Chapter 46: The Church Boycotted
Everything is going well. The city is thriving as its industrial district smoothly produces everything from daily necessities to military equipment. The commercial district bustles with merchants from across the nation, the Southern kingdoms, the Empire of Kalian, and the Federation. Residential areas fill daily with freed slaves and commoners seeking job opportunities.
The Principality's greatest threat, the Empire of Kalian, is currently preoccupied with the Sin and has temporarily halted the war.
I actually believed we had achieved a stable peace, even if it was temporary.
But in a nation rising from the ashes of medieval tyranny, peace is just the quiet intake of breath before a scream.
The heavy oak doors of my study suddenly swung open without knocking.
Chancellor Elias stepped into the room, his usually impeccably calm posture tight with tension, as Vane, the Commander of the Nightwatch, materialized from the shadows of the corridor right behind him.
"Your Highness," Elias said, skipping the usual formalities. "We have a critical situation developing in the Lower and Middle Districts. The Sanctus Humanitas Church has completely barred its doors."
I turned away from the window, my brow furrowing. "Barred their doors? Explain."
"Bishop Crassus has ordered a total boycott," Vane rasped, his scarred face grim. "Every priest, cleric, and acolyte affiliated with the Human Church has been ordered to cease all light healing magic across the capital. They have abandoned the public clinics and refused to treat the sick or injured."
My jaw tightened. The Sanctus Humanitas Church, established only two hundred years ago during the Great Human Expansion, was a fiercely aggressive institution that worshipped Homosanctus, the Divine Man. They preached an absolute doctrine of human supremacy, teaching that all other races were lesser beings.
I knew Bishop Crassus hated me. The fat, jewel-draped bishop had been visibly furious when I held my state coronation in the Grand Cathedral of Deos instead of his church. But his hatred had boiled over into outright rebellion a month ago when I enacted the Edict of Emancipation, freeing forty-five thousand slaves overnight and elevating elves, dwarves, and beastkin to the exact same legal standing as humans.
"What is the immediate impact on the ground?" I asked.
"It is turning into a disaster, Alex," Aelrue said, stepping out from the inner doorway of my chambers, her elven ears pinned back in distress. "Without their clerics, the capital is panicking. The priests of the Human Church provide the best light healing magic on the continent. Without them, minor accidents in the Royal Foundry are becoming life-threatening. Even worse, a seasonal fever has broken out in the newly built cement residential blocks. Without magical intervention, children and the elderly are beginning to succumb."
"He is holding the capital and innocent lives hostage,"
Elias stepped forward, placing a heavy parchment sealed with red wax onto my desk. "A formal petition from the Grand Cathedral of Sanctus Humanitas, Your Highness. Delivered only moments ago."
I broke the wax and unrolled the parchment.
It was dressed up in holy scripture and righteous language, but the core message was that Bishop Crassus declared that the recent "blasphemous" elevation of demi-humans had angered Homosanctus. He claimed the plague and the injuries were divine punishment. The petition demanded that I immediately repeal the Edict of Emancipation, strip the non-humans of their civil service ranks, and officially restore human supremacy as the law of the land. Only then would the Church "mercifully" resume its healing duties.
"That arrogant, fat pig," Vane sneered, his hand dropping to the hilt of his Iron dagger. "Give me the word, Your Highness. I will slip into the Grand Cathedral tonight and slit his throat. When the Bishop dies, the rest of the clergy will fall in line out of fear."
"No," I said, dropping the petition onto the desk. "Assassinating a high-ranking religious figurehead will only turn him into a martyr. It will incite a holy war in the streets, and the human supremacists will burn the city from the inside out."
"Then what do we do, Your Highness?" Elias asked. "If we do not yield, the death toll in the common districts will rise rapidly. The people's faith in the Crown will fracture."
I looked down at my hands.
If this were simply a medieval world, I would have no choice but to bow to the Church's demands. In a society entirely dependent on monopolized magic for survival, the healers held the ultimate leverage.
But I was not just a medieval prince. I had the memories, the science, and the foundational knowledge of a modern Earth.
" To this day, the nation's healthcare is monopolized by a single, bigoted religious faction." "If we rely on magic to cure every fever and treat every injury, we will always be at their mercy."
"But Your Highness, what alternative do we have?" Aelrue asked, confused. "Herbal poultices take weeks to work, and the Deos Temple does not have enough high-tier healers to cover the entire city."
I smiled—a sharp, dangerous smile that made even Vane take a half-step back.
"We are going to render their magic completely obsolete."
I turned to Elias. "Summon Duchess Zemlya from the Magi-Tech Laboratory immediately. Tell her to bring her finest alchemical equipment. I also need Thorgar to construct large, sterile glass vats using the new glass-blowing techniques we introduced."
"What are you planning to build, My Lord?" Elias asked, his eyes wide.
"A miracle," I replied.
Thanks to my Omni-elemental affinity, I possessed a high-tier aptitude for every single magical element—including Earth, Water, and Light. Combined with Earth science, I didn't need to beg a priest to heal my people. I could synthesize the first mass-producible biological weapon against disease in the history of Earth.
"We are going to manufacture penicillin."
(Continue…..)