When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 1107 Small Cleanup

An almost frozen silence permeated the corridors of the Holy See Building.

At 8:30, the air would normally be filled with the sounds of turning over official documents, the hurried footsteps of administrative staff, and the constant reports from various departments.

But this morning, these sounds seemed to be cut off by an invisible hand.

On the third floor, Abel, in the Privy Council's Secretariat, clutched the attendance book in his hand, scratching his balding head in confusion.

At 8:30, when the monks should have been arriving one after another and the place should have been busiest, the workstations were now empty.

He looked up at the Holy See office diagonally opposite, which was even more outrageous.

All three desks were empty, and even the coffee pot, which was always steaming hot, was completely cold.

"Where's Ryan? He said yesterday that he would submit the peat blending plan today," a young monk at the next table muttered quietly.

Abel's Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't dare to reply.

He had previously asked the military police on duty, and the only reply he received was, "Ordered to participate in training."

When he pressed for details about the training location and return date, the military policeman suddenly tensed up and said, "That's none of your business."

Similar conversations played out repeatedly throughout the morning in various corners of the building.

No one knew where those colleagues who had suddenly disappeared had gone, and no one dared to ask any further questions.

The Holy See building was completely silent, and everyone sensed something was amiss in that silence.

However, once 8:45 had passed, they all picked up their briefcases and headed toward the highest chapel next to the Holy See Building.

Around nine o'clock, with the wheels chasing the snowflakes, Horn's carriage finally arrived.

He had just stepped off the carriage when he saw Shilov waiting under the hall’s corridor.

"What are you waiting here for?" Horn had a vague idea of ​​what she was there for.

Sylvie had the longest contact with these loyal heirs, many of whom were her students. Someone must have passed on a message to Sylvie, asking her to plead for them.

“You’ve already guessed.” Shilov paused. “They are guilty and deserve punishment. I don’t expect you to pardon them, but at least consider their parents and their achievements, don’t let it be the death penalty.”

"This is not my decision; it is their own decision and the law."

"Does it have to be this way?"

The corridor fell silent for a moment.

At the top of the auditorium, the spire pierced the clouds, and the white breath exhaled was instantly swept away by the cold wind.

Horn went around behind Sylph and pushed her into the warm hall, speaking as they went.

"I believe that with stable economic development, as the saying goes, if a machine can run, there's no need to tamper with it."

So as long as those old bureaucrats did a good job, they were given a chance to make amends, and were even willing to be promoted. But what happened?

Look at Zhongsi again. I think that sending them out can change the underlying environment of the empire and reverse the trend.

And look how these loyal heirs have fallen into depravity! If there were truly bad people among the masses, that would be one thing!

But the truth is, they were assimilated by the empire and became the new bishops sitting in churches.

The rapid economic development of the Holy Alliance has never solved the problems; it has only covered them up, making it appear as if they have been solved.

“I knew they would corrupt, but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.” At this point, Horn suddenly stopped pushing forward. “Ten years, it’s been ten years already. In the end, I’ve also become addicted to the pleasures of life.”

The fireplace, combined with the heating, makes one feel itchy and dizzy to the bone, and all one wants to do is take a lazy afternoon nap or chat.

Has he himself stayed in this warm and cozy center of power for too long, forgetting the days when he was gnawing on sweet potato roots in the Black Bone Swamp?
"Can't we give them one last chance?" Shilov pleaded, her furry wolf ears drooping back.

“No.” Horn refused decisively. “A severe sentence is necessary to set the record straight. The best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, and the second best time is now.”

Seeing that Shilov was visibly disappointed, Horn reached out and gently rubbed her head, his tone kind but his words incredibly cruel.

"We can never get rid of corruption unless we have a nationwide system for planning the economy and allocating resources that is far smarter than human beings. But we don't have one, and it's unlikely we will. So accept it: many of our loved ones will one day fall under our swords."

We all live long lives, and these things will keep happening. You have to adapt, I have to adapt, and everyone has to adapt.

