Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1504: Chapter 231: The Farmer and the Lord

Later, after Teacher Prin had dozed for a while, when he came back to his senses he saw Mai Rada kneeling on the ground, hands crossed over his chest, lips moving slightly, as if murmuring something.

It should be something like prayer… As a tutor from the Theology Institute, Teacher Prin could easily tell that this person carried some kind of faith in his heart.

He did not interrupt. Only when Mai Rada finished the whole set, opened his eyes, did he calmly say, “You look much better mentally now.”

Mai Rada silently glanced at Teacher Prin and suddenly said, “I need to stay in this town for a while.”

Teacher Prin thought for a moment and said, “What makes you think I’ll help you with that.”

Mai Rada said expressionlessly, “I don’t owe people things… And besides, you’re not the type who can just stand by and watch.”

Teacher Prin smiled faintly and didn’t say anything more.

They left the room soon after. Once they’d casually eaten something, Teacher Prin helped Mai Rada change into a simple set of clothes, threw together a wig for him, and then took him to a church.

Teacher Prin told Mai Rada the Priest here was on good terms with him, and that Mai Rada could temporarily live here for the time being—but he couldn’t just eat and lodge for free; he would need to do some chores.

After thinking it over a little, Mai Rada agreed… Perhaps compared to help with no strings attached, he found this kind of arrangement with a price easier to accept.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to this Priest.” The words were meant as a sort of assurance, but when Mai Rada spoke them they came out particularly stiff… He probably wasn’t used to expressing himself this way.

To this, Teacher Prin only nodded and told him that if he needed anything he could come to the room from last night to find him; he’d be more than happy to do something for him.

Before leaving, Teacher Prin prayed in the church for a short while, then greeted the Priest… He had to go teach; there were two classes this morning, and the second period happened to be with that new student’s class.

Teacher Prin felt more and more that this new student was very interesting, and he couldn’t help but feel a kind of anticipation he couldn’t quite put into words.

When he left, Mai Rada did not come out to see him off… Mai Rada hid alone in the church’s back garden, staring blankly, lost in thought.

What he was actually thinking was: since the crystal box bestowed by the Main God had been lost, and he himself had irregularly lost his Power, the only thing he could do now was remain in this town—because the crystal box had reacted before; the Nether King was somewhere nearby.

Yet besides that mysterious Strong in a black tuxedo he’d run into at the start—the one who had brutally killed three of his companions—Mai Rada had then run into the powerful human old Mage Uncle Pick, and last night he’d encountered Teacher Prin, a Non-Human of unknown abilities.

—Wasn’t it said that Non-Humans in the present mainland all kept an extremely low profile? What kind of luck was this, that he’d met three of them in such a short time…

—Could it be that these people were also here because of the Nether King… Were they all people from the Magician’s Association?

Unease easily breeds suspicion… Mai Rada gradually grew deeply worried about the unknown future ahead.

“Could you help with sweeping the Courtyard?”

The voice came from the Priest of the church, dressed in black priestly robes, face wreathed in a kindly smile… He was holding a broom, slowly walking over.

Mai Rada blinked… He really wanted to set this place on fire.

…

…

—I’ve already taken leave. I asked for a month off. When are you planning to set out?

Before class started, Claudia mysteriously slipped a small note into the hand of Boss Luo, who had just sat down—the straight‑A girl was apparently the decisive, action‑oriented type.

But taking a whole month off in one go did surprise Luo Qiu a little… After thinking it over, Boss Luo joined Claudia in the little classroom game of passing notes.

—How long do you need to get ready, Boss?

—Fastest is one day. I need to pack my luggage. I also have to exchange some foreign currency… We need to find a place to stay too, so one day at the very least… And a translator, we’ll probably need a translator, Claudia.

—You just get your luggage ready, I’ll prepare the rest, Boss.

—Are you trying to chase me, Claudia?

The tone suddenly turned odd… Boss Luo looked at the slip, instinctively glanced at both sides of himself, thought for a moment, then wrote on.

