"This is so comfortable, as expected of a high-end hotel with free tea and snacks! It's definitely not comparable to those small inns in Makalan City!"
Upon entering the room, Cyra immediately flopped onto the soft, big bed. After flying the whole day and the sky turning dark, even Nicola and I couldn't help but feel a bit tired, not to mention this two-winged angel.
"The hot springs here are open 24 hours, do you want to go try it out later?" I suggested, looking at the check-in handbook on the table.
"No, I'm really too tired. You guys go ahead..." Cyra mumbled, lying on the bed without even lifting her head. Soon, there was no sound, it seemed she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"Let her rest first!" Seeing this situation, Nicola and I got up and returned to our own room.
Speaking of which, we haven't eaten the whole day. The cities between Makalan City and the holy city Jethrobaines are basically concentrated on the Cresthaven Papal Dominion side, so in order to hurry, we didn't spend time on this. Anyway, we won't be hungry during the day. But once it's night, it becomes very uncomfortable.
"Why don't we go out and have a look, and eat something along the way?" Although the hotel also provides main meals and other services, the price is relatively expensive, and we just arrived in this city, so naturally we have to go out for a stroll.
"No problem!" Nicola, of course, wouldn't object to my suggestion. Soon, we left the hotel and came to the street.
Now it's just the right time for dinner, and you can see that the streets are full of various restaurants, with people coming and going, presenting a lively scene.
As a big city, the prosperity of the holy city is obviously not inferior to Norvale. And with more than 4,000 years of historical culture, it is said to be even older than the Astralrealm Kingdom!
The St. Cenin Cathedral mentioned by the attendant earlier is located in the east of the city, in the oldest area, and is the largest church in the area, quite far from where we are. As for the Papal Palace where the Pope resides, it is located behind the St. Cenin Cathedral, heavily guarded and difficult for ordinary people to enter.
After all, this is a country where politics and religion are combined.
"It seems that even through regular channels, it's not so easy to meet the Pope!" Along the way, Nicola stared at the tour map in her hand and said thoughtfully.
"Let's go to St. Cenin Cathedral tomorrow and have Cyra submit the letter of introduction. I don't know how long we have to wait..."
"It shouldn't be too long. After all, with an angel willing to formally visit, the True Church will definitely pay more attention. I just hope that the Pope is not really related to the God of Light!"
I nodded. Although I haven't seen the letter of introduction, if it's not unexpected, most of the content is probably related to entertaining Cyra for sightseeing and persuading her to join the religion. Maybe even the Pope himself will take action.
If things really develop as I think, does that mean the Pope has no hostility towards angels at all? This also seems to corroborate Aetina's point of view from the side.
"Let's eat here!" Unknowingly, we had walked a long distance. We randomly entered a small restaurant and found a seat.
This place is located on the outskirts of the city, with residential areas everywhere. The residents nearby don't seem to be particularly wealthy, so the restaurant we are in also appears to be relatively shabby.
Of course, the main reason is that the buildings in the city are too old. Most of them are stone buildings, and you can see the ancient atmosphere everywhere.
In fact, the history of human civilization in this world is quite long, at least more than 10,000 years. And the Cresthaven Papal Dominion has never had the ambition to expand, so there are very few wars. After all, with the Pope always stationed here, coupled with the absolute loyalty of the Star Glory Knights, the holy city has not encountered large-scale unrest for thousands of years, so many ancient buildings have been preserved.
"What's with these prices?" Nicola picked up the menu and found that the prices marked on it were actually divided into two types, one of which was obviously much cheaper than the other, which made us a bit puzzled for a while.
"This is the price exclusively for church members. According to the regulations, at least an 80% discount or more can be enjoyed! So are you church followers? If not, you can sign up on the spot. If you sign up today, you can also enjoy a special free meal..." The waiter glanced at the menu, took out a "True Church Membership Application Form" very calmly, and then walked away expressionless.
"This..." Nicola and I looked at each other, feeling a little helpless. We quickly moved this form aside. In fact, even without the 80% discount, this price is completely affordable. We can only shake our heads and continue to order.
