Only God
Chapter 380 - 336 Theology

Chapter 380: Chapter 336 Theology

As the highest academic institution of the entire Empire, Thousand Cities Academy boasted five thousand students from all over, hailing from different beliefs and directly run provinces of the Empire as well as affiliated kingdoms—hence the colloquial name "Thousand Cities" was not derived without reason.

The academy allowed students to choose their own subjects, except for some subjects that required degrees from other disciplines as a prerequisite, allowing them great autonomy in their course selection. To simplify things, Anos enrolled Mira in the same subjects as himself: Ancient Language Studies, Military Science, and Theology.

Mira did not complain about not being able to choose her subjects. On the contrary, she appreciated that Anos had made the decision for her, as otherwise, the nearly twenty subjects on the bulletin board would have certainly overwhelmed her.

Once she entered the academy, Mira attended classes early every day in her academic robes, always among the first batch of students to arrive. Everything in the mortal world, no matter how mundane, was fascinating to Mira. She eagerly absorbed what seemed dry and uninteresting to others, even if it was a lecture on Ancient Language.

Of course, except for Theology.

Thousand Cities Academy was renowned for all its subjects throughout the Empire and the world, especially Theology. A devout Emperor once likened the academy’s Theology to the pearl of pearls, bestowing Divinity Scholars with higher status, thus making Theology nearly a mandatory elective under the motivation of fame and profit. Many high-profile officials and nobles prided themselves on having studied towards a Divinity Bachelor’s degree.

For Mira, however, the Theology taught in these classes was absurd.

Both professors and students discussed a version of theology that was completely at odds with what she knew from heaven.

Taking the "Day of Rebirth" three thousand years ago, according to Orthodox Theology in the Empire, Rebirth first descended upon Danschel and spread from there to the entire world. Moreover, people’s rebirth did not occur at the same time: the righteous first and the wicked later, the good before the bad, the old before the young, men before women...

Each step here had its own topic, and each topic had an ocean of papers associated with it.

Mira understood the plethora of topics and papers, yet the foundation they were all based upon was wrong.

This realization was tremendously shocking to the child from heaven.

Apart from the theology related to Rebirth Day, many other theological notions were similar, such as Solamus’s thousand-year journey being solely the wish of God, or that angels were merely tools of God...

Mira clearly saw these fallacies and knew exactly where they erred, but she found it nearly impossible to correct them; people were more inclined to believe the doctrines proclaimed by the Imperial Shepherd and the Emperor, and the divinity professors who had spent decades immersed in theology.

"I’m always troubled."

Back at the mansion, Mira spoke to Anos.

"Do you mean to say what you know is the truth, and what they say are lies?"

The Princess sighed, setting down her wine glass,

"No matter how you put it, it’s a bit..."

"Alright, I know, nobody would believe me."

Mira deflated, taking a gulp of her wine.

The wine of this era didn’t really taste much like what one would expect; it wasn’t very strong, and even a three-year-old could drink several cups. It could be said that from nobles to common folk, wine was the daily drink, often sweetened with honey or "sapa," the latter being a concentrated syrup made from boiled unfermented grape juice. It was said that boiling it in lead pots made it sweeter.

However, unfortunately, Danschel did not have many lead mines, so lead wasn’t widespread throughout the Empire. Plus, with herbalists discovering lead’s harmful effects on the human body, very few people used lead pots to make sapa.

"There’s nothing in Theology that pleases you?"

Anos asked after Mira swallowed her wine.

"Well, there are some topics, like whether angels were mere illusions created by God or beings with substance, or that time should not be narrated, or whether everything around us is a fabrication of God..."

Mira listed many examples all at once. It seemed that even though she disliked the fallacies treated as truths by professors, she still listened attentively to each lecture.

"Theology... truly a vast subject...

Sometimes I wonder,

why hasn’t God thought about these many things?"

Mira reflected aloud.

And then, she added:

"Perhaps God has thought about them; we just don’t know."

The Princess did not continue the discussion on this topic; she certainly could have spoken at length about theology, but her interest stemmed from social and protocol necessities, not personal interest.

Besides, she had something else she wanted to talk about.

After finishing her wine, Anos cleared her throat and spoke softly,

"Mira, you might have noticed there are different groups, different circles in the academy. They often stick together, and they seem more intimate than other students."

Mira looked at Anos, her eyes twinkling,

"Of course, I’ve seen several."

In these higher educational institutions, professors and students often enjoyed many privileges—one being the freedom to form societies. Within Thousand Cities Academy, there were numerous academically and politically based societies. Some societies were loose, allowing members to come and go freely. Others were more strict, with members required to wear certain badges, armbands, or ribbons around their waists.

"So, would you like to join my poetry society?

You can consider this more, Mira. I don’t mind if you explore other societies.

But, I believe that in the end, you will choose my poetry society."

Anos spoke slowly, noticing the eager light in Mira’s eyes and feeling quite proud, although this was entirely within her expectations.

"What’s your poetry society called?"

"Red Olive Poetry Society."

"Red Olive? Why is it named that?"

"Because the Red Olive was initially funded by the Olive Craftsman Guild, which holds wealth second only to the Imperial City’s Stone Mason Guild, which also has its own society."

In her introduction of these elements to Mira, Anos often interjected little pieces of related knowledge. Whether Mira retained these insights was not something the Princess fretted over much.

"Then I’ll join."

Mira stood up immediately, without a hint of hesitation, clearly showing her deep trust in Anos.

Anos paused, surprised by the child’s decisiveness, and then smiled,

"As the society president, I represent Red Olive in welcoming you, Mira."