Father Miller walked out of the security office with a hunched body, looking heavy and depressed. Even the bright sunshine could not smooth out the tangle on his face at this moment.

"I have been a priest for twenty-seven years, and this is the first time I have seen a lord sign a death sentence!" Thinking of the desperate eyes and pious confessions of the death row prisoners in the dungeon, Miller couldn't help but plead to Victor next to him.

: "I think it would be more appropriate to exile them."

Victor shook his head and said: "I personally issued the order to hang the criminals, and I bear the responsibility. Father Miller, you don't need to blame yourself for this at all."

According to the New Testament of Light, lords have secular judicial power and can impose punishment on criminals who break the law, including imprisonment, hard labor, whipping, public exposure in cages, exile, and hanging. However, in actual practice, lords rarely punish them.

The freemen and subjects of the kingdom were hanged, because the execution of criminals required the consent of the resident priest.

The church claims that clergy have the responsibility to redeem the people and supervise the lords. As long as people can devoutly pray for atonement, even criminals have the right to be redeemed. Of course, this is only the salvation of the soul, and the lords still have the right to hang criminals. In fact,

, the church does not want to protect criminals, they regard believers as lambs, even if some lambs have threatened the health of the flock, the wool that should be harvested must still be harvested before executing it. If the lord wants to execute a vassal, the resident priest

I will never go against the grain.

What troubled the lords was the supervisory power of the church. In order to avoid getting a reputation for cruelty, most lords would not interfere with the criminal problems of the refugees at all. Usually, the sheriff would have full authority to handle it, and the sheriff would do this thankless task.

Leave it to the hyenas. Regarding this strange order, the resident priests will often adopt a default attitude, because the execution rate in the territory is directly related to their merits.

As a chosen one of the Lord of Radiance, Miller has transcended the limitations of the Radiant Code. His power is as deep as the sea, and he can peer into the future and observe whether a person is evil or not from the soul level. However, Miller is essentially

He is a kind-hearted old farmer. He is not even willing to kill wizards with his own hands, let alone ordinary people.

"You forced me to agree to hang 19 people! And you said I have no responsibility?" Father Miller muttered, "I think it's better to go into exile."

In the absence of conclusive evidence, it is common practice to exile criminals to the wild. Without the protection of villages and towns, the exiled people basically have no way to survive. There are no wild beasts and monsters in the wilderness led by Randall, but neither is the Alchemy War Mastiff.

Although he is a vegetarian, Victor needs an honest death penalty. He would rather offend Miller than execute him secretly.

"These prisoners killed people and buried their bodies. The evidence of their crimes is conclusive. Death is not a pity! Even if you don't agree with my death penalty order, I will hang them! Give justice to the victims." Victor said righteously.

Facing the righteous lord, Miller was at a loss.

Miller is a civilian priest who has realized the Holy Power on his own and has not received training from a monastery. During his more than 20 years of priestly career, he has spent most of his time preaching in remote towns where the population is sparse, the people are simple, and there are almost no refugees and bandits.

The villagers in the small town live and work in peace and contentment, and the neighbors are harmonious and help each other. At most, there are a few fights and fights, which are just boys fighting for the girl they like. They don't even need to mediate, and they can make peace soon.

It is a new challenge for Father Miller to independently preside over the teaching affairs of more than 10,000 people. He does not know how to deal with the lords, so he can only follow his heart and try to save as many people as possible.

"Lord, not all of these death row prisoners are bad people. Three of them were forced to fight back, and then they accidentally killed someone! They should not be hanged." Father Miller cautiously advised: "I agree to hang the others...

....Should these three people be given a chance to commute their sentences to two years of hard labor?”

"How do you know they are good people?" Victor asked curiously.

"Uh..." Father Miller paused and explained weakly: "Didn't they explain it?"

"That's just their one-sided statement!" Victor shook his head helplessly and said, "The victim is already dead, so why don't they just say whatever they want?"

"Well... I'm a priest. I can tell if they are lying. Don't I believe the other criminals who are telling lies?" Father Miller had no way to explain things on the soul level to Victor. He could only

He defended vaguely.

"I can't agree!" Victor flatly refused and said, "How do you know that the victim deserves to die? Can't he be redeemed?"

"This..." Father Miller was speechless. He was already dead, so how could he tell whether he was a good guy or a bad guy?

"If there are too many people hanged by Randall, it means that I have failed to educate the people! The superiors may have to send a new priest to take over the teaching affairs here!" The old priest frowned and acted like a rogue.

Victor only thought it was funny. With his current reputation and status, it was just a matter of a letter whether to exchange for the resident priest, and he didn't even need Sylvia to come forward. The archbishop would give him face.

Just when the two were entangled, Sheriff Linda came over with a big belly and said, "Good day, my lord, and good day, Father Miller."

Linda was wearing a loose overskirt, holding her belly in one hand, and was about to curtsey, but Victor quickly stopped her and said, "No need to be polite."

"May the Lord protect you, my child." Father Miller warned Linda: "Pay more attention to rest during this time and don't run around!"

