5 Chapter 2: Book of Truth (Please vote and add to favorites!!!)_4

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"Father Marvin, you're here again."

Upon recognizing the visitor, Mrs. Melf's smile deepened, making the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes more pronounced.

As a regular customer, Father Marvin came to the bakery every week to buy a large amount of bread and butter, most of which he would have her deliver to the orphanage. Thanks to this gesture, Mrs. Melf not only became a follower of the Church of Truth, but she also offered bread at an exceedingly low price.

It was commonly said among the people of the South District that they all grew up eating Mrs. Melf's bread—such a phrase was well-circulated on Bil Street.

"120 pounds of wheat bread, 24 pounds of butter, just like before."

As implied by its name, wheat bread was made entirely of wheat flour, priced at three pennies per pound.

Besides wheat bread, Mrs. Melf's bakery also sold another kind that had bran mixed in, known as black bread.

This type of bread had a very hard crust, and the inside was dry and difficult to swallow; it was a third cheaper than regular wheat bread, selling at two pennies per pound.

However...

If the consumer had been an adult, Father Marvin would definitely have chosen the more affordable black bread, but as most of the orphans were very young children, black bread was simply too hard for them to swallow.

"That will be 2.4 gold pounds," Mrs. Melf immediately quoted the total.

The original price of butter per pound was ten pennies, but for Father Marvin's sake, Mrs. Melf reduced it by one penny.

"Please add another 3 pounds of sweet butter."

Marvin smiled and counted out two gold-coated coins along with eleven silver shillings, placing them on the table: "I promised to treat them to bread with lots and lots of sweet butter."

"Understood."

Mrs. Melf smiled knowingly, turned around, and walked into the back room. In less than half a minute, she came back with a plate of toast smothered in thick butter.

She handed the plate to Maiti, saying with a smile, "I'd like to treat you to some bread as well. It's still warm, and it won't taste good once it cools."

"Yay!"

Sara cheered, and together with Maiti, they hurriedly took a slice of toast and bit into it enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Mrs. Melf." Marvin removed his hat and held it to his chest.

"And thank you, Priest," Mrs. Melf, who wasn't wearing a hat, placed her hand on her chest and nodded, "Truth above all."

"Truth above all."

............

"What is truth?"

"Truth is the light of the path that exposes all falsehoods and hypocritical justifications. It resides in our hearts, the unavoidable compassion we feel when facing suffering, the sweat of the simple laborer... and also the insects under the street lamps yearning for light."

"People are confused because they haven't discovered the light of truth. For those who wander without direction, the Goddess of Truth Yuniya always dispels the fog and leads them down the path ahead."

At night, Marvin leaned over the table, writing the "Book of Truth" by the lamplight of a kerosene lamp placed at the edge of the table. The book was the foundation of the thoughts conveyed by the Church, absolutely crucial and not to be approached with anything less than the utmost seriousness.

Three years ago, the "Book of Truth" was still in its embryonic form, but during these three years, Marvin had gradually perfected and filled it out; today, the "Book of Truth" had reached several hundred pages.

It contained not only Marvin's insights on truth but also a collection of stories he had carefully crafted.

"Meow~"

At some point, Little Black had jumped onto the table, laying on its back in front of Marvin, its fluffy paws swinging in sync with the quill and refusing to stay still.

Whenever this happened, Marvin would put down his quill and pick up Little Black, then take a pre-prepared damp cloth and vigorously rub it down the cat's back, and without fail...

For the following hour, Marvin would only see Little Black busily licking its fur.

In this respect, he had quite some experience.

After finishing the "Book of Truth," he would take out a carving knife and retrieve a wooden statue from the drawer, starting to slowly sculpt.

Marvin had originally planned to carve small statues of the Goddess Yuniya for the followers, but due to his lack of skill, he had only completed this one statue in the past year.

"Ah, with this level of craftsmanship, I'd be embarrassed to give it away. Better to prepare some Holy Water..."

Half an hour later, looking at his creation, Marvin wore a complicated expression.

The palm-sized Wooden God Statue had nothing presentable besides its head, but as it was his own labor of love, it seemed too much of a pity to throw it away.

Shaking his head, Marvin draped a white cloth over the statue, storing it in the drawer along with the quill and ink bottle, then headed down to the first floor, filled a pot with water in the washroom, and placed it on the charcoal stove in the kitchen to heat up.

Gurgle gurgle...

The water quickley came to a boil, and he lifted the lid, allowing the semi-transparent steam to billow out. Marvin hastily plucked a few mint leaves from the potted plant on the windowsill and tossed them into the pot, boiling them for a few more minutes until a pot of invigorating Holy Water was ready.

As part of his daily rituals, Marvin enjoyed the process of making Holy Water because he could indulge in a cup of black tea after the water boiled.

It was the taste of home.

Squeak...

As Marvin closed his eyes, savoring the fragrance of the tea, the kitchen door suddenly swung open. The doorway was empty, and all was quiet in the darkness—no sound could be heard.

"Meow!"

Marvin felt something tugging at his trouser leg. He picked up the kerosene lamp and shone it under the table to find Little Black and Fat Orange standing at his feet, biting his trousers and tugging hard, their meows filled with urgency.

"What's gotten into you two?"

Marvin was perplexed by the cats' unusual behavior. He bent down to pick up Little Black, but then Fat Orange began biting his trouser leg. Unable to figure out what else to do, he reluctantly picked them both up.

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