Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord
Chapter 234: Your Church Is Fake

Captain: 『.』

Fries: 『.』

Beatrice’s heart pounded. She knew that what she was doing was somewhat risky, but she couldn’t afford to care.

What exactly had happened in Castel? This question had almost become an obsession for her. She had even been distracted because of it, missing the chance to save the Empress, which only made her more desperate to obtain information about Castel.

At first, it was just curiosity, but gradually, she realized that she had invested too much into Castel. This made it even harder to let go. If she gave up searching for answers now, wouldn’t that mean all her past efforts had been in vain?

Moreover, though she was reluctant to admit it, she knew that she did care about that Count Hughes.

Revealing some information, showing that she knew more and had greater value, was also part of her calculation.

Beatrice was no longer an innocent little girl. The triple crown on her head no longer allowed her to be naive. This was why she had named herself "Scepter"—the one who holds the scepter, and the day the scepter falls is the day they plunge into the abyss. This was an old saying in the Empire.

Trapped in this cage, she had to grasp at every straw she could find.

The three fell into silence. After a while, a weak voice broke it.

Gwen: 『Fries, Captain, are you still there?』

Fries: 『!』

Fries: 『Gwen! Are you okay?』

Gwen: 『I’m fine. I guess I didn’t die. I took a nap, and when I woke up… hmm, my stomach feels a bit hungry.』

Gwen touched her stomach in surprise. It had been a long time since she last felt hunger. The wild vegetables she had eaten yesterday seemed to have reawakened her appetite, rekindling a bit of hope for survival. But at the same time, it burned through her body, tormenting her with hunger pangs.

Gwen: 『I-I’ll go dig up some more wild vegetables, the ones with heart-shaped leaves. There are still plenty here.』

Captain: 『Don’t eat too much at once. Just eating wild vegetables will make your body collapse. What else is around you?』

Gwen thought for a moment before speaking slowly: 『There used to be some vegetables grown by the villagers, but they’re gone now. The fields are abandoned. Some potatoes were planted before, but the soldiers who came last time took them all.』

Fries chimed in: 『Is there a church where you are? Maybe you can ask for some food there.』

Scepter: 『Don’t go to the church.』

Fries: 『!』

Gwen was surprised by the new voice in her mind. Suddenly, she felt happy—she had more friends now. That hadn’t happened in a long time.

Ever since the war started, her friends had been disappearing one by one. Familiar faces in the village would be gone after a while.

By the time there was no one left that she knew, she had put on her favorite dress, ready to die quietly. Her sister had once told her that the dead would go far away and eventually reunite in another world.

She missed her friends a little.

She also missed her father, mother, and sister.

Fries: 『Why shouldn’t she go to the church?』

Scepter: 『Why should she go to the church?』

After a moment of silence, Ken cautiously spoke: 『The church… hands out some food during hard times. Not much, but enough to keep people alive. Gwen needs that help right now, doesn’t she?』

This time, it was Beatrice’s turn to be puzzled. She hesitated before asking: 『Are you talking about the Church of Candlelight?』

Ken thought of the Church of Candlelight on the island—the nun Chloe wasn’t particularly kind, but at least she provided some food to the people. He nodded seriously: 『Yes.』

Scepter: 『Then you might have gone to a fake church. I’m not joking. Some heretics or cultists use the name of the Church of Candlelight to do good deeds maliciously, manipulating commoners to gain support. A real church wouldn’t have much contact with the common folk. The doctrine of the Church of Candlelight states that mortals should stay away from the extraordinary and that the church must remain separate from the secular world. You won’t get food from a real church.』

Ken scratched his head. This completely contradicted what he knew. But if someone were to claim that Sister Chloe was a cultist, he wouldn’t believe it either. After advancing to the special training class, he had interacted with Chloe quite a bit. She was just obsessed with the pursuit of knowledge and had never done anything evil.

Ken still didn’t know that his sister had joined the Moths Chasing Fire. If he did, his impression of Chloe might change.

Jeremiah frowned and suddenly asked in his mind:

『Then how does the Church of Candlelight recruit followers? I remember it’s the state religion of the Empire, right?』

Beatrice found this odd. These two didn’t seem to be from the Empire. How could they know so little about the church? But if they weren’t from the Empire, then… were they from the Southern Continent?

They couldn’t be from the barbarian lands west of the Empire. The Storm Ocean and that region were separated by the entire Empire.

Wait a moment… Storm Ocean.

Beatrice’s eyes lit up.

Scepter: 『You all… must have been at sea this whole time, right? I heard that the Martha Archipelago worships heretical gods. Only the churches of heretical gods actively engage with the secular world. Even in nations where church and state are unified, like the Silent Sanctum, the church still remains distant from mortal affairs.』

At this point, Beatrice suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.

Wait…

If the church truly avoids the secular world, then what does that make her?

The Empress was assassinated, the church’s army surrounded the palace, and she—a former noble—was crowned with the triple crown and made Pope…

Only the churches of heretical gods actively engage with the secular world.

Thinking of Hela’s black veil, the gears and machinery hidden beneath it… those were clearly linked to the Mechanical Sanctum in countless ways. The Church of Candlelight had always viewed the Mechanical Priests as lunatics, so why had they suddenly started working together?

Beatrice had always been anxious about her own situation, but now, looking back, she realized that the church’s recent actions were strangely eerie.

Unknowingly, her back was covered in cold sweat.

Scepter abruptly fell silent. Ken didn’t dwell on it and turned to ask Gwen:

『Gwen, then don’t go to the church. Is there any… uh, organization nearby?』

Gwen: 『I don’t know. The soldiers always carry different flags. I don’t recognize them.』

Jeremiah frowned and shot Ken a glare. "She has no strength right now. Even if she knew where to go, she wouldn’t make it. Let’s help her find some food first."

Ken quickly nodded.

Captain: 『How are you feeling? Is it hard to walk? Can you go outside to find food?』

Gwen: 『I’m not doing well. It’s hard just to sit up in bed. Going out might not be possible. There don’t seem to be any people left in the village. There used to be stray dogs at night, but even they’re gone now.』

Jeremiah and Ken exchanged glances, both feeling a sinking dread.

Captain: 『Do you still have those wild herbs?』

Scepter: 『Wait, I have a good idea… but it might involve the extraordinary.』