Chapter 200.1
For a few days, I had been doing a lot of research and front-line work, but my schedule was suddenly changed this morning.
Today, I was traveling to the royal capital church by a horse-drawn carriage. Although I have compiled the results of my research in the underground library, there was still a lot of information missing. It seemed that it was not enough just to check the history books.
Also, the water supply for the hand washroom at the entrance to the basement had stopped working, so they needed to check that as well. They said that they could rely on the aqueduct for now, but what would they do if the aqueduct was destroyed on the day of the attack on the royal capital?
I had many questions, but for now, I had to put them aside. In the carriage, which was moving slowly with the sound of its wheels, I spoke to the person in charge of legal affairs accompanying me.
I understand that High Priestess Malavova has gone missing from the church.
Yesterday, when the High Priestess did not come out of her room in the morning, the priestess in charge went to her room and found that she had disappeared without a trace.
There were no signs of a struggle
There were no signs of a struggle, nor did she seem to have been sleeping in her bed.
It seemed like she ran away, right? No, we couldnt be sure yet.
Meanwhile, church officials claimed that they had searched every nook and cranny.
Id say that at least church officials should not bring this kind of talk on the day when I was around, but I guess it was too late now.
(T/N: Welner was not going to church to investigate High Priestess Malavovas disappearance. Thats why he feared that he would get himself involved in trouble.)
Did they want me to handle it while I was inside the church if possible, or did they forget that they had a guest? Well, I guess I would be involved in the investigation today as well.
Did High Priestess Malavova have any suspicions about what was going to happen?
Yes, well, she talked about various things.
Lily, sitting up front, asked. Today, since we were officially going to church for some matter related to the dueling trials, Lily was to accompany me to the church as a concerned party. Annette-san had also come as Lilys professional escort in case of any trouble.
Neurath, Schunzel, and Annette-san were accompanying us on foot, so I felt a bit sorry that we were riding in a horse-drawn carriage.
Regardless, I started a conversation with Lily, recalling the information I received from the Prime Minister beforehand.
First of all, there are a few problems with the Relief Keepers in the local towns.
Relief keepers?
Villager Lily, on the other hand, may not know. This was because in a community village, other villagers took care of the elderly and children who have no family as a whole.
However, this was not necessarily the case in medium-sized towns. There would be times when family members die due to an accident or illness, leaving people alone with no relatives. In preparation for such times, churches would sometimes make a request, or rather a contract, to take care of the remaining family members in exchange for donating their remaining property, often times their whole real estate.
Then there would be people at the church who specialized in caring for orphans and the elderly, both from a religious and practical standpoint. And in other times, there would be people hired by the church to take care of them when there were no church members to do so. In my previous life, they would be like a caretaker of an orphanage or nursing home.
But of course, land and buildings donated to the church in such a way would become the churchs real property. This would increase the churchs land and property gradually.
In some cases, the church would directly manage the donated property, but in other cases, a Relief Keeper would be sent to manage the property.
There are people (church officials) who receive a donation but dont take good care of the people they are supposed to take care of, and only keep the donations for themselves.
In this world, it was essential to be able to use a certain amount of priestly magic to become a church head. However, a Relief Keeper who was hired by the church did not need to be able to use such a skill.
The head of the local church had the right to appoint a Relief Keeper, so the head of the church could actually appoint his own family member or relative to the position.
Then, of course, the church head and the Relief Keepers could work together to temper the documents, making the money flow to the higher-ups as a bribe. For example, the church may force the children and the elderly to work on the church property and then cover up the fact that they were forced to work.
High Priest Leppe informed the government that such a somewhat gray flow of funds seemed to be going on around High Priestess Malavovas church.
And then, there are a few more issues related to the stolen marriages.
Oh
Lily also chuckled. Stolen marriages happen in the village from time to time.
The details of the marriages involved were quite varied. It might not be a bad practice, but it was hard work for those who had to deal with it, including the court cases.
In a medieval-style world, population growth was an important issue. Therefore, the treatment was really complicated: bringing a woman from another village within the same nobles territory without permission would be considered kidnapping, but bringing a woman from another nobles territory would even be praised as a good job.
In this muscle-brained society, bringing a woman was considered manly or mystical, so it was complicated. I myself could have received such a reputation in Count Zeaverts territory for bringing Lily with me.
In my case, however, if a couple eloped together and wanted to settle in a new place, there would be a dispute between the people who welcomed them from the perspective of increasing the population and the people they were fleeing from, who would demand the return of the couple.
However, it was not possible to appeal to the royal family every time for this kind of matter, and if relations with neighboring lords deteriorated and trade was delayed, it could turn into an economic problem, which would be unfortunate. Therefore, the church would often intervene and hold discussions, or rather a reconciliation ceremony.
This was strangely similar to the situation in the Warring States Period in prehistoric Japan when priests served as diplomats.
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