Chapter 547

Chapter 547 – Voices of Protest

Several young men and women walked through a group of buildings made of white stone carvings, strolling leisurely. Some were discussing with each other, while others pointed at the statues, asking which saint they represented.

“Huh, this one here is the White Flower Holy Maiden, Durran,” Haisen wiped the sweat that had formed due to the heat and pointed at the pristine statue standing in the fountain ahead.

The holy maiden wore a close-fitting and beautiful dress, holding a specially crafted longsword in her hand.

The sword’s hilt, blade, and guard formed a straight cross shape. Above the guard was a vertical circle enclosing the hilt and part of the blade, with intricate patterns like vine leaves adorning it.

Durran held this special holy sword, plunging it into the ground. Water spurted out from the intersection of the sword and the ground, forming a small fountain.

“Legend has it that this holy maiden led the local people to build a city within just one month during the chaos of the disaster. Then she drove the sword into the earth, bringing forth a spring, solving the water problem and saving hundreds of thousands of lives. She was later canonized for this. After the war, she also left behind a transcendent faction called the White Orchid Cross Sword. It should still be found in Vergha today,” Haisen explained about the statue.

“Quite rare for a woman to be canonized,” Boley curiously looked at the small stone tablet below, which recorded her birth and death years.

“Is the White Orchid Cross Sword still being passed down? I’ll have to go see it sometime.”

“Well…” Haisen recalled.

“In which city was it again?” He couldn’t quite remember for a moment.

“It used to be in Hope Lane, the White Orchid Cross Sword,” Lohil said slowly, walking up beside Boley and looking down at the stone tablet.

“Does that mean it’s no longer there now?” Another girl came over, curious about the question.

“It should be around your area. Apparently, a few years ago, during the Hope Lane incident, most members of the White Orchid Cross Sword went to the Frost Rose side,” Loran Hill continued.

“Oh, I don’t know much about it. I liked playing around when I was younger,” Jellica rubbed her chin.

The group then continued to look at other statues before heading towards the direction of the Anthem Palace.

Amidst the tall trees, a small chapel echoed with ethereal singing.

There were few pedestrians around, making it very quiet, only occasionally interrupted by the chirping of cicadas high in the trees, reminding them of the season.

Loran Hill and the seven others did not enter the chapel to tour, as it would be disruptive and awkward. Instead, they sat outside on benches and rocks, listening to the hymns inside.

The nuns and cultivators in the choir were not too old, their innocent voices singing purely without accompaniment, giving a sense of purity and sanctity.

“Calm and composed, living freely, graceful and magnanimous, with a heart full of compassion.”

“Dwelling in the capital, sacred and solemn, a hidden orchid in the valley.”

“Our holy one is immortal, acting as if nothing happened, graceful and dignified, inviolable!”

Each line was short, of consistent length, with the pitch rising gradually according to the melody, creating a grand and solemn sense of holiness.

Thus, several of them sat quietly under the shade of the trees, feeling the summer breeze and listening to the distant and sacred poetry.

“Although I don’t understand the meaning of the lyrics, listening to it always makes me feel calm.”

After finishing their listening, they continued walking along the mountain path, talking to each other.

“Perhaps this is what the hymn aims to achieve. Sometimes, the lyrics aren’t important; what matters is the sense of tranquility it brings.”

As they talked, they arrived at the other side of the mountain.

At this moment, a magnificent scene unfolded before them.

The sunset painted the sky, slowly sinking below the horizon. Purple twilight clouds layered across the sky, and pale golden sunlight fell upon the vast slope below the mountain peaks.

Due to the cold climate and sparse trees, most of the ground was covered with gravel, soil, and green grass. This vast slope, stretching for thousands of square meters, was illuminated by the sunset, filling every corner with sparse golden light.

The world was clear and beautiful. Small grasses trembled slightly in the evening wind and light, and a pleasant, dry scent filled the air.

“How beautiful this place is around the Holy Mountain. I never knew before,” several of them remarked.

“This place might have been visited by you before, but it was quickly overlooked,” Crow smiled.

