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I Pioneered Scientific Magic - Chapter 584
🕑 Added 2024-05-13 10:06:36 +0000 UTCChapter 584: I Have Mastered the Key Technology to Dismantle the Kingdom's Rule!
October, the gentle breeze of autumn passed over the lake and swept through the wilderness, bringing a slight chill to the people of the northern kingdom territories who had been busy all day.
Tirar was an ordinary worker in a small town in the northern territories of the kingdom, who had received several awards for his outstanding work abilities.
However, few knew that this was merely a cover identity.
Years ago, when the Empire ruled this land and the Lord's glory still resided in everyone's hearts, Tirar was a high-ranking count, a priest of the Lord on earth, a bishop elect of the church!
It's a pity that this once glorious identity had now become a death warrant—his castle, property, and lands were all devoured by those shameful wizards and minions of demons, forcing Tirar to abandon everything he was once proud of and flee the bustling imperial capital in disgrace to hide in this desolate northern town.
Becoming a worker was a necessity since, in the kingdom now, everyone capable, from seventy-year-olds to ten-year-old children, had to work!
Even many jobs were in high demand!
To avoid drawing attention from the wizards and standing out too much, Tirar suppressed his humiliation, unwillingness, and anger, and took a job at a workshop producing new-style muskets.
Leveraging his noble social skills and the excellent physical condition bestowed by his baptism, he managed to secure a managerial position, solving his identity and sustenance issues.
But Tirar was not content with just this; he had not forgotten his identity!
Those hands that once wielded a sword were now used to cut and polish wood, and he had to work daily alongside the foul-smelling poor, which was undoubtedly a disgrace for Tirar, who had once been a noble and a clergyman!
Fortunately, Tirar believed that all of this was only temporary, so he could endure.
In fact, in the northern territories of the kingdom, there were many others with similar fates.
The northern territories, desolate and mixed with various peoples, located at the edges of the kingdom, had vast areas rarely touched by humans, making it perfect for hiding. This area used to be a base for the church's Divine Punishment Army.
With the disintegration of the empire and the collapse of the church, this area had instead become the most active place for the clergy and nobility, who gathered forces to form a secret organization—The Moon Watchers!
They recruited only former nobles, church personnel, and the most devout followers of the Moon God, with one goal: to awaken the Moon God from his slumber through devout prayers and end the apocalypse!
Indeed, asleep!
Due to the rapid collapse of the church hierarchy, many bishops and even cardinals died mysteriously, creating a bizarre and panic-inducing situation for the remaining clergy.
But no one wanted to believe that the all-powerful Moon God, creator of all, could fall!
Especially since the holy city had recently announced that the apocalypse was imminent, allowing the surviving nobles and clergy to hypothesize about the events.
They believed that the empire's people had become morally corrupt and lost their faith, leading the great Lord to fall into despair and allow the apocalypse!
As long as they remained devout in their prayers, one day, the Lord would awaken from his endless slumber and cleanse the entire land!
Then, not only could they regain their former glory and status, but they could also ascend even higher, becoming cardinals or even kings and emperors!
Tirar was a member of The Moon Watchers, and today was their routine meeting.
To avoid losing face in front of his peers, Tirar took off his dirty work clothes and put on an expensive outfit he had bought with a hefty sum of money, which was not conspicuous in the current kingdom.
For even the dogs on the street could wear colorful clothes, and the clothes worn by coachmen and merchants on the streets were no worse than those of the former nobility.
In Tirar's view, this undoubtedly violated the natural order and hierarchy, which would have provoked divine wrath in the past!
The meeting location was set on a farm not far from the town.
When Tirar first took over the title from his deceased father and became a lord, he had visited the farmlands of his territory, where he saw a nauseating, chaotic scene.
Animal feces, trash piled everywhere, and walls stained with urine and other filth almost made him vomit.
And those lowly peasants, stupid and ugly, only knew to toil on the land with their hoes, utterly disregarding whether the mud they splashed would soil the pedestrians...
That scene had forever imprinted itself in Tirar's mind, further affirming what his father had said—the nobles were the dignified assistants ordained by the great Moon God to help bishops and priests manage the intelligent beings of the world!
But this time, the
scene Tirar saw outside the farm was different; the roads were smooth and wide, and vast wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see.
Three large, oddly shaped alchemical instruments were racing across the yellow soil, starting a new round of autumn planting!
Seeing this, Tirar felt a pang of jealousy; in his view, this farm was practically a modern estate, and those wizards had even allowed a lowly peasant to manage it...
"These damn wizards..." Tirar muttered to himself, then straightened his clothes and, after a series of identity checks, entered the farm.
Tirar was not the last to arrive, nor the first; seventy or so extravagantly dressed nobles were gathered inside the farm, engaging in lively discussions about past deeds.
Tirar felt slightly awkward because most of the nobles were wearing the latest fashion, the trendiest clothes of the year, while he was still wearing an outfit from two years ago, making him somewhat out of place among the crowd.
Directly in front of him, the former seventh prince of the empire, Norson, was loudly discussing with a group of nobles about how they should mobilize their forces to counterattack the magic kingdom once the Moon God awoke.
Seeing Tirar enter the farm, Norson's eyes lit up, and he quickly approached. "You've come at the perfect time, Count Tirar, who do you think the great Lord will choose as the new master of the empire?"
"There's no doubt about it, it will certainly be you, Your Highness Norson!" Tirar replied smoothly.