—Not really, Boss.

—Then we must have two rooms for the whole trip… When we get back, I’ll settle the final total costs of this trip with you; everything goes on me, but you front the money first, Claudia.

—Fine, Boss.

The note‑passing game ended there… As Teacher Prin walked past Claudia’s seat while lecturing, he casually tapped twice on her desk, startling Claudia into hurriedly lowering her head and burying herself in her textbook.

Teacher Prin smiled wryly, then seemingly unintentionally glanced at Luo Qiu… Boss met the teacher’s gaze and smiled faintly.

Teacher Prin shook his head—shot him a white‑eyed look—and continued his lecture.

“There is this question: it is commonly held that God is omnipotent. The puzzle: can God create a stone that He Himself cannot lift? Question: can this question itself serve as an argument to deny the existence of God? Claudia, your answer?”

Having just finished passing notes, the straight‑A girl Claudia had no idea what Teacher Prin had been saying before this… She could only stand up in haste, bow her head and frantically flip through her textbook—only to realize in the end that the book did not mention any of this.

She had no choice but to nod firmly and say, “Of course it can! Since He is an omnipotent God, how could there be a stone He can’t lift?”

Teacher Prin only smiled, then waved his hand to signal Claudia to sit down, and then looked around the room, asking, “Anyone else have a different opinion?”

Seeing the students all shaking their heads, Teacher Prin still did not comment, only slowly walked between the rows of desks—finally coming to stand beside Boss Luo, looking down at him and asking with a chuckle, “You think so too?”

Boss Luo simply shook his head.

Teacher Prin asked curiously, “Why?”

Boss Luo answered, “An omnipotent God can create a stone He cannot lift.”

Teacher Prin glanced at everyone and then said coolly, “If He is omnipotent, why would there be a stone He cannot lift?”

Boss Luo said calmly, “I don’t know. But God can, because it’s omnipotent… because you don’t know how exactly it manages it, but it really can. So what you should be puzzled by is how it does it, not why, despite being omnipotent, it can’t lift it.”

“So?” Teacher Prin’s eyes lit up.

Boss Luo looked up and said, “Please call God over.”

Teacher Prin smiled… The students were somewhat surprised, but what followed was even more surprising—because Teacher Prin directly said, “I like this answer… For this semester, I’ll give you one credit for my course in advance.”

—Oh… could Teacher Prin and the new student have made some indescribable deal?

…

…

Whether there are any indescribable deals between teacher and student, outsiders can’t possibly know… The students here didn’t seem particularly keen on such gossip—they preferred socializing with one another most of the time.

It was lunchtime again, and a lazy air filled the institute.

Today, for the first time, Teacher Prin came to the newly opened… newly founded activity club, the Butterfly Society.

He wasn’t particularly surprised by the sudden appearance of this Butterfly Society, nor by how exquisitely it had been set up in such a short time… People with certain special abilities always have ways to do things beyond normal human understanding.

“This place is very special.” Teacher Prin took in the layout of the activity room, joking as he said, “It feels like walking into another Space.”

Boss Luo said, “This might in fact be another Space.”

Teacher Prin laughed. “In that case, you’re even more terrifying than I imagined.”

Luo Qiu asked curiously, “Do I look that scary?”

Teacher Prin shook his head and said lightly, “Being able to freely control whether you exist or not… that alone is already terrifying. If on top of that you can switch between the two seamlessly… Tell me, wouldn’t you be afraid to have someone like that around you?”

Luo Qiu poured him a glass of water. “Teacher, have you ever seen God?”

“Every day.” Teacher Prin said casually, “I still keep the habit of praying daily, so I see it every day… So what does this club mainly do?”

“Helping people solve some problems, for a fee… of course, simple confessions are fine too.” Boss Luo added, “As long as they come in here.”

Teacher Prin asked curiously, “Can I come too?”

“As long as you need it, Teacher.” Luo Qiu smiled slightly. “Anytime.”

