The sun was high in the sky as Maria’s carriage was crossing the small bridge. The river was one that lead directly to the Academy, however the size of it made traversing it impossible. However Maria knew the waters were clear and pure which meant it was perfect for consumption. It was actually a little surprising seeing it like that.

“Are you, alright Mistress?” Melody asked from across the carriage.

“I thought I told you to call me Maria.”

“Sorry Maria, its a force of habit.”

“Well, alright. No reason to hit yourself over it.” Maria admitted with a nice smile on her face, “But, you can say I feel a little melancholic.”

“Really? I-is it because of him?” Melody answered with a worried expression on her face.

“No it is not, no no.” Maria put down with a brutal force while shaking her head, “I… wonder how Albert is doing right now. I think he arrived at the Academy one day before me.”

“I think he will do fine. He is the person you have trusted your heart to.” Melody answered back with a smile, “How about your body?”

Maria made a few motions with her hand as she tested the strength of it, “Its, unusual. I am sure the Blessings of Strength the Lord bestowed upon me are gone, but I do not feel any different. Maybe… it is because I bathed in that dragon’s blood?”

“Well, isn’t that good?” Melody called out with a smile.

“Maybe, maybe not. We will need to see.” The girl admitted with a sigh, though her eyes were soon taken in by a random gathering of men who were gathering outside the city, “What in the, driver what is that?”

“Weird folk.” The man answered with a huff, “Can’t believe the Church is letting them get so close to here.”

>Ask that he stop, so that Maria can go up and listen to them.
>Maria really wants to go see Albert right now
>Onwards! There are a lot of things and a quiet girl to off load.

>>4562625
>Ask that he stop, so that Maria can go up and listen to them.
Hope they aren't spouting heresy

>>4562625
>Ask that he stop, so that Maria can go up and listen to them.
Nice to see you qm and I hope no one hammered the doors of a church yet

>>4562625
>Maria really wants to go see Albert right now

I feel like checking them out might be a trap, since Chloe hates us so much. Last thing we need is a riot to break out and us being forced to quell it. I think we can get a report from our Knight and spy mailmen that are unfortunately lacking in dragon gear.
I really wanted a fully intact dragon skeleton as a tourist attraction for our country.

>>4562625
>Maria really wants to go see Albert right now
>Order someone in our entourage to drop by and listen

>>4562625
>Ask that he stop, so that Maria can go up and listen to them.
We better see what the church had been doing and how to undo it if it's bad.

>>4562670
How do we not have a trophy?

Stop and listen in
>>4562641
>>4562651
>>4562692

Really wants to go see Albert.
>>4562670
>>4562688

“Stop the cart.” Maria ordered with a firm grip in her voice.

There was no second guessing the order Maria gave, the cart owner instinctively halting the cart upon her command. As Maria stepped out the man wondered how a girl so young had such a commanding feeling in her voice. It was actually halfway frightening to him that it happened, and simply sat there awaiting her return.

As for Maria, she simply walked towards the small wooden post that held a likely heretical preacher.

“My Children, within my hands is the Holy Book itself! For years the fools of the Papacy have held the Lord’s word from us, but here I present you all his words brought about by the Saint herself!”

The man opened the book in a proud manner, a smile about his face, “Their decision to reject the articles of a Saint only proves that they are corrupt! But here I give you her words of truth that shall ring within your ears!”

That was really hard to hear, Maria would accuse without a moment’s thought. Whether the man was a salesman or a preacher, Maria really could not tell, but here it was obvious things were getting out of hand and fast.

Still the thought that the Pope heeded her words were quite settling. That meant there was a resistance against the lunacy that Chloe was likely spouting across the empire. Though Maria needed to tune in to see what kind of lunacy was being preached.

“In light of their betrayal the Saint is contemplating what to do with the traitors. I have heard words of a coming world where those whose voices are worthy shall be among highest echelons of the Empire! Think of it my sheep, think of a time where we can speak our mind about where the Empire shall go!”

Democracy? Well, as Maria thought about it more the fact he said those worthy strikes a dangerous thought. Who would be the worthy people, and why?

Just what in the world is being spoken of?


>Listen a little bit more to get a better idea
>Declare the priest a heretic and prove the point by the spear
>Maria shall take everyone’s attention by herself and prove him wrong!
>Leave things be for now, Maria cannot make a scene this early

>>4563104
>Listen a little bit more to get a better idea
I'm getting Munster rebellion vibes, but let's see whta kind of democracy is it before we refute him with facts and faith

There's a massive cult now. We need a plan of action. How do we counter one trying to stir up a peasents revolt? We sadly won't be able to just Vlad the Impaler our way through it like the one at the start of the quest. We need to do something else.

>>4563104
Should we try to figure out who this preacher is? Steal his book? Or should we try to interogate him on where the book came from?

>>4563104
>>Listen a little bit more to get a better idea

>>4563104
Ok. The goal is to grab the dumb papers and get out before the dumbass preacher tries to rile everyone up against us.
>Try to sense if he a very clever demon that can hide even from our casual glance
>Demand a copy of the articles. They have to comply according to their claim that the Lord's word has been hidden from all. To not allow a person to have them undermines their very foundation. We can then leave after that to see Albert and the headmaster since it's all the more important to find out what they've been doing from all of our sources)
>(If the preacher drags us into the conversation) Point out that any exact copy and translation of the Lord's word bursts into flame upon being finished, so any written works of scripture which do not are inherently incorrect in some form. Peddling the words he holds with him as the one truth is inherently heretical and marks him as no true preacher if he does not even know or reveal that basic fact to the people. The papacy could never endorse it by the very nature of the Lord's word.
>(If things start to go bad and we have a chance to prevent accidentally starting a riot.) I did not take pilgrimage to Ca'ren, meet an angel, slay the dragons' nest laying undue claim to the City of the Lord, be resurrected by his holy grace, and be blessed to hear the loving words of the Lord himself upon my ears to have some fool falsely preach at me. (I'm hoping we can intimidate or stun the crowd just enough that we get back on the cart and continue)


The little things like not getting that microscope invented/made in order to invent germ theory are really going to put a damper on plans. We could have counteracted her healing miracles by saving a thousand times more people a day via hospitals.

She also fucking preempted the parliament idea I was going to do to in the long term that would spring out of us ganking talent since British Monarchy is the model that's survived long term. Chloe's stupidity has no sense of proper planning towards a democracy to it. You need to educate the populace first or else you end up with things like Mao's great leap forward.

>>4562708
We didn't even get to preach on the way back to at least the town we saved to establish a foothold of faith in the Miaphate No giving dragon blood to Solomon either in order to let him have cheerful talks with his falcons. No spices for our meals or to sell.
>>4563207
I have a very bad and risky idea I'm writing down before I forget. I don't really favor it, but it would be a big brain move to make our cousin REALLY hate us.
Holand is allied with Chloe, so have a revolution and everything fails afterwards as badly as revolutions tend to be when unprepared people are made leaders. The real problem is that they might succeed if old gods decide to be on good behavior until they've collapsed Austin.
Basically sabotage what they're aiming for and then go SEE?! This system is inherently a failure.

>>4563104
>Seize a copy and continue on our way.
I suspect a brainwashing book.

>>4563293
>Point out that any exact copy and translation of the Lord's word bursts into flame upon being finished, so any written works of scripture which do not are inherently incorrect in some form.
Dude I forgot about this, we learned this during our faith studying right ?

>>4563293
>support

Listen a little bit more
>>4563113

Get a copy!
>>4563293
>>4563317
>>4563377

A good point
>>4563322 - Indeed it is true.

“So who desires a copy! They are just one tristain gold apiece, thanks to the Saint’s wisdom!”

With that call a few people moved forward, as did Maria herself with her cloak covering her face. It was quick and efficient, giving a piece of gold to the small pot while collecting the book from the other side. It was leather bound, which meant it was meant to last a while.

However with it in her hands it gave a modest stank that she could not quite get rid of.

“So, what do you think?” Melody asked as Maria arrived in the cart with the maid.

“Troubling, very troubling.” Maria answered while looking at the book in her hands, “Seems Chloe has published a new version of the Holy Book.

“She did? H-how!?”

“I cannot say, though I do not blame people for wanting it. Men naturally want to be closer to the lord, and thus they seek the books that contain his lore. Most could not read them, until now supposedly.”

“Supposedly?”

“The Holy Book normally burns on its own if translated into another language.” Maria answered before taking a quick skim through the pages, “Though either a botched or incorrect translation has a chance to leave the book stable.”

“So… that book is a bad translation?”

“Or not even the Holy Book at all.” Maria answered back with a clicking of the tongue, “I will need to cross reference it and the real one to see what the differences are.”

“You learned the Lord’s language?” Maria called out with an explanation.

“I have not tried, though I have a good feeling about it now.” Maria answered with a smirk.

As Maria made that announcement there came a stir from Melody’s lap. The girl who had been resting there, Dahia, slowly stirred as she was still sleeping from her travels.

“Uh, Maria, sorry to say this now but we need to find a place for her to go.” Melody acknowledged.

>Ask the Headmaster if she can become a Nun
>Turn the girl into a maid!
>She shall become a student, because why not!

>>4563473
>Ask the Headmaster if she can become a Nun
Let’s just increase her connection to the lord

>>4563473
>Ask the Headmaster if she can become a Nun
We do need an eye inside the church

>>4563473
>Ask the Headmaster if she can become a Nun
If lucky Dahia can become a saint. But we should ask if she has any desire to be a mother in the future.
>If Dahia wishes to become a mother in the future. Than bellow option.
>She shall become a student, because why not!

>>4563473
>Speak with the headmaster and have her choose her own fate. We have personally seen that The Lord values free will, while we can advise, her fate must be up to herself.
I think she's probably had enough servitude in her life as a slave. Therefore
>She shall become a student, because why not!
I figure student would appeal to her the most.

A nun is a bit dangerous right now for her with the protestant reformation right outside along with any bullying.(The last thing she needs is some corrupt priest trying to have his way with her) Nuns are stereotypically strict and that's not what she needs right now.

Her being a maid is ok, but we didn't grab her to be a servant her whole life.

Her being a student (after we give her some tutoring) gives her the most choice in a future and means she could fill a role as ambassador to the Miaphate now that there's two cities open for pilgrimage. Plus Chloe's people are claiming that the church is withholding the ability to learn the faith. What better example against them than scholarship opportunities for properly vetted commoners and foreigners to prove them wrong? Sadly it means we can't snipe as many people for our own schools, but a massive refugee crisis dumping itself on us after these fools submit themselves to a capricious god and realize they should flee is much more inconvenient when we want to help Bon with nation building. The problem is whether it will embolden them because they're (the masses are) stupid enough to give Chloe credit for our idea.
Historically the church has sponsored the university system to begin with, so we're speeding things up a little to make a peaceful transition instead of the continent descending into chaos.

