Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

TL: Etude

The two watched with bated breath as the noisy stream of people bustled by outside the window.

“Phew!” Liszt patted his chest. “They’re not coming for us.”

“I’m going to go down and take a look!” Seviya took down the cloak hanging on the wall, and was about to head downstairs.

“Are you crazy? Why join in the chaos?”

Liszt grabbed her, truly, did this woman not know her own status?

Seviya turned back to him, intending to mock the man for being too cowardly, but upon seeing the worried expression on his face, she softened and reassured, “Don’t worry! No one can recognize me in this disguise.”

She shrugged off Liszt’s hand, donned the cloak, “I’m very interested in any news about the Church.”

Having said that, she turned and went downstairs.

…

“Angelo!”

“Angelo!”

The streets were abuzz with voices, the name of the new bishop repeated time and again. Some were visibly agitated, while others were just mingling for the fun of it.

Seviya and Liszt followed the crowd and realized that it was moving toward the cathedral.

“Hey! Sir, what’s happening?”

Liszt gently tugged at the clothes of a passerby and asked cautiously.

“Damn it! Those bloodsuckers from Collins, always keen to skin us!” the man cursed vehemently.

In his somewhat chaotic explanation, peppered with various Horn Bay civilization terms, Liszt pieced together the cause of it all.

After Seviya stirred up a sensation, the Church’s armed forces had applied high-pressure policies towards Fort Ness for a while. Later, under the advocacy of the new bishop Angelo, the blockade was lifted, which greatly displeased the Archbisop of Collins in Horn Bay, leading him to send an envoy to Fort Ness. There, in front of numerous high-ranking clergy, he vehemently scolded the bishop of Fort Ness, which riled up Angelo’s supporters.

However, the worst was yet to come. The envoy brought a tax increase order from Collins – to meet the growing expenses of the so-called “Purification Squads,” archbishop Elvis, prompted by some, had imposed a special religious tax. On top of that, the Church had always collected another religious tax from the faithful – the tithe, which meant a person had to ‘donate’ one-tenth of their income to the Church. But don’t assume that the tax was paid proportionally to actual earnings. The amount was preset based on estimated income, and with the current level of technology, the Church had no way to accurately calculate each person’s exact income.

The new religious tax was a per capita tax, which meant that everyone had to pay, regardless of income, including the elderly or children, who did not have the capacity to work.

What further incensed the people of Fort Ness was that ninety percent of the new tax would be remitted to Collins, for the Horn Bay central church to manage, and the local church of Fort Ness could only retain a paltry ten percent.

Once the news broke, it immediately caused a huge uproar, with various undercurrents stirring within Fort Ness. The Horn Bay Alliance, which had cooperated with the Church to impose the lockdown, was now unable to sit still.

Although maritime trade thrived in the lands of Horn Bay, almost half of the countries there were landlocked. The coastal nations controlled sea transport and made a vast fortune, which the landlocked countries coveted. These landlocked nations were especially devout in their faith and blindly obeyed Church directives. As a result, the Archbisop of the Horn Bay resided in the strongest landlocked nation, Collins, rather than the economically most developed Horn Bay Alliance.

People from the coastal nations always suspected the Church of covertly supporting the landlocked countries with the tax money collected from them to secure their loyalty to the Church.

The Alliance Council sent a delegation headed by Marquis Foster to negotiate with the Archbisop’s envoy from Collins. The talks ended in stalemate as neither side would budge, with the envoy maintaining a hardline stance and refusing to negotiate.

What infuriated the envoy was that a group of clergy led by Angelo, the bishop in Fort Ness, actually sided with the Alliance Council to oppose the tax, an act he viewed as a betrayal of the Church.

As negotiations stalled, a new order from the Archbisop in Collins arrived the next morning – Angelo was to be removed from his position as the bishop of Fort Ness and escorted to Collins for trial under accusations of collusion with witches, scheming to corrupt the Church. Along with him, several other high-ranking clergy of the Fort Ness church were also to be removed and sent over, all staunch supporters of Angelo.

The public opinion in Fort Ness erupted. Angelo was a deeply respected clergyman who had vigorously worked to avoid miscarriages of justice in the witch hunts before becoming a bishop, and after his elevation, he eased years of oppressive strategies, earning significant popularity.

Now that he was to be ‘escorted’ to Collins, the populace naturally resisted.

Someone initiated it, and a massive protest was spontaneously organized, growing in numbers as it moved along, headed straight for the cathedral.

“It turns out so much has happened in the last few days while we’ve been shut away. Sigh, just as my office was about to open, chaos erupted.”

Liszt, holding onto Seviya, stood at the side of the road and sighed, shaking his head.

“I want to see what’s happening.”

Seviya appeared excited, clearly enjoying the spectacle. She likely wished for the situation to escalate further, as it was an internal squabble within the Church itself.

“Don’t! In such situations, it’s easiest for stampedes or even riots to start. We’re better off not getting involved.”

Seviya frowned, “I’ll just take a quick look from a distance! You go back first.” With that, she followed the crowd.

Liszt reluctantly trailed behind her.

The two joined the protesters at the cathedral square, which was already packed with people from all around Fort Ness.

“Release him!”

“Give us back our bishop!”

“Expel the Collins scoundrels!”

The shouts echoed back and forth. The church knights stationed at the cathedral entrance were on high alert, tense, having never witnessed such a scene before.

Liszt quietly asked a man nearby, “Sir, what’s happening inside now?”

The man answered with a heavy expression, “Marquis Foster is making a final effort inside. Alas, who knows what Archbishop Elvis is thinking.”

As they spoke, the cathedral doors suddenly opened. Under the watchful eyes of all, Angelo and his group, handcuffed, walked out beside them were the armed personnel escorting them, and a high-ranking clergyman arrogantly ordered the crowd to clear the way.

The powder keg was ignited!

The long-suppressed emotions of the crowd burst into flames.

“This is outrageous!”

“Minions of Collins!”

Someone yelled, “Charge in! Beat those scumbags!”

As if the cry were a signal, the crowd hammered at the cathedral doors, staying strong against the blockade by church knights.

Enraged, the envoy from Collins questioned if these were the Father’s obedient lambs or just a mob of rioters!

He sharply ordered, “Those who dare to assault the cathedral shall be executed without mercy.”

However, the church knights forming the blockade did not draw their weapons. On one hand, they were facing ordinary civilians they interacted with daily, and on the other, they faced merely physical jostling. Should real casualties occur, the knights wouldn’t be able to hold back the raging populace.

Moreover, many of the church knights were supporters of Angelo…

The thin defensive line was immediately breached!

“This is outrageous!” The envoy’s expression morphed from anger to fear.

“Retreat inside!” A group rushed Angelo and the others back into the cathedral, then closed the door.

But the door was soon smashed open again, and the furious people poured in.

“It seems the archbishop’s envoy is in for a rough time!”

Quietly observing from an alley entrance, Liszt and Seviya watched the situation at the cathedral.

“Hmph! They got what they deserved.” The witch commented disdainfully.

Suddenly, a window on the second floor of the cathedral burst open.

“Throw them out! Throw them out!”

Wave after wave of voices reached them.

“What’s happening now?”

Liszt focused his attention, looking up at the second floor.

He saw shoving at the window, and then someone was lifted up.

With a thud, the person was harshly thrown out of the window!

They had barely hit the ground, not yet having time to cry out in pain, before the crowd below began to beat them fiercely.

Thud!

Thud!

The sound of bodies hitting the ground continued.

The archbishop’s envoy and his entourage were being thrown out of the window, one by one.

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