Chapter 53

No rules? Is he...disliked?

Winster looked at his brother in confusion, his hands unconsciously clenched into fists, and then he saw those clear eyes blink twice quickly, and the long and thick eyelashes easily swept away his uneasiness, and his heart, which had been lifted, quickly fell back to its original position.

He was not stupid and he immediately thought of the reason why his brother's attitude changed drastically.

The tall young man bowed slightly and said, "I have overstepped the bounds. Please punish me."

Elphis looked at him gently and said, "I don't want you to be so reckless just because we have a good relationship. There is no need to punish you. In a few days, you can go back to the manor and learn the etiquette of knights."

Winster thought he would go back with his brother then, so he obediently agreed.

Raymond, who was a few steps away, twitched his eyes and couldn't help but wonder if it was normal for their small group to change their style of doing things?

Then can he occasionally make special arrangements in the future? When they get to know each other better, can he pick a time when Elphis is in a particularly good mood and ask about the Church's movements? I hope his "master" can be as tolerant as he was to Winster a few days ago...

Arlin did not have such unconventional ideas. He was always meticulous and quickly realized that people in the Holy See followed the rules, and Winster's attitude would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the priests.

The previous candidates were more easy-going and had a good relationship with their masters, so they would not interfere too much. Other priests with more seniority would definitely ask to be transferred away from Winster. If they still wanted to continue working together, the masters should indeed restrain his behavior.

In the end, among the three, only Winster could match Elphis's train of thought.

After returning to the temple, Al told them about his future arrangements, stating that he would stay in the Vatican for a while until the will of God came and granted him protection, and then he would continue his interrupted journey.

Upon hearing that this group of priests were going to summon the gods soon, Raymond, who had something to hide, couldn't control his expression for a moment and showed horror, but the other two people also had strange expressions, so he didn't stand out.

Daniel's funeral was supposed to be in a few days, and before that, Elphis had not left his residence, for fear of running into the Pope while wandering around and being forced to have a friendly exchange.

It's not just him. Except for a few priests who were assigned to affairs, everyone else is like this.

The Pope looks gentle and amiable at this age. He rarely shows up to take charge of affairs, and he will not deliberately reveal the pressure of a strong man. It is believed that when he was young, he was indeed as pure and innocent as Klevich said.

But the archbishops of similar age knew more about the Pope and were well aware that he was a true fanatic. He was indeed still as simple and pure as he was in his youth, so pure that there was only God in his mind.

The archbishops did have sincere faith when they were young, but power corrupts people. Once they become strong enough, they no longer need to pray for God’s protection. As their selfish desires grow, they can no longer be pious.

Many archbishops cursed the Pope in their hearts as a fool who refused to listen to any advice, but most of the time they kept silent in front of him. Not only was it because of his strength, but also because they had seen him "purify" too many priests who had exposed their secrets. He was as indifferent as pulling out a weed, not threatened by any human feelings or forces, and had no weaknesses. It was inevitable that these pseudo-believers would feel guilty.

Even if Elphis stayed in his own palace, he would not feel at ease. The candidate's status was not ordinary. If he were the Pope, he would definitely want to call him over to learn more about him.

It was late at night, everything was quiet, and Elphis was the only one left in the main hall.

The lamp on the table in the main hall had not been turned off yet, and a faint light spread to the bedside. At this moment, the young man's warm deep blue eyes looked more like cold black.

Thick silver hair was scattered on the bed, and a thin quilt covered his chest, but one of his hands was half-raised in a strange way. Elphis looked at the hand with half-closed eyes, not knowing what he expected to see.

Using the elements to sense the situation inside his body, he carefully studied, tested, and controlled it, until a point of white light was drawn out from his heart and condensed from the palm of his left hand. Al finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This is not an element, but the power of faith. He has been studying this thing since he met Dean Klevich and realized that strong people above a certain level can see faith.

After many days of trying, he finally established a little connection with the faith that was integrated into his heart. After observing this thing that had no temperature or energy fluctuations for a while, he found that it inexplicably made people feel that it was a good thing and wanted it.

Apart from slightly affecting people's minds, it seems to have no other use... Al's mind moved, and the white dot on the palm of his hand floated upwards, very obediently.

If necessary, he could set aside one to deal with the Pope and the God of Light. He wouldn't even have to give it away. Each one was a token of appreciation from others. If he didn't want to use them, he could just let the little white dot float into the air and come back. Anyway, the gods' believers were all over the world, so they wouldn't be able to notice his feint, right?

Well... I can also give some to Samuel to make the child happy.

Okay, that's it, go to sleep!

