BXBX NOVEL Chapter 196 - The First Church
Chapter 196: The First Church
Cleric Wright used more than two month’s time and finally passed the feudal lord’s appraisal, attaining permission to preach on the Cecil lands; as well, a piece of land was allocated to him, along with materials, equipment, and personnel needed for the construction of the church. This Cleric was clearly delighted and erupted with immense enthusiasm and work efficiency at once, making this small church spring up at an astonishing speed —— of course, this also had to do with his adept skill from carrying bricks for two months at the territory.
The newly completed little church looked very simple from its outer appearance. Although it also consisted of spires, a small tower, a prayer hall, and various facilities necessary for a church of the Holy Light, everything revolved around practicality and adequacy. The kind of extravagant style of putting gold and inlaying silver on the walls in the churches of the central region was absolutely nowhere to be seen, but it could still be described as a beautiful new building. With the church itself, together with the small public square in front, as well as the neat brick houses of Knight Street in the background — the territory’s first street that could be described using “modern town” finally took shape.
And before the church officially opened its doors, the feudal lord even specially arranged for a small “launch ceremony” for it.
This was a rather bizarre arrangement in the eyes of the civilians —— the great figure of the territory coming forward personally and organizing an activity for the launch of a building. This was very rare in the past.
At other places, there wouldn’t be any solemn ceremony with the appearance of a new facility. Usually, there were only some crass customs established through repetition from the people: a jar filled with ale would be smashed at the entrance before a craftsman shop was opened; on the one hand, it was for celebration, and on the other hand, it was using the aroma of ale to publicize and notify people that a new shop had been opened, while the priests and clerics of the various churches would organize some religious activities after a new church was completed. The clerics would preach at the entrance and give out wheat cakes. Whereas, when racecourses, theaters, and the like established by aristocrats were completed, there would be some celebrations, but they were all balls and cocktail parties for the upper-class figures, nothing to do with civilians at all.
The ceremony known as “ribbon-cutting” that Gawain had arranged was novel and baffling to the people.
However, the civilians of this era would not think deeply about matters that appeared to be unrelated to their lives. In any case, the feudal lord’s arrangements were simply right, and to them, novel happenings in the territory were something to be happy about —— especially when this was a church that could bring convenience to their lives.
Lots of crowds were gathered at the small public square in front of the church. They curiously watched the church doors that were still tightly shut, as well as the feudal lord and company who stood in front of the doors: Gawain, Heidi, and Rebecca stood right there, and beside them was the Cleric Mr. Wright, who had a distinctive presence. Apart from them, the rest were just some soldiers responsible for maintaining order at the scene.
For the sake of adapting to the aesthetic taste of the masses and conventions of this world, and to create an even more important “symbolic significance”, Gawain redesigned a new set of so-called “ribbon-cutting” procedures. He gave orders to attach a symbolic colored knot on the doors of the church and to also set up a blocking rope on the steps leading up to the entrance, representing that this building was still sealed. And when the sun rose to the highest point, he would appear here and open up the church as the feudal lord.
Amidst the countless curious and reverent gazes, Heidi took a step forward. With the support of magic, her voice that was gentle but loud enough to ring through the crowd entered every person’s ears. “Today is a day worth celebrating. —— The missionary of the God of Holy Light, Mr. Wright, has brought the morals of the Holy Light for everyone. Our feudal lord, Duke Gawain Cecil, believes that the way of the Holy Light is beneficial to the territory and as such, approved the construction of this church and personally sent his congratulations for the implementation of the morals of the Holy Light. —— I will now read out the feudal lord’s decree:
“Through the application of the missionary of the Holy Light, Wright Awiken, I, Gawain Cecil, feudal lord of the Cecil territory, have ruled that spreading the way of the Holy Light on this land is legal and beneficial. I hereby permit missionary Wright’s preaching and approve the construction of one church.”
Following that, with the civilians’ gregarious and spontaneous applause, Gawain cut the blocking rope, while Heidi and Rebecca undid the colored knot on the doors of the church.
Cleric Wright watched the full course of this ceremony with curiosity. He felt that there was some significance in this ceremony, yet he ultimately wasn’t a “true clergyman” who was good at scheming. As a missionary who was considered to have been thrown out with a kick by the central region church, he had been spreading religious doctrines according to his own understanding and way the whole time, so he quickly stopped thinking on it —— it was a good thing so long as he could preach without a hitch. The feudal lord even came personally to give his congratulations; that was something even better. As for the matter about “the God of Holy Light needing Gawain Cecil’s permission to construct a church on his land”… it didn’t matter, since the church had already been built.
