Work Prophet
Chapter 245 - 3 Anxious Silver Moon Church

Chapter 245: Chapter 3 Anxious Silver Moon Church

This year’s winter in the western territories was colder than ever before.

In the forest, numerous tree branches snapped under the weight of the snow, falling to the ground, and sometimes even crashing onto carriages passing below. However, most of the time, the roads were devoid of travelers.

Even Triumph Avenue outside Rock Snow City, usually the widest and most bustling street, now lay cold and deserted, with only a group of cursing mercenaries and a few silent travelers passing by.

All of them were wrapped tightly in thick cloaks without exception, but even so, the deadly cold wind still managed to penetrate their sleeves, collars, and pant legs, chilling them to the bone.

Those who honestly stayed indoors also suffered greatly from this ghastly weather.

The nobles were slightly better off. Although their stone fortresses were astonishingly cold in winter, at least they had warm fireplaces to heat them.

But for the peasants and craftsmen, the situation was much more severe.

The longhouses they lived in were drafty to begin with, and many couldn’t afford to burn wood for heating, so they had to bundle up as much as possible, huddling together with their families and livestock.

Over in Green Field, the arrival of many new serfs lately posed a significant challenge for housing.

Luckily, the Lady now had enough money at her disposal and had recruited a group of craftsmen from Black Stone City, specifically to help the newcomers construct their dwellings.

As for those who couldn’t build their houses in time, the young girl, against Alfred’s objections, allowed them to spend this winter in her own castle.

Ireya even listened to Li Yu’s missionary teachings with these people.

Upon returning from Rock Snow City, the new Family Head of the Arias family followed through on her promise and soon announced to the world that she had renounced her family’s centuries-old faith in Pisya and converted to the Sabbath.

As expected, this news met with opposition from the Silver Moon Church; moreover, many nobles and even some of the Lady’s own followers urged her to reconsider.

The Universal Language teacher, Anton, even went so far as to block the door to the young Lady’s office, tearfully imploring the Lady not to be bewitched by a foreign god and to return to the embrace of the goddess. He almost knelt down to Miss Rabbit on the spot.

But this time, Ireya’s stance was extraordinarily firm, and she made no compromises or concessions.

She even decided to hold the induction ceremony in half a month’s time.

If she actually succeeded in joining the Double Rest Sect, it would undoubtedly be another severe blow to the reputation of the Silver Moon Church.

This was the first time in a thousand years that a Lord in the western territories had abandoned Pisya for the embrace of another god, not to mention that the Arias family was now in its prime, no longer the minor player it once was.

The Silver Moon Church obviously did not want to see this happen.

In the past, when faced with such situations, they would send a priest to make contact with the target Lord, trying their best to persuade them.

However, the Silver Moon Church had already dispatched friends of Ireya and the teachers who had instructed her during her time at the Temple to persuade her.

The former ended up disgraced, while the latter, after much earnest persuasion and making substantial promises, still failed to sway the Lady’s mind.

Since the gentle approach didn’t work, they had no choice but to take a harder line.

Although the Silver Moon Church itself does not have armed forces, they have many political allies. After thousands of years of operation, they have intricate ties with the major families of the Western Territory.

It would be easy to exert pressure on the Arias family through other nobles, but this time the situation was somewhat different.

There were quite a few people willing to convey messages for the Silver Moon Church, and most lords expressed varying degrees of support, with some even visiting Ireya in person, hoping she would reconsider. Yet, their attitude was very tactful.

Nobody made threats or even hinted at them, as the Silver Moon Church had hoped for.

The Church certainly understood why. The Lady now held the prestige of being the Dragon Slayer, and not long ago, she had stood firm in Rock Snow City against the heir of the Figrola family, successfully having him thrown into prison.

Naturally, the nobles of the Western Territory did not wish to offend her at such a time.

If the upper-tier approach was unfeasible, then the Silver Moon Church was left with only one option: to mobilize the common people.

However, the last time they did this, the results were not particularly good.

The painful lesson was still fresh in the minds of many.

But doing nothing was equally unacceptable.

The followers of Pisya were still the majority in Green Field, but with the recent chain of events, many began to waver just like the Lady.

According to the messages received by the Silver Moon Church, as soon as Ireya lifted the ban on the Double Rest Sect, that prophet named Merlin sent out the first batch of Divine Officers, known as "Sabbaths," to gather believers in the Green Field region.

Nowadays, the activities of these Sabbaths were becoming increasingly frequent.

Moreover, they seemed no longer content with spreading the faith of Saturday only in the land of the Arias family, occasionally sneaking into the territories of nearby lords.

If a countermeasure was not found soon, the believers of the Silver Moon Church would surely dwindle more and more severely over time.

The seven High Priests were clearly aware of the gravity of the issue, so they all set aside their current affairs to meet at the Great Temple of Alberto to discuss solutions.

Among them, Priest Reeves, the second eldest, was the last to arrive.

However, unlike the other High Priests who headed to the inner sanctuary, he just stood in the front hall, staring fixedly at the large lead coffin in front of him. After a while, as if remembering some grievous matter, the High Priest actually burst into loud sobbing.

Hearing this crying sound, the other six High Priests in the inner sanctuary could not sit still.

They stood up and walked out, only to see Priest Reeves throwing himself on the Holy Coffin in a state of utter grief.

"Priest Reeves, what is this..." the most outspoken of the seven, Priest Hesiod, asked.

"Wuu wuu wuu... We have lost High Priest Kaokas’s Holy Coffin, allowed it to fall into the hands of that despicable foreigner, and also had a false coffin made overnight to put here. Even that would be tolerable, but we’ve all been dishonest, claiming fake as real, and real as fake.

"If someday we do manage to bring back the real Holy Coffin, we won’t be able to place it here again. This is a grave disrespect to High Priest Kaokas and the goddess,"

the more Priest Reeves spoke, the more distressed he became. He seemed on the verge of fainting, needing to be supported by others to avoid collapsing completely, but his wrinkled face was already streaked with old tears.