Watching Horn's departing figure, Shilov silently turned her wheelchair around, but her mind wasn't on Tadashi's matter.

The image of "a nationwide-level planning economy and resource allocation machine that is much smarter than a human being" kept echoing in her mind.

Turning around and stepping onto the steps leading to the auditorium, the bronze doors slowly opened in front of Horn, and the scene inside instantly came into view.

As he entered, hundreds of high-ranking officials dressed in various colored robes and monks' uniforms stood up in unison, and a wave of applause surged forth.

Horn did not raise his hand to signal for quiet as usual; he simply stood on the podium, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

The applause gradually thinned out and finally disappeared completely into the silence, leaving only the occasional soft popping of firewood in the fireplace.

"Gentlemen," Horn began, "the first thing I need to do today is not to deploy new plans, but to repent to the Father and apologize to all the believers of the Holy Alliance."

A murmur rippled through the audience, and the cardinals in the front row straightened up in unison, their faces filled with astonishment.

Horn hadn't informed them about this beforehand.

"In the past six months, the St. Armory Civil Engineering Corruption Case, the Caxia County Paddle Cart Incident... one after another." Horn slammed his fist heavily on the podium. "This is all my dereliction of duty!"

"The Father and the faithful entrusted me with the papacy, and I have made a mess of it. I am guilty before the Holy See, I have failed the faithful, and I have failed the Father. I wish I could depose myself."

“Your Majesty is too kind!” Cardinal Thomas, in the first row on the right, quickly spoke up, “The Holy Alliance is what it is today thanks to Your Majesty’s wise leadership, and a little corruption…”

“A little? That’s very little.” Horn sneered, his gaze sweeping across the room: “Thomas, ask everyone here, who dares to say they don’t have any corrupt officials under their command?”

The auditorium was so quiet that you could hear the snowflakes hitting the glass windows.

Everyone kept their heads down, and no one dared to meet Horn's gaze.

"There were a total of five administrative monks in the Planning Department, and I had to dismiss four of them."

Of the six directors of the Holy Trinity City Hall, I have no choice but to dismiss three of them.

Look at these seven people. Which one of them isn't a war hero? Which one isn't a loyal heir? Which one isn't just like my own children?

They're rotten, my heart is breaking!

Several elders who had worked with the dismissed officials lowered their heads, their shoulders trembling slightly, whether from fear or regret, it was hard to tell.

The young monks sitting in the back row were pale-faced. Most of them had been promoted in recent years. As the names of the senior monks they once looked up to were read out one by one, their faces were full of shock and bewilderment.

“Those who come from the Loyal Succession Academy have been out of touch with reality for too long.” Horn’s voice regained its composure. “The latest batch of Loyal Successors will all be sent to the impoverished villages of Shattered Stone Plains and Mountain County for a two-year observation period before returning.”

As for Zhongsi Academy, an extra month of training is added each year to help farmers and workers, sending them to dig, forge iron, and go down into the mine.

"Don't say I'm mistreating Tadashi; if their parents were still alive, they'd be even angrier than I am to see them like this."

Horn didn't even glance at the people who had lost their composure, but simply raised his chin towards Thomas: "Starting immediately, launch a self-inspection campaign throughout the entire Holy Alliance."

Furthermore, representatives of local advisory councils have the right to submit complaint letters directly to me, and no one may obstruct this process.

"Your Majesty!" A voice suddenly spoke from the left. It was the deputy mayor of the Holy Mechanism Court. His face was ashen, and his lips trembled. "Won't this...won't this shake the foundation? After all, it involves too many people..."

Horn ignored him, and slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the faces below the stage, some fearful, some resistant, and some secretly hoping for a lucky break.

"Am I being too lenient?" he suddenly asked. "So lenient that you've forgotten how the War of the Thousand Rivers Valley was fought?"

The hall, which had been filled with whispers, suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

“I know some of you are already halfway to becoming devils. Take this opportunity to think it over.”

Horn walked to the door and added one last sentence.

"The Cheka is assisting in this campaign to rectify conduct."

(End of this chapter)