CHAPTER 317: 0315 CHATTING AND CHATTING, THEN BEING LED AWAY.

At dusk, after an afternoon of rest, everyone became refreshed; these representatives of noble families, wealthy merchants, political celebrities, also generously expressed their reverence and devotion to the divine.

Gold-encased goldware was sent into the temple under the watchful eyes of some devout believers holding Divine Plates, participating in the event and celebration up close. Of course, some people just donated money, surely the deity who loves gold would also love money?!

Definitely, from the High Priest’s irrepressible smile, it can be seen that the deity loves money, not only money but also loves checks.

"Tell the High Priest, this is my respect for the deity!" Lynch, wearing a bone and gold-thread Divine Plate, tucked a check into a wooden box that can be opened and closed and handed it to a clergy member.

Whether it’s money or checks, they will be placed by the donors into the wooden box, which is also to prevent others from knowing how much each has donated, protecting the donors’ privacy.

Many times, donors face an awkward question, which is how much should they donate.

If they donate a lot, they might not necessarily gain good returns. People will discuss the source of this money and why someone would donate so much money, making a simple thing complicated.

If they donate little, people will talk more, especially those with status; if they donate less than others, they will be labeled with terms such as "stingy."

To protect people’s privacy and prevent some awkward moments during donations, the temple uses a very interesting method to avoid these awkwardnesses, which is the wooden box.

The advantage of this is that except for the Chief Priest, no one knows how much each donor has donated, eliminating comparisons and judgments, allowing people to maintain a respectful attitude towards donors.

The clergy member holding the wooden box quickly walked to the High Priest’s side, whispered something in his ear, and then the High Priest lifted the lid of the box and took a glance.

When he saw the check signed by Lynch, the corners of his mouth slightly curled up. In Nagariel, regardless of what country’s foreign exchange it was, it’s more valuable and useful than Nagariel’s own Galil.

Looking at those several zeros, the High Priest felt very pleased, he thought of his youngest son who was preparing for studying abroad, these Federation Sol notes could be perfect for his youngest son.

As for this money being donated to the deity?

The deity wouldn’t care about these mundane things, what they care about is piety, respect, understand?

After closing the box, the High Priest looked at Lynch; their gazes met across a great distance. The High Priest slightly nodded to indicate he felt Lynch’s faith, fanaticism, and respect for the deity, and also recognized the return he got from gifting Lynch the bone and gold-thread Divine Plate.

With the donations finished, the High Priest gave the final remarks for the day’s festival activities, then vanished into the temple.

Some clergy members, including priests and priests, began dancing around the fire in the temple. They wore strange costumes, their skin marked with various patterns, some were nauseating, some made the scalp tingle, each person’s body as stiff as a puppet!

Yes, at this moment they are puppets, they are puppets in the hands of the divine, singing and dancing according to the deity’s will.

Low-status Divine Servants began to serve exquisite food to the celebration participants, various grilled meats, various fruits, and some low-alcohol slightly tart fruit wines. People ate food, watched the dance, and sang hymns praising the divine in native songs.

"The High Priest wants to talk to you..."

A priest came beside Lynch, who was enjoying the food, Lynch glanced at him and then adjusted his clothing, following him to the back of the temple.

The High Priest, who had hosted an entire day’s events, had no major activities lined up, so he returned early to the back of the temple to rest.

In a very spacious room, Lynch met the High Priest.

The room was approximately three to four hundred square meters, rectangular, with a high platform in the center of the room, on which was a stone chair, the High Priest sat on it.

The room was somewhat stuffy, possibly considering the warmth issues in winter, there was no obvious air flow, and for lighting, many fire basins were arranged, the fire illuminating the place, but also raising the temperature noticeably higher than outside.

"Mr. Lynch..." The High Priest’s smile became more natural, "I have heard others’ evaluations of you, and they brought your perspectives on our faith."

"I must say you are a foreigner unlike the others, at least in terms of faith matters, you behave differently than others!"

In this tumultuous, rapidly changing era, continuously advancing technology is breaking the ignorance of the past, but it is exactly this fierce confrontation and conflict between science and superstition that naturally distinguishes believers from non-believers completely.

Those with faith have become more devoted and pious than ever before. They never doubt what they believe in, while also rejecting other different kinds of beliefs.

