The Devil Who Grants Wishes - Chapter 188



188 – Faith (6)

Sereukㅡ

Right now, I am reading a book. No, strictly speaking, it is a report compiled in book format. This is a book that summarizes everything the Church of Faust does not only within the empire, but also outside the empire.

And the more I read this book, the more it was full of things I couldn’t understand, even though I still have the sensibility of a modern person.

Representatively… Isn’t it as if the denomination is playing the role of the government?

“…Is this something you can afford by paying one-tenth of your income?”

“It’s impossible.”

“Yes… I guess so…”

I am literally doing all kinds of things. While nobles simply collect taxes and use the taxes to build castles or raise soldiers and knights, the Church of Faust has been doing things that nobles do not do since its predecessor, the Church of Seraphia.

With a tenth of the income paid by poor farmers, it literally performs the government’s duties, including medical care, welfare for the poor, administrative work, birth ceremonies, weddings, funerals, village events and festivals, and technology dissemination.

It would be impossible to make ends meet with one-tenth of the income that the people make. You can be sure that there will be a deficit without having to compare the ledgers.

“Is that why you were so focused on stealing the national budget?”

“Yes, Faust. I can’t afford it with the one-tenth of the income that the farmers make. Wouldn’t this be better than building a castle with unnecessary marble and gold and silver? Well, the church is like that too. There is this, but at least the church, unlike the castle, has its doors wide open to the people.”

Pierre answers my question obediently.

There is no need to hide it, and in Pierre’s opinion, this is clearly the right thing to do for anyone to see.

This is something he should be proud of, so Pierre is taking a confident stance, and I can’t find anything to say as I look at Pierre like that.

Because it’s something you really have to be proud of.

“…Literacy and education are also provided to the people if they wish?”

“You can’t just drive away a lamb who wants to read a book with godly words written on it, right? In the first place, priests are surprisingly free, so they often gladly accept such requests. Of course, I don’t like it. “

Pierre is shaking his head and laughing, as if teaching others is such a hassle.

…It certainly seems like I’ve become a lot more comfortable.

Whether it was a joke or not, I never could have imagined Pierre acting like this before.

‘Well, if religion really was only doing crazy things, people wouldn’t have believed it so much.’

Aren’t medieval religious groups depicted in modern times often portrayed in a very negative light? Things like heresy inquisition or witch hunts.

But in reality, it seems that wasn’t the case.

Religious groups may not be like that in the future, but at the time, they were operating with great rationality in their own way.

“But if you are doing such a great job, why are you interfering with the restoration of the empire?”

“Restoration can be done later. All people have a sense of reverence for those who have reached out to them in the most difficult times, so expanding the church first will be of great benefit to Master Faust and the church.”

“…”

But if you say that, I’ll have nothing to say.

Give back the admiration I had until just now, you bastard.

Hmm, anyway…

‘Disbanding the denomination and turning it into a group that just prays… Should be reconsidered.’

The denomination is too closely connected to society to do such a thing.

If we disband the denomination right now without thinking about the repercussions and turn it into a group that only prays… Hmm, that wouldn’t be a joke.

Even if people are unable to celebrate family events, they will not be able to receive medical care and relief.

Clergy are even doing as little as 30% and as much as 80% of the country’s administrative work… Is this the state? Isn’t it just a theocratic society??

Even if the denomination is truly disbanded and the work is transferred to the state, it seems like the process would have to be dragged out and delayed to give the state enough time to adapt to the denomination’s absence.

No, they might not want to adapt in the first place.

It may be true for those at the top of the national organization, such as emperors and kings, but it is very difficult for low-level nobles who do not have money to take over and carry out the same work that the church had been doing. I don’t have any money, so even if I tried, I couldn’t.

This… Is just a medieval version of the primitive National Insurance & Welfare Fund, ugh.

“First, focus on recovery and let people return to their daily lives. People will serve me as they should without having to do such a petty thing as reaching out in times of difficulty.”

“Yes, Faust.”

