496 I Changed Into A New Outfit

The representatives of the imperial household, the major organizations in attendance, and the nobles were at a loss for words. The Sorcerers' Association's representatives, who did not consider the Church a hostile entity, looked even more astonished than the other attendees. I

To use a crass analogy, they suddenly felt poor native folks that had just watched the village pariah forcibly kidnap their wives. What was supposed to be an agreement between gentlemen had been tossed aside. Furthermore, the Church showed no signs of stopping. 

Their first reaction was a clamor for retaliation, but that thought was quickly scrapped, as they remembered, with sinking hearts, that they would be pointing their swords at the Church. It was only natural that those who had never questioned the Church would fear it. Baiyi figured this to be the reason behind their blank and confused stares, and he did not blame them for that.