Chapter 8 Chapter 5 The Bishop's Room

After finishing the daily dawn ceremony, Bishop Vanya stood up awkwardly.He straightened his robe, walked to the window, and watched the rising sun.Van Ya pursed his lips tightly, and frowned.The sun also seemed to be aware that his stern eyes were watching him, and humbly poked his head out from the distant Welheim Mountains; the sun hesitated for a few seconds, hesitating on the white snow on the top of the mountain, just waiting for the archbishop's voice The order was given to start shining on the earth. However, Bishop Vanya stepped away from the window, picked up a necklace of intertwined gold and silver, and put it around his neck thoughtfully.This necklace not only represents his position of power, but also matches the gold and silver edges of Van Yar's robe.The sun seemed to have been waiting for a long time, and seized the opportunity to jump up from the side of the Veheim mountain range, and the bright sunlight shone on Vanya's room.Van Ya frowned in annoyance, he tiptoed back to the window, and drew the heavy velvet curtains.

He was sitting at the desk, ready to start dealing with today's business, but was interrupted by a soft but disturbing knock on the door. "In the name of Emin, please come in." Fan Ya said calmly and cheerfully, but sighed, his expression darkened in anger, and his eyes moved to the large amount of official documents just sent by the Wing Messenger, which were stacked on the desk. The gloomy expression disappeared with the appearance of the visitor.A ray of untamed sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains, and rolled a fringe around the robe of the visitor as he slowly entered the room, his shoes stomping soundlessly on the thick carpet.The cardinal stood in front of the door and bowed to Van Ya. He raised his head and closed the door carefully, and mustered up the courage to approach.

"His Excellency," he began, licking his lips nervously. "A very unfortunate incident happened last night—" "The sun is rising. Good morning, Your Excellency the Cardinal." Fan Ya sat down in front of his heavy desk. The Cardinal blushed. "I'm sorry, Your Excellency," he murmured, bowing again. "Rising sun, good morning, may Amin's blessing accompany you through today." "May Emin's blessings accompany you through the day, Cardinal." Van Ya said calmly.He began to read the official documents sent by the wing messengers last night.

"Your Excellency, a very unfortunate incident happened last night—" "We shouldn't forget to pray for Emin's grace because we are too focused on secular affairs." Fan Ya commented on the cardinal, and seemed to be concentrating on reading a letter, which shone with the emperor's golden seal atmosphere.In fact, Fan Ya didn't read what was written in the letter at all, and the cardinal burst out another "unfortunate thing"!Damn it!Not long ago, an unfortunate incident happened. A family catalyst saint fell in love with the daughter of a nobleman deeply, and the two committed the felony of physical union. The church ruled that the catalyst saint must accept The punishment of transformation.Although this is a wise judgment, it is not a pleasant thing after all, and the originally peaceful life on the holy mountain has been disturbed for a week. "Will you remember what I just said, Your Excellency the Cardinal?"

"Yes, of course, His Excellency." The cardinal stammered, the blush gradually spreading to his bald head, he closed his mouth and stopped. "How?" The bishop raised his head. "You mentioned an unfortunate incident?" "Yes, Your Excellency." The Cardinal said hastily. "There was a young deacon last night in the Great Library past bedtime—" Vanya frowned in boredom, and waved his stubby hands. "Let the lower administrators decide how to punish him, cardinal, I don't have time to waste on trivial matters—" "Excuse me, sir," interrupted the cardinal, taking a serious step forward. "But it's no trivial matter."

Fan Ya stared intently at the cardinal's face, and finally noticed that his expression was full of fear and seriousness, and Fan Ya's face also became serious.He put down the emperor's official documents and began to pay full attention to the cardinal. "Let's talk about it then." "Your Excellency, we found that young man staying in the inner library—" the cardinal hesitated for a while, he didn't want to whet Vanya's appetite, but wanted to be prepared to face the bishop's reaction. "In the forbidden library of the Ninth Tribe." Van Ya stared at the cardinal silently, displeasure covering his face like a dark cloud.

