Chapter 23: Hero’s Chronicle, Excommunicated!

"What has happened?" Breton asked the maid with a pale face.

"It's the Church of Rosana – they were going to pronounce an excommunication against Milady…!"

"Say what…!?" Samantha's face turned pale and looked like she was going to faint

"Father, you should take Mother inside she may not be able to hear the rest."

"No, I wish to hear," Samantha said as Maxfield tried to get her inside.

Just like In any country, the Church of Rosana is the official religion, with most of the population being affiliated as its followers. Strictly speaking, being regarded as representatives of God whom the citizens worship as the object of faith, the words of Rosana Church's Pope and its Priests carry significant weight. At times, such can easily surpass the aristocratic authority.

As may be expected, it was set up so that the son of Rosana Church's Pope should attend the academy reserved for nobles' children only.

Meanwhile, a pronouncement of excommunication by the Church of Rosana means that the subject will no longer be recognized as one of its followers… or to be frank, they have been banished from the communion on moral grounds for good.

Almost every citizen in this country is a follower of the Church of Rosana. Conversely, non-believers in the eyes of the rest are referred to as merely "heretics." Let alone being excommunicated, they are considered sinners to the Church as well as a public target of contempt.

"The reason was?" Breton asked with a hint of fear.

"For deliberately having a church destroyed. To disrupt the land devoted to God is an impudent act against Him, a sin which could not be forgiven… such were the reasons stated."

"…For deliberately having a church destroyed…? Don't tell me, the land readjustment project…?!" Samantha said as she gasped.

"My lady!" Another maid came running in. "A message from Sir, Tally."

"Sister, what is it?"

"The neighboring provinces of Blur, Rica, Salver, and Vulgare have increased their tax on my company's goods.

"Say what?" Breton almost screamed

"Servia, take this to Tally so we can implement the next stage" The young maid who gave her the message blushed as Glass remembered her name before she ran off to fulfill her lady's request

"The reason was…?" Samantha gulped

"For their lord being an excommunicated sinner, is what they stated. And also, to protect our domestic agriculture." Glass said as she relaxed in her chair.

"… for both of these to happen at the same time…!" Maxfield commented

"The church had been so disheveled that it would have cost a fortune to have it repaired, so I purchased it at the double the price and began efforts to rebuild a new one elsewhere." Glass said before Breton could say anything.

"Is this all my fault," Samantha look teary "I only suggested it because that place wasn't…."

"Father" Glass looked at her Father "I have a plan, and I have been expecting this"

He nodded as he took Samantha away.

"Sister is your plan going to work?"

"OH! Do you not trust your sister?"

[Next Day]

Glass was walking toward the podium of the newly built church.

She remembered something that was sad, in one of her lives she was a Sister. Who raised Orphans and protected her country despite being a woman. Yet, in the end, all of her efforts got her a burning at the Stake.

She needed to build up more emotion, and that's why she was thinking about this, the people must understand her feelings in order to pull through this.

Glass had reached the podium accompanied by a priest.

"God loves all of his children. God wants all his children to be understanding of one another. By helping one another, one can live a life with dignity, and by accepting the love of god, one can show humility and live with pride. God has taught all his children the value of the connection we have with others."

The soft and kind voice of the priest rang throughout the chapel.

"However, God also helps those who are willing to repent for their sins. God cherishes all his children and bestows forgiveness to those who repent and rectify the mistakes they have committed. We as God's children must see with hearts unclouded and judge that which is evil and that which is just. We must reach out to those who are truthful and right and offer help to those who have wronged. I pray for those who have committed sins to accept the love of God and atone for the error in their ways."

Once the priest was finished Glass had replaced him

"I am Glass Hall, Daughter and Child of the Hal family Lineage."

As soon as she named herself, there was an uproar… Well, of course, there would be. This person was excommunicated by the Church, so her presence at the new church was a big surprise.

"You all must be wondering why I am here. Why am I here in this sacred place of God when I have been excommunicated? Please do not worry. I have received permission from the priest, himself, to stand and speak before you all today. I ask the same of all of you as the Father before did. Please, everyone, listen and decide what is right and wrong with a heart unclouded."

Glass said as she felt someone who she once was overlap.

"Our Provinces are Wealthy, and the people follow the teachings of God with all their heart by treating one another with love. But not all people accept these teachings and not all people can receive them due to the circumstances of their environment."

She clasped her hands together in prayer and raised her voice slightly.

"I met such people; they are the orphaned children. These children were blessed for some time with a servant of God who cared for them – a sister that taught them the teachings of God and the world. But, as with all life, this beloved servant of God left this world and returned to our Holy Father. Since the land was unpaid for and seeing as no one visited the chapel anymore, the Church sold that land. The children were then left to fend for themselves. The people who bought the land were fiends and rejected the teachings of the Holy Father. These children, who were innocent and undeserving of such cruel treatment, were left in the hands of those fiends. I know that many of you here know these children and can agree that they are all pure and wonderful. That we did not notice the plight of these children earlier is our sin, but after having discovered their circumstances, I could not turn a blind eye; The teaching of our Holy Father obligates me to protect them."

While she spoke, she started to shed tears gently. The sight of her right now is as if God had painted her himself.

Breton looked at his sister who started to shed tears and almost felt himself tear up. He had never seen his sister cry before.

"I do not want to repeat the mistake of not having noticed their predicament sooner. Thus, to keep them safe, I decided to construct this new chapel. These children are the key to our future – they embody my determination to keep the future for everyone here brilliant. The Church declared that my sin was the demolishing of a church, but I did it to help these children and keep the future bright for all of us. Is that wrong? Should I have abandoned the Holy Father's most important teaching that we help one another? Should I have left the fiends to vandalize the forsaken church? Would that have been the right path to take?"

Her tone of her voice suddenly became full of sorrow and a mixture of other emotions.

"I am but a humble and pious disciple of God… However, I am also a lord who must protect her people. God is watching and giving us opportunities to better ourselves, but these opportunities mean nothing if we do not reach out and grasp them to obtain happiness. God does not send us happiness but gives us opportunities to pursue it. Everything depends on our actions and will to act. Those who think that evil is unavoidable and take part in evil behavior are wrong. Those who see evil and wrongdoings, but do not act are also wrong.

There are many people here who knew those children, who treated them well, but did not notice the trouble they were in – Even I did not notice their dilemma until it was almost too late. I am but a single individual; I only have two eyes, ears, hands, and feet, and there are but few places that these feet can walk to nor things my hands can grasp. However, I have people who support me as a lord, and I have the support of you fellow children of God which allows me further my reach and help those in even the most remote of places. I beseech you: help me protect you. Help me protect the weak and help those in even the darkest of places. Help me give those people a richer and healthier life. Please… lend me your strength."

As she ended her speech, a few claps resounded through the room and grew until the applause became a roar. I could even hear clapping from outside.

"… I bestow upon you the blessing of our Holy Father." The priest returned and said to her.

The priest blessed her and, as she kneeled to receive his blessing, the priest placed his hands on her head. She then stood up and turned around to face her people with a smile.

[East Trade Company Mall]

Glass sat in her office on one of its soft sofa's and tried to calm herself down.

"Sister"

"Little brother come sit down by this Sister of Yours," Glass said as Breton closed the door and sat beside his sister who roughly grabbed onto him and trembled.

Glass has conjured the emotions of the past, someone she once was. And used them to speak for Glass who wouldn't have been making a knot in the hearts of the people. The problem with this is that the person she conjured is much more emotional than Glass, that is something Glass can handle. Breton hugged his older sister who was trembling very tightly. At that moment he had come to a final revaluation about who he was and who he was going to be in the future.