Hooolllyy shiitt!! Praise religiiooon! All the bad things I said about it, I take everything back! Rafael thought, overwhelmed with excitement.
"Yes, sir. I'll devote myself to our beliefs and our Lord," Rafael said, clasping his hands together.
"Don't get it wrong, it won't be easy," Julius cautioned, coughing slightly. "You still have much to learn before the group of priests reunites and votes. Just so you know, their meeting is next month."
"Don't worry, High Priest. I'll do my best, and I know He is by my side, guiding me. I assure you, I'll learn everything there is to learn." Rafael knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and promised himself that he wouldn't waste it.
"Good, good..." Julius started to say, but a knock at the door interrupted him. "Good evening, High Priest. I brought your food as requested," a cleric Rafael had never seen before entered, carrying two plates. He placed them in front of Julius and Rafael before being dismissed.
The meal was a bowl of soup, much like the one Rafael had eaten back in the village, with bits of bread mixed in.
"Oh, my favorite!" Julius exclaimed as he eagerly began to eat. "Oh right, you were a merchant, weren't you?"
"Yes, High Priest, but just a small one," Rafael replied, starting to eat as well.
"Even as a small merchant, you'd still know something about math. How much do you know?" Julius asked.
"I know how to count and do some basic math," Rafael answered, aware that his knowledge was limited but still valuable in a time when few people had access to such education.
"That's good. I knew people from the capital were different, hahaha..." *cough*
Rafael smiled politely, thinking to himself, The less I talk about my past, the better. Julius, having finished his meal, set his plate aside.
"If you want, we can begin now. We'll start with reading and writing, then move on to learning all there is about being a priest—the Bible, our great religion, and so on. Lastly, I'll teach you math, politics, and other things I know," Julius offered.
"Politics? Why that?" Rafael asked, intrigued.
"Few priests know about politics, and that's one of the main things a priest needs to understand if he ever hopes to become a High Priest," Julius explained.
"Thank you, High Priest. This means a lot to me," Rafael said, genuinely grateful.
"Oh, it's nothing," Julius began, but Rafael interrupted with a question that had been on his mind.
"What about Brother Aaran? Wasn't he your apprentice before me?"
"Well, he is... was. Now, you are my apprentice," Julius replied.
"Won't he feel sad or even angry and cause trouble?" Rafael asked, concerned that Aaran might hold a grudge and make things difficult for him in the future.
"Don't worry, he understands my decision and knows it's forbidden to fight among us," Julius assured him, waving his hand dismissively. "Any more questions? No? Then let's begin." Julius retrieved a parchment, a feather, and some ink from a wooden chest.
Outside, the moon cast its light over the houses, while a few torches placed sparsely within the inner circle made it easier to spot any intruders. Most of the town was already asleep.
Julius taught Rafael for about an hour before stopping. "I think that's enough for today. I must say, you keep surprising me—in just one hour, you've learned what would normally take three or four hours for anyone else." In Julius's eyes, Rafael seemed like a genius, or even better.
"I've always found it somewhat easy to learn new things," Rafael replied, while inwardly thinking, If I'm considered a genius in this time period, what would the greatest minds of my world be? Goddamm ELSpan, you're one of the best things ever created!
"If you keep this up, I have no doubt you'll be the one the priests choose next month, hahaha... *cough* Now let's sleep. There's still a lot you need to learn," Julius said as he walked to his bed.
"High Priest, can I ask one last thing?"
"Yes?" Julius replied, already lying down.
"Your name is Julius Hera, right?"
"Yes, it is," Julius confirmed, waiting for Rafael to continue.
"I've never seen a peasant with a last name, only high-status people. Why is that?"
"First, commoners and peasants can have surnames, but it won't be official or accepted by the nobility. As you said, only people with power and status can officially have surnames, and usually, the more you have, the more important you are. Essentially, only a High Priest, a Baron, a Duke, the Pope, and the King have official surnames. Of course, their families also enjoy the same benefit. Now let's sleep," Julius said, clearly tired.
"...Sorry, sir, but do you have soap? I really need to clean my hands," Rafael asked. Since using the time machine, he hadn't even seen a bar of soap. Until now, he had relied more on his left hand than his right to keep at least one hand relatively clean for eating and touching his face.
"Yes, yes, it's over there on the shelf. Now, if you ask any more questions, I'll kick you out," Julius said, issuing an ultimatum before relaxing and quickly falling asleep.
Wow, calm down, old man, Rafael thought as he found the small yellowish bar of soap on the shelf. Hm, why don't I take this chance to wash my underwear too? Grabbing the soap, he stepped outside the church and found a bucket with a bit of water. First, he washed his hands.
Oohhhh, finally clean hands. Then he returned inside, quickly undressed, and washed his underwear. Afterward, he went back to his new room, returned the soap, and hung his underwear on his bed to dry. Rafael fell asleep with a smile on his face.