In the ErsteMensch Theocracy, the innermost reaches of the Holy Capital.
There is a very well hidden room in one of the Holy Capital's many Churches and cathedrals of the Cult of the Seven Apostles.
Fourteen people sat at a long rectangular table.
Only a few people were permitted to sit at this table.
The first was the Pontiff of the Cult of the Seven Apostles, the highest-ranking member of the Church.
Next were The Seven ArchBishops. They were the highest appointment holders of the Clergy, followed by the Seven Holy Paladin, who held a similar position to the Archbishop but were in charge of the Paladin Order rather than the Clergy.
Sitting on one side of the table were the Seven Archbishops.
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Kine the Flamboyant, member of the Sunniva family of the Seven Great Noble families.
The ArchBishop -- Durant Sunniva.
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Aurora Child of Storm, member of the Tempest family of the seven Great Noble families.
The ArchBishop -- Aubelli Tempest
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Sora Daughter of the mountain, member of the Caelus family of the Seven Great Noble family.
The ArchBishop -- Karen Caelus
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Djeem the Accursed, member of the Medvedik family, a side branch of the Whiteley family of the seven Great Noble family.
The ArchBishop -- Gregor Medvedik
.
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Kiady the Eternal, and member of the Whiteley family of the seven Great Noble family.
The ArchBishop -- Loran Whiteley
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Solomon the Loner, and member of the Ainsley family of the seven Great Noble family.
The ArchBishop -- Amon Ainsley
The Representative ArchBishop in charge of the Authority of Huey the First Pontiff, and Leader of the Ezekiel family of the seven Great Noble families.
The ArchBishop -- Earl Ezekiel
While sitting on the other side of the table were the Holy Paladins,
Under the Authority of Kine the Flamboyant, member by coronation of the Freshet family, side family branch of the Sunniva family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin Gunther Freshet.
Under the Authority of Kine the Flamboyant, member from the matrilineal line of the Sunniva Family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Armand Aubrecht.
Under the Authority of Kiady the Eternal, member from the matrilineal line of the Whiteley Family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Dominik Medvedik
Under the Authority of Aurora, Child of Storm, member from the matrilineal line of the Caelus Family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Ymir Altair
Under the Authority of Solomon the Loner, member from the matrilineal line of the Tempest family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Nikolaï Landon
Under the Authority of Authority of Sora, Daughter of the mountain, member born from the matrilineal line of the Meilen Imperial Royal Lineage family and from the Ezekiel family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Ilya Ezekiel
Under the Authority of Kiady the Eternal, a leader of the Whiteley family of the seven Great Noble families.
Holy Paladin -- Ivan Whiteley
With the exception of Holy Paladin Illya Ezekiel, who was the only woman among the fourteen alongside Karen Caelus, all of the Holy Paladins had for common appearance their very imposing physiques.
There were fourteen other people in the room, in addition to the seven Archbishops and seven Holy Paladins. These individuals were either the second or at least one of the fourteen most trusted attendants. Each of them was in an asymmetrical corner to their superior.
"Can we just get this thing started already?" I may not appear to be a busy person, but in truth I am." Archbishop Aubelli Tempest remarked, growing tired of this reunion that hasn't even begun.
"I guess you're right," Archbishop Ezekiel said before rising to begin the speech.
"First and foremost, I'd like to thank each of you on behalf of the Pontiff for your assistance with this septennial reunion of the Archbishop and Holy Paladin of the Cult of the seven Apostle. I understand that each of you is extremely busy, which is why I'd like to thank you all once again in my name for being present here neither less."
“Without further ado, let's dive right into the issues that brought us here. There won't be much to talk about this time because we were forced to reunite in the same place two years ago to take care of what was entrusted to us, though sadly it resulted in that disaster.”
Each of the fourteen faces stiffened when ArchBishop Ezekiel mentioned what happened two years ago, particularly the Holy Paladin's Armand Aubrecht and the Medvedick cousins'.
