Early morning light filtered through thin clouds, scattering across the land. Dust motes, drifting like mayflies in the air, gave the light tangible form.
Wind swept across the Bohemian plains, emerald grass bending layer upon layer in the same direction, like endless ocean waves. This wind blew to the edge of the plains, crashing into the dense Bohemian Forest.
Branches and leaves across hundreds of square kilometers rustled, shaking the patterns of light and shadow...
The wind stripped the green leaves from the branches, its own momentum caught and tangled by the swaying limbs. By the time the wind reached the forest's edge, it was a spent force, barely able to push forward.
But it ultimately reached its destination. Originating from the green Bohemian plains, exhausting itself in the vast sea of trees, all just to reach the fertile basin beside the Danube River once.
Vienna, now the largest city in continental Europe, sat at the very center of the continent. People and goods from all directions converged on this city via the muddy spring road network. Yet, Vienna was not the heart of Europe.
The heart of Europe was in Vienna, but Vienna was not the heart of Europe.
The Three Great Families needed a city they could fully control as a base to command the continent.
That place could only be Vienna. But the Three Great Families also needed to maintain a degree of mystery. Schicksal, as a massive organization encompassing military, political, and religious power, was ill-suited to crowd into Vienna's bustling urban center.
Thus, a small castle nearly ten li [~5 kilometers] north of Vienna's city center was fortunately chosen, transforming instantly from a place with nothing but a monastery into the very heart of Europe.
This was Klosterneuburg, now the Schicksal HQ.
Initially, it housed only Schicksal institutions. Besides the Castle Council, the Three Great Families, and other organizational personnel and their families, Klosterneuburg's population was less than ten thousand.
But as time passed and Schicksal's power grew ever more prominent, its institutions and personnel swelled. Merchants and vendors, like sharks smelling blood, flocked to Klosterneuburg from all over Europe, causing its scale to explode several times over, rivaling even Vienna itself.
Yet, Vienna was Vienna, and Kolosten was Kolosten.
Vienna was gilded buildings and colorful dreams, while Kolosten, at first glance, was nothing but black and gray. The rain clouds that had blanketed the city had clearly dissipated, yet it still felt oppressed by something heavy. Stepping inside felt suffocatingly heavy.
The muddy road underfoot was soft and sticky. The air held the unique chill that follows rain. Perhaps for this reason, Kolosten's streets were nearly deserted today. Occasional housewives clutching bread, vegetables, and meat hurried past, as if afraid of being entangled by something.
Squish— A thin piece of paper sank into the mud, making a negligible sound. Michael bent down and picked up the paper he had stepped on. It was about palm-sized, densely covered with characters:
[INDULGENCE]
All are born with original sin, and you wander bewildered in the world. Though your deeds may include good, you cannot escape wrongdoing.
By the Lord's grace today, this券 alone absolves myriad sins, sparing the torment of purgatory hereafter. Your soul shall ascend directly to Paradise, to hear the Lord's divine voice—Amen!
"It's begun." Michael's lips moved, his voice so soft that Mobius beside him could barely hear.
He flipped his wrist. On the back of this "Indulgence" was a line of scrawled, large characters—SCAM! (One of the ten ancient mythical beasts)!
"Heh." Mobius took the indulgence and looked at it, also letting out two cold laughs. "Let's go. Let's see what kind of 'good show' you mentioned."
Continuing forward, they saw a stall occupying half the empty street corner. Two large ceramic jars sat on the stall. A salesman clad in a bright red robe leaned back against the plain wooden chair behind the stall. If not for his overly sleazy appearance, one might mistake him for a cardinal at first glance.
Seeing people approach, he lifted his head and glanced quickly. Two figures, one tall, one short, both completely hidden under black robes, faces obscured from view.
The salesman shook his head. He wasn't internal Schicksal staff but a contractor for indulgences, usually involved in various businesses. One look told him these two were trouble.
He couldn't even be sure if they were locals—what local would walk around in black robes concealing their entire body? Only assassins or mercenaries who lived on the edge dressed like this.
The more the salesman looked, the more convinced he became. Especially their figures: the tall one looked powerful, capable of taking on at least ten of him in a direct confrontation. The petite one was hard to say, but perfectly suited for assassination tasks, slipping through chimneys or doggy doors.
Such people constantly faced life and death; their minds were likely unstable. The salesman initially wanted to avoid provoking them, but then thought, among such types, there were also fervent believers, and having experienced so much killing, their "sins" must surely be numerous...
Thus, out of professional ethics... or perhaps wishful thinking, he still called out: "You two, want to buy indulgences? Discount if you buy together! When the coins for your indulgence clink into the jar, your soul or the souls of your loved ones will walk out of the flames of purgatory!"
