My Computer Leads to an Instance Dungeon-Chapter 83: Night of Revelry, and—a Heretic

Fang Zhen looked over at Leon.

Leon snapped out of it and quickly explained, "That’s Father Matthew, from the church in the Viscount’s Domain. He’s visited Redstone Town before. I’ve seen him."

’A priest of the Tade Church.’ Fang Zhen recalled the residents of Redstone Town. It seemed most of them were followers of a denomination called the Tade Church, whose emblem was an equilateral triangle.

Seeing Father Matthew looking at him from the wooden bed, Leon quickly explained, "Father Matthew, we’re on your side! We’ll get you free right now."

Fang Zhen drew his scimitar and cut the ropes on Father Matthew’s legs and wrists.

Father Matthew was surprisingly agile. He flipped himself into a sitting position and pulled the gag from his mouth.

Matthew first bowed his head and quickly traced an equilateral triangle over his chest. Then, he lifted the silver emblem from his neck and kissed it.

Having done this, he looked up at Fang Zhen.

"Blessings upon you, sir. I am Matthew, Parish Priest of the Tade Church in Viscount Ashton’s Territory. Please forgive me, my feet are still numb, so I am unable to stand and show you the proper respect. I praise you, sir, for rescuing me from this calamity. May the Light of Tad shine upon you," Matthew said.

Fang Zhen gave a slight nod.

Though he listened to Father Matthew, he believed these were merely polite formalities.

Ever since discovering Baron von Kleist’s conspiracy, Fang Zhen had grown wary of the upper echelons of this instance world. He refused to judge a person’s true character by their outward appearance.

"I am Fang Zhen, a wanderer from a foreign land."

He kept his introduction brief.

Considering that a priest in this era would be quite knowledgeable, Fang Zhen stuck to the principle of "the less said, the fewer mistakes," and kept his introduction as short as possible.

Father Matthew nodded, seemingly at a loss for what to say.

Seeing this, Fang Zhen took the initiative. "Father, your parish is in the Viscount’s Domain. Ordinarily, shouldn’t you be at your church, unless there’s some special business?"

"What brought you to Redstone Town, and what happened on the Dark Path that you ended up in this state?"

A Parish Priest, as the name implies, was a priest responsible for a specific church’s parish. Within the church hierarchy, it was a low-ranking position, but an officially recognized one.

In this era, a Viscount’s or Baron’s domain could typically only support a single church. Only larger cities would have higher-ranking clergy like Bishops.

Although a Parish Priest was a low-ranking member of the clergy, they were part of the official structure. With good performance, there was a decent chance for promotion.

In turn, a Parish Priest was responsible for the daily operations of their parish, which included dealing with the local nobility. They would rarely leave their designated area.

Matthew sighed at the question.

"It’s because of the war, sir."

A sorrowful look crossed Matthew’s face. "Viscount Ashton is under attack by Viscount Montagu, and the situation is precarious."

"Although the clergy of the Tade Church are not usually killed indiscriminately—the church would not permit such a thing—in the chaos of war, who can say for sure?"

"I still have my life to dedicate to God and the church. I was unwilling to entrust my safety to the mercy of Viscount Montagu or the reason of bloodthirsty soldiers, so I chose to leave that place of conflict."

"I just never expected the danger wasn’t confined to the battlefield. In the Dark Forest, my carriage was attacked by goblins. My loyal coachman was killed covering my escape. I fled for my life and ran into some mercenaries from Redstone Town. They sweet-talked me, promising protection, but in the end, they just kidnapped me and brought me to this godforsaken place."

"Praise God that you were here to rescue me. It must truly be His will."

As he spoke, Matthew once again lifted his emblem and kissed it.

Fang Zhen chuckled softly.

’This Father Matthew is an interesting one,’ Fang Zhen thought. ’He clearly chickened out and ran away, yet he phrases it so perfectly you can’t find a single fault in his words.’

In Fang Zhen’s mind, he divided clergymen like Matthew into two types.

The first type truly believed in the existence of God and threw themselves body and soul into their faith, burning brightly for His glory.

The second type... you couldn’t say they were faithless, but they were more concerned with using God’s glory to seek concrete, practical benefits for themselves, all while ensuring their actions could be justified by religious doctrine.

He didn’t judge which type was better; he just knew he had to handle them differently.

Right now, he couldn’t tell whether Father Matthew was the former or the latter.

Fang Zhen was actually hoping Matthew was the latter.

He had many ideas he wanted to test in this instance world, and to do so, he needed someone with status and influence to act as a go-between and pull the right strings.

This was also why he was being so polite to Matthew.

Fang Zhen didn’t know if there would be more to this instance, but if there was, befriending an influential priest could be very useful down the line.

"Protecting oneself is a very rational choice," Fang Zhen said.

Matthew looked up, meeting Fang Zhen’s eyes for a moment before saying, "Those are philosophical words...’protecting oneself.’"

"Well," Fang Zhen said with a smile, "the mercenaries who kidnapped you—or more accurately, the bandits—have been dealt with. They got the ending they deserved."

"Father Matthew, you should return to Redstone Town with us. I’m not sure if you drink, but perhaps we could go to the Redstone family. The beverages there might help you calm your nerves."

"According to the doctrines of the Tade Church, one must remain pious and abstain from alcohol for six days out of seven," Matthew said. "But on the seventh day, we may drink in moderation. As it happens, today is the seventh day."