Right in the Land of Death?! Alves' brain was stunned for a moment, and he almost lost his balance and bumped into the altar behind him.
"Your Holiness?!" the archbishop shouted in horror.
Pope Alvis reached out his hand to stop the Archbishop from supporting him, and then said with a trembling voice, "Immediately cast a spell to contact Thesis and have him leave that land of death, immediately!"
"But...but Lord Thesis went in an hour ago...I'm afraid now he is already..." the archbishop stammered.
In fact, when they received the news, they immediately used the communication magic, but did not receive any response.
Ninety-nine percent of them have been completely destroyed by the attack of doomsday magic!
Alvis obviously understood this, and his expression turned extremely ugly.
"Monroe..." Alvis growled, and then he suddenly realized that this church spy selected by Gustav and personally assigned by him must have betrayed him! What food war, volcanic eruption, all bullshit!
This is clearly a conspiracy planned by wizards!
I was so foolish that I actually believed it! I even believed it twice in a row! A strong sense of humiliation suddenly surged into Alves' mind.
Previously, Monroe was just a small adjutant of the God's Punishment Army. Being able to take on such an important task was enough to prove his trust and appreciation for him. Not only did he betray his trust, he also dared to play tricks on him again and again! Alves' chest rose and fell, his eyes full of anger and murderous intent.
If the other party was not now in the City of Kerosene, under the protection of the wizards, Alvis would have wanted to pull out his tendons and bones, extract his soul, and throw him into the endless purgatory!
"It may not be Monroe, maybe he has been captured by the wizards..." Saint Randall suddenly put forward a hypothesis.
According to Gustav's advice, Monroe was a warrior with firm beliefs and an extremely devout believer, and it should be impossible for him to be turned against the government in just two months.
It is also possible that the spies they sent were captured by those wizards, and the images seen before may have been disguised.
Those shaping wizards had strong camouflage abilities. It was not impossible to use shaping magic to transform into Monroe's appearance from a distance of hundreds of miles and hide from their perception.
Alvis sneered. He had sent quite a few spies into the City of Fire Oil, and they would report the internal situation to him every week.
Monroe has been staying well in the wizarding academy for the past two months, and his travels have been very regular. He doesn't look like he's being coerced or held captive.
I can only say that I was wrong!
Fortunately, he had considered the possibility of internal traitors before, so he divided the spies sent to the kingdom into several systems that did not interfere with each other. Even if there was a problem in any aspect, not all of them would be killed.
However, a whole 20,000 elite troops of the empire were sent to heaven just because of his credulity...
Thinking of this, Alvis felt heartbroken! Most importantly, the wizards' use of the Doomsday spell again overturned all their previous speculations, like a sword hanging over everyone's heart.
Just as Alvis was racking his brains for a countermeasure, he suddenly seemed to sense something and his expression immediately became serious.
Randall on the side was no exception.
It is the Lord who sent down the oracle! …
The impact of the hydrogen explosion lasted for three full days and had not completely subsided. Just as Lin En had expected, the kingdom's opposition that had emerged due to the previous food war seemed to be silenced in an instant, and even the public security in various towns improved a lot.
No one dared to come out and offend the parliament at this time...
On the afternoon of the third day, the Wizard Council once again announced an important news, that is, a grand examination will be held in various cities in the kingdom!
Anyone who knows two hundred common languages and is literate can participate, and the parliament will select managers for each city.
For this, Lin En should thank the church for its rule over the continent for hundreds of years. Although the languages in different places are different, the writing has been basically unified, which saves them a lot of trouble.
When such heavy news came out, it naturally caused an uproar within the kingdom. Selecting officials from all over the country through so-called examinations was simply unheard of in the hundreds of years of history of the empire.
Moreover, the parliament did not restrict the background of candidates. The only basic requirements were proficiency in writing and the ability to speak the common language.
This means that even the offspring of a poor family can pass the exam and become a local lord. However, in the wizard world, this title is changed to a different one - the mayor! Although it cannot be inherited and has a term of office, and if you don't do a good job, you have to leave, but it still makes countless people excited! After all, having the management rights of an entire city, isn't that what the noble lords used to be? Susan looked at the big notice posted on the wall and couldn't help but fantasize in her heart.
Both of his children are studying in a public college and are said to be doing very well in school.
In the past, Susan only thought that her children would be able to enter the wizards' research workshops and help out after graduating from the civilian academy. At least it would be much easier than what she and her husband did in the glass and gun workshops. But now she has seen a new path.
Susan didn't even dare to think about being a mayor, but there was still a slight possibility of becoming a village chief or town chief! "You are destroying the foundation of the kingdom!"
An earl of the kingdom looked at the black words on the notice board, almost unable to breathe, and shouted in despair.
He understood that from now on, noble lords bound by blood ties had become a thing of the past!
There were quite a few nobles in the kingdom who could feel threatened like him, but those nobles who were not very smart were basically cleared out in this food war. Most of the remaining nobles were new nobles who were quick to stand up and had strong adaptability! It was just an exam. Their knowledge and management experience far exceeded that of ordinary poor people. If they couldn't even pass this exam, they might as well go to the workshop to blow glass!
Many people even regarded it as a shortcut to revive their family and reach the pinnacle of power! Within half a day after the announcement was issued, there was an endless stream of applicants, and soon the number exceeded ten thousand. Even many wizards were tempted. Compared with the boredom of learning magic, they were more willing to enjoy the wine called power.
Monroe, who had been depressed for several days, finally saw a glimmer of hope. If he could pass this so-called assessment and become the administrator of a kingdom, and then make efforts from within, he might be able to make up for his mistakes!
Otherwise, why not just stop bothering?
But under Monroe's repeated insistence, the two signed up. Although Ivana did not hold any hope, she also developed some interest.
