Chapter 255: Try Not to Laugh Challenge
Arachne's words once again stirred discussion among the Great Witches.
From Isis to Alice, generation after generation of Queens had all pursued a path of advancement beyond becoming Moylai's Saint.
The pursuit of the Divine Throne had even drawn Saint Astarte into a struggle over the Holy Land.
Her Majesty the Queen was the Saint created through the Earth Mother Goddess Church's investment of resources, possessing unique authorities bestowed by Moylai, including that of the Dungeon Lord, and she was the core of their Goddess Descent Plan.
And now, if an outsider was born possessing Moylai's special Blessing and was situated in the former Ireland, closer to the Holy Land, then if he too pursued Moylai's power, perhaps one day he might seize away Her Majesty the Queen's opportunity for advancement.
“He is an Imperial after all. No matter what mistake allowed him to receive such favor. As expected, finding a way to eliminate him, or capture him, would still be more in line with our interests.”
Seeing that her proposal had shaken the others somewhat, Arachne took the opportunity to push it again.
“Then everyone, let's suppose we erase him from this world, would Her Majesty the Queen's road of advancement become completely unobstructed?” Dorothy spoke.
Her words slightly cooled the discussion present.
Indeed, the long-cherished wish inherited by Queen Alice from the era of the Earth Mother Goddess Church now faced quite a few problems.
The Holy Land of ancient Ireland was currently occupied by the Empire, twins had unexpectedly been born during the process of bloodline refinement……even if all those problems were resolved, the Blessing power possessed by Her Majesty the Queen had already reached a bottleneck a century ago.
“Isn't a threat still better eliminated as early as possible?” Arachne stared at Dorothy and said.
“But I've always been thinking, is this man really a threat, or is he the key to breaking through our current situation?” Dorothy said.
“What?” Arachne frowned.
“Our Majesty has been trapped at the current stage for at least two generations. In this era, a man possessing Moylai's Blessing suddenly appeared, I believe there must be some kind of meaning behind this. Perhaps, this is a breakthrough. If we study him carefully, maybe we can make use of him and seize an opportunity for the Queen to break through the bottleneck!” Dorothy said slowly.
“Make use of him, how exactly do you plan to ‘use’ him?” the youngest Great Witch, Habilis, asked in confusion.
The moment that question came out, a sudden silence descended.
The witches looked at one another, and many of them simultaneously thought of the same thing.
“Dorothy, are you planning to defile Her Majesty the Queen's bloodline?” Arachne asked in an interrogating tone.
“I was only thinking of using him as a sacrifice if necessary, what exactly were you thinking?” Dorothy raised an eyebrow.
Arachne rolled her eyes, while subtle smiles appeared on the faces of some of the other witches, and others even chuckled aloud.
Alice, who had remained silently listening from within the mist the entire time, finally spoke: “Those who just laughed……”
She deliberately paused there.
The laughter instantly stopped as though it had been cut apart with a pair of scissors. Everyone stiffened their faces, refusing to let any unnecessary expression show.
No, hold it in, don't laugh……if anyone laughed out loud now, they were dead!
Some people found it even harder to hold back when they saw everyone else trying to keep a straight face, so they fiercely pinched their thighs to suppress the urge to laugh.
Queen Alice's words were already an undisguised warning and threat. Whoever actually laughed next would probably face a punishment that ensured they couldn't laugh no matter what, perhaps even being ordered to drink the cup of tea in front of them.
“Since Dorothy has confirmed the intelligence, and this Fenrir has also attempted to establish contact with us, I have decided to observe him for a period of time first, the matter of contact will be left to Dorothy.
The Nemesis Agency will continue gathering intelligence on this man, but for the sake of caution, do not come into conflict with him for the time being, nor are you to draw the attention of the Church of Noren.” Queen Alice stated her decision.
“I shall obey Your Majesty's command.” Dorothy immediately replied, this was precisely the result she wanted.
She deliberately raised her eyes and looked toward Arachne across from her, enjoying the other woman's expression.
Just as she expected, Arachne looked extremely displeased, clearly suppressing her dissatisfaction and not daring to show it, which made Dorothy feel immensely pleased.
Ever since Arachne established dealings with the Count and seized the share of smuggling magical potions into the Empire, Dorothy had endured for a long time.
“……I shall obey Your Majesty's command.” No matter how dissatisfied Arachne was, now that Queen Alice had spoken like this, she could only lower her head and respond.
“This tea party ends here, dismissed.” Queen Alice directly ended the matter.
After everyone saluted, they were enveloped by the mist and swiftly withdrew from the illusion.
Inside the Oz Swamp Dungeon, Dorothy broke free from the illusion and let out a long breath.
She casually lit her smoking pipe and began thinking to herself.
Her Majesty the Queen had approved her proposal, which meant she could now replace Arachne in handling the smuggling route into the Empire.
She had actually prepared the goods in advance out of foresight. Next, she only needed to notify Fenrir to come trade with her, and then she could have her ship carry the gold back to report completion.
The problem was Arachne……
No, rather than saying Arachne was a problem, it would be more accurate to say Dorothy actually hoped Arachne would become one.
With the Queen's order in place, no matter how dissatisfied Arachne was, she would most likely restrain her desire for revenge. But over the long term, she would definitely take some measures in secret, and that would ultimately remain a hidden danger.