"There seems to be such a practice in Norvale, but it's basically concentrated on St. Mary Malia Street." I sighed and said. Only at this time did I realize that there are indeed many believers in the city! As expected of the holy city, the people at the surrounding tables all close their eyes and make the sign of the cross to pray before eating. In addition, there are quite a few people wearing church clothing, making the two of us seem a bit out of place.
"But looking at this Jethrobaines, maybe the whole city is in this mode. Don't people complain?"
"How can there be no complaints? Isn't that right over there..." Nicola pointed to the street across from the door. It was also a restaurant. A tourist who was obviously from out of town, similar to us, finally couldn't help but break down. He slammed the table and stood up.
"Too much, I'm really fed up with these privileges. This is religious discrimination! No... this is non-religious discrimination. True Church members can enjoy various preferential policies everywhere. Even when queuing up for a meal, they can cut in front of me. Why should I, a tourist who has traveled thousands of miles to come here, suffer this indignity!"
The table actually scattered with a slam. It was very obvious that this guy had some martial skills, but it seemed that his rank was not very high.
From what he said, it seemed that the restaurant opposite was full, and dining required queuing up one by one to get a number. And True Church members enjoyed the privilege of priority queuing, which caused the dispute.
Actually, I don't care, because these rules have been clearly written outside. If you don't like it, you can just not patronize it. Nicola and I chose this relatively quiet restaurant precisely because we didn't want to line up.
"Then why don't you simply join the church! This way you can enjoy all kinds of privileged services!" Of course, the shop owner would not let it go when his property was damaged. Several burly men immediately rushed out from the house and surrounded this tourist.
"If you join the church now, we will be lenient and not pursue the matter of you breaking the table. You know, casually destroying other people's property and deliberately provoking trouble is not as simple as just compensation. You might even go to jail!"
"It's just breaking one of your tables, is it necessary..." Faced with the shop owner's threats and inducements, the out-of-town tourist immediately started to soften when he saw the situation. But the other party had already taken out the "True Church Membership Application Form", obviously unwilling to let him go easily. One of the big men even grabbed his hand and forced him to sign it.
"Do you want to go over and help?" I felt that I couldn't stand watching it anymore. Although the out-of-town tourist was indeed wrong in the first place, the shop owner's methods were also too disgraceful. Filling out the application form would bring in huge profits, and it would also give rise to certain security risks. There must be some people with ulterior motives who wanted to take this opportunity to make money.
"It's best not to meddle in other people's business! Our main purpose in coming to Jethrobaines is to investigate the Pope. If we cause any trouble for such a small matter, it would be too unwise." Nicola shook her head. But even if we didn't intervene, others couldn't hold back anymore. They took the lead and stood up.
Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a church believer...
"Stop! Your act of forcing others to join the religion will not be approved by the Lord!" A young priest stood up from the queuing crowd and pointed at the group of big men, rebuking them angrily. He was wearing glasses and looked quite knowledgeable.
"What does it have to do with you? This guy destroyed the property in our store, so of course we have the right to ask him for compensation!" A leading big man retorted aggressively, not showing a better attitude just because the other party was a clergyman.
"You can directly ask him to pay for your losses, instead of forcing him to sign under the guise of introducing him to join and profiting from it!" With the priest's weak physique, he was obviously at a disadvantage compared to the big men, but he had a righteous view of things and still argued on the basis of reason without fear of the strong, causing many of the surrounding church members and ordinary people to nod in agreement.
"When His Holiness the Pope originally implemented this membership model, it was to attract more people with fate from all over the world. It also came with the condition that they must join voluntarily. Your behavior of deliberately distorting other people's wishes is obviously against His Holiness' original intention. If strictly investigated, you are completely qualified to be sent to the religious tribunal, and deliberately destroying the reputation of the church in the eyes of the world is a major crime!"
"Hahaha, what a joke! How could the religious tribunal have the time to deal with such a small matter? Do you think you can scare us with a few words?" However, the few big men were not moved at all. It seemed that they were about to force the tourist to sign the application.
"Wait!" At this time, another person actually rushed out from the store. He looked like the person in charge of the store, but he didn't come to make trouble for the bespectacled priest. Instead, he walked to the side of the group of big men and whispered a few words in their ears.