A Broken World [Rewrite] - Chapter Fifteen - A Stern World (Patreon)

**Lucas Jaeger**

The monastery was further away than Lucas had expected; then again, he would not have expected such a place in the middle of a city center either.  The place looked, in a word, functional.  The stone building was so bare that it was almost oppressive, something that Lucas took as a particularly bad sign of what was to come.  His conversation with Terrasin made it clear that this institution was closer to the Roman Catholic Church of medieval Europe than any modern incarnation- a power in its own right that counterbalanced the power of the nobility and helped unite an otherwise heavily divided populace.

Of course, most everything around him was like medieval Europe, so perhaps he should have expected as much.  Lucas was rather skeptical about the whole affair though, and the comparison to that period of the Catholic Church’s history did little so soothe the feeling.  Religion is, at its core, philosophy, Lucas had always thought.  And his experience with its many forms in his own world had left him feeling that it was often not a particularly useful or even interesting set of philosophies at that.

Of course, the practitioners of this world’s religion got tangible benefits from it apparently.  The idea that the Paladins and Priests that he would meet could actually call upon their gods and be answered was a step up from his own world, but it also came with its own slew of questions.  Though his first question would have to be why a monastery had its own contingent of armed and armoured soldiers, which Terrasin identified as Paladins.  Their buffed armor and exquisite surcoats certainly set them apart and above regular soldiers at a glance, and the answer to Lucas’s question became apparent when the Paladins parted to reveal an older man in a red and white robe.  Lucas idly noted that red seemed to be a favored color in this world, he would have to ask Terrasin about it later.

“Welcome, welcome!”  The man greeted them with a wide smile on his face, moving rather spritely despite his advanced age.  “Lord Hero, I am Cardinal Simon, and it is my utmost joy to welcome you into our humble monastery today!”

“And I thank you for such a warm welcome!”  Lucas replied, and meant it.  He was less sure about this meeting than he was about the one with the Duke, and Lucas honestly felt he had bungled that one, though he was not entirely sure.  It was less that he had any idea how or what he did wrong, but that he noticed that Terrasin had not been entirely happy with how the conversation had gone.  He wanted to avoid any such mistakes in this conversation, and would do his utmost to avoid them.

Admittedly, it did probably would be much easier here; he did not need to ask Simon for anything after all.  On the other hand, Lucas was not sure what the Cardinal and the Church would want and whether it would be something he could, or would even want to, do.

Cardinal Simon exchanged pleasantries with Terrasin as he guided the pair through bare halls into a surprisingly well appointed sitting room.  Lucas would not call the room- that was essentially two couches with a coffee table in between and some decorations tastefully around the walls- luxurious or ostentatious, but it almost felt decadent after the plain exterior and corridors.

The room was clearly not often used though.  Dust hung in the air, and the table showed signs of being hastily dusted- probably the culprit for the air.  There was some amusement at Terrasin’s expense as she had a quiet sneezing fit, and Lucas’s second meeting of the day began.

Alone, but for the guards, the Cardinal’s demeanor changed completely; the kindly and cheerful air evaporated as if it had never been there to be replaced with a serious, business-like, mien.  Much like the effect the difference between the places before the decorated room, the stern look in Simon’s eyes was enhanced by the comparison to what had been there before.

“Lord Hero,” the Cardinal began, iron in his voice.  “I have read the reports and heard the testimonies of your nature already, and frankly I think we can dispense with most of the pleasantries here in private.  No doubt Her Highness has given you some indication of the Church’s position; her House has a long memory, and has ever had a sharp wit for politics.”

Lucas was caught on the back foot from the sudden change, and was thankful that Terrasin took that question- which it was, even if it was in the form of a statement- for him.

“It is as you say, Your Eminence,” She replied with a slight bow of her head.  “Ever has our family been firm believers in the core of the Church and supporters of its teachings.”

Lucas was…  Less sure of the subtext passing between the two than he would like to be.  There were some things he could guess intuitively based on the history of his world, what Terrasin had told him on the way, and basic logic- but that only went so far.  At a guess?  There was tension between the two due to the competition for power between the clergy and the nobility.  Undoubtedly, the entire thing was made excessively complicated by Terrasin’s firm belief in the Church and her firm belief in her family’s traditions, which predated the Church itself.  Lucas very much did not want to get in between the two, but suspected he would eventually no matter how much he struggled; he would struggle anyway, though, if only to delay the inevitable.

“This artifact is quite fascinating,” In keeping with that last thought, Lucas fingered the earing he wore that provided the translation.  “Before anything else, I do have to ask for an explanation of…  Well, pretty much of everything.  Specifically, your title translates to a rather specific one from my world; one that implies an extremely high rank.”

