Translator: Cinder Translations
...
After sending off the Dwarf Prince, Paul devoted most of his energy to the construction of the chemical plant and the formation of the new exploration fleet.
Until the visit of three clergymen interrupted his busy schedule.
Anderson, the current dean of the North Shore Monastery, was more of a scholar than a clergyman.
Morrison, the current deputy dean of the North Shore Monastery, managed most of the affairs since Anderson was always busy with research.
Volor, whom Paul had last seen in the chapel at Frand Port, was the presiding priest there.
Paul welcomed them in the reception room.
"How come all three of you had time to visit me, and together no less?"
In his impression, Anderson spent his days tinkering with strange plants in the monastery, Morrison was always busy managing the monastery's daily affairs, and Volor's chapel was far from Alden Town. Aside from all being clergymen, they didn't seem to have much in common.
"Lord Grayman!"
Morrison and the increasingly portly Father Volor bowed deeply to him.
Volor spoke first, "I've just been recommended as the presiding priest of the Alden Town chapel, so I'll be able to visit you more often from now on."
This priest had finally been transferred from Frand Port, but Volor was pleased with this transfer. He had previously been worried that he might be sent to some remote place, but being transferred to Alden Town? No fool would refuse that. After all, Alden Town was the power center of Alden, Byerldine, and Emden. Being assigned there as a priest was a genuine promotion.
Paul congratulated him, "Well, congratulations."
A shadow briefly crossed Morrison's smiling face, as if he had just seen a competitor.
The Alden Town chapel had originally been managed by the monastery, and now someone had been parachuted in.
"Ahem!" Anderson cleared his throat on the side, looking very serious.
"Lord Grayman..." He hesitated slightly. "The reason we're here today is because of a book."
"A book?"
Anderson gestured to the deputy dean. "Morrison!"
Morrison looked a bit troubled. "Ah, Lord Grayman, please take a look for yourself."
He pulled out a book and handed it to Paul with both hands.
"Injustice Chronicles"—this was the title that caught Paul's eye.
He opened the first page.
"To all respected readers, to all righteous people, given the current severe situation in Horns Bay, I, driven by the last vestige of my conscience as a human, have decided to stand up and unveil the hidden side of this land..."
"The Church is not the pure and benevolent entity people commonly believe it to be. Beneath its brilliant exterior lies an ugly, even terrifying core. Like the devil in the holy texts, it lures people with a mask of sincerity. Let me be clear, I am no heretic or atheist; on the contrary, I am a devout believer in the Lord of Light. However, the Church has monopolized the interpretation of the Lord's teachings, just like the deceitful devil in the holy scriptures who corrupts with an innocent face..."
"For nearly ten years, I've traveled to every town and village in Horns Bay, gathering vast amounts of firsthand evidence..."
"For centuries, the Church has been a massive shackle on the people of Horns Bay, exploiting and oppressing rather than contributing or protecting..."
"...Many human tragedies have been caused under the guise of witch hunts, a tool the Church uses to amass wealth and power..."
After reading a few pages, Paul closed the book. "Wow! This content is quite explosive."
Morrison and Volor laughed awkwardly.
Anderson, on the other hand, was furious. "Lord Grayman, the issue isn't whether the content is explosive or not. This is clearly heresy! It's heresy!"
"So, what do you want?"
"We need you to immediately order a ban on this book before it spreads too widely."
Morrison hurriedly pulled Anderson back and carefully explained to Paul, "Lord Grayman, it's like this: a week ago, someone from Horns Bay contacted us, saying a blasphemous book was spreading widely there. After investigating, they found it came from the northwest coast. We followed the trail and discovered it was being printed... from a press under your name."
"Uh... I see." Paul felt a little embarrassed.
"And not only that, but someone also translated this blasphemous work into the Aldorian language, and it's still being printed."
"Now, Horns Bay is demanding we immediately ban this offensive work."
Paul, a bit displeased, said, "That church over there is really overstepping. Besides, this book criticizes the Horns Bay church, not the Northwest Coast church."
"Uh..." Morrison looked troubled. "But we're all servants of the Lord of Light, so..."
He suddenly stopped, clearly sensing a warning look in Paul's eyes.