Norson laughed heartily, slapped Tirar on the shoulder, and then promised that once they had survived this difficult period and defeated those wizards, regaining the former glory of the empire, he would definitely grant him the title of grand duke and a vast, fertile territory as a reward.
Tirar thanked him profusely, but inwardly he sighed.
Gathered in this small farm were the former key officials of the empire, now reduced to this state.
A former vice officer of the Divine Punishment Army was blowing glass in a workshop, a high-ranking bishop was hiding in the city guard as a squad leader, and the most miserable noble had even become a dung picker!
However, according to him, this was a sacrifice made for the great Lord, as the dung picker was the only position that did not require verification and could access key areas, providing much crucial intelligence.
Only here did they feel that their once-proud identities as nobles and clergy still held true!
Tirar sighed as he thought this, but soon noticed that the noisy discussions in the farm had suddenly quieted down, and he quickly turned his head to look; the newcomer was one of the few remaining bishops of the church, the proponent of the theory that the Moon God was asleep, Lord Sedek!
The assembled nobles and priests hurriedly bowed respectfully.
Prince Norson took a few steps forward and eagerly asked, "Bishop Sedek, how much longer until the great Moon God awakens?"
Sedek stared deeply at Norson, then looked at the other nobles who were equally eager for the answer, and calmly replied, "This is closely related to whether our prayers are devout..."
"The Lord needs to see our repentance and sincerity! But clearly, some among us do not have the faith they claim to have!"
Sedek's words caused Tirar and others to subtly change their expressions, their eyes darting around suspiciously at their colleagues, hiding intense wariness behind friendly looks.
Three months ago, a minor noble who had renounced his faith had revealed their meeting place to the wizards, resulting in significant losses for The Moon Watchers and nearly leading to their complete annihilation.
This harsh lesson had made Tirar and others more cautious, changing the meeting schedule from once a month to unscheduled summons.
Sedek scrutinized the crowd for a long while before his tone softened, reassuringly saying, "But I believe the true betrayers of the faith have already been expelled from The Moon Watchers, and those left are trustworthy comrades..."
Before Tirar and others could respond, Sedek spoke again, announcing a major piece of news!
He had recently sensed signs of the Moon God's awakening!
"Are you certain, Bishop Sedek?" Prince Norson was so excited he could barely contain himself, his voice trembling.
The rest of the nobles and priests stared intently at Sedek, as if ready to pounce and tear him apart if he uttered a single negative word.
"Of course, I'm very certain!" Bishop Sedek declared confidently, then raised his hand to prove his words with a fact, a faint light immediately appeared in his palm.
"It's divine magic, this is divine magic!" A nobleman cried out excitedly, his expression wild.
Although many recognized that this was just the simplest first-circle divine magic—Light Magic, the implications it represented made everyone ecstatic!
"I knew the great Moon God had not abandoned us
!" A devout priest fell to his knees, crying out in tears.
When the church collapsed and the empire was destroyed, they, the surviving clergy, had noticed they had lost the ability to perform divine magic.
This was undoubtedly a severe blow, causing many to waver in their faith, leading to a terrifying speculation: had the great Moon God fallen?
Some who could not accept the truth chose to end their own lives, while others frantically sought any evidence that the Moon God still existed.
Like the recent changes in the lunar phases and the months-long anomaly of Mondays proving that the Moon God had not fallen but was merely asleep!
The Moon Watchers organization was also established for this reason!
But these pieces of evidence were weak in the increasingly 'dark' reality.
They had waited a full five years, and now they finally saw the dawn of hope!
This ecstasy lasted for several hours without cessation, and the excited Prince Norson even proposed holding a grand celebration ball, as if he had already foreseen their victory!
Bishop Sedek had to speak up to bring everyone back from their imaginary victory to reality. "Although the great Moon God has responded slightly to our day and night devout prayers, the apocalypse is not over yet, and we have not done enough, the Lord's test continues!"
"What more do we need to do to pass the Lord's test?" Tirar asked eagerly.
"Do what we must, and the Lord Himself will judge!" Bishop Sedek stated simply, then shifted the topic and began asking about what they had done for the Lord in the past three months.
Inspired by the imminent revival of the Moon God, the assembled nobles immediately began boasting about how many people they had secretly rallied and how much crucial intelligence they had gathered in the past few months.
Based on this, they never considered themselves as working for evil wizards to make a living, but as enduring humiliation and making preparations for the empire and church's counterattack!
It was soon Tirar's turn to speak, and he raised his eyebrows, quite pleased with himself.
"After two years of exploration, I have successfully mastered the technology to manufacture muskets, those wizards' weapons!"
Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately showed deep respect.
Bishop Sedek's face also showed a look of surprise.
They would never forget that it was this new weapon called the musket that had defeated the empire's proud Divine Punishment Cavalry, and even some bishops had died under the siege of large groups of musketeers!
"Very good, excellent!" Prince Norson's eyes reddened as he looked at Tirar. "As long as you are willing to contribute the blueprints, once the empire is restored, you will be the king of Hadralata!"
The assembled nobles looked at Tirar with envious expressions, as the Hadralata Kingdom was now the most prosperous region in the entire empire, even surpassing the former imperial capital!
Bishop Sedek also quickly made the same promise.
Having received the future emperor and pope's dual promises, Tirar handed over his painstakingly drawn blueprints, one of the biggest secrets of the wizard-ruled empire—the manufacturing blueprints for muskets and bullets...
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