Music for this Chapter (Scenes in the Church)

OR1-EP1: Rainbow Nation (5)

The harder the life is, the less will it take to take care of people's residence. Old Jake's house has always been as sloppy as a garbage dump. In order for McNeil to have a suitable place to handle his work, the old man immediately decided to start cleaning the house, which made McNeil a little embarrassed. In the morning of the next day, the old newspaper seller walked into the rudimentary residence with a stack of magazines and newspapers, and continued to analyze the information with McNeil. He didn't want to care about it, but since McNeil gave him 100 euros from the activity funds issued by the military, Old Jake seemed to suddenly realize that the matter was profitable. If they really let the only son of Governor-general Jacob Herzog escape from prison, the Governor-general in South Africa will surely reward them with many benefits that they would never imagine in this life.

When McNeil put the paper money in front of him, old Jake almost felt the precursor of a heart attack.

"How much did they give you?" he asked tentatively. "It's not a small amount of money... it does to me."

"Even though they said they didn't want to cause trouble, the army probably didn't want to see that the people they had cultivated were ruined by suspicious cases." McNeil poured out all the money in the envelope. "This is the funds provided by a colonel. He said that the 1,000 euros should be used as funds for our investigations in the next ten days. He didn't expect us to find any evidence at all. Let us improve our lives."

Old Jake laughed, he calmed down after laughing, and asked cautiously:

"So, you just took this job? Just the two of us? A vagrant and an old man who sells newspapers to find evidence for the governor-general's son?"

"I think we should do something challenging. Even if we get nothing, the money will be considered to make up for our recent losses." McNeil took out a copy from a nearby magazine and started looking for the name of the deceased. There is another point: Although they are absent-minded, this kind of commitment itself gives us a temporary position-a civilian person appointed by the military to conduct investigations."

The person suspected of being killed by Adalbert Herzog was named Jorge Dias, a lawyer and one of the famous social figures who have frequently spoken out for indigenous rights. After the lawyer started his professional career, the first case he took was related to the indigenous people. Since then, his every move has always been connected with the indigenous people of South Africa. The proposal for granting citizenship to indigenous people only attracted attention two or three years ago. Previously, this kind of appeal did not enter the mainstream of public opinion. Jorge Dias published articles in several newspapers and magazines, openly supporting this initiative in terms of legal and moral values.

"If a practitioner of any profession speaks frequently on topics that he is not familiar with, most of them are encouraged or supported by others." Old Jake took out a magazine called "The New Order", "Jorge Dias is a lawyer. What policy does he know? You see, these newspapers and magazines are all run by Italians."

"Isn't Jorge Dias a Portuguese?" McNeil took the "New Order" and turned to "Isolation Yesterday, Isolation Today, Isolation Forever" on page 23, "Why does he write articles in French in an Italian newspaper?"

"Mike, this is our own problem." Old Jake explained triumphantly, "Italy has always been one of the most active areas of our EU thinking. Turin is also synonymous with fairness and justice. Only Italians dare to stand up to Any pressure from power to continue to publish these contents, you must know that even in the most sympathetic regions, the citizens there still have serious concerns about granting them full citizenship."

Even if Jorge Dias was so active in speaking out for the program he advocated, no one would care about the lawyer's resume before he died. After he himself was killed, various media came up like a carrion fly, and all the stories of Jorge Dias since his birth were turned upside down. Some people say that his godfather is a pastor of indigenous origin, so he has an inexplicable sympathy for the indigenous people since he was a child; others say that Jorge Dias once traveled in the Britannian Empire for two years, after seeing the tragic situation of slaves under the rule of the empire, he was worried that the EU would use the same method to deal with the indigenous people after returning to EU... Various speculations made the true information more and more indistinguishable. Maybe only the parties directly related to the incident know the truth.

"Is this statement credible?" Old Jake saw a newspaper saying that Jorge Dias and Adalbert Herzog were high school classmates. "They didn't seem to have much contact before. One is African Britannian, the other is a native Portuguese..."

