Chapter 283 - 220: Spiritual Cultivator

’Contemplating falsehood and truth, matter and spirit, reason and faith...’

’Contemplating the very meaning of the Rule of Saint Benedict.’

’What was the point of a rule that most people never followed?’

In the end, swept up in the storm that engulfed Milan, he joined the Patulin Sect. However, he soon discovered they were nothing but a pack of madmen who rationalized their sins, even if their doctrines had some merit.

Yet blood and violence, no matter how they were justified, were by no means the way of God.

"I discovered I had fallen into a trap. Perhaps logic cannot solve every problem, and perhaps reason isn’t the ultimate answer.

A person of superior intellect can easily manipulate seemingly sound logic and false rationality to distort the will of God.

In my youth, I admired and marveled at the wisdom of the pagan philosophers, but now I have begun to doubt them. More than reason and logic, Christ should be approached through love.

Besides pain, the Patulin Sect also led me to these reflections, so it wasn’t entirely for nothing." Jesuade looked at Eric and sighed. "Perhaps I should hear your story, brother.

"You still call me brother?" Eric said with a smile.

"You saved my life, while the men who should have been my brothers were the ones trying to send me to my grave." Jesuade shook his head.

"Perhaps I’m no different from them. If they destroyed half this city, then I destroyed at least a quarter of it. Maybe you shouldn’t trust me so much." Eric took a sip of his beer.

"At least you’re willing to let me speak. It sounds simple, but in this day and age, very few people are capable of that. A person who is willing to listen can’t be all bad. Besides, I’m currently sitting in a warm tavern, drinking a rather tasty beer.

However, I do have one complaint." Jesuade set down his mug.

"What’s that?" Eric asked.

"God gave you a fine mind. I believe you should have loftier ideals—spiritual ones. Perhaps in the near future, you will encounter the light of Heaven, just like Paul." (The Apostle Paul was originally a fervent Jew who opposed Christianity. One day on the road to Damascus, he was blinded by a divine light from Heaven and thereafter converted.)

"I once hoped for such a thing, but now I sit here not as a monk, but as a Count. So I believe He must have other plans for me." Eric smiled and drained his mug.

Eric and Jesuade chatted about other things for a while before Eric, seeing his chance, steered the conversation toward the state of the Patulin Sect’s forces.

"Perhaps you could help me with something. The matter of Piacenza’s defenses. This is the border between Milan and Tuscany; they have every reason to station troops here. In fact, I’ve already received intelligence to that effect."

"They need to procure wheat from the villagers, but the villagers are often less than cooperative."

"You mentioned they’ve made compromises, which is why they’re stockpiling gold and silver."

"Yes, but it’s not enough. They have other plans. In areas where resistance is strong and fierce, they use gold and silver to buy wheat. But where resistance is weaker, they resort to violence.

Some villages have banded together, even contacting Baron Turin, while others have not.

You’ve come at the perfect time. Just last night, the Patulin Sect soldiers left Piacenza for the nearby villages.

As for the Patulin Sect monks in the city, they’re usually more zealous about prayer than military matters. There’s a reason for this: ever since Baron Turin last routed them, Piacenza has been in a state of near-famine.

They believe prayer will increase the citizens’ trust, divert their attention, and make them forget their hunger.

Of course, that’s far from enough, so they ’luckily’ found me. Burning a heretic at the stake is a much bigger draw than a common prayer or mass—and a far better distraction." Jesuade shrugged, his tone laced with self-mockery.

"The Church still has food, does it not?" Eric said with a smile.

"Yes, but the monks must first ensure that they themselves are well-fed, and that they can feed the Patulin Sect’s Civilian Militia. And I mean ’well-fed,’ not just ’not starving.’ I must emphasize that point, as there is a vast difference between the two."