"If you give me a few votes, I'll be elected. Of course, I will also meet some of your demands. The man who said this was a cardinal with gray hair, a square face, and a long beard. As he spoke, his brow furrowed tightly, his cloudy eyes half-narrowed, and he seemed wary of Gray.

Gray sat across from him and watched him quietly.

About half an hour ago, a horse-drawn carriage had stopped at the back door of Gray's temporary residence. When he entered, the cardinal wrapped himself tightly in his cloak, revealing that he was a cardinal.

Darren IV.

This Gray has seen it, and more than once. When the Pope visited Isaac, he was part of his entourage. I had seen them when I was in the Holy See, but I never said a word to Gray.

Gesturing with his hands, he continued, "I know you can interfere with the decisions of Anthony III and the others, and besides, most of the bishops of the south will listen to you. As long as you give them a letter. I'm just missing a few votes, not much. Of course, this has to be done quietly, otherwise my approval rating itself will suffer. You know what I mean?"

Gray sat quietly and looked at Darren IV.

"Oh my God, they hate the Lich so much, the Pope, but can they cooperate with the Lich?" the black cat teased speechlessly, "Does this mean that they actually hate the Lich so much, or does it mean that the temptation of the Pope is too great?"

"I've read in books that hatred can cover the eyes of humans. Vivien whispered, "The two sides who are enemies of each other often end up just trying to defeat each other, and forget the purpose in the first place. ”

Gray looked at him quietly.

Presumably because Gray had been silent for so long that Darren IV thought Gray was hesitating, he continued: "The vast majority of people are in favor of revealing your identity, and you know, it will be very bad for you. And if I am elected as the new Pope, I will stop this from happening, just as I did before. All you have to do is vote for me. It's almost no cost, if you don't vote for me, do you want to vote for the people who are going to expose you?"

"So, why on earth are you revealing my identity?"

Asked this question by Gray, Darren IV was momentarily stunned: "This ...... Isn't that obvious? No one will accept a lich. Just as debunking your identity poses you a risk. Remember the Battle of the White City, why was Baird VI deposed, because he invaded the Duchy of Beshir? No, it was because he was in collusion with the Blood, and the evidence is conclusive. Collusion will not be tolerated, do you think people will accept you as a lich?"

"That's all?"

"Of course, there are other reasons as well. Some of your actions do not meet the needs of the Holy See. For example, the most fatal tax cut. You have lowered the income of the Holy See in the South, which will make almost all the clergy hostile to you. ”

"But tax cuts can increase the public's goodwill towards the Holy See and be very helpful for indoctrination. ”

"And then?" said Darren IV, looking at Gray in astonishment, gesturing with his hand, "and then? What will we get? These countries have already made us the state religion, and the increase in education has not only increased the church tax, but also decreased. What do you think the clergy will think? Do you think they'll support it?"

After saying this, probably Darren IV himself didn't feel right, and hurriedly corrected: "I know that people with pure faith shouldn't care about money. In fact, no cardinal cares about money, and no one on Mount Azrant is short of money. However, the pyramid cannot have only a spire. The pyramid is magnificent because it has a wide enough ground floor. I know you're going to say the populace, but, think about it, a raggedly dressed preacher versus a well-dressed preacher, who do you think the 'plain' populace would trust more?"

"I don't think you need to dress fanatically, you just need to be neat. ”

"It's just what you think. If you try to throw a copper plate and a gold coin on the street to see what the difference is? If there is no way to live better by believing in the Holy Spirit, why should a clergy become a clergy? We should be full of ideals, but we should not be detached from reality!" Darren IV was already a little impatient, but he said patiently: "We can discuss these issues later, maybe we will not be able to discuss them in a year or two." We don't have that time right now, and the vote is going to happen soon. I need you to give me an answer immediately. Support me?"

The wind blew softly through the window, and the candlelight flickered, shining on Darren IV's face and his cloudy eyes.

Gray watched Darren IV silently.

The house was full of vigilant Knights of the Silver Moon, and Jones and Dora even climbed onto the roof, vigilantly watching for suspicious people around them.

After a theory, Vivien and the black cat were silent. Speechless. It's not the kind of speechlessness that the other party's theories are impeccable, but the fact that each other's concepts are completely different, and they don't know where to start arguing and are speechless.

If it wasn't the Cardinal but someone else, Gray would have flipped the table and prepared for a duel.

After a while, Gray whispered, "So, if I give you the ticket, you won't reveal my identity and continue to support what I'm doing?"

"Nope. Darren IV waved his hand and said, "I can only guarantee that you will not be revealed." That's the most important thing, isn't it? For example, I just talked about the issue of teaching tax. You changed the southern canon tax to voluntary, change it back, that's the consensus of almost all clergy. The Holy See is already struggling to make ends meet. No one will support you, and neither can I. If I forcibly support you after ascending to the Pope's throne, then I may be in danger myself. You know what I mean?"

Gray remained silent and continued to watch Darren IV silently.

Darren IV cautiously walked to the window, lifted the curtain and looked out into the street, and said casually, "I hope your reaction will be quicker." You seem to like this silent way of negotiating, but there's not that much to think about, is it? I don't think my words are that difficult to understand. There's no way I'm going to stay here for long, after all, I don't want anyone else to know I'm coming for you. Especially those who support me. ”

"Understood. Gray replied softly.

"Can you give me an answer now?" asked Darren IV.

