Royal Cathedral of St. Lornes.
After being exposed to wind and rain for many years, the rusty metal decoration on the top of the church was cold in the drizzle. A few pigeons hovered above it, unwilling to leave for a long time.
Due to the arrival of the exchange group, the church's personnel arrangements in the royal capital were very busy for a while. In order to avoid unexpected mishaps, Willard even transferred the elite priests from the Lownes branch who were originally stationed in various provinces in advance.
It wasn't until nightfall that he finally had time to say goodbye to those heavy chores and return to the central auditorium alone for daily prayers, as usual.
At the top of the empty auditorium, a statue of the "Triple Ring of Light" made of pure gold sits on a high platform in the center, symbolizing the supreme will of the gods and receiving the faith of everyone from princes and nobles to traffickers and footmen. .
Three pure gold rings intersect with each other from outside to inside, and are connected to each other by chains in the middle, forming a ball shape.
Legend has it that this was the shadow cast by the former Lord of this world, the King of Kings, to save the mortal people, and it was His [Eye].
Mortals remember it, carve it, worship it.
"Praise my Lord for his gift, praise my Lord for his glory..."
Bishop Willard prostrated himself on the ground devoutly, murmuring something.
After repeating this three times, he slowly closed the parchment spread out on the ground, and then tapped his face, forehead and eyes three times with one hand to end the prayer.
When he turned around, he saw a man wearing the armor of a Holy See knight sitting in the first row and looking at him quietly.
"Long time no see, Leo." There was no surprise on Bishop Willard's face.
"Willard, you are still the same." The man said in a low voice with unclear meaning.
"For a person who has devoted everything to God without reservation, what will be changed by the outside world is only his time, not his soul." Perhaps the lighting conditions provided by traditional white wax in the auditorium are not ideal, Half of Willard's face was hidden in shadow, and the deep wrinkles on his face were much more obvious.
"As a member of the Tribunal, you disguised yourself as an ordinary Holy See knight and hid in the escort team. Do you think you came here specifically for Tasia?"
Willard didn't want to talk nonsense with him, so he asked clearly.
The man named Leo smiled noncommittally, acquiescing to his statement.
"The Holy See is very concerned about the condition of this favored one." He stood up.
Only then could we clearly see that he was extremely tall, about two meters tall, a full head taller than Willard.
He strode forward, approaching only one meter away from Willard, and even the smallest hairs on each other's faces were clearly visible.
"You must know that every day she wastes outside the Holy See is committing the unforgivable crime of laziness!" Leo's voice suddenly became fierce for a moment, as if there was thunder exploding in the night sky.
Even if the other party's saliva sprayed on his face, Willard remained unmoved.
"The level of Qingxi Academy is not that bad."
Leo looked at him steadily for a moment, then lowered his voice and said coldly: "Willard, don't think that I don't know what you are thinking. If you want to enter the Cardinal House, you have to see if there is a place for you in the parliament hall. "
"You worry too much." There was a trace of disdain in Willard's eyes. "For people like you, of course you would think that just a seat in the Cardinal's Court is enough to make you dizzy and desperate——"
After a pause, he did not continue. He suppressed his angry look, flicked his sleeves and turned around to leave the church.
Silence returned to the central auditorium. After a long time, another person emerged from the shadows.
It is Bishop Smith who is the main person in charge of this exchange group.
It looked like he had been watching for a long time.
"Why did you test him if you already knew the result?" Smith sighed, "He has done well in the tasks assigned to him by the Holy See in the past."
He glanced at the rather luxurious decoration inside the Royal Capital Cathedral. on lime vault
, a skilled painter depicts an imaginary paradise scene with strong colors.
Leo stretched tiredly, and the iron plates on the armor collided with each other, making a clattering sound. "Everyone changes. We haven't interacted with each other for so many years. We should treat them as getting to know them again. Maybe we will make new discoveries."
After that, he suddenly changed the subject: "Tonight I'm going to visit the rumored genius."
Smith was stunned. "Who?"
"Of course it's the one from Duke Wenche's family." Leo glanced at Bishop Smith, "You've met him, right? How about it?"
"Well, it seems that his appearance is quite outstanding. At his age, he can be regarded as one of the most talented students among all the students I have met. Harold, the chairman of Qingxi Academy, also seems to be interested in him. You have high hopes." Smith told Leo his judgment, "I advise you not to act rashly."
"That's what I mean by cleaning up the whole thing so that my identity won't be discovered, right?"
Choking on his preemptive rhetoric, Smith shook his head after a while and said, "Whatever you want, I don't know anything anyway, and I didn't meet you today."
"Tsk, it's understandable that you don't want to cause trouble because you are old." He casually threw a sarcastic remark and Leo quickly left.
Bishop Smith, who had withdrawn from the Holy See Tribunal, watched him walk out of the door without uttering the last piece of advice.
"——Those who like to cause trouble too much cannot wait quietly until the day they succeed and retire."
The Holy See is a very special place.
Here, the most devout faith and the coldest ambition coexist in the same room.
For many people, they believe that the Holy See is a place of salvation that obeys the will of God and is dedicated to saving all sentient beings. Loyal believers in God will spread God's will and salvation to all corners of the world, and ultimately build a bright world where everyone has love and is free from poverty and suffering.
But Leo, who had been successfully promoted to a member of the Holy See Judiciary as "the youngest bishop of the Holy See", had never had such naive thoughts.
The Holy See is no different from the power agencies of other kingdoms, and the high priests are no different from the nobles in the outside world. They just change a set of rules of the game to disguise their essence.
Since joining the Holy See, Leo has never relaxed his demands on himself. Become stronger, continue to become stronger, this is his only goal and principle of life.
In the human world, the power of God will be beyond its reach. Otherwise, there should be no distinction between high and low, joys and sorrows in the world.
Having such thoughts may be blasphemous and rebellious, but thanks to his sobriety, he was able to realize very early on that the higher-ups of the Holy See were more real and trustworthy than the gods who only existed in prayers and blessings. The existence of faith.
The invisible and intangible God cannot fix the next dinner for himself, but the very close man who is only flesh and blood can.
