How Did I Become Pope?

Whether it was the Pure White Saintess pretending to be attacked, the "rescue efforts" by those Cardinal Bishops, or their "questions" and "answers" now, it had all been arranged in advance.

Because this was also in the Cardinal Bishops' interests.

Some of them truly wanted to become Pope. But the person who had wanted the position most was Cardinal Loki, who had now passed away.

The reason these Cardinal Bishops wanted to run for Pope was not that they were greedy for power. Rather, the "old fossils" among them believed that a Saintess with aether rot could not properly lead the Theocracy.

In other words, she simply was not qualified.

However, the Saintess had shown them that aether rot could now potentially be healed and restored... So rather than let another Cardinal who opposed them become Pope, they might as well continue letting the Saintess take the position.

If they could not make everyone happy, at least they could make everyone feel that things were "good enough."

But having the Saintess become Pope carried one unavoidable risk. That was her aether rot.

The general understanding in the Theocracy was that if an elf developed aether rot, it often meant there was something wrong with their mind. But aether rot among commoners was nothing serious. Who didn't have a few mental health issues...?

However, the Pope as the leader, and the Saintess as a candidate for that leadership, were not allowed to have aether rot.

Because it implied impure faith or flawed morals—if even the Pope and Saintess had aether rot, how could they lead the Theocracy forward? It also meant they might "go mad" or "die at any moment."

Even the "most modernized elves" were ultimately inclined toward conservatism. They could not accept such a high risk.

Therefore, even if