Issuing this speech, Konstantin jumped up excitedly and paced around the hall.
— A sensible thought.
— He won't bother us with this — better he organizes it himself than taxing us for it.
— If he could do it himself, he would have done so long ago, or even his ancestors. Unlike gnomes, goblins and trolls favor humanity. Therefore, on this route, they alone pose a threat — there aren't even any bandits here. — Sergey returned to the conversation from which he had been so bluntly excluded.
— From your words, Kostya (Konstantin), it follows that we should expect not a delegation from the baron with him at its head, but a goblin raiding party first and foremost. And only after we repel the goblins, perhaps then the baron's embassy will come to us. But Sergey is right — he will try to establish an inn himself, and we will act as his shield and protection. — Alexander supported his friend.
— Or maybe we organize it ourselves — it's money, fresh blood, and with it, new knowledge. — Oksana and Gennady exchanged glances, almost thinking the same thing.
— Yes, and running around under the local sun, or rather running not us, but our burning carcasses. — Semen reminded everyone of the forgotten danger of the local light these past few days.
— Alright. Stop arguing. We won't build anything on the road. Dealing with goblins is not the business of this council; we have Leonid for that — we will decide how to provide him with what he asks for. — Alexander decided to steer the conversation back on track. — There's no need to discuss anything extra now; let's return to the Church.
— Regarding the Church, — Konstantin sat down, — we really need to find out very well about what gods people still believe in. And they definitely exist, if not gods, then at least something different from the currently dominant religion. We need to find among this something that isn't directly persecuted, only disapproved of, and join that belief.
— Not the best idea.
— I agree. But dressing one of us as a monk and playing at faith isn't a walk in the park either.
— But it fits as Plan B.
— I agree again.
— Why do we need these Plans A and B, searching for new religions or forgotten old ones, and playing to the public with prayers and hymns in praise of gods we have nothing to do with?
— Oleg, you're just waking up now. We've been talking about this for some time.
— I've heard everything, but we're mages! Guys, we're mages!
Everyone sat slightly stunned, such a simple thought that hadn't occurred to them earlier. The new essence became completely natural to them, a part of themselves. They got used to it and started forgetting its uniqueness to others.
In the human world, mages were seen as a known evil, from which the benefits outweighed the harm. Mages didn't share beliefs in different gods of other races and didn't believe in the One God of humans. They believed in power, which they drew from the world and returned to it. They believed in knowledge. They believed in themselves and those stronger than them.
Essentially, they were adherents of such a peculiar deity. Priests simply looked disapprovingly at them but acknowledged their usefulness in achieving religious unity among humans. Magic and mages were a counterbalance to the church in this world, and local rulers either retained power, lost it, or gained it by playing between these two forces.
— Oh damn. Great thinkers we are, gentlemen advisors. That's right, we are mages. We are all mages, period. There's no need to establish a church. A chapel is enough. We don't need to play — local mages only maintain the appearance of their faith, simply occasionally remembering to visit a church if it happens to be on their way. We just need our own dismissed monk — precisely one of those who have been released (by local standards, a dismissed monk is a spiritual figure fallen out of favor with the authorities and sent to atone for their sins, wandering the world until they find a purpose to strengthen their faith), and it's exactly a dismissed monk that we need. Since he's dismissed, none of the local leadership can dictate to him. After dismissal, they can only be recognized as saints, but they can't be returned to the bosom of the church. A settlement of godless mages is the ideal place for a dismissed monk. And we need to stop hiding that we are mages — that decision needs to be reversed urgently. Who will play our dismissed monk? — Alexander rambled excitedly, finally solving an important problem that everyone had overlooked.
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