"Who?" His voice was hoarse. "Deacon Saryon." Fan Ya's brows furrowed even more. "Saryon... Saryon," he murmured, his fat fingers squirming absently on the desk; Take a walk in the Black Forest.The cardinal took a step back and reluctantly reminded Van Ya: "It's the math genius Saryon, His Excellency the Bishop." "By the way, it's him!" Fan Ya's frowning brows slightly relaxed, and the displeasure on his face slightly eased. "Saryon." He was lost in thought, his eyebrows furrowed again. "How long has he been in the library?"

"Not long, Your Excellency the Bishop." The cardinal reminded him quickly. "The junior administrator notified the law enforcement officer as soon as he heard the sound at the far end of the library, so Saryon was immediately arrested by the law enforcement officer less than a minute after entering the library." Fan Ya's expression stretched, and he almost laughed, but after noticing the shocked expression of Cardinal's disapproval, he immediately changed into a solemn face. "Of course this cannot go unpunished." "Of course not, Your Excellency."

"We must use the example of Saryon to be alert to those brothers who may not be able to withstand the temptation." "I think so too, Your Excellency." "But." Van Ya stopped, sighed heavily, and stood up. "I can't help but think that we must also bear part of the responsibility, Your Excellency the Cardinal." "I can assure you, Your Excellency. Neither I nor the other mentors—" the cardinal protested stubbornly with his eyes wide open. "Please, that's not what I meant!" Van Ya said, waving his hands. "I remember reports of this young man ignoring his health and prayers for his research. Apparently, we let Saryon get so absorbed in his research that he closed off almost everything from the outside world, and his soul was almost Lost." The bishop shook his head and said solemnly: "Ah, Your Excellency, perhaps we must be responsible for his soul, but thanks to God's mercy, we have the opportunity to save this young man."

Under Fan Ya's reproachful eyes, the cardinal could only reply in a low voice: "It's all thanks to God's grace." But obviously, he didn't think this was a rare grace in his life. Van Ya turned his back to the cardinal who was still sullen, and walked towards the window.He stretched out his hand to open the curtain and looked out of the window, pretending that his thoughts had drifted to the fine weather outside, but in fact, what Van Ya was thinking about was not the weather, his face was cloudy and cloudy with the cardinal's silence, Van Ya Grabbing the curtain, he aimed at the Cardinal out of the corner of his eye.