He hadn't held much hope, but after shouting, he saw the taller figure stop and walk over to his stall.
He reached out and tapped the ceramic jar on the table. The jar, filled with gold and silver coins, produced a bell-like chime, like fine raindrops, crisp and pleasant.
This action startled the salesman. For a moment, he thought this black-robed figure intended to rob him of his hard-earned money in broad daylight.
Fortunately, the person wasn't that crude, or perhaps not that bold. The salesman saw him lift his head slightly, revealing upturned lips, followed by a steady, indifferent male voice: "How much?"
"Ah... huh?"
Michael took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, his voice slightly louder: "How much per sheet?"
"Ah... Ah... Oh!" Hearing a customer arrive, the salesman's face instantly bloomed into a wide grin, revealing two large, yellow-black front teeth like a rabbit's. "Um, sir, is this your first time buying an indulgence? Hehe, these aren't sold by the sheet!"
"Oh? Then by what?"
"Er... Sir, it depends on the sin you wish to redeem, ahem—" He cleared his throat, perhaps feeling the upcoming task was sacred work; after all, indulgences could cleanse sins, allowing souls destined for hell to ascend to heaven. The Lord must surely watch over the distribution of every indulgence... Yeah right! Who believes that crap!
"If you've taken another's life, it's eight gold groschen. Harming parents or siblings is six. Committing adultery in a church is also six. Forging documents, fraud, or betrayal is also six..."
"If one took the life of a family member, is it counted as one eight-gold-groschen sin, or one eight plus six gold groschen?"
"Uh... this... this... eight..." The information was a bit much. Cold sweat instantly soaked the hair on the back of the salesman's neck. But thinking of the crisp sound of coins dropping into the jar, he gritted his teeth and said, head bowed, "Eight plus six!"
"I see..." Michael stood motionless before the jar. Mobius couldn't fathom his thoughts, only gripping his hand tightly.
In truth, Michael was merely performing simple arithmetic.
Setting aside the unique nature of the Herrscher of Reason, even an ordinary adult wouldn't take long for simple addition and subtraction. But perhaps living too long had rusted his brain, or perhaps some debts were simply too numerous, calculating them one by one took too much time.
By the time the morning light became glaring and hot, the salesman before him was breathing lightly, just waiting for Michael to speak.
"Eight plus six... times one, two, three... eleven..." He waved his sleeve. Large silver coins (gold groschen, despite the name, were silver...) fell like a string of pearls into the ceramic jar. The salesman initially kept count, then could only tremble mechanically with the crisp chime of the coins—
How many people had he killed? And all family members?
The clinking finally stopped. The reflected sunlight almost spilled out of the jar. The salesman was still dazed when Michael reached out again, tossing in twelve more gold groschen. Then he looked up, revealing a youthful face utterly incongruous with his voice.
Their eyes met. He swore, swore upon his memory of selling thousands of indulgences—he had never seen such a devout gaze.
Logically, people buying indulgences did so to avoid the torment of purgatory, to allow their souls or those of deceased loved ones to ascend to heaven; they should all be incredibly pious believers. But reality, of course, was different. At least in this peculiar city of Kolosten, no one thought buying indulgences was the Lord's will.
They willingly paid simply because they knew it was Schicksal's way of amassing wealth; buying now might avoid future trouble. As for those who couldn't afford it or simply didn't want to buy, the salesman knew well, they would surely comply within two days. Whether they came willingly or had Schicksal Knights knocking on their door was another matter.
Of course, Kolosten had a population close to one hundred thousand, a mixed bag. It wasn't unheard of for someone to genuinely believe indulgences could truly redeem sins.
But even among those, none had ever shown piety like the youth before him.
Just piety. No fanaticism, no excitement, no excessive expectation, no anxiety about gain or loss. Just piously praying for his sins to be redeemed.
Gulp— The salesman swallowed hard, reaching a cold-sweat-covered hand into the other ceramic jar, pinching out a thin piece of paper between two fingers. "Here is your indulgence, you..."
The salesman froze. The space before him was empty again.
He quickly snatched the other jar. Thankfully, the gold groschen inside were still plentiful, none missing. It seemed a way to prove the black-robed man's tangible existence.
Of course, the salesman wouldn't ponder the question of "existence." He just slumped back into his wooden chair, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and muttered repeatedly, "As long as the money's here... as long as the money's here..."
He leaped up from his seat again, grabbed a large handful of silver coins from the jar, held them under his nose, and inhaled deeply. The unique metallic, rusty smell filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes, letting out a satisfied sigh.
