Chapter 72
The turmoil in the court and the royal family affected the common people, but not too much. As long as taxes were not increased or they were conscripted into the army, everything was fine.
As for war, forget about it; those things happened hundreds of years ago.
So those dark clouds only affected royalty, nobles, and ministers. After a few days of anxiety, the common people found that nothing was wrong. At most, the streets were covered with white banners, and they couldn't perform in the streets anymore, so they didn't think much of it.
They flocked to the bookstore with great enthusiasm to buy Mr. "Leaves'" newly written novel.
Yes, a bookstore.
As early as last autumn, Veris appointed Fekris to research more practical and cheaper paper, mainly to improve papermaking technology. Fekris was born with a natural talent for creation, and although he struggled for a while, he still managed to create what His Holiness the Pope wanted.
However, Veris's hope of using less ink-bleeding paper in Albion was not realized, as he had already returned to the Papacy.
The new type of paper was promoted jointly by the Papacy and Prince Garcia. It quickly replaced the old paper, was more practical, and was also cheaper. Of course, everyone knew which one to choose.
Moreover, the Church endorsed it, claiming that the scriptures used by the Papacy thereafter, as well as the new magic books it issued, were written on a new type of paper.
In the past, a single sheet of paper cost twenty silver coins.
For royalty and nobility, this money was no different than a tickle.
But you should know that when Veris was a bard in Albion, the money he earned from a night's performance was only enough to buy two or three sheets of paper.
Life, sigh!
No wonder there are fewer and fewer poets in remote areas, while poets are everywhere in the capital. Poets also need to eat, and after eating, they still need to maintain their performance level. Simply relying on the poems they have memorized is not enough.
Poets can write poems, but they don't have photographic memories. They write them down, polish them, and memorize them before they start composing music.
In front of everyone, take out a piece of paper with a copy of the new poem on it and sing it while looking at it.
Which hand will you use to play the instrument?
Things are different now. Paper that originally cost twenty silver coins is now only fifteen silver coins!
This is only a reduction of five silver coins, what's the big deal?
What if the price was reduced by a quarter?
Poets are quick-witted and can easily make calculations, and the remuneration for performing in the capital cannot compare to that in the remote regions. Veris's meager fees in Albion are nothing compared to the thousands of times more that a poet in the capital would earn for a single performance.
If a performer is invited to the residence of royalty or nobles for a banquet, the fee will be doubled.
The people of the capital have strong purchasing power.
For them, a novel priced at five hundred silver coins was nothing more than the cost of skipping an afternoon tea.
Very early on, Veris keenly observed that the purchasing power of the counties outside the eleventh district of Lortheran differed from that of the eleventh district, and that this was related to the decisions of the duke who ruled there.
However, currency is universal.
This inevitably harbors huge hidden dangers, allowing them to exploit the different purchasing power in the two places to obtain enormous profits.
The only good news is that this only happened in a few counties.
Leaving that aside for now, let's talk about the entertainment options available to the people of the capital recently.
Mr. "Leaf" pioneered the novel. Although there are rumors that the first novel was written by Archbishop Granvar and a stranger, the public is more likely to recognize this Mr. "Leaf" and be moved by the poignant stories he wrote.
It is said that Mr. "Leaf's" first novel, Miss Mattris, sold tens of thousands of copies.
In other words, that thin book actually brought in a profit of five million silver coins!
At first, the agents who sold "Miss Matris" were just general stores. As "Miss Matris" became more and more popular, the books with their fancy covers were put on the shelves of various stores, which immediately attracted a large number of customers.
The "Miss Mattris" book, which was just put on display this morning, sold out of all its stock in less than two hours!
That store bought a full 500 copies!
Those noble young masters and ladies would buy dozens of books at a time, saying they were for their own collection or as gifts. In any case, they would come with servants and leave carrying a huge pile of fancy books.
Instead of taking a carriage, they walked along the road, swaggering around. Passersby noticed the stacks of Miss Mattris magazines with familiar covers being carried by their servants, and envious whispers rippled through the crowd.
This greatly satisfied the vanity of the nobles.
This excitement reached its climax when Mr. "Leaf" released his second novel, "Quasius's Love Letters," striking while the iron was hot and completely igniting a nationwide novel craze.
They had never seen such tender and moving writing before!
Even if someone like Henry or Jerry appears later, they can't compare to "Leaf"!
In particular, the people of the capital realized that "Leaves" not only wrote well, but he also wrote quickly and prolifically!
How wonderful! How gratifying! How joyful!
The young priest, carrying church business from the district, stood in front of the study, hesitant to speak, and lowered his hand that he had raised to knock on the door. Looking through the slightly ajar door, one could see an elderly man with white hair hunched over a table, writing furiously.
