Slow Expansion

When the gathering ended after two hours, and people left the cabin, every face still bore lingering shock and barely concealed excitement.

"What... exactly did we experience today?"

Even the calmest mages turned to look at the companions who had come with them, shaking their heads in disbelief, their eyes dreamlike.

"I understand. It's all too incredible." The mage beside him nodded as well. "Mage Benjamin... he really is exactly as I imagined. Those bizarre, endlessly strange ideas... I have no idea how he comes up with them. It's like he isn't even from the same world as us."

"Yeah... but starting tomorrow, I'm afraid we'll be busy."

As the first members of the Black Nightmare Society, they had already received Benjamin's most direct instructions.

A strike—not for them to simply walk off their jobs, but for them to stir up the emotions of those around them and create an atmosphere, launching a strike capable of producing widespread impact and shaking the entire Hori Kingdom once again.

Benjamin's meaning was clear. The Black Nightmare Society had only just begun; relying on their thirty-odd people alone would never be enough. They had to create an incident and make a name for themselves, so that more opponents of The Church would come join them. At the same time, a strike was something that could provoke broad reactions throughout society.

—Perhaps it was somewhat ahead of its time, but taxes in the Hori Kingdom were not light, and far too much money truly did flow into The Church. Thus, the common people did indeed have the potential to be stirred up.

The key was how they would go about it...

"There are several Church-supplied workshops in Koester that specialize in printing indulgences for The Church. It would be best if you could stir