No one in the Amid Holy Nation opposed the declaration of the holy war announced by Pope Eirik Malmé.

This was because everyone involved in politics, the military, or the temples had anticipated that a holy war would be declared soon. Even though some commoners and the royals or nobles of subordinate nations, such as the Mirg Shield Nation, harbored bitter feelings about it, none of them dared to openly oppose it.

With the transformation of the empire into a theocratic nation, the words of the Pope of Alda's temple—the ruling authority—had effectively become the words of Alda, the God …