Theus could accept a Candlelight Society church on his territory, but if that church covered all of Castel, that was an entirely different matter.
Whether it was the Candlelight Society or the Silent Temple, Theus had no intention of allowing them into Castel's core of power. The Moth Chasing Flame was no exception.
Theus had offered the Moth Chasing Flame fairly generous terms, allowing them to live in Castel and providing them with protection, but he had strictly limited their proselytizing.
Chloe had paid a considerable price in private to obtain Theus's permission for Gaia to join the Moth Chasing Flame. She was the first—and only—believer since the Moth Chasing Flame officially joined Castel.
Theus had always treated churches with the utmost vigilance. Any church, any faith—he would not take any of them lightly.
Chloe had complained about it many times, but Theus had never relented. He had even hoped that she would turn the Moth Chasing Flame into a more academic organization.
Well, the two sides did have some disagreements on that point. In Chloe's view, the Moth Chasing Flame had survived until now because of its sufficiently rigorous organization. If he wanted them to abandon that, Theus first had to prove that Castel truly had the ability to shelter them.
That was a perfectly reasonable demand, so for now, both sides had set aside their differences and focused on cooperation. The Moth Chasing Flame had basically stopped actively proselytizing, and Theus had also given up on making further demands.
Thinking of this, Chloe had no doubt that Theus could really establish a new sect. She felt that he was somewhat overly hostile toward other churches.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be a church." Theus frowned and slowly said, "To be honest, I don't want to establish a new