What the hell is this guy here for?

Looking at the new Archbishop Bang Harmsworth, who was gobbling up, Soth couldn't help but feel a wave of astonishment in his heart.

I have to say that just a few days later, the appearance of this Bishop Harmsworth seems to be too miserable, not to mention that the red hat on his head, which is the symbol of the cardinal, has long been gone, and even the red robe full of wrinkles everywhere has been stained in a few stains, especially under the ribs, and the hem of the garment has been scratched open a few cracks, plus he has a few grass clippings, His withered yellow hair, his dusty face, and worse, his bad eating appearance that is choked from time to time because of gobbling up, where is there still half a bit of majesty as the twelve cardinal archbishops of the Holy See?

"Uh......" Suddenly, the priest's movements stopped.

"Choking again?" said the girl, Bella, carefully handing over a curved jar of water and looking at the priest with surprised eyes.

"Ah, I'm sorry...... I'm sorry," said Father Bang, scratching his head in embarrassment, "I've been hungry for days along the way, and it's really ......"

"Hehe......" Bella smiled reluctantly with a somewhat stunned expression, and beside her, the little boy Aggie held a dead branch and poked the holes in Father Bang's red robe from time to time.

"Aji, don't be like this, it's so rude!"

Faced with his sister's questioning, the little boy pouted, then looked at Father Bang and asked curiously, "Why did your clothes become like this, did you roll down the mountain?"

"Uh......" Father Bang's expression was full of embarrassment, and he stretched out his right hand to make a small gesture, and said in a curt, "When I got lost, I unfortunately encountered a group of mountain wolves, and when I was chased by them, I didn't pay attention, but I didn't pay attention, and slightly, my feet slipped a little......"

"Haha, that's stupid!" the little boy gloated, ignoring his sister's accusatory look.

"Heh, hehe......" Father Bang scratched his head and laughed involuntarily.

"Alas!" looked at this seemingly harmonious scene, Soth covered his forehead weakly.

As the twelve cardinal archbishops of the Holy See, how incompetent are they to be chased by a group of wild beasts?

Seeing the girl Bella and her brother Aji carrying the rest of the meat from the stream, Soth glanced at Father Bang and frowned and asked, "Is it just you, but what about the others?" he was referring to the priests and monks who accompanied him.

Seeing Soss's question, Father Bang immediately put away his smile, and said in the same cautious tone as he treated his boss, like a report, "I am the only one who came to the Central Holy See this time, so the Holy See has specially sent me a few outstanding priests as an entourage, and the order given to me is to meet [Rimi], but I really don't know where Rimi is...... They said it was northwest, so I walked northwest, but I didn't find any ...... until I got there."

"You're going too far, idiot!" Thoss rolled his eyes speechlessly.

"Well," said Father Bon with a wry smile, scratching his head, "I didn't expect such a mistake in the first major mission, but fortunately I met Your Excellen......cy," he said, and he paused, looked at Soth and asked curiously, "Why is His Excellency Kleist here, I remember that you were ...... by His Majesty the Pope" At this point, he couldn't go on.

Because Soth was looking at him with cold eyes, and said in a somewhat threatening tone, "What?

"No, no!" Feeling the chill behind him, Father Bang's body subconsciously leaned back, swallowed his saliva, and waved his hands indiscriminately and said, "Absolutely no such meaning, I'm just curious, just curious......"

"Huh, shut up!"

"Yes!" Seeing that the other party was no longer pursuing it, Father Bang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, after all, he was also present in the conference room that day, although he was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but the other party dared to fight other archbishops, and even His Majesty the Pope in the Supreme Council of the Holy See, especially the powerful power he possessed, and he was not at the same level as himself who had only mastered a few of the most basic white magic and a little holy power.

Looking at the young man, and then at himself, Father Bang sighed helplessly, and then seemed to remember something, and asked curiously, "I heard that your Excellency Kleist has three stigmata?" As soon as he finished speaking, seeing a glance in the other party's eyes, he quickly added, "It's just curiosity, it's just curiosity......

"Hmph," said Soth with a light snort, "yes, so what?—it's just that he's gained the power that belongs to someone else!"

"That can't be said!" Father Bang said with a look of surprise, "The cultivation of the Holy See is originally much slower than that of the Imperial Black Magicians, especially the faith, which is accumulated bit by bit, if you say that you have obtained the power that belongs to others, then most of the outstanding figures in the Holy See are like this, right? The power of angels, that is the ...... that has become stronger bit by bit in several generations, even more than ten generations, dozens of generations."

"Oh?" said Soth, glancing at Father Bon in surprise, "it seems that you already know some secrets of the Holy See!"

