The main building had to be under this huge dome. Around this big dome there were different smaller domes, and these domes were arranged like staircases wrapping around the main building.
The Church of Andromeda owed its fame not to its size, but to the magnificent positioning of its twelve minarets. The minarets were so perfectly constructed that only half of them could be seen from any direction, unless from the top. The minarets were perfectly hidden behind each other.
The only feature of the church that resembled Christian architecture was the colored glass. They were designed in the form of mosaics and contained all the colors.
Yu had read about the Church of Andromeda, famous all over the world for the location of its minarets, in a book he had found at the Wizarding Academy.
The church was built before the gods gathered and expelled Azer and his wives from heaven, and it has remained the same since then.
Of course, restoration work was constantly being carried out, but for centuries no additions or alterations had been made to the church beyond its original structure.
Another surprising fact about this church is that the identity of its builder is unknown. One hundred years after Azer came to earth and started the Zodian religion, the Independent City of Lunia was occupied by Zodianists and the building once known as the Church of Light was renamed the Church of Andromeda.
After this invasion, the Zodianists destroyed the library of the Church of Lunia, so it was not known who had built the church. There were different theories and some attributed the construction of the church to the gods, but there was no evidence. It was as if the builder had never existed.
"Maybe a First Worlder built this church. The architecture is similar to most of the architecture on this world, but the position of the minarets is really impressive. I can't imagine someone with a medieval mind building this. If it wasn't a First Worlder, it must have been a genius."
He did not want to enter the church in a crowd. So before entering the road leading to the Church of Andromeda, he tapped the top of the wagon several times with his cane and Tobias, hearing the noise inside, pulled the wagon over and stopped it.
"Mr. Valarfin?"
Yu opened the carriage door and got out. Tobias also got out of the driver's compartment and stood opposite Yu. Yu motioned for Kigaro, who was following the car behind them, to join him.
"Tobias, take Dimen and the slaves to the Cathedral of Virgo. Kigaro, you will come with us to the Church of Andromeda."
The slaves were in a trailer and were pulled by rinos, ridden by Kigaro and Dimen. The slaves were given wool blankets to keep them from dying of cold and their hands were bound with wooden handcuffs to prevent them from escaping.
It was unnecessary to take the slaves all the way to the Church of Andromeda. He would take them to the Virgo Cathedral and sell them after learning about the slave market.
He had a clear conscience about the slave trade. If they were innocent people, he might object to taking away their freedom, but since they were bandits, he had no problem enslaving them.
Anyway, if he released them, they would probably go back to banditry, because if they had something better to do, they wouldn't have gone back to banditry in those mountains. Yu had learned in the mountains how they lived.
Of course he did not empathize with them, they were bad people and would be treated as they deserved. Only if they were desperate enough to go up those mountains did he think they were unfit to live among humans and he didn't care how they were treated by those they were sold to.
"Mr. Valarfin, I don't know where the Cathedral of Virgo is," Tobias said.
"Young lady." Yu called Yurine and Yurine started to give Tobias directions.
"What should I do?" Dimen called from the back of the wagon.
"Sivina has silver hair and sea green eyes and Ana has green hair and blue eyes. Take those criminals to the Cathedral of Virgo and if you see the two girls, Sivina and Ana, tell them we are coming. And if you don't manage to get in, just wait outside with the slaves until we arrive."
"Got it."
Yu would have liked to show up suddenly and surprise them. It would have been fun to see how they would react to his sudden appearance, but if he was sending them to the cathedral, they could at least let him know they were coming.
"Mr. Valarfin! Mr. Valarfin!"
One of the prisoners in the trailer called Yu's name twice in a mocking tone. Yu turned to that person, and it was the young man who identified himself as Link Yachi Long.
He had blond hair and blond eyes, but he put the blanket over his head so you couldn't see his hair right now. His face was handsome but a bit feminine compared to Yu's.
"If you take me to the Andromeda Church, they will recognize me. Maybe then you will believe I am not a bandit."
Yu looked into Link's yellow eyes.
"Holy shit, is this guy serious? Is he really who he claims to be?"
Otherwise he wouldn't have asked to be taken there because the moment he went there his lie would have been exposed. Could it really be him? What would they do to Yu and Yurine if he turned out to be who he claimed to be when they got there? The best thing would be to eliminate him.
"Dimen, when you get to the Cathedral of Virgo, kill this one when no one is looking. You can even kill his friends so they won't be a nuisance later."
"But why?"
Yu managed to surprise everyone at the same time, they all spoke in synchronized unison and looked at Yu.
The current Zodianists also wanted to make one of the Longs king, and Link had a distant connection to royalty. They valued his word more than the word of Yu, a steward.
It was clear that Yu would be punished if he said that Yu's group had attacked him.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Wait! Why would you do such a thing? Even if I'm Yachi, I'm a Long. Killing me won't do you any good."
"If you're a Long, why were you a bandit?"
"I told you, but you persistently don't believe me. There are a lot of criminals crossing from those mountains to our side, smuggling weapons, gold, artifacts, slaves, drugs. We were there to stop these people, and when we saw your group entering the Mora illegally, we thought we had to stop them."
That was the story Link insisted on telling, and Yu thought it was a well-constructed lie. He had no reason to believe him because bandits could lie easily. Of course, he looked deadly serious when he said it now.
"If you say we attacked you when we got there, we'll be found guilty."
"Have you ever seen me lie?"
"---"
The question was too ridiculous for Yu to answer. It was a man he had never had a conversation with in his life asking him if he had ever seen me lie.
"Yu, you don't have to worry. The people in the church know me, they won't hang me for a Yachi and I will protect you."
He was embarrassed that his little girl would say such a thing in front of people he wanted to respect him.
"The Yachi arm is worth about as much as the Virgo Cathedral. It's probably only going to sting a few dark idiots that we beat him up. When we get there and this guy introduces himself and tells his story, the only thing the Pontifex will do is reconcile us and let the matter rest."
"It's sad to say, but your little lady is right. The Longs have too many branches and the Yachis are an underrated branch. So let's take me away so I can be free of this bondage."
Yu was about to believe him, but he would not let his guard down.
"I'll drive, Yurine, you stay inside. Kigaro, you come behind us and make sure he doesn't escape."
"Should I kill the others?" Dimen asked.
"Tch... No."
Tobias and Dimen went to the Virgo Cathedral, while Yu made his way up the hill to the Church of Adromeda.