Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

"Lat had mentioned you before, Mr. Hamilton, good morning."

In the thin morning fog, the three people standing in front of Dawn Chapel greeted each other.

Bishop Owen, though appearing of age, spoke energetically. He looked Shard up and down and then lamented with Priest Augustus how the younger generation seemed to have more spirit than theirs had.

Bishop Owen was quite talkative, and he easily drew Shard into the topic of the Holy Prayer Day event they had been discussing.

Each Holy Prayer Day was the busiest time for the Dawn Church, and yet there was always a need to introduce some new elements.

True God Church was not an antiquated organization resistant to progress, as this year in addition to the traditional religious activities, church tours, religious story displays in the church annex, and widespread preaching at Dawn Square, the church planned to create simple promotional materials to distribute to heathens for expanding the influence of the Holy Prayer Day and Dawn Church.

"What promotional material did the church finally choose?"

Shard was curious and asked the two elderly gentlemen this question.

"The kind with the broadest impact, that one would surely not discard but rather cherish greatly," Priest Augustus said, then leaning towards the wall, Bishop Owen, with a smile, handed the item to Shard:

"Mr. Hamilton, then tell us from your perspective, what do you think of this?"

Shard peered over and saw in the bishop's aged palm a silver coin.

"A silver coin?"

He flipped the coin; on one side was the number "1053" and the words "Holy Prayer Day," and on the other side was Mr. Dawn's Holy Emblem. He tapped it lightly twice, quite sure it wasn't pure silver.

An elderly gentleman walked out from the nearby church and greeted Bishop Owen while curiously looking at Shard. From Bishop Owen's response, it was clear this gentleman held the title of Viscount.

Priest Augustus then explained to Shard:

"It's not pure silver, the center part of the coin contains some alloy, it's just a commemorative coin. In terms of market price, it could be exchanged for approximately 4 shillings and 7 pence.

But the cost isn't particularly high, we collaborated with the Church of Creation, they sold us special metals at a low price, which covered a part of the costs, those alloys are offcuts, originally commissioned by the Draleon Kingdom for use in... ahem, I can't say more."

Priest Augustus spoke with a somewhat self-satisfied tone:

"We prepared 20,000 coins, and on the day of Holy Prayer Day, they will be distributed around Dawn Square together with promotional pamphlets. This doesn't violate Draleon's coinage policy, it can only be considered a commemorative coin. Detective, how do you find this idea?"

"This idea is quite good."

The Outlander praised the notion, then observed around the edge of the coin where densely packed script letters read:

"Illuminate the shadows, for shadows follow the dawn."

This phrase is often used as either the opening or closing line in the prayers of followers of the True God, Mr. Dawn.

This act, equivalent to handing out money directly, was indeed the most powerful means of publicity. Twenty thousand coins, the cost not exceeding eight thousand pounds—such an amount meant little to the financially strong True God Church.

He had thought he might be able to offer some good ideas to assist Priest Augustus, but no idea compared to directly handing out money. Especially since the Kingdom wasn't planning to pursue any issues regarding the right of coinage.

"However, we still need to do good preliminary publicity work, making it as widely known as possible what will be done that day. Also, we must be prepared for when too many people show up and all 20,000 coins are distributed, causing distressed newcomers.

I would suggest distributing them in time segments, like five thousand in the morning, another five thousand at ten a.m., five thousand at three p.m., and five thousand at six p.m. This ensures that people from each time slot have a chance," Shard said while examining the details of the coin.

Priest Augustus looked at him unexpectedly:

"That makes a lot of sense; we were actually prepared, in case the number of attendees exceeded expectations, to simply hand out one shilling coins."

The church had more funds than Shard anticipated.

"But people must realize, the grace of God is not limitless. Generous giving doesn't leave a deep impression, while conditional gifts make people understand God's strictness and kindness," Shard summarized, well-acquainted with this "limited edition gift" concept from his homeland.

Even Bishop Owen looked at Shard surprisingly, then waved goodbye to the Viscount, very pleased with Shard's ideas and opinions, and jovially asked:

"Mr. Hamilton, it's not common to meet a young man with such thoughts. Speaking of which, have you studied theology?"

The Bishop inquired.

"No, I have a very low level of education," he said, then glanced at Priest Augustus, hoping the priest would dismiss the topic. He wasn't the original Shard, and any such inquiries could potentially lead to problems.