“In fact, it’s usually quite ordinary. If it’s cloudy, the huge slope below appears grayish-white, not particularly attractive.”

“It only looks beautiful at specific times.”

At this time, the scenery would be quite pleasant.”

“Is it really like that?”

Haise and the others expressed their feelings for a while, then sat there appreciating the beautiful view until the sun gradually sank into the earth, before they left.

“The Holy Flame Palace is not far from here, let’s go there for dinner.”

Everyone followed the route they had prearranged and headed towards the southern peaks.

As the group slowly approached, a commotion grew louder. A group of priests dressed in simple white robes were gathered together, advancing along the road. With their shouts, a large crowd of people followed them with interest. The number of people increased, and the commotion grew larger as they walked towards Lolan Hill and the others.

“Xibis manipulates promotions and persecutes poor priests; he is utterly evil!”

“Shameless scoundrel, unworthy to be an archbishop or scepter priest.”

“Remove him! Let the Court of Judgment try him!”

Facing this massive crowd, the seven of them, like the cultivators and nuns by the roadside, had to temporarily step aside and stand by the roadside, watching them pass.

“Are they protesting?” Bole asked softly.

“It should be, but at this point…” Crow stopped halfway through his sentence, but everyone roughly understood what he meant.

“Forget it, this isn’t our business. We are still students of Emanas, and it’s best not to get involved in this,” Haise said from the side. As they waited for these people to pass, he led the others forward and sat down at a restaurant below the Holy Flame Palace.

The space inside the restaurant wasn’t large, and they were seated on the second floor, at a spot near the edge.

By now, it was completely dark outside. The indoor walls were adorned with burning wall lamps, and the flames burned quietly within the glass tubes, emitting a bright yellow glow.

While waiting for their meal, several of them heard other guests around them discussing curiously.

“Where did that group of priests come from? How dare they directly insult the scepter priest of the Ten Sword Palace?”

“I don’t know the details, but I heard that most of these priests come from small places. Due to the church’s arrangements, they have been serving as priests in remote and impoverished areas for over a decade without any promotion or transfer, so they’ve accumulated a lot of resentment.”

“Why are they cursing Xibis? He doesn’t seem to be involved in this.”

“He may not be involved, but his students and friends are. It’s said that many bishops from wealthy regions are part of his faction, supporting each other, and forming a powerful force. This is what caused the public outrage.”

“Sorry for keeping you all waiting.”

While Lolan Hill and the others were idly watching the night scenery outside the window, a waiter finally brought their dinner for the night.

In the red clay pot, bubbles were still rising, and the soup was still boiling, emitting a tempting aroma. Inside were yellow, green, and red small pieces, including meat, vegetables, and roots, with a very pleasing color combination.

“This is a distinctive dish of the Holy Flame Palace,” a student said, then picked up a wooden spoon and ladled some out to distribute among the companions.

“It’s said that this dish was invented by some priests from remote areas in earlier times. After the chaos and disaster had just passed, many places lacked food. They would put hunted animals, dug-up plant roots, fruits, and so on, cut into pieces, and cook them together. But after doing it many times, they found several very good combinations, which have been passed down ever since.”

“They use this clay pot because there weren’t enough iron utensils at the time, so they used local materials. This restaurant also retains its original style,” Haise explained like a connoisseur. This tall and strong student seemed to be particularly knowledgeable about food.

“How historical this sounds,” Jellica picked up her spoon, eager to taste it.

“Still, let it cool down a bit; it’s very hot,” Crow, who usually kept a cold expression, suddenly showed concern for others.

“Ah, fine.” Jellica reluctantly put down her spoon and looked out the window again.

In the night mountains, a long dragon of torches snaked up the mountain road. Even sitting in this restaurant, they could hear the echoes of the shouts from the opposite side of the mountain.

“I didn’t expect them to start chanting slogans here too,” Jellica sighed.

“Is it common for the Frost Rose there?” the silver-haired girl beside her asked curiously.

“Yes, just in recent years. Many new things and systems have come from Rourna, and the locals didn’t understand them at first. The local families were also very resistant, but later they started hanging banners in the streets and organizing people to chant slogans.”

