Pastor's Tantra

Chapter 525 Controlled Fire

"...What if it's Gray?"

After a brief silence, Aiwass suddenly spoke.

He looked at Cardinal Matilda and repeated: "What if the person here is Her Royal Highness the Saint?"

Hearing this, Matilda hesitated for a moment.

Without waiting for her to respond, Aiwass continued softly: "If Her Royal Highness the Saint will encounter trouble or danger because of this matter, then this will not be an accident."

He looked at Matilda and asked, "Is it... Ningpa?"

——This is a very good time to give Aiwass the opportunity to align the intelligence and get into this incident.

Although Aiwass knew some information himself, it would not be easy for him to use it if he did not obtain it again through legal channels. Now is the perfect opportunity to "launder" this advanced intelligence.

Hearing this, Sherlock was shocked.

He is still thinking about the murderer's purpose. Has Aiwass already reached this point in his reasoning? !

There are obviously so many missing clues and so many possibilities. But Aiwass was extremely certain that this was the murderer's attempt to catalyze the Pure White Saint's Ningpa... It would be better to say that he would actually give priority to the possibility that "the Saint would develop Ningpa" immediately.

It's like answering the question with the answer.

But considering Aiwass' prophet-like ability, Sherlock chose to remain silent for now.

…Maybe that’s really the case.

But Cardinal Matilda had no special reaction to this.

She breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to feel a little more relaxed: "You have indeed discovered it... that's right. After all, that fruit is what grows on you. I'm afraid it's impossible that you don't understand it at all."

After all, their reactions at the time were so strange that they could tell something was wrong just by thinking about it.

"I probably can't hide this from you, but I can't tell you directly. After all, this is Gray's secret... and it's very important."

Cardinal Matilda bowed seriously to the three of them: "Please don't leak this matter."

"The most important thing is to say..."

Sherlock narrowed his eyes and caught the key words of concern: "If this matter spreads, it will cause trouble to Her Majesty the Saint, right."

He suddenly thought of something: "Is it... that the Pure White Saint will succeed to the throne?"

Cardinal Matilda glanced at Sherlock in surprise and nodded in admiration: "Yes, it will be next month.

"That's why I said, don't worry about advanced magic. Because there will be big events in the Theocracy next."

……event?

Why do I feel like this is such a big trouble...

Sherlock muttered in his mind.

But given his character, he became interested in this kind of difficult problem - he wouldn't touch anything that wasn't troublesome.

"I have another question," Sherlock asked again, "If the Saint Ningbo incident is exposed, will it have a negative impact on the successor to the Pope?"

"It's fair to say... it's going to be very controversial."

Cardinal Matilda nodded: “Especially, the recent ‘Controlled Fire’ movement.”

"Controlled fire?"

Sherlock had never heard of this name at all.

"——Light and fire are the sacred symbols of the Theocracy, and compared with light, flame is undoubtedly more dangerous. And its danger comes from its freedom."

The person who answered was not Cardinal Matilda, but Aiwass: "Controlled fire refers to the control of flames that can produce light but also burn humans."

He said, pointing to the flame lamp on the table.

The flame stored in the glass is the same flame that never wavered "as if it were just a picture": "This is the 'Controlled Fire'. It itself is the 'Controlled Fire' movement. When the movement was launched, it was controlled by Controlled Fire's nationwide replacement. A safer, 'cooler' fire. Even children won't be hurt if they touch it."

"...You quite understand it."

Cardinal Matilda was a little surprised: "Everyone knows this kind of thing."

Aiwass nodded modestly: "After all, it has been more than ten years."

This is not advanced intelligence in the game - this is something taught in the school's seminary. This is also an example of the rule in Avalon that no fire is allowed to be lit in the church.

There is something sacred about lighting a real flame, but it is different if you are just summoning an imaginary fire.

"...It's been more than ten years."

Hearing this, Cardinal Matilda sighed a little: "I feel like it was last month."

"It sounds like it's just an organization calling for the replacement of light sources."

Sherlock asked: "Do they have any other claims?"

"--have."

Cardinal Matilda nodded solemnly: "That's what we just talked about, about inheritors and professionals. They have more radical ideas about this."

Sherlock reacted: "They want elves to become professionals?"

"That's right."

"why?"

"It's simple," Cardinal Matilda replied, "because of Ningpa."

"...Ningpa?"

"That's right. When [Controlled Fire] was formed, it was because Cardinal Loki collected data from an investigation report.

"The data shows that the number of inheritors' Ning amber is much greater than that of professionals - not a few percent, but a gap of more than ten times. In the past hundred years, the proportion of inheritors' Ning amber has accounted for that of all elves. 96%.”

