Farce

In the living room.

The mother, who had collapsed limply to the side, her face ashen, heard Isa's words, and a glimmer of hope rekindled in her cloudy eyes.

She turned her head to look at Isa, who was draped in a wide black robe.

Unlike before, this time, she didn't feel even a trace of coldness from the Priest.

Wallis silently stared at the Priest whose body was still trembling in front of him, a hint of confusion rising in his heart.

Something seemed off.

Was this still the Isa he knew?

He suppressed the faint unease in his heart, slightly corrected his words, and spoke again, "What difference does it make?"

"Although there is no formal order yet, by unauthorized access to the Forbidden Book, Chen Fan will inevitably be stripped of his God Chosen status."

"As for you, I don't understand why you would do this?"

Seeing the conversation proceeding as Chen Fan had anticipated, Isa's anxious mood gradually calmed down. "Lord Chen Fan is a good person."

"I cannot bear, nor am I willing, to see a God Chosen personally selected by the Goddess be slandered as a Sinner."

"For the Church to do this, the Lord will be disappointed."

Looking at Isa, who was answering fluently, Wallis's unease deepened.

So he decided to speed up the pace and use his authority to pressure her:

"Priest Isa, whether you admit it or not, your actions are a betrayal of the Church."

Wallis's voice paused, and he changed his original decision to forgive Isa. "You abandoned your post, independently contacted a Sinner... a God Chosen Chen Fan during your mission, and leaked internal Church matters to him."

"Now, I declare that your Priest status is revoked. The Church will judge the sins you have committed after the Divine Descent Ceremony."

The black hood trembled slightly. "Lord Wallis..."

"No need to say more." Wallis, who had regained control of the conversation's rhythm, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Isa, Chen Fan has already escaped. Haven't you realized the problem?"

"If he wasn't guilty, if he didn't have something to hide, why would he escape through the window?"

"You don't need to stall for him either."

"To be honest, the Church has already dispatched a large number of Guards. It is estimated that they will bring him back soon."

"As for the good person you mentioned earlier..."

Wallis sighed, shaking his head gently. "Just a little bit of kindness and he won you over, Isa, you disappoint me greatly."

"But..."

The black hood shook a little more, and a strand of silver-white hair quietly slipped out from under the hood. "Lord Chen Fan did not escape."

Isa's voice paused, then she added, "He is still in the room behind me."

"..."

"Wh- what?!"

Inside the room.

Chen Fan slowly rose from the chair, turned his head to look at the open window and the noticeably larger white-gold short robe left on the desk.

He sniffed hard, and reached out to wipe his red and swollen eyes.

His tear ducts, which had just gotten a little rest, started to water again under the stimulation of the dust.

The real show had begun.

With a bitter face, he reached out and pulled open the slightly ajar door, and walked out.

"Bishop."

Chen Fan bowed, solemnly saluting Wallis, who was wearing a Purple Robe. "May the Lord be with you."

Looking at Chen Fan with his red and swollen eyes, Wallis subconsciously took half a step back.

"You... why are you here?"

Chen Fan raised his head, revealing a hint of confusion at just the right moment. "Bishop, this is my home. Why can't I be here?"

"You..."

Under the Purple Robe, Wallis's facial Mechanical Prosthetic trembled slightly. At this moment, he felt as if he had seen a ghost.

He turned around and whispered to the Priest beside him, "Didn't you say he had climbed out the window and escaped?"

The Priest who was questioned also looked bewildered. "???"

As the atmosphere gradually became awkward, a strong voice came from the hallway.

"Let go of me!"

"What do you want to do?!"

"I am a God Chosen! How dare a few small Priests treat me like this, you're rebelling!"

"Just wait, I'll go find Bishop Wallis later and get justice!"

Hearing the familiar voice getting closer and closer, Bishop Wallis's mood gradually became complicated.

Damn it.

How could it be that simpleton Gao Yuan?!

As for Chen Fan...

He was trying hard to hold back his laughter.

Heaven and earth bear witness, he really just gave a couple of casual pointers.

He never expected Gao Yuan to be so talented in this area!!

"Bishop?!"

Gao Yuan's voice, filled with surprise and joy, came from behind: "Why are you here?!"

"I was just looking for you. Do these priests still have any sense of hierarchy?"

Gao Yuan's face showed a hint of anger: "As soon as I got downstairs, they pinned me to the ground without a word."

"Look how dirty my short robe is!"

"I just borrowed this from Chen Fan. How am I supposed to explain it to him?"

It was only then that Gao Yuan "coincidentally" noticed Chen Fan surrounded by the priests: "Also, what are you doing surrounding Chen Fan like this? Do you still want to lay hands on two God Chosen?!"

Wallis silently watched this "farce."

Yes, it was a farce.

From the moment he saw Chen Fan walk out of the room, he knew he had failed.

He extended his precise mechanical right arm from his magnificent purple bishop's robe and waved it gently: "That's enough."

"Mr. Gao Yuan, I would like to ask you a few questions."

Listening to the dull mechanical synthesized voice, Gao Yuan quickly composed himself: "Please ask."

"Why did you borrow clothes from Chen Fan? Why did you climb through the window?"

"My original God Chosen short robe was dirty!" Gao Yuan looked at Bishop Wallis with a bewildered expression, "Wearing a dirty God Chosen short robe is a great disrespect to the Lord."

"As for climbing through the window..."

"Didn't you notice that this God Chosen short robe is too small for me? I don't want to embarrass myself in front of so many believers."

Gao Yuan's bewildered expression deepened: "...Does the Church have a rule that God Chosen cannot climb through windows?"

Wallis sighed almost imperceptibly, turned his head to look at the silent Chen Fan, and tried to make a final effort: "Mr. Chen Fan, regarding the statements of Mr. Gao Yuan and Priest Isha, do you have anything else you would like to say?"

"What was your purpose in reading that Forbidden Book?"

Seeing this, Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief: Damn it, I've waited so long, it's finally my time to shine!

Under everyone's gaze, he showed a distressed expression, while reaching out to wipe his abnormally red and swollen eyes.

"Bishop, Priest Isha has already told me what happened."

"I can swear to the Lord that I only looked through that book out of curiosity."

As he spoke, he cautiously glanced at the mechanical prosthetic arm that Wallis had extended from his purple bishop's robe, his eyes flickering with obvious longing: "I'm just a little curious about these divine gifts, is that wrong?"

"Besides..."

Chen Fan hesitated for a moment: "I didn't see any forbidden information in that book."

"Could there be some misunderstanding in this?"