Chapter 27 Im good at taking advantage of other peoples kindness
"Captain!" x2
Michelle and Raphael both stood up, pressed their left hands on their right chests, bowed their bodies slightly and nodded in greeting.
Gonzalez nodded and waved his hand: "No need to be polite, I'm just here to have a drink."
Gonzalez, the leader of the Knights Templar of the Church of Light, does not look very handsome, not as handsome as Rafael and Michelle.
He has short black hair, light blue eyes, a smooth forehead, and thick raised eyebrows, giving him a masculine and determined look.
He is not tall, only 1.75 meters, which is not very tall and burly. Rafael is 1.82 meters and Michelle is 1.85 meters. In comparison, Gonzalez is not outstanding in appearance.
He didn't show any politeness, he sat down directly and poured himself a glass of red wine. Michelle and Rafael were also not formal. Gonzalez was half their teacher and they were very familiar with each other.
"Captain, do you agree with Michelle's idea?" Raphael touched his round chin, a little curious.
He feels that Michelle is still too extreme and hates evil, but the world is very complicated and many things are not black and white.
Gonzalez took a sip of red wine for himself and licked his lips: "It's not much recognition, but people need some ideals and other things to support themselves, especially for a paladin, this can
Let you go further..."
Michelle listened expressionlessly, while Raphael was thoughtful.
After talking for a while, Gonzalez couldn't help but put his hand on his forehead: "I'm used to it. When people get older, they like to preach to young people without considering whether their own experience is still valid."
"Captain, you are still very young." Raphael corrected.
Harold Gonzalez is 91 years old this year, which is indeed very young for a strong man in the Holy Realm. If a Saint grows old naturally, he can live to be nearly 500 years old.
Smiling at himself, Gonzalez rubbed his thumb on the smooth glass: "Compared to His Majesty the Pope, I am indeed very young, so I sometimes feel confused and cannot calmly look at some of the problems in this world.
Just like Michelle's philosophy and behavior, I have never quite agreed with it, but I don't know how to tell him a more reasonable way."
Raphael was stunned for a moment, with a surprised look on his face: "Captain, are you feeling confused too?"
Michelle also stared at him. The two of them always thought that the other was knowledgeable and intelligent, and could look at things calmly and lucidly.
A trace of complicated emotions flashed in Gonzalez's eyes: "Are you interested in hearing some old stories?"
The two nodded, and Gonzalez laughed heartily: "This world is not a fairy tale!
This is what His Holiness the Pope told me when I first met him about seventy years ago.
You may not know that when I first came to this city, I was defrauded of all my money..."
Seventy-three years ago, Gonzalez was 18 years old and in his prime. At that time, he had separated from his parents and lived alone for three years.
That day, he sold the valuable things at home, together with the cabin he had built so hard, and with a passionate heart and 8 gold coins, prepared to go to the city to do something big.
He wants to realize his dream - to have a job in the city, own an apartment, and become a decent citizen.
Gonzalez, an aspiring young man, set out. He and a few friends went to a nearby town and took a steam train from the backcountry to Flenje, the capital of the St. Joan Empire.
Not long after they got off the train, they were stopped by a middle-aged man who was reasonably well-dressed.
The man's name was John Debney, who claimed to be a small businessman. He cried and asked him for help, saying that his daughter was seriously ill and needed money for treatment, otherwise she would die immediately.
But he has invested most of his savings, and the cost of early treatment has exhausted all his money. He currently has no cash. He hopes Gonzalez and others can help him.
Several friends ignored him and left directly, but Gonzalez hesitated, and he was kind-hearted and couldn't bear it.
When John saw this, his eyes turned red and he cried, saying that his friends were very stingy and refused to help him, accusing the society of being too indifferent. He had helped his friends a lot before, but at this time, no one could be trusted.
He praised Gonzalez as a warm-hearted and good man. As long as he was willing to help him solve his urgent needs, he would double the money he borrowed and introduce him to a job...
