Chapter 179: Saint's Prayer Festival Commemorative Coin

"I've heard about you from Latt for a long time now, Mr. Hamilton. Good morning."

In the thin morning mist, the three people standing before the Church of Dawn exchanged greetings.

Although Bishop Owen looked old, he spoke with great spirit. He looked Xia De up and down, then remarked to Father Augustus how the young people of today were far more spirited than those of their own generation.

Bishop Owen was quite the talker, and easily drew Xia De into the topic of the Saint's Prayer Festival activities they had just been discussing.

The Saint's Prayer Festival was the busiest time of year for the Liming Sect, yet every year they had to come up with something new. The Zhengshen Sect was no ossified organization ignorant of the times — for example, this year, besides the usual religious activities, church tours, religious story performances in the side hall, and large-scale sermons at Liming Square, the church planned to produce some simple promotional items to distribute to the heathens, spreading the influence of the Saint's Prayer Festival and the Liming Sect.

"What promotional items did the church ultimately choose?"

Xia De was very curious about this and asked the two old men.

"Something with the widest reach, that people absolutely won't throw away after receiving it, and will treasure all the more."

Father Augustus said, then Bishop Owen, who had moved closer to the wall, smiled and handed the thing in his hand to Xia De:

"Mr. Hamilton, then tell us what you think of this, from your perspective."

Xia De leaned in to look, and in the bishop's aged palm, saw a silver coin.

"A silver coin?"

He picked up the coin and flipped it over. The upward-facing side bore the number "1053" and the words "Saint's Prayer Festival," while the reverse bore the holy emblem of Mr. Liming. He gave it a couple of light flicks and was quite certain it wasn't pure silver.

An old gentleman walked out of the church beside them and greeted Bishop Owen, also casting a curious glance at Xia De. From the bishop's response, this old gentleman held the rank of Viscount.

Father Augustus then introduced him to Xia De:

"It's not pure silver — the center of the coin has some alloy mixed in. It's just a commemorative coin. At market price, it could be exchanged for about 4 shillings and 7 pence. But the cost isn't particularly high; we cooperated with the church of the 【Lady of Creation】, using special metals they sold us at a low price, which offset part of the cost. Those alloys were scrap material, originally commissioned by the Kingdom of Delarion to be used for... ahem, that can't be said."

Father Augustus spoke with a hint of self-satisfaction:

"We've prepared 【number】 of them, to be distributed at Liming Square on the day of the Saint's Prayer Festival along with the promotional leaflets. This doesn't violate Delarion's coinage policy — it can only be considered a small commemorative coin. Detective, what do you think of this idea?"

"This idea is quite good."

The outlander praised the idea, then looked around the edge of the coin and saw densely packed cursive letters, which when strung together read:

【Light shines upon shadow, shadow follows the dawn.】

This phrase, among the prayers of the followers of the orthodox god 【Mr. Liming】, was typically used as an opening or closing line.

This behavior, essentially equivalent to handing out money directly, was simply the most powerful promotional method. Twenty thousand coins, costing no more than eight thousand pounds, was nothing at all to the wealthy Zhengshen Sect.

He had originally thought he might be able to come up with some good ideas to help Father Augustus, but no idea could compare to simply giving out money. Especially since the Kingdom didn't intend to pursue the matter of coinage rights.

"However, this matter still requires good preliminary publicity work, letting people know as much as possible what will happen that day. Also, preparations must be made for how to respond if too many people come and the twenty thousand coins are all distributed, and those who arrive later have complaints. If I may say so, it would be better to distribute them in time slots — for example, five thousand in the morning, five thousand at ten a. m., five thousand at three p. m., and five thousand at six p. m. Ensuring that people in every time slot have a chance."

Xia De observed the details of the coin as he spoke casually, and Father Augustus glanced at him in surprise:

"That does make sense. We had actually originally planned to just hand out one-shilling coins if the number of people exceeded expectations."

The church was even richer than Xia De had imagined.

"But people must realize that the grace of the gods is not infinite. Giving generously cannot leave a deep impression on people; only conditional blessings can make people understand the strictness and love of the gods."

Xia De summarized. He had seen plenty of this "limited-edition gift-giving" approach back in his homeland.

Now even Bishop Owen looked at Xia De with some surprise. He waved farewell to the Viscount, very satisfied with Xia De's ideas and views, and asked with a smile:

"Mr. Hamilton, young men with ideas like you are rare indeed. Tell me, have you ever studied theology?"

The bishop tested him.

"No, my education level is very low."

