The Western Region of the Kingdom of Allein.
A quiet, peaceful little town.
Even though war had broken out, this place was far from the front lines and continued its peaceful daily life as always.
The sparrows chirped, and the farmers headed out to plow their fields.
The cooks at the restaurants called out loudly to attract customers.
Workers trudged toward their jobs with heavy steps.
The usual WWE—wait, no, just the usual, ordinary events.
It seemed like today would pass as uneventfully and monotonously as yesterday.
Yes, that’s how it seemed.…Until the commotion started in front of the church.
“—Who the hell put this up? They’ve got some nerve.”
“When did this even get here? I swear it wasn’t here last night when I passed by.”
“More importantly… have they lost their mind? I can’t believe someone wrote this and had the guts to post it publicly.”
Erich Leder, a young man wandering the streets with nothing better to do that morning, noticed a crowd gathering at one side of the square.
It wasn’t even market day — so why all the noise?
Had someone found a dead body or something?
Driven by curiosity and a growing sense of intrigue, Erich pushed his way through the crowd, moving closer to the source of the commotion.
After squeezing between shoulders and taking a few more steps forward, the cause of the uproar quickly came into view.
“A… proclamation?”
A large sheet of paper was posted on the front gate of the town’s only church.
It was a striking sight — a broadside filled with dense, elegant writing.
Thanks to his modest literacy, Erich slowly began to read its contents.
And he was utterly shocked.
[115 Theses of Rebuttal]
I, the author of this document, who takes pride in my love for truth and fervent faith, seek to make the following claims.
The current state of the Goddess Church is one of complete decay.
To call them religious leaders is an insult to the very word — so deep is their corruption and moral degradation.
The following articles serve as evidence for this proposition and outline the logic for detailed criticism.
A bold and shocking preface, directly challenging the authority of the church.
Erich felt dizzy just reading this criticism of an institution he’d been taught was pure and righteous his entire life — and the content that followed only escalated things even further.
[The claim that the soul escapes purgatory the moment a coin clinks in the offering box is a human doctrine, not the will of the Goddess. Never once has the Goddess said that salvation in the afterlife can be bought with the wealth of this world.However, it is undeniable that when money makes a sound in the offering box, the profits and greed of the clergy increase.]
[For a priest to spend more time preaching about indulgences than the word of God is to commit a betrayal of that very word.To neglect the duty of guiding believers in favor of promoting scraps of paper whose effects are unproven — what a contradiction this is. Can this truly be called an act of genuine faith?]
The document completely denied the theological value of indulgences — something the church had been selling steadily for decades, even centuries.
The idea that the gravity of sin was judged by the divine and not determined by the wealth one offered…For people who had attended church their entire lives and been conditioned — almost brainwashed — into these beliefs, it was a shattering revelation.
Was this the kind of shock a child would feel when they learned Santa Claus wasn’t real?
No — the people here had it far worse.
At least children lose nothing but an illusion.
These people had been exploited, their entire lives spent offering wealth in exchange for a salvation that was never for sale.
“So… it was all meaningless nonsense?”
They had bought indulgences with hefty sums — to atone for their parents’ sins, their grandfather’s sins, and even the sins of children not yet born.
Every time they committed even the smallest mistake, they feared they’d be barred from heaven — and so they sought God’s mercy with money.
If they added up everything their family had spent over generations, it was probably enough to buy an entire commercial building in cash, without a loan.
And now they were being told it was all meaningless.
No matter how much money they’d poured into the church, it had no bearing on whether their souls went to heaven or hell.
“Lies.”
A small, trembling voice whispered from somewhere in the crowd.
Erich had a feeling he knew exactly what that person was feeling — because he was feeling the same thing.
But even if they wanted to deny it, the relentless onslaught of accusations that followed left no room for rebuttal.
[If you doubt the truth of these words, visit your nearest church. Search the priest’s chambers.You will surely find chests heavy with gold and silver, deeds to lands, and titles to luxurious estates overflowing within.]
[It is a well-known fact that clergy members rank among the wealthiest people in any nation. If you doubt this, just examine the fabric of the robes worn by the bishops.]