I dunno what knowledge of future otome plots we have from other games in the series, but commoners getting in on scholarships is a common enough trope and we can simply be the one to kickstart it.

It's a foreign gods child nun or Student. Her conversion is still a massive slap in the face to their cult and will make the pope a happy old bastard.

Becoming a Nun
>>4563479
>>4563487
>>4563534

She shall have her own fate.
>>4563573

“Dahia, wake up.” Maria said as she shook the small girl, “Time for you to get up, we have arrived.”

Maria watched the girl’s eyes open before raising herself from the maid’s lap. She took a few moments, looking for a moment before looking straight outside, “Everything is so green!”

“Welcome to the Lord’s Lands.” Maria announced with a smirk, “Do you see the building far in the back yet?”

“Y-yes! Is that the Academy?”

“Indeed it is.” Maria announced as the girl plpped herself back onto the seat, “I do need to ask you a few things. When we get there, we need to talk to the Headmaster about what will happen to you.”

“Oh, okay!” She announced before giving a solemn nod, “What might happen?”

“I have come up with two, you can either further your worship of the Lord as one of his Nuns, or instead you could become a student if you wish to be free.”

“I will become a Nun!” She announced with a cheer.

“Are you sure? Doing so will mean you will not have any children in the future.”

The girl seemed stunned for a moment, and then gave a slight shiver, “P-please no. I… just want to serve my saviour and the one who has my little boy among him.”

“Understood then, Melody can you take my things to our room?”

“I can Mistress Maria.” The Maid answered with a smirk.

“Then we will hit the ground running it seems.”

And indeed they did, as soon after the carriage stopped Maria and Dahia left to make their way towards the Headmaster. The place was pretty empty for the most part, likely because everyone was either in their rooms or at the common areas chatting with friends. However Maria noted a good amount more guards patrolling the area than before.

Soon Maria crossed through the halls and the artistry, each as exquisite as she remembered them. She was catching sight of quite a few students now, since she was deeper into the building. However, she could not help but notice their presence was inverted to the amount of guards in the area.

Soon though she arrived at the Headmaster’s Office, and soon she received the command to enter.

>Talk about the School’s policy of handling heresy
>Find out the Church’s response to the recent outbreak.
>Learn of Chloe’s activities as of recent.

>>4563668
>Learn of Chloe’s activities as of recent.
time to get up to date

>>4563668
>Learn of Chloe’s activities as of recent.

>>4563668
>Learn of Chloe’s activities as of recent.

>>4563668
>Confirm they got the proper letter
>Find out Chloe's activities and status.
I was thinking of later giving her one last chance to turn things around when confronted with what's really going on. I'm also curious on if this is an everything has spiraled far beyond her control thing or she's going along with this of her own free will. One can lead to a bizarre team up, the other will be more straightforward.
>Get each other up to date (Aka we saved this young girl by banishing a plague demon, slew a few dragons including a queen, died, spoke to the Lord and so forth.)
>Ask that we be allowed some time off during the day to preach the dangers of Chloe's heresy to some of our underlings/sources. (We don't need our Bandits getting turned and/or spilling the beans and we should do it before chloe knows we're here to spy on us checking things out via her massive cult.)
I think that's more than long enough unless this meeting gets extended late into the night.
Does anyone else wanna get Ford kicked out of the group now to weaken her faction? There's no way Chloe's followers will accept her associating with a heretic after all of the people under his command get free reign to trash talk the shit out of him.

>>4563740
Shit man, do we actually have dirt that bad on ford? I don't remember seeing it in the previous threads.

>>4563935
His entire army hates him because he demanded no killing against a swarm of demonic cultists trying to enact ritual murder via virgin sacrifice at the extreme risk to their lives. He was walking a fine line at the best of times that was only possible to his daddy's status along with it being top secret, and absolutely doesn't now. That's not even getting into him slandering us as a saint for stopping it when we did a miracle in front of everyone.

>>4563935
>>4563989
To answer your question, no you dont. No infidelity or murders you know of.

>>4564035
Infidelity and murders? I never mentioned any of that. Is there something you're trying to tell us or is Chloe's new gospel heresy friendly towards people attempting to make demonic sacrifices? This fucker had better not secretly be Gilles de Rais.

Recent Activities
>>4563676
>>4563693
>>4563720
>>4563740

As Maria opened the door she could see the worn down Head Master sitting at his desk. While the man was never really that energetic, now his head was held lower and eyes had longer shadows beneath them. However he was still able to give a steady nod in greeting.

“Head Master.” Maria announced with a smile, “It is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Same to you, Kingslayer.” The man announced with a wave of the hand, “Take a seat, both of you. There are a lot of thing I may ask Kingslayer, but first is who this girl before me is.”

“Dahia, a Demi-God from the Miaphate.” Maria announced without a second thought, “She desires to become a Nun of the Lord.”

The man took a moment to look the girl over once, “And how are we sure she is not a spy?”

“Th-the Lord saved my life!” The girl announced with a shakiness to her voice, “Please, I want to serve him.”

The old man grew a small smile as he heard this, “Very well, you can stay here after I release the Kingslayer.”

The girl gave a nod as Maria began to speak again, “I have heard some troubling tales about what happened here in Austin, Headmaster, not even including what I saw on my way into the nearby town. What kind of Heresy has been brewing here?”

“Troublesome ones.” The Cardinal announced with the tiredness coming back to him, “We had received your letter about heeding the girl’s words just as she was preparing a publication of the Lord’s text.”

“That's… very troubling.” Maria announced with a hint of foreboding in her voice.

“Many in the Clergy agreed as well, and we have used your letter as a sign to not trust the girl. Some have even said the book stank to them, whatever it means I cannot say sans it is troublesome.” The man gave a sigh, “Though already a quarter of our clergy think the words she spouts are true.”

“So I guess she's untouchable right now?”

“With the support of the First Prince she remains so, as the Emperor has started to grow ill as of recent report.”

“ILL!? Can he not be healed by miracles and the like?”

“It seems to be something beyond us, Kingslayer.” The man announced with a frown, “The Emperor, even with the Divine Power rested within him, has reached the end of the mortal coil with two Healthy sons. As an Empire, they could not ask for more.”

“One who is not heretical.” Maria called out with a snip against the tide.

>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence.
>Have the Headmaster try his best to seperate Chloe and Lucien (The First Pince)
>Ask a few more questions *Write in*
>Other ideas are accepted too.

>>4564159
>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence.
touching Lucien and Chloe directly is not a choice so we'll need to get around that

>>4564159
>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence

>>4564159
>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence
>Ask if he can supply us any information on a being known as the Changer.

>>4564159
I have far too many questions
>A quarter? Is attempting to translate the sacred texts more unique to the school than I realized? By what reasoning do they proclaim it to be the true word when it should be well known among the clergy that the true word bursts into flames upon translation? Are there simply that many who were corrupt or untrained and wish to seek power through heresy?

>I spoke directly with the Lord while I was dead in Ca'Ren. He named the head of the threat as Chyen and mentioned the changer. I did not think to ask if they were the same entity at the time. What are they? I must know what I am dealing with.

>Do you know what the disease is and the symptoms? How is he being treated? (I'm hoping it's something easy like diabetes or knowing modern biology enough to not bloodlet him will help) Has word of my letter reached him to make him reconsider his heir? His debt no longer matters as those who held it are having their own puppet heir used against them.
The emperor dying at age 40~ is suspicious as fuck or a misc disorder. I hope us mentioning how we killed the Miaph on the first day of school isn't backfiring here.

>Some reforms may be in order. They will hide decent to optimistic ideas within in order to claim you evil for not agreeing with the bad. I have not reviewed the heretical works in full but scholarships for some commoners so they may be considered for offices, public demonstrations of monks translating the Lord's work, and public education on the Lord's language may placate and undermine them for a while. How clever of them to demand things that if done hastily would result in the deaths of millions so that you cannot endorse their demands. It's making my future efforts to do some of these properly near impossible if i'm surrounded by the entire continent in civil war and refugees flooding a small nation.
>Distraction. My cousin is still allied with her, is he not? Endorsing the overthrow of the monarchy when you are a monarch seems like a form of self abuse. We can thin the heretical herd in Austin by redirecting them there to be fought against properly when Ms Loveheart is exposed.
>I will need to confront Chloe Loveheart and tell her of as much of the conspiracy using her as possible. The Lord greatly values free will and if she is a pawn being played against her own god, she might be convinced to stop this heresy from within before this continent is embroiled in civil war. I need a written report of what is known and can be safely said to her to compile with my own sources.
>Is she still a student?
>Letter to Ford's dad.
I found the link to when we were planning to get Ford in trouble. Our reputation is doing great, so we might still make his past come back to haunt him and get him replaced by his sister or something. if we get really lucky the harem mind control ray might wear off and he's become a begrudgingly willing ally. http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4387149/#p4397553

>>4564271
Too much all in one post anon QM won't be able to use it.

>>4564159
>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence.

>>4564159
>Ask if he can try to cap the Heretical Presence.

>>4564271
You have lots of ideas anon. Some of them good but you really need to trim it down by a lot. I doubt QM has the time to write every little scheme.

>>4564159
>>4564355
>>4564283
>>4564271
OK. Trimming the fat
>Who is Chyen and the shaper and the Lord himself directly told me they were the architect of this conspiracy.
> Student scholarships, public viewings of translations, and lessons on the Lord's language will undermine their baseless demands that will kill millions with ineptitude.
>The people who wanted a puppet prince now find him against them. The King can be swayed to change his heir but it must be done quickly before they realize to kill him off.

Those are the three main points. We can go back to him later and warn him we are confronting Loveheart at a later date as well as any other scheming.

>>4564379
I like to support this

>>4564379
>Supporting
I forgot that I have to greentext

Cap the Heresy!
>>4564163
>>4564204
>>4564213
>>4564321
>>4564355

Questions
>>4564271
>>4564379 - With support >>4564555

We can't expect the church to play suppression forever. We'll need to expose the heresy for what it is or else it could backlash on the church for suppression.

“Hehe, I would agree with you. I never expected the girl to be this troublesome.” The Priest admitted while sinking into his chair, “I am sure she is not blessed by the Lord.”

“You would be right, Headmaster.” Maria with her head tilted up in pride, “When I was in Ca’Ren, I talked to the Lord himself. We are facing a being known as Chyen, the Changer.”

The man was of course surprised to Maria’s declaration at first. However that melted away as he took a few more moments to think, “I have never heard of this god or demon, though there are a great many beyond either the Miaphate or the Eastern Hordes. So you this is some kind of invasion?”

“Likely, though I cannot say how the god got to influence the girl. The Lord himself only gave me its name, and assured me that we would succeed.”

“Hmph, then I have my faith in the lord that it will be true.”

