, as clear as the morning robin's cry, you recite the name silently in your heart, and say: "Here is Temple of the Patron of Otteril."

"The Temple of the Guardian?" The orange-haired girl was very surprised, and even the tear stains on her face were torn away, "I heard Father William mentioned this place, but the Temple of the Guardian is far away from Pinewood Town..."

"Now, girl, you have two choices. Go back to Pinewood Town," you said, looking at the knight commander who was standing on the side with his head bowed, "or stay here to serve the guardian."

"What?" As soon as the words were finished, you heard a low cry, and the knight standing behind looked at you in surprise, his lips moved, but he finally lowered his head and said nothing.You raised your eyebrows and said to the girl who was standing there in a daze, "Don't rush to reply me, you have three days to think about it."

"...Okay, okay, my lord."

****

"Have you seen the child you brought back?" Kang Duo asked while putting on his cassock.

"She has 'stigmata'."

The blond archbishop chuckled: "Yes."

He turned around, opened the door and walked into the yard.There are a few sparrows pecking grass seeds on the grass, and they jumped aside when you walked by, but they didn't fly away.

"I checked the other corpses, and they were all ordinary people... That is to say, it was a pure coincidence that this girl named Illya was taken away by the witch—how surprising that the chosen one died at the hands of the witch ……hehe."

"I've already asked her, it's up to her to decide whether to stay or not."

"Aren't you clear, Gabriel?" Kang Duo looked back at you, "All the Chosen Ones we can find must stay and be obedient 'servants'—although according to the original plan, the first A chosen one who came to the temple should not be here at this time, but since she has already appeared, it is not up to her to decide whether to stay or not."

"I just need one candidate."

"If the 'candidate' refers to the chosen one, I agree."

"you know what I mean."

Kang Duo narrowed his eyes and looked at you without saying a word.You know he's going to give in eventually, so you're not going to say anything to convince him.

In the center of the courtyard is a white stone statue of a Valkyrie. She holds a spear in her left hand, rests her right hand on her neck, and tears are streaming from the corners of her eyes.A teardrop made of stone that will never fall, here the Valkyrie has wept, from her creation until now...until she is destroyed.

"Well, whatever you want." After an unknown amount of time, the Archbishop finally said, "But you must know that I am very dissatisfied with your decision... Maybe I can add this dissatisfaction to your punishment, Gabriel."

Heavier punishment?To be honest, you don't care about it. After all, there are only two things that can scare you in the temple, one is the Leviathan under the execution platform, and the other is the sin basin.The execution platform is used to execute death row prisoners, and you are in control of the cleansing pool. You two know this very well, and Kang Duo is just trying to use his tongue quickly.

Ignoring him any more, you left the courtyard alone.

It's still early, and you're going to visit the town.You don the silver wig made of your own hair, put on a cloak and walk to town.

There is a well in the town square, one of the few sources of water in the town.The oldest old man in the town does not remember when the well was drilled. It is said that there is an elf living in this well, so some people will make wishes to the well.

Are there elves in the well?You don't know, but every time you come here you bless the well, so that people will not be disturbed by evil forces.

It should be noon now, the sun is reflected in the middle of the deep well water, the glare of the sky whitens the water surface, like an eye with golden pupils, and your figure just falls into this eye, as if someone came quietly from the bottom of the well looking at you carefully.

Are there elves living at the bottom of the well?You have no way of knowing.After doing the blessing, you put this distraction behind you.You step up the steps and stand on the high platform overlooking.

—Someone has drawn water from the well to drink.

*It: refers to the idol.