She cried sometimes and laughed sometimes, her face flushed, and the white hair on her forehead was soaked with sweat.
Since collaborating with Veris on their first novel, Granva seemed to have unlocked some kind of magic. All the questions that had puzzled him in the past suddenly came flooding back. When he picked up a pen, he wanted to transform into an octopus and write all at once, producing ten lines of text in one stroke.
He lost his appetite, handed over all his official duties to his subordinates, and didn't enjoy socializing much anymore. If it weren't for a certain situation, he wouldn't even leave the house!
For him, going out is about collecting inspiration.
His Holiness the Pope advised that when inspiration runs dry, one should go out for a walk, gather inspiration daily, and listen to more gossip... cough cough, stories come from life, don't they?
Granva quickly grasped this principle.
In just over three months since last winter, he has already started writing his fifth novel.
This time, Granvard departs from his previous focus on poignant love stories, opting instead to write tales unrelated to romance.
The entirely new subject matter was both a challenge and an opportunity for him. He had a premonition that if he wrote this book well, his name would be remembered and sung about for generations to come.
Although it's almost the same now.
"If you're not willing to manage the affairs of the Fifth District, I'll find someone else to manage them. That way, the Fifth District will be peaceful and worry-free, but we can't just ignore it."
The priest eventually murmured and left, unwilling to disturb the elderly Bishop Granvar, who was immersed in his own world. But the Pope couldn't be so polite.
He leaned against the door with his arms crossed and spoke to Granva.
Granva kept his head down, replying, "Okay, okay, um... um, let's do it this way! You guys discuss it, I think it's excellent!"
Veris: "..."
After Granvard had finished writing the entire plot while holding his breath, he put down his pen. The flesh on his hand was already twisted. He bent his fingers to loosen his knuckles and was about to turn around to check if there were any mistakes when a hand with distinct knuckles picked up the paper he had just finished writing.
The old man looked up and found that His Holiness the Pope was already standing next to his desk.
He's reading the novel he just finished writing.
Granva was momentarily embarrassed, but he quickly sat up straight, awaiting the Pope's evaluation.
After a moment, Veris put down the paper and chuckled, "You're shaking the foundations of the church, Granva."
The old man was startled at first, then suddenly remembered what plot he had written. The flush on his face disappeared, replaced by paleness. He became the priest lingering outside the study, his lips trembling, a thousand words of apology on the tip of his throat, but he couldn't say them for a long time.
Why?
He should admit his mistake, discard all the outrageous plots he wrote, or throw this new book, which he has spent several days working on, into the fire and burn it.
Having waited in vain for Granva's reply, Veris looked down at the white-haired old man who was trembling but had his lips tightly pursed, and raised an eyebrow.
Grívar's story, "The Silk Fan on Horseback," features a group of young men having fun together, which is perfectly acceptable. However, some of the "funny stories" they tell during their conversation subtly suggest that one should not be fanatically superstitious about religion.
However, the religion in Granvar's story also differs significantly from the Orlando religion.
What truly chilled Veris was that the religions mentioned in those conversations, and their actions, reminded him of the Celestial Church he once knew.
Has Yannis actually managed to infiltrate the Papacy?
“Your Holiness, I…” Granva said timidly, “When I was writing this, I wasn’t thinking about our church…”
He was already immersed in this fictional world of his own making. The protagonists were just a few young men, but the "funny things" they talked about included a country with a complete legal system, etiquette, clear hierarchy, and even a church with great power.
The story is only a few dozen pages long, but the manuscript is even longer. Granva, who had been preparing for a long time, naturally felt that this story would surpass his previous love stories.
Because these stories reflect his own inner thoughts!
What he really wanted to reflect was the bad habits of the nobles in the capital and the illegal activities of local gentry.
The church in the story is merely a secondary villain who helps these bad guys; it's a plot device.
However, it's fine if such a story is simply buried. But if it really achieves unprecedented success as he wished, then there will definitely be people who question whether the real church is like the church in the book, oppressing the people and being tyrannical and immoral.
Even if it's not true, what if there really are such idiots, and the word spreads like wildfire?
Granvard's mind cleared up, and his face turned ashen. He stood up to take the manuscript and burn it.
Veris raised his hand and asked, "You wrote in your book that the church's medals are like the sun, and the design is circular, just like the sun in the sky. Why is that?"
The old man was taken aback, scratched his head, and said, "Ah, I just wrote it subconsciously. Maybe I saw the sun outside the window?" As soon as he finished speaking, he remembered that the window of his study was tightly closed and the curtains were drawn.
He was afraid that someone like Garcia might be watching him write openly from the window.
