Chapter 280 - 21: Transfer of Rights
Philip’s proud head now silently hung down, and after a long silence, his gaze drifted across the faces of both men, finally fixing on the other: "It is an honor for our Homer region that the Church of Light holds us in such high esteem. May I know what kind of support the Homer region can offer to the Church?"
The relationship between the Church of Light and Duke Philip has never been good, and many years ago the two even became adversaries over some matters. If it hadn’t been for someone mediating back then, who knows how much their relationship would have deteriorated. Although there are still a certain number of Mages of the Church of Light within his own Mage Corps, over the years, Philip has been intentionally reducing his dependence on the Church of Light, instead recruiting Mages from other places. This made the Church of Light even more suspicious of the religious policies in the Homer region, fearing that the Homer region might be the first to lift restrictions within the Kingdom of Nicosia against Dark Class religions, adopting even more relaxed or completely open policies, which is undoubtedly unacceptable to the Church of Light.
"Your Grace, I think you may have some deep misunderstandings about our Church of Light. Let’s not dwell on who was right or wrong in the past. It has been so long since that incident, and both the Kingdom’s Privy Council and Archbishop Jazair have mediated between us, so that matter should have been resolved. However, I have found that Your Grace still holds certain biases against our Church of Light. For example, in the appointment of personnel in the Mage Corps, Your Grace would rather spend a huge sum of money and effort to hire from abroad than invite Mages or Priests from our Church of Light to join the Homer Mage Corps. But personally, I believe that these are within Your Grace’s right, and I do not wish to comment further. However, as for the Kingdom’s religious national policy, banning the appearance of Dark Forces within the Kingdom’s territory is a unanimous agreement reached by all regions of the Kingdom, including Homer, and our Church of Light. If we allow Dark Forces to spread within our own territories, the consequences will be unprecedentedly severe. Once the evil Dark Forces gain control over the people’s thoughts and faith, the whole continent will be shrouded in a storm of blood and carnage. I imagine Your Grace should be aware of the suffering that the common people endured during the Dark Empire’s reign hundreds of years ago. Think of those sinister Necromancers, Soul Wizards, and Dark Sorcerers coming with all kinds of undead creatures, anomalies, and Magical Beasts. Think of the honest folk becoming mad by the invasion of these radical and shadowy thoughts. What would the world become? I believe any Lord with a sense of justice and responsibility for the people of his territory would not wish to see this phenomenon occur. Of course, Duke Philip would not want to see it either!"
The speaker is also an influential person in the entire Homer region, the Chief Mage of the Homer Mage Corps, and a significant missionary sent by the Church of Light to the Homer region. Of course, his main duty is not to preach—that is the job of the Priests and Clerics—his responsibility is first to ensure the absolute status of the Church of Light in the region, second to prevent and eradicate the presence of Dark Forces in the region, and third to assist the secular Lords in maintaining their rule, with the first point being his main duty. It can be said that since Onassis became the Chief Mage of the Homer Mage Corps, the relationship between the Church of Light and the rulers of the Homer region had grown much more harmonious. The Bishop in charge of the region also carried out the Church’s intentions, on one hand, downplaying the struggle for secular power to avoid direct conflict with the upper echelons of Homer, and on the other hand, actively extending their influence beyond Cyprus, trying to maintain the Church of Light’s control in the region this way.
"We have always hoped that Homer could become a model region in the Kingdom. After all, Homer is one of the most important regions in the Kingdom of Nicosia. Seeing the relationship between the Central Kingdom and Homer get to this point, our Church of Light is also deeply concerned. The beastmen are eyeing us greedily from the North, yet the Kingdom might erupt into conflict under such circumstances, which I believe is not what any side wishes to see. Therefore, we hope that both the Central Kingdom and Homer can be more rational and pragmatic, not letting some economic interest conflicts get out of hand. Taking a step back may lead to a clearer and broader perspective. Our Church of Light is also willing to mediate for Your Grace, to prevent the escalation of this conflict."
Facing these somewhat long-winded preachings of Priest Onassis, Philip’s expression remained unchanged, while internally he felt immense contempt. If this man’s Magical Skills and level could be described as first-class, with no one in his own Mage Corps able to match him, yet his character was not as pure and righteous as his sanctimonious appearance suggested. This man was quite good at disguise, and he approached others with honeyed words but a heart full of daggers, often deceiving people with his sincere and friendly demeanor. However, for someone like Philip, who had spent a lifetime entrenched in schemes and statecraft, these tricks were not enough to fool his senses.