[I dare say they are made only from the finest cloth and the most exquisite leather.]
The author provided evidence anyone could easily confirm in reality — the kind of argument only someone utterly confident in their claims would make.
On the flip side, it also implied just how widespread and obvious the church’s corruption was — so much so that it needed no complex proof to persuade people.
Come to think of it, Erich recalled something.
The priest overseeing this very town had recently acquired new robes.
Their texture was soft, and they shimmered with a subtle sheen — undeniably luxurious.
[If even a single word of this document is false, I solemnly swear to accept divine punishment.But if it is not, then that will be proof that the Goddess herself has affirmed my righteousness.In the name of our Lord, the great Goddess — Amen.]
Divine punishment.
In a world where the existence of the divine was a tangible reality and oracles were occasionally delivered, those words carried a far more severe weight.
As Erich finished reading the document, he stood there in stunned silence — and so did everyone else who had truly grasped its contents.
Time passed — how much, he wasn’t sure — before finally, the town’s priest appeared.
“W-What are you all doing here! Get back to your homes! Go tend to your work!”
The priest’s voice trembled as he tried to assert control.
“Forget this disgraceful nonsense! Pay it no mind! It’s nothing but the ramblings of a heretic!”
He’d arrived with a squad of guards, forcibly dispersing the crowd.
As Erich was pushed away, half against his will, a thought crossed his mind.
If they’re this desperate to shut it down… maybe there’s more truth to that rebuttal than they’d like to admit.
*****
“Damn it — who the hell did this?! Any suspects?”
“No idea, sir. They must’ve put it up in the dead of night. How are we supposed to catch them?”
“We can’t just let this slide! If we drop the investigation, the church’s authority will crumble!”
The church’s response to the widespread, continent-spanning wave of these proclamations was simple: a brutal crackdown.
They collected the posted documents wherever they appeared, burned the broadsides and pamphlets, and beat down anyone foolish enough to spread their contents.
In a way, it was their standard method — after all, the church had always dealt with heresy through sheer force.
At first, the church thought this was just a larger-scale disturbance than usual — one they could handle with their usual heavy-handed tactics.
“Damn it, things are already hard enough — now we’ve got these bastards stirring up trouble too?”
“Why are they freaking out so much? It’s just a statement criticizing them. Must’ve hit a nerve if they’re this desperate.”
“Honestly, it’s not even wrong! Those so-called ‘humble’ clergy live better than our own lord!”
“.…”
Unfortunately for the church, this time, they had badly miscalculated.
The continent was already in chaos — three of its most powerful nations were locked in a massive war.
Public sentiment was unstable, the political climate was a mess.
Pro-war and pro-peace factions clashed, and accusations of treason and patriotism were thrown around like daggers.
In that kind of environment, trying to enforce harsh control?
It was like spraying gasoline on an already burning house.
Instead of quelling unrest, they only fanned the flames of discontent.
“Let’s demand a financial audit! Where the hell has all our offering money gone, huh? How come these so-called ‘humble’ priests live like kings?!”
“Down with corruption! End the church’s greed! Let’s spill their blood and reclaim the wealth they stole from us!”
What drew the public’s attention most of all was the Goddess’s silence amid this unfolding crisis.
No oracles, no divine punishment — nothing.
Didn’t that mean the rebuttal was right?
Words people wouldn’t have dared to speak aloud before were now spreading openly.
For the first time, the church’s authority was crumbling, and the morality of every clergyman was under suspicion.
The corruption that had long been an open secret was finally dragged into the light and became the center of public debate.
Cultists and dissidents, emboldened by the unrest, began stirring chaos wherever they could.
“S-Should we stop this? But… can we even suppress it?”
“Even the army has soldiers who sympathize with this movement. If we send them in to quell the riots, it could backfire…”
The leaders of each nation were at a loss.
If they did nothing, the war effort would fall apart.
But if they tried to crush the uprising, they had no sure way to succeed.
Paralyzed by indecision, they wasted precious time.
“…Hmm. This could be quite useful.”
And of course — the world was never short on would-be rebels eager to seize an opportunity like this.