Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World-Chapter 734: Drastic Change
TL: Rui88
Amidst a state of general panic, the Gabellan Imperial Guard quickly stormed into the church.
The people inside had no time to react. Accompanied by terrified screams, loud reprimands, and all sorts of clamor, the soldiers blocked every entrance and exit, searching every room within the church one by one.
Archbishop Whitman, who presided over the Gabellan Church, soon appeared. He stood tall and struck a pose, but there was no anger in his expression. Instead, he questioned the soldiers in a disdainful tone, asking who gave them the audacity to offend this sacred place.
Because of his usual prestige, the Imperial Guard soldiers did not act disrespectfully toward him. But when Ambolov, the commander of the Imperial Guard, appeared, he immediately ordered the soldiers to clap the archbishop in chains.
The soldiers dared not disobey the orders of their direct superior and moved forward with the chains.
“You’re mad!” After the cold shackles were placed on his hands, Whitman finally lost his previous solemnity and began to struggle in disbelief.
He was the archbishop in charge of a nation’s diocese. The emperor ruled the material world, while he ruled the spiritual world. Who in the empire dared to show him disrespect?
But what was happening now was not a nightmare Whitman was having. The pampered archbishop could not resist the strong Imperial Guard soldiers and could only repeat, “You’re mad,” over and over again.
Ambolov walked up to him and explained the purpose of his visit in a stern tone.
“We have received a report that the Gabellan Church has colluded with the remnants of Felix’s faction, so we have come to search for evidence under the emperor’s orders!”
“Slander! Utter and complete slander!”
Although this rebuttal was delivered forcefully, Whitman was actually a little unnerved. Because the Gabellan Church really had colluded with the remnants of Felix’s faction.
Before Antonio became emperor, the Church had been very displeased with this prince who was rumored to be the son of a witch, and had supported Prince Felix’s ascension both openly and secretly.
And in the great upheaval that determined the succession of the empire’s supreme power, because Antonio had acted too quickly, the Church had not yet reacted before the situation was settled, and could only swallow this bitter pill in silence.
As for colluding with various factions, that was a matter of course. It was not impossible to try and overthrow the new emperor while his foundation was still unstable.
However, as the new emperor severely suppressed the rebellion and all the rebellious forces were eliminated one by one, the Gabellan Church gradually accepted reality and planned to cast aside the past and build a good relationship with the new Emperor Antonio.
To always stand with the victor was the unfailing rule that churches everywhere had always followed.
Unfortunately, it seemed they were half a step too slow.
From the archbishop down to the servants, everyone in the church was shackled and held under guard in the main hall. In this sacred place of prayer to the gods, those who had once been the resplendent spokesmen of the divine were reduced to lowly prisoners. Their former imperious manner was gone, replaced only by trembling bodies and hearts filled with fear for their unknown fate.
“It will be fine!” the archbishop whispered to a few of his confidants in the crowd, comforting them. “All the important letters have been burned to ashes. No one will be able to find them…”
“Ahem!” Ambolov, who was walking over, merely cleared his throat, but to them, it was like a clap of thunder from a clear sky. Their bodies trembled with fright, and they immediately stopped talking.
“Regrettably, Archbishop Whitman, we have found evidence of the church under your leadership colluding with the rebels!” Ambolov calmly displayed a letter.
“How is that possible!” Whitman nearly leaped to his feet. He immediately cast his eyes upon the paper in the other man’s hand.
First, his eyes widened in surprise, and then an irrepressible anger forced every muscle in his body to twitch.
“You… this is slander! This is shameless slander!”
The archbishop’s voice was filled with grievance. Unlike his previous guilt, this was a genuine outpouring of emotion.
He had never even seen the contents of the so-called evidence in Ambolov’s hand, and from the handwriting, it was neither his own nor that of anyone he knew.
In other words, the initial goal of this band of Imperial Guards had been to frame the Church for colluding with the rebellion. The reason they had come over and pretended to search was merely to go through the motions.
He was truly afraid now. If the emperor had merely suspected them, they could still present evidence and reason to find a chance of escape.
But the other side had come with the intention of killing him from the very beginning. Nothing he said would be of any use.
“The Heavenly Father will punish you!”
“I will ask the supreme Holy See to uphold justice!”
“We have been wronged!”
Seeing the archbishop’s reaction, the arrested crowd instantly understood that an inevitable dark future was rushing toward them, and they began to struggle in their own ways.
Ambolov just sneered and waved his large hand. “Take them all away!”
The Imperial Guard’s raid on the Gabellan Church had a huge impact. Some pro-Church, devout believers gathered and marched in the streets, demanding the release of those who served the gods.
The imperial government’s attitude toward them was—suppress them all.
The various powerful departments seemed to have made preparations long ago. The soldiers carrying out the mission had all been strictly selected. Each man placed the orders of his superiors above his faith. When the marching believers questioned them in the name of the gods, they were met with merciless clubs and chains.
Several years ago, the Church’s spiritual dominion over the people had been so strong, but since the religious war in Horn Bay, a crack had appeared in this sturdy spiritual wall.
The New Protestant Alliance and the various “heretical” ideas that flowed from them reminded people that the Church of Light was not the same as the Lord of Light himself.
These heretical ideas, under the influence of certain intentional or unintentional promoters, spread ever more widely, from the pillow talk of couples in bed to the whispers in taverns, and from the whispers in taverns to open preaching in the squares.
In the past, the Church would often demand that secular powers cooperate with them to severely suppress these heretical ideas, but now the cooperation of secular powers in this regard was becoming more and more passive.
The great crime of the Gabellan Church’s rebellion and treason was quickly confirmed. The imperial government also took this opportunity to try cases within the case related to the Church.
Many shady and sordid affairs that could not see the light of day, clearly violating the code of conduct for clergy, were exposed, as well as the luxurious and corrupt private lives of many high-ranking Church officials, which greatly damaged the Church’s prestige.
While Whitman and the others were being tried and convicted, Emperor Antonio Griffin of Gabella quickly issued an edict. Its content was actually to appoint a new Gabellan archbishop.
Like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake, it instantly created ripples. The emperor’s edict shocked the entire continent.
It must be known that appointing archbishops of local churches had always been the prerogative of the Holy See. Naturally, the Holy See was furious at the Gabellan emperor’s actions. When the Holy See’s envoy traveled a thousand miles to the Gabellan capital to demand an explanation, he did not even get to see the emperor himself.
Only a low-ranking Marshal of the Court received the envoy and solemnly informed him that from now on, everything in Gabella would be decided by the Gabellan people themselves, both materially and spiritually.
The envoy was forbidden from contacting local Church personnel and could only return to the Holy City in disgrace to report, bringing back nothing but a humiliating notice.
The Holy See was furious, but at the moment, it could not spare the energy to deal with Gabella, as it was itself deeply mired in the swamp of Horn Bay.
The high-ranking officials realized that if they could not end the chaos in Horn Bay as soon as possible, situations like Gabella’s might become more and more common.
