novelSusiti Chapter 160 Alliances in Defense of Faith
Chapter 160 Alliances in Defense of Faith
At dawn the next day, as the first rays of sunlight pierced the morning mist and gilded the cliffs of the Athos Peninsula, Constantine stepped out of the simple stone house.
Callinicus came alone. He only said one thing: "A lion coming down the mountain needs no guide."
Constantine understood that this new ally would, in his own way, sound the horn of war on this sacred land.
On the way back to Carriez, the atmosphere was completely different from when they arrived. The eyes that had been hidden in the mountains and forests had disappeared, replaced by an open and undisguised spying. At the entrance of each monastery, monks stood watching them from afar with complex expressions.
Overnight, this rugged mountain road transformed into a river flowing with information.
As they approached Daphne Pier, Alexandros approached Constantine, his voice barely audible, almost blending into the sea breeze.
"Your Highness, intelligence confirms. Late last night, a monk belonging to the Iviron Monastery left the peninsula under the pretext of 'purchasing supplies,' heading towards the mainland in a speedboat."
Constantine did not stop.
"understood."
He simply uttered three words calmly. The leak was inevitable. From the very beginning, he hadn't expected to keep it from anyone. This war, from the moment he set foot on the holy mountain, had no secrets whatsoever.
What he wanted was an open war.
As the yacht "Seagull" sailed away from the Athos Peninsula and disappeared into the sea and sky, the monk who had rushed back to the mainland overnight also knocked on the back door of the residence of Bishop Yermanos of Patras in Athens.
The residence of the Bishop of Yermanos and the stone house of Callinicus were two different worlds.
Here, there are no cold stone walls or howling sea winds, only velvet curtains imported from France, walnut furniture custom-made in Italy, and Persian carpets purchased at high prices from Smyrna merchants. The air is filled not with cooking fumes and dampness, but with the rich aroma of Cuban cigars and the fragrance of fine black tea.
Bishop Yermanos himself was the complete opposite of Callinicus. He was obese, with a large purple-gold ring on his pale finger that shone brightly in the candlelight with every movement. He had just finished a sumptuous afternoon tea and was slowly wiping his greasy mouth with a snow-white napkin.
After listening to the report from the secret agent, a cold glint flashed in his small eyes, a glint that was completely out of character for him.
"Special Inspector of Royal Church Property and Ethics... Heh."
His fat fingers gently stroked the pure gold cross on his chest, but his face showed no piety, only a cunning and cold look.
"What arrogance! What a Constantine!"
He remained completely calm and immediately instructed his steward to prepare a carriage and send out several cryptic invitations.
An hour later, Yermanos's study was full of people.
They were among the most powerful bishops in the Holy Council of the Greek Church, and also among the former oligarchic members of the Athenian Parliament most deeply intertwined with the Church's land and financial interests.
These people formed the most solid foundation of the old order.
Yermanos made no mention of drugs or the St. George's Monastery. He knew those things were beneath him and wouldn't unite people.
He simply placed the secret report on the table and, in a deeply sorrowful tone, as if his heart were bleeding, slowly began to speak:
"Ladies and gentlemen, our esteemed Crown Prince has concluded his 'pilgrimage'."
He looked around at the crowd, and everyone's face was filled with questions.
"He brought back a 'saint' for us from the Holy Mountain," Yermanos said with heavy sarcasm. "Callinikos, the 'Lion of the Holy Mountain' who had been ostracized by the mainstream sects for twenty years."
The name Callinicus caused the bishops present to frown. They were familiar with the name, but also utterly disgusted by it.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has bestowed upon him an unprecedented title," Yermanos emphasized, "'Special Inspector of Royal Church Property and Ethics'! A monster who can bypass our Holy Council, bypass all dioceses, and report directly to him!"
The air in the study seemed to freeze instantly.
"Gentlemen, do you really think the Crown Prince is going to purify some religious atmosphere?" Yermanos stood up, his obese body casting a huge shadow in the study.
"Who is that Callinicus? A madman who only incites the poor and hates the wealthy! An ascetic who believes that every breath we take is a sin!"
"What does the Crown Prince want to do with this mad dog? He wants to investigate every inch of land and every 'donation' under the church's name! He wants to turn the wealth that we have accumulated over hundreds of years, which belongs to God, into his so-called 'education fund' and 'industrial investment'!"
His voice suddenly rose in pitch, like an alarm bell from a church dome.
"This is the most shameless and blatant robbery of God's property!"
These words were like a key, precisely unlocking the deepest fears in the hearts of everyone present.
The bishops witnessed their properties being confiscated and their authority being trampled underfoot by a madman.
The oligarchic politicians saw further ahead; they saw that Constantine was using this to open a loophole, a knife called "investigation," which could be aimed at the church today and at their family's banks and shipping companies tomorrow!
Fear is the best adhesive.
A white-haired bishop, his voice trembling, exclaimed, "This...this is a betrayal of the faith! We must stop him!"
"That's right!" a member of parliament slammed his fist on the table. "We absolutely cannot let a mere young punk ruin the foundations of Greece!"
This was exactly the effect Yermanos wanted. He raised his hand, quelling the commotion among the crowd.
"A head-on confrontation would be foolish. We can't attack the Crown Prince directly." He smiled coldly, "But we can turn his men into mad dogs that everyone wants to beat."
"Starting tomorrow," he said, looking at an oligarch who owned several newspapers, "let our newspapers tell the citizens of Athens that there are 'external forces' attempting to use certain 'radicals' to interfere in the sacred internal affairs of the Church, with the aim of disrupting the stability and harmony of the kingdom."
"We won't mention the Crown Prince's name; we'll only paint a picture of an impending, turbulent, and dangerous future. Let the people fear and speculate."
"We must let everyone know that the lion that came down from the holy mountain brought not good news, but disaster."
An invisible net, woven from public opinion, quietly unfolded in the Athens night.
Its target was not the lion that was about to descend the mountain.
Rather, it was the prince who personally released the lion.