Free Web NovelChapter 388: Chapter 385: Don’t Kneel, Stand Up
After the new church was completed, many refugees gathered around. Even among believers, there are degrees of faith. A wave of strong believers had been the ones to rush about, file applications, and contribute money and labor to get the church built. Now that it was done, the previously silent, spectating, shallow believers came out of the woodwork to get their "Holy Meal."
And to be fair, the unleavened bread made from white flour smelled amazing fresh out of the oven.
The old man elected as the "Church Guardian" began to speak again, his eyes red-rimmed. He thanked the Lord and his fellow believers. He also gave a passing thanks to a certain Mage—an unbeliever, a lost lamb, an irreverent man who had nonetheless provided the land and money. Then, in a trembling voice, he promised the crowd:
"The Lord teaches us that we are all brothers and sisters, equal in love. This is the hall of love promised by the Lord. Regardless of our wealth or status, we all have the right to pray, chant scriptures, and praise our God here.
"Muhui Hall will face trials and tribulations, but its principles will never waver!"
Thunderous applause erupted, and the congregation began to chant praises to their god in unison.
’Heh, as long as they’re happy.’ After confirming his arrangements were working as intended, Rorschach left the church’s outer courtyard with Andre. Andre noticed people swarming the place, inside and out. He frowned and voiced another concern. "Aren’t there too many believers?"
Rorschach nodded. "There are. This will test the city administrators’ management abilities going forward. The key will be whether the restrictions on proselytizing can be enforced. But from another angle, this is also a good thing."
"A good thing?"
"The ones coming to the church now are all refugees, correct? But not all the refugees have come."
"Correct."
Rorschach used an Illusion Technique to change his and Andre’s clothes and appearances. They became two gaunt youths, clearly having suffered from recent malnutrition, and their clothes changed to the Valois style.
They then went to the community where the refugees were housed and found those who hadn’t gone to the new church. A group of men were downstairs, playing cards in the winter sun. Using a Valuva accent, Rorschach called out, "They’re handing out the Holy Meal at the new church! Aren’t you going?"
One of the players tossed a card onto the discard pile. "Three of Swords." freeweɓnovel.cøm
"Pass." The players ignored him, so Rorschach repeated himself. The three men looked up, saw that Rorschach and Andre also had the appearance of refugees, and finally paused their game. "The Holy Meal? Hmph..."
Another player scoffed. "Anyone who goes is falling for the devil’s tricks! Kid, I’m telling you, don’t go. What right do they have to build a church? Is there a Priest? Did the Pope issue a decree? The one in charge is definitely a spy from the Empire, taking advantage of our misfortune to delude the ignorant with heresy."
His words drew murmurs of agreement from the others. Rorschach played along. "So you’re saying we should go back to our hometowns to worship in a real church."
"Of course! This is a test from the Lord. We can’t fall for their tricks so easily. We’re on someone else’s land right now. It’s better to pray to God in your heart than go to that heretical false church and unknowingly become a heretic yourself."
Rorschach and Andre left the community. "Do you understand what I mean now?" he asked his apprentice. "The true diehards won’t go to our church. We probably can’t keep people like that, and we can’t get them to fully integrate into Bayern society.
"But the refugees who accept the new church now have a spiritual home. They’ll work harder, they won’t hesitate to buy houses, and they’ll gradually develop a sense of belonging. Only then can they be reliably integrated as citizens of Kempson, and eventually Bayern.
"Also, compared to the full organization of the Church, our new church is a castrated structure."
"Castrated" was a fitting description. It was forbidden from proselytizing, had no Monastery for theological study, didn’t control local education, and lacked the Church’s recognized authority to interpret scripture and its overall legitimacy. As a result, the "reproduction of faith" would be severely weakened.
As long as Rorschach was around, he would never allow those functions to sprout.
Andre thought about it and realized that was exactly right. "A valuable lesson."
"What lesson? You’ve rested enough. Get back to studying Magic!"