"After all, I am now a cardinal, and I have enough authority to know what I have been confused about before," said Father Bang, smiling with a slight regret, "but it is a pity that the power of angels is limited to man's own strength, and even if he is firm in his faith, he cannot master this power without outstanding talents...... I didn't think it before, thinking that the angel coming was just a kind of magic, alas, it's a pity......" As he spoke, he turned his head to Soth, and said with a little envy, "If you talk about your own strength, Your Excellency Kleist is probably the first person in the Holy See, and no one has ever been able to hold the powerful holy power of three stigmatas, even His Majesty the Pope......" Speaking of this, he may have realized the disrespect for the Pope in his words, and quickly closed his mouth.

"Envy?" Glancing at the other party lightly, Soth said with a bit of mockery, "If you always have this mentality, then the next person to be tempted by infinite ** will be you!"

"I guess it's just admiration," to Soth's surprise, Father Bon smiled wistfully, looked into the distance and muttered, "I, I have no talent since I was a child, let alone not as good as Your Excellency Kleist, even if I am an ordinary priest, I can't compare to me, to be a cardinal is like a dream...... Even if I have no strength, my faith is still strong, and I can still be used as a guide for those helpless people, and the light of God can come and go for them!--The doctrine of the Holy See is the benevolence of all things in the world, regardless of the love of one another, the holy power, is only one of the powers that God has given us to fight against the power of darkness, and firm faith and the will to never compromise on the power of darkness are our most powerful weapons!"

"God?" said Soth, smiling sarcastically, his left eye shining with a silver striking, "Have you seen your so-called god?"

"Huh?" Father Bon was stunned, apparently unable to understand Soth's words.

"Looks like you haven't seen it yet...... Well, you haven't had a chance to meet ...... yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Give up this kind of boring reverie, there is no real god! Your so-called faith and will can only show weakness in the face of a powerful enemy!--without strength, you can't do anything!" As if thinking of some bad memory, Soth's mood seemed a little low, lying on the ground with his hands on his pillow, staring blankly at the starry sky.

Suddenly, the seemingly weak and incompetent priest beside him said in a serious tone, "I can't agree!—please take back your words!"

"Why, do you want to fight?" Soth smiled mockingly, just releasing a little bit of holy power, and its oppressive force made Father Bon unable to move.

However, the inexplicable man did not flinch this time, and always looked at Soth with a determined look.

Influencing others with love that does not distinguish between them? What kind of thinking is this?

Shaking his head, Soth withdrew a little of the holy power he had released, looked at the panting Father Bon and said lightly, "The momentum is good, but that's just it!--If the strength is strong, Salonia would have been swallowed up by the Imperial Dark Mage a long time ago, and it is your turn to make ridiculous and childish remarks here?"

"Uh......" Father Bang was a little dumbfounded when he recalled the tragedy of the one-year war, but he still said to himself, "I don't think the peace that can be bought by strength can last long, the world ...... This world will surely usher in a new era, an era in which the people can show their smiling faces without strength, and when the Holy Force will no longer be a weapon for the Holy See to deal with the dark forces and even the dark magicians, but simply as a guarantee for the people's stable life as it has done in the past! When the believers are sick, we can treat them, and when the disciples are confused, we can show them the way! - That's enough!"

"......" looked deeply at Father Bang, who had a serious expression on his face, and said perfunctorily, "Well, well, yes, yes, I believe that the world should be very beautiful, then you can do your best, Archbishop Bang Harmsworth!" As he spoke, he raised his head and pointed to his brother and sister who were cleaning wild boar by the stream, and said lightly, "But before that wonderful world comes, you can rely on your so-called faith to influence the local priest of Arabel......

"Uh......" Father Bang was silent.

He had also heard about the two siblings of Bella and Aggie in the conversation just now, and personally, he was a little dissatisfied with the attitude of the Arabellum Fortress towards the refugees of the Empire, knowing that whether it was the Empire or Salonia, as long as the people with good hearts should be believers in the Lord, just for food or local discrimination, or because those people had the possibility of being influenced by evil forces and turned them away, the new archbishop was also a little unbearable, after all, when he was in the port of Polisnia, he had an attitude of contacting those criminals and guiding them to the right path, otherwise he would not have such prestige in the southeast harbor area。

However, the Arabelle Fortress is not a Polisian harbor, it is an important battlefield in the war of the year, and it is the forefront of the Holy See's resistance to the Empire, not to mention that the inhabitants here are prejudiced against the Imperial newspaper, even the local church is a radical with a discriminatory attitude, and even worse, there are thousands of crusaders stationed here, in order to resist the Empire, the Holy See's teachings on the crusaders can almost be said to be radical among the radical, perhaps only slightly better than the Holy Inquisition, after all, it is an army, and soldiers without fighting spirit can only die on the battlefield。

"Why?" Soth sneered.

