NOVEL WEB Chapter 8 Does this kid really understand bribery?
The elderly priest turned into the church and first greeted several of the clergy before tiptoeing to peer further inside.
When you first complete an achievement, if the deity you believe in favors you, you will be granted a corresponding title.
For instance, the first sacrifice in the Mother Goddess's faith or the first prayer in the Radiant Holy See—
All the titles bestowed by the gods are essentially the same in nature, distinguishable only by their names: for example, titles given by the Evil God sound very malevolent, whereas titles given by good gods sound very righteous.
God-given titles are rare; even in the largest church of their border city, at most one appears in a month.
From a distance, the old priest caught sight of the duty priest, Lord Rowan: this lord was always diligent and responsible, even in winter, he was the last to return home. By his side was the prospective Holy Maiden, Lord Luojia.
Lord Rowan was speaking to someone, but the old priest couldn't see clearly.
As soon as he saw Lord Rowan and Lord Luojia, he prepared to greet them first: this was also why the old priest had managed to stay at the entrance for so long, understanding how to read people and the situation, and acting accordingly.
If someone higher up took notice, he might even have a shot at becoming a quasi-saint.
"Excuse me, may I pass through?"
The priest, with a smile squeezed at the corner of his mouth, and the wrinkles on his forehead nearly squeezed to one side, could indeed be described as amiable; he said, "excuse me" to the believers beside him and squeezed his way to Lord Rowan's side.
"Your Excellency Rowan."
He made the sign of the cross and then placed his hands on his chest, bowing first and then taking off his hat to pay respects to the prospective Holy Maiden Luojia, "Your Excellency Luojia, may the sacred Radiance shine upon you both."
"Hello." Miss Luojia, not recognizing the old man, responded with a cool nod.
Her attention had long since drifted elsewhere.
With slightly pursed lips, Miss Luojia gazed at someone, a hint of puzzlement shining in her golden eyes, tilting her head as if she were a cat astonished by the world.
"Hello, Priest Danny," said Rowan, remembering the old man's name, "Hello."
"I wonder which talented individual has won the Goddess's favor? Could you introduce me..."
The old priest said flatteringly, "That would truly be an honor."
After he had finished speaking the auspicious words, he turned and used Scouting Magic to look around.
Scouting Magic is the most basic of spells that even ordinary people can use. It requires minimal magic points and
has a very simple effect, which is to see the titles of those who have received blessings, along with a description of those titles.
The old priest scanned the congregation for the one blessed by the Goddess. It wasn't John's nephew nor the daughter of the Priest Sunny family...
Wait a minute. Priest Danny also spotted that person, blinking incredulously, his actions rather comical as the wrinkles around his eyes contracted and stretched with each blink.
"Hello." An Su approached brightly, greeting him with a smile.
Above his head were three large characters: [Neophyte]
Priest Danny immediately felt unwell.
Compared to Danny's shock, Miss Luojia was even more confused.
Neophyte... what kind of title was that?
It sounded quite positive nonetheless.
"Firstborn" conveyed a sense of bursting vitality.
Miss Luojia herself had also received a title the first time she prayed, and that title was indeed quite radiant: [Star of the Future Illuminating Nether]
The reason why Miss Luojia was surprised wasn't because someone received a god-granted title on their first prayer—as a prospective Holy Maiden, she had seen it many times.
Rather, it was the fact that the person who received the Goddess's blessing was An Su.
As far as she could recall, this was the first time in the border church that the Radiant Goddess had blessed a Child of the Curse.
Perhaps, in his heart, An Su was genuinely pure and kind—Luojia thought to herself.
Looking at the description of his title:
[Title Introduction: With such a heart at such a young age, this child must be eliminated, or he will surely become a giant of the Church.]
That sacrifice to the Mother Goddess of Life was also a desperate resort he came up with to save them, wasn't it?
"Young man," Priest Rowan said amicably to An Su, patting him on the shoulder, "You are a child of the Morningstar Family, aren't you? Congratulations, you truly exceeded our expectations."
"Your Reverence,"
An Su recognized the Priest's insignia on Rowan—a sun surrounded by violets—and thus identified his status,
"May the Goddess bless you."
Having said that, he turned around and crossed himself in front of Luojia, "Lord Luojia, we meet again."
An Su winked at Luojia smugly.
Luojia looked at him, with a gentle smile lingering on the youth's lips, his gray-white hair falling over his shoulders, and his blue-green eyes were clean as a sky washed by rain.
"Hello," she said deliberately with a stern face, coldly addressing An Su.
"A believer who receives a blessing on their first prayer may not necessarily pass the Saint's test, but those who pass the Saint's test have certainly received the Goddess's blessing," said Priest Rowan with a smile, "I look forward to your performance in a month's time."
"I am honored," An Su said.
The old priest was now sandwiched among the few, feeling uncomfortable about what to do.
Especially since he had previously given An Su a hard time.
He thought to slip away while the others were engrossed in conversation, but before he could take a step, An Su's tone suddenly changed.
"To be honest, I have always admired the sacred Church,"
said An Su, "and I wanted to contribute to the sacred cause of my Lord, so I brought a tithe. Priest sir, please return to me the Gold Coins you were keeping for me."
With these words, the church fell silent.
Priest Rowan's eyes narrowed slightly.
Priest Danny was completely frozen in his actions.
He stared at An Su incredulously, not expecting him to dare to speak such words. Was he breaking the principle of silence to report him?
This was a relationship of bribery and taking bribes, was this young man bribing for the first time?
In the doctrine of the Church, both giving and receiving bribes are strictly forbidden.
In the Church's doctrine, even if Danny deliberately made things difficult for An Su, An Su was not to bribe, not to offer gifts to Church personnel in private.
Anyone who made such moves, regardless of the reasons, would be expelled from the Church.
So when Danny took the money, he was ten thousand times reassured the boy wouldn't dare to report it.
In fact, Danny had taken money from those noble sons more than once, and it had never gone wrong before.
He was barefoot and not afraid of those wearing shoes—losing his job was his only concern, while those noble sons, if found guilty of giving bribes, would lose their status as potential saints.
Most importantly, he wasn't the only one in the entire Church taking bribes.
They all took money.
Not just the priests, but even those saints, the deacons among the saints, and even several higher-ranking Priest Lords, all had some kind of benefit exchange to a greater or lesser extent.
This kind of thing was an open secret that everyone chose not to acknowledge openly.
Maybe this kid was just inflexible and didn't understand the principle of silence...
The old priest decided to play dumb, "I don't know what you're talking about; is there such a thing? Why don't you think it over carefully?"
His immediate implication was that they were both in the same boat and it would be best to choose one's words wisely.
After so many years in this business, Danny had never returned the Gold Coins that once reached his pocket.