Chapter 4
"DEEEEEMOOON! YOU DEMON!" All of a sudden, the priest burst out cursing at me, frightening everyone. "DEMON! DEMON! DEMON!"
"Wh—what?" I said, perplexed and scared.
"You're a demon! You're a demon!"
"Shut up! You're a Sage. Don't be that rude," said the blacksmith.
"Yes, please, please calm yourself down," implored the leader.
"Herobrine and those who worship him are demons!" said the priest, standing up and looking angrily at me. "Herobrine is against Notch, our God, our Creator. Notch created this beautiful world, but Herobrine intends to destroy it. Are you mad? How can you seek help from him!"
"I—I think—"
"Who is the author of that pamphlet?" inquire the priest.
"Uhh, the Witch of the Great Swampland."
"See! Witch! Witch! Those goddamned witches! They should be hunted down and executed! They inflict callous harm on innocent people with deadly potions; they summoned the tyrant to our village with evil magic; they write books that are immoral are blasphemous. Sooo, NEVER believe a single word in that pamphlet!"
"But I can't understand one thing," I tried to argue with him, though he seemed to be on the verge of going insane. "My father was also a Sage. 'Righteous,' 'honest,' and 'pure' are words that best describe him. If the book is that evil as you said, then I can't understand why father wanted to preserve it."
But the priest watched me with a quizzical look, and then suddenly a creepy smile came to his face.
"Ahh, now I understand. Your father—" said the priest.
"What?" I said.
"Worshipped Herobrine in secret! He hid it from us! We were all cheated. He's not a Sage; he's a demon!"
At these words, I flew into a fury. Yet, I knew I had to control myself. The best thing I could do was to continue to argue with him, even though he might not listen.
"If a man who dedicates life to the welfare of our village is a demon, then what the player should be called? When he first came to this village, he took us to be hostile and killed half of our people. The player is our common, not my father!"
"Besides," I added, "can you think of any better ways to help us get rid of the player?"
"Of course," he said, confidently. "Let's pray and wait for the results. Someday the player will find the spiritual part inside him, worship Notch with us, and learn to respect our people, as long as we keep on praying."
"No, prayer won't save us, and that will never happen! So—"
"WHEN WILL YOU STOP TAKLING THESE NONSENSE!" yelled the blacksmith, banging his fist on the table and getting to his feet. "There's no such thing as Herobrine. The legend of Herobrine is just a stupid story made up by somebody to scare those newbie players! "
"No," argued the priest. "Herobrine is—"
"I don't care whether he exists or not!" interrupted the smith. "I don't want to waste my time on this stupid conference anymore. My client is waiting for my iron ingots. Sorry, I have to leave now. "
The blacksmith approached the door and then disappeared.
"Wait, wait a minute! Herobrine is—" said the priest, who was about to follow him. But before he left, he flung the Holy Book down onto the table and said:
"You should read books like this, Tommy. Now I give it to you, and if you read it and prayer every day and refrain from thinking about Herobrine the devil, you're your sins will be forgiven and you'll be absolved. Remember our God is kind and generous!"
The priest finished his words and left. The remaining people in this room remained embarrassed and speechless for one or two minutes.
"Uhh," I said to the leader, trying to break the silence. "I know it was me who messed the thing up. I'm sorry; I didn't expect this."
"Never mind, Tommy. You did nothing wrong," said the leader, with a faint smile. "After all, it's all our fault. We are the Sages but we fail to come up with any good ideas."
"And I fail too. They don't like my idea."
"But I like it! Actually, I'm seriously considering your idea. And so now I have two things that I would like to let you know."
"Really?" I exclaimed.
"Yes. First, I know something about the Witch of the Great Swampland you just mentioned, since I met her in person before."
"What! Really?"
"Yes, it's true. And about Herobrine, Herobrine is—"
"is?"
"He's real."