With a flick of his finger, Veris conjured a small, pale gold magic circle. He pulled out a tattered book from it, tossed it in front of Granvar, and said indifferently, "What a coincidence, Granvar, my dear Archbishop. Even though I'd love to find some reasons for you, what you've written somehow corresponds to religions that have already been destroyed."
Granva felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar just listening to the young man's words, especially the last sentence, which made him stagger and knock his chair away slightly. He looked down at the blurred words on the tattered book, which read "The Holy Church of Light".
One character is illegible.
But if it's called a "religious sect," how could it be anything good?!
Granva had read many books since childhood and had heard of the religions that existed before Orlando. Those religions could not be called churches at all, and they were incomparable to the Orlando Church.
Not only are their doctrines bizarre, but their methods are also cruel, with killings of those who do not convert being commonplace.
This is definitely the Church of Light.
Remembering the Pope's seemingly calm yet subtly sarcastic words, Granva shakily picked up the thin book and turned to the first page.
The brief religious introduction states that the religion believes in a heavenly god, and all who believe in the heavenly god will receive the god's protection.
Judging from the outcome, the gods seem to be too busy to take care of themselves.
That's not the important thing. Granva turned another page, which contained the rules of the Celestial Church.
After taking one look, his vision went black; it all matched the "interesting stories" he had written!
What's going on?!
He had never been in contact with this strange church!
The book was only three pages long. After reading it, Granva knelt before Veris, his voice trembling, saying that he had inexplicably written such a thing and deserved to die.
Shaking the foundations of the church and colluding with other religions—any one of these accusations could easily provoke a united attack from even the most amiable colleagues!
Granvar was fragile and had little health; one punch from Fekris would send him to meet the dead Lortheran royals.
He realized what had happened, knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed against the carpet, sweat pouring down his face.
“I destroyed the Celestial Church’s things long ago, but last year’s Mercury Rebellion caused the Celestial Church’s heretics to reappear. I remember that when the delegation left, they took some evidence of their crimes for easy archiving.”
“I originally wanted Sylvain to deal with those pieces of evidence, but they were later handed over to Uther and placed under the Execution Department.”
Veris took a few steps, stood with his hands behind his back in front of a vase stand, and spoke slowly.
The evidence taken from Keith’s residence that day and filed for record certainly included some items related to the Celestial Church.
Unexpectedly, he was fooled by Yannis, who used him to properly safeguard the tokens of the Celestial God Cult.
Veris's eyes were cold.
No wonder the stars showed signs of a revival for the Celestial God Cult last night.
His first thought was of the Vatican.
He indeed discovered something "good" and then went to keep an eye on the other archbishops.
Having a token is nothing; the real skill lies in spreading that token.
What spreads the fastest?
Veris immediately thought of Granvard, who had sparked a nationwide craze for novels.
Astrology is such a wonderful thing; no wonder all those astrologers died young.
Veris lowered his eyes: "You are guilty, Granvar, but the main responsibility does not lie with you. This thing is impossible to guard against. It can invade the human brain in the blink of an eye, and it can also confuse people's minds and make them look like they are in a good place."
Yannis has truly put his divine power to good use.
“But, but what I wrote was all about smearing that religion…” Granva had seen the projection and naturally knew who the god Yannis was.
"Because what Yannis needs now is not for humanity to worship his religion, but to revive the religion he destroyed and bring it back to the light of day."
Granva fell silent instantly.
"I don't believe that the Orlando Church has done anything wrong to humanity, but the existence of the church will eventually clash with the nobles. Over the years, the nobles have gradually stopped believing in the church."
But the nobles wanted to find something new to believe in. Decades ago, someone started a small religion, tricked a group of people into joining, and then a bunch of fools shouted on the city walls that they were following God X, jumped off the wall, and went on to be reincarnated.
Veris found it hard to describe his feelings at the time, because these people truly believed that they could see their gods after falling from a great height.
...This means they have automatically given up their human identity.
Once the Celestial God Cult reappears, it's hard to guarantee that that group of lunatics won't reappear.
There is no shortage of lunatics in any era.
Veris didn't care whether they believed in the Orlando religion or not. When religion becomes mandatory, even the greatest faith can one day become a weapon used against oneself.
Some people genuinely love religion and uphold "love and justice," while others are not sincere and simply follow the crowd to convert.
"I almost ruined the church!" Granva exclaimed in shock.
Granva has experienced the power of words firsthand during this time. To put it bluntly, his reputation in the capital now surpasses that of many princes and nobles.
The bards also began to sing his story. There was readily available material, so why not use it? They didn't even need to come up with their own ideas, and the nobles loved to listen!
The story spread incredibly fast. Miss Mattris's flamboyant cover had already been taken to other counties, where it continued to be a hit. As soon as the nobles of the capital heard that it was a story they liked, the nobles of the counties bought it without hesitation.
