The judges

The next morning, Rafael visited the site where Frederic's men were making paper. It was a large shed recently built inside the inner circle of the city, adjacent to a small creek. For the Baron, the fewer people who knew and worked there, the better—the chances of the process leaking were significantly reduced.

Julius mentioned that the church would get 40% of everything. I bet that's a lot of money, Rafael thought.

The days passed without any issues. The wooden frame of the printing press was complete, with only a few letters still being crafted.

On the fifth day since the High Priest left, Rafael was unexpectedly summoned by a cleric who knocked on his room door at the small church.

"Yes?" Rafael answered.

"Cleric Robert, the priests have summoned you. Please follow me." Rafael recognized the cleric but had never spoken to him before. The cleric turned and began to walk.

"Wha—Wait, what happened? Why have they summoned me?"

The cleric gave him a disdainful look. "You're the High Priest's apprentice and still act like this? Hmph."

What the hell? I just asked, Rafael thought as he was led to the cleric's chambers at the mansion. Inside, eight priests awaited him. The door closed behind him, leaving him alone with the elderly men.

"Cleric Robert, please come forward and sit on this chair," one of the priests instructed. The priests were seated in a line behind a large table, while Rafael's chair was placed three meters away, facing them.

What is this? Have they discovered something about me? But how? No, it can't be. His mind raced, trying to figure out the reason behind the gathering as he walked to the chair.

"We are here under God's will to judge whether the knowledge of distillation is blasphemy and if it should be banned."

Rafael's mind went blank.

"A few days ago, this man," the priest in the middle said, pointing at Rafael, "shared profane knowledge with Priest Hecker. Is that correct, Priest Hecker?" The priests all turned to an elderly man seated at the end of the table.

Hecker nodded.

"You described a machine, a device, that can purify substances. Priest Hecker, please recount the exact words he used."

Reluctantly, Hecker recounted everything Rafael had said about distillation and how to construct a device to achieve it.

"Wait! Why are you doing this?" Rafael demanded, anger and fear rising within him. He was terrified of the possibility of imprisonment or even execution.

"Silence! This is no place for you to spread your blasphemy!" one of the priests shouted back. "I don't think we need to prolong this session. Let's vote, and my vote is to ban this heretical and unholy... idea."

"What unholy?!"

"I, too, vote to ban it," another priest said, ignoring Rafael.

This can't be happening... This is unfair, Rafael thought, his frustration growing.

In the end, out of the eight priests, only two voted in favor of the knowledge.

"You don't understand what you're doing! I'm the High Priest's apprentice, and even he said this knowledge was something from heaven!"

"We don't know if that's true, and the High Priest isn't here to confirm it. Besides, it's our duty as priests to decide what is holy and what is not," one priest responded. While it was true that only the Pope and High Priests had the final say, in Julius's absence, these priests took it upon themselves to decide.

"And because you're his apprentice, we won't be too harsh with your punishment..." The priest speaking was interrupted by Hecker, one of the two who had voted in favor of the knowledge.

"I have something to say in that case. Cleric Robert here saved the life of a mother and her daughter who were sick from eating poisoned fruits. I was there and can provide proof. So, I ask that his punishment be reduced even further."

"Hmph, fine by me."

"Me too," the others agreed.

"It's settled then. Your punishment will be to clean all the churches in Calistoga for a month."

"Be grateful, boy. You know the penalties for your sins could be much worse. You may go now and start cleaning right away."

Damn pieces of shit! At least I'm not being imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Rafael got up and left. As he closed the door behind him, he heard an intense discussion begin inside.

These bastards! What the hell is this idea of banning knowledge just because they think it's unholy?

He spent the entire day cleaning all the churches in the city, returning to his room exhausted. After asking a servant to bring him food, he ate and went straight to sleep.

The days passed, and Rafael recalled that, according to his calculations, Julius should be in Burmegh by now, or perhaps already heading to the village.

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The High Priest entered a grand and luxurious room, similar to the one at Frederic's mansion. The place was immaculate, with a servant standing near the wall, ready to attend to his lord's orders.

"Thank you for accepting my request for a meeting," Julius said as he took a seat at one of the chairs in the middle of the table. Floutt sat at the head of the table.

"Who wouldn't accept a request from a High Priest? So, what is the matter?" Floutt asked, getting straight to the point, not wasting time on small talk.

*sigh* "I just want to know if you've heard anything strange lately. Any new rumors?" Julius suspected that Floutt knew something about the relic, so instead of asking directly, he chose to inquire more broadly, hoping to keep the Baron in doubt about what the High Priest actually knew.