Werewolf wizard

Chapter 141: Debate Within the Storm Church and Acquiring a Bishop

Inside Moria Cathedral, facing the high-ranking members of the Storm Church, as well as the ascetics within the church, Borgia, confronted with the questioning of the Benedictine members, appeared pale and stammered.

This caused the high-ranking clergy of the Storm Church's Achaia pastoral region to frown in dissatisfaction.

They found it hard to believe that this person could have killed the wizard who had killed over a dozen elite knights and hundreds of elite soldiers of the church.

Borgia's fear stemmed from the fact that the Benedictines were the most rigorous adherents to asceticism within the Storm Church in the Storm Kingdom, practically a moral guardian faction within the Storm Church.

The Benedictines had accepted the commission from the Papal State of the Order God system, Pope Innocent III, to oversee whether the Storm Church's precepts were being followed, the extent of the Storm Church's propagation in the Storm Kingdom, and the task of gradually converting the original Law God's [Eastern Orthodox Church] to the Storm God, or at least acknowledging the Papal State's status as the religious leader of the Order God system.

Borgia, looking at the three Benedictine elders sitting at the highest level of the church, felt immense fear in his heart.

He had heard his bishop father say that the Benedictines were a bunch of old foxes, with incredibly sharp eyes. Could a young man like him really deceive these old foxes?

At the same time, Borgia looked at the five archpriests of the Achaia pastoral region beside the three Benedictine elders, former colleagues of his father.

Now, he didn't know what attitude these archpriests, who had mostly taken care of him when his father was alive, held towards him now.

Fortunately, however, two of the archpriests were his uncles, and another archpriest also had a secret lover relationship with his sister.

His sister was also an illegitimate daughter of the Frederick family.

However, this trial had an unusual flavor from the very beginning.

Because those who were attending this trial included Archpriest David Davis, who was highly respected in the Achaia pastoral region, and Father Mark Stewart from the Platinum Commercial Republic, who had forcibly intervened with the power of their money.

The position of bishop was elective, so even if he didn't have a clerical position now, he could directly become a pastoral bishop through election.

There was no need to climb the ranks of the Storm Church's clergy step by step.

But Archpriest Davis and Father Stewart were both his main competitors.

The Othello family had actually used the influence of money to allow his two opponents to attend the Benedictine's interrogation of him, showing that from the beginning, the Othello family wanted to kick him out of the game.

All along, people from the Platinum Commercial Republic had been trying hard to intervene in the Storm Church, so that the high-ranking clergy of the Storm Church would come from the Platinum Commercial Republic.

This could effectively ensure that the Platinum Commercial Republic's trade privileges in the Storm Kingdom would not be revoked.

At this moment, Borgia was completely dumbfounded, unable to utter a word, which made the Benedictine elder monks mainly responsible for interrogating him very dissatisfied.

They had already begun to suspect that Borgia was a fraud.

If it weren't for the fact that the believers of Achaia had begun to regard Borgia as a church hero, they would have had the church's two divine knights arrest Borgia long ago.

Benedictine monk, Elder John, questioned him: "Borgia, why don't you answer our questions? If you are lying or concealing something, take advantage of the present to admit your mistakes, and perhaps you can still receive the mercy of the Storm God."

Borgia was almost forced to blurt out the truth by this enormous pressure.

But at that moment, Bloom, under the control of Su Nan, who had entered this church as Borgia's protector, suddenly stepped forward and said: "Do your questions have any value in answering? No."

"That's why Mr. Borgia isn't answering."

Borgia was immediately frightened and looked at Bloom. "Bloom... Mr. Bloom, these are all important figures..."

The Benedictine elders and the five archpriests on the high platform, as well as Borgia's two episcopal competitors, all looked at Bloom, who had suddenly spoken, in surprise.

Elder John did not expect that someone would dare to directly retort to him in the cathedral. He was momentarily stunned and speechless.

Only he discovered that the old soldier who had been silent and slacking off all along had suddenly become very confident, giving people the illusion that he was the master of this place.

Elder John immediately frowned and asked: "Who are you? Don't you know that outsiders cannot interrupt during the Benedictine interrogation phase?"

Su Nan didn't buy into this at all and cited the rules of the Storm Church.

As a wizard with an astonishing memory, Su Nan was very familiar with the Storm Church's set of rules. "According to the church's spiritual principles, as Borgia's secular protector, and I escorted him all the way back to the Achaia Peninsula."

"Therefore, I can certainly answer on his behalf."

"Within the Storm Church, the secular protector responsible for protecting the cleric, with the cleric's consent, can accept the Benedictine's interrogation together with him."