Having said that, he winked at Father Augustus, hoping the other man would gloss over the topic. He wasn't the original Xia De — no matter how he answered such questions, it could lead to problems.

"Detective Hamilton's background isn't very good, but I've always believed that humble origins best reflect the value of a person's efforts."

Father Augustus tried to shift the topic. Seeing the bishop still wanted to question Xia De, he took the initiative to ask Xia De first:

"Still, Detective Hamilton is indeed a young man with ideas — not just from what he said earlier, he often raises interesting questions. Even without studying theology, he still enjoys contemplating life and the world. Oh, poor young man — if he had the money to attend a higher academy, he might well have become a university student."

"Mr. Hamilton, what kind of questions have you pondered?"

Bishop Owen had a good impression of Xia De, and his curiosity was now piqued by Father Augustus's words, so he asked Xia De with a smile again.

Father Augustus still wanted to smooth things over, but Xia De thought for a moment and gave the priest a slight shake of his head. Not every question needed to be avoided — he was quite interested in discussing matters with a theologian of a world where gods truly existed.

So he adopted a thoughtful expression, then tilted his head back slightly as if looking at the sky:

"Standing in this world, one always has many thoughts. For instance, I've pondered whether our world has a name."

"Oh? What an interesting question — why would you think of that?"

Bishop Owen frowned slightly and asked inquiringly.

The three of them were still standing at the church entrance, the church's grand doors right beside them. The morning mist made this early hour seem somewhat gloomy. People kept passing by the three of them, but because of Xia De's question, all three had their attention focused on the words that followed:

"Bishop Owen, Father Augustus, look — since cities have names, countries have names, and even relative to the New Continent, our land here is called the Old Continent. So, does this world have a name?"

The name Xia De referred to was not a term like "the material world," but the name of the world in a broader sense.

"As far as I know, our world has no name — it's usually just called 'the world'..."

Laozhu Sect said with a nod, and Father Augustus beside him added:

"Neither religious texts nor mythological stories have given this world a name. How interesting, Detective — what is the purpose of this question?"

Xia De chose his words carefully, trying to express his thoughts as clearly as possible. He had thought about these things many times since arriving here:

"You see, people only name their own city once they recognize that two cities exist; the Great Geographical Discovery fifty years ago found the New Continent, and only then was the current continent called the Old Continent. So, whether this world has a name like 'Azeroth' or 'Ionia' is also tied to whether people recognize the existence of other worlds... If the world has no name, then it means that, at least in the current understanding of gods and humans, the world is the only one."

He hoped he could express clearly what he meant, but as he spoke, he also felt considerable regret. Learning that this world, in the midst of the steam age, had no name meant that finding a way home from this world's worldview would likely be very difficult.

"This... is truly fascinating. Few people can contemplate the relationship between man, god, and the world from such a lofty vantage point."

Bishop Owen said after a long pause, the old man's gaze at Xia De somewhat changed. For an outsider, pondering this question was ordinary, but for someone native to this world, it was a way of thinking that almost leapt outside the world itself;

"A marvelous line of thought — a theological speculation most profound!"

Bishop Owen hesitated for a moment, and seeing Father Augustus still pondering, asked amiably:

"Mr. Hamilton, perhaps you really could study theology... Tell me, which god do you believe in?"

"Believe? I..."

He was surprised by this question and hurriedly asked in his heart:

"What do I believe in?"

【Why are you asking me?】

The Outsider had never considered such things before, and saying he was a non-believer at this moment would certainly not work. Among the five options of the Zhengshen Sect, Mr. Dawn was the first he ruled out — such a lie would be easily seen through by the bishop before him — and among the remaining four options, it seemed any one of them would do.

He winked at Deacon Augus, but the latter also looked as though he had no way to help. So he could only brace himself and say:

"I should actually count as a shallow believer of 【Lady Creation】. I'm very fond of the Creation Church's outstanding contributions to steam machinery in recent years."

"A shallow believer, eh. Have you considered converting to our lord 【Mr. Dawn】?"

Bishop Owen asked again. Such a question would be an insult to a devout believer, but a shallow believer wouldn't mind.

"For now... perhaps... I'll have to think about it."

His tone carried uncertainty.

"That is truly a pity. However, Mr. Hamilton, you may learn more about our faith from Deacon Augus — you might find it interesting. An outstanding young man like yourself would surely be a help to the Church's development... but enough said. It's still better than a non-believer having to fill the Wall of Non-Believers after death."

Bishop Owen expressed his regret at this.