In the year 922 of the Ingvergian calendar.
Florence.
The heavy bell tolled, melodious and deep, as if it was the echo from ancient history. Just by listening, one could feel the solemnity and heaviness.
The setting sun was looming behind the clouds, dyeing most of the sky into a crimson curtain. The boys sat on the bank of the Tiber River, and everything was reflected in the calm water, as if they were in the sky.
This may be the most pious moment in this city. The whole world is covered by a red curtain. Everything seems so solemn. The muted prayers echo in this magnificent city, accompanied by the continuous ringing of bells, as if mourning the end of today.
Two somewhat lonely figures sat quietly on the shore. This was one of the few times of the day when they could go out. Although they were said to be going out, they were still under supervision.
The priests in white robes stood far away, but they managed the distance well. They formed a circle, tightly surrounding the boys and maintaining an appropriate distance so that they were always in sight.
The blond boy raised his head and looked at the priests with some annoyance.
"They were watching me the whole time."
"Us, to be exact."
The boy sitting next to them responded. He looked around and found that there were many boys like them here. They were all wearing the same robes and were scattered everywhere. Their white clothes shone brightly in the sun.
Holy, yet like a group of prisoners under supervision, what binds them is not the law but theocracy.
"It's so annoying, they..."
The blond boy shook his head and then asked.
"What's your serial number?"
"042."
The boy next to him responded.
"You seem to really accept the rules they set?" Seeing 042 accepting his identity so calmly, he seemed a little surprised.
"What else? They give us food and shelter... I don't think it's a big deal." 042 replied, "Besides, you just want to show off. You know my number."
Indeed, each boy's number was printed on his robe, and from the moment they came here and were accepted by the Gospel Church, they lost their names and were replaced by only the cold number.
"You are a restless lamb. If the priests find out that you are secretly using your 'name' again, you will be put in solitary confinement again." 042 warned.
Priests often describe them like this: they are the lambs of God, and priests are shepherds. Lambs do not need names, they only need piety and obedience. But there are always restless lambs who are eager to jump out of the fence.
The boy in front of him was such a restless lamb. He had become worse and worse since his "baptism". Every child saw something bizarre in that mysterious baptism, some of which were so complicated that even the boy himself didn't know how to describe them.
But they did get something in that mysterious baptism. Some got knowledge, some got psychedelic dreams, and some, like him, got names.
"047 you need to behave yourself. I don't want anything to happen to you."