The Centurion. There Are No Former Ones

Mercury is not just a mutilated, harmless hieromonk.

He is a valiant warrior! For there are no former soldiers…

He was a soldier of the Roman Empire—the heir of the great Rome. He fought all his life, rose to high ranks, lost his family, but then came the last battle for him, and his injuries erased his previous life. Now he is a hieromonk, cast far from his homeland by the will of fate—in a remote corner of Rus. A remote corner of Russia. And in this wilderness, things happen that could potentially affect the entire oikoumene. And he must fit into these events.

But how to understand—whether this is good or evil, whether God or an enemy of mankind directs the hands of those he encounters on his path—from the entourage of the bishop of Turov to the boy-captain and the man with the supply wagon?

On whose side should Father Mercury, the former soldier Macarius, fight? However, why “former”? There are no former soldiers…