Echocalypse: Scarlet Covenant story · Main story, Act 15: The Girl and the Saint
71. Betraying God
Guinevere does look like a leader. I have to admit that the idealist side of her clouded my judgment. Now it turns out that she is the most realistic one.
3 scenes, 42 lines
1. Betraying God
9 lines...Hey, God Eaters. Just give up!
I-I only came to see what was going on! Please let us go!
As the pleading and panicked voices once again resound in the square, the God Eaters warriors' faces begin to grow pale and they exchange wavering looks of bewilderment.
...Everyone. This may be sudden, but do you know what the Empire's interest rate on exported wheat is?
... Why are you asking?
Our wheat varieties are high-quality and well-liked. So, even at the base price for bulk purchases, each ton can have a net profit of 500% or more.
But in this country, only the Church has the authority to export large quantities to the rest of the world, while offering only a 70% premium when buying wheat from the farmers who grew it.
Just what are you trying to say?
I want everyone to understand what the Church takes away from them in the name of God.
2. Stage 71-10, before the battle
27 linesGuinevere begins to speak, skillfully presenting one piece of data after another. Building materials, handicrafts, artificial magic catalysts, grain, oil, foodstuff, and on and on...
In terms of trading prices, quantities, and output, the Church restricts nearly every industry. She picks out each detail, then explains them to the audience.
The people listen, going from baffled, then pensive, to ashen-faced, until gradually understanding the true meaning of Guinevere's message.
Just by being in the Empire, the Church has had the unconditional right to exploit its people for so long that it has become a habit.
...The aforementioned is only a fraction of the data obtained in my recent investigation. However, the Church's reach is by no means limited to these.
Magic, technology, the political system, culture, even life and death themselves, all are controlled and bound by the Church in the name of the ''canon''.
These are all that God and the Church have robbed you of, and what do you get in return? A contract called ''Faith'': We give all our mortal bodies have to offer in exchange for God's miracles.
...
But we have gained nothing.
Just as before, Calamity befalls this land supposedly blessed by God, striking in spite of our ceaseless offerings and prayers to God.
If these Calamities are all sent down from God, then we will show this treacherous God the power of humankind.
We will keep fighting back, and we will find the source of these Calamities. And if their source is this wicked God, then we will defeat Them and devour Their flesh and blood! The people will become the new gods.
If we are defeated and lose our bodies as divine retribution, let our actions be engraved in that God's memory to make Them know...
Human beings are a species that will never place anything else above themselves!
Each time the girl's voice rings out, the hearts of the people in the crowd start to race.
I hereby swear the following. First, the God Eaters will not limit the spread and study of magic, and we will continue to analyze the magic records passed down in the Empire to this day.
Hearts beat faster.
Second, the God Eaters will fully support the Empire's industries, such as economic activities, education, and culture, the precondition of minimal interference.
And faster.
Three, under the God Eaters' administration, there will never be a religious tax in the Empire.
Boom.
R-really?!
Hmm... It may go against our ancestors' decisions, but if it's for the betterment of our grandchildren...
The Church has never given a damn about the lives of the people! Only the God Eaters really do! Screw the Church, I'm leaving!
Never again will the ghost of the Church's regulations crush the human spirit. Everyone's suppressed hearts seem to be set free in an instant.
(You damn... You've sealed my body and vocal cords!)
(If your real body were here, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to do that so easily. After all, you hardly need to deal with a nuisance like me directly.)
3. Stage 71-10, after the battle
6 lines(...Heh. Good, very good. Dear Guinevere, you've broadened my horizons once again. It's time for me to give you something in return.)
(...Vivi, it's me, Pope Levia.)
(Your Holiness?! Is this transmission magic?! This is an emergency situation, can you please gather more people...)
(I have a mission for you. Enter the [Gospel of God] state and destroy all enemies you see. Your magic will be able to immediately break the seal in that state.)
(B-but I still can't control that state well. I may start to attack indiscriminately the moment I use it... Even our compatriots!)
(...And?)