Those without faith, no matter what you say, will not believe there is anything strange in this world. They can always explain mysterious phenomena through various scientific means.

But Lynch is different. What he says is ambiguous, seemingly pleasing neither side, yet in fact, both believers and non-believers can accept his views.

The former need not say much; they will tell Lynch that all the miraculous manifestations are caused by the gods they believe in, or something of the sort. They are the roots and the only source of faith.

The non-believers, on the other hand, feel that Lynch approaches these matters in a relatively scientific and rational manner. He lacks only one opportunity to see through it, so they do not mind having an in-depth conversation with Lynch to give him the key to seeing through all superstition.

This is a clever way of speaking. Even if it cannot please everyone, it will not offend anyone either.

This is completely different from other foreigners. Many foreigners, like Mr. Simon whom Lynch knows, have only two attitudes toward local religious beliefs.

The first is atheists, non-believers, who firmly believe there are no gods and attribute faith to ignorance and superstition.

The second type believes the local beliefs are of evil gods and heresy, and only their own beliefs are of true gods.

No matter whether any of these people changed their attitude and stance later on, when they first arrived, they only had these two attitudes. Lynch is very different, which makes him special right away.

Lynch slightly bowed, and the High Priest thought of a diocesan Shepherd, an extraordinary identity, "I come from the Bail Federal, a country that cherishes freedom. Our laws advocate religious freedom and also protect religious freedom."

"Each of us holds a tolerant attitude and a broader perspective to look at everything happening around us, whether it is religion, political systems, culture, customs, or anything else. We respect all of it, embrace it all, and accept it all."

The High Priest’s eyes moved slightly, "Sounds quite interesting..."

Lynch’s lips curled slightly, "In the Federation, as long as you register religious information at the religious Management Office, anyone can start proselytizing. As long as the doctrine is not illegal or anti-social, no one will impose any limitations."

"The Divine Deputy, do you know about the Earth Mother’s Throne Church?"

"The Divine... Deputy?", the High Priest was somewhat confused, "Is this referring to me?"

Lynch nodded as if it was a matter of course, "Of course, High Priest, you are the embodiment of a god walking in the human world, so you are the Divine Deputy. You exercise the power granted by the divine and bear the obligation of guiding the people toward good. Did I say anything wrong?"

Seeing Lynch’s somewhat surprised expression, the High Priest smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth, but he quickly pursed his lips. As the Divine Deputy, it was not quite appropriate to show too much emotion, yet he nodded, "No, what you said is quite correct, this term is well used, Divine Deputy..."

He paused, as if savoring the pleasure this new term brought him, and only after a while did he realize, "What were you about to say? Go on!"

Lynch bowed slightly again and continued, "Earth Mother’s Throne, a religion you haven’t heard of, they advocate eating hot horse manure to cure diseases..."

Maybe the two were having a good conversation, the atmosphere was just right, or perhaps the zeros on the check Lynch donated to the gods were more than the High Priest imagined. His current mood was quite appropriate and cooperative.

He even laughed aloud a bit exaggeratedly, "Eating hot horse manure to cure disease?"

Lynch’s expression was earnest, "Yes, preferably the feces just expelled by a horse, steaming hot!"

The High Priest laughed again, laughing for quite a while, perhaps finding it somewhat unbelievable, he couldn’t help but ask a question, "I’m curious, does anyone believe in this religion and what they say?", the High Priest’s laughter gradually ceased, and he frowned, "Eating horse manure can cure disease."

"Why not?", Lynch retorted, "In the Federation, we cherish religious freedom. Eating horse manure sounds absurd, but it is neither anti-social nor urges people to do bad things. It’s just eating some unhealthy but not deadly horse manure."

"And indeed some people believe in it. It’s said they had tens of thousands of followers at their peak..."

Hearing this, the High Priest was dumbfounded and chuckled, "This is truly foolish and quite ignorant. I thought foreigners were all smart people..."

As he spoke, he suddenly fell silent. Even a religion advocating eating horse manure could survive in the Bail Federal. Suddenly, he thought of a question: if his religion moved to the Federal, could it also survive? Would there also be people willing to follow his god?

At this thought, the High Priest’s heart began to beat strongly; that was the Bail Federal, a country far richer than Nagariel, where everyone is well-fed and well-clothed, everyone is very wealthy, just like Mr. Lynch before him.