Fairy’s Box

Chapter 118: Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is the third cathedral built by the order of the twelfth emperor of Roservia, Jusius the Great. With the support of Roservia's strong national strength, the church was designed and built by the great scholar Isidore and the architect Antimos, and it took only seven years to complete the construction.

When it was just completed, the Hagia Sophia was comparable to the Temple of All Nations in the Achaemenian Empire, but on the first anniversary of its completion, Rosevia suffered a phantom war. One of the invaders of the dream world, the evil **** Mistertin was finally defeated and eliminated by the Lord of Flowers of the Four Seasons. The aftermath of his dying split Thrace in two and almost wiped out everything on the ground. Yusius the Great was forced to announce Move the capital.

As the capital of the empire, a symbol of eternity, Thrace has been rebuilt in the most complete way, but the Hagia Sophia remains in ruins. Some people think that this is a relic that the empire specially reserved to commemorate the pain caused by the war in the fantasy world and to praise the hard-won peace.

Some people also believe that Emperor Jusius worked hard all his life to govern, and single-handedly pushed the national strength of Rosevia to the top. In order to show off the power of the empire and attract all countries to return, he used various decorative methods to beautify Thrace. Decorate the fountains and columns on the streets, and bring in the silks of Gaul, the jewels of Carthage, the carvings and crafts of Asia Minor, the obelisks of Pharaoh Makmukkah, the spices and porcelains from all over the world, and so on. .

As a result, all the efforts were wasted within a year after the completion of the Hagia Sophia, and even the wisest person will be saddened. The Great Emperor probably felt that the church was unlucky and unfortunate, and he was afraid that the situation would come from his heart, so he did not rebuild it.

Yale is now standing at the entrance of this ruin. There is a high iron fence around the ruins of the church. You can see the huge artificial lake and the broken wall inside. A large number of white pigeons and swans fly and stop, like moving clouds.

At the entrance, there is a simple stone house with a wooden cross on the roof. Two beautiful nuns, one tall and the other short, stood in front of the door.

The taller blond nun held a wooden basin: "Uh, give grace to the lost lamb, and give us poor mercy on behalf of the heavenly Father."

Every time she said it, the shorter blue-haired nun would knock on the gong in her hand: "Welcome to visit the ruins of Hagia Sophia, one sol each time, thank you for your patronage."

The knights lined up behind the sparse tourists, with mixed feelings in their hearts. The bishop here is really well-mannered, and the nuns under him have come out to sell tickets.

"One Sol at a time, thank you." The blue-haired nun gave a lovely smile.

Yale shook the envelope in his hand and explained, "I'm here to deliver the letter."

"One Saul at a time, thank you." The blond nun repeated it with no expression, and handed over the tub in her hand.

...Forget it, it's just a sol, it's not worth worrying about.

The knight had no coins on him, so he took out a ten-sol note and threw it into the tub.

"One Saul at a time, thank you." The two nuns said in unison, the tub was a little closer to the boy.

"Didn't I pay? You still have to find me nine Sols!" He asked angrily.

"You can't say that, esteemed guest." The blond nun maintained her posture and said solemnly, "I am the nun in charge of receiving donations, and Hai Wei is the nun in charge of ticket sales."

"Huh?" Yale was at a loss for words, but his response was quick: "The two of you are standing together, how can I tell who is selling tickets and who is raising donations. Okay, I don't want to donate to buy tickets?"

"Dear guest, donations made to God cannot be recycled." The blue-haired nun replied earnestly.

"You two!" The knight's brain was hot with anger, and he pointed at the two and shouted: "You are so greedy, can you still be called God's servants? This is a fraud! It is a fraudulent donation!"

"Respected guest, if you don't buy a ticket, please get out of the way." The blonde nun pointed to the tourists behind him, looking unmoved.

"Buy, buy, buy!" Yalean threw down the ten sol bills again angrily, and decided to go back to clean them up after sending the letter.

"I'll find you nine sols, please keep them." The blue-haired nun gathered nine coins and carefully handed them over.

The knight raised his face, put it in his pocket without saying a word, turned his head and left.

The beauty of the ruins of the Hagia Sophia quickly softened the unhappiness in his heart. The swans swam the lake with their pink feet, and there were ripples on the lake, like huge white lotuses floating on the water.

The lawns and trees are barren and messy, the broken stone pillars are full of vines, and there are fawns in the woods. Although it looks messy, it is also a unique beauty.

