Ed's lips twitched slightly, indicating that he fully understood Duolin and the others' loyalty to the Second Holy See, and that these valuable resources would certainly be used where they were needed, and so on...
Duolin recounted the situation in White Wax Town, and Ed learned quite a bit of new knowledge, but he had to pretend that he already knew all this, putting on a very painful act.
When Duolin asked what to do next, Ed did not give a direct answer, only telling him that he would know soon.
After finishing their business, Duolin did not leave the castle hall, but instead looked at Ed again:
"Your Excellency Bishop Adrian, I sensed an extremely powerful aura emanating from the young woman below the castle. May I ask who she is...?"
Ed feigned sudden realization and said:
"You mean her? Her name is Seraphina, a genuine Red Dragon, currently in charge of the Second Holy See's finances."
"... dragon."
Duolin repeated the words he rarely heard in the Holy City, and his mouth went dry.
No wonder I felt like I was being targeted; the other party was a real dragon. If they really wanted to kill me, killing me might just be a matter of a thought.
"Your Excellency, why are there foreigners within the Second Holy See? This does not conform to our doctrine..."
Duolin was puzzled by this. According to the doctrine, humans were the most devout believers of the Tree God, and those dark magicians who wanted to usurp the Tree God's Authority should be excluded.
But now, as the last hope of the Holy See, Bishop Adrian has thus admitted the fact that there is a dragon in the Second Holy See!
This confused him, and the confusion brought with it a deep-seated unease, a renewed wavering of his hard-won faith...
Ed, seeing the inquisitive look in his eyes, knew that this matter could not be simply brushed off, otherwise it would surely leave a seed of resentment in the heart of this devout and single-minded man.
So he finally stopped smiling and went to the back of the hall. He leaped onto the high platform in the middle of the stairs connecting the first and second floors and looked down at the five guards.
The midday sun streamed down from the castle's Shattered ceiling, bathing Ed in the warm light that shone through the stained glass windows of the Holy City Cathedral, making him appear almost divine.
Ed clasped his hands together, and the castle gates behind them made a heavy thud.
"Sit."
Dark vines had somehow wrapped around the ankles and calves of several people, and with this command, the vines quickly intertwined to form rattan chairs.
The five guards sat down, either willingly or unwillingly, and looked ahead, towards the high place at the far end of the hall.
Ed's left cheek was bathed in sunlight, making the saplings growing in his eye sockets appear even greener, while the other half of his face was hidden in shadow, as if trying to see through everyone's heart.
" Duolin."
He read out the names of those who had raised doubts.
Duolin looked intently at Ed; his faith in the Tree God was more devout than anyone else's, and no one could deceive him on this matter!
That's why he was even expecting Ed to explain his question, so he boldly responded:
"Exist."
Ed, above, nodded and asked the first question:
What is your educational background?
In this absurd medieval fantasy world, asking about someone's education level is itself a magical thing.
But Ed knew he had to do it because he knew nothing about the world and had to seize every opportunity to acquire more knowledge and enrich himself.
In the context of a post-apocalyptic era, asking about a person's education can easily reveal the extent of post-disaster reconstruction, just as in a zombie apocalypse, if you see a uniformly equipped exploration team, it's highly likely that humanity still has large strongholds.
This question is not unfounded. In the past two days of contact, Ed could clearly sense that Duolin's speech and behavior were not just those of a complete illiterate person. In addition to having received military training, he could at least understand things like Holy Scripture.
He wanted to find out exactly what was going on, and then tried his best to avoid answering any related questions—how would he know what was written in the Holy Scripture?
Duolin was below, wasn't particularly surprised by Ed's question. Although he had never heard of the word "educational background," he easily understood its meaning—it was just checking one's family background.
Within the Tree Worship Church, seniority and background are equally important components of a priest's identity, and Duolin, as a member of the old Holy City Academy with impeccable lineage, has a lot to say about this.
So, with a hint of smugness, he said loudly to Ed:
"Bishop Adrian, I graduated from the seminary in 905 of the Royal Calendar. These four were my classmates."
And the seminary... I learned something.
The seminary he mentioned wasn't named, suggesting that there's likely only one such seminary, and he should avoid giving himself away in casual conversation...
Ed was secretly taking notes in his mind while also clicking his tongue in disbelief. He felt that the other person's answer about their education was like a character in an ancient costume drama arrogantly showing off their qualifications, saying that they were a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) in a certain year. But was this something that should exist in a magical apocalypse?
So abstract, this world is really so abstract...
But Ed merely nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well, your academic qualifications give you the right to argue with me, and judging from your attitude, you seem to have complete confidence in everything you've learned."
The people below nodded, some frankly, some hesitantly.
Ed then looked at Duolin and asked:
"You just asked me why there are alien races in the Second Holy See. Well, let me ask you, are these alien races the children of the Tree God? Were they created by Him?"
This is also a trap question that Ed has carefully considered, because the cause and effect of the question are not actually clearly related, but at first glance it has the feeling of exaggerating the crime and trying to label someone.
This brings us to the political correctness of Tree Worship Church.
What is the Tree Worship Church worshipping?
Oh World Tree!
According to the logic of the Tree Worship Church, or rather, according to the World Tree's related settings, He should be the creator of everything, and of course, the sole "father" of all worlds, and the original "mother" of all life.
So any Tree Worship Church who dares to answer "no" to this question is truly asking for the stake.
So Duolin and the others immediately replied:
"Of course, all grace and all life originate from the great Tree God."
That's right. As a false open-ended question with only one correct answer, that's exactly what Ed was waiting for.
So he quickly pressed on with the question:
"Then why are only humans worshipping the great Tree God now?"