In that case, it may be better to preserve the power of the denomination and channel that power in the right direction.

I’m still not used to people worshiping me and worshiping me, and it’s very awkward, but if that alone makes people’s minds more stable, well… Just do whatever you want.

“Don’t build churches that are too flashy, but only build churches that meet the minimum requirements in rural areas where there are no churches. It is not too late to build such a church later when society becomes more stable.”

“Yes, I will.”

After realizing that the church is responsible for all kinds of family events, takes care of administrative tasks, provides medical and educational facilities, and controls the people to strengthen solidarity, I decided not to do anything to block the construction of any more churches.

This is no different from saying not to build more town offices and public health centers, but if you do something like that, the country will immediately collapse, right?

From Noble mtl dot com

“Um… But is it okay if I ask a question?”

The moment I decided on a brief vision of how to proceed, Pierre must have sensed that my orders were all over and carefully opened his mouth to ask me a question.

“What is it?”

“What do you plan to do, Emperor? The rumors coming from the Emperor these days are unusual.”

“…?”

What do you mean, it’s not that serious?

Pierre glanced around to make sure that no one was listening, and then he lowered his head forward and began to say what he knew.

**********

“Hey, hey…”

“Another person died today.”

The bureaucrats and nobles working in the imperial palace are frightened and sigh as they see the number of poles growing day by day.

There is a corpse stuck at the end of the pole.

The pole, which rises high and perfectly pierces the human body like a chicken skewer, emits the smell of rotting corpses everywhere, causing those who smell the smell to feel primal fear.

“Let’s see… The new guy is an embezzler?”

And there is a sign hanging around the corpse’s neck.

[I am a thief. I will be judged by everyone.] Or [I am a criminal who rebelled against His Majesty the Great Emperor and committed reactionary acts.] There are literally a lot of signs written in bright red letters on a white background.

Of course, this was not done because the victims wanted it. Those who were executed by order of the emperor simply made signs and hung them up as a form of self-criticism for their crimes.

[Your Majesty… If you do this, won’t the backlash be too severe…? That person belongs to the noble Count Anthanbaum familyㅡ]

[Backlash? Do it, because if you are not loved, you should at least be an object of fear!!!]

[Hee, hee hee…]

When the servants saw that the emperor had changed to no longer care about political considerations, they whispered behind his back that the emperor was crazy.

If someone were to see him carrying around a book with such an eerie energy in his arms as if it were a treasure, and looking at it every day with his eyes wide open and his body shaking as if he was feeling joy, anyone would see that the emperor was in his right mind. No, they’ll think you’re crazy.

As if his thoughts were the truth.

As if possessed by the devil.

They act as if the information they read in books is indisputable truth.

If something happens that conflicts between the book and reality, the emperor’s condition is so serious that he naturally declares that reality does not match the book.

“What is that again?”

“They say they are mercenaries who were driven out by the emperor’s orders, and the emperor was furious, saying they were idiots who pretended to fight and only played for money.”

The officials and nobles on their way to work click their tongues as they see the mercenaries being kicked out of the castle.

Why hire mercenaries? This is because proven armed groups can be used very easily and cheaply.

Since it is very difficult to develop and maintain an armed group from the beginning and it is very expensive, monarchs have so far hired mercenaries to reap the benefits of using armed groups at minimal cost.

But the emperor seems to be very displeased with that.

He declared that he would foster an armed group that would only listen to his orders, and kicked out mercenaries within the empire, disparaging them as idiots who only pretended to fight for money out of fear of their lives.

“…Are you crazy?”

“Ask me something again.”

In other words, this means that the mercenaries have lost their jobs, and those unemployed mercenaries will undoubtedly spread to neighboring countries and become enemies of the empire, but the emperor cannot possibly think about that aspect.

Rather, the emperor is happy that neighboring countries can reduce their power by hiring mercenaries.

Only what is written in the book is the truth and the truth to the emperor.

If the book does not represent reality properly, you can adapt reality to the book.

The emperor believes in books.