The capital of Castile, Cartiel, where the current legitimate King Garcia is drinking bottle after bottle of wine in the Royal Palace.
“Come on, more!”
Wine bottles are thrown everywhere, but no one comes out to clean the Royal Palace, making the once grand palace appear somewhat dirty and even a bit smelly.
Garcia now looks less like a king and more like a drunkard sitting on the throne.
After a moment of daze, Garcia arrives in the dream he is all too familiar with.
“Welcome back, our king, Your Majesty.”
The clergy of the Night Sanctuary appear on both sides of the long table, and Garcia gradually awakens, sitting down in the position that almost always belongs to him.
“So? What’s going on this time? Didn’t I already transfer power to you all?”
Perhaps still with a slight buzz in his brain, Garcia now shows signs of self-destructive anger toward the clergy of the Night Sanctuary.
“No, after all, you are His Majesty the King, so there are some pieces of information we need to share with you.”
Sitting on the throne, the crowned Pope says: “Your brother is dead, and the Empire of Castile was destroyed in a very short time, while Dorge himself was hanged on the lamp post he built after his trial.”
Upon hearing this news, Garcia instantly sobers up.
“Is it… was it Rosalind’s doing?”
“No, it was the Empire from the M Continent that did this, and if you must say your sister was involved, you could argue that, after all, the Empire acted in her name.”
The Pope’s crown sways slightly with his head, and he continues: “We need to reassess the Empire from the M Continent, so Your Majesty, it is time for you to get to work.”
Garcia realizes that he is being tested in gauging the Empire’s attitude.
“I understand.”
Garcia had no choice; after all, Cartiel is already completely under the control of the Night Sanctuary, and learning of his brother’s death he had to go through this group of cultists.
Touching the patterns on the long table, Garcia keeps sighing, feeling that the power of the Night Sanctuary has become stronger, and the dreams constructed have become more real, the previously vague dreams now providing clear sensations and details.
Surrounding them, there seems to be the sound of construction, and Garcia realizes that the Night Sanctuary intends to build a church within this dream, creating a true Night Sanctuary.
This dream has not yet ended, after all, Garcia has now become half a member of the Night Sanctuary, and to allow him, who has been locked in the Royal Palace, to have a basic understanding of the Empire, the Night Sanctuary has not expelled him.
Garcia feels that this is more a demonstration of the Night Sanctuary’s great ability to construct dreams.
After sorting through information about the Empire, the Pope sitting on the throne says: “We need a batch of Messenger Apostles of the Morning Star to help Lavian’s Church conduct research and construct the Night Sanctuary. Your Majesty, I ask you to send a batch of Messenger Apostles to Lavian’s Church.”
“I understand. I will have people bring the homeless from within Cartiel.”
Hearing Garcia’s answer, the Pope fervently prays: “Praise the Morning Star! May your light guide the homeless back to their homes.”
The other clergy also join in prayer, saying: “Praise the Morning Star!”
After the prayer, the Pope continues: “I know you have opinions about Lavian’s Church taking in another batch of new Messenger Apostles, but Lavian’s Church has not only developed a new ritual that allows the light of the Morning Star to better illuminate the dream, but it has also strengthened our control over dreams.”
“I believe you have all noticed that the current Night Sanctuary has become more real. Within the dreams, we gradually achieve a touch close to reality, heartbeats, and breaths—this all thanks to Lavian’s Church. If any of you can do better than Lavian, I can allocate more Messenger Apostles to you.”
Listening to this, the other clergy unanimously nod in agreement, their envious and approving gazes directed at Lavian.
The Night Sanctuary’s control over dreams has recently made breakthroughs, but Lavian has shown the most remarkable advancements. Almost everyone benefits from Lavian, so even the other clergy of the Night Sanctuary greatly respect this colleague, with many even sending their own allocated Messenger Apostles to Lavian to improve relations.
“Your Holiness, you flatter me. I’m just doing what I ought to do.”
Even behind a mask, everyone can feel the humility and devotion in Lavian’s voice and their frenzied faith in higher beings.
The longer the Pope gazes at Lavian, the more satisfied he becomes. Lavian is steady and composed, a technical expert amidst most practitioners from orthodox cult backgrounds within the Night Sanctuary—such talent is becoming increasingly rare.
“So today, there’s also a resolution to elevate Lavian’s Church to a cardinal, which is something we proposed earlier. Let’s start voting.”
This is also to allow Lavian to legitimately allocate more shares of Messenger Apostles; after all, the number of cardinals is fixed, and the share of Messenger Apostles is limited. However, the vote overwhelmingly passes Lavian’s ascent, and the cardinal slated to retire grips Lavian’s hand, hoping that Lavian can build a grand Cathedral within this dream.
Even Garcia, who has not yet left, turns his gaze towards Lavian.
To be honest, if he had the capability, Garcia would even want to win Lavian over, but unfortunately, it is impossible now. However, he can allocate more Messenger Apostles since there are plenty of homeless people in Cartiel. While winning them over may not be feasible, pleasing them might help him live better within the Night Sanctuary in the future.
As for the intelligence regarding the Empire mentioned by the Pope earlier, Garcia did not listen closely. After all, no matter how powerful the cannons are, what does it matter if they cannot stop the attack of dreams? In the end, wouldn’t he still share the same table with them?
Thinking of this, Garcia even feels a bit amused; perhaps before long, he would see Rosalind come sit beside him.
“Alright, this meeting will end here, everyone, do not forget the light of the Morning Star.”
Garcia rises along with everyone else to bow, waiting to exit the dream.
But as the people around him gradually disappear, Garcia does not wake up.
Garcia looks up in confusion, seeing that only he and Lavian the cardinal remain.
Just as Garcia is puzzled about what has happened and seeks to use this opportunity to draw closer to Lavian, a lantern flickers into existence in the void, and a nun clad in form-fitting attire casually sits on the table, which the Night Sanctuary considers sacred after just finishing the meeting.
And that rising star within the Night Sanctuary, Cardinal Lavian, approaches the nun like a dog.
“Nice to meet you, King of Castile.”
Though polite, the nun looks at Garcia with an expression as if judging trash.
“I am a nun of the Empire, Bernice of Lantern Dream.”
