Chapter 529: The Holy Light and the Holy Light

On the way back to the lord’s manor, Gawain was still sharing a carriage with Amber. Watching the merchant guildhall fade into the distance outside the window, the half-elf lady muttered, “A five-year mining concession… Wait, are you really planning to dig up all the mines there in just five years?”

“Dig it all up? Of course not,” Gawain shook his head. “Even with advanced mining machinery and Rebecca crystals blasting through the hills, it’s impossible to completely strip the White Sand Hills in five years. But I can guarantee that within five years, we’ll extract as much as the Eastern Territory planned to mine in fifty years. And if we ignore any long-term consequences and go for outright destructive mining, that number could even double.”

Amber blinked, momentarily at a loss for words. After pondering for a while, she suddenly asked, “Honestly, is this really the right thing to do?”

Gawain glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“…Selling weapons to the kingdom’s army, alchemical potions to the Eastern Territory, letting this civil war spiral further out of control…”

Gawain shook his head. “Do you think the war would just settle down if I didn’t sell them anything?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Amber scratched her head. “I just feel like it’s the Ansu people who are dying now… Don’t you care?”

Meeting Amber’s puzzled gaze, Gawain spoke slowly: “To be frank, I do care—because those are people, precious lives. But I also don’t care—because they’re not Cecilians. At least, not yet.”

On this matter, Gawain wasn’t going to talk about conscience or morality. He was acting purely out of self-interest, even if his plans ultimately benefited the entire southern region. His goal was the whole of Ansu, but he lacked the power for that now. So his only choice was to feed the southern industrial machine as fast as possible, even if that machine had to be fueled by blood and flesh. After all, he was the lord of the South, not the king of Ansu.

Judging from the inevitable future, the kingdom’s army and the Eastern legions were bound to become enemies.

Moreover, there was a second layer to his strategy in supplying magical weapons and alchemical potions to both sides: he wanted to force Ansu to develop.

Promoting magitech in the South had brought many lessons. This land was like a blank slate—once the old nobility was swept away, Gawain could paint freely. Yet even so, magitech development here hadn’t been smooth. So what if he wanted to spread magitech across all of Ansu? That would require an enormous plan.

Typhon was watching hungrily from the sidelines, waiting for the Ansu to bleed dry. If one day the civil war ended and Gawain controlled the land, Typhon wouldn’t give him time to catch up. To avoid the worst outcome, Gawain had to start dragging Ansu onto the magitech industrial train now—even if by force.

As industrial products, alchemical potions and magitech weapons couldn’t exist alone. They required a whole industrial chain to support them. Just as Prince Edmond of the East realized before departing Belk, factories and production technology were crucial. The capital’s nobles would soon realize that magitech industry was necessary to maintain an “industrialized army.” Traditional nobles might be narrow-minded, but they weren’t thoughtless—they wouldn’t allow Gawain to hold their lifelines completely.

Magical armor and weapons needed maintenance; crystal grenades required mana network charging; alchemical potions needed factories, which in turn needed mana networks. Building mana networks laid the foundation for introducing mining machines, which ensured abundant metal ores, enabling the manufacture of more machines…

Even if the capital and Eastern nobles didn’t know how to build a complete magitech industrial chain, they could at least establish a foundation. The weapons and potions Gawain sold them were like a lasso wrapped in flowering vines—beautiful and alluring, but once caught, hard to escape. Under the pressure of war, to keep the weapons and potions flowing, to keep the machines running, they would have no choice but to start magitech industry.

Amber fell silent again, lost in thought. Nearing the city center, she muttered, “The people you’ve schemed against are really unlucky—losing their lives to you and still having to thank you for your ‘great kindness’…”

“Do you think they don’t realize it?” Gawain smiled and shook his head. “No one’s that stupid.”

…

Inside the church, Lightt, now dressed in the high priest’s robes, stood on the wooden pulpit. Facing the congregation below, he spoke in a deep, resonant voice about the nature of the Holy Light.

“…The Holy Light is stirred by the human heart. The closer one’s words and deeds align with the virtues of the Light, the stronger the Holy Light’s manifestation…”

“Experiencing the teachings of the Holy Light through action is the most effective method. For us followers of the new doctrine, actual deeds are more powerful than reciting scriptures or repeating rituals…”

Lightt paused. From the congregation, a tall, muscular warrior raised his hand. “High Patriarch, you say the Holy Light resonates with noble deeds, but is there an unchanging standard for virtue? I’ve been studying history and noticed that concepts like ‘morality’ and ‘justice’ keep changing…”

Speaking during a sermon was unheard of in the old-style Holy Light churches. But this was the “Pure Holy Light School” (the new doctrine), which encouraged such discourse. As long as the rules for questions were followed, anyone could treat the Holy Light as a subject for study and debate. This made the new churches feel more like learning institutions than places for religious ritual—just as Lightt preferred.

