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As Suetlg and the magistrate said, the inspector arrived in the city with his escorts.
The bishop greeted them from his bed with a devoted performance. The inspector was amazed by the empty mansion and the citizens praising the bishop.
‘𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦?’
The inspector was no fool. He knew about the rumors about the bishop that had reached the order. However, despite the rumors, it was true that the bishop had accomplished something now.
━𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐲?
━𝐒𝐡𝐡. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭.
━𝐍𝐨, 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.
The higher echelons of the order were divided into two factions.
One was called the aristocratic faction. They were children of quite decent families, who had risen through strong support from their families, even if their faith was a bit lacking.
Bishop Biagione was a prime example of this.
The other was made up of priests who had lived a faithful and frugal life from a young age in the order’s monasteries or temples, armed with almost fanatical faith.
Surprisingly, most of them had experience showing miracles.
It was, in fact, expected. Without doing so, it was impossible for a priest who rose from the bottom without any support to reach a high position.
They were called the miracle faction in the order and made various powerful arguments.
Normally, the aristocratic faction, backed by families, should have been more dominant, but in the order, the miracle faction always had the upper hand.
It was because of long traditions, customs, reputation, and public sentiment.
A bishop who had shown a miracle and one who hadn’t had different influences in their words. Moreover, traditionally, the Pope was chosen from among bishops who had shown miracles.
The miracles shown by the priests were astonishing and powerful. . .
But for Bishop Biagione to have done it was almost unbelievable.
━𝐀 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.
━𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦.
━𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐖𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬?
━𝐍𝐨. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨, 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞.
━𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐬?
━. . . . . .
━. . . . . .
Everyone present agreed. Honestly, if he did, that would be truly amazing.
━𝐈𝐟 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
━𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.
━𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?
━𝐌𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.
━𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞?
━𝐇𝐦𝐦. . . 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. . .
━𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬. . . 𝐒𝐨, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭?
At this, the bishop leaped up in surprise. The blanket he was covered with flew off. Johan spoke from beside him.
━𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐧.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
The bishop insisted that he would die on the way to the Pope’s court, even if it meant death. The inspector nodded his head, as if he had expected it.
After joining the soldiers who were waiting outside, the group prepared to depart and immediately moved.
“But is it something to be so excited about?”
“Of course, brother. Do you know how much of an honor it is to meet the Pope in person?”
“Have you never met him?”
Johan was puzzled. It was customary for someone in the bishop’s position to go to the Pope’s court and face the Pope in person.
But the bishop spoke as if he had never met him before.
“I’ve never met him in person.”
“. . .?”
“I don’t know. Do you know that most priests who reach the bishop’s position are so devout that they have shown miracles?”
“What did the bishops show?”
“It’s not necessary to show it, but anyway. The Pope is the most outstanding among them.”
Miracles such as ending a drought that had lasted for months, restoring a polluted river to its original state, and healing the blind and lame. . .
The miracle-oriented bishops all had a strong reputation. In order to be elected Pope, it was not enough for an ordinary miracle.
“He died but was resurrected.”
“What the. . .?”
“It’s true. I’ve heard it too.”
Suetlg added from the side.
Most people understood it as simply dying and coming back to life, but the reality was a bit different.
To be precise, the Pope died and his body did not move.
But it did not rot or decay. It just remained as it was alive.
Instead, a feather pen began to move and write beside the Pope. It was the Pope’s handwriting from his lifetime. Everyone was amazed at this wonder.
Johan’s expression distorted strangely after hearing the detailed explanation. He had only thought that the Pope had shown the miracle of resurrection, so he had thought that he had just collapsed and gotten up. . .
Johan poked Caenerna.
“Why?”
“Isn’t that a malevolent spirit?”
“I thought I was the only one who thought that. . . I’m kind of glad?”
Caenerna turned pale.
If you treated the church’s miracles as malevolent spirits, you could be treated as malevolent spirits and burned at the stake. Even Suetlg showed a reverent appearance when hearing about such miracles, right?
But Caenerna was different. She was skeptical about miracles. She believed that it was just unstable and accidental magic.
“Wait a minute. . . I’ve felt it since the last time, but are you really devout?”
Caenerna poured out her doubts that she had been holding for a long time. Of course, Johan’s actions were excellent knights of faith. There was no better way for a knight to prove his faith than to hunt monsters.
Johan avoided answering and said,
“So have you ever been to the Pope’s court?”
“I wasn’t there when Cardirian led the army to attack the Pope’s court, right?”
Caenerna casually brought up sensitive history. The Emperor had fought with the church several times, and if the dispute became serious, he would not hesitate to send troops to attack.
“The Pope’s court is in the sacred Mount Cyrandel, and I heard that Cardirian had a hard time because of that. He keeps talking about that time over and over again when he’s drunk.”
“It’s common for people to act like that as they get older.”
Suetlg made an excuse on his behalf. Johan chuckled. Achladda spoke with a hint of regret.
“I wanted to see the capital of the ancient Empire once, but it’s a shame it didn’t happen.”
“Weren’t you not particularly interested in cities?”
To the centaurs, a city was nothing more than a target for looting. Therefore, Achladda’s words were somewhat surprising.
“The capital of the ancient Empire is different. I’m curious how magnificent it is.”
“Don’t get too excited. It’s not much different from the city of Baien. The cities that date back to the ancient Empire are each large and beautiful in their own way.”
In front of the Syrandel mountain on the plain, there was a city known as the capital of the ancient Empire, Uranonium.
The city among cities, a nickname like the city of all cities, but Suetlg shook his head.
“Rather, other cities that weren’t destroyed might be better. It’s one of the most destroyed cities.”
“Please stop saying that. Euclyia is also looking forward to it.”
“Is that so? I’m sorry then.”
Johan said, looking at the two.
“Since we’re not going to attack the mountain anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities to show you around. Don’t worry.”
“I was counting on you, Sir Knight.”
Achladda said with a grin.
“So, how was the city?”
“Well. . .”
Johan had not yet talked about the secret pact he had been involved in inside the city. In fact, the magistrate might not have fully grasped it.
He couldn’t be sure until he heard directly from the order.
“You caught a demon, tell us about that story!”
“We’re curious too!”
Those who hadn’t experienced it directly were bursting with curiosity. They envied the mercenaries who had fortunately participated.
The inspector listened intently to the conversation. Truth always emerged not from the parties involved but from those around them.
Already having heard too many unbelievable things about the bishop, the inspector hoped for a more plausible story.