"...Isn't this wrong?"

Sherlock intuitively realized that there was something wrong with this report without Aiwass opening his mouth: "Didn't you just say that the number and status of inheritors are greater than those of professionals?"

"This is also the original source of this report. Although the Theocracy advocates inheritors, after all, the profession has been around for thousands of years. There are still many elves who cannot get the inheritance... In your words, professional elves are equivalent to 'commoners' .Because their parents do not know powerful extraordinary beings, they cannot give them a better inheritance.

"Originally, they could only become real civilians, protected by extraordinary beings; or they could go deep into the dream world and take risks to find their own path. But after the birth of the professional system, they have the opportunity to become professionals.

"Just ten years ago, the ratio of existing elf professionals to inheritors in the church reached exactly 1:1. Cardinal Loki wanted to trace this phenomenon and investigate the differences between the two groups. As a result, he accidentally discovered The ratio of professional elves to amber is much smaller."

"...It's hard to say."

Aiwass shook his head: "It may be self-selection bias."

“Self-selection bias?”

Sherlock asked subconsciously.

But before Aiwass could answer, he reacted: "Oh, that's a good word."

"Yes. Elves who are willing to become professionals are active or passive, but generally speaking, their personal thoughts and families are relatively open, and there are not so many traditionalists. They are more active and curious about short-lived species. The proportion of people who live a different life and are willing to be exposed to different lives will naturally be lower.”

Aiwass also frowned slightly: "Although this 96% data... is a bit shocking."

"So Cardinal Loki believes that the 'professional system' is not meaningless to elves - it can impregnate and solidify the soul and can effectively prevent and even treat leprosy. Therefore, he took the lead in changing professions to become professionals and formed a group of elves. Controlled Fire. Other members of Controlled Fire are also advanced people who are willing to accept this idea and try to innovate the elven tradition through the professional system..."

Having said this, Cardinal Matilda subconsciously glanced at the body of Bishop Mercedes on the ground.

"Sounds pretty good."

Sherlock commented.

"So I don't have any prejudice against them."

Matilda covered her forehead with some trouble: "But the only problem is...'Saint' is not a profession. They must be trained from an early age, accept complex educational inheritance, and choose the best one from dozens of people." . So one of the claims of Controlled Fire is that the pope no longer chooses from saints - because the existence of saints is equivalent to the Theocracy encouraging the inheritance system."

"...But I remember that a cardinal can theoretically be the eternal pope, right?"

Aiwass asked.

He remembered that the Theocracy had such a setting, but he was not sure if it was.

"It's just theoretical."

Before Cardinal Matilda could answer, the corners of Shylock's mouth rose sarcastically: "Just like the knights of the Round Table Hall can theoretically decide the bill through voting."

"That's it. Theoretically, the pope is elected through election, but each cardinal manages a different ring and has very different ideas. No matter who is elected in the cardinal hall, he will be rejected by other cardinals with a high vote. Only the Holy Spirit is elected. Women are the best choice..."

Matilda obviously takes this for granted: "After all, the saints have taken over the work of the pope a long time ago. They are actually the real popes. Becoming the pope is equivalent to retreating to the rear. Becoming the guidance of the new saint That’s how the Theocracy has been for thousands of years, and no one says anything wrong.”

"But now, that tradition conflicts with Controlled Fire, right?"

Sherlock replied.

He squinted his eyes and looked at the corpse: "So, the suspect is Cardinal Loki?

"Oh, it sounds very reasonable. He is a cardinal and can open this door. He is also the leader of Controlled Fire and a radical. He wants to get rid of the Saint, so he wants to stimulate her Ningpa—— In this way, the Saint's Ningpa Syndrome will prove that his claim is correct. It will also help him be elected as the Pope... After all, there was a Saint with Ningpa before, so it is the practice for cardinals to be elected as the Pope. It sounds very logical. Complete... hum."

Having said this, Sherlock suddenly sneered and turned to look at Aiwass: "Aiwass, what do you think?"

"The logic is too complete."

Aiwass shook his head: "So I don't really believe it."

"——Then it depends on how you feel."

Sherlock immediately gave up his guess, so quickly that Aiwass was even a little surprised - do you trust my intuition so much?

But Aiwass does actually have evidence, but this evidence cannot be said.

Because Aiwass knew that in the chaos caused by the "Disaster of Trees and Ambers"... the first cardinal to die was Cardinal Loki.

A very classic pattern in which the most suspected criminal died on the spot.

Aiwass looked at Sherlock and suddenly understood.

It turns out that this kind of plot appears here because of you, "Sherlock Holmes"!