Ch.259Empire (2)

When did it begin?

When did I stop being angry at the reforms led by the King—no, the Emperor?

[From now on, we will regulate excessive church territories. This is the implementation of legal enforcement that has been suspended until now, so all church territories within the Kingdom of Lotaring must return church lands that exceed the limits specified in secular church law.]

Was it then? No, not then.

At that time, I felt as if struck by lightning from a clear sky, thinking His Majesty was doing something utterly pointless, and I tried every means possible to prevent the church lands from being taken away.

I probed the Holy See, formed factions with other bishops of church territories, but it didn’t take long for all efforts to come to nothing.

[Obey the King of Lotaring’s decree without rash actions… What is this nonsense!?]

[Your Holiness, you cannot do this to us!]

[…Damn it.]

It was because the Pope suddenly abandoned the churches of Lotaring, claiming to establish a provincial archdiocese.

For churches that lived and died by the Pope’s command, that order was like the devil’s hand pushing them into the abyss of hell.

Despite all the offerings we had given to the Holy See, which they considered only natural and proper, they cast aside Lotaring’s churches like worn-out shoes. The sense of betrayal that the clergy of Lotaring, including myself, felt toward the Pope was immense.

Then… was it this time?

[What…? The King is lending money and collecting interest…?]

[How… does the King have no shame that any decent human should possess?!]

[We barely managed to overlook his taking his foster sister and a commoner woman as concubines, but now this? Is that fellow truly testing the Lord’s patience?]

No, it wasn’t then either.

At that time, I was still angry at the King’s continued audacious actions.

Of course, the subsequent transformation of churches into schools improved the King’s reputation several times over, but his reputation had been so damaged that the recovery, in absolute terms, was quite minimal.

Wasn’t the massive confiscation of church lands going too far to be washed away by something like church schools? Although the church schools allowed us to remove heretical influences from believers from a young age and create favorable views toward the church, such things couldn’t even begin to compare to the overwhelming area of church lands we previously held.

Above all, wasn’t this the result of a transaction rather than a gift from the King? We obtained the transformation of churches into schools in exchange for turning a blind eye to the King’s misdeeds, so we couldn’t express gratitude to the King for this.

Then… was it this time?

[Wh-what are you people?! This is the holy house of the Lord, so stop this violent behavior at once—GAHK…!]

[We received reports of illegal activities taking place. Search everything!]

Men wearing modified monastic robes with the title of Faith Inquisitors suddenly burst into the church, causing a commotion while claiming to crack down on illegal offerings.

Unlike the King’s gentle approach shown until then, these men attacked churches and priests without restraint, cracking down on what they deemed illegal by their standards.

Literally, to prevent any resistance, like training a biting dog with a club.

[S-stop…!]

[Stop? What do you mean stop! What is this clearly excessive offering? Didn’t His Majesty declare that only voluntary offerings are allowed?]

[Gack…! That was a voluntary offering! The believers just wanted to atone…]

[Atonement? Atonement, you say? You bastard, accepting money for atonement—your head is full of demons, you heretic! Hey, beat him more!]

The storm-like actions of the Faith Inquisitors swept through all church territories in Lotaring.

Church membership registers were confiscated, and the authority to manage church attendees was transferred from church territories to local government offices.

If His Majesty had simply acted through words and compromise as before, Lotaring’s churches would have offered at least minimal resistance, but when the Faith Inquisitors oppressed the churches with unprecedented violence, not only not hesitating to use physical suppression but actually encouraging it, the churches naturally couldn’t resist at all.

[…Let’s stop now.]

[None of us are having any trouble making a living, are we?]

[Honestly… His Majesty’s actions may seem excessive, but his statement that we should follow what is written in the Bible is absolutely correct. From restricting excessive church lands to indulgences and selling fake holy relics, the King has certainly put the church back on the right path. Of course, unlike his policies, personally… he has committed numerous sins like concubinage and usury, so there is some aversion.]

In this process, the clergy of Lotaring, who had been oppressed for so long, finally came to a complete surrender.

Whether they realized further resistance was meaningless and resigned themselves to cooperating with the King, or recognized that the King’s reform direction was correct and sincerely cooperated, or received physical education from the Faith Inquisitors and genuinely feared the King, trembling—the forms varied, but the fact that even the embers of resistance had been completely extinguished remained the same.

Yes, was it from this time that I stopped being angry at the reforms led by His Majesty?

Hmm, that’s quite possible.

When any further resistance would be ruthlessly destroyed by the Faith Inquisitors, this naturally leads one to face reality and resign oneself to any injustice.

When one faces reality and resigns early to injustice, it results in a loss of enthusiasm for life and less emotional fluctuation.

[Why is everyone like this?! Do you really think it’s fine to end like this?!]

But… no.

Even after being beaten by the Faith Inquisitors, far from cowering, I still burned with anger toward His Majesty.

Then when…? When exactly did I stop being angry at His Majesty’s reforms?

[…I didn’t expect there would still be a believer whose work isn’t finished. You seem troubled.]

[Who… are you?]

[I am Jeanne, working in the diocese of Dijon.]

Yes. That’s right, it was then.

It was then.

I stopped being angry at His Majesty’s reforms from the day I first met the Saint.

[…What is this?]

[What’s the matter?]

[No… isn’t it too bright? Like… huh?]

A brilliant golden light that blinded my eyes filled my vision, and then my blinded eyes saw something not of this material world but spiritual.

The protection of angels.

The holy union of the Saint and the Savior, the sanctity of Lotaring upholding their will.

On this day, all the malice and doubt I had toward the Savior melted away like snow, and in place of those negative emotions, only faith in His Majesty and devotion to the Lord filled me completely.

[I repent for forging the Lord’s will and extorting property from innocent people. This is a mortal sin that cannot be forgiven even after death, one that should burn in the flames of hell for eternity—]

[Enough, enough. A mortal sin that cannot be forgiven? The presence or absence of sin is for God alone to judge, not for you to determine yourself. All you need to do is provide endless service to atone for the evil deeds you have committed.]

After meeting the Saint, I realized how trashy my sins had been.

Extorting offerings by forging the Lord’s will, creating fake holy relics to smear the souls of saints, resisting the reforms of the Savior who represents God’s will—this was no different from the behavior of human garbage.

I am so fortunate to have met Lady Jeanne.

Truly, truly, truly, truly fortunate.

If I hadn’t met Lady Jeanne, I would still be committing demonic acts and blaspheming against the Savior. The fact that I could have done such things makes me truly question my existence.

These evil deeds can be neutralized through endless service, as Lady Jeanne said.

I must provide endless service to the Savior.

I must serve. I must serve, must serve. No matter what happens, I must provide devoted service.

This is the minimum measure to atone for my evil deeds of deceiving innocent people.

I can only repent for my past evil deeds by offering to the Savior, who represents God’s will, the territories of faithful believers who uphold God’s will and the territories of pagans and heretics who oppose God. I can repent. I can repent. I can repent. I must repent. Repentance.

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Let us destroy the depraved and corrupt Empire!”

Looking around, I see many clergy who seem to have seen the light like me.

Seeing that even those who had planned to assassinate the Savior just a few years ago are mixed in occasionally, it seems they too have seen the light of truth like me.

I cannot express how fortunate it is that the Savior and the Saint have descended to this land. If it weren’t for the two of them, all of us, including myself, would not have realized the truth—truly fortunate.

Well… I should get moving too.

“Let us offer the lands of the world to the Savior!”

Long live the Holy Emperor!!