parentshiftbook Chapter 213 The Little Secret Between the Nun and the Priest
Chapter 213 The Little Secret Between the Nun and the Priest
Chapter 213 The Little Secret Between the Nun and the Priest
[Three days until Pentecost]
"Thumbs up, Oppa!"
"Bravo, bravo—"
""
A dozen or so children's voices rang out on the stage of the open-air theater. Under the priest's direction, the children's delicate voices blended together, like a dozen streams merging into a lively river.
The priest who was the orchestra conductor was short and thin, with freckles dotting his slightly pale face.
He had the typical Eastern face of someone from the Thousand Lakes Plain, with sword-like eyebrows, dark eyes, and a monocle, giving him a somewhat youthful appearance. The slightly oversized monk's robe he wore hung down his shoulders, rising and falling with his waving hands.
Da da da da, da da da da.
The young priest silently recited the rhythm, focusing intently on conducting the choir. His expression changed with the rise and fall of the score, his eyes darting between the bass, alto, and treble registers.
"Light—Radiance—All Beings—"
'
"Grace - all things"
The two vocal parts of the choir are like a pair of butterflies dancing in opposite directions, rising up and then quietly falling down, finally stopping perfectly at the end of the note.
The priest closed his eyes and raised his hands high, as if still savoring the lingering melody of the hymn.
"And then—the end."
The children exhaled simultaneously, and the priest opened his eyes, giving the children a faint smile.
"Well done, children—Amir, your voice is fantastic and you've made great progress. Kronver, you were a half-beat slow in the fourth measure of the third phrase, but don't blame yourself, you've done very well—I'm proud of every one of you, your voices have moved the gods."
Before the priest could finish speaking, applause erupted from behind him.
A halfling and a human girl appeared in the audience of the open-air theater.
"It sounds great! It sounds great! It's awesome!" Gebu exclaimed in praise.
"Mr. Geb—that's too vulgar—it should be called heavenly music," Chloe whispered from behind, then smiled sweetly at the young priest in front of her. "May God protect us. I have long heard of the beauty of hymns, but this is the first time I have heard them. It is truly an honor."
Faced with praise from two strangers, the priest suddenly felt embarrassed, lowered his head to avoid their gaze, and blushed slightly.
"No, no, it's just a rehearsal, far from perfect."
"Father Helan, can we rest now?" a chubby boy in the front row of the choir asked.
The priest named Helan immediately turned around and said earnestly to the chubby boy and the children, "Of course, you did very well. Now you may leave. Sister Jiayun will take you back to your resting place."
"But I want to go to the city for a stroll. I heard there's something called cotton candy there." The chubby boy jumped off the stage, tugging at the priest's sleeve and shaking it back and forth. "Can I go? Can I go? I can go—"
"Uh—this isn't really a good idea—if you really want to go—"
"Why can he go? I want to go too!" another little girl screamed.
"I want to go too!"
"I want cotton candy!"
A group of children surrounded Father Helan, chattering and making a racket. The young priest was at a loss for how to react and was caught in a dilemma.
Gebu's voice came from outside the crowd.
"Marshmallows? What's a marshmallow? I know something much better!"
The children's attention was immediately drawn to the halfling, and dozens of little faces turned to Gebu at the same time. The chubby little boy who was leading the group came running over excitedly.
"Is there anything better than cotton candy?"
"Of course there is! There's a delicious dish called 'sheep bomb'—doesn't that sound amazing?"
"A sheep—a bomb?" the chubby boy asked suspiciously. "That sounds a bit suspicious—are you lying to us?"
"Lying to you? I'm a renowned gourmet, and I guarantee you, just one lamb bomb will make you so delicious you'll forget even your parents' last names!"
The chubby boy paused for a moment, turned to look at the other children, and then said to Gebu with a bewildered expression, "I don't know my parents' last names—we're both orphans."
Ah, shit, I forgot about that.
The atmosphere was so awkward it was almost embarrassing; Chloe and Father Helan both facepalmed, wishing they could disappear into a crack in the wall.
Gebu scratched his head: "Anyway, it smells really good. Anyway, my older sister and I have something to discuss with Father Helan. You guys go find Sister Jiayun and ask her to take you to eat lamb bombs, okay?"
"Well----"
"Here are five silver coins. Go ahead and spend them." Gebu casually pulled a handful from his pocket and stuffed them into the child's hand.
Chloe was stunned. For the frugal nun, this was no small sum of cloth that she had given away so casually.
"Wow!" The chubby boy's face lit up with excitement as he looked at the halfling in disbelief, then turned to the other children and said, "Okay, let's go find Sister Jiayun and have her take us to buy some sheep bombs!"
A group of children chattered and chanted things like "sheep bomb, sheep bomb," as they walked off the stage while singing hymns. A moment later, only three people remained in the open-air theater.