As can be seen from the old scene on the ruins, the front of the church is a gorgeous courtyard surrounded by colonnades and a pool in the center.

Passing through three collapsed stone gates leads to the outer front porch—now only an overgrown flagstone road is left, followed by the once grand front porch. According to historical records, the front porch is divided into two layers, the lower layer is used by Protestants and penitents, and the upper layer is part of the church veranda. Now, the lower level is a pool of water, leading to the inner hall by a wooden bridge.

"It's... what a pity." Yale walked on the wooden bridge and felt sincere regret for this once glorious great building.

After leaving the wooden bridge, through a layer of bushes, the space of the ruins suddenly opens up. In the empty lawn, there is a mini church standing where the cathedral used to be.

This should be the destination, it looks very powerful, with a kind of detached momentum.

Dong Dong Dong... He knocked on the wooden door that looked different in structure: "Is there anyone?"

After not getting a response for a long time, with a slight push, the door slowly opened inward. The environment inside is fairly clean and tidy. Behind the wooden door are two rows of six seats, and behind it is the bronze altar.

"No one?" The knight walked to the cross of Christ's crucifixion behind the altar, and pretended to pray for a while, preparing to wait here quietly for a while.

A pale hand suddenly emerged from under the altar and grabbed his calf.

"Who!" Yale hunched back suddenly, grabbed the slightly cold palm, and dragged out a young man in priestly attire from under the altar.

"There is someone in the church, please don't go." The young priest with a weak breath, pale complexion, and a disheveled face said angrily. He didn't seem to know what he was talking about.

"It's actually a living person!" The knight was shocked. The young man in front of him was already on the verge of weakness, almost indistinguishable from a dead thing, and his spiritual eyes didn't notice it for a while.

"Hey! Don't die!" He nervously patted the other's face, for fear that this guy would die at any time.

"Hungry..." The priest opened his dilated pupils and said in a dying breath.

"Eat when you're hungry! Where is your food?" Yale asked hurriedly.

"Eh... um... um." The young priest hesitated for a while, and finally spelled out a complete sentence: "Under the altar, I buried a jar of oats for winter."

Are you a squirrel! Bury stuff everywhere. Also, how poor is it to rely on a jar of oatmeal for the winter!

The knight only dared to complain in his stomach, for fear that a louder voice would frighten the other party to death. Moving away from the altar, he dug a few feet down with his bare hands, and finally found the jar of secrecy oats.

Hmm... the portion is not light, probably enough to eat by myself.

Under the altar, there are magically placed pots and pans and the like. Isn't there even a kitchen here! When Christ sees it, he might get angry and come to life.

He rushed to the bottom of the wooden bridge, filled an iron pot with water, boiled it with his bare hands, then added a whole can of oatmeal, mixed it thoroughly and cooked. An easy oatmeal meal, and that's it.

Yale filled a bowl with the wooden bowl under the altar and put it in front of the priest.

The scent of oatmeal quickly ignited the opponent's vitality, and with the help of the knight, this guy was not satisfied after eating a bowl. Yale was afraid that he would die, so he tried to stop him.

"The reserve grain for the winter... is gone..." The priest squatted in front of the half-pot of oatmeal and muttered in despair.

"Hello!" The knight patted him on the shoulder.

"Ah! I'm sorry." The priest stood up suddenly, and politely bowed to Yale: "Thank you for saving my life. I originally planned to test it, and I could insist on eating food at least once a few days, because For various reasons, the experiment failed, and I almost died... Anyway, thank you."

With a sincere expression on his face, Yale said sincerely, "This is the most boring experiment I've ever heard."

"Hahaha, as a pioneer of the times, you always have to endure all kinds of doubts, don't mind, I'm used to it." With a strong bookish temperament, a gentle and handsome appearance, the priest who almost starved to death didn't mind at all.

The knight decided not to talk too much with this guy, and said straight to the point: "Are you Ike Celestine? I have a letter for you."

"That's right, I'm Ike Celestine, the bishop of this diocese." He nodded and admitted his identity, suddenly changed the subject, and said to himself with glowing eyes: "Faith? Is it piety from afar? A gift for believers!"

"Maybe, I wish you good luck!" Alepi sent the letter with a smile. This guy is actually a bishop. Is the ecumenical patriarch deducting his salary recently.

"This is...!" After Bishop Ike saw the handwriting on the letter, his expression sank, and he slowly took a few steps back before opening the envelope.