“Almost, the churches in every town in the Kingdom takes in some of the orphans especially during the winter, when there is a food and clothing shortage everywhere. We receive many times more people compared to the other seasons because of this. If we only depended on our Church’s own members, it wouldn’t be enough, so we have to employ some drivers with good reputations to help us to transport the orphans to the Oldy Holy City. Until now you have done very well, White. My predecessor could only praise you.”
“It is my privilege to be part of such a good deed,” said White, honored. “Your excellency, will they also be sent to the monastery? I hate to ask, though they are orphans, their characters aren’t the same. Although some of them aren’t so old, some of them have already done terrible deeds, so won’t these people contaminate the pure and holy earth?”
“God will judge them, and even if they are guilty, they will get the opportunity of salvation.” answered the envoy with complete conviction.
“Will they? That’s a good thing.” Wright was amazed, but soon he raised his head and looked at the sky before he continued. “It’s late. Sir, shall we stay in the next town? If the weather tomorrow is good, we will arrive at the Old Holy City at noon.”
“It’s already this late?” asked the Ambassador, “Look for an inn, and after you bring the carriage to the yard you can prepare the food for the orphans.”
“Okay!” White agreed to the plan.
This town belonged to the Wolfsheart Kingdom, and if someone wanted to reach the Old Holy City, they had to go through this town. So, it wasn’t White’s first time here. Thanks to this, he quickly found the inn he had previously frequented. He drove the carriage into the yard and then took some coins from the Church’s envoy to buy some food for the orphans. As usual, he bought sweet potato porridge, which was the most appropriate choice since it was cheap and still had a pretty good taste. After watching them divide the porridge, White limped back to the inn, asked for some bread with butter, and sat at the bar to eat. As for the envoy, he certainly had a better place to go.
If White hadn’t broken his leg ten years ago, he would have gone to the tavern to order a glass of wine, and he would also have thrown some dice – he had always had a good hand for them. But now… White took his purse and found his room to sleep early.
Later, in the evening, he heard some voices from the yard. So, he got up and lifted the curtains to control the situation. But White only saw that the Church’s drunken envoy had come back. The envoy opened the door of the carriage and went into it. Soon he returned outside, pulling two orphans with him. Beside the carriage, two people dressed in aristocratic clothes were already waiting.
Seeing that it was only the envoy, White put the curtain down and went back under the warm blanket.
This wasn’t the first time he witnessed the envoy doing this. Actually, it was a regular thing for him. Being alive is the greatest happiness, he thought, they have just to endure the pain for the moment. You only have to survive until we reach the Old Holy City, there you will be able to start a new life. At least in the monastery, you won’t have to fear starving. Thinking until here, White yawned and soon fell asleep.
At dawn, he got the envoy and drove on. The last part of the journey went without incident, and they even reached the Old Holy City two hours sooner than expected. There were already other church’s carriages waiting for them; it seemed that these poor devils still had some way to go, but all this had nothing to do with him.
“This is your reward.” The envoy called to White and threw a bag toward him.
White took the coins out of the bag and counted them twice. Indeed, it was twenty silver royals. So he nodded and said, “I hope I will see you again in the coming year.
But the envoy did not answer. Instead, he waved his hand to indicate that White could depart.
White noticed that in addition to him, several other coachmen were doing the same job. Are they the from the other Kingdoms? He asked himself, but soon he noticed something strange, it seemed only girls would come down from the carriages. So when the church adopts orphans, they only adopt girls?
He shook his head, threw this problematic thought to the back of his head, and started the journey back home.