"Mr. Geb, your way of handling things is truly—unique." Chloe paused, hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "—So, what exactly is a sheep bomb?"
"Ah, it's sheep X—" Gebu exclaimed loudly.
Father Helan seemed to have foreseen some mysterious power of judgment and decisively interrupted Geb's terrible speech.
"Gentlemen! May I ask what brings you here?"
"I don't need anything from you. This young lady needs to see you. Come on, Dao Mei, quickly take this priest to a secluded place to do his business—I think that cornfield over there is a good spot, relatively hidden, and convenient for doing things. Hurry up."
Gebu spoke casually, and Father Helan's face flushed red: "—I wouldn't dare do such a thing! You've mistaken me for someone else!"
"Mr. Geb!" Chloe said coquettishly, then quickly turned to Father Helan and said apologetically, "I'm so sorry, you must have misunderstood. We are definitely not respectable people—oops, we are respectable people! I am Sister Chloe Eaglewood from the St. Vandu Abbey, and this is Mr. Geb-Lin. I have some top-secret information from Bishop Titian to tell you—"
As she spoke, the girl carefully took out the holy ring that represented Bishop Tissant.
When Father Helan saw the ring, his expression of surprise and embarrassment eased somewhat. Feeling uneasy under the girl's gaze, he lowered his head and said softly, "I misunderstood. I'm very sorry, Miss—this nun."
"Excuse me, what did you say?" Chloe tilted her head and asked, "Could you speak a little louder?"
"Ah—I mean! Cough, I mean!" Bishop Helan's voice suddenly rose, startling even himself. He quickly coughed lightly, restoring his voice to normal: "I'm very sorry, Sister Chloe, and Mr. Geb—"
"Since Bishop Tissant sent you two to contact me, you must be highly trusted allies. If you don't mind, I'll ask why Bishop Tissant didn't come in person?"
Geb thought to himself that although he seemed to have a mild temper, this person was quite vigilant and did not completely believe what Chloe said.
"The bishop was injured in an unfortunate accident and is unable to travel, but rest assured, under God's protection, he is fine."
Chloe replied politely.
"Then Sister Marlene must be taking good care of him? Those two are close friends, so the nun must be looking after him diligently," Father Helan said.
"Sister Marlene? You mean Sister Martha?" Chloe asked doubtfully. "I don't know who you're talking about—Sister Martha and Bishop Tissant are colleagues who respect each other, but I can't say whether they're friends."
Father Helan's expression relaxed for a moment, and Gebu keenly caught the change in the man's subtle expression, saying bluntly, "You're testing us, aren't you?"
"————I————" Helan was asked a question by Gebu directly and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"What you're doing is understandable, but I don't have that much patience. To put it bluntly, Tissah can't come because what she originally wanted to do herself can't be done now—she specifically asked for you, so you should know what I'm talking about."
Helan remained silent for a moment, wanting to say something, but after glancing at Gebu, she felt there was no need to, so she simply nodded in greeting.
"Chloe, I know that Tissard can only tell you the information to Crane, and I won't make things difficult for you. That cornfield over there is a good place to talk. I've checked it out, and no one is eavesdropping. I'm not kidding. You guys go in, and I'll keep watch outside. I won't eavesdrop either, okay?"
"Uh—" the two of them hesitated.
"Hurry up!" Geb urged.
Thus, a scene of dark humor unfolded.
The nun and priest awkwardly walked to the edge of the cornfield, politely deferring to each other.
"After you----"
"Let's go first for the ladies."
"Hmm" 7
The nun and priest disappeared into the cornfield, the windows rustling. Outside, a halfling stood with his hands on his hips, looking like a tavern bodyguard, arrogantly keeping watch.
Of course, Gebu not eavesdropping doesn't mean Da Yan'er isn't.
A plump toad followed the man and woman into the cornfield.
Soft rustling, soft rustling, like this, like this.
Geb pricked up his ears and, through his magical pet's senses, overheard the conversation between the two, which was basically in line with Geb's guess.
This priest was originally part of the Titian Plan. As a member of the Church of the Thousand Lakes, he accompanied the Imperial Royal Mission to the peace talks. Although he was just a priest, he was a confidant of former Cardinal Martinez of the Church of the Thousand Lakes, and thus joined the mission with the Cardinal (politically, the Holy See and the Church of the Thousand Lakes were completely separate, so the presence of people from the Church of the Thousand Lakes in the mission was entirely at the behest of the Emperor).
To demonstrate its sincerity in the peace talks, the kingdom invited the Emperor to attend this year's Pentecost. Cardinal Martinez has been dedicated to bringing the choir back to Pentecost ceremonies, and Helan's task is to train the choir and prepare the children for their performance.
Unfortunately, with the ceremony approaching, the negotiations remain unresolved—the two countries still cannot reach an agreement on the legalization of the Thousand Lakes Church, making the choir's chances of performing extremely slim.
