Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 398 Mobilization
News of Nora's death in the North and the decapitation of her quickly spread throughout the island.

The official newspaper published by Castells devoted three full pages to reporting the background and consequences of Nora's incident.

From workers to Christian friars, from fire-chasing moths to harbingers of death, everyone was talking about it.

Some people know Nora, the short little girl who, though not very talkative and with somewhat rudimentary medical skills, never hesitates to help the people on the island.

She also helped the villagers drive away wild animals and used a chain to slap the backsides of coyotes that stole food. Although these were all trivial matters, many people remember this white-haired girl.

She wore somewhat inappropriate heavy clothing, and her customs differed from those of the islanders, but her kindness was the same.

Nora has always been like this; she would risk her life to save refugees in the North and help the poor on the islands, even though she herself is struggling financially.

Word of mouth always spreads quickly, and before long, the islanders began to recount many of the little things she had done, and this somewhat distant name gradually became more concrete.

The workers recounted her past, and the friars were also discussing Nora.

Previously, there were often spontaneous study groups in the Church of Imperial Truth, but now they are talking more about Nora and the North.

Hughes always warned the apologists against engaging in constant cult of quantity, but the apologists unanimously agreed that the problem should indeed be solved using quantity.

They may not have seen Nora, but who hasn't seen a few notorious noble lords?
How could the Christian Guardians tolerate such a thing as wantonly slaughtering refugees, and even sending heads to provoke Castells despite Castells' clear intention to take them in?

These northern lords may not respect the Guardians of the Faith, but they must respect the equivalence. If they do not respect the equivalence, the Guardians of the Faith will use the equivalence to reason with them.

Soon, the entire church was filled with the sounds of discussion.

Hughes did not reply, but the next day's newspaper devoted an entire page to a new manifesto, detailing the crimes of the lords and describing Nora's bravery in battle and her selflessness in helping refugees, as if she were a saint suffering on earth.

Everyone who finished reading the newspaper was filled with rage. Soldiers' petitions for battle were stuffed into Alexei's office like snowflakes, and finally ended up on Hughes's desk.

Hughes still did not reply.

On the third day, the newspapers published nothing else, just a brief message—Castel would be holding a mobilization meeting, and everyone would have a day off to come to the cathedral to listen to the mobilization speech.

There was no explicit mention of what kind of mobilization it was, but everyone knew it.

No one has said who they will fight, but everyone is eager and ready to go.

In this atmosphere, the mobilization meeting was held.

The workers and apologists of Castel gathered in the courtyard of the cathedral.

The atrium is the very center of Castel Cathedral, below which is the stellar furnace, surrounded by the most imposing parts of the cathedral, with a huge skylight in the middle.

People stood at the railings on each floor, looking towards Hughes in the center.

Hughes said nothing. He simply took the box from Galahad, cradled Nora's head in his hands, and walked up the spiraling staircase in the courtyard.

People whispered among themselves, then fell silent as Hughes walked past them, staring intently at the girl's head.

Hughes made no mobilization, no speech, no stirring of emotions; he simply carried Nora's head past each person.

Suppressed anger, like surging waves, echoed from everyone's chest, gradually gathering into a tsunami that swept everything away.

Everyone seemed to become one, and anger could flow freely within them.

Hughes walked up the steps one by one, and the noisy sounds gradually quieted down. When he reached the top, the church, which was filled with thousands of people, was completely silent.

He gently placed Nora's head beside the memorial to the victims, not far from Chloe.

Then he turned around and looked at the people in the church. Countless eyes fell on him, and the same anger blared on different faces.

Hughes paused for a moment, then spoke softly:
"Let's start the war."

Like gunpowder that had been ignited in an instant, the entire courtyard erupted in a frenzy.

People from all directions responded to their lord with roars, raising their fists, wrenches, guns, and bayonets.

The deafening sound reverberated throughout the church, winding its way up from the atrium and soaring into the sky.

Galahad stood below the courtyard, looking at the roaring and cheering crowd around him, his expression one of shock.

He was no stranger to pre-battle mobilizations; the prince was particularly adept at it, always able to deliver a powerful speech that inspired the soldiers' fighting spirit and made them willing to die for him.

All Keshus did was walk up to the high platform and declare war, and the people responded to their lord with the most intense emotions.

That fervor and anger were unmistakable; Galahad could see the turmoil in their hearts at a glance.

But how did he manage that? Hughes only declared war!

Galahad stood bewildered in the crowd until a newspaper, seemingly thrown down by someone, landed in front of him.

Newspapers were nothing new to him; he had seen them in the Rhineland before, and he had been reading them every day during his stay in Castells.

I must admit that those reports and manifestos were very well written.

Although Galahad was not a Castel, reading the newspaper reports still filled him with anger and repression, making him want to grab his sword and immediately march to the North.

How would the Castel people, who grew up here, feel after seeing this?

In the past few days, Galahad has heard people discussing this matter every day, their emotions like steel in a furnace, being repeatedly hammered and becoming increasingly scorching.

Today's mobilization meeting is merely the tip of the iceberg; the real mobilization began days ago, through newspaper articles, public discourse in factories and churches—these were the mobilization meetings held throughout Castells.

Hughes didn't need to say anything; all he needed to do was give the powder keg a lit match.

Galahad was jolted awake, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning, and suddenly understood what Hughes had done.

This is the true purpose of newspapers. Those newspapers in the Rhine that only report gossip are simply laughably naive in the face of Castel.

Looking at Hughes standing high up, Galahad suddenly felt a sense of fear. He could manipulate steel and also manipulate people's hearts. Even the legendary gods were no more than this.
On the monument in the church, Nora slowly opened her eyes. She glanced at Chloe's diary not far away, her expression becoming somewhat strange.

After thinking for a moment, she took the initiative to greet her: "Chloe from the Candlelight Vigil?"

No, it's not anymore.

After a moment of silence, a line appeared in Chloe's diary:

Nora of the Silent Sanctuary?

Nora's face twitched.

No, it's not anymore.

An awkward silence enveloped the two of them.

(End of this chapter)