"Jorge Dias usually lives in Angola, but it belongs to Southwestern Africa. In my current capacity, I will have trouble entering the colony." McNeil cut off his thoughts on investigating in Angola. "I only hope his friend or colleague is still in South Africa, preferably in Transvaal."

At two o'clock in the afternoon, McNeil went out to buy a Coke, just when he ran into the soldier appointed by Smilas to inform him to meet with relevant witnesses. After McNeil returned to the house and said goodbye to Jake, he drove to the church two kilometers away. He previously talked to Smilas about social personnel related to Jorge Dias. At that time, Smilas said that the lawyer often went to various places in the world with the assistance of the church. Perhaps the church could be one of the breakthrough points. After finding the clergyman who had been with Jorge Diaz to investigate in Britannia, Smilas quickly sent someone to inform McNeil and asked him to go and meet the priest.

"According to his recent itinerary, Alexandros Palaskas left Europe last month and made a special trip to South Africa to meet with Jorge Diaz." The soldier handed McNeil a report, "Earlier this month, Priest Palaskas published an investigation report on the living conditions of indigenous miners in South Africa and accused our local companies in South Africa of concealing casualties in the name of the church."

McNeil was used to all kinds of news that he had never heard of. Even if someone told him tomorrow that Franklin Roosevelt was resurrected, he would not be surprised.

"You seem to be afraid of the church."

"Church? They have a big business, and they are much better than our self-made companies and immigrants." The driver who drove McNeil said without looking back, "Fortunately, they have become a charity here with us. In the empire across the ocean, the church is one of the sharpest butchers in the hands of the emperor."

When he saw the priest, McNeil couldn't help but mourned for a few seconds in his heart for his glorious head. It is hard for him to imagine how a young man in his thirties became bald, either because he was under too much work pressure, or because his mental pressure was beyond ordinary people's understanding. After sending away a group of praying citizens, the chubby Priest Palaskas and McNeil sat on the bench in the church hall and chatted casually about Jorge Dias.

"Do you represent the army or the governor-general?"

"It's all the same." McNeil didn't want to talk about this issue. "I heard that Lawyer Dias went to the Britannian Empire with you. Is this true?"

"It's true." Palaskas nodded solemnly. "In 204 years of the Republican calendar, a crisis related to indigenous people broke out again in the southern part of the Britannian Empire due to the continuous reclaiming of the Amazon rainforest. At that time, the Pope signed a statement jointly with the Patriarch of Constantinople and hoped that the church would intervene to prevent the tragedy from happening again."

The three superpowers in the world each use completely different calendars. The EU uses the republican calendar created by France and a set of metric units, while the Britannian Empire is based on the ancestor Alwin I (Celtic King). The year of defeating the Romans is designated as the First Year of the Ascension Throne Britannian Calendar, referred to as ATB or Imperial Calendar. In the 204th year of the Republican calendar, that is, in 1995, according to the report found in the newspapers by McNeil, the Britannian Empire carried out mass killings of the remaining indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest. The cruel methods made the European Union's most conservative media start to criticize. Unexpectedly, the State Church of the Empire did not stand with the emperor, but agreed with the church to send an observer mission to stop the atrocities. At that time, the deputy head was the priest Palaskas, who was born in Greece.

"Why did Jorge Dias choose to follow you to the Britannia Empire?"

Palaskas thought for a while, and then replied: "From a cultural perspective, Brazil and Portugal are similar. Lawyer Dias has done a lot of work in Angola and Mozambique before. He wants to learn more about foreign countries, especially the empire's cruel rule over the natives in Brazil."

From time to time, citizens appeared in the church. They greeted the priest in a friendly manner, and the priest always responded with a smile. McNeil carefully observed the other's facial expressions, and as long as there was a slight difference, he could ask a question that would expose the priest to his flaws.