"The redemption of this young man's soul is very important, don't you think so, Your Eminence?" "Of course, Your Excellency." The cardinal replied, the bright light made him blink, and he saw the light reflected in Vanya's eyes. Bishop Fanya's mind turned back to the sunny morning. "So in my opinion, we must bear part of the responsibility for this young man's depravity, because we failed to stop him from going astray in time, and we did not provide him with proper guidance and supervision." Van Ya did not hear the cardinal's words Responding, he sighed laboriously, pointing his hand lightly to his chest. "I myself must take joint responsibility, Your Excellency the Cardinal." "Your Excellency, you are too generous—" "So, don't you think that we must also be punished? Since we failed to fulfill our obligations to this young man, don't we also have to be vigilant and role models for everyone?" "I think it should be..." Vanya lowered the curtains abruptly, the cool shadows returned to the room, and he turned to face the cardinal.The cardinal blinked, struggling to adapt to the sudden darkness and Bishop Vanya's thoughts. "However, if we publicly accept punishment and humiliation for this matter, it will cause indelible damage to the Church, won't it, Cardinal?" "Of course, Your Excellency the Bishop!" The expression on the cardinal's face became more shocked and confused. "It's simply unimaginable..." The air was full of deep thought and melancholy, Bishop Van Ya folded his hands behind his back. "However, if someone is punished for our mistakes, isn't that against the creed of the church?" The cardinal was in a fog, and he could only complain in a low voice. "So." Van Ya continued softly. "I think the best way to save the reputation of the church and the soul of this young man is for us to... forget about it for a while." Fan Ya stared at the cardinal, the cardinal's expression slowly turned from hesitant to stubborn, Fan Ya's eyebrows were tangled together again, and his fingers curled angrily behind his back.Usually, the cardinal is a gentle and conservative person. As far as Van Ya is concerned, his greatest strength is his slow response, but sometimes this greatest strength also has a fly in the ointment; the cardinal's outlook on life can only be divided into equal parts black and white. The white blocks, and because of this, he occasionally couldn't see the existence of some gray areas from the rigid black and white blocks.Van Ya thought unhappily, if Saryon was dealt with according to the cardinal's opinion, this young man might be sent to undergo the punishment of transformation immediately! Van Ya tried to keep his voice calm. "I don't want to tell Saryon's mother this sad news, especially now that, like us, she is worried about the health of her cousin, the Queen..." His deep voice emphasized the last two words. sentence. The muscles on the cardinal's face twitched. Although his reaction was slow, he was not stupid.This is another plus point worth mentioning. "I understand." The cardinal said with a bow. "I knew you could forgive me." Bishop Van Ya said dryly. "And now—" he continued briskly, returning to his desk, "who else knows what wrong this unfortunate young man has committed?" The cardinal began to think. "Both the lower-level administrators and the librarian know about it. It's a big deal. We have to inform the librarian." "I think so too." Fan Ya muttered, his fingers crawled back onto the desk. "The law enforcement officer also knows about this, who else?" "No one else should know, Your Excellency." The cardinal shook his head. "Fortunately, it happened after bedtime—" "Very good." Van Ya rubbed his forehead. "Very well, there won't be any problems with the law enforcement officers. I'm sure they can keep it secret. Call the junior administrator and the librarian to come and see me, and the poor young man." "What are you going to do with him?" "I don't know." Fan Ya said softly, picked up the emperor's letter, and read it absently. "I don't know what to do with him yet." However, when the secretary walked into the room an hour later and informed him that Deacon Saryon was ready to see him, Van Ya had already made up his mind. There are only some intermittent memories left in Fan Ya's mind, and he has been trying to recall the young man's face all morning.This is not difficult for Bishop Fanya's keen observation skills.Finally, he remembered the haggard and serious face of this young mathematics genius among hundreds of male and female church members who came and went from the holy mountain. Van Ya firmly remembered the face of the young man, and then continued to work for half an hour, leaving Saryon outside to wait for an interview.Van Ya told himself coldly, let this poor creature suffer a little more.He knew that the best way to torture people was to leave him there alone to find trouble for himself.Fan Ya looked at the timing hourglass on the table. The magic little sun in the crystal hourglass was spinning on the sundial, and the scale on the pointer had passed the agreed meeting time.He raised his hand, and the small silver doorbell rang a melody, and then he stood up leisurely, put on the power crown, and adjusted the robe on his body.He went to the center of the richly decorated room, and stood majestic and menacing, waiting for the visitor. The door opened, and the first person who appeared was the secretary, but his figure was quickly swallowed by two silent shadows in black clothes and black hats; two law enforcement officers carried a young man into the room, trembling uncontrollably, looking like It was as if I was caught in my own dark