“What happened that night may have had a significant impact on some of you, which is why I will no longer, or at least try not to, bring it up too often during this reunion, but I'll be bound to it in some way.”
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“What do you mean?” several of them asked in unison.
Archbishop Ezekiel did not respond to their question; instead, he simply glanced at Archbishop Sunniva, who stood up from his seat to join him.
“I will be the one to explain this meeting’s topic.”
Each of the fourteen was perplexed by what had just occurred; after all, that individual was one of the most silent and self-isolated among them all. He's never stepped in before for a reunion.
“As some of you may know, the event of the “night Ecarlate” as they call it nowaday, as well as the shrinking of our human territory on the southern border and our inability to do anything about it, had sparked a great deal of discontent among both nobility and common folk.”
“We know that already, what of it. I doubt anyone is foolish enough to express an opinion about it loudly, at the very least, no one worth caring about did.”
“With all my due respect Paladin Ezekiel, you’re right but it is also where you’re wrong.”
“Huh?”
“As a result of the dissatisfaction with the events of the Night Ecarlate, a specific underground organization erupted and grew in power. This company consists of both commoners and nobles.”
“Oh…”
“Why don’t we just crush them?” one of them commented.
After all, it’s not like something wasn’t a first time for them. Who knows many organizations of that sort were crushed after a reunion like one.
“Which part of “underground organization” don’t you understand?”
“Huh,”
“Gentlemen, Please…”
“To be honest, I'm not sure why you're bringing it up here; shouldn't an ArchBishop be enough to handle it? … A group of noble and commoners it’s not like that type stupid combination were that scarce,... why just not killing their family as an exemple for those foolish enough to even remotely consider the idea. I doubt that any organization that was formed only what? ... two years ago could even remotely pose a threat to us, to a point of being worth mentioning here in this reunion.”
“Once again, I understand where you're coming from, but I must clarify one thing: that two-year-old organization is the result of a collaboration of three groups, two of which are very well known to each of you.”
“What groups?”
“The Eirwens Brotherhood, and the Scavengers.”
“What?!” each of them shouted unable to believe what they’ve heard.
These two groups were well-known among the highest-ranking churches; both were underground organizations known for their numerous heinous actions against the church and nobility.
Three brothers, the Eirweins, founded the Eirweins brotherhood. Although two of the three brothers are commoners, the cadet is born a child of light. These brothers were notorious for their heinous and despicable acts against the nobility and the church. Only two of these brothers are still alive, as the eldest was murdered by ArchBishop Sunnivah himself, but this only fueled their hatred for the church, prompting them to form the Eirweins brotherhood: a group of veteran aina-users who specialized in killing nobles.
Although it is unknown who founded the scavengers organization, the scope of their operations is well known by almost everyone in the church and nobility.
The organization's active members are nobility, and they are involved in one specific thing: kidnapping. They typically kidnap children from low-ranking noble families or children of light from within the church. It is unknown what these children go through while in their care, but once they are caught sight ever again, they usually have already become full-fledged members of the organization and actively participating in their main activity, which is kidnappings and, if necessary, killings.
“How?!” They asked after retrieving their spirit.
After all, despite being both underground organizations openly opposing the church, these two organizations were very different from one another.
“We don't know, but we think it's because of the third organization I mentioned earlier. They're known as the Mourning Widows, I believe.”
“The Mourning Widows?”
“Never heard of them. They must be new.”
“Yes, they are indeed new, I don’t know where exactly the name came from, but I assume it came from their black-veiled attires which resemble very much to widows attires.”
“Widows attires?”
“Then… “
“Yes, Paladin Freshet, every member of the Mourning Widows are women, though for the time being, we only know about four or so of them, one of whom I assume is that one girl.”
“That one girl?”
“Vicar Serana, was it?”
“Wait, do you think that ambush… was it them?!”
They had all heard about the ambush that killed dozens of Paladins, including a high-ranking Captain Paladins, a year and a half ago. These paladins were tasked with escorting a prisoner to the Holy Capital, and two dozen Paladin were dispatched to complete that mission; however, only a dozen corpses were recovered, implying that half of the Paladin dispatched for that mission went missing.