“For now we should try our best to curtail their influence, if you would agree.” Maria called out with authority vested within her, “Though we should tread carefully, lest we pick at a hornets nest.”

“That is sound logic Kingslayer, we will see what happens.” The man rose from his seat, “If what you have said is true, I will alert the Holy See itself.”

“Thank you.” And with that Maria left out of the doors, leaving Dahia behind her.

As Maria traveled there were a lot of things on her mind, though she did not really know what to act on first. Indeed her best aim is to move the elector counts from the First Prince, making them realize that their very positions are in jeopardy. However, there was also the fact Maria needed to destabilize the Prince’s closest as well.

It was only when Maria crossed near the gardens that she caught sight of it, a small but obviously handsome group of people talking. On one side was Albert, who looked to be a little outside of his comfort zone. On the other was Chloe, Lucien, and Ford. Simply out, Maria was pretty sure they were doing something.

>Go into some nearby bushes and listen in.
>Interrupt whatever the hell they are talking about, and make sure everyone nearby notices it.
>In disguise, get Albert out of there.

>>4564646
>Interrupt whatever the hell they are talking about, and make sure everyone nearby notices it.
>Just walk right up in there grab Albert and pull him into a big kiss and tell him "you're in so much trouble for what you made me do." And then just haul him off.

Choles bird has way too much spotting so we'll be seen almost instantly. Better to just disrupt than fail to sneak.

>>4564646
>Go into some nearby bushes and listen in.
Let's see if the girl is still "naive" or if the influence changed her somehow

>>4564662
>support
Stupid bird will detect our sneaking attempt. We'll get embarrassed probably.

>>4564646
>We don't have to go "into" some nearby bushes. We can just stop and smell the roses to overhear.
He's a grown man, can fend for himself, and if they're doing something nefarious to him with her powers we can stop her.
>>4564628
We've been there for not even an hour. We need reports from Victor, our Mailmen (who also need a good preaching/warning to ensure they haven't turned. I think they have the common sense to listen to us since it would come off as caring for their well being) the gossip girls that we need to warned about the existence of guillotines, and whatever Albert has learned as a Merchant.

>>4564741
Albert's uncomfortable and we clearly wear the pants in the relationship. I'm not abandoning our future wife.

Interrupt
>>4564662
>>4564706

Hide
>>4564670
>>4564741

>>4564757
He is perfectly capable of standing up for himself if they push him too far with whatever nonsense they are trying to rope him into and merely hearing what they're dumb enough to try and get him to do if they go on long enough is important intel. Out of everyone there, Albert is the only one who isn't a puppet in some form.( Lucien and Ford ar both Chloe puppets and Chloe is a puppet of the shaper's conspiracy.) We do not need to be his handler. Trust in him.

I also want to get intel from our men before our arrival is known. Something told the Queen dragon to hunt for us and if Chloe is knowingly involved she might not even realize we aren't dead.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

1, interrupt, 2 spy.

Honestly Maria was quite annoyed by this entire ordeal, since the girl was obviously bullying her boy. So with a devilish smirk she became determined to remedy this issue before it got any more out of hand.

“Why not? We can pay you handsomely.” Chloe said as Maria got close enough to hear.

“Look, I know you can, but I don’t want to risk my family. I- WHOA!”

None of the people saw it coming as Maria twisted the young boy around and gave him a kiss on the lips. A moment later Maria let the man be free, though it was obvious she broke him with just the simple movement. She could not help but laugh at the boys stupified expression.

“R-Regnia!” The Budala called out in surprise.

“Oh, you all.” Maria deadpanned before growing back into a smirk, “Don’t mind us, this man has just gotten himself in a lot of trouble. Isn’t that right Albert?”

“W-what?”

“Exactly, now we will be off.” Maria answered before turning her back on the group.

“R-Regni-” Chloe was about to jump forward, but the hand of Ford was placed in front of her. Yeah, Maria felt the man’s eyes boring into the back of her skull, but atlast she did not really care. Troublesome though, considering that the group there was quite dangerous by all accounts.

Once they had finally turned the corner Maria decided to give Albert a few slaps, the young man quickly snapping out of the daze, “M-Maria! You’re back?”

“Fufu, indeed I am. I see they were causing your problems?”

“Y-yeah. She wanted me to publish her book for some Lord’s forsaken reason.” He answered while rubbing his head.

“Well then its good you were denying them.” Maria announced with a smirk, “Now what to do now?”

>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings
>Go find the first prince
>See if Maria can find her older brother.

>>4564794
>>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings
Good thing we managed to snatch a copy earlier

>>4564794
>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings

>>4564794
Did Chloe completely skip the lesson on how copies of Holy scripture work? They're lucky they didn't annoy Albert further and motivate him to go full disney copyright law on them after they sign away the rights in order to make it illegal for anyone else to publish the book they aren't publishing..
I'm half considering doing that with our startup publishing company for Kers's book. We make the book. Chloe faction in their clear desperation signs a contract with our LLC and we put em through legal hell..
>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings
I had a bit of an adventure, Slayed dragons and even died out there. It doubled as a harsh lesson about cherishing what you have.
>See if we can find Bon & Kers. If we're lucky her novel might be ready for editing and distribution.
I was reconsidering since people might realize Chloe is the protagonist, but we need money and whatever support she gets will fund the warchest of Kers and ourselves.

>>4564794
>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings
Shit I didn't want to slap him. I hope those were love taps. Shame we won't get to go right to telling him our wedding night plans like I wanted buuuuut.
>Find some privacy.

>>4564794
>Catch up a little bit more on the happenings

Update will be delayed due to me taking an exam.

>>4565243
Good luck op

The Happenings!
>>4564807
>>4564809
>>4564826
>>4564865
>>4564940

>>4564865
They were light slaps, you know, like you would use on a person whose obviously gone brain dead from kissing his lover.

“W-we should probably move out of here.” The young man answered with a hold amile.

“Yes yes, we need to get away from those fools.” Maria announced before grabbing his hand and bringing Albert through the rest of the garden and through the halls of the Academy.

As they walked of course Maria began to talk, “So, what in the world has been happening the week I was gone?”

“Lots of things.” The man admitted while rubbing his cheek, “I guess you know about the book?”

“Yes, Chloe’s publication of the Holy Book itself. I take it she was trying to get you to make it for her?”

“Y-yes she was. Half the Prints around the Empire have already been strong armed into doing it, and the rest might be forced to follow.” He answered while shaking off whatever was going around in his head, “Apparently she gained a moment of clairvoyance and wrote the entire thing in a night.”

“Sounds impossible.”

“I would agree with you, but even crazier things have been happening around her.”

“The Fairy Knight right? The one who gave me a nice beating?”

Solomon gave a nod, “She turned him into dust while protecting Lucien.”

“Shit…” Maria thought to herself for a moment, “Well, I might have one upped her recently though.”

Albert gave a confused expression, but made a motion with his hands to basically ask her to keep going.

“Well, I killed the Dragon Queen in the Miaphate. Ca’Ren is now free from the influence of other gods.” Maria admitted with pride covering her voice.

“Y-you killed one of their Royal Beasts!?” The man seemed to be in deep though for a moment, “Do you have any evidence of your triumph?”

“Of course, a few scales the size of shields were in my luggage.” Maria announced triumphantly.

>Circulate Maria’s triumph across the Lord’s Lands.
>Just announce the Dragon’s death, no need to cause a mass migration to enemy(ish) territory.
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.

>>4565341
>Solomon gave a nod, “She turned him into dust while protecting Lucien.”
Wat

>>4565341
>Circulate Maria’s triumph across the Lord’s Lands.

>>4565364
Sorry, I wrote the bastards name for the past month and its was automatic.

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.
Not yet. Let the rumors flow and grow every day. When the time is right we present the scales to everyone to prove that it was us.

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.
>>4565367
we know op

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.

Haven't been in these threads for a while but I'm both surprised and glad that Albert won the Mariabowl. After we went traipsing off to the Miaphate I was sure Maria was going to end up breaking the poor boy's heart.

If I was there for the Albert vs Solomon vote I'd have let a d2 decide desu, they were both good love interests.

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low for now, Maria does not want to reveal her cards yet and want rumors to spur.
>Send a letter to the pope to let him know the Miaphate will be in civil war soon and he should support Solomon the reformer.

>>4565341
>Word will spread on it's own and I did have some help after all. If Loveheart's story can spread to the Miaphate, ours can spread to the empire
That means Kers is going to have trouble with her story. Hopefully our publishing equipment is enough?
Ford and Lucien strongarming business is not going to go over well, but it also makes an opportunity to have them secretly propagate pro Elric propaganda (or make delay's in her printing) out of resentment.
>Protecting Lucien? It was a tournament and I thought it did exactly what everyone signed up there to do. If it were human there would be no doubt that Loveheart committed murder in front of an audience. Was the fight declared over and it refused to stop?
How convenient that there's no way to determine if it had decided to be subordinate to the Lord after it's been burned to ash.

I remember that back when it showed up anons were talking something about it testing God's future champions for upcoming tribulations? It inclines me to look at the situation a bit differently.

>>4565341
>Circulate Maria’s triumph across the Lord’s Lands.

I don't want to start sending pilgrims to the Miaphate while a civil is brewing. But it would be good if we can get the pope to start aiding Solomon and his citizens and get the public's good graces there.

>>4565341
>Keep it on the down low

Announce the Triumph
>>4565365
>>4565452

Keep it low
>>4565376
>>4565382
>>4565410
>>4565438
>>4565440
>>4565442
>>4565629

“But, now is not the time to announce that.” Maria admitted with a sigh, “For one there is no growing rumor or legend about it, and I am sure people will start hearing here in the coming months.”

“I… guess that makes sense.” Albert answered as they finished climbing a staircase that allowed access to the upper part of the Library.

“Of course we would automatically come this way.” Maria answered with a laugh, “How has our friends been, before we see them?”

“You… probably would want to see it for yourself.” The Doge’s son answered as he opened the door into a small study room that the Prince took over.

To say that everyone in there was looking mildly defeated would put things about where it was. While Matheo was at a table laboring over a series of documents the Second Prince himself was lying on the couch in a look of total resignation. It was however the opening of the door that got both of them to pop their heads from their respective copping and look at Maria with both a relief and tirdness.

“You finally show up, could have come about a week earlier.” Matheo called out trying his best to sound witty, “Though better late than never, right?”

“Indeed that is so, though if I may ask why are you all lying around looking like dogs who failed to catch their pheasants?” Maria called out with a huff.

“Just, long days.” The Second Prince Elric called out with a worn voice, “Every. Single. Hour. I have had to talk to my supporters to assure them that we still had a stake. I’m still afraid to count how many I have lost recently though.”

“Then I wont bother asking that.” Maria called out as she walked into the room, “Though be real with me, was it that bad? Come on you can atleast count them.”


