Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 11 Is God’s Eye on Me?

"The Church Alliance is a religious alliance formed by the seven major orthodox churches. It is also the only orthodox belief recognized by the countries of the Western Continent. That is why it is named Orthodox God."

While explaining, Metien also predicted Alice's next question and said before she asked, "The seven great orthodox churches are the Crimson Church that believes in the Crimson Dragon God, the Night's Dwelling that believes in the Queen of Tranquility, the Death Prayer Society that believes in the Embrace of Return, the Inquisition that believes in the Light of Purification, the Initial Sect that believes in the Mentor of the End, the Scourge Mission that believes in the Apocalypse Girl, and the Garden of Grass that believes in the Emerald Hermit."

Alice didn't feel anything when she heard the name. After all, in various games, novels, and even movies, there were many forces with longer, more difficult to pronounce, and more fashionable names. As a talented player, she had been through many battles and had seen a lot.

She was now more concerned about another question: "So, this sect is united with the seven major orthodox churches, is it very powerful?"

Hearing this, Metien looked at her in surprise, as if wondering why she would ask such a question that challenged the lower limit of human intelligence: "Of course they are very powerful. The belief in the Seven Great Gods is spread all over the Western Continent and has a very wide influence in all fields. Not to mention our Holy Goddess Church, even the Spiritual Prayer Society, which has the oldest historical heritage, cannot compare with them. I think the number of believers in the Seven Great Gods is estimated to be dozens or even hundreds of times that of the Spiritual Prayer Society!"

She tried her best to describe the dominant position of the religious order in the religious world, but Alice only showed a disappointed expression: "That's it?"

Metien, an ignorant little girl from a remote village, is naturally accustomed to using the number of people as a criterion for measuring the strength of a religion. However, Alice, who comes from the Earth world in the 28th century, has long been immune to this concept. Otherwise, some games that claim to be "played by carbon-based creatures throughout the galaxy" would have long since become religious products.

She was more concerned about specific examples, such as, in addition to the "Religious Decree", what else did the united religious orders do to establish their status as the only orthodox one among the countries?
"Hmm." Metien frowned in distress. "I can't really explain it, but it is said that the religious alliance can even secretly manipulate the regime change of a country. Powerful countries including the Kingdom of Great Britta, the White City-State Republic, and the Mindreas Empire cannot go against their will."

"Oh, is this amazing?"

"There is no such position as the Pope in the Church Union." Metien said weakly, "There are only saints who walk on earth on behalf of the gods and spread the gospel given by the Lord. They form the United Council and are responsible for different affairs inside and outside the Church Union. The clergy affiliated with the Church Union can express their opinions in the decisions of the saints through voting."

She immediately became excited, not caring about the alliance she had formed with Metien. She grabbed the broom in her hand and waved it towards the sky. In the pink-haired girl's frightened eyes, as if she was looking at a mental patient, she shouted righteously: "The Orthodox Church is tyrannical and unjust! It ignores faith and goes against human ethics! It stirs up various countries and implements laws! God will not tolerate it, and it is difficult to bully people below! Metien, as citizens of Greater Brittany, how can we sit back and watch these insects endanger national peace? Why not rise up and fight against them! After summoning 300,000 volunteers to defend the king, we will rush into... uh, rush into the headquarters of the united church and seize the throne of the dog pope! The pope takes turns to sit, and this year it is the turn of our followers of the Holy Goddess Church to be the pope!"

"No wonder the measures of the Religious Decree are so tough." The girl was shocked: "Churches that violate the decree will be closed, and even the people will be arrested. Isn't this a collusion between secular power and religious power to exclude dissidents and achieve the goal of monopolizing faith? It's just that their methods are too rough, and they will definitely cause a fierce backlash..."

At this point, the enemy-detecting radar in Alice's mind suddenly reacted, and a hair on her head, probably because she didn't comb her hair carefully this morning, suddenly stood up: a mysterious and powerful organization that cooperates with various countries and can directly influence the situation on the mainland; a decree with a clear purpose, brutal means, and easy to cause controversy; a pair of siblings who are affected by the decree, suffer innocently, and have completely opposite attitudes; and an alien with a mysterious origin who suddenly breaks into their lives... If this wasn't the main storyline of the game, I would twist your head off!

Alice had never heard of the White City Republic and the Great Empire of Mindreas, but she knew the prototype of the Great Brittany Kingdom very well. In the 19th century, the British Empire was not invincible, but at least it could be said to be invincible. However, the United Church could manipulate the regime change within the empire at will. Isn't this much better than those Victorian rubbish who only know how to sell indulgences?

Bullshit!

You are not a believer of the goddess at all!
Moreover.

"Really? It sounds fair, but." Alice raised her eyebrows and glared, "Based on my many years of gaming experience, a system that seems fair and just like this must have some shady dealings behind it! Maybe the voting was just a formality, and the result has already been decided by the saints. It's not as good as you think!"

This immediately surprised his friends.