It was only natural for them to be the first to be suspected.
Following a thorough investigation, it was discovered that not only was half of the sent paladin missing, but so was their family as well.
Each of the suspected paladins had family scattered across the human continent, and the fact that they all vanished suggested one thing: the perpetrator of the crime had the means to relocate and hide each of the family members, whether it was financial or in terms of manpower.
“It was, indeed, them. And it was around that span of time that we caught our first information about that leader's first real direct involvement.”
“What do we know of her?”
“Nothing except for what I assume is a pseudonym she goes by…. Maa, I believe it is.”
“Maa?! What’s that supposed to mean? Sounds like a pseudonym a toddler would come up with.”
“Maybe my intel is erroneous about that name, However, we believe that she and her group are the ones who brought the Eirweins Brother and the Scavengers together.”
“How?! Isn’t this just a group of women?”
“Again, I'm not sure, but I believe two things allowed these two organizations to even consider collaborating: funding and our heads.”
“Are you telling us that these women promised them our head?”
The ArchBishop Sunnivah’s attendant approached him and handled him a strange metallic object and went on the opposite side of the room.
He then used wind magic to create a shield in front of him.
After the archbishop pointed the strange metallic object in the direction of the attendant, three consecutive deafening booms erupted from the strange metallic object.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“They may not be able to take our heads, but as long as we can prove that we, the church, are not as omnipotent as we wish to appear and are incapable of keeping track of the chaos they can cause, it would be their win. The event of the Night Ecarlate is a good example of that.” He said as he approached the attendant.
They all noticed how powerful and well done the shield was yet, the attendant was still pushed back from his position.
“This is what I believe has convinced the two organizations to form an alliance.” He said putting the metallic object he was holding onto the long table.
Smoke was coming out of what looked to be its canon.
Each of the people present knew that that thing wasn’t computed through magic.
And therefore could be wielded and computed by almost anyone.
They all simultaneously understood the danger which that thing represented.
They all understood what he meant, if that thing fell in mass onto the commoner's hand, it would be chaos.
“Crushing them would be simple, but once you show weakness, trust me, even those we trusted the most will not miss seeing us as a weak prey to prey on.” He said while glancing at the two Holy Paladin, who were blood related to the Imperial and Royal Lineages.
They were all completely silent for a long time when Archbishop Tempest asked one question.
One that they all had forgotten to ask.
"Bishop Sunniva, correct me if I'm wrong, but you never mentioned the name of that organization, correct?"
It was only then that they realized he had never mentioned the newly formed underground organization.
“Please excuse me, I almost forgot, They call themselves the “Aristocracy’”
Suddenly some of them burst into laughter;
“Aristocracy?!” But isn't it almost the same thing as Nobility? Aren't they supposed to be the ones beating the bad guys "us"? By using that name, it's as if they're boldly saying they simply want to take our place." the Holy paladin Freshet laughed.
“This demonstrates how little you know; the "Aristocracy" never pretended to be an organization opposing us in name of such thing as justice.“
“They are well aware that humanity requires nobility and the order that we, the church, provide, which is why it is not simply about wiping us out, but rather about subverting us.”
“So, believe me, the name "aristocracy" was quite in my opinion, a wise choice.”’
“They've been lurking in our shadows like bugs for the past two years, preparing for the upcoming war of usurpation they're so eagerly anticipating, and waiting for us to make a single mistake to rally even more partisans.”
“Remember our first and foremost duty: it is to keep the human continent in harmony before the arrival of that revering person. Which is why, Archbishops and Holy Paladins, I would like to ask you. Put an end to anything that can further tarnish our name and image; I know you all have your reasons for doing what you're doing, but I'd like you to put them on hold at least until this problem is resolved.” Archbishop Ezekiel said as he concluded the reunion of the fourteen most powerful and influential men and women on the Human Continent.