“Well, lets say the Papacy saved my ass when they did not rule her a Saint right away.” The man admitted with a smile, “You can say I have a bunch of cynical folk in my faction, so they’ve more or less stayed out of this entire mess.”

>Mock them for being run down, again. Seriously, does that girl have that much power?
>Cook up some tea and find out how exactly it went down, Maria has simply gotten the bare bones on what happened now.
>Talk strategy now! Best get started now!

>>4565683
>Cook up some tea and find out how exactly it went down, Maria has simply gotten the bare bones on what happened now.
>"I didn't nearly get murdered by some foreign god's demon beast for you all to give up now!"

>>4565683
>Cook up some tea and find out how exactly it went down, Maria has simply gotten the bare bones on what happened now.
>"Look I didn't almost die to a pagan beast so that you throw the towel now."
>>4565697
good idea

>>4565683
>Cook up some tea and find out how exactly it went down, Maria has simply gotten the bare bones on what happened now.

>>4565697
>>4565723
>Supporting
Maria is witty too! Dark humor though

It might be funnier if we say we did die and then chastise them for looking like they're ready for a funeral instead of seeing a ghost.

>>4565683
>I did say this is exactly the sort of scenario she'd be prone to do causing at the tournament, but it's impressive how quickly the heretic god manipulating her is moving things along. We both underestimated her support network.
>I just helped the Miaph incite another civil war, so it would be a good idea to restock the tea and fruits before the fighting really starts over there. Tell me how things went down in as much detail as possible so that I can be helpful with strategies
>Strategize.

>While school has been out I've (rattle off the long list of what we did). Oh and try to sneak in that we turned down the Miaph's request for our hand in marriage. I think all of that qualifies me for sainthood once word spreads back I even brought witnesses. You now know the difference between your strongest backers and your sycophants and can thank me.
>Ford and Lucien have no tact. Nearly every press in the kingdom undoubtedly hates him for forcing them to bend to his demands. That means they would be more than happy to secretly use their machines to bad mouth him or praise you.
Introducing the idea of freedom of the press to them might also ingratiate them since they're getting a taste of being a forced propaganda machine already.
Maybe we should use this to spread word insinuating that Ford is a demon sympathiser?
>Any nobility still allied with Loveheart is supporting people that are going to dethrone and behead them That means the King can declare you emperor with the blessing if you make the idiots realize their puppet has turned against them

>>4565770
Oh and one minor detail.
We should double check on if Lucien ever rescinded his anyone can just break into people's rooms if they think a crime happened declaration. I am absolutely going to make that come back to haunt his ass after he had our room violated like that.

>>4565776
Anon. Again. . . That's just so much all at once. Can the QM reasonably work with it?

>>4565823
The answer is no I cannot.

>>4565823
It's pretty easy to shorten down once it actually becomes a post. Actually writing the suggestions and making sure my intent is clear while adding some fluff takes up more space than enacting them within the quest.
It's basically just:
I told you so and we still got surprised
Maria listed off the details of her trip
Angering the ones that tell the people what to think was a bad idea
Get the damn nobles that wanted a puppet to learn some self preservation and demand Elric instead

Witty
>>4565697
>>4565723
>>4565758

Tell. Them. Everything.
>>4565770

Maria honestly understood these people, they were going against someone who was literally predestined at some point to become a winner in life. Going against that kind of tide is surely something Maria would not wish, scratch that she wish that against her greatest foe. With a small chuckle she drifted across the room and once again cooked some tea for everyone.

“I didn’t almost get killed by some pegan beasts for you all to mope.” Maria called out while putting out a few cups on the table, “Now come drink some tea so you can tell me exactly what happened.”

“Alright alright.” Elric answered as he accepted the drink into his hands, “Where should we start? Should it be the entire week before or we just skipping to the tournament?”

“Well we have all day don’t we? Why have I even heard that the Emperor has fallen ill recently?” Maria called out with a smirk.

“Oh that? I guess you are not from here so you would not know.” The Prince admitted while scratching his cheek, “You see, my father is an odd man. He did not even have children until he was the ripe old age of fifty.”

“Bullshit.” Maria shot back.

“You can say that, but that's because his father was an ass.” Mathoe called in, “Something about wanting to raise the children himself. No one really knew what he meant by that.”

“Indeed, and you can also say my father has gained quite a few pounds since his prime. The man has gone to one too many feasts.” The Prince also added upon it, “In any case, he accepted Chloe as a potential partner to Lucien, and might have taken a liking to her too. Though, and I repeat the fellow word for word, ‘Tried too hard to get me exercising these days’.”

“Is your father... a fool?” Maria could not help but ask.

“Some say the biggest fool.” Matheo called out with a chuckle, “Though I think the entire royal family is full of nutjobs.”

“Matheo, I’m….” The Prince stopped as he thought about it more.

“See, even a member of the family agrees. Though that does make me wonder how in the world you are a member of that same family.”

“Sometimes I wonder that as well.” The Prince admitted, “I do not think I’m as inbred as my brother though, so that might be the reason why.”

“Yeah yeah, you might as well tell our misses here how far you got in the tournament.”

“Oh, I guess that does matter.” The Prince picked up with a smile, “Indeed I got close to winning. If it was not for that Fairy Golem thing I would have defeated my brother in single combat.”

“That's good, that's good.” Maria affirmed with a smile of her own, “Then that only means you will need to match him on the battlefield.”

“Battlefield.” The young man chewed on that word for a moment, “You think thats where we will end up?”

>Indeed, prepare your supporters for it. Its inevitable at this rate
>No, Maria might be able to remove the problem before it become a problem
>Hmm, maybe, what ways does he think this can be solved
>*Other*

>>4565925
>Maria might be able to remove the problem before it become too big, but he should prepare for the worst
We can't really be sure specially with the reduced help from the lord now

>>4565925
>Hmm, maybe, what ways does he think this can be solved
Time to strategize, we have all the info we're getting before we can get our goon squad. We need to hear what options the prince has. Hopefully we won't be having to drag his ass too much. After all. Solomon wants a rival he can bump heads with.

>>4565925
>>Hmm, maybe, what ways does he think this can be solved

>>4565925
>I'm not sure even Loveheart can stop what has been kicked up around her and surrender is not an option.
Her supporters are aspirant despots only one engineered crisis away from beheading every last royal and priest they see, and a crisis includes a resounding defeat. Winning is worse because we've personally seen what the region will look like if the heretic god that spawned her wrests control
>Give him a better view of what's actually going on.
(Loveheart is the demigod child of a heretic god, if enough convert to following her the land will lose the Lord's blessings the converts will continue to brand everyone else heretic, and easily blame everyone else for what they themselves caused)
>>4565945
To do that we kinda need to actually give him all the information he needs and let him draw his own obvious conclusions instead of skipping ahead to us only dictating what they are while casually ignoring bombs like we killed a fucking dragon or two and personally met God. He'll never learn that way and look like a fool when he finds out from elsewhere. Advisors withholding important information are bad advisors or treacherous jafar.

Time to Scheme
>>4565932

For a recommendation
>>4565945
>>4565952

Alright?
>>4566056

“Maybe, I can say for sure that it looks like it.” Maria announced with a frown, “Simply put her message is playing with fire, rousing the commoners to rise up against their overlords.”

“Is that what you heard?” Elric asked with a raised brow, “I heard she was cementing the rule of the Nobles. How many of them were naturally gifted and deserved their positions.”

“W-what? I’m getting some mix messaging here.” Maria shook her head to try and shake off the confusion, “Does that girl realize she is playing with fire?”

“Like I would know.” Elric answered back with a snap.

The room grew silent for a moment, everyone trying to figure out what was actually being preached. It almost seemed like she was giving the same promise to everyone, but there are only so many seats at the top.

Maria simply shook her head, “We will think about it later. It seems like she wants to remake society, that much is clear, but how she is going to do it is still up for debate.”

“So do we just advertise that she is lying to everyone?” Matheo said with a smirk, “Seems like something we can easily slander, causing a good chunk of her people to fall apart.”

“Though that might leave her with zealots.” Albert countered himself, “Isn’t it if people feel attacked they would become even more insane?”

Elric gave a nod to it, “That is true, very true in fact. Though that does leave the fact we need to somehow grip everyone’s attention before it gets too much to handle.”

“Something to draw their attention?”

>Maria might need to talk to Fein Kers right now
>Maybe if they turned the pending Civil War into a Drama?
>Subtle attacks against Chloe as a Character shall be enough.

>>4566176
>Maria might need to talk to Fein Kers right now
Attacking her personally won't work because of the pegan armor

>>4566176
>>Maria might need to talk to Fein Kers right now

>>4566176
>Can we sit down and actually read out the leaflet properly for everyone?
>The power of the press
Newspapers and/or gossip rags to spread news (propaganda) around the empire. The printing press owners bullied into making Chloe's manuscripts are going to resent that and gladly go along if they think they can get away with it. We can make a subsidiary to deliver the papers.
>Undermine her core faction (subsection of the press)
Lucien has no soul
Ford thinks heretics are very fine people
I think those are two good shocking headlines to make her base of power look unworthy of Chloe that some basic investigative reporting can find. It'll make her base start infighting against itself instead of continuing to rally like it is atm.
>Ford can go fuck himself.
No explanation needed

I personally think we need more authors. A mystery thriller coming out where two lovers discover they are being used as tools of a heretic conspiracy might turn a few heads and I don't think Kers has put the finishing touches on her own work.

>>4566176
>Maria might need to talk to Fein Kers right now
Hopefully our dear brother hasn't suffered Yandere wrath.
>Ask Elric if he has any connections in the church who would know about magic taints in depth. Choles books reek of eastern god magic and there should be a way of using that knowledge.

>>4566176
We could fight for a parliamentary democracy with a noble house. Steal the thunder from underneath.

>>4566500
Status quo must be maintained for now. We start trying to steal their thunder through reform they could subvert and give themselves wiggle room. On the other hand might be a good time to find that inquisitor.

Find Kers
>>4566195
>>4566207
>>4566258

Little late for this one
>>4566218

“I think I have a minor idea, though it might cause a little uproar.” Maria answered while rising from her seat, “I’ll see you all later, I need to go see my brother and his lover.”

“Have a safe trip, Maria!” Albert called out with a smile.

“I will.” And with that Maria left for the doors.

The sun was slowly setting upon the Horizon from Maria’s point of view. Indeed it was getting late into the days and Maria was going to run out of daylight soon. However as she passed through the cold garden where the trees stood leafless she finally found her target.

With a little wit in her Maria took to the ground, sneaking over the bushes as the brother was having his back turned towards her.

“That was… something.” Bon announced as Maria got close enough to listen.

“It was not all bad, fufu. Ah I can still remember the look on your face.” Fein Kers answered back.

Alright, all that sounded dirty. However Maria knew what was being asked about, and so she simply got right behind the man and gave him a soft tap on the shoulder.

