Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Holy Power
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Plain.
Temporary temple entrance.
Upon arriving at the entrance,
I straightened my clothes.
I brushed off the dust from my knees as best I could.
With all preparations complete,
I stepped inside.
Inside the temple,
a woman was waiting.
Black hair,
and atop it, a veil like those worn by nuns.
Pale skin and eyes tinged with red.
And an outfit adorned with various ornaments.
At a glance, I could tell she was the Saintess.
I placed one hand in front of my navel and greeted her according to etiquette.
"Elwin Frontier comes to see the Saintess."
"Hee-hee. Please sit down, Believer Elwin."
I sat down opposite the Saintess.
For a moment, I couldn't think of what to say.
Fortunately, the Saintess spoke first.
"Believer Elwin, did you take a look around Plain on your way here?"
"I did. What did you think?"
"It was a better place to live than I expected. The people had smiles on their faces, and the food wasn't bad either."
We chatted about Plain for a while.
In the meantime, Isaac brought tea.
Two cups were placed on the table,
and the Saintess leaned forward to pick up her teacup.
At that moment,
a familiar soap scent tickled my nose.
Soap had reached the Church of the Earth.
And to its pinnacle, the Saintess herself.
We drank our tea,
and the main topic finally came up.
"The Goddess gave you the soap-making method, didn't she, Believer Elwin?"
"That's correct."
"Please share the method with the church."
The conversation was taking a strange turn.
On one hand, I understood.
They must have smelled money the moment they saw the soap.
'The Church of the Earth must be in poor financial shape...'
It was the smallest among the creation god denominations.
Even so.
"I can't do that."
"...If the Goddess gave it to you, the church has rights to it too."
I refused again.
Then, the temple knight standing behind the Saintess stepped forward.
"How insolent! As a believer of the Goddess, you should be loyal to the church!"
I turned to look at the temple knight.
This was actually better.
It was easier to deal with a knight than the Saintess.
"If it was meant for the church, the Saintess would have received the method. But the Goddess gave it to me."
"Wasn't it because of the plague? The plague is over, so share the method!"
"If that's the Goddess's will, she'll reveal it even if I don't share it."
I was speaking to the temple knight,
but it was also meant for the Saintess.
"Hey! You..."
"The temple knight lacks manners."
Hans's voice came from the back.
I turned to see Hans and Enon entering.
Hans glared at the temple knight and continued.
"There is a clear hierarchy among people. How dare a mere temple knight address the Heir so casually?"
The atmosphere in the room grew heavier.
'This isn't bad.'
If relations soured,
it would give me justification to withhold the soap recipe.
'More importantly...'
What I feared was the Goddess.
The Church of the Earth didn't scare me.
Not a church with only 2% market share.
"Enough."
The Saintess intervened,
ending the staring contest between the two knights.
"Let's set aside the soap for now. Shall we talk about something else?"
The Saintess mentioned the temple built on the island.
Then,
"Are you asking for control of the temple?"
"Yes, since it's a temple for the Goddess, the church should naturally manage and operate it."
It made sense, but...
Handing over temple operations
meant, in other words, letting them collect temple taxes.
This world.
More precisely, the Holy Royal Empire.
The empire's taxes were divided into two main categories.
1/10th imperial tax to the empire.
1/10th temple tax to the temples.
In other words, imperial citizens paid 20% of their income in taxes.
In contrast, Monster Island only had imperial tax.
Thanks to that, islanders only paid 10%.
'Even that was burdensome.'
The island was so poor that even 10% was tough.
'But... as Frontier, in my territory with strong autonomy...'
Farmers could sell food at high prices.
Mine iron from the iron mines,
and make weapons, armor, ballistae, soap, and more.
We could afford 20% taxes.
Still, I didn't want to hand over temple operations.
I gathered the believers,
and I built the temple.
Everything on the island was my doing.
And they wanted to freeload?
Even if I yielded a hundred times,
since it was a church, I could give them operations.
At least if their religious image appealed to me.
History alone showed how many wars religions started and lives they took.
It was the same in modern times.
The news was full of pastors passing churches to sons,
monks eating meat and drinking, running gambling dens.
All over the headlines.
They even went to media outlets reporting it to bully them.
'What worries me most is...'
I went to church as a kid.
The pastor introduced someone before service.
Sometimes just by name,
sometimes bringing them to the pulpit to greet us.
I later learned.