——

Fortunately, the Pope seemed to be busy checking many affairs and arranging some matters after not taking care of things for many years, and did not call the new candidate for a talk. Elphis escaped temporarily.

Because he couldn't take the three close knights out to find their way for the time being, Al drew a topographic map for them in the temple, introduced where the high-ranking officials of the Vatican lived, which places were not allowed to enter, where the knights' commonly used training grounds were, and also introduced the appearance of several easy-to-talk to guard knights.

As for the more powerful paladins, they report directly to the Pope, and in Al's eyes they are the eyes and ears of others, so he always keeps his distance from them.

Apart from Arlin, who had a clean background and no ulterior motives and went out for training, Raymond had also been hiding in the small hall with the excuse that "I'll stay here so that the adults can give me instructions if they have anything to ask."

As for Winster, he always goes wherever his brother is.

Because Samuel took over his brother's body and ordered him to do things a few days ago, Winster was unable to speak freely, coax anyone, apologize, or complain to a certain god. He felt very suffocated and the whole small temple felt very depressing.

Raymond was extremely annoyed, but this was not the place for a fight, so he could only curse inwardly that this mission was so troublesome and frustrating, and it was really not something a human could do... Oh, he wasn't a human either.

After five days of this, the archbishop, who had been sent out to investigate the attack, returned with the coffin containing Daniel's body.

This world doesn't care about the time of burial. Liu Tian informed all the acquaintances Daniel had made outside and asked them to attend the funeral. There was no need to choose a location. There was a large cemetery on the edge of the Bishop's Court. All the priests who had served for a limited time or died at the hands of the dark race were buried there.

On the day of the funeral, the branches in each city informed the believers of the news during sermons, and many civilians who had received Daniel's kindness in the Holy Light Salvation Society were very sad.

Some shed tears for the deceased young candidate, some recited eulogies for him, some prayed to the gods to bring his soul into the divine realm, and some blamed the dark race that always brought only death.

Compared to the somewhat noisy branch court, the Bishop's Court, where people had more contact with the deceased, was much calmer.

Before sending the coffin to the cemetery, the bishop asked the three children to say their final goodbyes to Daniel. He also wanted them to see what kind of evil things Daniel had encountered and to make them more vigilant against the dark race.

"Al, you are still young and haven't had the chance to see how pitiful creatures infected with dark magic are. I didn't expect that the first time... it was because of Daniel..."

Edgar sighed and said in a serious tone, "I let you see this scene in the hope that you will be more careful, instead of retreating and giving up the fight against darkness."

The silver-haired young man frowned and looked at the coffin, "Sir, we will keep your teachings in mind."

Daphne: "After God descends, the master of light will protect us, please don't worry."

Abner had a complicated expression, "Poor Daniel, if we have the chance, we will definitely help you get revenge..."

The coffin was made of a milky white cool mineral, with vines entwined around it and divine flowers in bloom carved into it. It was a clean and exquisite container, in contrast to which the corpse lying inside looked even more disgraceful.

The young and handsome priest seemed to have lost all the water in his body. His hair was like dead grass, and his fingers exposed outside his robe were as dry as dead branches. His eye sockets were sunken, and his eyes, which had not yet closed, were already cloudy. His face could no longer be recognized, but his terrified expression could still be seen from his fixed texture, making people realize that he died very quickly without any power to resist. Even his expression remained at the moment when the danger appeared.

"Your Majesty, are you here to see Daniel for the last time?"

The Pope walked over slowly. He looked more solemn today, holding a staff. "Yes."

When they saw the visitor, Al and the other two greeted him and made way for him.

The man looked down at the deceased without saying a word. Elphis glanced at him, and it was hard to tell what the other person's expression was, no regrets, no sadness, but not indifference either... He could only describe it as complicated.

A point of light appeared on the top of the staff. The Pope stretched out his hand and made a swiping motion. The mummy in the coffin became full of flesh and blood at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He looked at the less horrifying corpse and whispered, as if talking to himself, "This way, his parents will be less traumatized."

The bishop looked at the familiar face with nostalgia and said, "I thank Your Majesty on their behalf."

——

Daniel's personality made it difficult for him to make close friends, so the close knights who knew him best only invited a few superficial friends who knew him because of their respective identities. However, together with more than a dozen priests in the bishop's court, more than a dozen paladins of equally high status, and the deceased's elderly parents and a pair of younger siblings, the number of people was not small.

It should have been a decent funeral, but most people had expressionless faces, and it seemed unnecessary to pretend, which made Elphis feel uncomfortable.

He had already started thinking about it. He would go back and tell Winston and the others that if he died, they should hide his body and give it to his family. He didn't want to be buried in this cold land.