"I see," said Father Bon solemnly, looking directly into Soth's gaze, "leave this matter to me, and I will let you, Lord Kleist, know my consciousness!"

"Huh?" Soth asked, stunned, "what do you want to do?" even if you negotiate as a cardinal, it will not necessarily succeed, and those old fellows of the Holy See will definitely hold several meetings over and over again...... Hey, I've seen a lot of this kind of thing!"

"I can't wait that long," said Father Bang with a smile, glancing at his siblings by the stream, "Among the Imperial refugees who were rejected from Arabel's Gate, there should be villagers or relatives they are familiar with, right?"

"Well, yes, but it should be just villagers, relatives...... The father and mother sneaked into Salonia from a precipitous place with their two children, and only they escaped, and their parents were still captured by the crusaders and sent back to the city of Arabel, so before all the world smiles, try to make these two little imps smile!"

"I see!—maybe it's God's guidance, deliberately making me lose my way......"

"Hey, you're trying to say that being chased by a pack of wolves is also God's guidance, and it's your own incompetence, okay?—anyway, you can try to open that fortress!"

"Well, I'll do it!" said Father Bang, as if he had thought of something, and looked at Soth lying on the ground, and said in amazement, "you...... Aren't you coming with me, Lord Kleist?"

"What do you want to do if I go in person?" said Soth, rolling his eyes, and said speechlessly, "aren't you trying to prove to me that you can solve the problem without relying on force? Besides, do you think it's appropriate for me to be in such a place now? Or do you want to know if I'm sure I'll get through that fortress?"

"......" Father Bang couldn't help but laugh bitterly, and just thinking about it, he knew what the other party meant by [bad things], after all, this big man was now wanted.

--After Dawn, Alabel Fortress - Arabel is the most famous fort in Thessalonia, and one of the strongest lines of defense, built primarily to defend against the invasion of the Empire, where the Empire's impregnable iron hooves fell eighteen years ago.

The Arabell's Line is not just a fortress, but refers to a fence that is hundreds of miles long including the city, in this area, there are small energy reaction towers, once the energy reaction other than the holy force is detected, then the crusaders stationed nearby will be dispatched to send those who cross the border back to the imperial area north of the defense line as appropriate, or kill them on the spot.

With a standing crusader force of 3,000 and about 20,000 inhabitants, Arabelle was indeed one of the few large cities in Thessalonia, and its defensive power was not inferior to that of Galik, the northern fortress of the Empire, and there were enchantments in many places.

Unlike the black mage's barrier, the barrier of Salonia is almost not lethal to ordinary people, even if it is touched, it is only a pain like a weak electricity, but the blocking force of the dark power is much greater, if it is forced to pass, it is bound to cause serious damage, which is one of the reasons why Soth chose to pass through the fortress, after all, the holy power in his body is in a delicate balance with the dark power, once this balance is broken, the power of Sloth will reappear and affect him, especially when he is injured。

Arabell's administrator was a local bishop named Zoe Lear, a well-known priest of the Holy See in his sixties, who had performed very well in the One Year War, but even so, the veteran bishop did not have the honor of becoming a cardinal attached to the Central See, because he was a radical among the radicals, and had a discriminatory attitude towards the Empire, believing that it was some pagan abandoned by God.

It is undoubtedly quite difficult for such a person to willingly open the gates of the fortress to save those imperial refugees, and even worse, if he is just an ordinary priest, perhaps Archbishop Bang Harmsworth can force him to obey orders by virtue of his status, but if the other party is an old priest who is above him in terms of seniority, prestige, and ability, it will be even worse.

Sure enough, when the local bishop of Zoe Lear heard that Bon Harmsworth had arrived, he was very casual...... "Bon Harmsworth?

"Well, I heard that he only recently became a cardinal...... "The priest next to him reminded in a whisper.

"Oh, cardinal, let him in!"

Let him in...... The arrogance of a local bishop to say that he would let in a cardinal who was subordinate to the central government, instead of personally greeting him, is enough to show his arrogance.

However, he does have arrogant capital, after all, he is the local priest who has been in charge of Arabel for twenty or thirty years, and in a way, his role and energy are no less than that of a cardinal.

On the contrary, the new archbishop was a little reserved, and when he entered the splendid local church with Bella and Aggie, he looked a little uneasy.

