Chapter 197: The Charity Event

"We have not received word from two of the villages yet." One of the black cloaks said to Ivar.

"Fuck." Ivar slammed his desk as he got up. "Have squads to investigate what is going on. Get those from towns far from those who have not sent word. Any traitorous found are to be dealt with." The black cloak nodded at Ivar’s words and left.

He thought he finally had time to rest when a second man, a guard this time ran into the hall. "Sir. We have received word from the border." He spoke in panic as he held out a note for Ivar. Taking it he read it quickly before throwing it to the ground.

"Are we sure about this?" Ivar said worriedly as he looked at the guard who gave a small nod.

"The scouts have a special way of writing to make sure they are not fake. This includes it."

"Leave. Now. Do not tell anyone." The guard nodded, running out as Ivar wanted to scream. He calmed himself taking a deep breath as he jogged to his office. taking a pen and paper stolen from the new world begun.’Invasion from the North. King Andor has moved.’

Grabbing one of his crows he tied the note and nervously bit his fingers.

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Meanwhile, on Astrom’s throne, his first wife sat with a small child cradled in her arms. A scout ran in and knelt before her as she looked down with dead eyes. "Andor has begun an attack on us Queen."

The woman gave a small nod as she looked at her son. He looked upon her happily but no smile was returned, her dead eyes only looking at it. "Send word to my husband. He will want to know." She spoke robotically before returning attention to the child who spoke incoherently to her.

The scout nodded, running off to find someone who could send the message as the queen looked deep into her child’s eyes. "Hopefully your father comes back in time." Anyone who heard her words couldn’t tell if she meant it, her voice not carrying a hint of emotion.

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Blackwood sat at his desk and a knock took his attention. Calling them in a cloaked figure gave a religious bow towards him. "What is it."

"Byles has the date for his event in Far Mile. A week from now."

"Tch. They give us no time to prepare it properly."

"The Empire will also be taking part in it." The cloaked figure carried on and Blackwood suppressed the urge to click his tongue again.

"No this is good actually." He grabbed his chin a smile forming. "Have you already got in touch with the criminal elements in Far Mile?" To his question, he got a nod. "Excellent. Have them during the day and have them act up. Pay them handsomely for it."

The cloaked figure didn’t need to be told why as he nodded. Remembering something he reached into his cloak and pulled out a paper, handing it to Blackwood. "Have you seen this?"

Blackwood snatched it from his hands eyeing it before shaking his head. He read the contents and felt overwhelmed by the nationalistic pride that oozed into it. "What is this?"

"That along with many others has spread across the the entire city. Word for word all are the exact same. This is not an isolated event and is reported in all major cities across the Empire." Blackwood dropped the paper.

"Impossible. The manpower requi..." He stopped himself remembering the report about crafters going to the palace. "He created a way to mass produce it." It was quick but Blackwood realised what happened as he read the contents once more.

"The blessed one truly has his name for a reason." It was all he could say, impressed. "This isn’t good." He already knew what it meant to read the paper. It was Alfred’s counterattack to the preachers. and a big one at that. It was brilliant. It didn’t explicitly target the church, instead telling the people how great they were and how great the empire was. Maybe once it would be useless but if they were repeatedly produced.

Blackwood shivered at the prospect. Even if they called for church supremacy, if the people are told weekly that the Empire is beneath nothing eventually it will stick. "I need to see Bishop Byles." He got up and quickly left followed by the cloaked figure.

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Alfred sat before his inner circle all smiles. It was truly a day to be happy as they had worked tirelessly. Abu and his workforce had been quick to distribute the papers whilst William and his soldiers kept them protected and made sure they didn’t go missing. Anton had used his bank branches as a sales point. Everyone was skeptical about the results but it was the first step.

"Everyone," Alfred spoke getting their attention. "Step two has begun to create a national identity. Our education system was the first step as we all know and that had already shown promise. With this, we will be able to get weekly papers out to the people reinforcing this identity. Meanwhile, we can slowly steer the people away from the church without a direct assault on them."

"With step two underway, we can focus our fall might on the church and drive it out. Esmond has worked hard to counter their moves behind the scenes and from what we know their starting ground will be Far Mile. It makes sense as it has no large influence over it. But we can not let this be."

"First, Mayor Desmond has provided us with a good opportunity. The charity event won’t be that. Will let the church carry this out, but we will shove our agenda truth down their throats until they forget the church is even involved. Anton." Alfred turned to him. "Can the Gold Bank help provide quick funding for this? Say 300 gold."

Anton ran the calculations in his head before nodding. "Abu. Mobilise as much of your workforce to Far Mile and have them prepare. This will be a celebration to remember an Ammary hero in Raven, not an Archbishop. Set up memorials, charity events, games for children, anything to make people happy with us."

"Catherin, have a fleet ready in Far Mile for the people to interact with. Let them experience the navy of the Empire and give free tours and rides on the boats. William prepared the military. I want a parade for them in parts of the city. Charles has the Unyeilding in charge of security. Esmond make sure nothing happens behind the scenes." Alfred fired off the orders to his members of the Inner circle as they all bowed in understanding.

"Listen. I don’t need to street the importance of this. We have one job. Overshadow anything the church does during this day. They can not be seen in a good light."