A somewhat absurd, yet perfectly reasonable guess.
If the Pope received news of the Demon King's Scepter's reappearance and was hunting down demon followers in search of it, then this is likely true.
Doesn't his spending so much time away from home, neglecting even his future sacrifice, make sense in his behavior?
Of course, this is just Maggie's guess.
Because the Pope hunted down demon followers excessively, he should be very disliked by the Demon King. Even if he obtained the Demon King's scepter, he might still be killed by the Demon King.
Forget about achieving immortality through a demonic contract; whether you can even survive is another matter entirely.
Maggie's mind raced, and only a few seconds passed before the meeting moved on to the next step: the division of power.
The red-haired woman, who had been calm at the time, turned deathly pale after Maggie finished talking about the Pope. She looked like a flickering lamp that was about to fall and go out at any moment.
The young deputy commander next to her looked like she was about to cry. She tried several times to comfort her commander, but the occasion was inappropriate, so she didn't dare to speak and could only feel anxious.
Many people noticed this scene, but no one paid much attention to it, because the Pope was the adoptive father of the head of the Holy Mage Corps. With his adoptive father dead, he was now stigmatized in this way, which no one could bear.
The meeting is still ongoing and will not be interrupted due to her special circumstances.
The portion controlled by the Pope now needs to be handed over to everyone present, so how to divide it becomes a very important matter.
The one who covets power the most is undoubtedly the priest, who hasn't uttered a single word since the start of the meeting.
He is currently the highest-ranking person in the entire temple, and theoretically he can mobilize all the temple's personnel. However, since he has been on missions outside the temple, his actual power may not be greater than Maggie's.
Although he could command some of the paladins and mages, he couldn't mobilize them if Harun and the leader of the Holy Mage Order refused to give orders.
Harlan has always maintained a very agreeable attitude, and he generally listens to and carries out Ford's orders.
The other one, who was directly under the Pope and rarely stayed in the temple, could freely mobilize the magicians temporarily under his command.
The same applies to the people under the High Priestess; those who were not taken away remain in the temple and are under the command of the higher-ups.
The priest's subordinates were the pastors under his command and the chief nun who had always supported him.
But the situation is different now. Harlan has clearly sided with Maggie, so the priest can only win the support of the leader of the Holy Mage Order. Of course, it would be even better if he could get the three old fogies to favor him more.
Now that Maggie is suspected of being the murderer of the Pope, the leader of the Holy Mage Order should not choose Maggie.
Father Barton's absence that day was also due to his vague knowledge of the struggle between Maggie and the Pope, and his desire to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, things progressed far beyond his expectations.
He even wondered if Maggie had found some leverage over the Pope, or if the Pope was planning something bad, so he could appear in time to change the situation.
However, Maggie immediately gave him a big one.
A subtle undercurrent was brewing beneath the surface, with Maggie secretly trying to work with Harlan to put pressure on the leader of the Holy Mage Order, hoping to change something.
Before she could even speak, the red-haired woman stood up on her own initiative.
The short-haired girl next to her looked up at her hesitantly, reaching out to grab her clothes, but ultimately withdrew her hand timidly.
Judging from her expression, she was almost on the verge of tears.
“Although the Pope was kind to me, he is now dead, and Her Highness the Holy Maiden is the one chosen by the Divine Lord. I am willing to follow Her Highness the Holy Maiden.”
Although her voice was fairly loud, anyone could hear the strain in it, and her expression was also off, as if she was forcing herself to say those words.
Upon hearing this, the round table fell completely silent. Maggie's finger, which had just been secretly reaching out to poke Harlan, froze in mid-air. What was going on?
She hasn't said anything yet.
Maggie met the red-haired woman's gaze again, and this time she finally saw the indescribable emotions churning in her eyes, deep and tinged with sorrow.
This character actually appeared in the comics, but only in a small role.
Gloria Roberta, a light magician who helped Harlan a lot in the original story, but died at the hands of the main characters while protecting the Pope.
A female character that Maggie finds somewhat tragic, who has lived in deception since childhood.
They're not exactly villains, but they're enemies of the main characters.
She was raised by the Pope himself and was once an orphan in an orphanage. She has a carefree and generous personality, and her physical fitness is no less than that of a swordsman.
He often plays like a melee mage.
Although she is a magician, she is more like a dual practitioner of combat and magic, with no weaknesses. In the comics, she is portrayed as extremely loyal to the Pope.
But in Maggie's view, the Pope only treated her as a convenient tool and didn't treat her very well.
Even... her becoming an orphan was caused by the Pope.
Maggie originally planned to team up with Harlan to send her a message, to make her obediently bow down to her, and then tell her the truth.
After all, she is now practically her father's killer, so expecting her loyalty is really a bit difficult.
The current situation is completely beyond her expectations.
“Well, in that case, the Holy Maiden will be in charge of the deployment of the Holy Mage Corps.”
The old-fashioned folks were unaware of and unconcerned about the private entanglements between them. Since someone had taken the initiative to suggest it, and they had chosen Maggie, whom they were quite satisfied with, no one objected.
The priest had prepared a whole lot of words, but he held them all back, his expression alternating between red and white.
It seems they can't understand why things have progressed this way.
As for Maggie, she had already started to have wild thoughts. She seriously doubted Gloria's reasons for choosing her. Could it be that she wanted to get closer to her and then die together with her to avenge her father?
Maggie couldn't know the reason for the time being, so she could only suppress her emotions and sit obediently.
"I also follow Her Highness the Holy Maiden."
When asked about Harlan, he didn't hesitate at all and made his choice immediately, which made everyone at the round table glance at Maggie a few more times.
This is basically the same as the Pope.
As for the power in the priest's hands, she didn't want it either. Even a cornered dog will jump over the wall, and she didn't want to push him to the brink.
The remaining miscellaneous arrangements were handled relatively quickly, though most of them concerned the Pope. The investigation into the follow-up matters needed to be carried out as quickly as possible to maintain the stability of the temple.
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