Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Deeper Sin

The indulgence, that miraculous creation, emerged after the Island War when the church’s fiscal income sharply declined. It was invented by a certain wise figure within the church. A slip of paper, no larger than a palm, so rough that it would chafe even if used as toilet paper, printed with a few lines of divine exhortations and adorned with enigmatic symbols, thus became the church’s most powerful money-making tool in the past thirty years: the indulgence.

Its production cost was negligible—a single copper could print more than a dozen—but the lowest grade indulgence sold for ten coppers each. Such hundredfold profit drove the entire church into a frenzy. The sage who had invented the indulgence was now one of the church’s most renowned Bishops of the Scepter, overseeing the entire financial operation—a position of unassailable power.

One indulgence could absolve you of certain sins. If you purchased enough, you could wash away all your sins, ensuring you would not descend into hell after death but instead ascend to the divine realm, blessed with eternal happiness under the gods’ radiant protection.

Yet, humans accumulated new sins every day; according to church propaganda, every believer ought to purchase one or two, even three or five indulgences daily to cleanse themselves of the day’s new transgressions—just as Lin Qi, after selling six rapiers, spent his last twenty coppers to buy two indulgences from Father Barin.

Lin Qi did not truly believe in the power of the indulgence; he only sought peace of mind.

But what did ordinary folk know of such things? They devoutly handed over their hard-earned coppers for indulgences of every kind, pouring endless wealth into the church’s coffers, making it, in the postwar years, the richest power on the continent.

Before the assembled Dragon Riders and Copperhats, Father Barin produced a thick stack of indulgences. Under the combined pressure of secular authority and supreme divine power, the minds of these soldiers went blank; they lost all capacity for independent thought. Obediently, they emptied their purses, each purchasing a large handful of indulgences.

Father Barin nodded in satisfaction, patting the meager few indulgences left in his hand, and said with pride, “Now, your sins for today have been cleansed. But remember, do not commit the same wrongs again. For interrupting my transcription of the prayer scroll and wasting the holy water of absolution, I shall send the bill to the Constabulary and the headquarters of the Dragon Riders.”

Mr. Gran drew himself up, glancing first at Lin Qi’s shattered door, then at the ashen faces of the Dragon Riders and Copperhats. He did not wish to push matters too far. Unlike Father Barin, who represented the authority of the church, and whose powerful backers rendered him untouchable, Mr. Gran was a man of the secular world and could not afford to be overly severe.

He cleared his throat, preparing to smooth things over, when Lin Qi sidled up to him, his arm brushing lightly against Mr. Gran’s voluminous cloak. Instantly, Mr. Gran felt a slight new weight in his right pocket—a sensation exactly like when certain subordinates would surreptitiously slip a gold coin into his pocket in hopes of securing a favor.

Suppressing a cough, Mr. Gran reached into his pocket and found a crystal vial—unmistakable in touch. His heart pounded; it was that miraculous potion, the one that could make an old tree blossom. He coughed again, discreetly withdrew a white handkerchief to dab his nose, then returned it to his pocket and spoke with deliberate calm, “In that case, there is only one matter left to address.”

Fixing the soldiers with a stern gaze, Mr. Gran declared coldly, “You must replace the door you destroyed, and pay a triple fine as punishment. For barging into the academy and disrupting the order of instruction, each of you will be fined one gold coin. For frightening the students, every student in this dormitory disturbed by your actions must receive ten silver coins each as compensation for their distress.”

He counted on his fingers for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. “Considering you were acting under orders, hand over fifty gold coins and let this incident be settled.”

Mr. Gran reasoned that, having spent thirty gold coins just yesterday morning on that magical potion, he was due for some recompense. Of the fifty gold coins, thirty would go to himself, the remaining twenty would cover the minor cost of repairing Lin Qi’s door, and whatever was left over would be his fee for intervening on Lin Qi’s behalf.

An imperial noble, Dean of Academic Affairs at the Fifth University and a likely successor to the headmaster’s post—a man of such stature could not be expected to intervene for a student without due compensation. Otherwise, it would be an affront to his dignity.

Lin Qi stood beside Mr. Gran with a humble smile, as any well-behaved, innocent student might. His eyes widened with a mix of fear and confusion, as though puzzled why these imposing agents of state power had come for him.

The faces of the Dragon Riders and Copperhats turned corpse-pale. A fifty gold coin fine?

They had come here at dawn to arrest Lin Qi, and all the bribes they had received amounted only to ten gold coins. Now, after exhausting all their savings to buy a heap of indulgences that were so worthless they could hardly serve as toilet paper, they still had to pay a fifty gold coin penalty?

Driven to desperation, the gaunt Copperhat glared with rage, summoning his courage to protest, “Sir, we were only following orders!”

Mr. Gran’s anger flared. These men had violated the final article of the Imperial Education Code and profaned the divine act of transcribing holy texts, yet they dared speak so to him? He brandished his cane in fury, poised to assert his authority, when Lin Qi interjected smoothly, “If you were only following orders, then the true responsibility does not lie with you.”

With a touch of tragic compassion and an almost saintly smile, Lin Qi addressed the gaunt Copperhat, “Then, honored officer, tell me—who ordered you to arrest me? Who assured you there was sufficient evidence to accuse me?”

In a weighty tone, Lin Qi continued, “You were only following orders. Even if you broke the Imperial Law, your sins have been washed away. But the one who ordered you to arrest me is the true sinner! The greater guilt lies with him—he must be punished!”

The Dragon Riders and Copperhats fell silent, their eyes darting as if weighing their options.

A deep, powerful voice suddenly rang out.

“Yes, I admit to my wrongdoing.”

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