"You...... Hello, Bishop Zoe Lear, I'm Bon Harmsworth!" looked at the slightly bloated old priest, who had not yet adapted to his status, and was the first to speak.

"Ah, you are Archbishop Bon Harmsworth," said Zoe Lear, squinting and smiling, glancing at the two little children beside Bong, "I have heard of all your glorious deeds, great junior...... So, I wonder what is the important thing for His Excellency the Archbishop to be here today?"

"Uh...... "I was ordered by His Majesty the Pope to go to the Empire to negotiate with Fandel, and when I passed through your city, I heard that a large number of Imperial refugees had gathered outside the city of Arabel, and I didn't know ......"

"Ah, this matter," said Zoe Lear with a smile and a casual nod, "there is indeed such a thing, I wonder what His Excellency the Archbishop commands?"

"I don't dare to take orders, I just think, is it more in line with the purpose of our Holy See to open the city gates to accommodate these refugees?"

"......" Zoe Lear's eyes sharpened a little, frowned, and said unceremoniously, "Your Excellency is saying that what I said and did was contrary to the purpose of the Holy See?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Bang hurriedly waved his hand and whispered, "I just think that the purpose of the Holy See is to save those who need to be saved and bring them the glory of God, and recently the empire has been in civil strife, and innocent people have been implicated because of it, and they have traveled long distances to come here to seek our help, this is the best time to proclaim the mercy of our Lord, why should we turn them away?" The Lord said, "Those who believe in me will have eternal life, and as long as they have good intentions in their hearts, they are the Lord's people, and how can we, as servants of the Lord, close the door of eternal life without permission?"

"Hehe, worthy of a cardinal," Zoe Lear clapped his hands with a smile, and suddenly changed the subject, pointing to Bella and Aggie, "these two children are?"

Looking at the slightly frightened expressions on the faces of the two children, Bon Harmsworth smiled slightly and comforted in a low voice, "Don't worry, it's okay, you will be reunited with your relatives soon!" he said, he raised his head and told him about the two children, but omitted the matter of Soth.

"Oh, so these two children are not from Salonia, but from the Empire, Your Excellency the Archbishop, I'm sure you've heard about the recent years, even the staunch clergy in our Holy See have been tempted by demons, and the Empire is the first to bear the brunt, but it's already a swamp of darkness......" Zoe Lear narrowed her eyes.

As if sensing the other's unkindness, Bon Harmsworth subconsciously protected the two children behind him, and said confrontedly, "Your Excellency's words, I dare not agree, after all, there are only a few people who are bewitched by the evil forces, how can you turn away countless innocent people in need for the sake of just one or two people? I would like to ask Your Excellency to open the door of Arabel immediately and help those in need!"

"......" Looking at Bon Harmsworth's serious and serious expression, Zoe Lear took a slight breath, and suddenly changed the topic and said, "Your Excellency the Archbishop must be tired all the way here, why don't you rest in the church for the night, please!"

"Uh, this ......"

Before Bang Harmsworth could finish speaking, the priest from the side came up, raised his hand and said, "Please!"

"Okay...... Then I'll come back tomorrow to disturb you......" said Bon Harmsworth, and Bon Harmsworth followed the priest with Bella and Aggie.

Looking at the back of their departure, Zoe Lear's eyes lit up, and he snorted heavily, and said contemptuously, "It's just an ordinary local priest in a poor harbor, who doesn't know what kind of good fortune he has received to become a cardinal, and dares to dictate to me by virtue of his status!" - What did Archbishop Naomi Metmente say?"

"I've already contacted Archbishop Naomi Metmente with the Philosopher's Stone," a priest whispered, "The archbishop doesn't know why His Majesty the Pope appointed this guy as the new cardinal, but this guy has little reputation in the Central See, so you can ignore it, and besides, the archbishop asked the bishop to keep a close eye on the latest developments in the Empire, and when the time comes, he will persuade the other cardinals to completely liberate the empire and bring it under our Holy See!"

"Well, what about this Bang Harmsworth?"

"What the archbishop means is that you will have full authority over everything here, and as for the new cardinal, he will come and persuade ......"

"Good!"

At the same time, Bon Harmsworth took the two children, Bella and Aggie, to the room where they were temporarily resting, and comforted them with gentle words, dispelling their fears and uneasiness.

But every half an hour, a priest came and knocked on the door, saying that there was a communication from Archbishop Neomi Metment.

Skeptical, Bon Harmsworth did not dare to slack off and followed the priest to the room where the church used to communicate.

Archbishop Neomi Metmente simply told Bon Harmsworth not to meddle in the affairs of the local church and to do his duty first, in other words, to let him be nosy and negotiate with the dark magicians.

