《Holy Empire: Rise of the False Prophet》 Mandals Grace ¡°In Mandal¡¯s light, we heal. In healing, we are reborn!¡± Said the The Divine Prophet and finished his sermon on the divine altar. It was a rare thing to see the Prophet personally speaking like this as usually it¡¯s the Bishop who handles the weekly service at the temple. Ethan, the Divine Prophet, stood adorned in white and gold robes, his deep blue eyes reflecting the temple¡¯s flickering candlelight. At the center of his chest, the symbol of Mandal¡ªa silver sun with an open eye¡ªdrew gazes like a silent judge, watching all who dared to meet it. Ethan looked into the crowd from the altar, he could see all the pious believers looking at him with a hint of reverence in their eyes, and also some people closing their eyes with their hands joined, probably praying to alleviate any of their problems. He walked down from his stage and walked in the middle of both rows to head to the exit, all the people surrounding him ¡°Holy Prophet, thank you for such a beautiful ceremony, we literally felt his grace Mandal¡¯s presence while you were speaking¡± ¡°Yes, Yes Holy one, we really feel cleansed and refreshed after your talk¡± Said most of the people around Ethan, so he stopped and looked at the people with a kind smile and said to them ¡°You have to remember that our lord Mandal is always with everyone, especially those suffering and trying to overcome, you just have to look out for him, understand his teaching and learn that you are not alone in this struggle. We are with you, and I am with you¡± All the people around him nodded, some with tears in their eyes thinking about how much the temple has helped them with their struggles. Ethan nodded with a reassuring smile and As Ethan moved through the crowd, a single man stood near the back, arms crossed. Unlike the others, he did not bow. His gaze was sharp¡ªquestioning. Ethan met his eyes for a brief moment, then smiled. The man frowned and turned away. Outside the temple door, he met Bishop Robert, who was a commoner before this calling, he was drowning himself with alcohol before this due to his whole family being murdered by a serial killer who was rampant in this part around 2 years ago. He was saved by Ethan personally and found his calling spreading the teachings of the temple of Mandal which helped him overcome his difficulties The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Ethan said smiling ¡°Bishop Robert, your teachings are really well received by the masses, everyone¡¯s praising your work at the temple¡± Robert said while beaming with pride and happiness ¡°No way holy one, I am far from acceptable compared to you, like the people said, even I could feel the holy energy during your talk and even now¡± Ethan chuckled, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, Robert¡ªthere are no ¡®holy ones,¡¯ only those who understand Mandal¡¯s will. You are one of them.¡± ¡°No way Prophet! I am but a humble servant¡± Ethan knew he couldn¡¯t say much on this, so he just switched the topic ¡°Anyway Robert, how¡¯s the preparation for the meal after the ceremony? Is everything ready for the believers? Please let me know if there¡¯s a shortage of anything, feeding the people is more important¡± Robert replied ¡°No worries at all prophet, we make sure that every week we prepare enough food for all the people visiting our temple¡± Ethan nodded and went about his way to inspect the grounds. He could see all the believers either working around the temple to take care of it or preparing food for the feast after the weekly sermon. It was one of the most important aspects of this temple compared to even the temples of other religions found in the big cities, it was also one of the important reasons why the temple could expand to this level in just about 1.5 years of its establishment. He finished his short walk and headed towards the center of the town. The town is called Ravenspire, A mid-sized town situated in a valley, surrounded by rugged hills and dense forests. The main source of income for the people in this town is farming and a copper mine situated a few miles away from town. But recently it¡¯s said that the copper mine is being depleted and many people are losing their jobs one after another adding a layer of unrest to the town. Ethan walked along the road surrounded by golden wheat on either side. The temple owns all of these lands, it was leased to their believers on a 50-50 contract. Far more reasonable than the other places where the best deal was 80-20 split. He looked at a store set up in town, his destination¡ª Mandal¡¯s Infirmary. He was immersed in the title for a while and murmured to himself ¡°They come here broken, and they leave devoted.¡± The Prophet鈥檚 Visit Ethan entered the infirmary and he was hit by a strong smell of disinfectants, he happened to see a group of people leaving the infirmary while talking to each other ¡°I¡¯m so glad there is such a place as Mandal¡¯s Infirmary in our town, can you believe we used to pay 50 coppers to other doctors before to get the medicine this place provides for free?