Early in the morning, Merim was walking down the corridor with his teaching materials and 'teaching materials' in this arms.
Merim was not a morning person, however, from the look on his face, he look like he woke up from a swamp of negativity.
He was a little late for class but he did not care nor would anyone scold him for it. As an Academy Elite, he has the unwritten privilege to slightly bend the rules for himself. Also, it's not like the class has any problem with it. Only if he stood them up for a week straight only would they ask the other Academy Elites the reason for his absences.
Before he gets to his class, he met a familiar person, Hresha. Looking at each other's faces, they felt disturbed.
'If he's(she's) going to the class with that face, it would arouse suspicion!' they both thought.
That's why when they're only a few meters apart, they both greeted each other and then-
""Have you seen yourself in the mirror?""
""??""
""No...?""
""??""
They jinxed four times. Without any more words, they turned their backs and went back to their rooms and fixed their appearances.
Returning after a few minutes, they both sighed and walked past each other. There's no friction between them, instead, they felt camaraderie for being in the same boat.
Upon reaching the door of his class, Merim looked left and right first before entering. The sound of chatter immediately disappeared upon seeing him. As he stepped into the room, with Kurtan's group among the class of Pups, they all stood up. Their fingers were hooked to each other close to their chest before bowing.
"Goodmorning to Sir Merim."
They said in unison before standing up straight and sat down while releasing their hands. It's just a form of both culture and formality for respect.
"Umu..."
Merim just nodded. He was already used to it so he couldn't be bothered returning their greeting.
"Today, after just your special hunting school event, we will have a special topic about spirituality."
With a piece of chalk in his hand, he wrote a name on the blackboard and pointed with stick on the other hand-
"Do you know your lord and savior, Serux Herominum?"
"..."
The class was quiet but they couldn't be blamed, even Merim felt his own words were ridiculous. However, as ridiculous as it may be, he had to continue while making sure that no other Academy Elites would hear this.
"This is a very sensitive topic and that's why you would only hear it right now. If you look around the city, do you see any form of... idols or statues of Gods- an altar or a church?"
He asked but no one could answer again because the answer is 'no'
"As arrogant as it may sound, Hramm City is focused on worshipping Imagis. However, that is only as such for propaganda that encourages the youth to be one of you."
Hearing Merim's words, the class felt a sense of pride once again and their ears attentively widened.
"That is only for the common people but once you've become an Imagi, would you worship one another? The answer is no and today, you will learn our true lord, the God of all, the one who you should pray to and put your faith onto and his great name is this, Serux Herominum. Repeat it."
"... Serux Herominum."
"With respect!"
"Serux Herominum!"
"Right! Just saying his name will give you power as long as you have faith and values."
...
"There are several values to be learned like kindness, patience, tolerance, diligence, humility, and so on. You must hammer these values or what we call virtues as you act upon them." Hresha spoke in front of the Reformer Grade. She's partly a teacher in this class as an Academy Elite if she's not working into her factory of weapons.
Usually, she would just take the teaching from Remon if she felt like stretching herself from doing all the tasks in managing her factory which is just her personal office. However, this time, she had to take an active role to spread the 'faith'
Both of them read this from last night which they should do as immediately as possible.
In the letters, Elihim said that once war has come, Hramm City will be the center and will come as the top. But the war does not only give its spoils as profits but it, obviously, has lots of downsides as well. If this continued, the soldiers will become bloodthirsty warriors and they would be no different than barbarians.
There is one way to control this and that is to make the Hramm City a Holy Empire. Yes, holy and an empire as what Elihim said.
Both Hreshan and Merim were a bit unfamiliar with the word 'Empire' but Elihim predicted this and explained what it is, shocking them to their core.
However, that is the ultimate goal for the city and it will take a decade or so for it to happen even with Elihim's help so they did not try to think about it for now.
Not to negatively affect the soldiers' mentality through war, they should fight with a cause- for a righteous cause!
Since Imagis is supposed to be at the frontlines when war happens, they will be the representative for the new religion that's to come. A war victory will not bring pride and arrogance, instead, they will thank their 'God' for every success, keeping their ego intact.
And that God, a figurehead, will be the name [Serux Herominum]
Elihim was literally a God for many lives, how could he not fit the role?
However, Hresha and Merim told their class that this topic is sensitive and should not be shared with others unnecessarily. With the reason of 'if the common people heard this, they will hope of reaching our God instead of an Imagi which will ruin their potential'
Being 'spoiled' children of the academy whatever age they may have, they hated the idea that the common people will stop worshipping them. That's why they shut their mouths like what Hresha and Merim said.
However, once the two of them have proved themselves in the upcoming war which Elihim predicted, they will gain influence and that's when they will start to openly spread their 'faith' to the whole city, progressing it to becoming a 'holy' one.