Led by Anthony III, Gray walked step by step into the main hall of Mount Azrant.

The whole world seemed to turn gray, and all the delicacy and beauty were hidden in the shadows. Only in the center, where the sun shone brightly, lay quietly in the open coffin of Pope Augsg III.

There were people standing all around, but they were all silent, drowning in the shadows of light one by one.

On the four walls of the main hall stood nineteen statues of gods of various shapes, their faces quietly illuminated by the sunlight that penetrated through the dome.

Gray stepped forward.

The figures standing in Gray's way of being bowed, bowed, and saluted.

It wasn't until the coffin that Gray stopped, knelt down on one knee, and bowed his head. Pray silently in your heart for Augsg III.

Everything was quiet, no one spoke.

When the prayer was over, Gray was led aside again and stood with the others.

"Your Excellency, according to the regulations, the Pope's body will be buried the day after tomorrow. Until then, it will continue to be paid to mourners. During this period, all cardinals and paladins must take turns to take care of the body. And, of course, the saints. You'll also need to look after the body. There was no way you weren't there, but now you're here, and here you are this afternoon with a few other cardinals. Someone else will take your place in the evening. Also, you'll need to be here tomorrow afternoon. The clergyman in charge of the funeral master of ceremonies said to Gray.

"What exactly does it take to care of the body?" asked Gray.

"You don't need to do anything. There are other people who will do it, you just need to be here. Of course, if they need your cooperation to do something, I hope you will cooperate with them. ”

"Okay, may the Holy Spirit bless you. Gray reached out and drew a cross on his chest.

"May the Holy Spirit bless you. ”

Like the others, Gray stood silently, staring at Augsg III, who was lying in the coffin in the center. The sunlight falling from the sky shone on his face like holy light, but it never shone into the ravines of the years.

Every now and then, someone would walk in, kneel, pray, look at the remains, and then leave. All kinds of people keep repeating the same movements. The whole hall was silent.

Along with Gray, there were seven cardinals. They each stood in a corner, keeping a certain distance from Gray. Behind him was a vast group of clergy. Everyone just stayed quiet.

"Is this the Pope's funeral? The black cat complained in the armor: "It's been more than a month, and it's been so long, aren't they afraid that the corpse will break?"

"There was ice underneath the coffin. Gray replied softly.

Yes, there was ice under the coffin, and there were tiny ditches. The melted ice turned into water and flowed down the ditch. Every now and then, a cleric would come over and pour some small pieces of Xiaoice through the small hole next to it.

"Well, it's the Holy See after all. With money, and time, they can think everything through. Then again, Gray, what do you think of Augsg III?"

"Actually, I like him a lot. Although he had a different philosophy from me and we often argued in our letters, I thought he was a good person. He's just trying to keep things on hold that he thinks is important, and I'm causing him a lot of trouble. ”

"You can't be called trouble, what you did was right, and he is the Pope, how can you call trouble?"

Gray was silent, silently staring at the face of Augsg III.

After a while, he whispered, "He asked me a question. When I can only choose between the process of justice and the result of justice, what will I choose? ”

"What did you choose?" asked the black cat.

"I chose process justice. ”

"Uh...... Why do you choose process justice? I think normal people choose outcome justice. ”

"That's based on knowing that the outcome is justice. However, most of the time, we don't know whether the outcome is just or not. So if I had to choose, I would definitely choose process justice. At the very least, then we will have a righteous process. ”

"And then?"

"He said he would choose outcome justice. He may not be able to guess the outcome, but he will try his best. As a result, justice is what he needs to protect the most. Compromise, compromise, compromise again, compromise, compromise again. Although he had always been wrong about my affairs, that didn't stop him from continuing to do so. ”

"What else did he say?"