“Guh! Sis!” He almost jumped out of his seat as he turned to see Maria with a devilish smile, “I-is something the matter?”

“Oh, I was just wondering what the two of you were talking about.” Maria answered with her smile grow that little bit wider, “Now, mind telling me what you were talking about?”

“We,, uh, you see, uh, it was her Parents.” He finally answered, “Trust me Maria, they were huge people and were eating a deer on the table!”

“Don't worry brother, I believe you.” Maria said while turning towards Fein, “Write this down, instead of believing him I would either slap him or run away. You never let a misunderstanding go to waste, got it!”

“Understood Maria!” She answered with a cheerful smirk, “So future sister-in-law, how are things?”

“Good good, though I see you are stuck to my brother like glue.”

“Yup!” She answered before giving Maria’s brother a gigantic hug, “My parents loved him! So I was thinking we’d get a wedding underway here in a few days!”

“Too quick, Fein, also you need my Father’s blessing too.”

“Ah damn it!” She mopped, “Is there a way to send a letter to him?”

“Maybe, however, before that I need to ask you something. How how has the book been coming?”

“Really good!” She announced with a cheer while getting out a large leather bound book, “I say in about a month it will be done!”

>Sounds great, get it to Maria as soon as possible
>Can it be done a little faster?
>How about she gets it done soon, and Maria will send a letter to her father?

>>4566674
>“Write this down, instead of believing him I would either slap him or run away. You never let a misunderstanding go to waste, got it!”
don't bully bon
>Sounds great, get it to Maria as soon as possible
tbf we have more important things to print as of now so no need to rush

>>4566674
>Lucian is strong arming all of the presses into working for him. How do you feel about releasing some novellas while finishing off the rest? If there's a shortage in a month itll be easier to get the rest printed than the whole if they are popular.

If she rushes it might be a bad ending, but if we wait there might be no presses but our own or less. Her followers or Lucien faction might confiscate anything needed for production to spread more hersey with in their fervor.

>Bon I have some gifts I'd like to make for you and father. I slayed some dragons and you two could use a shield made out of them.

>>4566674
>>Can it be done a little faster?

>>4566674
>Can it be done a little faster?
>Split the book into smaller parts of two or three. The last chapters she can work on while the first book is in circulation.
We'll make her the first serial novelist and people will be hungry for the next book.

In fact we talked with Kers about doing exactly this with sequels so it should work out nicely.

>>4566760
>>4566847

Little Slower
>>4566680

Guy are you even reading these
>>4566695

“Perfect, once you get it finished give me a copy if you can.” Maria cheered with a nod, “I take it you two had fun in the north?”

“Yes we did! Bon here helped us out so much, and he was even able to stand the cold so well!” Fein more or less fangirled.

“W-well it not much colder than MaKain.” The man admitted with a caring smile, “It was nothing too much, just a lot of fighting if I had to be honest.”

“Fighting? What in the world was happening up there?”


Fein’s reply came a little weakly, “Well, really no one really has anything else to do, so everyone likes to see who has the sharper stick, and fight beasts but thats here nor there.”

“You… got my brother to fight bandits?” Maria was kinda surprised she accepted those words, “I guess it should be done, you need to learn how to wield weapons anyways don’t you Bon.”

“Hey, I know how to use a weapon. I’m just not a battle maniac like you sister.” He answered back with a joking smile.

“I feel offended, calling a girl a battle maniac.”

“What did you do on your pilgrimage.”

“Fight various monstrous beings and divine beasts.”

“You have made my point,” Bon said with a smile and a chuckle, “Anyways, its good to see you are safe. Tomorrow classes start back up you know.”

“They do?! Shit. I guess I have to get my schedule together and all that.” Maria shook her head for a moment before turning and giving Bon a hug, “Nice seeing you brother, hopefully we can get together again sometime!”

“Yup, see you later sister.”

And with that, Maria was off to get ready for tomorrow.

>Take her time to stalk Chloe, see her activities
>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the cliche is doing.
>Get a feel for the students and their activities right now

>>4567040
>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the cliche is doing.
We need to ensure our assets are still in tact. Discover weakened links. And find an avenue of attack that Chole can't play up as the old holding down the new.

>>4567040
>>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the cliche is doing.

>>4567040
clique.

They're not a cliche... I think. At worst a trope.

>>4567040
>Get a feel for the students and their activities right now

>>4567040
>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the cliche is doing.

I just realized. The plot now make more sense with our characters background as female Vlad the Impaler. Think about the first group of cultist we fought at the begining of the quest, they were led by a corrupt noble, and made themselves sound like they were pursuing some noble "for the people" goal. And what's happening now? The street preacher blaspheming about Chole's book being Divine Canon was making it sound like the church was trying to silence a saint and played it up as some kind of 'fight for the voices of the worthy.'

Chole isn't backed by a commoner cult. This cult has ties to the nobility, it's why Elric said the heresy promised greater power for the nobility. It's why 3/4ths are willing to back Lucien. The Cult is in the Nobility, the same class that the real Vlad the Impaler was infamous for crushing under his boot as he centralized his rule over Wallachia!

>>4567040
>>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the clique is doing.
You've dropped your name for the whole day qm

>>4567040
>Contact Maria’s groupies, see how the clique is doing.

>>4567221
the more you know

>>4567040
>Contact Maria’s friends, see how the cliche is doing.
Groupies?
>>4567221
If he's trying some sort of nobility purge to attain power then he's setting off the wrong hornet's nest. Ford and Chloe look suspiciously like isekai candidates for trope and personality reasons to begin with and i'm starting to wonder if Ford is an atheist that doesn't realize just what he's causing because he doesn't think that there are actual consequences to his spreading of hersey.

>>4567221
>>4567321
It also seems like the Church keeping the supernatural happenings secret is backfiring super hard. It makes it so that any old magic trick gets considered a miracle of God. I really don't get why they hide everything so much when being able to see the alternative in the Miaphate is a thing. I'm guessing the corrupted priests are roughly about the amount of priests that don't get taken on monster banishing expeditions.

Makes me wonder why merchants aren't devout when they have the most reason to be as a result of empirical evidence that areas with different religions are fucked? Maybe they think it's just normal wildlife? Or Albert's dad just has that general narcissistic mindset of it won't affect him so long as everyone else keeps God in place? Trying to prevent a warhammer40k scenario of mass zealotry at the cost of his actual doctrine?

Either way Choe faction (and I'm guessing Ford as the ringleader since he's got his head up his ass enough with arrogance from "protecting" Lucien as a his personal puppet enough) is way too confident about his ability to control everyone.

Once we stop faffing around and actually get a complete picture from our mail service that undoubtedly has letters from the people planning the conspiracy this whole time

To the Cliche!
>>4567063
>>4567077
>>4567204
>>4567210
>>4567269
>>4567321

>>4567355
*clique

Morning had come, and with it the morning class of Economics. Once again being drowned in the idea of double entry accounting was annoying to Maria, but she understood that it was all necessary for future leaders of the world.

Actually, the more she thought of it, the more she realized that these institutions are likely meant to spike the advancement of humanity. Would be something in line with the Lord’s desire to see the future, so maybe all this was really his idea.

In the end though she wonders if that really matters, when thanks to the training a vast amount of people are now questioning his clergy.

Now though Maria was searching the heated halls and such for her clique, which she easily guessed where they were.

“Oh, Maria!” Elizabeth exclaimed as Maria took a seat, “We were wondering where you were! We had gone looking for you two days ago.”

“Glad to see you all were worried about me.” Maria answered.

“Yeah, we were worried.” Erica said with uncharacteristic steadiness to the words.

Yeah, really it was Elizabeth who was worried.

“Well I was late because of the trip I was on.” Maria admitted with a wave of the hand, “How about you all, has your two days at the academy bared any fruit?”

“Not really, things have gotten a little, well, odd.” Erica mentioned with a sigh, “Hell, Tracy is not coming here any more.”

“She left, why?” Maria asked with a raised brow.

“The Humperdink family seem to have taken a liking to that silly girl’s writing. They have lost so much faith in the Church that they are distancing themselves from it.” Erica said in a sadden manner.

“Thats, troublesome…”

>See how Elizabeth’s potential lovelife with Elric is doing
>Ask if there are any who despise Chloe as much as Maria
>Rumors please

>>4567397
>Ask if there are any who despise Chloe as much as Maria

>>4567397
Dunno if Maria really... DESPISES Chloe.

But
>Rumors please

BUY THE RUMORS SELL THE NEWS

>>4567397
>Warn that Chloe supporters are openly declaring the church traitors and heretics in the streets and we want them to be careful. (no way are we not warning out friends about the french revolution at least a little)
>Rumours
Rumours second means they might remember some more relevant information about conspiracies that normally they'd dismissed for better and more juicy rumours.

Would I be right in assuming we are gonna at least talk to them about our trip a little? This is the best place for the rumour bomb to start instead of our party.

I feel like Chloe's god is going to make an artificial famine to spark everything off somehow to place blame on "unworthy" or corrupt nobles like Lucien's not been in charge of everything while his dad drinks and gambles. I am going to be so annoyed when people fall for that bullshit.

>>4567397
>Rumors please
Unfortunately asking about the lovelife of our friend has to wait. . Something isn't right at all and one of our clique is out now. . . Might be a good idea to investigate her family since we have an IN into their private lives. But I don't know about distance, how far we would have to travel.

>>4567397
>>See how Elizabeth’s potential lovelife with Elric is doing

>>4567397
>Rumors please

Rumors
>>4567486
>>4567488
>>4567503
>>4568212

Elizabeth's possible love life
>>4567865

Despise.
>>4567413

“Well, have you heard of anything happening recently?” Maria asked while shaking away the minor sadness of losing a member of her clique.

Erica took a moment to think to herself, “I heard that the King has not been faring too well. Elizabeth’s little Prince is trying his best against the First, but nothing has come of it yet.”

“Well, H-he is trying!” Elizabeth admitted with a little stammer, “Though Papa is going to support him wholeheartedly.”

“Good for him then, thats one Elector Count down if I am not mistaken.” Maria summarized with a smile, “What about all the others? Surely something is happening there?”

Erica soon took a moment of thought, but soon her face lit up, “Yes there is! Have you ever heard of the Relias Family?”

Maria took a moment to think, remembering the fair haired onee-san from a while ago, “I think I have, what about them?”

“Well, Vinnesa, the daughter, is having a birthday party here in a few weeks. She will officially be 18, and she is the only heir to the family.”

“The only heir?!” Maria exclaimed in surprise before shaking her head, “Of course Lucien would be so short sighted.”

“Well, yeah he would be.” Erica admitted with a small laugh, “In any case, ever since the break up I heard her family has been nearing the fence on the First Prince.”

“Of course they would be! He broke off the Engagement.” Maria called out but neglected the other fact. The Father was likely one of the makers of Lucien’s doll-like property, which meant even with the engagement off he still has lots to lose.

