Reincarnate as Prince: Change Magical World with Industry

21The Bastion of Light

"Does Father know of this?" Janus asked the steward.

"Yes your highness, and he expressly stated that this is a matter of highest importance. You would be wise not to let the Holy See wait for your arrival. In fact, I'd suggest you go as soon as you can first thing in the morning."

"There's no reason written in the letter."

"That only means that the reason is of a sensitive matter. I have already instructed Sir Kleinman to escort you on your journey. If I may ask your highness, do you know of any reason as to why the Holy See would want to speak with you personally?"

Janus' mind raced. There's the matter of his lessons with the goblins, but no one knew about that. He told everyone that his visits to the goblin burrows were simply for research and learning about their culture.

"Does the Holy See summon individuals so often?"

"Well no, not really. As a matter of fact, I can't seem to remember anyone being summoned, except maybe for transgressors and heretics. You know those types, mutineers against the holy church or those who harbor evil intent against the Kingdom. I'm sure you're not caught up in anything of that sort, are you? You've been hard at work in the manner for the past year. Although there are times when citizens are called for questioning. In any case, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Janus wasn't sure about that. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something he did wrong. Was it because he wasn't paying attention during yesterday's service?

He read the letter again from front to back. There wasn't anything specific in it. It was a formally worded letter telling him to come tomorrow morning at a certain office in the Pristine Halls, with the Holy See's seal dripping in menacing red.

When he got back to his room, he searched for books that could help him understand the major religious sect of Galedon.

He found one book, a purely historical account of how the church was established. Written a hundred years after the time of Ardon Gale's victory.

It's was formally known the Bastion of Light. It had been a slowly growing religious group with around a thousand members during the Conquest of Ardon Gale. Gale himself was indoctrinated into its faith during childhood.

The Bastion of Light came about because of a sequence of wars that shook the continent for hundreds of years. In the year 1361 YD, a monk by the name of Celandrius observed that human societies where the most cooperative races in Kalesia. He argued that in order for the whole continent to unite, humans should step up and rule the other races.

It made sense from a scholarly standpoint. The elves strongly objected to the destruction of the environment for the sake of what humans called progress, often fighting and shunning other races and splintering into different groups. The Orcs' bloodlust was second to none and tribes would always fight with each other, it was almost impossible for tribes to grow with a population of more than 50 or so before infighting would collapse the group into smaller bands. Goblins were labeled as thieving and unruly creatures who would steal and swindle at every given opportunity -- something that Janus highly objected to. And the dwarves mostly kept to themselves, so obsessed with digging under mountains to find gems and ores that they are often oblivious to what life is like on the surface.

Thus, as Celandrius concluded, it was up to the humans to lead and rule every other race. Only then can peace and progress be achieved to unite the whole continent of Kalesia. Humans are the Bastion of Light that could conquer the dark forces of this world.

There were other threats that humans and the other races contended with on a regular basis. Dragons would raze cities for unique and magical artifacts, it was so big of a threat that every kingdom had to install fortifications and ballistae towers in order to stand a fighting chance. There were also threats of Necromancers and Dark Lords, who would usually turn to Orcs and Goblins to amass numbers of war-hungry creatures to do their bidding.

Celandrius' theories gained popularity over the philosophers who lived to witness so much turmoil in their lives, and soon it spread to the regular folk. The Bastion of Light was formed with a stalwart foundation, its aim was to unite Kalesia under one rule and to bring peace to the whole continent. Illuminating the whole region with great wisdom that only humans were capable of.

When Janus found another book about the Bastion of Light - this time from a more modern source (written 400 years after the founding of Galedon) the Bastion was a very different version of itself.

Humans started rapid colonization with the aim of uniting every race of the land, but that was merely a facade. The tool of choice was battle and conquest. Driving away bands of orcs and goblins and drawing them back to the mountains and seas. A new idea formed that branched out of Celandrius' initial text. The idea that the humans were supposed to unite against every other race, and that only they can bring peace to their civilizations. Instead of uniting all the races of Galedon, they were hellbent on fighting them off and declaring humans as the rightful owner of the land.

So this was why the citizens treated the other races so badly. He found the irony quite sad, there was a pre-conceived notion that other races were inferior and unruly and now they can't look at them with an open mind.

The supposed Bastion of Light was blind.

#

By dawn the next morning Janus rode quickly with Sir Arthan to the Cathedral square. His butt was still aching the whole ride through, but he could hardly notice as thoughts on the church's history and how to address the Holy See were still buzzing around his head.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" the knight asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not. I don't even know what to expect." Janus said.

"You have to be careful, never do anything that would upset the Holy See. The bishops and the clergy have a low tolerance for those who do not follow the church's customs. I don't think I have to tell you this but being labeled as a heretic has some bad repercussions."

Janus sighed, he made it sound so bad. "Do you have any idea why I'm being called?"

"I'm not quite sure. Though if I were to guess, probably to check if you are still a practicing member of the church. Do you still remember the hymns and customs taught to you by your tutors?"

Janus strained so hard to catch any of the old Prince's memories. Nothing came to him, except for the feeling that the old Prince didn't care for the church at all. For him, it was an inconvenience that he avoided at all costs.

"Probably has something to do with the manor, since that's all you've been doing for the past year. I must say, I can't think of any real reason for such a special summons as this one." Arthan said.

"Well, I suppose there's no point in me overthinking this. I'll face whatever questions they may pose."

When they arrived at the cathedral entrance, swaths of religious devotees were lining up to worship. Arthan was allowed to escort Janus but he was asked to wait just before they arrived at the Pristine Halls on the upper floors. Janus saw the knight find his own seat among the devotees to knelt down to pray. Janus was escorted by the guards up into several spiral staircases of white gleaming marble, towards a huge stone hallway, where there were golden statues that were more extravagant that those displayed at the entrances. He was wanted to stop and admire these statues to collect data from them but the guards were very strict did not allow for any delays.

Unlike the castle and manor guards, these men were clad with heavily ornamented armor of white and gold. They had frills on their coats and feathers in their helmets. Quite different from the style of the skull helmets and blunt breastplates of castle guards.

He was to wait at a designated area at the end of the corridor. Janus saw that only the highest officials and guards were allowed to walk these halls.

There was a huge painting in this hallway that attracted him immediately. It was two times taller than him and several meters wide. It depicted a huge battle. The battle that led to the eradication of the dragon and the armies that it controlled. Janus can't help but be awed by the sheer grandeur of the image. It was something that was larger than life, something that could rival the works of classical painters in his own world.

Ardon Gale stood at the center, with his army behind him. He was staring down at another force that was three times larger than his. Janus was so enamored by the painting that he didn't notice the figure that suddenly stood beside him.