If, if his new book had an even greater impact, Granva simply couldn't imagine what would happen next.
Veris sighed: "I knew Yannis wouldn't stay put. I'll be investigating this matter for a while. Don't blame yourself too much. Just change those parts; your story is still excellent."
Such mental intrusion is virtually impossible to defend against.
If Granvar had continued writing for a little longer, the full name of the Celestial Church might have been "fabricated".
But how could the details between the lines possibly convince anyone that it was fiction?
Veris's face darkened slightly. Granvar's mind had already been corrupted. Were there any other people around him who had been corrupted in the same way as Granvar?
After offering a few words of reassurance to Granva, Veris left.
He returned to his room, stood in front of the large shelf, and examined the treasures he had collected over the years.
Before going to find Granva, he used his divine power to destroy everything related to the Celestial Cult.
The fluctuations of divine power even attracted Sylvain.
Not wanting to worry Sylvain, Veris simply smiled and made up an excuse.
His mind drifted to the doctrines of the Celestial God Cult... what a bunch of slackers.
The influence of divine power on humans is subtle and gradual. Humans are completely unaware of what is happening; they only achieve the effect Yannis wants when they are in a daze.
It didn't leave a trace in my mind afterwards, but it wasn't amnesia either.
This is just a meager amount of divine power, yet it has achieved such a feat. Even Keith Mercury, with the help of this meager divine power, quickly became a sixth-tier mage.
Divine power surpassed almost all known powers on the continent of Icarus.
The reason it's "almost" is...
Veris thought of something else, and felt a dull ache in his temples again.
He had previously told Lortheran that Sylvain's divine status was unstable.
It was probably the second night after the dungeon opened when Sylvain came to him to sleep—just to sleep, of course. Veris was polishing his new lyre at the time; he still quite liked his identity as a bard.
He didn't refuse, but after falling asleep that night, he felt a burning gaze on him in the middle of the night.
He opened his eyes and found Sylvain staring at him in the darkness.
That look in his eyes felt strangely familiar.
Veris: "..."
He experienced both Albion's cramped room and Mercury's house.
The eerie green light in the darkness resembled an insatiable, hungry wolf.
And there was a hidden pain mixed in.
Veris pretended not to notice and closed his eyes to sleep again.
The next day, Sylvain woke up to find that he had regained his memory and had no recollection of what had happened the night before.
Veris and Sylvain discussed it, and Sylvain concluded that it was a consequence of an unstable divine status.
The manifestation is that the reincarnated Sylvan, who has no memory, will take over the dominant consciousness of the body, and the reincarnated Sylvan still does not have the memory of the demon Sylvan. Similarly, when the demon Sylvan takes over the dominant consciousness, he will not have the memory of the reincarnated Sylvan.
“The body is hiding the truth from both of our consciousnesses, so neither of us will gain access to the memories, but this is only temporary,” Sylvain explained.
Once he has completely stabilized his divine status, this kind of thing won't happen again.
But Sylvain did not say exactly when the divine status would be stabilized.
Veris did want to ask, and also wanted to learn from the previous gods, but found that the experience of those gods was not applicable to Sylvain at all—Sylvain did not belong to the pantheon of this world, but was only included by default later.
Thinking about it this way, Veris felt a sense of loss, and an unease lingered in his heart, because this had already gotten beyond his control.
Yes, control.
Veris never denied having control over Sylvain, but he never said it outright either.
He only said that he wanted to offer Sylvain the best of everything.
Becoming a Holy Son means being forever under the control of the first Pope, Veris.
Thinking about this, Veris felt a little conflicted. If it were a normal child, or even someone as intelligent as Sylvain, they would have noticed the problem long ago and become dissatisfied with their adoptive father.
Sylvain... seemed quite excited.
Veris seemed to remember something and pressed his temples again.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door, which was then pushed open. The Holy Son, dressed in a black robe with a beaded chain around his waist, stood in the doorway. Upon seeing Veris, he stepped in and closed the bedroom door behind him.
“I heard that Granva was punished by you.” Sylvain walked to his side.
Veris said absentmindedly, "Well, Yannis has modified his brain. I'm really worried about this. Granva has been modified, and I'm afraid there are many other people in the Grand Vatican who have been corrupted by Yannis."
This matter is actually not difficult to handle, but Veris found it somewhat strenuous and mentally taxing.
Yannis alters mindsets; he only needs to mobilize the faith that has long resided in the human soul for many years to easily eliminate those fleeting traces of divine power.
The problem is that some people are very good at hiding their true intentions.
It's like Yannis was hidden inside Arnold.
Veris found it tricky.
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Author's note: See you tomorrow! [doge emoji with rose in hand]
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