“Still, its going to be the party. Maybe see about attending it yourself, Maria.” Erica suggested with a smile.

>Maybe talk to Elric about this possibility
>See if Maria can leverage her brother to atleast meet her again.
>Get some info together about her, Maria shall meet with her independently
>Look into something else for now. *What?*

>>4568484
>>Maybe talk to Elric about this possibility

>>4568484
>Get some info together about her, Maria shall meet with her independently
If we are to say her to Elric's side let's meet her alone first

>>4568484
>Get some info together about her, Maria shall meet with her independently
I smell an assassination target. We need to get to her father and convince him to oppose Lucien for one. For two, I suspect his daughter might become a target. Be it for assassination or ransom I'm not sure so we should prep up to protect her.

>>4568484
We still need to talk to Victor, make sure our men haven't been swayed by heresy, check in on how our new nun is doing, and translate the entire bible at least twice. (once to prove that it goes up in flames if you translate it perfectly. A second time to have something we can show to the world with annotations on what we had to mistranslate)
>Reassure Elizabeth that once stories of our trip reach back to Austin, things will turn around for Elric. Let Lucien work with a minor miracle by some fake saint while a real one backing Elric has done things far more impressive.
>Get some info together about her, Maria shall meet with her independently
We generally like her anyway.

It might be a good idea when we have a moment of prayer to ask our god what it is we must be warry of after he pulled off resurrecting our ass. Because major miracles like that aren't pulled off for free we know that much.

>>4568602
The price we know of is him with reduce capabilities for the time being

>>4568605
Having said that. Just how reduced? Can he still send angels to and from earth? Is he unable to heal us? Does him being weakened make him incapable of minor miracles like that thing chole did with the vial or just big dick moves? How long does his ability reduction last?

>>4568650
i'm personally guessing that Chloe stink acting up is one of the symptoms. It might have been there before, but if the Lord is weakened, then his ability to hold back whatever Chloe's sire is doing is going down.
Overall I think good candidates are the general blessings given to the land (like better crops/ecology) fading and the ability to depower demons dropping. I think we should alert Almer and whatever monster fighting inquisitions there are about this so that they aren't caught off guard by things being slightly less effective. Maybe prepare for a food shortage?

>>4568484
>>Get some info together about her, Maria shall meet with her independently

Talk to Elric
>>4568488

Gather info Independently
>>4568495
>>4568499
>>4568519
>>4568838

The day went forward, with Military and Faith classes coming along. Maria noted that she shared Military with Elric, while for Faith it was once again Albert and Chloe. However nothing much came of those classes, as the professors actually had an idea of what they would be teaching here today.

Soon enough Maria was back in her room, drawing a series of lines on a piece of paper. She could feel the curious look of Melody as the Maid came up behind her, “Maria, what are you doing there?”

“Writing out everything I know at the moment.”

“On who?”

“Vinnesa Relias.” Maria answered while tapping on the name, “She is someone I will need to get close to, here in the next few weeks.”

“I… have heard of her before. One of the Heirs of a duke’s family right?”

“It seems you have learned alot Melody.” Maria answered with a smile, “I will need to ask around, find out who she talks to and what her schedule is. All I need to do is find a point of entry, and soon I will be talking to the girl.”

“Brilliant, my Mistress.”

“Oh it is.” Maria said before giving a scow to Melody, “I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Sorry, it is just a habit.” Melody scratched her cheek meekly.

“As long as you try to fix that.” Maria answered before taking a moment to look around her room, “It seems you got everything unpacked.”

“Yes I have, and I have placed your box of things right here.” The Maid gave a showman’s hand towards a series of scales and a small golden box.

>Well, Maria needs to check on her knight
>Well, she has the blood of a godlike being. Time to see what happens to the alchemy book
>Maybe Maria should get some armor fashioned from the scales
>A prayer to the lord is what she shall do.

>>4568881
>Well, she has the blood of a godlike being. Time to see what happens to the alchemy book.
Should we test with our blood later to see if the dragon blood did anything to us?

I want to save Victor for after we set aside time for our mailmen because they were worried about getting soft before. Victor can provide the training to make him feel useful during downtime, it's still winter, so our mailmen can be all covered up to hide their identities, and we don't lose out on our pseudo ninja forces.

>>4568881
>Well, she has the blood of a godlike being. Time to see what happens to the alchemy book
Uncover secrets. Let's see what got Chole spooked when Lucien bled on it.

>>4568881
>>Maybe Maria should get some armor fashioned from the scales

>>4568881
>Well, she has the blood of a godlike being. Time to see what happens to the alchemy book
>>4569033
Actually it was when she bled that shit happened

Maybe we should have a "reliable" witness present when we reveal whatever is shown? A big part of our problem with proving anything against Chloe is that we have no proof and we only have one vial here. Bring in the faction or at least Elric since it'll strengthen his resolve to see what's going on?

The Book
>>4568899
>>4569033
>>4569187

Armor time
>>4569064

Can someone help me find the mystery text? I forgot which thread it was in.

>>4569292
If you mean the part of the text revealed by the blood, here it is http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4429799/#p4429802

>>4569301
Thank you!

>>4569292
Here you go.
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4429799/#p4429802


How many scales were brought back? You said they were the size of shields, which means with some creative carving/poking from our lance and some welding we can make some shields for Bon and papa. Basically use some steel inside the holes to bind the arm straps to the dragonscale.

File: 1b45382f580d28088d8209f66(...).png (1.15 MB, 1920x1080)

1.15 MB PNG

>>4569301
Here, have a Rem

File: Uzaki Oculos.jpg (46 KB, 703x475)

46 KB JPG

>>4569305
thank you

“Grab me the box, I need to test something.” Maria announced while getting out the rather large book of alchemy.

“Are you… going to make something?” The maid said hesitantly as she placed it next to Maria.

“Not so much that as seeing what exactly is going to happen.” She announced while opening the book up.

As before, Maria turned to where the spots of blood dripped upon the pages. The missing parts of the memo were something Maria really wanted to know. What secrets did it hide? Was it a modification to the recipe or something else?

So Maria took out the black vial of blood, which had come straight from a demon turned saint who had also eaten a god. Such a thing was surely going to do something to this book, and as Maria let it drip over she was going to find out why.

As the blood fell and impacted the book, it suddenly became much more animated. It crept around and slithered, making out words as it did so. In only a moment, Maria could read the entire message for herself.

Probably needs some adjustments, maybe the blood of a divine being would work?

Adjustment has succeeded, moderately. Demi-God blood is too diluted for use.

Blood of a god has worked. Note the donor was a baby, so acquiring more should be easy enough until her 12th birthday. By then fate shall change her life.

Maria read it, and read it again. Of course she suspected the need for such, Valor was literally doing what would account as a major miracle to Maria. However, that donor…

Somehow she knew it was Chloe, there was no question about it.

“Something the matter, Mistress?” Melody asked while putting her hands on Maria’ shoulders.

“I… don’t know. She’s… a god herself?”

Maria could not stop but keep scratching her head. She had a mother and father, that much was true and it could not be denied. But then again, ugh.

Maria slammed her head on the table, as it was obvious she was done for the night. She had a girl she needed to learn about.

>Stalk her from afar, see what she does and such.
>Chat with the upperclass, see if Maria can gleam some information
>See what she can gleam from Bon and Fein Kers
>Other Schemes

>>4569354
>Chat with the upperclass, see if Maria can gleam some information
So Chloe's the plotarmor afterall. My guess is that some old god swapped itself for the real baby or implanted false memories into the parents and reduced itself to a child while probably locking it's memories for some time. I don't think she's a new god specially if her parents were humans and even if they were demi-gods this wouldn't happen, my only doubt is if she's playing an act or not and in the case of later if her memories returned by now. The title is the changer afterall.

>>4569354
>We have to fight literal immaculate conception.
Uuuuuugh. Ok. That explains a lot.
>Chat with the upperclass, see if Maria can gleam some information

>>4569354
>>Chat with the upperclass, see if Maria can gleam some information

>>4569696
>We have to fight literal immaculate conception.
I don't think that's the case, but damn fighting a god directly is gonna be tough

You guys are getting closer and closer on her. However no one has yet to guess what exactly she is.

>>4569716
Fighting her is easy. We have the spear, it's getting past her bodyguards that are too stupid to know what's up if they've been training that's the problem.
>>4569354
That's it? Chloe wanted to see more of the book, so I figured there were other pages affected after how much she must have dumped in there to get the whole thing bloody.
>My intrigue/otome senses are tingling. It's going to be a party for the person taking out place in the narrative. Lucien and Ford might be planning to collapse her family on her birthday and paint her as a villainess so that Chloe doesn't look like a slut for snatching away somebody's fiance. Check out our mailmen to try and figure out what pitfall her family is being led into so that we can come to them and prepare a counteroffensive.

I'm not really sure why we need to stalk her as prep when we do at least know her partially as an acquaintance and can just conversate like a normal person. I'd suggest over a book, but I don't think reading an otome story to her has any tact.

>>4569770
the plot thickens
>>4569776
>Fighting her is easy. We have the spear, it's getting past her bodyguards that are too stupid to know what's up if they've been training that's the problem.
I think if we ever need to fight her head on, I'm certain there's gonna be more than protagonist luck on her side

>>4569795
Sure, but she seems to specialize in mind manipulation IF she's doing anything consciously at all. She's not tanky and whatever defense she has are nullified by our weapon. We also know she was an actual baby and did grow up normally until 12. The chances are low that she's gonna pull a Palpatine and be the boss fight instead of whatever magical beings are supporting her.

I wonder what Valor is up to. Theoretically he might be happy to be recognized for his work and willing to spill the beans that Chloe is a god?

Maybe we need to learn about what other "divine" creatures there are. We know we're fighting one known as the Changer and that has "the blood of a god." It's tied to a cult and capable of minor divine miracles that it can disguise as our gods.

Chat with upper classman
>>4569369
>>4569696
>>4569707

Mailmen?
>>4569776

Maria had done a little work over the precious few days, and they were modestly troubling. However nothing much had happened as of yet on other fronts, with Chloe staying her distance away from Maria. However she was surely about to learn a little bit more about the happenings as she sat down and began to talk.

“So, you must be Maria.” an older classman named Alexis Combroth said with a slim smile, “A pleasure having someone like you join us.”

“Thank you all for having me.” Maria said as she looked around the small table.

The people who were around Maria were the daughters of Counts and Viscounts, so their position was obviously lower than that of Maria who was the daughter of an Independent Duke. As such, Maria used it as leverage to cross the age gap and be able to talk to these girls directly without much hassle.

“And we are thankful you join us!” another commented while taking a sip of her tea, “So, what's it like being in the same class as the Second Prince?”