night and brought into the room. "You can leave now, we want to talk alone." The bishop said to the two law enforcement officers.The law enforcement officers bowed and disappeared.The door closed silently, and the two of them were finally alone in the room now. Van Ya put on a cold and serious expression, he looked at the young man curiously, and was very satisfied to find that the appearance of Saryon in his memory was not far from his own.It took him a while to be sure of this, because the face in front of him had changed too much. The face that had been haggard from studying hard was now haggard, as if it had been stained with a layer of gray and white like a corpse.His eyes were burning like crazy, and his two eyeballs were deeply sunken into the towering cheekbones. His tall body was trembling, and his oversized hands were shaking.His trembling body, flushed eyes, and sunken cheeks buried a lot of pain, regret, and fear. Van Ya snickered inwardly. "Deacon Saryon," he began in a deep, resonant voice.But before he could continue, the young man curled up on the floor of the room and knelt before the bishop in shock.He pulled the hem of Vanya's robe to his lips, and Saryon burst into tears, wailing a long string of incoherent words. The bishop felt a little embarrassed, noticing that his expensive silk robes were heavily wet.Frowning, he pulled the robe out of Saryon's hand, and Saryon remained kneeling and motionless, crying miserably with his face covered in his hands. "Cheer up, Deacon!" Vanya snapped, and softly added a few comforting words: "Okay, kid. You made a mistake, and it's not the end of the world. You're still young, which means you're still exploring. The world." He bent down and put his hand around Saryon's arm. "Sometimes our tracks lead us down roads not traveled by," Vanya continued, almost pulling Saryon from the floor. "Sometimes, we will go astray and walk on the dark road." Van Ya walked staggeringly, and brought Saryon to a chair, and he continued to comfort the young man. "At this time, we just need to ask God for guidance, and He will lead us back to the original right path. Okay, come here, sit down, I guess you haven't eaten or drunk since last night until this morning Water? Have a glass of sherry, this bottle is not bad, from Baron Eiger's vineyard." Bishop Vanya poured a glass of sherry for Saryon, but the young man was too shocked that his bishop should serve him and cringed, as if Vanya had just poured him a glass of poison himself. Vanya hid his inner joy and watched the young man's puzzled expression; he tried to show a more friendly attitude towards the young man, and took the glass of sherry and stuffed it into Saryon's unwilling hand.Then Van Ya took off the power crown on his head, sat down on another comfortable and luxurious chair opposite the young man, and poured himself a glass of sherry.The wine glass floated in front of him, and Fan Ya adjusted his robe so that he could sit more comfortably. The development of the matter was unexpected, and Saryon could only stare at the great man in front of him. He looked more like an overweight uncle than a bishop who held the authority of the world. "Praise Emin," said the Bishop, tapping his glass to his lips, taking a sip of the excellent sherry in the glass. "To Emin," Saryon muttered involuntarily. He raised his glass to taste, but poured almost the whole glass on his robes. "Now, brother Saryon," Vanya said, feeling like a father was about to discipline his beloved son. "Let's get rid of the red tape first. I want to hear you tell me what happened last night." The young man squeezed out tears from the corners of his eyes. The glass floating in front of him was shaking and splashing due to distraction. He grabbed the glass in a hurry, and slowly put the glass on the table beside him with trembling hands. "My lord, my sin...was evil...unforgivable..." poor Saryon murmured distractedly. "Son. The all-knowing Emin knows the mistakes you have made, and the merciful He has already forgiven you. Compared with our heavenly Father, I am only a pitiful flesh and blood. But the wisdom bestowed on me by the Holy Father , so that I can also understand the mistakes you have made, and His mercy allows me to forgive you. Explain to me clearly, what is it that lured you to such a dark road." Van Yana is full of incomparable patience The kind tone made Saryon burst into tears again. Poor Saryon was so moved by the bishop's words that he was speechless for a while.Fan Ya tasted the sherry and waited patiently. He had a fatherly and benevolent expression on his face, but he snickered contentedly in his heart.At last the young deacon spoke, hesitating, stammering a little at first, staring straight at the floor, but when he looked up, he saw himself a sinner, a confession of decayed, dark, eternally lost souls found mercy When he responded with sympathy, he finally poured out his sins like a fountain. "I don't know what made me commit such a mistake, Your Excellency!" he cried helplessly. "In the holy mountain, I used to be so happy and so content." "I think you know exactly what made you make a mistake, and now you have to admit everything yourself." Van Ya said calmly. Saryon hesitated. "Yes, perhaps I am very clear, forgive me, His Excellency. But lately, I feel—" He hesitated, as if unwilling to speak. "Are you bored?" Van Ya hinted. The young man's face turned red with a bang, and he shook his head. "No...uh...probably, the daily routine is really boring..." Saryon waved his hand impatiently. "I have learned all the skills to assist mages of any faction a long time ago." He responded to Van Ya's