They were local bigwigs,
and the ones at the pulpit were politicians.
That wasn't all.
One day, the pastor said he gave not tithes but twelve-tenths.
So I donated 20% of my allowance.
1. Politicization of religion.
2. Increased temple tax burden.
These two were fatal to territory management.
That's why
I couldn't accept the Saintess's proposal.
"I will manage Frontier's temples myself."
The Saintess's eyes sharpened.
The atmosphere was different from the soap issue.
"Do you know... what that means?"
"I will cover all temple operating costs, maintenance, and charity work."
I would bear these expenses.
In place of collecting temple taxes myself.
"Heir Elwin, you're crossing the line."
She called me believer, now suddenly heir.
"Even so, Frontier's temples..."
"I have the authority to excommunicate you."
Excommunication.
Excommunicated ones can't receive sacraments or enter temples.
Religiously, and politically, it's a huge blow.
An excommunicated lord is seen as a heretic by the church and its believers.
Loyalty from territory folk, knights, and officials drops,
and in severe cases, rebellion can erupt.
Excommunication is religion's strongest tool to control politics.
"Try it."
"...Are you serious?"
"Frontier's believers followed the Goddess because of me alone. I'm curious how they'll react to excommunication."
The Saintess slowly closed and opened her eyes.
This case was different from typical excommunications.
The believers depended on me, not the church.
She couldn't predict the outcome either.
"Holy power."
"...?"
"I felt no holy power in the soap, nor in you praying, Heir Elwin. Can you maintain a temple without holy power?"
The biggest difference between Earth and this world's religions is the presence of holy power.
This world's gods grant holy power to priests, who perform feats impossible for humans.
In short, the gods' power is visible.
Naturally, religions without holy power don't last and fade away.
That's what the Saintess meant.
Even if the church split, I'd collapse quickly without holy power.
"Enon."
"Yes, my lord..."
Enon stepped forward with a troubled expression.
"Show the Saintess your power."
"..."
A white glow gathered in his hand.
The Saintess's eyes trembled at the sight.
"A few days ago, he received the Goddess's stigmata here in this temporary temple."
The Saintess's mind went blank.
How could that be.
In a temple built by commoners.
Without a single priest.
Receiving the Goddess's stigmata?
If one received it,
then two, three,
dozens, hundreds could too.
The Saintess had no choice but to acknowledge it.
The Goddess's will was here too.
I looked at the stiff-faced Saintess.
Now it was time for the carrot.
I had no intention of clashing with the church either.
"Saintess, in exchange, we will serve the Earth Goddess at the territory level. We will build Earth temples throughout the territory. We will work to have many territory folk believe in the Goddess."
"..."
More believers meant
the Goddess's power growing.
That was undoubtedly good.
But...
The Saintess couldn't respond immediately.
Because there was another reason she couldn't yield temple operations.
Temple taxes were used in four ways.
1/4 for temple operations.
1/4 for temple maintenance.
1/4 for charity.
The last 1/4 went to the church.
The final portion sent to the church was crucial.
Churches were like scrambling for limited land.
The more believers in a region,
the more temple tax collected,
and thus the larger the 1/4 share to the church.
More money meant training more priests and temple knights,
strengthening the church.
The Saintess bit her lip hard.
The Church of the Earth wasn't growing stronger—it was in a survival crisis.
2% market share.
And even that didn't mean 2% of total temple taxes.
Even the same 2% population,
taxes from wealthy 2% were far greater.
Earth believers were concentrated in the north and west coast.
The continent's most underdeveloped areas.
Low share,
and poor believers,
made the church's finances worsen daily.
The Saintess closed her eyes.
It wasn't fitting for a Saintess to say,
but she had to.
From church maintenance
to feeding priests and knights.
The ultimate responsibility was hers.
Humiliating for a Saintess, but unavoidable.
I looked at the Saintess before me.
Her haughty expression had crumbled.
She bit her lip,
eyes squeezed shut.
And her face flushed red.
'What?'
She seemed angry yet embarrassed.
A strange expression.
'Embarrassed by the situation? Why?'
The Saintess's lips parted slightly.
And what came out was.
"Mon..."
"Pardon?"
The Saintess's face reddened further.
She tilted her head down 45 degrees from straight ahead.
"...ey...nee...ded."
She mumbled alone, and I couldn't catch it.
"Saintess, could you speak louder?"
The Saintess opened her closed eyes.
They were moist.
"The church needs money!"