The exam was scheduled for September 1st, which was also the time when the nuclear fusion reactor was completed. Lin En wanted to use the exam as a cover to draw everyone's attention. After all, the time when this thing was started was the most dangerous time. If one was not careful, everyone in the city would be in danger!
Of course, the importance of this selection test is self-evident. It is related to the alternation of the old and new orders, and cannot be sloppy at all. Lin En had to take some time to select some suitable public examination questions from the database of the intelligent brain as the test content.
A few days passed quickly, and a learning craze broke out in the kingdom. All the enlightenment books printed were sold out, and even street vendors would flip through a few pages in their spare time.
However, even if they tried to cram at the last minute, they could not change the current situation of illiteracy among the people of the kingdom.
The mere fact that one could write 200 common words and read an official document word for word eliminated 99% of the people. In the end, there were only less than 2,000 people in the entire Kerosene City who were qualified to take the exam.
Monroe was naturally among them. Before joining the God's Punishment Army, he was a baron of the empire, so this entry test was naturally not a problem for him.
After officially receiving the test paper, Monroe glanced at it nervously for a few times, and then relaxed.
It doesn't seem that difficult...
The entire test paper was divided into two pages. The questions on the front page mostly tested basic calculations and the ability to understand official documents, while the questions on the back page were mostly practical questions...
For example, this question.
[Dachun is a devout believer of a false god. He refuses to cooperate with ideological transformation and has strong resistance. If you were a local affairs officer in charge of this territory, how would you properly handle this matter? ]
What else can we do? Arrest him of course!
Monroe sneered. He knew that the wizards were definitely testing his obedience to the parliament. He had to show his disgust for these devout believers who were loyal to the Lord! After thinking for a while, Monroe decided to use the methods he used to capture wizards and evil god believers in the northern border of the empire, set them up as examples, punish them in public, and use severe punishments to curb this trend!
Not only that, but we must also encourage mutual reporting locally, offer high rewards, and catch anyone who disobeys the orders of parliament!
After Monroe finished writing, he nodded with satisfaction, then sighed at the brutal rule of the wizards and how he had to pretend to give them advice.
Ivina was also looking at the test paper in front of her, but it was another question about food and poverty.
[Peter is a poor farmer. His ancestors have been growing wheat in the fields for generations and he is unwilling to try anything new. Now that the price of wheat continues to fall, how can he rent out his land, enter a workshop, or buy new farming machines to grow more economical crops to get rid of his past poverty?]
Ivana pondered for a long time, and soon began to answer the test paper. The other party was stubborn and it would not work to just persuade him. She could start with his neighbors!
If these people entered the workshops, their living standards would improve visibly. If they were then asked to build new houses, with the comparison and gap, these poor people who had been farming for generations would change on their own without even having to spend much time persuading them.
If this doesn't work, you can start with the family members and change the other party's mindset step by step. Ivina believes that as long as the poor man can see the tangible benefits, change is a matter of time.
Similar things have happened countless times in the kingdom. Ivina has chatted with many workers in her spare time and naturally knows some of the strategies commonly used by the parliament.
The rest of the topics were also very interesting, including how to resolve neighborhood disputes, how to improve the living standards of residents, and how to promote social stability.
There were twelve questions on the back, and none of them were repeated. The last question surprised Ivana greatly. It was about the conflict between wizards and the poor. As an official, she needed to choose to severely punish the wizards according to the law or let the poor swallow their anger and resolve the conflict.
Ivina wrote down every answer carefully and thoughtfully, and gradually understood the significance of the examination for selecting local officials. Those who can answer these questions and give satisfactory answers will also be able to handle government affairs with ease!
The exam lasted a total of three hours, and every minute and every second was very precious. Even some experienced noble children with rich management experience would find it difficult to give perfect answers to these tricky questions...
The most important thing is that they must figure out the basis for the parliament's questions and what kind of answers they want to get.
"The time is up, collect the papers!" The great wizard Arad, who was the temporary examiner, glanced at the magic hourglass and spoke indifferently.
After the words fell, the field was quietly activated, and the test papers in everyone's hands flew over spontaneously.
There was a sudden burst of wailing in the examination room. Three hours was too short. The basic questions at the beginning were okay, as long as one could read and do arithmetic, it wouldn't take long to finish them. But the practical questions at the end were not that easy.
Many people need more than half an hour to think about just one question, and it takes several minutes to write the conclusion on the test paper.
Seeing the wailing in the examination room, Monroe became more confident. Fortunately, his hand speed was quite fast and he had finished writing everything in the previous minute!
"Everyone, be quiet. There is one last test to take!" After Arad waved his hand to collect all the test papers, his gaze paused on Ivina and others, and he spoke again.
"All official wizards, come with me! The rest of you stay here, someone will be responsible for giving you questions later!"
Hearing this, more than a dozen wizards on the scene stood up one after another, their faces showing complacency. They were not surprised. With their status as wizards, how could they ask the same questions as these poor people and small nobles? Some special treatment was normal...
The rest of the poor people had long been accustomed to this kind of inequality. Only a few nobles had complaints, but they dared not speak out openly. After all, the kingdom was now ruled by wizards! "Lord Arad, what is our exam? Is it to assess the level of wizards?" A wizard asked in a flattering tone after leaving the house.
He guessed that the parliament might assign positions according to their wizard levels. He had also inquired about it a long time ago. At least no great wizard in the City of Fire Oil participated in this exam. In other words, he, a three-ring wizard, was very likely to be qualified for the position of lord.
Arad glanced at him without replying. He led the few people into a room and took out five exquisite rings from his backhand.
"Here are your test papers, put them on, and the five of you go first!" Arad pointed around casually, and among the people he pointed out were Monroe and Ivina!
(End of this chapter)