Marvel Magic Case Files.

Chapter 47 The Secrets of the Church of the Holy Cross

The Basilica of Santa Croce was designed and built starting in 1294, and was not initially completed until 1443. The current Basilica of Santa Croce was completed in 1863. This Tuscan Gothic-style church has always been the largest Franciscan church in Florence. The church contains some monuments and tombs of important figures, such as Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini.

When Bayonita brought Salomon here on her motorcycle at dawn, a small number of tourists had already arrived at the fountain square in front of the church. To the left of the entrance stood a statue of Dante, his brow furrowed and his eyes sunken, seemingly displeased with the tourists who had disturbed his peace.

Suddenly, a deep, resounding chime came from the right side of the church, prompting the waiting tourists to look up.

The ticket costs eight euros and comes with a beautiful little booklet, which Salomon received from a tourist.

The church facade wasn't open, but Salomon used magic to open the door and slipped inside unnoticed. Bayonetta and Salomon walked through the Gothic portico adorned with white marble and the heavy oak doors into the church. They didn't look up to admire the exquisite sculptures on the lintel and the Star of David at the very top; that would be a waste of their time.

As they entered the chapel, sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting dappled patterns of color. The chapel itself was not ornate; its structure was relatively simple, austere, and lacking in decoration—characteristics of the Franciscan order. The only truly vibrant stained-glass windows dated back to the late 14th century, but Bayonita showed little interest in these precious works of art, glancing around casually.

She said, "Little one, how are you going to convince the administrator here to let you look at those documents? Or are you going to sneak around reading them? But I don't think you'll have that much time."

“It only takes a little manipulation,” Salomon said. “But we don’t know where those documents are stored, and the tourist brochures don’t indicate where they are kept. But I don’t think it can be the sacristy; if it were, that would be terrible.”

Following the directions in the tourist brochure, Salomon led Bayonetta through the central aisle and the arcades separated by rows of octagonal columns, past the sixteen chapels lining both sides of the main church. These chapels belonged to prominent Florentine families, including the Medici family, and contained many frescoes by famous artists.

But Salomon and Bayonetta weren't there for sightseeing; they headed straight for the monastery, where tourists weren't allowed. When Salomon encountered the first monk, he used the "Charm" spell.

This immediately made him and the monk become close friends who could talk about anything.

Along the way, the two began discussing the Renaissance frescoes. To allow his friend to experience the church's historical depth, the monk disregarded monastery rules and led them away from the other monks to the small library within the monastery. The library contained the most numerous manuscripts from various Renaissance artists, and he believed that viewing these precious manuscripts would greatly benefit his dearest friend.

Of course, this refers to artistic cultivation.

"See that?" Salomon spread his hands. "What a kind person he is! I think even the devils of hell would be moved by his sincerity! So, Bayonetta, why did you knock him out?"

"I don't like monks," the witch replied, turning her head away. After the monk led them to the library, Bayonetta promptly and decisively struck the monk on the back of the head with the butt of her gun, and the charming monk silently collapsed to the ground.

"Hopefully, he won't have too much of a headache when he wakes up." The sorcerer grabbed the monk's leg and dragged the completely unconscious monk behind the bookshelf. "I mean, literally a headache. Hopefully, he won't think that the devil tempted him. Hopefully... well, whatever. I still like him quite a bit."

"Where did you get such artistic taste?" The witch watched Salomon bustling around, rummaging through the bookshelves. "I think learning magic takes up most of your time. Where did you learn all that stuff?"

"Tutoring, Bayonetta." The sorcerer didn't turn around; he was carefully using his sorcerer's hand to pick up the precious manuscripts. "I not only have art appreciation courses, but painting and sculpture are also compulsory for me, not to mention science courses. The Renaissance was a crucial period in which humanity broke free from religious ignorance, and this period occupies a large part of my curriculum."

The manuscripts in the Church of Santa Croce include not only notes from numerous Renaissance artists, but also church-led alchemical research.

The Franciscan Church was a pioneer in alchemy, and Franciscan friar Roger Bacon was one of them. He was invited by Pope Clement IV to write three alchemical works. These works contained strong arguments advocating for the improvement of knowledge and the strengthening of the Christian nation through the study of language, mathematics, natural philosophy, and alchemy.

Brother Bacon believed that human alchemy was not inferior to nature, but rather superior. If done properly, this applies to all laboratory products, and that human replication of nature can surpass that of natural objects.

This idea has persisted to this day and has become the foundation of modern chemistry.

Salomon was somewhat surprised to find that the church even contained manuscripts by spiritual Franciscan monks. Because these spiritualist priests had become fanatical about revelation, favored prophecy, and believed in the imminent appearance of the Antichrist, the church ordered their arrest, including Jean de Roctad.

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

During his imprisonment, Roktayard wrote many works, including *The Book of Light*. In his book *On the Making of the Stone of the True Philosopher*, he first proposed the concept of "mass balance," which states that "the weight of the reaction products must be exactly equal to the weight of the initial materials." Salomon speculates that the Franciscans at the time had not abandoned spiritualist ideas; they believed the church needed knowledge to counter the attacks of the Antichrist, hence the inclusion of this part of the manuscript in their library.

"Holy shit!" Salomon exclaimed as he flipped through the manuscript.

"What's wrong, little one?" The witch, who had been idly propping her long legs up on the table, suddenly leaned closer, but Salomon didn't react to the witch's suddenness. His attention was completely drawn to the manuscript in front of him.

On this yellowed parchment was a hand-drawn design, a circle that looked like a shield, with an eagle spreading its wings on it. Salomon looked back; the manuscript belonged to… Leonardo da Vinci.

eat.

(End of this chapter)