Vestach was a hard man to read, a trait that was quite typical of the aged members that held the most prominent positions within the church. At only a pace and a half in height, the archbishop was hardly taller than the Inverted boy that had just been sent to the palace’s lower chambers, with a pudgy face that was so full with wrinkles that the man had always reminded Maels of a sly old bulldog.
“Enough formalities. My time is short and I have much to tell you.”
Could it be a new assignment?
Maels fixed an expectant stare at his direct superior. A product of carefully refracted rays of light, Vestach’s transparent figure looked identical to his actual appearance in all aspects save for the bright outline of golden illumination that surrounded his frame. If Maels were to perform the same spell, there wouldn’t be nearly as much residual magic spilling off of the light projection, a product of poor energy consolidation.
“Please instruct me, Your Eminence.”
“Are you familiar with Bishop Rendel?”
“Of Archbishop Tellen’s faction?”
Tellen and his people were in direct conflict with Vestach, as the two were currently vying for Cardinal Varus’s position.
Vestach nodded, slow and solemn. “It’s still a secret, but he’s been on our side for quite some time.”
Maels was genuinely surprised, though not to the point of disbelief. Members of the Collegia of Clergymen changed affiliations often, after all.
“When did that happen?”
“It’s not important. What matters is that he has recently contacted me with some troubling news. Are you familiar with Billu the Craftsman?”
Maels shook his head, having never heard of the name.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Only a handful of people living today know even a little bit about the man, and for good reason.”
Taking the pause as an invitation to inquire, Maels asked, “What did he do?”
“In his time, he was a very talented inventor that worked under a bishop here in the Providence Region. His research was what ended the Great Famine that followed some centuries after the Inverted Wars, for it was he who discovered how to safely enchant food. Because of him, even simple bowls of porridge can now contain enough energy to keep a person full for much of the day.”
Many lords relied on food enchantments to feed their slaves and lesser servants at the lowest possible cost, to the extent that they were now a necessary part of daily life for millions of people all across the continent.
“He’s the one who invented that spell?” Suspicions brewing, Maels asked, “Why isn’t this known to the public?”
“Because of his final invention. He found a way to mass produce books without relying on magic.”
Understanding immediately dawned on Maels. There already existed several copying spells that could enable one to make multiple copies of a written work in one sitting, though these still required a mage to write out the contents in full while other quills would magically follow the same path upon the surfaces of different pages. Like this, four books could be copied in place of a single one, even more depending on the mage’s capabilities. As things were, it was mostly the church that created multiple copies of a given work, such as the Testament of Lucian’s Word that documented the historical background and core beliefs of the religion. Because of this, along with the fact that books were very expensive due to their scarcity, the small amount of commoners that were capable of reading could only access a limited amount of literature, namely works related to Lucianism.
Many among the clergy took advantage of the illiterate population to misrepresent the Word of Lucian for their own benefit, which was something that Maels was secretly striving to change. Unfortunately for this Billu the Craftsman, his incredible invention had presented an opportunity to raise the empire’s literacy rate by a significant degree, which would have threatened the ability of the church as well as the aristocracy to misguide and thus take advantage of ignorant believers under the guise of following Lucian’s Word.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
So this has been happening for hundreds of years. Maels could only wonder how many other people like Billu had been silenced and snuffed out of the public eye for threatening the church’s dominant position within the empire.
“And what is the connection between this craftsman and Bishop Rendel?”
“There appears to be a group within his diocese that have uncovered some of Billu’s old research notes, and they’re currently in the midst of attempting to recreate his inventions.” An odd look crossed through the old man’s eyes, a mixture of excitement and unease. “One of them is the contraption that Billu had relied on to create copies of books all those years ago.”
“So you hope to silence them as well? I’m sure Rendel can handle such a thing on his own. All he has to do is arrest the ones involved and destroy their work.”
“The fact that I’m talking to you about it means that it’s obviously not that simple. There are several magi involved, along with a handful of well-known researchers within their kingdom.”
Several magi involved? If Maels recalled correctly, Rendel’s diocese was located in the Kingdom of Civus, specifically in a small county on the empire’s least developed frontier. Let alone the county, there were only a handful of magi within the kingdom itself, especially considering the fact that the rough-handed nobles in that area valued the way of the sword so highly that there was only a single arcannia in the entire kingdom, which was unheard of in the rest of the world.
“Who are the magi, and what tiers are they in?”
“You’ll be briefed on that later. For now, what matters is that they’ve received both support and funding from the local count. It’s him that I want you to keep an eye on.”
Maels suddenly understood the complexity of the issue. He had long since memorized all of the prominent families within the empire and was well aware of what type of man King Glenden Silverkin was. Even if the rumours about him disliking his youngest son were true, he was somebody that placed an immense value on the prestige of his royal family as well as his own personal image. Small though his kingdom might have been, he was one of the only kings in the empire with a standing army under his employ and he was also one of the most powerful people on the continent when it came to individual capabilities in combat. Since he and his forces were the greatest buffer against foreign aggression that they had in the region, the church couldn’t make a public arrest of one of his direct descendants, especially since he had been lifelong friends with the current emperor.
“You don’t intend for me to kill him, do you? The count of Distan?”
Vestach shook his head. “Not necessarily. Send some people to observe him first, in order to confirm that Rendel wasn’t lying. If his claims turn out to be true, then you are to report back to me as soon as you uncover the truth and I’ll tell you what it is that you need to do next. Rendel may have agreed to side with us, but he could very well be doing so at the behest of Archbishop Tellen, so we can’t act rashly.”
“In the event that he’s telling the truth, do you think he’ll also inform Tellen?”
“He has no choice. If we solve this problem and inform the pope of our accomplishment, they will immediately learn of Rendel’s newfound allegiance. Not only would we lose a valuable mole, but it would make them question the allegiance of others. That isn’t something that I want to happen.”
Such a sly old fox, thought Maels, who found himself wondering just how many hidden cards the old man was hiding up his sleeves. As much as he disdained to think it, the pope was certainly the sort to value the preservation of the current status quo, and thus would surely reward Vestach with his good favour should he discover that the man’s faction had prevented a second Billu the Craftsman from appearing on the continent.
“Remember, this is a delicate situation, so discretion is key. After seeing how things have developed in Baldor, the noble factions within the empire have been pushing back against the church for quite some time and it’s getting worse as of late. If they were to learn of the research being conducted in Distan, regardless of whether it’s before or after we handle it, they’ll surely use the information to rile the common folk in the hopes of creating division between the church and its believers.”
Maels saw the validity of the archbishop’s words. Baldor had once been similar to the Holy Lucian Empire, a civilization run by a marriage of church and state. About a century ago, however, a great upheaval had taken place that saw the church lose most of its authority within the neighbouring empire, though Lucianism was still very common there. Since then, the noble factions at home had begun to scheme and connive like never before, to the extent that bishops outside of Providence Region no longer held equal authority to the local lords.
“I’ll do as you ask.” Bowing deeply, Maels looked up and inquired, “Is there anything else that you wish of me?”
“Yes, but such things will have to wait until our next conversation.” Vestach folded his hands behind his back and adopted a dismissive expression. “I’ll be paying a visit to Karolen in the coming weeks, so make sure to prepare a nice room in that palace of yours for me. Ah, and I’ve heard that you’ve been having some troubles with the energy supply for the estate. Don’t hesitate to ask me for assistance if you need it.”
“Thank you for your concern, Your Eminence, but I wouldn’t dare to trouble you with such triflings.”