In Titian's plan, Helan would use her status as an envoy who could enter and exit Shanhaiguan to tamper with the supplies for the Descent of the Gods festival, achieving the miracle of "water turning into fine wine." However, Titian is unable to come, so in addition to this mission, Helan must take Titian's place and, at the crucial moment when the miracle occurs, step forward to propose a win-win solution to both leaders: "lifting the wine embargo on the Thousand Lakes Diocese."
However, what made Geb somewhat doubtful was: the person who did this needed to have enough eloquence. Could this young priest, who was even shy when talking to Chloe, really do that?
I hope Tissot didn't misjudge her.
A moment later, the nun and Crane emerged from the cornfield.
The girl's crown was askew from being deep in the cornfield, and her long hair was covered in grass blades. The bishop's meticulously tailored clothes also had some scratches. At first glance, it seemed as if the two of them had done something inappropriate deep within the cornfield. Coupled with their embarrassed expressions, this conjecture seemed even more plausible.
"All done?" Gebu asked, raising an eyebrow. "Pretty quick, huh? Are you alright, Helan?"
"I—I can do it. Sister Chloe took the lead at first—there were some back-and-forths between us in the middle, but in the end, we successfully reached an agreement."
"What you're saying sounds weird," Chloe said softly.
"This isn't like rehearsing a hymn. If we don't do it right, all of us could lose our lives. Have you thought this through?" Gebu said seriously to Helan.
The man hesitated for a moment, then raised his eyes, finally gathering enough courage to meet Gebu's gaze.
"Perhaps I am not the most suitable candidate, but Bishop Tissant trusts me so much, I have no choice but to accept it. For the sake of Lord O'Bak and his countless devout followers on the Thousand Lakes Plain, I, Helan, will do my utmost to complete the task entrusted to me by the Lord." Helan said, enunciating each word clearly. After speaking, she thought for a moment and added a few more words with emphasis: "Death is not a pity!"
"Good, that's spirited! But you'd better not die, or we'll all be in trouble."
Geb gave his pen a thumbs up.
"I am also willing to do my part for Bishop Tissant."
2
Chloe added from the side.
Gebu muttered to himself: "You're everywhere!"
"You'd better get on the ship and go back to Sanctuary before the Pentecost starts. There's nothing for you here."
The halfling said to Chloe.
The girl's face changed color instantly, and she said anxiously, "I'm still useful—I can still do a lot of things for you."
"Sister Chloe, I agree with Mr. Gueb: this plan is too dangerous for you. I'm here with you."
Moreover, Shanhaiguan is heavily guarded, and it's difficult for me to bring in unfamiliar faces, so you really can't be of much help."
Father Helan said from the side.
"That doesn't mean you can send me back—I'm not going back—you two can't make that decision for me!"
"You're just getting in the way here," Gebu said seriously. "Even if I don't take care of you, won't your sister? Then how will she get anything done?"
"I----"
"I'll tell the caravan you can take the next ship back; it should depart tomorrow noon." Gebu finally found a reason to get rid of this annoying fellow. He put on an elder's face and said in an unquestionable tone, "If you don't go, have your sister knock you out and tie you up—this is for your own good, understand?"
"you----"
Chloe deflated like a punctured balloon, then stood up with her back to her body, hands in her pockets, without saying a word.
Seeing that Dao Mei was sulking on the side, Gebu thought it didn't matter to her - what could a little girl like her cause?
He turned his attention back to Helan, leaned closer, and whispered, "You said it's very difficult to bring strangers into Shanhaiguan—just how difficult is it?"
"Uh—actually, this is what happened. The Imperial military camp is located ten miles east of the moat outside the pass. Apart from the messenger himself, the rest of the Imperial Royal Mission for the peace talks consisted of non-combatants, including members of the Thousand Lakes Church and the Holy Children's Choir. There were over a hundred people in total, and everyone was registered on the roster. We could move freely within the pass and in Queen's Port during the day, but we had to return to the pass for roll call after sunset."
"So, it's quite obvious that there's one more person who doesn't match up," Geb said.
"Yes. Moreover, the delegation has lived in Shanhaiguan for more than six months. The kingdom's guards remember every face, so it would be very conspicuous if a stranger appeared."
"As for faces—I do have a way with that." Gebu stroked his chin, a sly smile spreading across his face. "How many kids are in your choir?"
"Uh—there are eighteen people in total, ranging in age from eight to thirteen," the priest said, then suddenly realized something was amiss and quickly asked, "Why are you asking this?"
"It's nothing—it's nothing—" Gebu said nonchalantly, "Whether there's one more or one less, nobody cares—we're all orphans anyway."
The priest was so shocked by the orphan Geb's speech that he was speechless.
Tissant—Bishop Tissant, who is this person you've found?!