"Mr. Hamilton's background isn't very prominent, but I always believe that a humble background shows the true value of one's efforts," Priest Augustus commented.

Priest Augustus tried to divert the conversation and seeing the bishop wanted to ask Shard more questions, he took the initiative to question Shard first:

"However, Hamilton Detective, is indeed a young man full of ideas, not only just the words from before, but he often raises some interesting questions. Even without studying theology, he still enjoys pondering about life and the world. Oh, poor young man, if he had the money to attend an Advanced Academy, he might become a university student."

"Mr. Hamilton, what kind of questions have you considered?"

Bishop Owen was impressed by Shard and now, spurred by Priest Augustus's words, he asked Shard with a smile.

Priest Augustus still wanted to ease the situation, but Shard thought for a moment and shook his head slightly at the priest. Not all questions needed to be avoided; he was actually quite interested in discussing issues with theologians from a world where a real deity exists;

Thus, he made a thoughtful expression and then tilted his head back slightly as if looking towards the sky:

"Standing in this world, there are always many thoughts. For instance, I once pondered whether our world has a name."

"Oh? That's an interesting question. Why would you think that?"

Bishop Owen asked with a furrowed brow, probing further.

At this moment, the three of them were still standing at the entrance of the church, with the grand church doors right beside them. The morning mist made this dawn appear somewhat gloomy. People continually passed by, but due to Shard's question, all three men focused their attention on the ensuing conversation:

"Bishop Owen, Priest Augustus, look, since cities have names, and countries have names, even in contrast to the New World, we call this the Old Continent. So, does our world have a name?"

What Shard meant by a name wasn't just calling it a 'physical world,' but rather a broader name for our world.

"As far as I know, our world doesn't have a name; it's usually just called 'the world'..."

The Old Bishop nodded, and Priest Augustus agreed:

"Whether it's religious scriptures or mythological stories, none have named this world. It's interesting, Detective, what's the purpose of this question?"

Shard carefully chose his words, trying to make his ideas as clear as possible. He had thought about these things many times since coming here:

"You see, only when people realize there are two cities do they name their own city; fifty years ago, the great geographical discovery of the New World led us to call our continent the Old Continent. Hence, whether our world has names like 'Azeroth' or 'Ionia' also concerns whether people are aware of other worlds existing...

If the world has no name, it means that, at least in the current understanding of deities and humans, the world is unique."

He hoped he could clearly express what he meant, but he felt quite regretful speaking to this point. Realizing that this world immersed in the Steam Age didn't have a name also meant that finding a way back home through the worldview of this world might be very difficult.

"This... is really interesting; few people are able to contemplate the relationship between man, deity, and the world from such a high perspective."

Bishop Owen took a long while to respond, and the old man looked at Shard differently now. For an outsider, pondering this was normal, but for those native to this world, it was almost a thought beyond this world:

"A wonderful line of thought, filled with a theological significance!"

Bishop Owen hesitated for a moment, seeing that Priest Augustus was still pondering, then asked amiably:

"Mr. Hamilton, perhaps you could really study theology... By the way, which deity do you believe in?"

"Faith? I..."

He was surprised by the question and asked himself inwardly:

"What do I believe?"

[Why ask me this?]

The Outlander had never considered such matters before, and to claim right now that he was a non-believer was definitely not an option. Among the five options in the True God Church, Mr. Dawn was immediately ruled out, as such a lie would easily be exposed by the bishop present, and among the remaining four options, it seemed each could work.

He signaled to Priest Augustus with his eyes, but it appeared the latter also had no solution. So, he had to steel himself and said:

"I should probably be considered a Shallow Believer of the Lady of Creation, I really appreciate the remarkable contributions of the Church of Creation to Steam Machinery in recent years."

"A Shallow Believer, eh? Have you considered converting to our Lord, Mr. Dawn?"

Bishop Owen asked again, such a question was insulting for devout believers, but for Shallow Believers it didn't matter much.

"For the time being... perhaps... I'll need to think about it."

His tone carried uncertainty.

"That is truly regrettable, but Mr. Hamilton, you can learn more about our faith from Priest Augustus; you might be interested, and a fine young man like you could definitely help with the development of the church... Not to speak any further, it's certainly better than a non-believer who would have to fill the Wall of the Unbelievers after death."
Stay tuned to empire

Bishop Owen expressed his regret.