“Mainly about justice and democracy, not to mention…”

Held firmly in the hands of the local conservative faction, over time, people were gradually incited, and then the upper echelons of the Frost Union promoted new policies, encountering much less resistance. This way, they gradually reclaimed the power of the local great families.

Originally, the local great families were major trading guilds, and the surrounding residents also worked within these guilds. They were all fellow villagers, exceptionally united. After reclaiming the power, the Frost Union began to dismantle these large trading guilds and gradually integrate them into official organizations.

With each large institution performing its own duties, competition decreased significantly. When Jelica spoke about this, her expression wasn’t as relaxed as before.

“Isn’t this a good thing? In this way, it can avoid a lot of internal friction,” Crow said casually, holding a cup of clear sake.

“But there is still some worry. In this way, many ordinary people will have no other choices when facing such powerful entities. And thus.”

“In this way, monopolies will form,” Lolan Hill sighed and added.

Although the Frost Rose Union claims to have democracy on the surface, this ‘democracy’ only serves the powerful, that is, those with power and influence.

The entire nation is like a giant company, with the goal of generating profits for the upper echelons (mages, aristocrats, etc.), thereby expanding their strength and actively spreading outward, annexing the Seven Snow Nations, and finally confronting the Verdant Empire.

Seemingly the right choice, but this is built upon the enormous sacrifices of the lower strata. Because similar to a company, when you can no longer provide value (labor, combat, wealth), you will be discarded. They won’t support you or offer any so-called safety nets.

Because the structure of power is such that the higher the extraordinary ability and wealth, the higher the voting rights. The impoverished lower class, who lack extraordinary abilities, have very low voting rights, naturally not needing to consider their interests in parliamentary proposals, and even not considering their rebellion because they lack the strength.

The lower strata of the populace are like firewood, discarded like garbage after burning through their prime years.

However, under the propaganda of the Frost Rose Union, such actions are not wrong, but rather correct and great. People believe it is because they are not excellent enough that they suffer misfortune.

The Verdant Empire distinguishes social status based on lineage and extraordinary ability.

The Frost Rose Union distinguishes social status based on wealth and extraordinary ability, and the size of power.

The latter imitates the former, hence they are quite similar.

Such behavior, if placed in a distant Earth civilization, might have been replaced by new social forms long ago. The emergence of the Extraordinary Sequence has led to an extreme gap between people, and this concept has become increasingly entrenched.

And the more extraordinary beings a country has, the more obvious this situation becomes. Although the Church publicly advocates equality, in reality, they cannot escape the influence of objective laws and ideological trends.

Since the establishment of the Frost Rose and Clancia, social structures and power topics, which were once ignored, have been fiercely discussed in recent years. People in other places might talk less due to information isolation and low education levels, while in the Church, where literacy is high and historical knowledge is profound, various viewpoints become lively and intense.

People often discuss among themselves, and later they subtly divided into several factions.

As more information about the Frost Rose Union flowed into the Holy Land, many priests gradually agreed. They consider themselves representatives of angels on earth and possess extraordinary power, thus being superior to ordinary people.

This group of people who mainly agree with the theory of hierarchical society mostly concentrated in Archbishop Cybis’s faction.

As for Grand Master Odis of the Sacred Lance Knights, he agrees more with the view that those with merit should be above others, regardless of who they are. Anyone with achievements is superior to those without any achievements, which is their faction’s viewpoint.

Bines has yet to express an opinion, although Lolan Hill feels she might lean towards equality for all, she actually remains silent due to a lack of strong arguments.

Storm clouds gather before the storm.

Lolan Hill sighed inwardly, looking at the scene of two sides confronting and arguing on the mountain opposite, then another group of knights rode over from the other side of the mountain path. They carried torches and long swords, well-trained, precisely the renowned Sacred Lance Knights of the continent.

“Silence! Silence!”

These knights drove away both sides with their torches, separating the crowds. Then, a knight riding a tall horse, wearing dark gold-etched armor, slowly approached, causing the scene to gradually quiet down.

Today, I had dinner with relatives, so the update is late 0 0!

(End of Chapter)