Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

”Church?” The prince was taken aback. ”Don’t they... never interfere with secular matters?”

Among the Four Great Churches, the Church of Candlelight had the best relationship with local lords.

These people seemed to have no interest in mundane affairs. Regardless of whether a lord was wise or tyrannical, they would not interfere at all.

Their followers could be taxed by the lords—they didn’t care. Their followers could be slaughtered—the Church still didn’t care.

As long as the army didn’t storm into the church, even if acts of blasphemy were committed right outside its doors, the priests of the Church of Candlelight would simply watch coldly.

The followers of the Church of Candlelight never rebelled, the church sold Holy Water within, and it could even help resolve supernatural abnormalities in the territory. What lord would dislike such an existence?

”In your eyes, the Church simply minds its own business quietly, right?” Isabella spoke softly. ”But there is one situation in which the Church will interfere with the secular world.”

She slowly lifted her eyes, her gaze landing on a decorative wall rack, upon which rested a finely crafted firearm.

A bolt-action rifle, a gift from Castel to Blood Harbor.

”Any improvement or advancement in technology will be directly targeted and eliminated by the Church. No trial, no explanation—this is the Church’s taboo.”

”The Church does not abstain from interfering with the secular world. Rather, it has fenced the secular world in. They are like farm owners raising livestock, letting the beasts fight within the pen. As long as you don’t try to cross the boundary, they won’t intervene.”

”We are merely livestock raised by the Church.”

Isabella’s tone turned a few degrees colder.

”Did you know? There was a young man from Galahad’s factory who once improved the entire steam engine system on his own. He increased transmission efficiency by more than thirty percent—without even triggering cognitive interference.”

”Given time, he might have become the next Great Sage Bruno.”

”I had people observe him for a long while. I even cleared out nearby factories to prevent a cognitive interference outbreak. But later, the Church found out.”

”That Euler from the Joanne Family killed every knight stationed there by himself, entered the factory, and slaughtered him right there.”

”At that moment, as I looked at his corpse, I swore to myself—I would free the Empire from the Church’s cage.”

”I signed countless investiture scrolls, sending the Frontier Count to the four corners of the Empire. There, the Church has no presence—there is still hope.”

”But it was still too late. The Empire was founded upon the foundation of the Church and the nobility. Without either, it would inevitably collapse entirely into the other.”

”I have killed too many nobles.”

”The Church is already preparing to eliminate me.”

”But who am I! Could they really kill me!?”

”Those worms in the sewers thought they had won after infiltrating the palace, but they didn’t realize they gave me a chance—a chance to start anew. This time, I will tear everything down and begin again!”

Isabella looked into the air and suddenly showed a smile.

”And so I came to Blood Harbor. Here, there is no Church—and now, no nobles.”

The prince was too stunned to speak.

He had thought his endurance and assassination were part of a successful plot. Only now did he realize he was just a small pawn on the board.

All his actions had been used. Whether revenge or assassination, they were all pieces of someone else’s plan.

The silent battle had taken place underwater, yet he had mistaken the tip of the iceberg above the surface as the whole.

After a long time, he finally spoke in a low voice. ”So that’s how it is... so that’s how it is... But you didn’t need to be so ruthless. Driving the nobles out of the territory would have been enough, wouldn’t it?”

”What nonsense are you talking about!” A flash of anger crossed Isabella’s face, though she quickly calmed down. ”Do you know, the grain in my warehouse is enough to feed all the people of Blood Harbor, even the starving wretches at the bottom. At least they wouldn’t have died of hunger.”

”But you didn’t open the granary...” The prince had intended to accuse her, but midway through, his tone weakened. ”You must have your reasons, don’t you?”

”Hmph, you’re not completely stupid. Do you know the most efficient way to distribute that grain?”

”What?”

Isabella withdrew her legs from the table, stood up, and walked to the window.

She pointed outside to the scorched earth and ruins. ”Like this!”

”...What do you mean?”

“I put the grain down there—no matter the method, in the end, most of it would end up in the nobles’ pockets. The cultists slaughtered the Upper City District, and only one or two hundred died. But if I opened the granary, how many more than one or two thousand would starve to death!?”

Her face was full of hostility and rage. “These vampires, parasites, filthy maggots, feces-eating Devil Fish—they would devour every last lio without a care for the dead. Their stupidity deserves only one ending—”

“Death!”

She spat fiercely toward the outside before sitting back down in her chair.

The prince seemed to be intimidated by her aura. It was a long while before he finally murmured,

“But they are nobles. How could nobles be compared to commoners?”

Upon hearing this, Isabella raised her head and pointed her thumb toward herself. “I am the Empress of the Empire. All people are my subjects, regardless of status. They think they are nobles? To me, they’re no different from that Tommy who got three heads chopped off.”

“No—they’re worse than Tommy. Tommy only ate one share of grain, but those nobles? They only make the grain more expensive.”

“Who gave them the right to trample my subjects?”

The prince was feeling dazed. No difference between nobles and commoners? He had never heard such a statement before. And yet the one who said it was none other than the most exalted Empress of the Empire.

He was willing to treat commoners kindly, but that was due to the kindness in his nature. In his heart, nobles were still superior to commoners.

But speaking of superiority—

The scorched earth outside the window was still there. The grain distribution by nobles—was it really less fair than that of the cultists?

There were so many things the prince wanted to say, but not a word could come out. He had always clung to a sense of justice and righteousness in his heart, yet now he suddenly realized that the so-called justice he upheld was more shallow than the tyrant before him.

“Is there anything else you want to ask, little prince?” Isabella’s tone once again became lazy and languid.

“There is. I want to know why you didn’t kill me. Earlier you asked Johan what value he had. But as for me, I can’t think of any value I still hold.”

“Of course you have value. You’re almost the most valuable person in the Empire.”

“Ah?” The prince froze for a moment, bewildered. “Is... is it because I tried to assassinate you and completed my revenge?”

“Of course—not.”

“Then?”

“It’s because you know my identity. I was born to stand at the center of the stage. And naturally, I cannot do without an audience. Your greatest value is to sit below the stage and witness me triumph one victory after another.”

Isabella spoke with arrogance. “Be sure to applaud and cheer for me with all your might.”