[Outskirts of Maplestone City]
[White Spring Nunnery]
[Stable]
Before dawn, Siegfried was already out the door with a bucket in hand.
Behind him, Marvey mumbled and turned over on the haystack. After a mont of silence, the breathing symphony of one man, four horses, and two donkeys resud in the stable.
The coolness of dawn felt especially pleasant, dispelling the worries lingering in Siegfried's mind.
With the dew heavy on the flowers and the ground fog low, carrying two large wooden buckets, he didn't go to the nearby pond but took a detour to the famous spring of White Spring Monastery.
On the way, Siegfried again encountered the novice nuns in white.
Fetching water early in the morning is a tough task, so naturally, it fell on the novice nuns.
Seeing the new stableman approaching, the sleepy-eyed, stumbling novice nuns hastily made way, ashad to make eye contact with a strange man yet unable to resist sneaking glances at the handso blond man's features.
Siegfried, without looking sideways, strode past the novice nuns.
Amid the novice nuns, one of them also turned her mouth slightly, deliberately turning her head elsewhere.
Thus, they passed by each other, and without looking back, Siegfried walked straight towards White Spring.
Sotis one has to lant the lack of creativity in naming—indeed, the Charity Order Nunnery on Five Peaks Mountain east of Maplestone City was called "White Spring" because there was a clear spring within.
More accurately, the "White Spring" existed first, and the monastery was built adjacent to the spring.
The spring waters on Five Peaks Mountain were all bitter and yellowish, except for White Spring which was sweet, clear, and never ceased flowing throughout the year.
So naturally, people assud this spring was special, possessing many miraculous properties.
What followed was easy to imagine: tales began to spread among the local residents about the healing powers of White Spring. Shortly thereafter, several notable Saints in Paratu's history beca associated with White Spring.
The stories about the Saints of White Spring were so vivid that they quickly attracted the attention of the Public Church.
The Archbishop of Kingsfort requested assistance from the Church Court's Saint Canonization Court, and the monks from the Eternal City, after conducting on-site investigations and personally tasting the water of White Spring, solemnly declared:
Most of the legends about the Saints of White Spring were false, as church records showed that the Saints in the stories had never visited this place;
However, the part about Saint Ados was true, absolutely true.
Thus, following the creation of Shovel Lake with one dig, old Mr. Ados also created White Spring with another.
Henceforth, White Spring changed from a marvel of nature to a "Divine" work of the Public Church, formally recognized as "the site of Saint Ados's manifestation."
The Paratu Church then logically purchased White Spring and its surrounding land—in fact, at that ti, the Archbishop of Kingsfort had hoped so people might voluntarily donate the "holy site" to the church, but when it ca to money, the New Reclamation Legion was very principled—and established a nunnery at that location to accommodate a wealthy widow who, after losing her husband, vowed to devote herself to the church.
So White Spring Monastery was quite affluent from the beginning, able to engage in extensive construction projects.
After the main body of the monastery was completed, the abbess successively built a wellhead, a cloister, a small plaza, and even a bathhouse for guests to take mineral water baths.
White Spring, once a gift from nature available to all, transford into a healing place for local rich people and foreign dignitaries.
Estate owners from the Newly Reclaid Land didn't shy away from traveling long distances to co here, drinking down the waters of White Spring like cattle, ensuring they took a few more buckets ho because of its rumored effects;
The estate owners' wives and daughters would use small willow cups to gracefully draw water from the well while discreetly observing the military officers who ca for treatnt.
Most of these military officers had lancholy expressions and pale faces because they were either injured or sick.
Coming here ant they were deed unfit for continued service in the Permanent Army. Their next career steps would be spent within the New Reclamation Legion.
For those young officers with high aspirations, this was worse than dying on the battlefield.
The wealthy young descendants of Maplestone City's families would also co to White Spring in groups, but they often ca with ulterior motives—the lonely wives and young daughters of estate owners made excellent targets, especially the latter, often so adorably naïve that a few sweet words could win them over.
Previously, due to the turmoil in the Newly Reclaid Land, visitors once disappeared from White Spring Monastery.
Recently, as the Newly Reclaid Land gradually stabilized, White Spring Monastery had begun to regain its vibrancy.
However, Siegfried was neither interested nor concerned about any of this.
He had seen so much trouble of this kind—idle noble descendants and lonely noble won were indeed two famous products of the Empire.
Whenever these two t, it was like thunder igniting fire, leading to uncontrollable outcos.
Thus, there was no famous wellness resort in the Empire that wasn't a haven for debauchery.
The small commotions at White Spring Monastery were, in Siegfried's eyes, just a group of rustic folks from the outskirts picking up and playing with things the north had grown tired of.
As for the sacred spring water that the visitors anticipated so eagerly, he only fetched it to water the horses—the horses truly enjoyed drinking it.
Siegfried enjoyed spending ti with the horses.
Horses don't disguise themselves; they are pure beings, expressing joy when happy, and anger when upset. Their emotions are evident, and simply looking at them, one could tell what they were thinking.
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