Then he took 8 gold coins from Gonzalez's hand, wrote an IOU, introduced him to a cheap place to live, and asked him to wait for a few days, and he would pay back the money immediately.
Naturally, Gonzalez didn't expect anything. Even the other person's name was fake. He looked confused. He couldn't find a good job for a while. He almost ended up living on the street. Finally, he went to a construction site and started moving bricks.
…
Biren could still move, and it took him half a year to move, and then he changed jobs.
On a certain holy day, he went to receive the "blessing" from the priest, and was selected to become a trainee knight.
With outstanding talent, he became a Silver Rose Knight (third level) in less than three years. Just when everyone was optimistic about him, several young paladins reported him.
They said that he was too cold and selfish and was not in line with the way of a knight. When performing tasks, ordinary people asked him for help, but he simply ignored them...
A cardinal questioned him, and Gonzalez said that he had been deceived and that that time had exhausted his zeal...
Half a month later, the Pope met with him...
In the private room, Gonzalez swung the wine in his glass, looked at Michelle and Rafael, his voice was a bit vicissitudes: "That trick is not very clever. If you think about it carefully, it is full of flaws, but I was still fooled. He was perfect."
They took advantage of my kindness, maybe greed and ignorance...
I changed after that. In those few years, I would ignore anyone who asked me for help on the road, whether they were genuine or liars.
Sometimes I wonder if kind-hearted people are the most vulnerable to injury in this world. If I had been like a few of my friends and walked away, wouldn't I have been deceived?"
There was silence, and Michelle rarely spoke: "After Fran's death, I am no longer naive. Kindness means weakness and can be bullied. There is no best of both worlds in this world. If you hesitate, you will lose. This is not a heroic epic.
Many times, restraining one's hands not only fails to save the hostages, but only allows the enemy to escape, or fails to save anyone even at the cost of one's own life, allowing the enemy to have the last laugh.
There is no miracle, no twists and turns, the hostages are rescued, the enemy is dead, such plots will only appear in legendary novels..."
Michelle's face is full of indifference. If you know his experience, you will know that he never talks about morality to his enemies. When necessary, he will use gang fights, poisoning, sneak attacks from behind, and any despicable means.
.
Gonzales sighed leisurely when he saw this: "That day, His Majesty the Pope told me that the person who deceived me was caught and handed over to the Public Security Bureau, and asked me to go and see him..."
He went to visit "Mr. John" in prison. He had a good life these years, his business was booming, and he deceived many people, because there is no shortage of good people in this world.
Gonzalez angrily asked the other party whether his conscience hurt and whether he felt guilty. The other party was silent for a while and said this:
"It seems that I have offended someone who shouldn't be offended. I still remember you. After all, there are very few people like you who hand over all the money you have to help a stranger.
You know, I'm always good at taking advantage of other people's kindness, and I've lived comfortably like this for more than 20 years.
I would feel uneasy and guilty at first, but as time went by and the frequency increased, I got used to it, and even felt very happy every time I got money from someone cheated."
It's not that "Mr. John" has never been caught, but there were loopholes in St. Joan's law at that time. The punishment for such fraudsters was very light. He would be released after a few days of imprisonment, and there would be no additional fines.
Gonzalez was confused. He knew that the other party would be released soon. Even if the church asked the Security Bureau to keep him in custody, there was more than one "Mr. John". There were such people in many train stations who specialized in deceiving travelers.
When there are more people, someone will always be deceived...
The gray-haired Pope met him again and asked him how he felt. He said that he was angry, confused and powerless.
The old man smiled kindly and handed him a document, asking him to submit the bill to the parliament in his own name.
Later, the law in St. Joan was changed, making fraud a criminal offense. Not only did the prisoner have to return all the money he defrauded, but he was also fined an equal amount of money to the victim and spent at least two years in prison.
If the circumstances are serious, there is no cap, and it is possible to go to jail for a lifetime.
"This world is not a fairy tale, kindness is powerful."
This was what the old man taught him. Soon after, Gonzalez received 16 gold coins from the Public Security Bureau.