"Yes." Linda gently massaged her belly, her face filled with the glory of maternal love.

When Linda walked into the police station with the guards, Father Miller asked Victor: "You wouldn't let a pregnant woman carry out the execution order, would you?"

Victor's face froze, and after a while, he sighed: "Father, do you think Linda is a good person?"

"Not really!" Miller muttered: "You don't have many good guards!"

"They are all mercenaries, and they are indeed not good people." Victor nodded and said, "It is a bit exaggerated to say that they kill people like crazy. It is not unfair to accuse them of being ruthless."

"Three years ago, I led hundreds of refugees to open up the Randall Territory. On the way, Linda killed a villain who oppressed good people. That man was actually a farmer. Although he was wrong, his crime was not worthy of death. But

I found that after Linda killed that man, no one among the remaining refugees committed any crime, not even theft! Father, do you know why this is?"

Miller asked blankly: "Why?"

"Because evil is contagious like the plague!" Victor explained: "Suppose I saved the villain at that time, he might become a good person, but the evil will corrode the souls of other refugees, and they will think that they indulge their desires.

If we can also get forgiveness, there will be more and more criminals."

"Of course, harsh punishments will only disgust the people, but my power at that time was very weak. Without the help of the York family, I could not even recruit followers. The people did not have much confidence in me, a little lord, and they were also anxious about the future.

.After Linda killed the villain, they felt at ease."

"Linda killed a villain who was not worthy of death, and also killed the evil in the hearts of the people. She invisibly established my authority and the order of the territory. It is precisely because of order that the people return to their hearts. It can be said that without Lin

With that sword of Da, there would be no Randall family today!"

"Order..." Miller frowned and muttered to himself.

"That's right! It's order!" Victor said with a faint smile: "The criteria for judging good and evil are difficult to define. In order to prevent his family from starving to death, a refugee went to rob other people's food and was beaten to death. Then he

His family also starved to death. Do you think the person who killed him was a good person or a bad person?"

Father Miller looked so confused that his beard was about to break, and he couldn't figure out what was right and wrong.

"I don't have an answer. I don't need an answer either." Victor shrugged and continued: "The only thing I can do is to establish order so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment so that tragedies will never happen again. Order cannot cater to everyone.

, but regardless of whether people’s hearts are good or evil, anyone who disrupts order is a bad person, and anyone who abides by order is a good person.”

"Nelson and the others are fighting for survival, and there may not be innocent blood on their hands. But as long as they arrive in a town, they will abide by the local order, put their swords in their sheaths, spend money to buy drunks, behave themselves, and be honest. That's all.

At this point, they are not really bad people."

"Same reason. Even if the three death row prisoners killed people to protect themselves, they must accept punishment if they destroyed the order of Randall Territory. Otherwise, the sinful plague will destroy the walls of order and cause greater harm to the people.

!”

The three good men mentioned by Father Miller may have really resisted killing because they were oppressed, but their killing and burying their bodies was not self-defense, but followed the rules of free people.

Victor can tolerate the inherent order of the refugees. In fact, most of the lords acquiesce in the outcome of the refugees' fights and wait for them to decide the winner before letting the security department control them. The problem is that the security system of Randall Territory is too weak

, in order to prevent the big tail from being lost and the big guest from deceiving the master, Victor must first use a few lives to establish his authority.

"Father Miller. Randall's territory is more fragile than you think." Victor continued: "This is a pioneering territory. The fortress blocking the entrance to the Great Swamp has not yet been built, and my army cannot cope with Ant-Man."

Threats. The refugees in the territory are ready to escape at any time. The reason why they still stay in Randall Territory is that in addition to the job opportunities here, the order of the territory is also an important reason."

"No one likes killing except madmen. However, if I cannot maintain order, General Randall will fall into chaos, and those simple and honest people will choose to leave here. Without these people, how can the fortress be built? The fortress cannot be completed on time.

The Ant-Man army can overwhelm the Centaur Hills at any time, and even the entire Kingdom of Cambys will be in danger. By that time, the people will inevitably be displaced, hungry and cold."

"Father, are you willing to see this?"

Miller was stunned for a while, and finally relaxed his tangled brows, "There are reasons for things that will happen and things that won't happen. Now I know the reasons are there."

Was it because the hat was too big and the old man was knocked unconscious?

Victor touched his forehead and asked tentatively: "Father Miller, what are you talking about?"

"Kid, I want to thank you!" Miller said sincerely.

"Thank me for what?" Victor asked inexplicably.

"You let me know where I went wrong." Father Miller said with a smile: "Order is the rule, faith is the order of our Lord, that's why there is a sacred mark!"

"I can't redeem everyone, and I don't need to cater to everyone. Only by accepting my order can you be redeemed!" After saying that, Father Miller turned and walked towards the chapel.

Victor looked at Father Miller's relaxed back, frowned, and shouted, "Have you agreed?"

"I agree!" Father Miller didn't even look back, he just turned his back to Victor and waved.

Victor touched his chin, thought about it for a while, shook his head and sighed, then turned and walked towards the city hall.
Chapter completed!