“He’s friendly enough and is quite the active person. However you would expect that much from him, as he needs to prove himself.” Maria gave with a smile.

“Yes he does yes he does! And he's got such a big and powerful brother to go against!” Another said with a small lementation coming into her voice, “Kinda a pitty he got picked up by that girl.”

There was a small sense of sadness going around the table, some of which Maria was not too worried about. Actually, it gave her a nice segway into what she was here for.

“Didn’t Prince Lucien have an engagement before he met the girl?”

“Yes, to Miss Relias.” Alexis answered with a frown forming, “Poor girl hasn’t really recovered, even over the break. It’s…”

“Saddening?”


Another girl gave a nod, “And here we all thought of her as a kind of mentor, to think such a dreadful thing could happen.”

>Finish up the talk and head on out
>See what they think about Bon and other people
>Start spreading a rumor *What kind?*

>>4569980
>See what they think about Bon and other people
let's measure everyones image

Bumping so people won’t miss

>>4569980
>>See what they think about Bon and other people

>>4569980
>Ask if there's anything that Relias used to enjoy before the sadness overtook her.
>Finish up the talk and head on out

>>4570033
We've gone over the bump limit, its 5 days normally.

>>4570058
>See what they think about Bon and other people
>Ask what kinds of things she used to like before her melancholy. It would be rude if we couldn't figure out a decent gift.
>Ask for detail on how Lucien's battle with the fairy went..Mention we had fought it here at the training grounds,how it went away peacefully, and ask what Lucien had done to enrage it when the fey didn't injure any of the guards.
(everyone focuses on Chloe blasting it, but never says How Lucien got so many injuries that Chloe has to go onto the field. Was he refusing to yield while getting thrashed everywhere even when officials were begging him to end the fight.? Did he simply piss it off for being a puppet or a twat? Just normal injuries? Are people having trouble remembering what was really going on because of cutscene influence like at the ball?)
This could also be a sign that we really need to get back to training because the other faction has caught up in expectation that they have to fight us.
I can't recall which thread had the fight vs it so I can't give a better worded statement on its behavior, but people realizing the context of Chloe's miracle just being a sore loser on behalf of her lover might help?

See how Bon has been managing
>>4569994
>>4570052
>>4570068

Ask if she was always sad
>>4570058

“Is there anything that Relias liked before her depression?” Maria asked, thanking the brain cell that came up with the question.

“She liked a lot of things.” one of the other girls answered with a slim smile, “Whenever I saw her, I would see her either having some tea with her friends, reading a book, or sitting with the first prince.”

“Sitting with the first prince you say and tea, do you know what kind of books she tended towards?”

The girls looked around for a moment before shrugging, “I guess she was always reading the ancient plays, you know, from the free states and Altmer.”

“Interesting, interesting.” With her work done Maria decided to move onwards, “Have any of you met my brother Bon?”

“Oh yes I have!” Alexis called out with a desire filled smile, “Such a good boy, strong and having such a good smile. Also, isn’t he in line for getting your father’s lands?”

“For now he is.” Maria said with a small chuckle.

“Well, could you tell us how Fein Kers got her hands on him?” the girl asked with both a little anger and perplexity in her voice.

“I heard they met from a mutual friend.” Maria lied without giving them a single hint it was her, “Why, is Kers dreadful or something?”

“She’s, uh, well, uh.”

“Weird?”

“Yes.” the girl answered while the others looked down meekly, “She’s something else. Her family's blood is staunch with the Morse, that much is for sure.”

“I take it you all are too scared to say it to her face?”

The girls looked between each other for a moment, “Last time that happened, the girl went missing.”

Maria simply gave an internal shrug, it seems she gave her brother to a psycho murder. At Least this means she can handle herself in the court of intrigue.

>Go ahead and approach Vinnesa Relias, with an early copy of Feing Kers’ book.
>Do a little bit more research first, Maria is having a good streak going.
>Why not read the ‘Translated Holy Book’

>>4570145
>Go ahead and approach Vinnesa Relias, with an early copy of Feing Kers’ book.

>>4570145
>Go ahead and approach Vinnesa Relias, with an early copy of Feing Kers’ book.
I wonder if there will be a way of channeling Ker's murderousness into something positive, past the book writing.

>>4570145
>>Go ahead and approach Vinnesa Relias, with an early copy of Feing Kers’ book.

I'm suprised I haven't considered this possiblity already. But because Chole has the blood of a good to use could it be she is actually an angel, fallen or another gods?

>>4570145
>Why not read the ‘Translated Holy Book’
WTF guys. Are you seriously going to just dump a reading of how she's getting NTRed on Vinnesa?

Might as well see what the book looks like and have a chance to notice something wrong with it in public.

>>4570364
The book isn't about her. That said. Yes. Because women love to insert themselves in fiction. Also we haven't read that fake holy book because I'm absolutely certain there's dangerous magic on it and I don't want to trigger a trap card.

>>4570383
yes yes dangerous magic known as Protestantism

>>4570398
Hey now. We got two very different, or rather mutually exclusive messages recieve'd by different parties from that book. And I am assuming it will put someone normal reading it under a geas when read. Our enemy is the type to use such tactics.

>>4570383
>>4570405
We're roughly immune to mind control, where are you even getting the idea of that, and I don't think there are explosive runes because this aint dnd?
I think you're confused about the causes? The more likely scenario is that people worshipping Chloe instead of the Lord is causing this. (It's not uncommon for people to pray to saints since saints usually replace local old pagan gods irl)
When we start getting praised for sainthood we need to be humble and point out that while we do have our own accomplishments, it is the Lord that should be praised for enabling us to do what we did with his miracles.

>>4570405
Or hear me out: It's written so everyone can read what they want into it.

>>4570573
That would be more likely.

Approach
>>4570149
>>4570151
>>4570309

Translated Holy
>>4570364

It was the next day as Maria moved about a study hall. The place had a few people in it, though the population was just enough that someone could sit down and have a good cup of tea to themselves. Which was exactly what Maria was aiming to look for.

Indeed she found her, Vinnesa Relias was sitting next to a modestly sized window with a view to the outdoors. In her lap looked to be a rather worn book, and next to her was a cup filled with tea. However she was not looking at neither, but instead the outside where snow had once again claimed the gardens.

With a roughly writing book in hand Maria approached with a warming smile against the cold, “It is a pleasure to see you again, Relias.”

“Hmm? Ah, Regnia was it not?” The girl answered with a warmness to her eyes, but nothing much else to it.

“Yes it is, we met at the ball.”


“Oh right, the ball.” She said with a tired breath, “Indeed my memory is coming back to me. Do you want a seat, maybe some tea as well?”

“I would love to.” Maria took the offered seat with gusto, “What is that you are reading?”

“This? Oh, The Divine Comedy. I always wondered what the Heavens would look like.” She answered with a faked laugh, “What about yourself?”

“Hmm, oh this is a book I am having written.” Maria answered with a smile that was hiding her crudeness, “It is a book about love and the finding of it. Quite the story, if you want I can lend it to you.”

“Oh, well, it will not hurt.” The older girl answered while receiving the book.

>Talk up some chatter with her, best to just be friendly for now.
>Let her get a few pages into the book, and then lets see what happens.
>Mysteriously disappear as she reads, because being mysterious is fun.

>>4570607
>Talk up some chatter with her, best to just be friendly for now.

>>4570607
>Talk up some chatter with her, best to just be friendly for now.
Chole is an otome protagonist we're the villainess. We seem to get better results the more we stray from our roles behavior.

>>4570616
I mean we already traded power for love of a peasant. Dunno how bad plot armor can mess with us.

>Talk up some chatter with her, best to just be friendly for now.

>>4570671
>Calling albert a peasent.
I WILL KERS YOUR ASS!

>>4570607
>Read the divine comedy to see if it's like our divine comedy (fanfiction) or actually references our world while she looks through the first few pages. surely we have a bookmark or ribbon so that she won't lose her place?

>>4570682
But he is one.

>>4570738
DON'T SPEAK FACTS AND LOGIC AT ME!

>>4570744
If you don't want Albert to be a peasant, then marry him

>>4570738
that's rude, he's a merchant UwU

>>4570738
His father paid the prerequisite bribe as is custom. He should technically be a noble, he just doesn't have any noble servants. Nobles just tend to forget they got their nobility via bribery too after 1-2 generations.

>>4570607
>>Let her get a few pages into the book, and then lets see what happens.

>>4570824
Not really, his father is just a powerful merchant, I have no idea where you are getting the Prepaid bribe from.

Chat a little bit more
>>4570612
>>4570616
>>4570671

Let her read a little
>>4570723
>>4571041

“So have classes been favoring you well?” Maria asked as she handed over the book to the girl.

“They have been, though if I am honest I just don’t feel much into them.”

“Well, I have heard once that people who are near the end tend to not care about grades and such, as long as they pass.”

“I would not say that, it would be shameful of me.” The girl answered with a telling and solemn smile.

“Indeed it would, a Duke’s daughter not being at least near the top of her class would indeed bring some shame.” She answered with a thin smile.

“To uphold the family name, would you agree that the weight is monstrous?” The older girl asked back at Maria.

“Of course it is, I carry the name of a man who single handedly defeated the Miaphate twice. Though I feel I am matching up to that mark.”

“Yes, that was a foolish question of mine. You are indeed the Kingslayer, after all.”

“No question is foolish.” Maria fired back, “Getting rid of ignorance should be a virtue in and of itself.”

“Ah, are we sure you are the younger one.” The girl asked with a slight chuckle.

“I am sure there.” Maria answered before giving a small chuckle herself.

>Test to see her attitude against Chloe
>Talk about books that they have read
>Head on out, she should just read the book.

>>4571099
>Test to see her attitude against Chloe

>>4571099
>>Test to see her attitude against Chloe

>>4571099
>>Talk about books that they have read

>>4571072
>>Talk about books that they have read


Why are we checking on her attitude about Chloe? We got that answer months ago unless we're going for an update? I guess we can be straightforward but there's probably a more diplomatic way to put it. Maybe saying that it's no secret around here that we do not get along, so if Chloe somehow mended bridges with her or her family is forcing her to do so to save face, let us know?

>>4571099
>Talk about books that they have read
After this we should be able to move onto better goals.

Talk about the books that were read
>>4571167
>>4571187
>>4571250

Chloe's Eminence
>>4571103
>>4571139

“So, what books have you been reading recently?” Maria asked while taking a sip of some of her tea before it got cold.

“A few books, it seems to be about all I have time for.” She admitted with a shaking of the head, “Why I even got my hands on that… translation of the Holy Text.”

Maria felt a little concern in her chest, “Is that so? And how did you take it?”

“It seems to be at odds with this one.” She placed the Divine Comedy on the table before her, “This one here speaks of Heaven and Hell, where the Lord lives and where the devilish souls of others are thrown into oblivion as thirsty gods chew them apart.”

