Roland couldn't help but laugh when he heard Nikolai's answer, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Learning the skill of throwing a knife with one hand without a teacher is also a talent, no worse than Vladimir's talent for painting." ”

Nikolai was appreciated by His Royal Highness the Prince, and seemed a little flattered, and did not know how to thank him.

Roland noticed that he was not good at words, and suddenly remembered Peter, who could speak well, and thought to himself that if these two were a pair, their personalities would complement each other.

"Nikolai, I heard Peter say that you are neighbors?"

"Yes, Your Highness, Peter was orphaned when he was ten years old, and I have always cared for him as a younger brother."

Nikolai's reply prompted Roland to turn the flash of thought into a definite arrangement: the calm and reserved officer Nikolai and the lively and cheerful little priest Peter were just right to be stationed in the same village for pilot work, and the brothers had a good idea to take care of them in an unfamiliar environment in the countryside.

……

During the week-long internship, the new priests usually learn to manage the business of the local church under the guidance of the priests, and on Sunday, they also have to shoulder the responsibility of assisting the priests to lead thousands of believers in the local community to celebrate Mass.

On Sunday, Roland changed into casual clothes and walked around the community churches in the towns around Krasbourg, stopping for only two or three minutes at each place to observe the new pastors behaving from the pulpit. As a result, most of the new pastors have no experience in public speaking, and they are more or less nervous when preaching, but after the three stages of training, revelation and church practice, the young pastors have been trained to have a good psychological quality, and they can basically complete the sermon mission in public, excluding minor problems such as occasional stuttering and pause.

Since the topic involves one's own experience, it is natural to add many details of life and life insights in the sermon. Most of these new pastors come from the common class, and the audience in the church can relate to their family background, lifestyle, and all kinds of pressures and confusions they face in the process of growing up, so they are more likely to resonate, and the effect of the sermon is generally good.

Roland observed Peter's performance in particular. The result surprised him, this "monkey cub" who did not stand and sat without sitting on the pulpit, immediately changed greatly, that serious demeanor, sharp eyes, deliberately slowed down, clear way of speaking, and a grand and clear voice, so that this fifteen-year-old boy showed an awe-inspiring calm temperament. The content of the sermon was also based on personal experience, confessing that he was the son of a prostitute, and he did not shy away from the hardships of life in the slums, but he did not care about self-pity, and his optimistic attitude towards the pursuit of knowledge and changing his destiny was repeatedly expressed in his speech, which deeply moved the audience in the church! During his brief visit, Roland saw an old woman shed tears of sympathy for Peter's childhood, and then smiled with relief at the fairytale turning point of his life. When Peter finished his sermon, the audience collectively stood up and gave a round of applause to the young pastor for baptizing their souls and restoring confidence in life.

At the end of the service, Roland noticed that the well-dressed old woman had taken Peter's hand and chatted for a long time, and had donated a large sum of money to the church, before leaving the church in a private carriage.

Roland also noticed that when the congregation dispersed, Peter reverted to his old ways, regained his hippie smile, and took a pear from the fruit basket donated to the church, hid it in the sleeve of his robe and nibbled on it. The priest of the community church, a middle-aged female priest with clear eyebrows and a little girl with pigtails in her arms, watched Peter steal food, funny and helpless, walked over and whispered criticism, warning him to pay attention to his image.

Peter grinned, took another pear out of his sleeve, and handed it to the adopted daughter of the priest. The little girl took a bite of the pear, squinted her eyes happily, and said sweetly to Peter, "It is delicious! Thank you, brother! ”

The priestess hugged the little girl and smiled helplessly.

Roland also smiled when he saw this scene, recalling Peter's demeanor and demeanor when he preached, the more he thought about it, the more he felt a subtle sense of déjà vu, until he saw Boris again in the Grand Temple of the capital the next day, and suddenly woke up: Peter's every move, word and deed on the pulpit was clearly imitating his teacher Boris!

Roland still remembers that when Peter was attending the training, he would harass Boris when he had nothing to do, and dragged the Patriarch to talk endlessly, annoying his old man. In retrospect, Peter took the initiative to talk to Boris for the purpose of learning the teacher's style of speech, which was his magic weapon to conquer his audience in the pulpit.

Roland told Boris the details of his observations and speculations to see how His Excellency the Patriarch reacted. The result was not unexpected, the old priest first scolded the "goblin monkey cub", and then couldn't help but laugh, and revealed a sincere sentence to him: "I was annoyed to see Peter when he was there, but he is no longer here, and my heart is empty." ”

"When Peter has worked in the countryside for five years and becomes more mature, I will transfer him back to the capital, and as for the specific work arrangement, it is better for your old man to take the idea at that time." Roland said with a smile.

"I hope that monkey cub will grow up by then, I am getting older, and I will inevitably feel powerless when dealing with young people, and I need a more energetic assistant." Boris was thoughtful.

Roland had come to the Grand Temple to preside over the oath-taking ceremony of the village priest and the village sheriff, four hundred in all.

The oath of the sheriff is relatively simple, nothing more than a few clichés such as loyalty to the monarch and dedication to duty.

In addition to being loyal to the country and the church, the pastor must also vow to treat the faithful well, devote himself to spreading the gospel of the goddess of fate, never participate in financial fraud, and once he discovers corruption and other job-related crimes, he will not conceal them, and immediately report and expose them to his superiors......

These oaths made to the idol of Sindra are not just a formality, but also add a divine constraint to themselves, if they break the oath, they will be deprived of divine grace and reduced to a mortal. The price was heavy enough to be feared and admonished by those who took the oath.

After the oath-taking, the sheriffs and the new priests were to leave Krasbourg and be sent to the countryside to promote communalization and the formation of state-owned farms.

Roland's original idea was also put into practice: Nikolai and Peter were not only sent to the same village to pilot, but also to the village of the Valley, where he had fought.