"I can't give you an answer right now, I need to think about it seriously. ”

"What else do you need to consider? The conditions are already so good, you can't get better terms from anyone else than I do. It takes time to send letters to the bishops of the South. It is not possible to wait until the vote is in voting. Seeing that Gray was still standing motionless, after a pause, Darren IV changed his words and said, "Well, I can give you time to think about it, but you must reply within tomorrow." Otherwise, even if we reach an agreement, it will be useless. ”

Gray quietly looked at the flustered Darren IV and said softly, "Okay, I will definitely give an answer tomorrow." ”

"I'm seventy-three years old, and it's almost impossible for me to wait for the next opportunity to miss this one. In this way, my ambitions were in vain. As soon as possible, it's good for both you and me. Darren IV saluted, turned and departed with his retinue.

Gray was the only one left in the room, and he sat quietly, staring into the candlelight, thinking.

"Ambition...... Why does it sound so ridiculous?" said the black cat hiding in the armor helplessly, "I will promise you not to reveal my identity, and I will promise the restoration of the original church tax to the other clergy." He probably promised everything he could...... What else is his ambition? Oh, yes, and that chair, the Pope's chair. Is there anything else to him besides that chair? Unfortunately, from what I just said, it seems that the other candidates are the same. Such a papal see, can I say that it is a blessing to be able to get out of a pope like Augsgoar III?"

"I thought they were resisting my lich status, but the most important thing was money? Almost all the clergy were against me because I had taken away their wealth. Only those who supported me like Anthony III did, and they were in the minority. Gray muttered to himself.

"It's normal. Vivien said helplessly: "Although Hell worships the Nine Sins, in fact, we have never deliberately promoted them. We're just here to mock Heaven's asceticism. But it is the human race, who has always carried the nine sins to the extreme. Especially greed. Human beings are like that, and the Holy Spirit is powerless. ”

"Should I let them go?" asked Gray.

Both Black Cat and Vivien were silent.

The wind was blowing softly, and everything around was quiet.

In the distance, the shouting of the coachman could already be heard. It was the coachman of Darren IV. This was followed by the sound of horses' hooves and wheels rolling.

Gray lifted the curtain and watched the carriage go away.

After a while, Jones and Dora came down from the roof. Carl also arrives at Gray's room.

Maintaining the posture of lifting the curtains, Gray quietly stared at the empty street outside, standing quietly, with his back to Jones, Dora, and Carl.

When the lich doesn't do anything, doesn't say anything, no doubt, it's thinking.

Black cat, Vivien continued to be silent. Time ticked by.

The mallet who got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet whistled past Gray's door, and was stunned for a moment when he saw that the door was open and everyone was standing motionless.

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

Gray stepped back step by step, turned around, and whispered, "How many people are still resting, all of them are called." ”

"Uh...... What are you going to do?" asked the mallet.

"Yes!" Karl had already saluted and turned to leave.

Without replying to the mallet, Gray turned to Vivien and said, "Help me get the armor map." Mount Azrante, and the map of the defense of San Lorenna. I need to know exactly how many troops there are and where they are. Also, the map, the map of Mount Azrante and the map of San Lorenna. ”

"Okay. Vivien replied and left quietly.

The mallet is still in a daze.

"What are you going to do? are you going to make a move?" asked the black cat.

Looking at the flickering candle flames, Gray replied softly, "I want ...... Talk to them. In the name of justice. ”

......

The Knights of the Silver Moon quietly began to assemble.

......

Silent night.

On Mount Azrant, Levi was still bored sipping wine.

"Shouldn't we keep on our guard?" asked the mustachioed paladin, holding a wine glass.

"No need. The best time to do it has passed, and if he really wants to do it, he will do it a long time ago. Levi replied, shaking his glass.

"But I don't understand why he didn't do anything because the Holy Spirit wouldn't allow him to do that?"

"Maybe. Maybe he wants to get out of here as soon as possible after the vote. After all, he still has enough strength in the south, and he won't be able to fall for a while. ”

"Could anyone have already talked to him privately? His votes, it is certainly impossible to be elected, but if there is a certain side...... What about offering some conditions to win his support?"

"There will definitely be people who will enlist his support, but he will certainly not agree. Because he's a fanatic. Levi still insisted on his judgment of Gray.

Several guardian angels were helpless.

They don't know what Gray is actually about because Heaven won't reveal it to them. However, they are well aware that Gray has a bigger secret than the Lich.

This secret is not something that Levi and they can afford to provoke.

......

The horse's hooves were tied with cloth. With his Silver Moon Knights with him, Gray took advantage of the night and quietly left the place where he lived. Vivien, who had disappeared, chased after the horse and floated beside him.

The landlord Spee, who was lying on the balcony, was terrified.

"What are you going to do?"

Belinda, who was floating far in the air, helplessly held her forehead.

On the other side, Zeda was smiling.

......

In the secret room, a large group of cardinals gathered together, foaming at the mouth, still doing all kinds of power exchanges and compromising with each other.

......

"Get out of the way! get out of the way of Lao Tzu——! do you hear!" the mallet walked ahead with the dwarf, and finally drove a road through the downtown area. Gray slowly passed through with the Silver Moon Knights.

The people around them craned their necks to watch, not knowing why.

Soon, they had passed through the downtown area and arrived at the junction of San Lorenza and Azrante. This is the outermost line of defense of the Holy See.

The Knights Templar soldier standing on the watchtower chuckled and shouted, "Who are you! What are you doing here late at night?"

A silver moon banner was opened, fluttering in the wind in the firelight.

The dozen or so Templars in charge of guarding the watchtower were dumbfounded, "This is, Paladin Gray?"

Riding forward step by step, until the bottom of the watchtower, Gray said in a loud voice: "I, Paladin Gray, due to the needs of the Sect, now, I ask to fulfill my duty as a saint and take over Mount Azrant!

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