You better figure out where you stand!
Morrison adopted a pleading expression. "At least stop the spread of the Aldorian version."
Anderson looked surprised at his deputy dean, not understanding why the usually tough Morrison was being so deferential to Paul. Before coming, Anderson had been worried Morrison would clash with the lord, just like his rigid and stubborn mentor would have.
However, it seemed there was a hint of dissatisfaction with the church in Paul's words. Volor shifted his gaze back and forth between Paul and Morrison, clearly thinking something over.
Before being transferred to Alden Town, he'd only had a few interactions with Morrison, but he envied his position as deputy dean of the North Shore Monastery. This monastery was the Northwest Church's... "talent cultivation base," as people recently started calling it, and it held significant influence. The current dean barely handled anything, so most of the responsibilities fell on this deputy dean.
Yet this influential figure was now...
The room fell into a brief silence.
"Alright then, gentlemen," Paul finally said, spreading his hands helplessly. "I'll have a talk with the person in charge of the printing press. You know, ever since the printing press was invented, books have become a low-margin business. As long as they can make money, they'll take any order."
"Thank you, Lord Grayman!"
Anderson, Morrison, and Volor stood up and bowed deeply, as if granted amnesty.
"Oh, by the way!" Paul shifted his gaze to Anderson. "I hear you've been busy recently, Dean. What new knowledge have you been researching?"
"Me?" Anderson pointed to himself, his face flushing slightly. "Oh, nothing really, just tinkering around."
"Haha, come on, tell me about it."
"Alright, Lord Grayman. I'm trying to understand the relationship between certain traits of organisms and their reproduction."
"Oh? Interesting. Care to explain?"
Talking about his hobby, the priest became animated, enthusiastically explaining to Paul.
"It's like this, Lord: a dog gives birth to a dog, a cat gives birth to a cat, and you can't grow peaches on an apple tree or pears on a cherry tree. Isn't there some kind of rule behind all this common knowledge?"
Morrison and Volor exchanged glances, wondering if this was worth studying. If it weren't true, wouldn't the world be in chaos?
Paul nodded. "That's indeed a question worth exploring."
Morrison and Volor silently complained to themselves, Our lord is an odd one too.
Seeing Paul agree with him, Anderson grew even more excited. In the past, people had always looked at him with pity when he discussed these ideas.
"For example, wheat doesn't naturally produce plump grains, and why are modern watermelons so different from those in ancient paintings? What caused these changes? I believe there's a great secret left by the Heavenly Father in creation."
Paul seriously asked, "Have you made any progress in your research?"
Anderson immediately looked dejected, shaking his head. "The variety and characteristics of organisms are so vast and confusing. I'm still completely in the dark."
"Then why not focus on a single organism—perhaps a fast-growing plant? That would simplify things."
"I was thinking along the same lines, but I'm still considering which plant to choose."
Paul laughed. "I suggest you experiment with peas."
"Peas?"
Paul explained.
"First, peas self-pollinate before they flower, so they're usually purebred, which helps control the experiment. You can use one pea plant as the father and another as the mother, remove the male parts of the mother plant, and then manually pollinate with the father plant to achieve hybridization."
"Second, pea varieties show clear and distinct traits, such as tall or short stems, making the results easy to observe and analyze."
"Finally, peas have a short growth cycle and produce many seeds, shortening the experiment's timeframe."
Anderson was enlightened, clapping his hands repeatedly.
"That's perfect, perfect! Why didn't I think of that sooner? Peas are practically made for my research!"
Then, with disbelief, he added, "Lord Grayman, I am once again astonished by your knowledge. To think, I spend all day fiddling with plants, and yet..."
Still not as knowledgeable as me? Paul guessed the rest of his sentence.
Of course, it's because I didn't sleep through biology class.
Paul humbly said, "It was just a sudden flash of inspiration."
Anderson sighed, "That flash of inspiration is incredibly important to me."
Ten minutes later, the three priests left the manor.
Morrison and Volor were satisfied. It seemed the Earl wouldn't make things difficult for them.
Anderson, however, was beyond excited. He couldn't wait to get back to the monastery and start planting peas, having already forgotten about the book.
(End of the Chapter)
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