"Thought he was some difficult customer, turns out he's just a rich fool!" He snorted coldly. Taking advantage of the empty street, he half-squatted, took a breath, lifted the jar full of silver coins, took two quick steps back, and poured all the coins into a prepared cloth sack.
"Whistle—" He placed the jar back on the table, blew a weak whistle, and was about to continue his lazy day when a woman in her twenties, leading a five- or six-year-old girl, appeared in his line of sight.
The woman had just turned the corner. Seeing his stall, her first reaction was to grab the girl and turn back the way she came.
But unexpectedly, the salesman, despite his encumbering red robe, was incredibly agile. He sprang from his chair in a tenth of a second, vaulted over the wooden table, and landed behind the woman. Before she could take a step, he grabbed her wrist.
"Let go of me! My child and I have already bought indulgences!"
"Oh? Is that so? Madam, are you certain you've bought an indulgence?" The salesman looked thin-limbed and short like a monkey, but his strength was still greater than that of an equally malnourished woman. No matter how she struggled, her wrist couldn't escape his iron grip. She also had a child with her, adding considerable hesitation.
"Madam, please calm down and speak properly. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your child, would you?" The salesman grinned sleazily, lifting his foot as if to kick the girl. The woman quickly hugged him, begging repeatedly, "Please, please, I swear to the Lord, I really bought an indulgence!"
"Really?" The salesman's laughter was now undisguised, just like his hand wandering over the woman's waist and hips.
"Really! I swear it's absolutely true!"
"Then why did you run when you saw me?"
"I... I..."
"Lying is also a sin, madam!" The salesman pinched the woman's skin, finding little flesh, his fingers almost hurting from the bone. Well, better than nothing, better than nothing...
He continued his intimidation: "Madam, two choices. Six gold groschen for an indulgence to redeem your sins, or... hehehe!"
"You... You're taking advantage of my misfortune! Your soul will go to hell too! You dog bastard!"
"Ah, ah... Is that so? Then I'll just buy an indulgence for myself right after, won't that fix it?"
"You..."
"Think clearly, madam. Finding a prostitute in the Miracle District costs only two silver groschen. The price I'm offering you is six gold groschen, equivalent to one hundred and forty-four silver groschen! Enough for me to visit a prostitute seventy-two times! Are you still dissatisfied?"
"..." The woman bit her lip, speechless, only trying to hide the child behind her. But this only excited the salesman more and clearly had no effect.
"I know what you're thinking, madam. You think I'm just using a worthless piece of paper to trick you out of your chastity? No, no, no. For every indulgence I sell, I have to truthfully hand over the money to Schicksal, and they give me back a one-twenty-fourth commission. I am genuinely paying a high price of six gold groschen for you!"
That part wasn't entirely wrong. Selling indulgences theoretically yielded minimal profit. It was, after all, Schicksal's product to cover the losses from the Eastern Expedition; the bulk of the revenue naturally went to Schicksal.
But the dealings were murky—Schicksal priced an indulgence at only one gold groschen, with no price distinctions based on sin.
Yet these unscrupulous merchants directly multiplied the price several times! This was, after all, the wealthiest place in all of Europe.
The indulgence contractors and salesmen in the city had long colluded on pricing. If travelers or merchants from afar questioned the price, they had ready excuses: "Sorry brother, the people of Kolosten are generally deeply sinful... How much did you say you paid for an indulgence in XXX? Ai! So sorry, once you arrive in Kolosten, you are considered sinful. How about another one?"
Of course, setting aside how these people multiplied the original price, take the salesman before them: he had just encountered a once-in-a-lifetime sucker!
Fourteen times eleven plus twelve, a whopping one hundred and sixty-six gold groschen! Subtracting the twenty-three silver groschen handed over to Schicksal... rounding up, even if he submitted one gold groschen, he still netted one hundred and sixty-five!
When people come into unexpected wealth, their minds inevitably wander, wanting to splurge. That was his state now.
"Alright, alright..." The woman's voice held back tears. The salesman grinned, then suddenly felt a pang of regret—the woman before him wasn't particularly attractive. Maybe this was actually... a bad deal?
As he wavered, the woman unexpectedly gritted her teeth, pulled six gold groschen from her loose, worn dress, and thrust them into his hand.
"One indulgence, sir!"
"My pleasure!" The salesman pocketed the six large silver coins with satisfaction. "Ptooey! Money still works better than anything!"
Then he started pondering inwardly. Having made so much money these past two days, perhaps the two-silver-groschen low-end prostitutes were no longer suitable for him. Maybe... tonight he should try the two-gold-groschen ones?