World of Disorder, Holy City.
The young clerk Samuer received a summons from the cardinal and immediately put down his work to go to the small confessional at the top of the church.
Cardinal Luxiusi sat upright on a cushion, like a living Buddha who had already passed away.
"My lord, I've arrived."
Samuer knocked on the door and entered, quietly awaiting the instructions of his cardinal and teacher.
" Samuer, do you remember what I told you before?"
What do you mean?
"That matter in Aduolin Province."
"Remember."
"It's time."
Luxiusi said calmly.
"Has the outcome been decided over there?"
Samuer asked in bewilderment.
Not yet, but it's coming soon.
The cardinal's tone carried a hint of expectation:
" The Stained Ones Knight Order of Sailesi are already on their way; we believe we'll see results before spring arrives."
"So you want me to...?"
"Yes, it's time to set off."
Luxiusi looked at his personally trained entourage:
"I know you've always had doubts about the Tree Worship Church's ideology after the Demonic Tide, and I hope this trip can answer your questions."
"Didn't you send me to help those rebels... 'rebels'? I thought I'd be setting off with a knightly order."
"No need, I believe they can win."
Luxiusi's eyes conveyed a complex mix of emotions:
I hope you can figure out what you truly want.
"Okay, I'll do my best."
Samuer bowed and asked again:
"After I leave, I will personally attend to the official duties..."
"Someone will temporarily fill in, so you don't need to worry. Is there anything else?"
"My lord, I would like to know... Lord Geliwusi's attitude toward this matter."
After hesitating for a moment, Samuer finally asked.
The core power of the Tree Worship Church is held by three cardinals.
Luxiusi clearly sided with the newly formed Second Holy See, seeing the unknown, suspected Tree God as the new hope for the world.
Sailesi, Stained Ones Knight Order, openly expressed his dislike for this newborn Son of God, adopting an attitude that "only Tree God Cultivation by oneself are true Tree God, and wild Tree God are false gods."
However, the last of the three, Geliwusi, remained neutral for a long time. As a cardinal with High Tier strength, it was impossible for Geliwusi to be completely unaware of the changes in the Aduolin Province.
But he neither chose to annihilate nor support them, appearing to be a neutral fence-sitter.
For a while at the beginning, this attitude could be explained by his lack of awareness, but now that half a year has passed and Luxiusi and Sailesi have started to play their cards openly, Geliwusi's attitude has naturally become the focus of attention.
Upon hearing the student ask this question, Luxiusi showed a rare smile of satisfaction.
Instead of answering the other person directly, he uttered a piece of advice that could be considered a truism:
" Samuer, it's not polite to demand a clear statement from someone. Geliwusi has his own merits for getting to this position. With such a person, don't look at what he says, but at what he does."
Samuer frowned slightly, sensing that his teacher didn't want to be completely upfront at this point; otherwise, why wouldn't he just tell him directly what Cardinal Geliwusi had done?
He thought for a moment and shook his head, saying:
"I have no further questions, Your Excellency."
"Then let's leave. You can choose when to depart."
Upon hearing this, the young official turned and left the confessional, closing the door behind him with the withered branch that had been growing out of his back.
After wandering among the solemn religious buildings for a while, Samuer returned to his small room.
The furnishings here are almost unchanged from when Baluo came to deliver the message. The only difference is that the brass mechanical bird, which was the size of a sparrow back then, is now about half the height of a human forearm. Clearly, Samuer did not let him lack nutrition.
" Icarus."
Samuer greeted him as he entered the room, and the large bird that was pecking at something flew up happily, flapped its wings twice, and landed on his shoulder.
"Get ready, we're going on a trip. You've never left the Holy City since you were born, you'll love the scenery."
The large bird tilted its head habitually and uttered a few words:
"Travel, looking forward to it, great!"
In the heart of the Holy City, at the Records Office, underground.
An elderly man dressed in a typical priest's robe was pushing a small cart loaded with documents that needed to be destroyed.
After passing through several heavily guarded gates, he finally arrived at another core area of Tree Worship Church —the document incineration chamber.
As the world's largest political entity since the Demonic Tide, the Tree Worship Church still has a multitude of complex and massive affairs, even though many regions are in a state of sustainable decline.
Before the Demonic Tide, the Tree Worship Church was just a simple sect that didn't need to handle so many affairs. But now, the sect has evolved into Theocracy, and matters large and small are naturally sent to the Holy City day and night to await judgment and punishment.
As the largest ghoul in the Northern Region, the Tree Worship Church, which inherited most of the kingdom's land, also inherited some of the kingdom's bad habits, namely some unsavory rules.
Generally speaking, all documents need to be preserved for a long time, but there are always exceptions. That's why there is a 24-hour incinerator in the basement of the church's Records Office, so that traces left behind by certain events can be disposed of.
The old priest pushed the cart through the last gate into the incineration chamber. The heat wave slapped against his face, making him miss the slightly cooler weather outside and making him even more eager to leave as soon as possible.
A priest, his robes stained with ashes, took the cart from his hands, exerted some effort, and then exclaimed:
"So much stuff to burn this time? What major event has happened outside?"
"I don't know, don't ask, don't say."
The old priest who delivered the cart remained tight-lipped about it, and watched as the other party took the cart and turned to leave.
He wasn't worried at all about the secrets in the documents to be destroyed being leaked, after all, the person who took the cart was the manager of the incineration chamber.
This is a lifelong position with no freedom whatsoever; one will be trapped in the underground of this Records Office for the rest of their life, working there until death to be free.
Seeing that the other party had no intention of speaking, the priest in charge of the crematorium stopped asking questions. He watched the old priest leave the crematorium, then pushed a cart full of documents to the incinerator, comfortably sat down in a recliner, and casually picked up a document by the firelight to begin reading:
Investigation Report on the Black Dragon Incident in Aduolin Province in the Year 908 of the Royal Calendar