Chapter 288 — The Hall of Great Radiance

The bishops voiced their approval of this ingenious scheme one after another, while Virodai merely watched quietly and murmured to herself, "Atonement for 'sin,' is it..."

After a moment the bishops' discussion concluded, and the Pope gave his ruling: "Then it is settled. Bishop Talendis shall draft the exact amount and manner of enforcement for the atonement fee. Next—how fares our preaching in the various lands?"

"Our preaching in the lands beyond Ansul has changed little. In Typhon the faith of the War God runs deep; the many races of the Augurey tribal states all worship their primal deities; the Kingdom of Highridge is the most receptive to the holy light, but under elven influence most there are shallow believers. As for Ansul itself, swayed by the recent heretic activity, our missionary work has gone well—believers in the southern borderlands, the western borderlands, and the central regions are increasing rapidly..."

"And the north and east?"

"In the north, our preaching too has gone far more smoothly than before. Though the Wilde family still refuses to publicly convert its members, in view of the heretic scourge, Duchess Victoria Wilde has relaxed the restrictions on holy light clergy operating within her lands. As for the east... the situation remains poor."

Saint Ivan III's eyes closed slightly, and he murmured to himself, "The lands of Duke Silas..."

"Duke Silas Loren is a staunch royalist, and quite opposed to preaching within his lands. Not only preachers of the holy light—even missionaries of other sects are severely restricted on his soil. We are trying to find a breach through members of his family... but with little success."

"Duke Silas Loren holds his family in an iron grip; so long as his attitude does not change, the whole Loren family will not waver," the Pope shook his head. "There is no need for haste. Let nature take its course. In the end they will understand that the holy light is humanity's only salvation."

The bishops bowed their heads and instinctively glanced at one another, but no commotion arose.

"The holy light is humanity's only salvation"—in public, that was a highly sensitive utterance, for it directly challenged the "Sacred Covenant" jointly sworn by the various sects seven hundred years ago. But after all, this was the interior of the Blazing Radiance Church, the Hall of Great Radiance with no outsider present—so what harm was there in saying it?

And besides, everyone here thought the same.

When most of the matters had been discussed, Virodai looked to one of the bishops: "Bishop Melyev, is there any news of late from that pioneer territory in the far south?"

The bishop thus named answered, "The church has not devoted much effort there, but recently a missionary has established a church there, and the progress looks quite smooth."

"That ancient duke has let the missionary establish a church?" Virodai's brows rose slightly. "That is truly good news—the holy light has once again illuminated this world."

"May the way of the holy light illuminate every corner of the world."