Chapter 54 – The Fall of the Goddess Church and the Founding of the Republic of the Sages
「Why… Why… such a thing…」
「We would desperately.. for the sake of the world… for the Goddess… what kind of fault could have…」
「This… Must be the interference of Satan… …fools who don’t even know they’re being manipulated…」
「No longer… … I ask for forgiveness, oh Goddess, for we do not have enough power.」
In a large conference room, a small number of Blessed are having a meeting with gloomy expressions.
Not long ago, the headquarters was busy with many clergy men and women, but now the halls are empty, save for a few of the most devout.
The temple has already lost the trust of the people.
????
No longer did the world need the Goddess Church.
As they recognized that, the Blessed had concluded their meeting. They ordered the remaining junior priests to bring in deadly poison.
They prepared to commit a mass suicide.
An hour later, cups of poison were brought into the conference room and given to the Blessed on by one. Their eyes lingered on the liquid surface.
「Everyone, steel yourselves.」
The head of faith stands up and speaks to the other Blessed.
「In this room, the great priests drank poison for the sake of the Goddess’s victory. It is time for us to return our Blessing to the Goddess.
The world has already fallen into the hands of Satan. In the face of this we are powerless.
As such, our blessings hold no more meaning. Let us return the power we were given to the Goddess.」
The other Blessed nod along to these words in agreement.
「It’s a shame… but regardless of where we stand, we must continue continue to hold our unwavering faith towards the Goddess.」
「Oh Goddess… I will meet you soon…」
「Come! Everyone! Let us drink together once again in the realm of the Goddess!!」
Looking at the scene with satisfaction, the head of faith raised the glass, and with a final determined cry, drank the glass at once.
「Victory!!」
The other Blessed followed soon after.
「Victory!!」
And drank their glasses as well.
They spewed blood from their mouths and collapsed to the floor. The junior priests carefully collected the bodies and carried them to the morgue.
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A few hours after the Blessed had killed themselves.
The area was enshrouded by darkness.
The body of a Blessed who had killed themselves with poison is enshrined within a private room. With a near imperceptible sound of the door opening, a junior priest snuck in carrying something. They quietly closed the door and approached the corpse.
The head of faith was enshrined in this room. The junior priest approached the ear, and whispered,
「It’s alright now」
The corpse reacted and stood up, answering cheerfully,
「Okay!! Let’s escape!!」
That’s right.
He wasn’t dead.
He had previously bribed a junior priest to pour his glass of liquor with a color similar to poison. After drinking the glass, he spewed out the red liquid in his mouth, faking his own death.
Of course, his body was recovered by the junior priest who was bribed by him. Confirming his heartbeat, the priest acted like he was only carrying the body, and took the “corpse” to this private room.
The junior priest had confirmed that the number of people in the area had dwindled, so they took this opportunity to escape with this old man.
「You did really well. It was a better performance that I had expected.」
The old man praised the junior priest, They hung their head and answered with a grin,
「Thank you, great Blessed」
The old man begins to monologue,
「Sheeh.. what Goddess… what blessing…
Even though I was able to create a paradise… destroyed to its roots… those abominable-… should have just bowed their heads and obediently followed the Goddess faith…
Like hell I’ll die in such a place! I’m still full of youthful vigor!
This was all within expectations. I was right to hide my valuables. I’ve decided! I’ll play hard for the rest of my life!!」
The junior priest takes this chance to interrupt the former head of faith,
「Great Blessed, regarding the remainder of the promised payment…」
「Oh, that’s right. You have aided this seat in my escape, so I will pay you what I promised.」
「Thank you very much!! Leave it to me, great Blessed, I have already prepared an escape route!」
They walked quietly out of the private room, confirmed their surroundings, and sped out of the temple.
They escaped in the dark and never returned. The following day, a junior priest opened the door of the morgue to cremate the body of the head of faith, but the corpse was completely missing.
Thus, the Goddess Church, which lost not only the trust of the general public but also the faith of the devoted junior clergymen and clergywomen who remained at the headquarters, came to its end, closing the doors to the long, long, history of the faith.
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As the Goddess Church was facing destruction, a certain female scholar was making her way back towards the ruined kingdom.
She used the abandoned facilities in the ruined kingdom with her homunculus companion, repeating the experiments depicted within aged magical recording tools.
More people began to gather at this ruined kingdom, mostly scholars and researchers who had their magical cores removed..
They were people who were disgusted with their homelands and the Goddess Church, people who quickly abandoned their country after their magical cores were removed.
It’s no coincidence that they’ve chosen to gather in this ruined kingdom.
The books scattered by the scholar had a small coat of arms of the ruined kingdom. This wasn’t originally part of the plan, it was simply a specification set for the magical printer.
In the first place, the printer she used is not a consumer product, but a tool dedicated to research institutes owned by the state.Therefore, all printed papers were designated to have the national coat of arms printed to prove that it was owned by the state.
That coat of arms made its way into the last page of the books she scattered. Though she did not notice, the scholars and researchers who meticulously studied the book did. They wanted to know the source of the book, so they searched every corner of it until they found the coat of arms, and then desperately searched past records until they determined its origin to be this ruined kingdom.
The scholar was willing to accept these seekers of wisdom from around the world who have gathered here. At this point her research had stagnated without much needed manpower.
And when she gave the gathered people a tour of the country, they were astonished. They understood just how advanced magitech of the ruined kingdom was, the kingdom which died a century ago.
Their eyes were shining brightly.
Unknown technology piled up and abandoned in front of their eyes. All the advanced magical laboratory equipment they’ve never seen before. No authority or Church to limit their activities. With a large area of land, all the dangerous and deadly experiments they wished to do could be done.
No intellectual could remain unexcited in the face of this holy land.
These were the people who abandoned their stable lives in their homelands. They were adventurous people whose thirst for knowledge is what drives them to live.
So what did they do?
Does it even need to be asked?
As soon as they occupied a usable building they began their research. Those working on similar research connected and started group efforts. Their progress continued without stopping..
In the ruined kingdom, the active research conducted all around made it feel as if the kingdom was still alive.
Rumors of the ruined kingdom spread around the world, and others who have abandoned their homeland gathered.
The pioneering intellectuals had control over the kingdom at that time. They accepted the gathered people and declared the revival of the not-so-ruined country.
Dubbed the “Republic of the sages,” set on a course to eventually and inevitably become the greatest most advanced magical power in the world, though now it was only gradually taking shape.
In the Republic of the sages, politics was republicanized by the intellectuals in order to not repeat the folly of facing destruction due to the discretion of a single king. People removed the collapsed buildings and created a new city. The demon and human remains were cleared away. With the rubble cleared, the kingdom began to trade with other countries, forming a system of logistics.
A few years after that female scholar returned, the once ruined kingdom had become a true and proper country.
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