suspicious eyes. "I'm not bragging. Not only that, but I have invented new mathematical formulas that can replace the traditional, old, clumsy calculation methods of centuries ago. I thought I would be satisfied with this, but I didn't. It just made me Hunger and thirst for knowledge." Saryon said ecstatically, he spoke faster and faster, and finally he stood up, paced around the room, waving his hands constantly. "I started to find a new way to study new magic that the predecessors could not imagine! For research, I studied more books in the library of the Holy Mountain, and finally, I found the library of the Ninth Tribe in a corner of the library. "Can you imagine how I felt at that time? No—" Saryon looked at Van Ya with shame. "How could you, the embodiment of virtue, have such evil thoughts? I stared at the symbol on the door frame of the library, and a feeling crept over me, like the magical atmosphere we can feel every morning. But this feeling is not as bright and satisfying as the magic atmosphere. Instead, it keeps expanding like a dark crack in the soul until it sucks my whole body in. My heart is full of desire for knowledge. The hunger, the thirst, the desire almost knocked me out." "And then?" Van Ya was deeply attracted by Saryon's story, he forgot his identity, and asked, "Have you gone in?" "No, I'm too scared. I stood in front of the library door for an unknown how long." Saryon sighed wearily. "I must have stood in front of the library for hours, because when I came to my senses, I suddenly felt dizzy with a pain in my leg, and I collapsed on a chair exhausted, looking around in terror. What if someone saw me? My face must be clearly covered with the forbidden thoughts in my heart! But there is no one around me." Saryon subconsciously matched what he had just said, and sat back on the chair slumped. "Sitting in the reading room near the library, I finally understand what it feels like to be tempted by evil." He lowered his head and covered his face with his hands. "You are right, Your Excellency, just as I can realize that I am sitting on that wooden chair, I can also realize that I can open the door to the forbidden door! Oh, of course, the door is blocked. Guardian spells and runes protect." Saryon shrugged impatiently. "But those simple spells and runes can only seal the gate, and anyone with a little life force can easily break it; No one would want to go near that library at all, let alone go in and read the books in it." The young man was silent for a while, and his voice became smaller and smaller, almost only he could hear it. "I probably lost all my sanity at that time. I felt that everything I saw became distorted and misty, as if I was seeing through a veil." Saryon looked up at Van Ya, he Shaking his head, he continued with a little bitterness: "At that moment, I also learned about other things, Your Excellency, I realized that I didn't discover those banned books by accident." He clenched his fists. "No, it should be said that I have been looking for them. While avoiding admitting the facts, I deliberately searched for forbidden knowledge. I sat in a chair, and some chapters in other books clearly jumped into my mind , these chapters refer to several books that I couldn't find anywhere, I thought they had been destroyed in the War of Iron, but when I found the Ninth Tribe's library, I had other ideas, they It's there, they must be there, I always knew that. "What did I do then?" Saryon laughed hysterically, which slowly turned into a sob. "I ran out of the library as if fleeing a ghost, I ran back to my room, jumped under the covers and shivered in fear." "Son, you really should talk to someone about this." Vanya protested gently to Saryon. "Don't you have any confidence in us?" Saryon shook his head, wiping away tears impatiently. "I'm almost telling you about it. The druids of the Zeldalla tribe met me, but I'm scared." He sighed. "I thought I could control myself. I tried to use work to forget this desire for forbidden knowledge, and I also tried to wash away my sinful soul through prayer and obedience to duties. After that, I never prayed again every evening. Absent, I exercised in the atrium with the others, and made myself too tired to think. "The most important thing is that I have never stepped into the library again. But whether I am walking or sleeping, what I think about all the time is the library and the treasures of knowledge in it. "I should have known my soul was sinking fast," Saryon continued. "But desire stung me, and I finally gave in. Last night, after the others had gone to bed, I left my room and sneaked into the long corridor leading to the library. I had no idea that the old deacon was there guarding Mouse, but even if I know, I don't think I will give up. My mind is full of distress caused by desire. "As I expected, breaking the spell on the door was a simple matter, even if I was only a three-year-old child, I could easily do it. I was short of breath, and stood in front of the threshold for a while, enjoying the sweetness Painful anticipation. Then I walked into the forbidden library, my heart beating so fast that it almost exploded, and I was sweating profusely. "Have you ever been to the library?" Saryon looked at the bishop, who raised his eyebrows in warning, and the young man shrank back. "No, no, I—I don't think so, the books in the library are out of order, and piles of books are piled on the floor in such a way that they look like they were thrown into the library in a hurry, so as not to It's like polluting my own hands. I picked up a book from my feet—" Saryon's hand trembled. "When I picked up that book, I