Book 4: Chapter 55 (1/2)
Martin straightened his back and stared at the devil sitting on the same table as him. He refused to bow his head or show his fear. He was a priest, one who was a proud and devout believer of God. This was a trial sent to him, and he wasn’t going to fail. No matter how convincing the devil was, he wouldn’t listen to her. “Let’s chat then.”
Tafel raised an eyebrow. The priest regained his composure surprisingly fast. She glanced at him and nodded. “I heard you’ve been excommunicated?”
Martin folded his hands and put them on the table, pushing away his plate of half-eaten food. “I may have been excommunicated by the church, but my faith still remains with the Lord.”
Tafel nodded. “Alright, why don’t you help me out? It’s quite obvious the church is corrupt and is straying from your lord’s intentions.”
Martin’s eye twitched. “I won’t listen to the words of a devil.”
“I’m a demon, not a devil,” Tafel said, repeating the same words she had said dozens of times. “I understand priests have a huge bias against me, but I’m not tied to the creatures from your holy book.”
Martin sneered. “That’s exactly what a devil would say.” He shook his head. “Your words may have corrupted Thomas Müntzer, but not all priests are as easy to trick as him. No doubt, you incited the peasants to revolt and placed Thomas as the spearhead of the rebellion.”
Tafel resisted the urge to scratch her head. “That’s not true,” she said and gave Martin a wry smile. “Thomas was filled with those crazy ideas long before I met him. As for inciting the peasants to revolt, that wasn’t my doing either. I just wanted to usurp the church’s foundation and use its vast network for myself, but who knew that the peasants had a really big problem with the church and elite?”
“Devils are exceptionally good at twisting the truth,” Martin said. “The ones their words reach won’t even know they’re being lied to. You feed me seemingly reasonable arguments, but you’re driving me to an incorrect conclusion. Any literate person who’s had some schooling can see through false arguments such as these.”
Tafel frowned and turned to look at Frederick III. Despite the previous intimidation, the Elector of Saxony had regained his composure. Tafel cleared her throat and gestured at Martin with her head. “Why was he excommunicated?”
Frederick made eye contact with Martin. The elector could tell the priest didn’t want him to give away any information, but the crystalline shards—the remains of the grand door—on the ground convinced him otherwise. “He was excommunicated because his ideas conflicted with the general traditions of the church. In other words, he criticized those above him, and he was excommunicated for speaking out.”
Tafel turned back to Martin. “And you don’t want to join the rebellion?”
“The peasants wish to place the elite and the church underneath them,” Martin said and wrinkled his nose. “The peasants are simply sheep while we are the shepherds. Sheep who guide themselves will only reach a bad end. There are some issues with the church, but they’re unrelated to the matters of the peasants.”
Tafel scratched her head, giving up her demeanor as a great, respectable leader. “In other words, you’re one of those greatly opposed to the peasant uprising?”