¡± ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ve heard the temple even gives out free lunch every weekend as well!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been telling you guys to visit the temple with my family when you can, Mandal is a truly kind god! And when you go to pray you will truly feel it¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see, maybe I¡¯ll visit next time¡± Ethan smiled when listening to their conversation and went through the curtain to meet the doctors present. There was a row of beds on either side which were filled with people, Ethan knew most of the people were suffering from lungs related issues as they were mining deep in the copper mines without proper precautions, as is the standard with noble houses running the show, Ethan saw the admin of the infirmary routinely checking in on his patients ¡°Foster, I see you¡¯re hard at work like always, you have to relax from time to time you know¡± Foster looked at Ethan and smiled ¡°Ethan, how have you been, don¡¯t worry about me I¡¯m fine¡± Ethan knew that most of the senior doctors here didn¡¯t believe in his cause or his god, but they were good people who genuinely wanted to do good and help others which was one of the most deadly weaknesses he knew he could exploit, that¡¯s also why all the nurses in the infirmary who were firm believers in Mandal would often interact with the patients and pray for them and Guide them in the right direction. Ethen said ¡°Well Foster, I will be in the upstairs room so I won¡¯t disturb you¡± Foster just nodded and got back to his work. Ethan went up the stairs and entered a room which was an office room with a desk and chair against the window facing the door, he closed the door behind him and picked a random book from the self on his right and said into the void ¡°Looks like they can¡¯t sit still anymore, have you confirmed who it was?¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Ethan was referring to the person in the temple who was there to clearly investigate the place, he knew there were people coming to investigate the place but today he felt a faint murderous intent from that person, clearly not an ordinary spy A voice came from near the big window ¡°Yes master, I followed him after he left and looks like he¡¯s related to one of the branches of the Flame Atronach Temple¡± Ethan didn¡¯t even look up from his book and just nodded and said ¡°Looks like it¡¯s time to move on to phase 2 of the plan¡± At the same time there was a knock on the door followed by a voice ¡°Sir prophet, there is an urgent request from the town lord mansion, they said that they¡¯re in need of holy healer and they specifically asked for you¡± Ethan put down his book, smiled to himself and pondered ¡®How can a request be urgent?¡¯ He knew implicitly what it meant so he directly left the room and said to the nurse with a charming smile ¡°Well, lord Mandal won¡¯t forgive me if I don¡¯t help someone in need, so let¡¯s go¡± When he left the infirmary there was already a carriage waiting for him sent by the town lord himself, so he directly boarded the carriage After a few minutes in the carriage Ethan could see the gates to a big mansion, he wasn¡¯t particularly impressed by the size or the grandeur so he was stable as always, when the carriage came to a halt at the main door, he got off and was immediately greeted by the town lord himself who anxiously told Ethan ¡°Prophet, please! My daughter¡ªshe¡¯s burning up, laughing, screaming about demons in her mind.¡± Ethan immediately knew the condition was very bad and directly told the chief ¡°Lord Marin, don¡¯t worry, please tell me who you¡¯re talking about and tell me all about it on the way!¡± Martin knew he was acting impulsively so he started leading Ethan inside while talking ¡°Well, it started around 3 months ago, everything was as usual, but my daughter got a bad fever which wasn¡¯t that alarming, but even after taking the relative medicines she didn¡¯t get any better! And after a few days of this she started laughing wildly while talking to herself about hallucinations, we tried calling the best of the doctors to treat her but she only got worse. After 2 months of this she started crying in the middle of the night, screaming about demons invading her mind and torturing her. We had to tie her hands to the bed frame to make sure she didn¡¯t hurt herself. You are our last hope in this endeavor¡± A muffled sob echoed from behind the heavy door. The wood was scratched and splintered, as if clawed by frantic hands. A foul stench¡ªsweat, sickness, something worse¡ªhung in the air. When Ethan finally stepped inside, the girl¡¯s wild, sunken eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, it felt as if something else stared back. ¡°I have an idea of what¡¯s happening, we will discuss about this after I help her¡±