61 Getting The Band Back Together (2/2)
Reed greedily gnawed on batch of delicious pastries that Mira had brought to them and said, ”What's the Holy Church? Wait, I thought people considered us to be like Gods in this world? You know, with what we can do and all. That's Astor told me back in the day, I think...”
Violett sighed in frustration and said, ”That sounds just like him; always giving half-assed answers without thinking. Yes, the common folk do worship us, but not as Gods per se. They think of us as the Goddess's children, chosen people who have been allowed to wield Her awesome powers for Her sake. That is the Holy Church's belief and therefore, the general belief of the masses. As for the Holy Church, they are a... worrisome lot.”
She suddenly felt a headache coming on; if the Holy Church was involved things would get much more complicated. The bastards had allied themselves with the worst possible enemy Violett cursed the Ashborn and Dragoncrest families from the bottom of her heart.
”What, you can't force a couple of old priests to listen to you? What are they going to do to us, scold us and threaten us with eternal damnation?” said Reed in a jovial tone. He found it hilarious that of all the possible things she could have been afraid of, it was a damn church.
”Her worries are well-founded, you fool,” said Lu'um in contempt of Reed's naivety. ”These old men you joke about are not the same as the ones you might've met in your original world. The priests of the Holy Church command a number of highly powerful contenders that have lived through the Unification Era, thousands of years ago. These ancient fellows are among the very first people to have ever been granted an Alma, so to speak. The Holy Pope himself is so old that he is reputed to have even lived before contenders and conquerors had risen.”
”Oh. But even still, he can't be as frightening compared to Grandfather Ulbo and your mother, you know,” said Reed in joking tone to Lu'um in a mental message.
Lu'um gazed at Reed with a knowing smile and he immediately said, ”A-Ah, so the Church's really strong? It makes sense now why you can't just force them to spill the beans. Never would have thought that even the priests in this world could be so terrifying.” He nervously chuckled in fear and stuffed a chocolate croissant in face, not daring to look at a certain direction…
”They've chosen the most annoying shield of them all to hide behind. The Holy Church has never once obeyed any of the orders that we, the royal family, have ever given them. Nor have they ever listened to anything the Four Empires have said to them. They do what they want, whenever they want, for good reason. I cannot even begin to imagine the bloodshed that would ensue if the Holy Church ever went to war against one of the Four Empires.
Luckily, we have the Four Sovereigns to keep them in check, otherwise, I've no doubt they would have already conquered entire continent for themselves— other rather, for The Goddess,” said Violett.
”So what are we supposed to do? Let them walk around freely? They seem to be plotting something big and their end goal is to eventually conqueror all of Mulia. We have to snuff this plot out before things get out of hand,” said Reed.
Violett shook her head and said,” No, this is something that demands a deft touch, Reed. This is outside the scope of our reach, and will require the combined efforts of the Four Empires to be dealt with. I will have inform Father about this development and then send word of this to my contacts in the other empires.” She stood up and said, ”If those rats send you any more information, let me know as soon as possible. And please, do not attempt anything foolish in the meantime, Reed.”
As she slowly vanished into motes of light she said, ”I trust you'll keep him out of trouble, right?”
Lu'um looked at Violett's disappearing figure and said, ”Naturally.”
We'll see about that soon enough… I have to get Astrid and Sebastian as far away from their families as I can before the Four Empires eventually strike.
”Looks like I'm going to have to work overtime hours for the foreseeable future,” said Reed as he fiddled with a half-eaten biscuit. ”And here I thought I'd get to enjoy slouching off for a little bit longer…”
”What are you going to do next, boy? The clock has already started ticking. How are you going to save them? You might be strong enough to handle than those silver worms, but it won't be as easy as that,” said Lacrima, amused with Reed's drive to finally do something interesting.
Reed smirked and said, ”First thing I'm going to do is call up some friends. It's time to get the band back together.”