A few simple words had dampened most of the enthusiasm of the new archbishop, but when he returned to his room, he heard that the two children, Bella and Agina, had been sent back to the fortress of Arabel.

Bon Harmsworth felt a little angry in his heart, and he immediately returned to church to ask Zoe Lear about it, but this time, Zoe Lear didn't even see him, and just sent him away with a small bag of gold coins and a bag of food, which made Bon Harmsworth very angry.

He left Arabel in silence, but instead of doing his duty towards Vander, he stayed with the Imperial refugees outside the city to protest what Zoe Lear was doing.

A cardinal of the Holy See protesting against Zoe Lear, who is also a clergyman, among the refugees of the Empire, is the worst scandal that will affect the reputation of the Holy See.

One day, two days, until the third day, the new cardinal did not leave, and continued to make silent protests, in a way, worthy of the cardinal of Thessalonia, in addition to his firm faith, he seemed very stubborn in his moral bottom line and behavior.

For this reason, Bishop Zoe Lear was very angry, he had no good feelings for Bon Harmsworth, after all, since St. Charles George stepped down from his position as cardinal and left the Holy See eighteen years ago, he had always hoped that the glory of God would come to him, but he did not expect that three years ago, the Central Holy See would give that glory to a young imp, and Zoe Lear was very dissatisfied with this.

Thankfully, with the death of Archbishop Andrew Ashwarn, there was another cardinal vacant, and just as Zoe Lear was expecting this, Bon Harmsworth appeared, robbing him of his last glimmer of hope...... Compared with that little ghost, Zoe Lear has more dissatisfaction with Bon Harmsworth, after all, the name [Wormon Kleist], Zoe Lear has been quite concerned about it in the past few years, and while paying attention, he has gradually learned that this little ghost who controls both the Inquisition Bureau and the Dark Inquisition, whether it is power or his own strength, is not something he can afford to provoke, even his direct boss Naomi Metmente has nothing to do with him, but what about Bon Harmsworth?

He is just an ordinary local priest with mediocre political achievements and mediocre abilities, so what qualifications does he have to become a cardinal? What qualifications does he have to dictate to himself? What qualifications do he have to oppose his own resolutions?

In a fit of rage, Zoe Lear ordered the Crusaders to be sent to drive the Imperial refugees gathered outside Arabel further north.

But no sooner had the order been given than suddenly a priest hurried in...... "Who? Who do you say wants to see me?" and Zoe Lear seemed to have not heard the name in such astonishment that he did not seem to hear the name clearly.

"It's Walmont Kleist!"

"......" Zoe Lear opened her mouth silently and paced a few steps around the room uncertainly, seemingly hesitant.

One of the priests was a little puzzled by this, and said in astonishment, "If the Bishop does not want to see him, it is enough to send him back, like that Bang Harmsworth......

"That can't be done," said Zoe Lear, with a slight sigh and shaking her head, "you don't know that imp, although he is also a cardinal, but that imp is different from Bon Harmsworth......"

"Hmm?" said the priest, who was stunned for a moment, and then said hurriedly, as if remembering something, "I remember, wasn't this lucky imp removed from the cardinal's office for disobeying orders......?"

"I heard about this from Archbishop Naomi Metmente the other day, and the archbishop also said, don't provoke this little ghost, if he wants to pass through Arabel, just turn a blind eye and let him go......"

"This ...... Why?"

"Because that little imp ......," Zoe Lear sighed helplessly, shook his head, and said, "All in all, as long as he doesn't make a clear act of defiance to the Holy See, we can't do anything about him...... But I'd like to meet this little ghost!---Anyway, in Arabel, I don't dare to go too far, let him in......"

As he was talking, there was a commotion outside the hall, and then, an overwhelming powerful momentum pressed over with an incomparably rapid momentum, and before Zoe Lear could react, a young man in a black and red uniform walked in with black boots, and the "stepping" footsteps seemed to ring the alarm bell in the hearts of everyone in the hall.

Glancing at Zoe Lear with eyes that didn't wait for any emotion, the young man said lightly, "The threshold of your local church is really high!"

"Uh......" Feeling the tremendous pressure, Zoe Lear waved his hand to make the priests who were surrounding each other but did not dare to step forward, and said with a smile, "Your Excellency is Lord Wormon Kleist......

"Oh yes, that's what you just said [that little ghost]!"

Feeling the coolness of the words, Zoe Lear swallowed uneasily, and a few drops of sweat oozed from his forehead.

After all, this guy in front of him ...... No, this lord is different from the Bang Harmsworth before him, absolutely different!

(To be continued)