was so content and elated, I couldn't see or hear anything outside; I forgot where I was or what I was doing, I just remembered holding the book and Thinking of the many wonderful secrets that this book will reveal; the pain that burns in my heart is about to explode, and I will never again have to be tormented by desire." "So, what exactly is written in the book?" Van Ya asked softly. Saryon smiled weakly. "The things inside are very dull and boring. I opened the book page by page and felt more and more confused. I couldn't understand what was written on it at all, I couldn't understand it at all! There were only a few rough drafts in the book. Heaps of slashes, weird parts marked 'wheels', 'gears', 'sledges'." Saryon sighed, lowered his head and whispered like a disappointed child: "There's no mention of mathematics in it." The snicker in Vanya's heart slipped to his lips, but it didn't matter, Saryon didn't see it, he was staring down at his shoes. Saryon concluded in a dead voice. "Then the Marshal walked in, and... everything went dark. I—I don't remember anything, until... until I found myself in the room again." He slumped in a chair exhausted. Lie on the mat and cover your face with your hands. "and then?" "I took a shower." Saryon looked up, thinking that the bishop's smile was laughing at himself, and immediately added an explanation: "I feel dirty and filthy all over my body, I must have taken a shower twenty times last night. " Vanya nodded in understanding. "And then you must have spent the whole night imagining what punishment you're going to receive." Saryon's head dropped again. "Yes, Your Excellency, of course," he muttered. "No doubt you must have foreseen that you were condemned to be transformed into a caretaker, a stone statue that stood forever on the frontier." "Yes, Your Excellency, I deserve what I deserve." Saryon's voice was almost indistinguishable. "Ah, Brother Saryon, if we were all punished so harshly for our pursuit of knowledge, all of Simharon would be a land of stone statues. The pursuit of knowledge is not an evil thing, the only thing you do Wrong, just accidentally embarked on the wrong path of pursuit. There is a reason why this terrible knowledge was exiled: the Ninth Tribe nearly destroyed all of Simharon, but on the road of life, you did not You are not alone. We are all bewitched by evil from time to time, we all understand your current situation and will not condemn you, you must trust us, you should have sought guidance from me or other teachers." "Yes, Your Excellency, I am sorry." "As for your punishment, it's actually over." Saryon looked up in surprise. Fan Ya smiled softly, and he said in a pleasant voice: "My child, the suffering you suffered last night is enough to cover the small mistakes you made, and I will not punish you again. No, in fact, In order to take part of the responsibility, I want to offer you a chance to make up for the torture you have suffered." "Your Excellency!" Saryon's face flushed, and then turned pale in an instant. "Taking partial responsibility? No! It's all my own—" Fan Ya waved his hand disapprovingly. "No, listen to me. I'm not open enough to you young people, and it's clear that you think I'm always on top and unapproachable. Me and the rest of the superiors are starting to understand that, and we'll try to remedy that. .However, what you need now is a change of environment to change your mood. So, Deacon Saryon." Van Ya said. "I want to take you to Malilong together to participate in the test ceremony for the soon-to-be-born prince. What do you want?" The young man didn't answer, he was so shocked that he was speechless, this is a supreme honor and pride for all members of the sect.In the months after learning that the Empress was finally pregnant, all fidgeted and fought for the glory except Saryon; he was absorbed in his research and agonized over the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.In the seminary, Saryon was not one of the popular types. Even if he wanted to go to the test ceremony, no one would invite him. Seeing Saryon's bewildered look, Vanya knew that it would take some time for the young man to recover. He began to describe the beautiful scenery of the imperial city to Saryon, and discussed the political differences. Finally, Saryon muttered A few clear words.The bishop knew very well what was going on in the hearts of young people.Saryon originally thought that he would be burdened with shame and darkness and be expelled from the church, but now he has the opportunity to see the joyful and beautiful Merilon and socialize in the royal family's social circle.There is no doubt that he will have a bright and successful future. The royal family has not had a prince for several years, and the previous emperor had no heirs, so the empress came to the throne after her eldest brother died.Ma Lilong will hold a series of unimaginable grand celebrations for the birth of the prince.As a member of the bishop's esteemed and revered entourage, and the queen's cousin, he would be flattered and flattered by a group of the wealthiest nobles in Simharlan, and one of the nobles would invite him to be the head of the household. sainthood.Vanya remembered that there were still a few vacancies among the nobles waiting to be filled, and that Saryon would have nothing to worry about for the rest of his life. When Vanya gracefully led the dizzy Saryon towards the gate, he secretly told himself that the best thing about this decision is that Saryon will settle in Malilong from now on, and he will not return to the holy mountain until a long, long time later. , if it is still possible.