Chapter 490 — Impact

Sevin Terry fell silent, and remained silent for a long time.

After seeing that newspaper and hearing Amber's words, the priest instantly pieced together everything that had happened in Frostgate City over the past days, linked it all to the propaganda campaign the Cecilian had been waging—and though all of it lay beyond the scope of his experience, he could still analyze the Cecilian's methods and their purpose.

"You mean to strip the Yaochen Church of the Southern Region's support, to drive the Church out by stirring up the people—you are cutting the Church off at its roots. It seems the Duke Gao Yang Cecil does not care for any authority in his domain other than his own."

"I never thought a priest could see through these 'worldly affairs' so clearly," Amber said, regarding him with a touch of surprise. "But that is basically it."

"And you are so certain I would do such a thing for you?" Sevin Terry looked into Amber's eyes. "Do not forget, I am still a priest of the Church."

"Honestly, no, I did not believe it—but our lord did," Amber answered frankly. "He once said something: the whole Yaochen Church cannot possibly contain only one Light with a conscience left unclouded. As a vast organization, the Yaochen Church must hold all kinds of voices, and some of those voices align with our interests—and wherever interests align, there is room to win people over."

"You speak of exiling the Church, and you speak of bringing the Holy Light to the people—what exactly do you mean to do?"

"Why ask me? After reading those leaflets, can you not guess?" Amber spread her hands. "I do not quite understand the taboos of you holy men, but to my mind, releasing the right to interpret the scriptures, allowing the people direct access to theological knowledge, lowering the Church's authority, permitting freedom of faith—all of these are good things, and I believe you and your two friends here agree, or you would not have come."

"Perhaps so... but can you truly do it?" Sevin Terry straightened and looked Amber straight in the eye. He sensed no powerful fluctuation of force from this half-elf girl, yet he knew what a fearsome power stood behind her. Today's choice might well decide whether he lived or died, but he would still say everything he had to say. "Drive the Yaochen Church from this land and replace it with yourselves—or with a puppet new faith you prop up. You are simply trading one authority for another. Is there truly any essential change? Perhaps you will promulgate a new body of doctrine, perhaps gentler and more enlightened than the Yaochen Church, but will the Holy Light truly reach every hand because of that? Authority will always arise. As long as one group holds more of the power of speech than others, holds more resources and better channels, then authority remains authority—merely painted over, beautified, its methods made to look presentable."

This time Amber was genuinely taken aback. She looked the fearless Light pastor up and down, then nodded slightly. "Go on."

"...You measure the clergy of Frostgate City by 'conscience,' and on that basis chose me—but forgive my bluntness, I do not think you are more 'righteous' than the Church. Though you have succeeded in making the Church an object of hatred and in casting yourselves as the choice of the people's hearts, I do not think you are better than the Church. You use those leaflets to steer people's emotions, use one-sided truths to put a mask on the cathedral priests, use money and power to build momentum and make yourselves look grand and correct—but when the Church gave out gruel in the famine years, did you publicize that? When the Church's knights went regularly to the mana foci to wipe out magical beasts, did you publicize that? When you yourselves made mistakes—did you publicize that?

"You speak of toppling the Church's authority, but Cecil is merely another authority—the difference being that the Church perhaps controls the people through faith, while your duke... he will control faith through his power."

The Military Intelligence agents present were provoked to anger. They closed in at once, hands on their weapons: Sevin Terry might be a priest, but he was a pastor unsuited to combat, and he carried no sacred artifacts on him now. At such close range, agents bearing specially made transcendent armaments could easily kill a pastor who had no time to cast—and the two companions beside him as well.

The two pastors beside Sevin Terry tensed as well, but their first instinct was to shield him—and at the same time, to ready themselves to die.

Amber blinked. In this moment when the situation had turned suddenly tense, she spoke a heartfelt remark: "Good heavens, you make a great deal of sense!"

One Military Intelligence agent nearly dropped the molten-cutting short sword in his hand. "Chief?! Wake up, Chief..."

Amber waved a hand to cut off her subordinate and looked seriously at Sevin Terry, who wore an expression of equal astonishment. "No, truly, I think you make a great deal of sense—in fact, apart from not summing it up in the four words 'divine right, duke-granted,' what you said is almost word for word what the Duke of Cecil once said to me."

The priest, who had already prepared himself to die, could no longer keep his strained expression under control. "...What? That duke... he said these things himself?"

"Not only said them—he explained the whole process to many of us in detail," Amber said with a frank nod, meeting Sevin Terry's shocked gaze. "Did you think we would call ourselves messengers of righteousness? We have never claimed to represent righteousness—we represent only progress. Or rather... we represent greater efficiency and value."

As she spoke, Amber picked up the newspaper. "See this newspaper? What do you see in it?"

Sevin Terry frowned. "Your instrument of propaganda?"

"No. What you should see is that we can print hundreds of thousands of these newspapers, or more, in a single day; that we can blanket the entire Southern Region with them in short order; that we can spread new decrees this way, and preach this way as well. Why? Because we are more advanced.

"The commoners of Xuanyao City need not freeze in winter, because we built a fine mana heat-exchange station. They need never go hungry through the year, because we use factories to produce alchemical potions that raise crop yields. They can discuss scripture freely, receive Holy Light healing, collect free holy water, study doctrine and become priests regardless of birth—because we changed the Church's organizational form, revised the canon at its root, and found more effective ways to utilize the Holy Light, so that holy water and sacred artifacts can be produced in great quantities...

"So when you see these new laws, new doctrines, new things, do not rush to ask whether they are righteous. Ask the people of Xuanyao City—ask them whether life is better now, or was better before.

"Even a fool will tell you: a life with a full belly and warm clothes is better!

"Priest—I have always called your sort holy men, but I will call you a priest—you do not think Cecil is more righteous; you even think what we do in Mingyuan City is filthy and our methods despicable. To all of that I have only one thing to say: wonderful! You are a clever man! And I like dealing with clever men."

Amber stopped, and Sevin Terry had at some point retreated half a step. The tall, lean middle-aged man seemed short of breath; it was the first time in his life he had dealt with anyone like this—so utterly undisguised, without pretense, without evasion, without a shred of hypocrisy. He was used to speaking with people of every kind of "high society," and those people were best at keeping their own morality and honor on their lips, while this half-elf before him, who represented Cecil's power and surely held no low station... had a truly peculiar style.