EP.133
“Bishop Valiera, could you please tell me once again what the Holy Father wants?”
“great. The Holy Father does not intend to go so far as to ask the Francois Republic and the Reich Empire to continue their war. However, he said that even though a country on the Europa continent must adhere to the teachings of the Deus Church, it cannot forgive the Republic to this extent for plundering your country without even declaring war properly.”
“Aren’t Robespierre and other members of the main faction already being interrogated for heresy, and didn’t you receive a large amount of atonement money of 200,000 gold? In addition, in the Republic, an apology mass is held every Sabbath in hopes of rescinding the excommunication.”
To be honest, it is we who suffered the loss, and it is the army of the Reich Empire that received territory and compensation through discipline in the form of war.
I don’t understand why those church bastards are going this far and telling us to shut up, attack once more, and die fighting for the dignity of the Deus Church.
However, we, the Reich Empire, cannot turn our backs on the Church, so we will have to endure it.
Damn church bastards. It’s no different from Catholicism before the Reformation…
“I know. However, the Holy Father, as the chief shepherd of the Deus Church, believes that the Republic’s atrocities should be punished more severely. So, if they want to prove that they are remorseful, they will have to offer more atonement.”
And the atonement would be hundreds of thousands of gold in cash or a policy that could increase the authority of the Pope.
He also told His Highness the Crown Prince that they would demand either money or expansion of influence to strengthen their power, so in preparation for such a situation, he received permission to transfer anything other than territory as an emissary.
Please tell us how to increase the church’s influence within the Reich Empire. Through this war, we have secured a huge amount of land and a lot of compensation.
In order to save the face of the church, he promised to build a cathedral to commemorate the victory and proposed that the emperor shout “Long Live the Pope” there.
It may be possible to promise to increase the authority that the church can exercise within the empire.
I have no intention of letting a church run rampant in the empire that meddles in such a way that it is not satisfied with the 200,000 gold equivalent to a year’s worth of living expenses for 200,000 citizens of the empire, which is equivalent to one year’s living expenses, and is not satisfied with locking them up.
No, to be precise, there is no room for the church to interfere in the internal affairs of the empire.
“First of all, since the bishop who came as a royal envoy responded so kindly, I desperately want to help in any way possible. “For my part, I would like to offer a better proposal other than receiving more compensation in return for relieving the Francois Republic of its excommunication.”
Bishop Valiera nodded and said with interest after hearing that.
“If it’s from Director Jaeger, not someone else, you should listen to it. Anyway, aren’t you the master who demonstrated the power of Deus in person in Hattin Forest?”
A bit of a sarcastic nuance. To be honest, the bishop is showing a lot of discomfort, saying, “Why am I going against the Pope’s will?”
However, the reason they are willing to listen to me is because the emperor and crown prince have appointed me as the person to negotiate directly with them as the Pope’s emissary.
The Vatican is already saying that the victory in the Battle of Hattin Forest, where the 10,000-strong army of the Republic was defeated with only 4,000 men, was annihilated by the power of Deus.
As the commander of the 12th Brigade, he probably decided that he should listen to what I had to say.
However, they even issued a warning that they would feel very upset if they said something that was not interesting to them.
Damn dismal church bastards. I wish Deus would catch those bastards.
“I will ask you directly. Is it true that your Holiness the Pope has no intention of getting involved in worldly affairs any more in the future? Or do you plan to directly scold and teach those who break the teachings of Deus, as the previous popes did?”
To scold and teach here simply refers to appropriately interfering with things such as starting a war or negotiating with secular countries.
If there is a country that wants to declare war on another country, they should bring a huge donation and ask the Pope to make a justification, and he will listen.
Or, if a country that wants to stop the war asks the Pope for help, they offer a mediation plan, go to mediation, and collect huge donations here as well.
The Pope will try to expand his power and influence by exercising that influence.
At those words, the bishop frowned slightly and responded in an angry voice.
“It is natural for the Holy Father to give instructions to secular nations! But how can you say something like that?”