To be honest, Wright even felt that the Cecil territory suited his own tastes even more: at other aristocratic territories, he needed to approach the local feudal lord for permission too. Although essentially every feudal lord would agree, there was never a place that was formal and solemn like the Cecil territory. Instead of saying that the feudal lords of other aristocratic territories had permitted him to develop on their territory, it was more like they completely blithely took on an uncaring attitude. The so-called “feudal-lord permission” was merely a show of going through the formalities; it was a mutual compromise between the church and aristocratic influences and a show of respect on the surface. However, here at the Cecil territory, this “permission” seemed much more formal.
Wright liked such places where the rules were clear and definite because he had seen too many instances where chaotic rules had led to the suffering of the people —— many people would complain that it was because the feudal lord set too many rules that caused life to be difficult, but few people realized that what led to a hard life weren’t the rules, but carelessly and constantly establishing rules that even the feudal lord himself did not plan on abiding by.
Here, such situations clearly did not exist.
“Everyone interested in the way of the Holy Light can drop in. The space in the preaching hall is really big! People who do not believe in the Holy Light but have minor illnesses and injuries can come too. Healing holy water will be provided here every day!” Wright stood happily on the steps before the entrance of the church, his loud voice so resonant that the whole square could hear him. “But those with major illness and injuries have to inform me in advance. Holy water is processed from river water. Its effects are limited. Healing spells should still be used for major illnesses…”
Gawain stood at a side and watched as the continuous stream of believers of the Holy Light, or civilians who wanted to collect some holy water, walked into the church. Listening to Wright’s loud greeting, he suddenly couldn’t help but chuckle: it was his first time hearing a Cleric actively admit that the raw material of holy water was river water, and he even reminded people that the healing effects of holy water weren’t good…
Meanwhile, Heidi stood beside Gawain. She had already perceived some deeper significance from this ceremony today.
When she saw that there were occasionally civilians thanking the feudal lord while walking into the church of the God of Holy Light, she asked in a low voice, “Ancestor, are you putting religious authority into your own control?”
“I actually have no intention about holding religious authority and whatnot, but I dislike being controlled by religious authority even more,” Gawain said coolly. “The church is a good thing. Theurgies, holy water, sacred objects, and war clerics are all good things. But if these things have their own system and will, then they’re not quite good anymore.”
“A good number of aristocrats would be on guard against the overdevelopment of churches, but there was never anyone who’d thought of using such a method to ‘cage’ it.” Heidi revealed a thoughtful expression. “You used explicit laws to stipulate that all religious activities had to be approved by the feudal lord and ritualized actions to show everyone who to listen to when the feudal lord and the gods are put together, and you also expressed the feudal lord’s support for the church… Ancestor, your handling of matters is always unpredictable.”
Yet Gawain shook his head. “It’s not that no one thought of using laws and power to repress the church, Heidi. I’m not the only smart person. —— It is only because all of them do not have the resources to. We are very lucky that the southern border is an uncultivated land with many years of regress. Many things could be constructed starting from zero, and Wright is also really devoted to the way of the Holy Light, instead of being a scheming ‘true believer’. That is why I was able to lay this foundation, but in the central and northern regions where the power of the church is already deeply ingrained, I would not be able to do so at all. ——Just like how you were able to perceive the significance behind my actions, those shrewd bishops would be able to do so as well.”
Heidi faltered for a moment. She had to admit that Gawain was reading this matter very clearly, but she was also a little curious. “If we were at those places, what would you do?”
“Very simple, it would work so long as your fists are bigger than theirs,” Gawain laughed. “Sometimes, problems that cannot be solved using the brain are instead the simplest. Just competing with fists would do.”
Rebecca listened to Heidi and Gawain’s discussion at the side. She essentially didn’t understand a single word of the earlier half, but she understood Gawain’s last comment and was especially in favor of it. “Lord Ancestor is right! Problems that can be fought out aren’t problems!”
Gawain helplessly darted a look at Iron-Headed Girl. “Could you listen more completely? I emphasized on using brains before fists!”
Heidi was just about to follow and teach her a lesson, but an Amber crawled out of nowhere. “She’d realize that her brains weren’t enough after using her brains…”
Before this ultimate disgrace was beaten up, Gawain moved and held down the person’s head. “Your skin will itch if you do not provoke someone every day, huh? —— Why are you here? Don’t you dislike the Church of Holy Light and places like it?”
“I’m here to watch the fun—— Let go, ay, let go.” Amber struggled vigorously under Gawain’s hand. In the end, she simply shifted into the shadows and escaped the devil’s clutches. “Let me tell you, actually this cleric feels pretty okay to me. He’s not as nasty as those clerics of the Holy Light that I met previously…”
Gawain knew this half-elf very well. Only after she was done complaining did he ask, “Other than watching the fun, there should be another reason why you’re here?”
“Tch, an old cured meat, but your eyes are pretty sharp…” Amber pursed her eyes. Then, before she was beaten up once more, she swiftly sputtered, “Pittman is looking for you. ——Said he made a breakthrough in the research on mass-producing Druid potions!”