Chapter 81: The Arrival of the Church
"The Church has sent people here to investigate the Bishop's crime of 'losing holy artifacts'."
Ren looked serious.
"Isn't Sasha back?" William looked confused.
In the town of Ambrose, he sensed a very pure Holy Power on Sasha.
He guessed that was the holy artifact she stole.
"That being said, it's not that simple."
Ren shook his head and told William about some situations within the Church.
"You don't usually pay attention to these things, so you don't know..."
According to Ren's description, the Church had always been divided into two factions.
One party inherited the most ancient and orthodox theological heritage of the Vatican, known as the "Sacred Society" within the Church.
This faction believed that the clergy of the Church should eliminate contact with the human world and obtain the true meaning of the Lord from long self-cultivation.
Only the Holy Power accumulated in this way was the true blessing of the "Lord."
The clerics of the Sacred Society regarded this creed as a guideline; they stayed in the church prayer room all year round and rarely went out.
Due to the Church's political need for "orthodoxy."
For a long time in history, the Sacred Society dominated various decisions of the Vatican.
But this way obviously widened the distance between the Church and the believers.
Plus, the evil aura around the world was constantly recovering, and forces such as the Knights Templar and the Wizards' Association had gradually grown in recent years.
The Church had to make some changes.
Under such circumstances, the "Exorcism Academy" came into being.
This faction believed that the Church should widely absorb believers.
Expand the influence of the Church in the outside world through exorcism, supporting local elections, building new churches, and other means.
At first, the philosophy of the Exorcism Academy had only a small number of supporters.
After years of development, it had become somewhat sizable.
But since the "Holy Word" descended into the world, the Exorcism Academy suppressed the Sacred Society in one fell swoop and became the majority force in the Vatican.
This was not because the Church no longer valued "orthodoxy."
It was just that the traditional way of cultivating Holy Power was too slow, but the "calamity" mentioned in the Holy Word was imminent.
Therefore, to improve strength in a short time, the "method" of the Exorcism Academy was obviously more suitable.
"The Parish Bishop is an important position, able to distribute a lot of resources..."
After briefly popularizing the internal situation of the Church, Ren talked about Bishop Julius's "trouble."
To stabilize its status within the Church, the Sacred Society also made some changes.
Although still rarely contacting the outside world.
But internally, the Sacred Society had been using its influence to arrange its own people in important positions in the Church.
After all, behind power were "resources."
Bishop Julius was such a cleric.
In his early years, due to a chance opportunity, he became the assistant of a Parish Bishop of the Sacred Society.
The latter became a high-level official of the Church after a holy festival baptism.
Therefore, Bishop Julius took advantage of the situation to ascend to the position of Bishop.
And his performance after taking office had been good.
But due to the growth of the Exorcism Academy, this faction needed more positions.
Therefore, members of the Sacred Society naturally became targets of attack by the Exorcism Academy.
For the Exorcism Academy, whether Julius's daughter was lost and whether the holy artifact was retrieved were not important.
What was important was that this Bishop committed the crime of "dereliction of duty."
With a charge, the Exorcism Academy had a justifiable reason.
During the conversation, the group arrived at the conference room of the Bishop's Residence.
Due to her identity as a demon hunter, Sadie was temporarily taken to the reception room to rest.
Only Sasha and William were left at the door.
Because the latter rescued the Bishop's daughter/nun, he needed to report the situation to the Church.
Creak.
Ren pushed open the heavy wooden door, then stepped aside; he was not qualified to participate in meetings of this level.
Sasha fiddled with her fingers; her heart beat fast at this time, like a child who did something wrong.
"What are you doing at the door? Come in."
At this time, a steady voice sounded inside.
"Okay... okay."
Sasha hurriedly lowered her head and walked in.
William looked straight ahead and followed behind with a calm expression.
He sized up the environment inside the room with his peripheral vision.
The interior of the conference room was luxurious, with gilded vessels placed by the wall and gorgeous carpets on the floor.
There was a row of semicircular wooden tables near the center, and three men were sitting behind them at this time.
They all wore black slim-fit clothes with a cross brooch on their chests, and wavy jacquard patterns embroidered on their belts and linings, looking like they were made of excellent materials.
Behind the seats of two of the men stood a cleric each, who seemed to be the assistants of the former.
And Bishop Julius stood opposite the table, looking like a prisoner being interrogated at this moment.
As soon as Sasha and William came in, they met the gaze of the people in the room.
It was very quiet inside, with only the "tap-tap" sound of the two stepping on the wooden floor.
Such an oppressive atmosphere made Sasha, who was already flustered, even more overwhelmed.
At the same time, seeing her usually noble father also humbling himself at this moment, she involuntarily lowered her head too.
At this end of the round table, sitting in the middle was Archbishop Fabio Truman—an important figure of the Sacred Society faction.
He had a handsome face, with some white on his temples, looking to be in his forties or fifties.
Seeing Sasha's behavior, Fabio frowned.
The performance of this father and daughter made him very dissatisfied!
Showing timidity before the verdict, how would those guys from the Exorcism Academy look at him!
Isn't it blatantly saying he is a poor judge of character?
He shook his head secretly.
The priest behind was calmer, at least able to remain composed.
Fabio sighed inwardly and stared at Sasha, asking:
"Someone in the Church reported that you took the holy artifact privately without the Bishop's consent due to the needs of the exorcism ritual. Is this true?"
As soon as he opened his mouth, he gave Sasha a chance.
"Due to exorcism needs" and "private theft due to greed" are very different.
The former is consistent with the philosophy currently implemented by the Church.
Even if guilty, the crime can be greatly reduced on the grounds of "for the development of the Church."
Even under Fabio's operation, punishment might be exempted.
But if it's the latter, this father and daughter might have to spend the rest of their lives in darkness.
If Sasha was smart enough, she should cooperate decisively at this time, creating a "fact" that Church personnel, for community safety and expanding Church influence, did not hesitate to risk their lives to exorcise demons.
But obviously, someone in the room didn't want Fabio to succeed.
"My Archbishop, how come I heard another version?"
The man directly opposite the right side of the wooden table spoke at this time.
He was the representative of the "Exorcism Academy"—Levi Kelly.
A fat man with glasses and a wrinkled face.
"I heard that this Sister Sasha acted recklessly and premeditated stealing the holy artifact just to prove to her father that she could also exorcise demons."
Levi smiled here.
"Doesn't that mean this nun doesn't understand exorcism rituals at all?"
As soon as this remark came out, Sasha's hands trembled a little.
What the other party said was the truth.
She indeed didn't know how to exorcise demons, and indeed stole the holy artifact out of playfulness.
Sasha thought this was just an ordinary "prank."
Just like she refused her father's help many times before, only to confront him and prove that she didn't need her father's protection.
But the situation in front of her made her uneasy inside; this time she seemed to have really "caused trouble."
The conference room fell into a brief silence.
Seeing Sasha silent, the situation would soon turn against his side.
Archbishop Fabio decided not to wait any longer.
He looked at the priest standing behind, thought for a moment, and said:
"I am Fabio, Archbishop of the Vatican. I came here specifically to investigate the 'illegal use of holy artifacts'."
Fabio first pointed out his identity.
Then he deliberately emphasized the words "illegal use of holy artifacts."
"I wonder what your name is and which church you serve in?"
He didn't mention Sasha directly, but asked about the origin of this priest first.
Doing so would allow the other party to accept the concept of "illegal use" first, paving the way for the subsequent situation.
At the same time, after understanding the origin of this priest, Fabio could also use "benefits" as conditions to guide the other party to his side.
Across the wooden table, everyone looked at the Asian young man.
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