He nodded at the burly man—he recognized him as a trainee White Knight. Besides honing his combat skills and fighting beasts, this brave soldier’s greatest hobby was reading and learning. Only a scholar-warrior like him could so keenly spot areas in the doctrine needing explanation.

“Morality standards do change,” Lightt explained. “In ancient times, the greatest virtues were related to food. Today, virtues include loyalty, honesty, trustworthiness, courage, and so on. The behaviors that express these virtues evolve with the times. Therefore, we must have a concept of ‘public morality’—to align with the most widely accepted morals and fight for the community is to embody the true meaning of the Holy Light.”

“Then why is that?” the trainee White Knight asked, confused. “Does the Holy Light think? Does it choose those who meet its standards? And does it change along with human moral standards?”

The bold question stirred murmurs among the congregation. Lightt was silent for a moment, then answered frankly: “I don’t know the answer yet.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes. We must honestly face our ignorance,” Lightt said. “The path to absolute truth is endless. We can only ever grasp ‘relative truths’ within the limits of our minds. Perhaps there is an answer that explains all the secrets of the Holy Light, but I don’t know it now. I only know that this is what we must seek. I also remind everyone—do not blindly follow anything claiming to be ‘absolutely correct,’ because even I, the High Patriarch, cannot be absolutely right. We must boldly pursue truth, cautiously verify it, and remain humble. Only then can we continue forward on this path of discovery.”

Lightt’s words sparked another round of discussion. Afterward, the sermon continued.

Eventually, the service ended. The congregation rose and dispersed in small groups. The once-packed pews quickly emptied. Lightt watched them leave, then began tidying the wooden lectern, gathering the Holy Light scriptures and other materials. A small, shimmering figure floated over, holding a cup of water.

“Here, drink up! You worked hard!”

“Thank you,” Lightt accepted the cup and gently patted Emily’s hair. “You were good today, no trouble. Well done.”

Emily smiled happily. Lightt glanced around the church and suddenly noticed a slender figure wearing a hood still seated on a pew below.

Had she been sitting there the whole time? Why hadn’t he noticed before?

Curious, Lightt approached the hooded woman, who seemed in no hurry to leave. “Ma’am, the sermon is over—do you need assistance?”

The woman lifted her hood, revealing long, pale golden hair and a beautiful, serene smile. “High Patriarch of the Southern Church.”

Lightt regarded the golden-haired woman calmly. Beside him, Emily stared in surprise at this unfamiliar visitor. “Who are you, sister?”

Then the little girl exclaimed, “Wow! Sister, you’re glowing all over!”

“Emily,” Lightt gently ruffled the girl’s hair, “go rest in your room. I’ll talk with our guest.”

Emily blinked at Lightt, then at the “stranger,” hesitated, and nodded. “Okay.”

Her figure gradually faded into the air.

Veronica watched silently. The peaceful, radiant Holy Light filled the church, rippling gently like a calm sea between the rows of pews. Within this sea of light, Lightt stood quietly, the waves flowing past him as if ignoring his presence, and as if he ignored theirs.

A faint glow surrounded him.

Veronica finally broke the silence. “There are no guests in the church, only lost lambs, aren’t there?”

“That’s your way of putting it. We’ve abandoned that notion recently,” Lightt replied calmly, then sat beside Veronica. “No one is a lamb needing guidance. Those who come to church are fellow seekers.”

“Truly a novel and radical doctrine,” Veronica nodded slightly, “just like your sermon. But they’re all very interesting.”

Lightt looked at the living saint from the Northern Church with some surprise. Here was a saintly princess representing the traditional church powers. “You find it interesting?”

“At least I’ve never heard anything like it before. That alone makes it interesting,” Veronica said, meeting Lightt’s eyes. “Could you tell me more about your doctrine?”

Lightt suddenly found the situation somewhat amusing.

He knew the living saint from the Northern Church had come to the South, but never imagined he’d calmly discuss doctrine with her like this.

Still, answering questions about doctrine was his duty, so he nodded. “If you truly wish to listen.”

“Today, I’m just a listener—ah, or as you say, a seeker.”

Lightt set aside all doubts and absurd feelings, straightened up, and began to explain his understanding and insights about the Holy Light in his plain, sincere manner.

This special “sermon” didn’t last long. The new doctrine was simple, with far fewer rules than the old church. Lightt spoke plainly, while Veronica listened quietly the entire time.

When the “sermon” ended, the rippling Holy Light in the church gradually faded away.

Leight stared at the “Saint Princess” before him, trying to guess what she might say next. But Veronica simply stood up and gave him a slight bow. “That was an excellent explanation, Mr. Leight.”

With those words, her figure instantly dissolved into countless shimmering particles of light, gradually fading away into the air.

“So she was just an apparition after all…”

Leight muttered softly as the last glimmer vanished.

“What exactly was she here for?”

(End of chapter)