Teacher Prin lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then shook it and said, “I feel like I just heard a tempting voice. Looks like this really might be another place. Staying too long here may not be a good thing.”

Luo Qiu didn’t speak; he merely closed his eyes, as if resting… Teacher Prin didn’t feel bored either, taking out a book of fairy tales and quietly reading.

Only the occasional sound of turning pages echoed.

Teacher Prin suddenly let out a soft chuckle. Luo Qiu slowly opened his eyes. Teacher Prin glanced over, smiling. “I just saw an interesting story. Want to hear it?”

Luo Qiu nodded.

Teacher Prin cleared his throat and said, “One day, a farmer and a rich man died and arrived in heaven at the same time. Heaven opened its gates for them, letting the rich man in first. They could hear beautiful singing and endless laughter inside; even through the gate, the farmer could feel the happiness overflowing within… After a while, heaven’s gate opened again and let the farmer in. With great longing, the farmer stepped through the gate of heaven. Only, he did not receive the enthusiastic welcome he had imagined, though his treatment wasn’t bad either. Compared to the rich man, however, he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. So he went to God and demanded to know why there was such a difference in heaven… How do you think God answered?”

Boss Luo shook his head. “How did God answer?”

Teacher Prin said, “God said: People like the farmer come to heaven every moment of every day. But someone like the rich man—this past hundred years, he’s the only one.”

Boss Luo smiled faintly. “Teacher… you like reading fairy tales?”

Teacher Prin said, “I don’t know why, I just feel fairy tales are more interesting than other reading materials… Maybe because from the very beginning, what they write is closer to truth than things that have been researched for a long time—we draw near to them from childhood, then drift away from them, and as we grow up, we begin a long search all over again.”

Boss Luo instead asked, “So what happened to the farmer afterward?”

Teacher Prin was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. “It doesn’t say. That’s where it ends… That’s probably the flaw of fairy tales: too ideal, not real enough. Like how they tell us Snow White lived happily ever after, but never mention the trivial matters of her married life with the Prince… Perhaps the Princess and the Prince weren’t harmonious after marriage, and the Prince had an affair with a maid or something?”

Boss Luo didn’t react much to this sudden burst of humor from Teacher Prin.

Teacher Prin shook his head. “A story is something that has an ending; a life is something that never has an ending. Yet every life wants an ending… but all endings are the same: death.”

The boss suddenly said, “Is death the end?”

“In theory, yes.” Teacher Prin said solemnly at this point. “But in reality, it’s only the end point of a reincarnated cycle… After reincarnated, it’s another new cycle. Do you know? When this mainland develops to a certain stage, it will enter destruction, overturn everything, and then develop once again.”

Boss Luo said calmly, “Teacher means, like the great flood that cleansed the mainland?”

Teacher Prin shook his head. “No. Even during the great flood that cleansed the mainland, the ark was still left behind, preserving the spark of civilization. True destruction is when everything is utterly obliterated, not a single trace left, allowing civilization to develop again from a completely new angle… The mainland, rebooted.”

Boss Luo fell silent. This kind of knowledge was no longer something one could grasp merely by living within the scope of a Sub-world… Unless one had personally gone through it. Unless one had observed it from the outside.

Or perhaps, learned it through some other channel.

Seeing Luo Qiu remain silent at this moment, Teacher Prin slowly said, “What, you don’t believe it?”

Luo Qiu replied casually, “These are your conjectures, Teacher?”

“No.” Teacher Prin directly shook his head. “This information may be hard for you to believe, but it is real and has already happened. In fact, the number of times it has happened is far beyond your imagination… You may not know this, but outside the mainland we’re living in now, there are countless similar mainlands, each with its own civilization—and within those civilizations, there may also be a you and a me.”

Luo Qiu blinked and suddenly asked, “So that means, Teacher… you’ve been outside?”

“No. I’ve only received some information.” Teacher Prin shook his head, then said in a low voice, “A group called the Secret Council… Their people came to me many years ago.”

Secret… Council?