As expected, the Holy Father seems to want to continue to wield the authority of the Pope rather than making a short-sighted decision to take this opportunity to receive a little more money.
If so, it will be easier to proceed with negotiations the way I want.
This is because the papacy is ultimately considered authoritative only if it is exercised at a level that all countries on the European continent can agree on.
If you’re talking nonsense, you’ll be seen as something worthless.
As evidence, the reason why Henry IV was excommunicated in an incident called the Humiliation of Canossa was because when the Pope declared that only the Pope would have the right to appoint clergy, he refuted it and said that the Emperor would also have it.
At this time, this was possible because all the princes of the Holy Roman Empire stood on the Pope’s side and supported the emperor’s excommunication.
This is the same for the Pope of Deus, who has absolute authority on the continent of Europa, so if he says nonsense that other countries cannot agree with, the Pope’s authority will not be respected.
“Then look at this with the heart of a parent and shepherd. The politicians of the Francois Republic had already handed over Robespierre, the chairman who committed the atrocities that led to this war, and other members of the council to the inquisitors and even paid them an atonement of 200,000 gold. This was possible because he had already expressed enough regret and repentance. “If you ask for any more atonement, they will not be able to accept it.”
“That makes a lot of sense. However, forgiveness cannot be obtained just because the sinner does not understand what a sin is…” “
I agree with that. However, other worldly monarchs and even our Emperor think that the François Republic has paid enough price to be forgiven. But if the Vatican continues to oppose it, how will other countries view it? “Wouldn’t it be tempting to think that we shouldn’t seek mediation from the Church because the Pope’s fiery anger might prevent us from stopping the war when it should?”
When the bishop heard those words, he looked as if he would have hit his bald forehead if he had gone a little further.
In fact, it would be safe to say that everything has passed.
“Think about the future. “In order for the Holy Father to truly earn the respect of worldly powers, he must approach them at a level they can understand.”
As I said, it is best for both the Empire and the Holy See to settle the excommunication of the François Republic right here.
Moreover, as I hinted, the two countries openly offering donations to the Pope in order to get a justification for declaring war and begging him to call that bastard a bad guy will not happen unless the monarchs are quite crazy.
In the end, unless they declare war by plundering about three baronies in a preemptive attack like we did, there will be no need to directly ask the church for excommunication or anything like that.
Because war-making monarchs usually know that today’s enemy may become tomorrow’s best friend.
Unless they are confident that they can completely eliminate the enemy, they will try to avoid dragging it into the church and causing bad feelings that cannot be eradicated.
However, after the war is over, to strengthen their cause, or when the war is too delayed and difficult, they will send a bundle of donations to the church and secretly request mediation.
Doing so will make it difficult for the other party to break the treaty at will.
That’s because if you break a treaty and declare war without reason, you’ll be excommunicated unless you’re lucky.
And the bishop, who had been lost in thought for a long time, nodded his head at what I said and said,
“The Holy Father is a man of such integrity and innocence that he was angry at the Republic for committing an atrocity worthy of excommunication, but if the Empire, the victim, offers to forgive him, I don’t think he can demand any more atonement. I will give a good word to Your Holiness. But…”
I answered those words as quickly as I could.
“We will hold a grand mass in the next few days to celebrate victory in the war against the Francois Republic. In addition, I received great grace from Deus there, so I will gladly testify to his greatness.”
“Hehe, Director, it seems like you have the ability to see through my heart.”
“As someone who serves Deus, it is a natural thing to do. “Then, can we now have the Francois Republic’s excommunication revoked by holding a victory celebration mass?”
Instead of answering me verbally, the bishop held out his signet ring.
“I understand that you have agreed.”
In this way, I succeeded in somehow preventing the disaster of a war with the Francois Republic without spending any additional money.
A huge feeling of discomfort remained. This must be dangerous.
So, I submitted a report to the emperor and crown prince containing the grounds and circumstances that the church bastards were concerned that they might do something crazy.
A word from the author (author review)
Episode 133 posted at noon today. I will edit it and upload it again.
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