Aside from theologians and clergy, there is rarely anyone more studied in the actual workings of religion than an atheist.  If Lucas’s working assumption that this world’s Church mirrored the Roman Catholic Church at its height was correct, then the man in front of him could hold power along the lines of a king.  The biggest issue was that Lucas had no idea how the translation functioned; how did it decide what word was the most fitting?

It was, despite him using it as a way to try and avoid getting involved between the other two, a pressing problem.  Lucas was well aware of the Church’s hierarchy in his own world, and knew that the title “Cardinal” actually was an honorary title that in theory only held power when a Pope died.  However, the vast majority of Cardinals were powerful Bishops and Archbishops; something that did not really matter in the modern era, but very much mattered in the past.

Even that was just the shortest version, basically useless as a description compared to the amount of actual nuance that the title contained.

“It truly is a wondrous creation,” Simon said, his tone softening into something slightly wistful.  “It is a pity that we cannot recreate its like, but that is neither here nor there.  To answer your question, my title “------” was granted to me by the Pope for my work in this Duchy.  There is a leader of our Church here in Lysus, and several others throughout the Duchy- I oversee them and organize the efforts of the Church.  The title I was granted was in recognition of that work.”

So the Church leaders he spoke of, they sounded like Bishops and an Archbishop.  So Simon’s title would, if Lucas stuck to the Catholic terminology, be Primate.  An obscure title, hardly in use today and rarely even in the past.  Lucas curious what Simon’s title would sound like to him now, because when he had started to question the translation it had become a series of buzzing sounds rather than words.  Lucas bade one of them to say the title again, and the response was more or less what he expected.

“Primate Simon,” Terrasin said, and Lucas realised he might be pressing his luck given the short clip of her voice.  Actually, he supposed this was a tangent from the actual discussion he should be having; he probably was shooting himself in the foot.  Perhaps it was for the best he had never started his own company; at the very least he would have needed a decent P.R. department to handle people in his stead…

“I apologise for my rudeness,” Lucas winced slightly as he thought back over his own words.  “Perhaps it is to be expected of a person who chose his profession partially just to sate his own curiosity and raised in a society where titles did not truly matter- especially considering the issues that have accompanied my being brought here against my will- however, I will certainly do my best to better in the future.”

“It is of no concern, you need not worry.” Simon waved Lucas’s apology away, saying, “I can understand why you would not want to continue our previous line of discussion.”

So Lucas had been seen right through.  Well, he was not really surprised.

“And Her Highness’s distrust of me, or rather my office, is not unfounded.  We Primates are not men of the cloth, but we are the bones of the Church that support its beating heart.”

“An administrator, as opposed to a priest.”  Lucas guessed, briefly amused that he understood things better when a biological metaphor was used.  The he sighed, wondering even as he opened his mouth whether or not he should be saying his next couple of sentences.  “On a practical level, I have to admit to being reassured by that.  However, I really do wish to learn more about your Church.  That your prayers are answered is…  Stunning, to me.”

“Well then you wouldn’t mind me sending one of the Brothers with you?”  “They would be able to educate you in those matters far better than I could.”  Simon said rather agreeably, then flashed a rueful smile.  “You, Lord Lucas, can probably empathise with someone like me who is not always very good at expressing certain portions of information in the correct manner.”

Lucas flinched and muttered, “I can indeed…”

“So, with all of that aside, let us move on to the practical aspect of our involvement- reason that I invited you here.”  Simon only shifted slightly, but considering throughout this entire conversation he had maintained a rock solid posture, it was a major tell.  Lucas supposed that if Terrasin was correct, this was hardly something that someone expected to do.  It was a once in an era event.  “The official line of the Church is to declare you a Saint and support you with all of our resources.”

There was a pregnant pause and even Lucas could tell there was a “but,” waiting to drop.

“Realistically, the Church would wish for you to participate in occasional events- for which we would be happy to provide you advisors and guides for, given how busy you will be- to help support the Church and spread the Faith.”

“Spread the Faith?”  Lucas noted that the way the Primate said “faith” made it sound like a proper noun of some kind, “I was under the impression that there was only a single Church in this world; a single religion, that had actual, tangible benefits.  How could you possibly have less than total adoption of your religion among the population?”

Aside from some occasional comments from Terrasin, Lucas had not really noticed heavy religious overtones from anyone he had spoke to.  He had presumed that he was either missing it due to his lack of experience, or the culture handled its religious matters more privately perhaps.  Lucas was not comfortable with the idea of proselytizing, even if refusal to do so cost him the full support of the Church.  But he could not fathom the idea that he would even need to.

