Maxim's preaching was exceptionally sincere.
He grabbed hold of Iver and refused to let go, directly pulling him onto the table while continuing to talk without pause:
"Cardinal Fafner believes that supporting and helping individuals is only temporary, and in the long run, it lacks meaning. Individuals might fall, or they might suddenly die. They could accept help and then turn around and commit evil deeds... But that is their freedom.
"Just like curing someone who might go on to kill or harm even more people in the future—for a physician, refusing to treat a patient is impossible; for a priest, refusing a believer who prays for help is also impossible... But we're different."
"You are?"
Iver pondered this. "Mages?"
"Not just mages."
Mage Maxim said seriously, "Our side simply doesn't recruit priests or physicians. Almost everyone else is welcome."
"...Now that really is strange."
Iver sighed. "The Cardinal Bishop's faction actually doesn't want priests."
"Because if we had people like that—sorry, Archbishop. I'm not speaking ill of you, but what I mean is... if an organization contains too many selfless people, they might instead lead us to do a lot of useless work.
"Compared to treatment, we advocate the safest form of dedication—the dedication of construction. Build more structures that can shelter people from wind and rain, provide them with more jobs, and establish welfare projects... Ensure that the elderly and children are cared for. That is dedication to society as a whole. Even after one generation passes, the next can still make use of it.
"Take Avalon's Silver and Tin Palace, for example, or your Round Table, with its heating and Irrigation System, as well as that beautiful Glass Staircase... Hundreds of years have passed, yet the things our Home Faction built back then are still useful today,