Huh?
At that moment, he thought that the chicken soup may have leaked into his ears and drowned them because he was hallucinating.
Such a radical change.
What the hell was the Church thinking? The capital just lost 30,000 of its people and is in total chaos. The Church should have their hands full yet they were already meddling in other matters.
... Putting the kids and education first no matter the situation?
The Church sure seemed progressive.
According to the information provided by the System about the Church, they are not the kind of people to be doing this. There was indeed an admission ceremony for the Sunday School but the scale and time for this was not right this time round. This time, it was different.
Well, if the "Admission Ceremony" was known to those outside of the capital, it must be really grand then.
But why though?
Following Benjamin’s further inquiries, Howl quickly mentioned details in regard to the Admission Ceremony.
So the admission ceremony was not to enter the Sunday School but rather the Church’s Divine Art classes. Contrary to the previous admission criteria targeting children aged less than 14 years, age was no longer an issue and each noble family even has a participating quota.
Benjamin suddenly realized the Church’s purpose in the midst of this.
They were trying to reel the nobles in.
To have talent was really important in the teaching of Divine Arts, and it was not as though anyone could just learn it. It served no purpose that the Church would push the Divine Arts teaching among the aristocrats. Those with gifts and talents would have already been pulled in to learn and those without would forever fail to learn.
However, the aristocrats could see it in a different light.
They did not know much about the Divine Arts. In their eyes, the Divine Arts was a gift of God and the Church’s secret weapon. Now that the Church was popularizing its teaching, it would mean that the nobles would be sharing part of this glory; whether or not they would manage to acquire it probably would not be the first priority in their thought process.
After all those days of bickering, the Church finally gave in to the nobles.
What happened? Why the abrupt changes in the Church’s attitude? Previously they wanted to manipulate the aristocrats in the palm of their hands and now, they were trying to get to the noble’s good side?
That being said...
Thinking about it, the aristocrats have been looking for trouble with the church, plus Michelle did cause the death of 30,000 over people; this would have erupted the major disruption to the church. Should the nobles take the advantage to give the church the final blow, that would be the end of them, and the capital could be deserted.
Therefore, the Church had to reconcile with the nobles and have the situation under control in the shortest possible time. This would require the cooperation of the aristocrats who have more connections.
Benjamin could not help but sigh. The political dynamics of the capital were forever changing. One minute they were backstabbing each other, the next, it was all about love and cooperation.
"There could be some dirty under table trade," The System jumpily concluded.
Benjamin was within one of the valleys in the outskirts of the capital, contemplating on the capital’s internal dynamics while within the city, the political roadshow of an admission ceremony has just ended at St Peter’s Cathedral. People were coming and going, it was such an event.
The priests had quite a lot to prepare.
They were like teachers on their first day; it was the start of a special course on Divine Arts and a whole load of students were enrolling, yet they were unprepared for the class.
It was only at the deepest end of the cathedral that things were calmer.
"Those without a gift will never be able to master the arts. The nobles are really stupid to rejoice over this matter." There were two figures in the basement where pope breathed his last. A priest was looking at the bishop, who was standing over the coffin.
"What matters is how they perceive it, not its content," the bishop shook his head. "They would never be able to master the Holy Light but they will be less revered in the presence of God and the Divine Arts is no longer a mystery to them. They have obtained partial control and of course, are happy with that."
The priest was perplexed for a moment and quickly showed an unsatisfied expression, "These leeches..."
"Do not look down on them. During this time, they have hired men to seek trouble in almost every church in the nation. Those attending mass have lessened by a third. If this goes on, even if the aristocrats are killed off, we would also be suffering a great loss," said the bishop as he turned his gaze at the coffin. "The pope was too irrational to strike at the nobles once he was out of the woods. Now we are left to pick up the pieces."
The priest became distressed listening to this and turned to look at the coffin beside the bishop.
He was one of the priests who rushed to the basement due to the noise that emerged the moment the pope died. You could say that he saw how the pope passed with his own eyes. The pope vanished into thin air with much fear and this left an imperishable image in him.
Up to now, he still felt as though he was dreaming and in denial that the pope has already passed.
This was Your Highness the Pope we were talking about!
How could he... how could he just die like that?
"Crowd control within the city is almost underway." The priest stabilized his feelings and continued, "do we continue our quest with Benjamin Lithur?"
The Bishop waved his hand and said, "Just issue a standard arrest warrant, we simply do not have the resources to bother about him. If he were to escape to other nations, I have already inform our contacts there and they will take care of him."
The priest said nothing and nodded.
He dithered for a moment but decided to open up, "Milord Bishop, about the conditions of the Church... the death of Your Highness the Pope is an irreversible truth. I think, we need a new pope."
After the passing of the pope, the bishop took charge as there were urgent matters at hand. Now that these issues were resolved, the death of the pope was now being seen as their top priority.
They needed to find a new successor.
The Bishop nodded in agreement.
"Go on and prepare. Have the nation’s hundred bishops summoned to the capital and we shall discuss the successor of the next pope."
The priest bowed and nodded in response.
"Remember, you must not let anyone know about the death of the His Highness the Pope before the end of discussion." The bishop continued, "How many in question are currently aware of the death of Your Highness the Pope?"
The priest shook his head. "There aren’t many. This information is kept confidential. Apart from the three priests who witnessed this, there was also the Holy Knight who reported this you. This total of four will swear to keep their lips sealed."
He was aware that once this information was leaked, it would cause an unimaginable impact to the Church.
The Bishop suddenly turned and quietly looked at the priest. It was as though he was studying the priest’s exterior or perhaps interior.
"That’s right, there were only four." He was deep in thought and nodded. "You are the last."
"The last?" The priest was puzzled and raised a brow.
The Bishop silently peered at the priest with an expressionless smile.
The priest, who was puzzled, suddenly felt a massive pain in his abdomen as if his guts were twisted inside out. The pain paralyzed his body and he dropped to the ground, rolling in agony. He tried to make a sound but realized he couldn't.
How... how could this be?
The pain took over his body instantly and it was not long until his consciousness became blurry. Dark blood flushed through his ears, nose, and mouth, highlighting the failure of his bodily organs.
"This is a potion by the mages in other nations. It turned out better than I thought." Before losing complete consciously, he heard the bishop say, "Now that nobody knows the death of the pope, then the pope is not dead, he is merely going through another closed door meditation to communicate the divine’s will. From today onwards, all matters regarding the church will be handled by St Peter’s Cathedral’s bishop."
Listening to the words of the bishop, the priest instinctively struggled. However, it was as though he has fallen into the mud of despair. The more he struggled, the faster he sunk.
The Bishop... He...
He was astonished by the bishop’s hidden agenda. But he was quickly taken by the pain that he could no longer be shocked.
He lost consciousness and became a cold corpse lying on the floor of the basement. It was as though he had been lying there for long.
The priest was dead.
The Bishop nodded expressionlessly as he watch the priest’s quick death. He turned and moved his gaze towards the coffin where the pope had passed.
"... Who would have thought that the news from a year ago was true? ‘Soul’s Fire’ is not dead and is still hidden within these walls of the city after all these years." He stretched his arm to touch the cold wood of the coffin and mumbled, "Well, exchanging the pope’s life for another chance of her not striking for another few decades is worth it."