If the villain is fair and just, can he still be called a villain? I can't be the villain, right?
Alice came to a conclusion with a simple dualistic mindset, but Metien shook his head: "That's not the case. In meetings on various major issues, whether it's proposals, voting or final decisions, the church union has always insisted on adopting an open and transparent process. Sometimes, in order to avoid suspicion, they even exchange personnel and supervise each other's voting and counting processes. It's not as dark as you think."

She refuted Alice's words, leaving her speechless for a moment, and then she became suspicious. She looked at the pink-haired girl's face with a suspicious look, until she took two steps back in fear, and then she asked: "Don't you hate the Religious Decree? Why do you keep speaking for the people of the united sect?"

Metien corrected her: "I do hate the Religious Decree, but that doesn't mean I hate the people of the United Church." "What does that mean?" Alice was confused. The Religious Decree was promoted by the United Church in order to monopolize faith. Can this also be justly cut? Are you a Holy Separator?
Metien knew that her attitude was incomprehensible to others, but she would not change her mind because of others' misunderstanding. She just explained softly: "The goddess taught us not to be prejudiced. Although the United Church did something wrong in the matter of the Religious Decree, they also did a lot of things that were beneficial to society and the people."

Without waiting for Alice to ask, she listed them in detail: "For example, the Prayer Society for the Dead established poorhouses, welfare homes and orphanages to help the poor people. At the same time, it built many public cemeteries, collected the bodies of the innocent dead and buried them for free, and provided cremation services to civilians at a very low price; the original sect was committed to promoting compulsory education, established public schools and libraries with low tuition fees, and set up a scholarship fund for poor students; the natural disaster mission was able to predict disasters, issue warnings in advance, remind local residents to take shelter, and actively go to the disaster-stricken areas to treat the victims after the disaster, and the assistance was often more timely than that of government departments... People are willing to accept the faith of the seven gods, not because of what they promised, but because of what they actually did. By the way, Sister Alice, do you know my dream?"

Alice was listening intently, and her preconceived impression changed slightly. Suddenly, she heard Metien's question. She had no idea what the answer was, so she shook her head immediately.

The pink-haired girl smiled and told her, "I want to pass the pharmacist qualification certification exam, and then become a volunteer for the Red Cross to help those great Doctors Without Borders. Because I am not a regular medical graduate, I can only do this much, but I have been working hard and never give up. The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders were both established by the Herb Garden. They are committed to providing assistance to any patient in need, planting and selling medicinal materials to civilians at low prices, establishing church hospitals and public hospitals, and regularly providing free clinics for patients who cannot afford the consultation fees... Do you think these things are right?"

When she said these words, her voice was very soft and thin, but her eyes were like the stars in the sky, shining brightly.

Alice was a little surprised and shocked, and she was speechless. Perhaps it was because of the various public welfare undertakings of the church, or because of Metien's ordinary yet great dream, or perhaps it was both. She didn't speak, but pursed her lips and nodded slightly, indicating that this was correct, and it was indisputably correct.

"So, we can't deny the right things for the wrong things." Metien put his hands behind his back, a happy smile on his face: "The Religious Decree is not right, so I will definitely oppose it and oppose the closure of my and Ling's church; however, the various public welfare undertakings united by the church are right, so I will always support them, just like I have always wanted to be a real Doctor Without Borders!"

At this moment, the winter sun shone in obliquely from the stained glass windows on the wall, sprinkling on the little girl and the statue of the goddess behind her, casting a layer of soft glow.

Alice looked at the girl in the light and said with deep emotion: "Metien, you are really amazing."

The little girl probably seldom received such direct praise, her face immediately turned red, and she quickly shook her head modestly: "No, it's not as good as you said, it's just what I think, Ling Ge doesn't care... Oh, by the way, you haven't had breakfast yet, right? I, I'll go to the kitchen to see if there is anything left over from last night, you continue to clean up, if Ling Ge comes back and sees you being lazy here, he will definitely be angry, he is very scary when he gets angry, you know?"

She clenched her fist and made an encouraging gesture to Alice: "Come on, Sister Alice!"

After saying that, she turned around and ran towards the kitchen. Before Alice could say anything to stop her, she saw her back disappearing down the corridor.

"I'm not exaggerating, you're really amazing, Metien."

Alice was still standing there, holding the broom in her hand, staring blankly in the direction where Metien had left, and whispered to herself, "But will things really go that smoothly?"

The world of games is always full of twists and turns and surprises, and is not controlled by its players.

The girl suddenly felt something and looked up, just in time to meet the goddess's gaze hidden under her veil. Under the bright and warm sunlight, the dust and tiny plankton seemed to be patrolling in the golden ocean, and every shadow was clearly visible.

In the bright and quiet chapel, the sunlight and the aroma of oak mixed together to create a warm atmosphere. The pattern of the stained glass window was divided by the light, half of which was sprinkled on the statue of God, and the other half was sprinkled on the girl holding a broom. The fragmented silhouette formed a mysterious image. At this moment, God and mortal looked at each other, His eyes were kind and compassionate, and her eyes were ignorant and confused.

……

In the distance, a girl holding a lamb was surprised and blurted out: "Is it the breath of my mother!?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)