Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 680 The Path to Atonement

"Your Excellency, we have just received notification that a new batch of relief supplies from the Northern Army has arrived at the south gate of the Holy City."

Ismail grunted, stood up from the stone bench, and said gently to the Inquisition Knight who came to report, "I understand. Just arrange for someone to take over as soon as possible."

The knight bowed in agreement and was about to turn and leave the simple stone house when he was called back again. "By the way, the other day... the other day I wrote to them asking for malaria medicine. I wonder if they have given me permission?"

The knight paused for a moment, then realized and said, "Yes...they said they sent enough supplies this time, but not oral medication, but injections."

Injection? Is it a method of injecting medication directly into the body by piercing the skin with a sharp, hollow probe?
Ismail couldn't help but frown slightly. If he wasn't mistaken... this must be a strange method developed by that mage emperor and his alchemists.

After leading their followers back to the Holy City, they were completely monitored and controlled in the almost completely ruined Goreth. Although they had to rely entirely on the monthly relief from the Northern Army for food and clothing, they had to rely on themselves for housing and drinking water.

After an unprecedented bloody battle, most of the wells that were once ubiquitous in the city of Goris were destroyed and buried. After the Judgment Army painstakingly cleared out several wellheads, a large number of believers began to frequently gather and use these precious water supply points.

Unexpectedly, after several heavy rains, a large number of corpses that had not been buried or burned were soaked in rainwater for a long time. The sewage seeped into the underground water system of the holy city, silently and thoroughly polluting their water sources. After drinking raw water for a long time, the common people began to experience the terrible phenomenon of malaria. In addition, it was the beginning of summer, and the large number of mosquitoes biting the infected patients further aggravated the spread of the disease.

Originally, the numerous healing priests and deacons in the Papacy's ranks were quite adept at dealing with this common epidemic that did not involve supernatural elements. However, as the number of infected people multiplied, they gradually became overwhelmed and spent their days running around in the newly built temporary settlement.

Many of the infected people continued to experience chills and high fever, and after a few days they began to have intermittent convulsions and deep comas. This finally made Ismail and Rivera unable to sit still, and they were forced to humbly ask the "prison guards" stationed outside the holy city for help.

Fortunately, when it comes to matters of life and death, the Northern Army, which had always been cold and indifferent, still took it seriously. Not long after the request was submitted, the alchemical potion arrived along with the relief supplies, which relieved Ismail, who no longer cared about personal reputation.

During this period, they finally managed to completely clear the area near the ruins of the Church of Divine Grace. They rebuilt a temporary settlement against the ruins of the church and spent a lot of effort venturing deep into the intricate underground waterways of the Holy City. At a terrible cost, they wiped out the remaining alien races hiding there and finally gained a foothold in the ruins of the Holy City.

As per the agreement, the Northern Army delivered all the urgently needed relief supplies on time and in full, without any withholding. It seems that we might be able to boldly request some swords and weapons from them to supplement and replace the knights' old, worn-out weapons.

With that in mind, he returned to his desk, which was now crippled, pulled out a rough sheet of papyrus, picked up a charcoal pencil, and began to scribble notes. He planned to have the knight in charge deliver the notes to the Northern Army soldiers who were transporting the supplies the next time he went to receive them.

At that moment, Bishop Rivera hurriedly pushed open the door and whispered to Ismail, "That intelligence officer named Beetle is here again... He says he has important business to discuss with the two of us."

Oh? That intelligence officer... whom Ismail and Rivera jokingly referred to as the "Warden."

Why the sudden request for a meeting?
As de facto prisoners, the two cardinals naturally did not expect the other party to condescend to enter the ruins of the holy city. They did not bother to find out the details of the meeting, and hurriedly lifted their somewhat dirty and tattered bishop robes, and rushed to the city gate with the knights of the Inquisition Army following them.

……

Upon arriving at the South Gate, they were led into a makeshift sentry shed set up outside the city. Only then did Ismail and his companion realize that, along with the intelligence officer Beetle, came the long-unseen Pope's Secret Prayer... Priest Garrett!

“Garret! I…I thought you had already been…” Garret stood up and greeted the two bishops with a gentle expression, “You thought that after I was captured in the Battle of Bluethorn City and completed my mission of delivering secret messages for His Holiness the Pope, I was secretly executed by the army of Saint Valen, is that right?”

Rivera nodded in disbelief and said in a low voice, "That's right. After all, given the tense hostile relationship between us and Saint Valen at that time, someone like you, as His Majesty's direct confidant, could not possibly have escaped... Even if you weren't sentenced to death, you would probably still be imprisoned in a dark dungeon for life."

After all, given Garrett's resilient mind and devout faith, he would never commit the despicable act of betraying his faith and surrendering; what awaits him is certainly not a good outcome.

The intelligence officer Beetle, who had been silent all along, chuckled and nodded meaningfully to Gallette, saying calmly, "I'll give you half an hour for the meeting. I won't stay here any longer to disturb you."

With that, he casually got up, pushed open the door, and left the shed.

"What does he mean by this?" Ismail stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Did he summon us here personally just to bring you here to reminisce with us?"

Garrett coughed awkwardly, and after a moment of contemplation, slowly said, "No, it's not just a simple reminiscing. I also have an imperial decree from His Majesty the Emperor that I need to clearly inform you both."

Did the emperor overstep his authority?

Rivera frowned slightly, puzzled. "Has His Majesty the Emperor finally lost patience and decided to take action against us, these wretched exiles?"

Garrett quickly explained, "That's not the case. His Majesty has no intention of exterminating us... I have never betrayed my faith and sworn allegiance to him. I came here to inquire on behalf of His Majesty with the two bishops whether the Holy See is still willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with the United Kingdom in the war of annihilation between humans and the Lizardmen to jointly resist the great enemy?"

To jointly resist the invasion of foreign races? The mage emperor residing in the northern border intends to put aside past grievances... and once again join hands with the Holy See to fight against the enemy?

“But…but we don’t have enough troops right now. After the chaos of the fragmentation, we have less than three thousand Judgment Knights left to fight. If even the Saint Valen people, who wield powerful magical weapons, can’t defeat the alien race, what use are we, these remnants of the army?”

Garrett shook his head and smiled, “His Majesty the Emperor does not need the Knights of the Judgment Army to go to the battlefield… What he wants are the numerous mid- to low-ranking priests and deacons in the Holy City who are capable of performing healing magic. They have already engaged in direct combat with the alien races deep in the wasteland, and there is an urgent need for healers who can treat ordinary soldiers.”

They lacked healers on the battlefield... so they planned to have ordinary priests and deacons of priesthood step in to help?

Ismail and Rivera were completely stunned, and for a long time they did not know how to deal with it... In a sense, the responsibility of leading the human race to resist the invasion of heretics was the sacred mission that the Church had been obligated to since its establishment. Those who should really stand on the front line of resisting the alien race should be the Church guardians with firm faith like them.

"Then... if we are willing to be sent to the front lines, will His Majesty the Emperor choose to trust us? Or will we need to wear shackles to restrict our freedom, or be constantly monitored?"

"It shouldn't be the case. The battle is extremely intense... If we can contribute, we will naturally gain their approval. Moreover, His Majesty personally promised me that not only will he not force the priests who go to reinforce to abandon their faith, but he will also allocate more relief supplies to Goris as a reward for our contributions. He only strictly forbids proselytizing in the army."

This will greatly help us rebuild the holy city and preserve the last embers of faith in the church!
(End of this chapter)