“Lip service,” Simon snorted, his lips curling in a sneer.  “Half hearted prayers given on festival days before the peasants and nobility alike go off to get drunk and frolic.  That is not Faith; it does not serve its purpose.”

“Which is?”  Lucas asked the obvious follow up.  He had a feeling he knew the answer though.

“The powers wielded by our Paladins do not come from nowhere, Lord Lucas.”  Simon sighed, “They come at a price, and that price is the prayers and worship of the masses.  Even knowing this, many neglect their duties because they do not truly believe it.”

Lucas glanced towards Terrasin questioningly, who gave a slight nod.  Well, he thought to himself, that is certainly interesting- and more than a little bit worrying.  Worrying on so many levels.  He leaned back into the couch, causing a small puff of dust to rise up as he ran his hand through his hair.

“That raises so many questions that I am not even sure where to begin, Primate Simon.” Lucas said, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling as he tried to organise his thoughts.  The implications of what Simon had said; Lucas quickly came to the conclusion that he was simply not qualified to make any judgement, and that even if he was he lacked the information he would need.

This was being sprung on him far too quickly.  He had come here expecting some politics and to be asked to help the Church in one way or another, but he had also expected to receive a basic overview of the religion itself.  Lucas instead thought that he was being treated like he knew what was going on, and he had no clue.  Intuitively, he had no issue with the request.  If demons defeat humanity, Lucas dies, the Church uses its power to fight the demons and protect humanity, ergo, anything that aides the Church helps Lucas survive.

“Lucas,” Terrasin said softly, speaking from his side.  “I realise that this might be surprising to you.  The first two heroes, they came from worlds with religions that were basically the same as ours; what little you have said has made it clear that you do not, and that is something we do not have experience with.  Despite my issues with the Primates, in this, I agree with him wholeheartedly.  There is faith and there is Faith; worship without feeling only does so much.  Your existence alone can strengthen our Paladins as the people put real effort into their devotions.  Were you to actively help the Church, that alone would greatly aid the front lines, to say nothing of the souls of the people themselves.”

There had been a lot of things Lucas had found funny over the past near two weeks.  He personally thought that the feeling was an expression of his growing sense of absurdity for everything he was seeing.  As his anger and confusion faded, though not nearly quickly enough for his liking, Lucas found more and more things amusing, if often in an unpleasant way.

In this case, Lucas wanted to laugh because after having recognized Terrasin as his superior in terms of dealing with people and looking at the long term of political dealings.  Sure, it was not a high bar to exceed, but even Lucas could see dozens of ways agreeing to this could backfire on either him or Terrasin.  And if he could see dozens, there were undoubtedly hundreds of ways he had missed.

Why had their positions reversed then?  Because Lucas was skeptical of religion, and Terrasin had devoted her life to hers.  The warnings she had given him, she should have listened to them herself.  No, she knew, Lucas thought.  The girl just wanted to believe the best in people, or thought that it would be worth it to strike at the Demons.

“Agreed, though asking me to travel might be difficult.” Lucas said instead of his own thoughts, because what if he was wrong in his analysis?  Perhaps Terrasin had weighed everything and this was the correct choice.  Hell, he could always refuse and stop if he needed to.  “I will be busy organizing the academy and teaching.  This will not be something I can interrupt for a while, not until I can train people to teach in my stead.”

“That is understandable, and more than acceptable,” Simon agreed.  “Hopefully, in the future you will be free to travel, but for now I will be happy to have your aid here in Lysus.”

Hands were shook, small details were worked out, and it was without pomp that Lucas was declared a Saint of the Church.  There would be a ceremony weeks later when arrangements could be made, but the decision was made in a small, dusty, room in an old monastery.  

Lucas left his meeting with the Primate feeling slightly lost; things had not gone as he expected, and he was unsure what the fallout would be.  Terrasin was sitting in silence, lost in her own thoughts, and Lucas was likewise as the carriage moved towards the academy.  For all the hype around him as a Hero, Lucas was finding that the real powerbrokers of this world would be less than impressed.

“Terrasin,” he broke the silence.  “I cannot help but think that I have screwed myself over in the future during those two meetings.  I never knew how truly poor with politics I was until today, and it has been eye opening.  If I keep going like this or, heaven forbid, lose control of myself during an important meeting…”

Lucas did not finish that thought, instead, he changed the subject to the question he really wanted to ask.

“If there is one thing I know, it is that problems are best left to the experts; amateurs often do far more harm than good.  By that logic, until I learn more about this world- and politics in general- I should avoid taking the fore in those kinds of meetings.  Would that be something I could trust you with?”