"He is a lawyer, and a lawyer has always been a job that can make a lot of money. Why doesn't he continue to make money in the EU and go to the Americas to take such a big risk to conduct investigations that are not welcome by the locals?"

Palaskas reflexively grabbed the cross hung around his neck and said something to him. After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes and said heavily:

"He told me about this matter. He chose to be a lawyer for justice, not for money."

"Justice is just a concept, Father Palaskas." McNeil immediately retorted. "I think the executioners of the empire will also think they are exercising their justice."

"Some things are more important than money." Palaskas sighed, "He collected a lot of valuable information there. He was arrested several times by the imperial police, and once was almost executed on the spot. But what really let us all feel sad is that although he has delivered a lot of news to the country, no mainstream media in EU is willing to report positively. These materials have been in his hands for a whole year. I don't know whether these reporters and newspapers did not have the courage or were still not interested at all."

McNeil opened the briefcase he had borrowed from Smilas, took out the newspaper he had found, and handed it to Palaskas. In an obscure corner, someone promoted the latest work of lawyer Jorge Dias.

""Mist Moon Liberator" has always been against the Council and the consul." McNeil said to Palaskas, who is still reading the newspaper, "After the investigation has been over a year, only those politicians who want to use this kind of propaganda to create momentum for certain special events are willing to publish these investigation reports."

"It's nothing weird." Palaskas rubbed his red eyes. "Mr. McNeil, the backstage of "Mist Moon Liberator" are Britannian-Africa Bank and Iberian-Africa Power Company, Governor-general Herzog himself even served as an executive director of the former... By the way, he had not resigned at that time."

"This kind of statement cannot be ambiguous." McNeil pursued him, "Have Jorge Dias ever indicated to you that he might turn to Governor-general Herzog or others to express his personal comments?"

Palaskas uneasily placed his hands on his knees, clutching his vestments, and replied hesitantly: "...I can't remember. Maybe he did ask a lot of people for help. This is all inference."

The door of the church was pushed open again. Three soldiers walked to Smilas who was dozing off at the door and woke him up. Smilas was full of displeased face. He listened to the reports of the soldiers half asleep and half awake, strode towards McNeil, and whispered:

"The sniper was arrested. He is an African Britannian. However, he has committed suicide."

McNeil paced back and forth in front of Father Palaskas unconsciously. There were many clues in his hands, but most of them could not help him sort out a clear chain of evidence. He is a combat expert and not a criminal investigator. Perhaps he has indeed investigated some military-related cases in his life, and he is not as good as a professional after all.

"Priest, why did you choose to come to South Africa from the mainland recently?"

"Lawyer Dias told me that Governor-general Herzog is seeking advice from local people on a new bill and is also seeking strong support from his local allies." Palaskas was a little trembling. "He said that this is not only the relationship between the immigrants and indigenous peoples of the two places, but also the relationship between South Africa and Southwestern Africa, Central Africa, and the East African Commission. It is obvious that the recent frequent violence and the indifference of the neighboring authorities have made Governor-general Herzog on the verge of an outbreak. I heard that Governor-general Herzog is going to set up a church school to provide education for the indigenous people, following the example of Southwestern Africa. His consulting agency invited us to South Africa to attend the meeting."

Jacob Herzog's identity provides him with a certain degree of convenience, but also limits his options. Under normal circumstances, the governor-general can only make decisions based on his identity. Unless this identity restrains him enough to make him lose all hope, he will completely abandon this label and seek assistance from other groups, such as the natives themselves. However, if the Europeans' discrimination against African Britannian is not resolved, then indigenous citizenship is a false proposition.

"Major Smilas, will the army reimburse the cost of train tickets or air tickets?" McNeil suddenly asked a new question.

"What are you going to do?"

McNeil took the water bottle that Smilas handed him, took a few mouthfuls, and said:

"I changed my mind; we still have to go to Angola to have a look."

TBC