Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 239 Divine Grace Potion
Benjamin had been staying in a hotel in downtown for the past few days, anxiously awaiting a reply from the church's big shot.

The towering walls of the royal capital divide Jinhui City into two urban areas, the upper and lower districts. Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, strict entry and exit controls are implemented. No matter whether they are nobles or merchants, they need to pass the strict inspection of the church's trial army before they can move into the upper district to temporarily avoid the plague. Once there are signs of coughing up blood and abdominal distension, they will be prohibited from entering. No one can use connections to get in through the back door.

But even so, it still couldn't stop the spread of the plague. Yesterday, he had heard rumors that some country nobles and wealthy civilian businessmen who had recently moved into the upper city were infected. Fortunately, the church urgently sent a batch of divine potions from Goris, which greatly delayed the outbreak and spread of the plague. Otherwise, even His Majesty the Grand Duke himself would have to temporarily evacuate the capital to seek refuge.

More and more sick people gathered outside Jinhui City. All the major city gates have been completely closed, and outsiders are prohibited from entering the city at will. However, since the people learned that the church had sent divine potions, desperate civilians who were sick rushed to the city gates every day. Many believers also gathered in the city and surrounded the Guanghui Church in the lower city, hoping to seek the divine potion to save their lives and those of their families.

A large number of corpses that died from the plague were piled up and burned together. Even if you were in the upper city, you could faintly smell the strong burnt stench of the burning corpses.

In the evening, there was finally a knock on the hotel door.

The Rat King looked a little embarrassed. After all, he did not enter the upper city for refuge through the formal review process, but sneaked into the upper city through some underground pipes in the city that only underground gang members knew about.

"What should I do now? Damn those evil wizards for creating this horrible plague. Unfortunately, some of my men have been infected..."

Benjamin's eyes narrowed and he immediately leaned against the door to keep him out.

"Wait! Wait... I'm not infected! Can't you see that?" The Rat King anxiously grasped the door frame and forced his way in through the gap. He took a breath and said, "I came to ask you, what should we do with those children now? I got them all for you, and now they're all in your hands. When will we send them to that important person?"

Benjamin rolled his eyes, slumped in his chair, and said weakly, "Still thinking about making a fortune in business? With the plague rampant now, who would dare to accept a living person sent from the lower city? That gentleman hasn't contacted me for several days... Saving my life is the most important thing now. I have to find a way to get a divine potion from the church. Otherwise, if I really get infected, I will lose my life in a few days..."

……

In the prayer room of the Glorious Cathedral, Priest Malfoy was smiling and looking down at a wealthy businessman who was lying at his feet.

The other person had a slightly fat and bloated figure, and at this moment he was crouching on the ground in an unusually pious manner, his body trembling slightly.

His only son had just returned to the city from his villa in the countryside a few days ago. That night, he was found to be infected with the plague. Horrifying dark green mold spots began to appear on his skin. Now, in just two days, his stomach has swollen like a pregnant woman about to give birth. Every few hours, he vomits fishy and smelly black semi-coagulated blood clots. If this continues, he might not even survive tonight.

"Why didn't you come to the Glorious Mass in person last month? Have your faith in our Lord wavered?" Priest Malfoy asked gently.

"My Lord... My Lord! My faith in my Lord has absolutely not wavered. Please save my child. He is my only son! I beg you..."

"Tsk... the potion sent from Gorris is for use by His Majesty the Grand Duke and the nobles of the royal court. It's too scarce, and I can't give it to you casually..." Malfoy explained slowly, "Wait a little longer, new potion will be delivered in a while, I'll keep an eye out for you..." The rich businessman raised his head, tears streaming down his fat face, and reached out to grab the hem of the priest's robe and begged.

"Lord Malfoy! I'm afraid my child won't even make it through tonight! Please be flexible and give me a potion! I... I am willing to donate half of my property to the church to prove my piety and devotion to the Lord!"

The priest tilted his head slightly, beckoned a deacon to come forward, took out a potion in a glass bottle from the box in his hand, helped the rich businessman up, and handed it to him.

"Never mind... This potion was originally used by priests themselves. Use it to save your child's life... Don't forget the promise you made to my Lord."

The wealthy businessman's eyes widened, he swallowed in disbelief, and tremblingly held the medicine bottle in his hands. He excitedly kissed the back of the priest's hand, "Glory be to me! Master Priest, I will dedicate my entire life to my Lord and will never let my Lord down!"

Malfoy smiled and let the priest send him away, then whispered to the deacon: "Let the next person who comes to ask for medicine come in..."

After receiving four or five wealthy businessmen and minor nobles from the city who came to ask for medicine, as the church bells rang at dusk, Malfoy announced that today's reception would come to an end.

Although he often interacted with these people on weekdays, he did not feel irritated or tired at all. Instead, he felt a little content and happy. These fence-sitters who used to like to walk the fine line between the spellcasters and the church were now so humbly begging and currying favor with him, which made Malfoy feel a strange feeling that he had the power of life and death over others in his hands.

With the medicine that can control the plague, it is easy to control the life and death of this group of people, and to completely pull the nobles and the Grand Duke in Jinhui City to the side of the church, so that they will finally make up their minds to take action against those blasphemous spellcasters.

Following the previous instructions of the church's top brass, after secretly spreading the plague to cause panic among the people and nobles, they used the divine grace potion to win over the nobles and rulers in the city, changing their previously wavering stance. After completely wiping out the Federation's forces in Jinhui City, they recovered and began distributing large quantities of potions to treat civilians.

After all, at the beginning, they still needed this group of ignorant believers as a cover and pretext. By inciting their hatred and fear of the spellcasters, they forced the members of the Federation in the city to fight back in self-defense, which gave them an excuse to attack them openly.

In this way, even if the Federation headquarters far away in Alaye wants to negotiate with them after the matter has calmed down, it will be completely unreasonable and can only silently take the blame. The reputation and public opinion in the southern countries will inevitably be seriously damaged.

This was a brilliant strategy that killed three birds with one stone. Not only did it gain the support of the nobles and rulers, it could also expel and eliminate the power of the Federation. At the same time, it could use the opportunity of treating the sick people to convert more believers for the church.

After this matter is completely settled, his accumulated achievements will probably be enough for him to move forward. He will no longer have to stay in Saint Valen as a small chief priest, but can return to Goris and take the position of cardinal.

(End of this chapter)