If Arachne could cause some kind of problem right now and violate the Queen's orders, then Dorothy would instead have grounds to impeach her.
No, perhaps she could even go one step further……eliminate the future trouble forever!
Dorothy had long felt that Arachne's way of doing things was a hidden danger to Moyland. The war that suddenly broke out more than ten years ago before Moyland was ready was proof enough. Arachne should have been put on trial for her mistakes during that war, but in the end, the appearance of Count Fry allowed her to make up for her failures with later achievements.
Hopefully Arachne would make a move, preferably a big one. If not……
Perhaps Dorothy could give her a little push from behind.
While thinking, Dorothy brought the smoking pipe filled with burning spices to her lips.
……
Southeastern Archdiocese, Cathedral.
Leon half-knelt before the altar, while Archbishop Miller, who was presiding over his ceremony, stood nearby holding a sacred scripture and reciting a lengthy prayer.
This was Leon's Rank Advancement Ceremony.
On the rows of benches below the altar, more than half the seats were occupied by ordained Church personnel who had come to witness the ceremony. Their expressions weren't particularly solemn, and some were even whispering to one another.
Rank Advancement Ceremonies were frequently held in the diocese, basically every month. Within the Church, it was nothing more than a common promotion.
If it were a bishop being promoted to archbishop, then things would be much grander. Basically all ordained personnel within the diocese would attend, and the atmosphere would be much more solemn.
But merely advancing from the most basic Tier One to Tier Two, leaving aside accumulating achievements, even simply waiting out seniority and using a few connections wouldn't be particularly difficult for most people with a certain degree of family background.
However, this time Leon's Rank Advancement Ceremony had still attracted quite a few people. Those attending whispered among themselves, their gazes fixed on the center bench in the front row.
Even Leon, who was half-kneeling at the side facing the seats, couldn't help paying attention over there. From the corner of his eye, he saw two young men seated on the bench chatting happily.
One was Prince Aaron, currently at the center of discussion within the eastern noble circles, while the other was the famous eldest son of Cardinal Stuart, Edward, the current Holy Son of the Church of the Prophet.
“His Highness Aaron really did attend.”
“In that case, will the Viscount of Allende be directly transferred to a position where he can assist the Prince next?”
“Procedurally, he can't be directly transferred, right, after all, he's an Inquisitor, and entering a knight order across Churches would probably……”
“Even Holy Son Edward came, maybe they're preparing to transfer him into the Holy Order of Discipline?”
“Wasn't that because of the follow-up handling of the previous Saintess Incident?”
“I heard he participated in reviewing the qualifications for the rank advancement, and even made a special trip to Allende Island, looks like he's paying quite a lot of attention to him too.”
“Hasn't Archbishop Miller also been paying close attention to him? I heard he even recently published a paper under the Archbishop's guidance, maybe he'll stay in the diocese and become a bishop……”
……
Those in attendance discussed among themselves. Ever since Leon made his appearance at the Marquis of Veronia's gathering, he had received considerable attention.
And now the attendance of Prince Aaron and Holy Son Edward Stuart seemed to further confirm Leon's promising future.
That Leon could advance in rank within such a short time wasn't surprising to them. What everyone focused on was the unit Leon would be transferred to after his promotion.
A Tier Two Intermediate Inquisitor who had also inherited a noble title probably wouldn't remain in an Inquisition Office in some small place for long. Next, he might be transferred to the more prosperous Caster City or Helenburg, perhaps even to the Marquis of Veronia's territory or to serve in the archdiocese.
Generally speaking, at the same rank, an Inquisitor's status was often slightly lower than that of a bishop or knight of the same tier, and also lower than those in the Holy Order of Discipline within the Tribunal.
There was no issue with bishops or knights temporarily serving as Inquisitors, but for an Inquisitor to move into the position of bishop or knight counted as an implicit upward transfer and required connections.
And this Viscount of Allende had a connection to the Prince, so it didn't seem impossible for him to have such an opportunity.
𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂
Some guessed he would enter a knight order and step into the military world to assist the Prince, others guessed that with Archbishop Miller's support, he would serve as a civil bishop in the archdiocese, while Holy Son Edward's appearance gave him yet another possibility of remaining in the Tribunal and advancing there.
A quarter of an hour passed. After Leon delivered a speech thanking everyone, the ceremony finally ended, and most of those who had come to show support began leaving in sequence.
“……After advancing in rank, you should have quite a few choices. I estimate you already have other plans, but I'll still keep my recommendation open for you, you can consider it as appropriate.” Archbishop Miller whispered to Leon on the altar, “Also, the content of your paper is quite good, but the details still need careful polishing, you should have received my annotated letter, right?”
“Yes, thank you for still being willing to offer me guidance despite your busy schedule.” Leon replied politely.
Considering that he would have to deal with Archbishop Miller during this trip to the archdiocese, Leon had hurriedly gathered information from all over and finished the paper he had delayed for several months, only to have it repeatedly revised by Archbishop Miller.
“I would personally prefer that you transfer into this diocese, but ultimately, your own wishes should take priority.” As Archbishop Miller spoke, he looked downward and saw Prince Aaron already standing up with a smile, so he saluted Aaron, and Aaron returned the salute.
“It seems someone else wants to congratulate you, so I won't disturb you.” After saying that, Archbishop Miller carried the sacred scripture and left.