He said...... Reckless process of justice is more terrible than evil. We can sacrifice ourselves to righteousness, but we can't sacrifice others as well. We want to preach the sacred, and the greatest enemy is not hell, but human selfishness and superficiality. For the vast majority of people, it doesn't matter whether they are just right or not. The important thing is to live well. It is important that there be no war, no famine, as much as possible, no innocent people. And this world is exchanging all the time. People have to pay the price constantly. When some people are unwilling to pay the price, justice will become gray. Trying to keep the peace, like a scale, constantly weighing everything and then making a choice. This is the Pope's job. In fact, it is not sacred, and it is even a bit of a philistine. But that's how he is, he can only find a little solace in the occasional light. ”

"Did he mention anything about what you should do when he's gone?"

"A few months ago, he wrote to me, 'I feel the call of the Holy Spirit'. He said that after he left, let me be careful myself. There are many people in the Holy See who oppose me. He didn't want to see division, and he didn't want to see me suffer. But in fact, he couldn't stop both. ”

"Can you summon him out and talk? I mean his ghost. ”

"No, you can't. Souls who are accepted by Heaven or Hell do not become ghosts. ”

"Okay...... It's just that he can't stop it, and I don't think you can't stop it. After all, you have the power of the Demon Lord, don't you? No one can stop the power of the Demon Lord. Everyone can only obey. ”

Gray did not answer, but stood quietly, quietly staring at the face of Augsg III.

"I've walked all over Mount Azrant, and there's nothing out of the ordinary!" Vivien's voice sounded in Gray's head, "Except for some forbidden areas. I have to say that there are so many forbidden areas here, and I can't get into many places. It's strange that I can get into this hall. ”

Time ticked by.

Soon, it was dusk. The clergyman in charge of the funeral master of ceremonies came to Gray's side and whispered to Gray, "Your Excellency, the time has come, and you can change shifts." ”

"I'd like to stand again, okay?"

"Absolutely. ”

The other seven cardinals were replaced. Gray continued to stand in his original position, motionless. He was replaced by the whitebearded paladin.

He seemed startled when he saw Gray, and then quietly stood in the corner, not saying anything.

He stood for another hour, and did not leave his place until Anthony III had arrived, standing in the doorway and constantly glancing at Gray.

"Lord Paladin. ”

"Your Excellency. ”

The two men saluted each other. Anthony III turned sideways and made a "please" gesture.

Levi crossed his hands and stood quietly watching them from a distance.

"Is Anthony trying to be on his side?"

"Who knows?" replied the mustachioed paladin next to him.

......

Soon, Gray, led by Anthony III, came to a mansion on the mountainside of Mount Azrant. Walked straight into a room with all the windows closed.

There were already three cardinals gathered in that room.

After Gray sat down, the three cardinals, including Anthony III, surrounded Gray and watched curiously.

Anthony III cautiously asked, "Are you really ...... Lich?"

Gray didn't answer, just watched them quietly.

"Actually, it's no secret that you're a lich in the Council of Cardinals. His Holiness the Pope should have told you. We all know it, it's just that we haven't confirmed it with our own eyes, so we're just a little curious. Can you lift the mask and let us have a look?"

Gray simply took off his entire helmet.

In the dim red firelight, the white bones of the forest, and the iconic, overhead pull ring.

All of a sudden, one of the cardinals was so frightened that he almost screamed and quickly covered his mouth. The others were okay, although they were a little frightened, but they didn't perform so well.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I beg your pardon. The bishop was so frightened that he almost screamed.

"No, it doesn't matter. Gray said calmly, "When my wife first saw her, she reacted a lot more than you. I even thought at one point she was going to leave me. ”

"What about your married life...... Sorry, I'm just curious. ”

"You still have a child, is that child really yours?"

Anthony III coughed heavily, stopped the gossip-filled questions of the other three cardinals, and said softly: "Okay, you can put it on." Thank you for your trust in us. ”

Gray silently put the helmet back on.

"What do these four guys want to do, and what does it matter if Gray has children or not?" Vivien said in a huff.

"I think it's an ally. Black Cat said.

Taking out a letter from his robe, Anthony III handed it to Gray with both hands, and said softly: "The four of us have been entrusted by Pope Augsg to help you mediate relations with the Holy See after his death. Of course, we all know that it is impossible to mediate well. After all, the situation is a bit bad now, and we can only do our best. ”

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