Elder John asked Borgia. "Do you recognize him as your secular protector, to enjoy the Storm God's joint protection of your souls with you? Mr. Borgia."

Borgia's mind had completely crashed. "Yes... yes..."

Elder John could only frown and reluctantly acknowledge Bloom's participation in this internal church interrogation procedure, after all, although this was a bit offbeat, it was indeed one of the cumbersome rules accumulated by the Storm Church over the years.

As an ascetic of the Storm Church, he certainly knew this.

Elder John could only ask Bloom, "Then why do you think the questions I asked earlier were not of great significance? What's your opinion?"

Su Nan looked up to examine this Moria Principality's cathedral. "Oh, so this is what a cathedral looks like, it's my first time seeing it. It is indeed more magnificent compared to Father Louis's church."

The cathedral is the main church of a pastoral region of the Storm Church.

It has a special significance.

The dome of this church is all made of stained glass, and on these stained glass domes are painted the Storm God and His angels.

On the dome, there are also Storm God's symbols hanging from golden chains, as if dangling down from the Storm God's heaven.

Believers who enter this church for the first time will probably be fooled by this magnificent religious building and develop awe for the Storm Church.

Su Nan, controlling Bloom, pointed to the goblin corpse lying on the ground and said, "You should have seen it, this corpse has no disguise whatsoever. Doesn't a wizard look like this? This is the best evidence that Mr. Borgia killed the wizard."

"So I said the questions you asked were boring."

"The details you mentioned are not important, it is very common to misremember things during a hurried battle. As for you saying that Mr. Borgia should have a martial arts contest with a formal Storm Knight to prove that he has the combat power to kill a wizard and defeat a formal knight."

Su Nan suddenly lowered his voice, then curled the corner of his mouth. "Elder John, you have blasphemed the Storm God. Do you know your sin!"

"You still don't know your sin?"

Because Su Nan's voice was too affirmative, it led to Elder John himself doubting himself for a moment. After all, he was a devout ascetic of the Benedictines, and repeatedly reflecting on himself was his daily life.

Moreover, the five archpriests, as well as the other Benedictine elders and monks, were all momentarily swayed by Su Nan's incredibly affirmative voice, and for a moment began to doubt and reflect on themselves.

Elder John said somewhat inexplicably and aggrievedly: "How did I blaspheme... blaspheme?"

Su Nan pointed to Borgia, who was looking at him in astonishment, and said: "Who said that defeating a strong enemy relies on force."

"Who said that defeating an enemy relies on individual strength?"

“Storm Church Classics, page 112, section three, says this: ‘Oh, God of Storms, only you can help the weak overcome the strong, only you can help the poor overcome the rich.’

“On the first section of the following page, it also says this: ‘The powerful, the talented, the proud, the wealthy, the gifted, those better than others, will all decay and weaken before the God of Storms, utterly helpless.’

Su Nan summarized, “The doctrine of the God of Storms says that before God, the strong will become weak, and God will help the weak defeat the strong. Mr. Borgia was able to kill that wizard not because of his own superficial martial strength, but because of his devout faith in the God of Storms and his fighting will that he did not give up until the very last moment.”

“He proved the will of the God of Storms – the wizard's corpse is right before your eyes, and the people of Achaia outside all consider him a hero of the Church. Yet, you ignore the will of the God of Storms and judge whether Mr. Borgia could kill a wizard based on so-called martial strength.

“Isn't this blasphemy against the God of Storms?”

“I tell you, Mr. Borgia's reliance on killing the wizard was indeed not his martial strength, because he was just a knight's squire, but he killed that wizard with piety!”

The best way to deal with a fanatic is to be more fanatical than him.

Fight fanaticism with fanaticism!

Because Su Nan quoted the classics, even the clerics who wanted to subconsciously refute him didn't dare to immediately question him because Su Nan quoted the Church classics. They didn't even dare to argue with Su Nan, because this could easily turn the interrogation into a theological discussion.

That would be a long discussion.

And it would be easy to say the wrong thing, which would damage their reputation.

Bloom was a warrior. Even if he had some deviations in his understanding of the classics, it wouldn't be a big deal. But they were senior clergy. If they lost a theological debate, it would be troublesome.

So, they couldn't casually have detailed debates on the classics with ordinary people.

Moreover, Su Nan quoted very well. The clerics present also felt that what Su Nan said… actually fit their cognitive views.

As long as you believe in the God of Storms, can't anything happen?

What is there to doubt about this?