...
Andre had to relearn the updated Techniques. Rorschach taught him all the recorded Tricks, as well as a few First Ring Magic spells.
The update finally made Andre suspicious of the new Spell System Rorschach had given him. "Teacher, is this system you’re teaching me your own creation?"
"Only the casting method. The effects are basically the same as what other Mages produce." Rorschach was pleased that his student was finally starting to reflect on and investigate the underlying principles, so he went ahead and told him about the "Spell Cloud."
"An incredible invention!" Andre wasn’t just flattering him; his admiration was genuine. The previous clues started to click into place. "No wonder I’ve been improving so quickly... It was your system assisting me all along." Then he recalled how Rorschach had updated the Spell System right after his dealings with the church, and a shocking thought struck him:
’Is my teacher stealing the power and authority of the Lord of Order?’
The way he looked at Rorschach changed completely. He spoke tentatively, "If we’re borrowing power from you, could it be considered a type of Divine Art? Teacher, I don’t think there’s any need to keep collecting the Power of Faith from the Lord of Order’s followers. We could design a set of prayers directed at you and have the Mages who join the new system pray to you instead."
Rorschach shook his head firmly. "’Borrowing power’ is just a stopgap measure. I only resorted to this because I haven’t found a better way to improve the Spell Cloud’s connectivity. You must never, ever pray to me, or to any other being. If you do, you can no longer call yourself a Mage!"
Rorschach’s words were harsh, and Andre quickly apologized.
’If I really wanted to walk that path,’ Rorschach thought, ’I could just imitate the Underground Sects. I could secretly use alchemy technology and Magic to deceive commoners, or even issue an order in the three factories: before every meal and before receiving wages, everyone must thank Lord Rorschach and sing his praises. I could brainwash them with slogans like "The grace of Rorschach is boundless," and then collect the corrupted Faith Power that generates.’
’But in my ideal world, the Spell Cloud must eventually exist independently of me. If it were truly tied to a single person, this Casting System would become extremely limited and narrow. I am its founder, but in the future, every Mage can become a collaborator—recording spells they’ve mastered or created to share with others, or helping to maintain the system together.’ freёwebnoѵel.com
’I don’t want to create some new religion that has people kneeling and begging me for power. I want everyone to one day stand on their own two feet, to improve it together, to expand the abilities and possibilities for every single User.’
’As for those believers in the church, they’re perfectly happy kneeling. If I tried to force them to their feet, they’d just get angry with me. So, I respect that. I’ll spend the money to give them a place to kneel, help them do it comfortably, and run an experiment on the side.’
’The reason I’m still being secretive about the Spell Cloud’s existence is that I can’t be sure what the Great Mages of this era would do if they discovered it. It would be a disaster if someone tried to claim it for themselves and monopolize it.’
’Right now, neither the Spell Cloud nor I are strong enough. The only way is to start by training Apprentices who accept this system, cultivating a group of Casters who agree with my philosophy to maintain the ’Cloud’ together.’
’To make sure they don’t start ’kneeling,’ I first have to ensure my relationship with them remains strictly that of a teacher and his students. There can be no worship, no deification.’
Rorschach apologized to Andre. "Sorry, my words just now were a little harsh. But I hope that one day, you’ll be able to create your own spells and upload them for other Casters to learn and use. Wouldn’t that be cool? Messing around with some Pseudo-God Skill is just so boring."
With this, the Kempson Region had a new "signal source." Mages there could now connect to the Spell Cloud without any delay, even if Rorschach or his avatar wasn’t present. But he still felt it wasn’t enough.
Inspired by the "church," he felt he should put the Spell Cloud literally "in the clouds"—that is, project it into or move it entirely to the Symbolic Realm, rather than having it crammed into a sealed chamber in the Material Realm. Only then could it break the limitations of physical distance.
But how? First, he had to find a location and a method for the move. The thought of "Ascending" again began to form in Rorschach’s mind.
