A Scholar from Antiquity (Part Two)

Reilo wanted to learn something from the old man.

"Because of the Holy See and the times."

"The Holy See?"

The old man said, "The X Hunter organization was once a righteous organization that joined the Holy See in hunting down the Dark World. How could the Holy See have come into conflict with the organization? And what did you mean by 'the times'?"

"Because, to the Holy See of the past, scholarship was merely a harmless pastime for the nobility. But with the birth of the X Hunter Association, the Holy See saw the potential scholars held through the Dark World. Fearing their rule was under threat, it disbanded the organization to nip the danger in the bud."

Reilo was terrifyingly calm.

"But the organization's demise did not extinguish the thirst for knowledge. More and more wealthy, brilliant noble scholars emerged, eager to explore more powerful truths and knowledge. They gradually realized that faith would hinder their quest. Faced with a choice between reason and faith, these scholars abandoned their faith, and scholarship was no longer a mere hobby. They communicated with one another in secret and made scholarship a profession passed down through their families. Academic knowledge became a form of wealth, handed down from generation to generation."

The old man looked stunned.

He sat there in a daze for a long time.

Reilo saw no trace of pretense in him. The power within the old man seemed to come naturally, yet Reilo could not assess it through scholarly means.

With that in mind, Reilo continued, "After that came the Golden Age of scholars, ushered in by the Three Original Pioneers. They pioneered a whole new worldview, divided scholarly degrees into different ranks, and organized knowledge into categories. They also mobilized national resources to establish national academies of