Gun of Ashes

”My name is Hu ao, and I am not familiar with Orthodoxy. I just learned about this today... you could say I’ve only been a believer for a few hours.”

”Oh? Do you have time to chat with me about it? Why did you decide to join?”

Lorenzo said this as he walked over to one side and sat on the cold steps like a vagrant.

He really lived up to being taught under Oscar; Lorenzo disguised himself well, his kind demeanor almost perfectly deceiving Hu ao.

Hu ao thought for a moment and sat on the steps with Lorenzo.

He was just an ordinary sailor, and all his money was stashed under his bed; now, he didn’t have a penny on him.

Hu ao briefly observed Lorenzo, who was wearing the uniform of an orchestra, and this disheveled guy had rarely cleaned up.

Looking at that pale face, whitened from being cooped up at home away from sunlight for too long, Hu ao let his guard down completely.

He had met people like Lorenzo before, those guys mocked him, but under their clothes was a frail body, while Hu ao had toughened up with fierce determination through the years of sea waves. If it came to a fight, Hu ao was confident he could take down this foreigner Lorenzo.

”Ingwig? I’ve seen it from afar on a fishing boat.”

Hu ao gestured with his hands, ”At the end of the sea’s horizon, a blurry silhouette; that was probably the closest I ever got to Ingwig.”

”If you’re interested, you’re welcome to visit anytime. If you mention my name, you might not even need to transition through the Lower City District.”

Obviously, Hu ao didn’t understand what Lorenzo meant by transitioning through the Lower City District, but he didn’t care. He might never leave the fishing boat for the rest of his life, let alone go to Ingwig.

”Speaking of Orthodoxy, I have a friend who’s a Priest at the Evangelical Church. Maybe under his influence, I became quite interested in theology.”

While Lorenzo spoke, he observed Hu ao’s reactions and realized his words might have come off wrong. Lorenzo quickly added.

”But don’t worry, I’m not a believer. I’m just an ordinary person interested in theology.”

”I see...”

Hu ao remained vigilant and wanted to end the conversation quickly.

”As for my view on Orthodoxy... as I said, I’ve only been a believer for a few hours, and I haven’t even heard the doctrine in full.”

Thinking of this, Hu ao felt a bit embarrassed. While the Priest was fervently preaching at the front, he wasn’t paying attention, only focused on eating.

”To understand something, you first need to know it, but I...” Hu ao laughed awkwardly, ”I can’t give you more answers about Orthodoxy.”

”It’s okay. Why did you join? There must be a reason, right?”

Lorenzo continued to probe, eager to understand how Orthodoxy had developed. From his experience, the quickest way to analyze was to learn from ordinary believers.

The Evangelical Church had developed over countless years and had now become something entirely different. The lower-level believers still believed in God, while the high-ranking Cardinals saw it all as merely a division of interests.

Lorenzo remembered the darkest times in Evangelical Church history when, to alleviate internal economic burdens, the clergy even introduced the Redemption Certificate.

”A reason?”

”Yes, the reason. You even said you didn’t remember the main thing, the doctrine, so what drove you to join? The regular communion?” Lorenzo asked.

Lorenzo was right, but Hu ao felt uncomfortable and then an inexplicable rage and... shame arose.

Yes, Hu ao joined for the communion. He didn’t believe in God; he just pretended to be devout for this benefit.

This side of him was exposed by Lorenzo, and he became angry, but before the anger could fully surge, an indescribable sense of shame spread within him.

He felt as though he had done something wrong. Although he hadn’t done anything, Hu ao felt that having such thoughts was wrong.

Hu ao felt ashamed of his pathetic motive and blamed himself.

He... began to have faith.

”I don’t know how to explain. At first, it was just to get a free meal and save some money, but... I don’t know why, I really wanted to stay there, like everyone there was my kind, and only with them could I feel like a living person.”

This was probably the most complex issue Hu ao had ever pondered, he wanted to explain to Lorenzo, but his knowledge was insufficient to perfectly express his feelings.

He was like a clueless child, trying to describe something he still didn’t understand, sobbing.

”You can be acknowledged there as a living person, not just some dispensable guy, right?”

Lorenzo looked calm, seemingly fully understanding Hu ao’s feelings.

”Probably... something like that.”

Hu ao answered dazedly.

Lorenzo stood up, sighed lightly. For some reason, in a brief moment, he saw himself in Hu ao.

He, too, was once a fanatic because only by protecting the sacred could he and others have a place to stay.

The ridiculous sense of belonging.

After all, humans are social creatures; inevitably, everyone has similar troubles to some extent.

Lorenzo shook his head resignedly, bidding farewell to Hu ao.

”I think I’ve learned enough. See you again, Hu ao.”

Lorenzo walked towards the other side of the street, where Hebdo and Eve were waiting for him not far away.

”Anything to gain?” Eve asked.

”Nothing significant,” Lorenzo shrugged, ”but from his description, that Orthodoxy seems quite aboveboard.”

”Aboveboard?”

”Sort of, it sounds like an ideal utopia built by idealists,” Lorenzo recalled, sighing a bit resignedly, ”The Evangelical Church was initially like this too, but everyone eventually became Evil Dragons.”

”It seems Orthodoxy has gathered a group of devout believers.” Lorenzo glanced back, Hu ao’s figure slowly blurred at the end of the street.

”Compared to what we have to do, Maruri and Gaulunaro have even harsher things to face next.”

”What’s going to happen?” Hebdo asked.

”A conflict of faith. The fanatics will fight each other until one side is wiped out entirely. The history of religion is also a history of war, with different sects battling each other until only one remains. The Evangelical Church is the one that survived.”

He felt sorrow for the base nature of humans and sometimes despair at not finding answers.

”If humans could understand each other, why would we need weapons?”

Lorenzo scoffed, ”Don’t you think these people are ridiculous? Entrusting everything to those elusive gods but unwilling to reach out and grasp what’s around them.”

Perhaps because he had once been like that, Lorenzo couldn’t stop ranting about it.

”Alright, let’s go,” Eve said.

Night had completely fallen, and bright street lamps shone like stars.

Lorenzo paused, looking at this unfamiliar street, and only then recalled that he was in a foreign land... After all, Old Dunling wasn’t his hometown either.

Without saying another word, they quickened their pace back to the hotel. Once they had their plans in place, there was still a lot to prepare.

More importantly, they hoped that when they returned, the Red Falcon would still be alive and Erin would still be tied up properly on one side.

Inside the hotel, Red Falcon and Erin sat at opposite ends of the living room. Although her hands were cuffed, it didn’t stop Erin from picking up a book. She looked at ease while reading, while thoughts raced uncontrollably through Red Falcon’s mind.