“That is quite a brutal end, though it is kind of fitting to those who work against the Lord.” Maria answered back with a surness in herself, “To murder another man is of course horrendious, and we must also note those who knowingly consort with the creatures.”

“Just as the Comedy suggests.” She affirmed before reaching into her bag and revealing a copy of Chloe’s book, “Though, are the Saints treated differently?”

“Differently?” Maria held her discontent as she leaned in a little, “What… are you talking about?”

“Do you know the story of Avadid, the one who slayed the Giant of Herious?”

“Of course I did, who has not?”

“Well, it is said here that he was destined to accomplish the feat, as he held within him the spirit of Horsus, the one who made the Eternal Contract with the Lord.”

…

There would be subtle changes, that much Maria knew for certain. But what in the world did a suggestion like that mean? Is she suggesting that Horsus was Reincarnated into Avadid?

>Leave to go read the book in private, Maria needs to understand Chloe’s thoughts now.
>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts
>Nows a good time to leave, go see Albert to clear her head

>>4571295
>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts
I met the lord personally not long ago and I do not recall any such contract or past spirit of saints within me. Is she claiming that this is the case for all Saints or that all saints are of one spirit?
If she thinks all spirits are reincarnations of Horsus, she is easily refuted by all of the immortal saints hidden in this land to defend it in secret.

>>4571295
>Leave to go read the book in private, Maria needs to understand Chloe’s thoughts now.

>>4571295
>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts

>>4571295
>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts
I am enjoying this intrigue a bit too much.

>>4571295
>>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts

>>4571295
>Get more out of Vinnesa, to build both the relationship and learn more about her thoughts

“Seems like such an odd thing to mention.” Maria called out with her thoughts opened, “People should know that its not true.”

“It's just… something I found odd. Did the Lord really confine in her of this?”

“He did not.” Maria almost bolted up, but kept herself just barely off the seat as she calmed down for the moment, “I… have recently gone on a Pilgrimage, and during such a time I had the honor to speak to the Lord himself. He… gave me certainty that an afterlife for our people does exist.”

“Really, oh my!” Vinnesa gave a shocked expression, “H-how did you do that?”


“I came really close to death.” Maria gave with a determination in her voice, “I had to face a creature whose sole existence was Divine in nature. During that time I was assured by the Lord that I was on the right path, and that I shall succeed.”

“Has he…” The girl looked skeptical at Maria for a moment, “Who will you succeed against?”

Maria thought to herself for a moment, before finally giving in, “Chloe Loveheart, the False Saint.”

“Oh my!” Her expression was one filled with sudden fear and realization, “Y-you are saying she is… Sorry but I find that hard to believe.”

Maria studied the girl, wondering just what was going through her mind. Vinnesa seemed to think just that little bit differently from Maria, in which she was not outright hostile to Loveheart.

It was just, “Why would you not be against her?” Maria called out before realizing what came out, “I-ignore that! I had spoken out of line!”

“No no, it is fine.” She assured Maria with saddened complection, “I… just don’t like to think about it most of the time.”

“Its troubling, I take it?” Maria asked with a small weight in her heart.

“Indeed, it is.”

>Why read the book made by a rival?
>Ask what exactly is the troubling part
>Maybe, they should talk about this another time.

>>4572075
>Why read the book made by a rival?
Let's shift it a little

>>4572075
>Ask what exactly is the troubling part
>"Sorry, your the first person I've asked this, and I need to know."

>>4572075
>We all know the problems with exact transcriptions (as any student should) There are probably misunderstandings galore in both texts. It's best to simply live a life you can be proud of so that you do not feel regrets at (or after) the end.


Basically stealing some of the philosophy from the old Marcus Aurelius quote..
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

Why the book?
>>4572085

What is the troubling part?
>>4572114

Giving respect to the enemy?
>>4572450

>>4572527
Having actually experienced reincarnation means we'd be lying if we went all in on Dante's fanfiction being accurate.
We know everything written down is mistranslated somewhere.
Therefore if we point this basic fact out we can essentially use "Chloe is too stupid to get the translation right (or being misled by something else) and misunderstood how reincarnation works" as an argument if we wanted to be blunt. There's nothing in the cosmology about other worlds existing, so neither of these texts are right, and then draw the conclusion that one should just live a live you can be proud of and the lord will be proud of it too no matter what the afterlife actually is.
All of these hoops to get to a conclusion we can say on this specific subject without lying.

>>4572527
only 3 votes and all different

>>4572601
This is what happens when we are on an off beat and off the Bump Limit.

>>4572617
More like more lurkers than voters. Like me. Its not because of the bump limit. Sometimes I don't know what you're talking about.

>>4572617
I don't think the bump limit was the reason since people can also search for more recent posts, but unfortunately the number of people have been decreasing (like all long quests) with the only exception being the vote for Albert or Solomon (which I pray the samefags were smol)

>>4572617
It's the lurkers man. I also took a nap earlier so no vote from me.

>>4572527
I can switch to
>what is the troubling part
since I find the other question to be a rare example of a dumb one (or possibly insulting) in the current context.

I'm SU9PAqwn.

I'll argue for my vote as "instead of looking odd or opportunistic with the dukes daughter after that "why aren't you against Chole" bit it would likely look better if we come off as Curious and Find the number of people not more opposed to her as odd.

“Though, I cannot help but ask why it would be troubling.” Maria asked with an inquisitive desire in her soul.

“Well… just those little things stuck out to me. Just small changes that don’t make much sense to me.”

“Well, that is to be expected, it is likely not an exact copy based on the obvious.”

“Really? I…” Vinnesa simply gave a simple sigh, “If what you say is true, I would not be surprised.”

“Indeed, indeed.” Maria said before thinking of the one question she had been wondering, “What exactly is the reason you are reading this?”

“What do you mean?” The older girl placed her tea onto the table as she heard Maria’s words.

“Well, it was written by Chloe, a girl who stole the man of your life. If I were to he honest, it just seems, counter to what should be the case.”

There was a small silence there for a moment, the two looking at one another. One was going to break, and Maria knew for a fact it was not going to be her. And indeed, she was right.

“I… just want to know why.” The other girl answered after the drawn out silence, “Why did he leave me for her.”

“Have you found the answer you were seeking?”

“I did not.”

With that Maria finished the last of her tea, and she knew her time here was done, “I think I should get going, it feels that we have spent more than a day talking here.”

“I feel the same, it was nice talking to you.” She answered with a genuine smile.

“Same.”

And with that, Maria rose from chair and made her way from the room.

>Go see Albert so they can have a nice experience
>Head over and talk to the prince of this development
>Read the book to see if there is more she can learn
>Other Schemes

Sorry for the delay, siblings got in the way. Anyways, this scene has gone on for too long, even longer than the dragon fight.

>>4572658
>Read the book to see if there is more she can learn
>>4572659
it's ok op, at least they're cute though ?

>>4572658
>>Go see Albert so they can have a nice experience

>>4572658
>Go see Albert so they can have a nice experience

Go see Albert
>>4572708
>>4572737

Read the Noe Holy Book
>>4572677

>>4572677
Yes, and it got us that much closer to where I want.

Time went by quickly, as Maria reflected upon what she and Vinnesa talked about. Indeed the idea of reincarnation was messing with her, as that is honestly what happened to Maria. Though she was pretty sure Valor, the Alchemist who had some sick fascination with the human soul, perverted whatever was going to happen to her soul on earth. It's pretty obvious in his notes that the fool just plucked her soul from the air and stuffed it into a baby's body.

Maria could not deny he was successful though.

Its just…

“Something bothering you Maria?” Albert whispered as their lecture of Faith came to an end, “It's time for us to leave.”

“It's just something on my mind. Do not think much of it.” She answered while swaying her hand across.

“You have been like this for a few days though, surely something must have grabbed your attention.”

“It is nothing too important, just a musing since the classes just seem to be review recently.”

“You say that, but you have asked for my help on Economics.”

“That is only because I still don’t understand accounting. I can’t even believe people are actually learning how to make Balance Sheets!”

“But they do work.”

“I know that! Just… really surprising I would find things like this.” Maria answered with a huff.

As they made their way out Maria could feel a slight pang of disgust coming through her stomach as she noticed Chloe walking by her. The girl herself looked at Maria with what seemed to be a mix of eminence and fear, though she seemed content with just staying her distance.

Such a bothersome girl, doubly that she has been strangely active in the Faith classes. Why even now Maria watched the girl walk up to talk to the Cleric who was teaching the class, to which said man was looking quite bothered by the event.

Does not matter, at least to Maria. No she had a larger game to play.

>Maria and Albert shall scheme out what to do next
>Talk about how Albert’s Family is doing
>Flirt, because why not!

>>4572861
>Flirt, because why not!
let's have some happy time for now, too much trouble happening

>>4572861
>Maria and Albert shall scheme out what to do next
Let's see what stuff he was planning on doing this year and if we can intertwine our own plans.

Is our nun doing ok. We haven't checked up on her yet and it's been over a week by now..

>>4572861
>Talk about how Albert’s Family is doing
>Maria and Albert shall scheme out what to do next
In this order. Because if Albert's family is going under pressure we'll have a way into Chole's intrigue.

>>4572861
>>Maria and Albert shall scheme out what to do next

Flirt
>>4572868


Scheme
>>4572874
>>4573125
>>4572881

“So, has Elric been able to hold things together well enough?” Maria asked as they were finally clear of people.

“He is, been talking to Elizabeth about a few things as well.”

“Oh, the two are still talking? Neither of them have been hinting to that~” Maria could not help but give a gitty smile.

“I’m not surprised hes keeping it a minor secret, hes got to look eligible for any girls with powerful enough families.”

“Respectable, but then he needs to look into securing something soon. People might feel more at ease if he has a real and true lover.”

“Being a Noble is pretty harsh.” Albert mentioned with a small sigh.

“Fufu, well you should get use to it. You are probably going to be joining us here soon~”

“Y-yeah you’re right. Shit.” The man said while scratching the back of his head, “What of Vinnesa? I heard you were talking to her just a few days ago.”

“A good soul, though she is still tied in her thoughts of Lucien. Its… worrisome but manageable.”

“Good, if she can convince her family to turncoat there will likely be an avalanche of them following her.”

>Talk more about ways to get closer to Vinnesa
>You know, Elizabeth and Elric will make a good couple. Maybe they should help them along
>Where the hell is Maria’s knight
>Check up on Dahia, and introduce her to Albert

>>4573442
Sorry for the short one, but eh.

>>4573442
>Where the hell is Maria’s knight
>>4573444
np mate

>>4573442
>Where the hell is Maria’s knight
Secure the combat asset first. Then we talk to our new nun.

>>4573442
>>Where the hell is Maria’s knight

Damn it chole. You had to make big moves and take away time to tease Albert. Once this is resolved we're rushing for the wedding.