And the corpse that Mr. Borgia brought back did indeed look like a wizard.

It's just that people from the Platinum Republic, through some means, wanted the Benedictine elders to confirm this matter again.

Originally, Borgia had aroused suspicion because he couldn't answer various details. Now, after Su Nan's words, these clerics began to suspect whether they were really overthinking it.

After all, it was very possible that a large group of Church knights had weakened a wave of wizards, and then Borgia went to pick up the scraps.

Elder John blushed. He sighed, then took the initiative to stand up and actually began to pray and confess.

Su Nan didn't expect that he would actually break the defense of this old ascetic by using the Church classics to retort him.

Elder John sighed, “In recent years, I have indeed become more and more secular. This is my fault. Indeed, what defeats the enemy is never our own martial strength, but our devout faith in the Lord of Storms.”

“This protector, may I ask where you come from?”

Su Nan said without any hesitation, “I come from Peter Territory. After our Baron witnessed Mr. Borgia's heroic battle, he wanted to become his secular protector.”

“Mr. Borgia was valued by our Baron because of his courage and piety.”

On the high platform, the senior clerics immediately began to discuss.

“I remember, it's that Peter family. The old Baron Peter used to be very famous. I heard that the Peter family has become different from before, starting to become strong, and can even control the surrounding baronial territories.”

“Perhaps this is really true. What need does Mr. Borgia have to deceive us? He has even won the approval of the local Baron.”

At this time, Borgia's uncles, seeing that the situation had improved, immediately began to lobby everyone, though they had been pretending to be dead.

“Borgia just lost his relatives. He doesn't need to lie. His courage and piety have indeed received the full support of the secular ruling family.”

“What excellent personal charisma. He also has the bloodline of the Law God noble. If he becomes the bishop, tsk tsk tsk, perhaps the rebellion of the Law God's followers that is currently troubling us will be nothing.”

“Now that you mention it, that's indeed the case. It's really rare that Borgia can get the full support of the Peter family. Now he is still the Church hero in the mouths of the common people… His reputation is enough, and his bloodline and family background are also enough…”

Borgia's two competitors wanted to interrupt at this time and say something, but because they were just listeners and had no right to speak, they could only helplessly shut their mouths.

And the three elders of the Benedictine Order began internal discussions.

Ten minutes later, Elder John announced the results of their discussion. “Borgia Frederick, we acknowledge that you are now absent-minded because you have experienced fierce battles and the deaths of your comrades. Please mourn, they have only gone to the Lord of Storms' heaven.”

“Now, after interrogation, we also acknowledge your merit in killing the wizard, although you may have only completed the final work. But your piety and the fighting will you were able to maintain in desperation make you worthy of this honor at this moment.”

“I declare the interrogation over.”

Elder John even nodded to Bloom after announcing the end, and whispered, “It can be seen that you are not only an excellent warrior, but also a scholar proficient in scriptures. Thank you for your reminder. In recent years, I have indeed been too influenced by secular work and have become so mercenary.”

“To think that one must be stronger than others in martial strength to defeat others.”

Su Nan was rendered silent by his logic.

The problem is that, in most cases in this world, it is true that one must be stronger than others in martial strength to defeat others.

Su Nan had no choice but to nod slightly, considering it a perfunctory response.

Su Nan pulled Borgia and walked out of the main cathedral. “Let's go, my future bishop. After today, the electoral college for the bishop will also make a decision in your favor.”

“You will soon be able to become the bishop.”

“Don't forget your agreement with the Peter family, my friend.”

Borgia belatedly realized and said blankly, “Did I win? Is it that simple?”

Su Nan took a deep look at him. In fact, with his help in building momentum, coupled with the original power of his family in this parish, as long as he could cope normally, victory was that simple.

Priests from the Platinum Republic were originally suspected by everyone, and David Davis, the high priest who was originally highly respected in the Achaia parish, had popular support as his greatest weapon. Unfortunately, after Su Nan helped Borgia and promoted his deeds of killing the wizard in the Achaia region, High Priest Davis's greatest advantage was also gone.

So, Borgia's position is now stable.

His father originally wanted to help him brush up a wave of merits, and now Su Nan helped his father do it.

The moment Borgia walked out of the church, he felt a jolt when he saw the sunlight, and then blurted out to Bloom in a low voice, “On the first day I become the bishop, I will ask the archbishop to help the Peter family upgrade the feudal rank of titles and territories!”

“Moreover, I will also ask the archbishop of the Storm Church to grant Maple Town of the Peter family the special status of being the most important trading city in the central Storm Kingdom!”