The plague vanished in the blink of an eye, just as ferociously as he came. Some of the milder symptoms, including Sofia Valleo, who had been treated the most, gradually recovered after half a month. As a result, John gradually eased the ban, except for some areas where the number of infected people was relatively concentrated, and the system of partial quarantine was still adopted, while other areas where the infection was less severe, began to encourage production.

A plague, no matter how severe, can be devastating to the production and income of a region, and the first thing to do after the plague is gone is to bring the collapsed production of goods back on track.

While John was busy trying to encourage the people to return to production and trade, the monks who were aware of the progress of the epidemic finally began their "work".

As the shadow of the plague faded, the populace of Athens flocked to churches and monasteries in an even more frenzied way to thank the Almighty Lord for not harming them in this catastrophe. But when the commoners knelt before the icons and listened to the sermons of the priests and clergy, they found that this time the protagonist was no longer God, but John Palaiologo, the co-emperor of the empire who issued a total of seventy-four edicts during the plague.

In the soulful narration of the priests, John is completely portrayed as a great saint. As long as it is not a fact that the people see with their own eyes, the pastors will cast a layer of sanctity over it.

For example, when John had just arrived at the port of Piraeus, a pillar of holy light suddenly descended from the overcast sky, reflecting vertically above John's head. This was the symbol of the manifestation of Christ, who was chosen as God's messenger in order for the mortal people to overcome the devil. Such absurd-sounding propaganda, there are other people who stand up to support it. Their descriptions are even more subtle, and what they saw behind John's shadow of the Lord and so on are all the topics they talked about after tea and dinner these days.

Later, all kinds of strange legends about John spread rapidly, like another new plague, centered on Athens. Even because John frequented the plague-ridden area and was uninfected, and used his wisdom to help the citizens fight the plague, the idea that John was God's mortal incarnation was proliferating within a few days, and even the populace was convinced of it.

John also did not expect that he, a pseudo-elite who was not even a devout believer, would become the most sacred member of the Orthodox Church at the moment. The clergy who had been hinted at by John were even more exaggerated, and as long as they met John in public, the attitude of prostration, and nine prostrations, was almost three kneels and nine bows.

With the "good start" of these clergy, John's new edict was even more effective in spreading among the common people.

"Oh, my dear brother, may the Lord always be with you!"

Sophia's health has improved greatly and she can get out of bed and walk alone. However, in order to make sure that Sophia had completely recovered, and that there were still remnants of the plague in Epirus, John chose to stay in the city of Athens for a few more days. There is also a part of the matter of reopening trade routes that needs to be dealt with.

Seeing John return to the Monastery of Casariani, Sophia hurriedly jumped up in front of him, and then followed the tone of those priests and said in a suppressed voice: "The Holy Lord will protect the Empire, the spokesman of the Supreme Lord!" ”

"I think you're almost too good to be fine." John's ears are a little calloused when he listens to this kind of talk these days, and the propaganda of the universal church in this regard is simply unsparing.

It has even been suggested that even if John was only a teenager, he should still have a holy name in front of his name to show his status as the spokesman of the Lord. In Catholicism, the prerequisite for canonization is that the canonized must be sure that he is already with God, and to put it bluntly, the living cannot be canonized, so this proposal was strongly rejected by John from the beginning.

I thought that this matter would be put to rest like this, but I did not expect that Gregory III, who currently holds the highest voice in the Orthodox Church, once again personally came forward to elevate John's status in the Orthodox Church to the "Chosen One", that is, the chosen messenger of the Most Holy God on earth. John had no idea where this strange title came from, but there was no doubt that John would probably be worshipped by the populace after that.

Although it may seem excessive, such propaganda was harmless in establishing John's prestige as a rule.

"The reaction of the Patriarch is really too fast, and the monks in Hagia Sophia don't seem to have much to do......" John held in his hand the golden cross pendant that was sent by King Esolius III to hang around his neck, and on it was also delicately engraved with a line of small letters--St. Ioannis Valleoho, "Tsk, I always feel a little uncomfortable with a holy word in front of my name." ”

"Brother, the empire is an orthodox faith, and there is no complicated procedure for wanting to be crowned a saint as in Western Catholicism...... Besides, the canonization is really just a symbol, and the universal Church will not miss an opportunity to proclaim the prestige of the Church. Sophia grabbed John's cross and looked at it twice, "When the time comes, I'll ask His Majesty the Patriarch to get me one too, this cross is so beautiful...... Oh yes, brother, when you walk on the road in the future, you must stay with the worldly knights. ”

"What's wrong?" John looked up for some reason.

"I don't care if I don't want to be completely surrounded by pilgrims."

……

John got into Sophia's shoulder and sneaked out of Athens.

The cult of the populace was a bit overwhelming for John, but fortunately Ebius Radiance had already been cared for, and Latius finally agreed to start the work on the Athens Academy as soon as possible, albeit with a little ...... There was a big accident, and this long trip can be regarded as a full return.

"His Majesty ...... John"

"What's wrong?" John looked at Admiral Francisco with an embarrassed face inexplicably, "You're not usually like this, just say something directly." ”

"Your Majesty! Woooooooooooooooo ”

"No, what's the matter with you? Why are you crying if you're fine? ”

Francisco burst into tears, and with great grievance, he reached out and pointed to a corner of the Admiral's room.

It took a long time for John to realize what Francisco meant.

In this empty corner, there used to be a lot of fine rum that he had collected over the years.

“…… Just because of this? ”