The Secret of Holy Cross Church

Holy Cross Church was designed and built beginning in 1294, only reaching preliminary completion in 1443. The Holy Cross Church seen today was not fully completed until 1863. This Tuscan Gothic church had always been Florence's largest Franciscan church. Inside were monuments and tombs dedicated to many heavyweight figures, such as Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Rossini, and others.

When Bayonetta rode her motorcycle and brought Salomon here in the early morning, a small number of tourists had already arrived at the fountain square before the church. To the left of the main entrance stood a statue of Dante, his brow tightly furrowed and his eyes deeply sunken, as though he were somewhat displeased by the tourists disturbing his peace.

Deep, distant bells suddenly rang from the right side of the church, drawing the waiting tourists' gazes upward.

The ticket cost eight euros and came with an exquisite little booklet. Salomon had obtained one from a tourist.

The front entrance of the church was not open, but Salomon still used magic to unlock the great doors and slipped inside while no one was watching. Bayonetta and Salomon passed through the Gothic portico clad in white marble and the heavy oak doors into the church. They did not look up to admire the exquisite sculptures above the doorway or the Star of David at the very top. To them, that would only have been a waste of time.

As they stepped into the chapel, sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting broad patches of mottled color. Yet the church was not magnificent, and its structure was relatively simple—poor, unadorned. That was a characteristic of the Franciscan Order. The only things that could be called dazzling were the stained-glass windows from the late fourteenth century, but Bayonetta had little interest in these precious artworks. She merely looked around absentmindedly.

She said, "Little one, how are you going to persuade the administrator here to let you examine those documents? Or are you planning to read them in secret? But I don't think you have that much time."

"Just a little trick to control people's hearts," Salomon said. "But we don't know where those documents are stored, and the tourist guide doesn't mark where they are kept. Still, I doubt they're in the sacristy. If they are, that would be far too troublesome."

Following the directions in the tourist guide, Salomon led Bayonetta through the central aisle and the cloisters separated by rows of octagonal columns, circling around the sixteen small chapels arranged along both sides of the church. Those chapels belonged to Florence's famous families, including the Medici Family, and many renowned artists had left frescoes within them.

But Salomon and Bayonetta were not here for sightseeing. They headed straight toward the monastery, where tourists were forbidden to enter. When Salomon encountered the first friar, he cast Charm Person.

That immediately made him and the friar the closest of friends, able to speak about anything.

Along the way, the two began discussing Renaissance frescoes, and in order to let his friends experience the church's accumulated history, the friar disregarded the monastery's rules. He deliberately led them around the other friars and into the small library within the monastery. The documents here were mostly manuscripts by various Renaissance artists. He believed that once his dearest friends had seen these precious manuscripts, they would surely benefit greatly.

Naturally, in terms of artistic cultivation.

"See?" Salomon spread his hands. "What a friendly person! I think even the demons of Hell would be moved by his sincerity! So, Bayonetta, why did you knock him out?"

"I don't like friars," the Witch replied, turning away. After the friar had led them to the library, Bayonetta had simply and cleanly struck the back of his head with the butt of her gun. The lovable friar had collapsed onto the floor without making a sound.

"I hope he won't have too much of a headache when he wakes up." The Arcanist grabbed the friar by the legs and dragged his thoroughly unconscious body behind the bookshelves. "I mean a literal headache. I hope he won't think a demon tempted him. I hope... forget it, whatever. I rather liked him."

"Where did you get such artistic cultivation?" The Witch watched Salomon bustle around, searching through the shelves. "I thought studying magic alone would take up most of your time. Where did you learn all that?"

"Tutoring, Bayonetta." The Arcanist did not turn around. He was using Mage Hand to carefully retrieve those precious manuscripts. "I not only had courses in art appreciation, but painting and sculpture were compulsory courses too, not to mention science classes. The Renaissance was an important period in which humanity broke free from religious ignorance, so it made up a large part of my curriculum."

Among the manuscripts collected by Holy Cross Church were not only notes from many Renaissance artists, but also alchemical research led by the Church.

The Franciscan Order had always been a pioneer of alchemy. The Franciscan friar Roger Bacon was one such figure. At the invitation of Pope Clement IV, he wrote three works on alchemy. These works contained powerful arguments advocating the improvement of knowledge and the strengthening of Christian nations through the study of language, mathematics, natural philosophy, and alchemy.

Friar Bacon believed that human alchemy was not weaker than nature, but stronger. If performed properly, all laboratory products could be so; humanity's imitation of nature could surpass natural objects.

This idea had continued down to the present day and become the foundation of modern chemistry.

The church even possessed manuscripts by friars of the Spiritual Franciscan Order, which surprised Salomon somewhat. Because these Spiritual Franciscans had fallen into a frenzy over revelation, they were fond of prophecy and believed that the Antichrist was about to appear. The Church ordered the arrest of these friars, including Jean de Roquetaillade.

He was arrested in 1344 and spent the rest of his life in prison. Yet many people still visited him, including high-ranking clergy.

During his imprisonment, Roquetaillade wrote many works, including Book of Light. In On the Making of the True Philosopher's Stone, he was the first to propose the concept of "Mass Balance"—that "the weight of the products of a reaction must precisely equal the weight of the initial materials." Salomon guessed that the Franciscan Order of that time had not abandoned the Spiritual Franciscan ideas. They believed the Church needed knowledge to face the Antichrist's attacks, which was why this portion of manuscripts had been kept in the library.

"Holy shit!" Salomon cried out involuntarily as he flipped through the manuscripts.

"What is it, little one?" The Witch, who had been idly resting her long legs atop the table, suddenly leaned over. But Salomon showed no reaction to the Witch's sudden approach. His attention was completely drawn to the manuscript before him.

On the yellowed parchment was a hand-drawn pattern: a circle that looked like a shield, with an eagle on it spreading its wings. Salomon looked further down. The owner of this manuscript... Leonardo da Vinci.

Time to eat.