As the highest altitude area in the Western Continent except for the Sighing Mountains, it is surrounded by mountains. The snow-covered peaks overlook the earth, like long swords standing on the ground.
On the steep cliff, iron ropes and stairs circle along the rock. Pilgrims from all over the world climb up the stairs to admire the remaining angel statues on the top of the mountain, the miracles that remain in the world after the chaos and disaster.
Among these people wearing different clothes, there was also a gray-haired man in a windbreaker, who was inconspicuous.
Several peaks around the Holy Mountain are the headquarters of major institutions of the church.
Among them are the Olive Leaf Palace, which specializes in teaching young children, the Aquarius Palace, which specializes in healing, the Mountain Elephant Palace, which is good at construction, the Palace of Rest, which is responsible for requiems, the Palace of Ten Swords, which maintains public security, and so on.
Now one of the three major knights, the grand leader of the Knights of the Holy Lance, Otis, is also in a dangerous fortress in the mountain peak.
He is wearing thick silver armor with golden patterns and is nearly two meters tall. Behind him is a bright red cloak. The velvet cloak makes the overall figure and armor much thicker, making him as strong and steady as a mountain.
He stood on a lookout, overlooking the many knights training and shouting in the valley below, with no expression on his sharp face.
There was a knock on the door in the room behind him.
"Enter."
The door opened, and a knight in shining armor walked in with a document. This knight had blond hair and a handsome face. He should be around 30 years old.
"Lord Otis, there are some things I want to report recently."
"Let's talk." He turned his body around, and with the sound of armor clashing, he came to sit behind the desk.
"Currently, among the members of the Knights in various branches, some members need to take leave to go home for a period of time, about a month."
"This kind of thing has always happened, and it's human nature." Otis commented briefly, but he knew that this smart young man had to say more than that.
"Yes, but this year's proportion is much higher than last year. If last year it was two thousandths, then this year it is four thousandths."
"But there is no war now, and there is nothing special. This is not normal."
"Then most of these people were sent to the local diocese headquarters in the form of letters. Although I am usually busy, I deliberately found some of them and compared them with previous letters, and found that the handwriting was not from the same person."
"In other words, these people's letters were written by others, and perhaps something happened to them themselves?"
"Yes, according to normal procedures, knights from various towns and small towns will report to the local parish headquarters every other month. During this period, they will convey some recent orders and instructions. At the same time, they will strengthen contact to ensure the loyalty of the knights' members.
"
"But if you ask for leave like this, you can come and go up to three times, which means you will not report to the diocese headquarters for three months. Then the whereabouts of these people become a mystery."
"Interesting." The grand leader tapped his fingers on the table a few times, thought for a few seconds, and then continued to ask.
"Have you asked about the situation of other palaces and knights?"
"I didn't ask directly, but took advantage of official duties to inquire. The situation in other palaces is similar to previous years, and the situation in the Knights is somewhat similar."
"In addition to us, the Holy Lance Knights, the Death Song Knights and the Blue Nautilus Knights, which belong to the church, have also experienced similar situations, but they are not as big as ours."
"I guess you are the only one who is so careful and noticed such a subtle difference in data." Otis sighed with emotion.
"That is aimed at our Knights, and those who want to do this kind of thing are often people within the church. Otherwise, other twelve houses should have similar situations."
"Yes, you see..." the young knight asked in a low voice.
Otis did not answer immediately and slowly analyzed the current situation.
Currently, the church is discussing the candidate for the next pope. Since the death of the previous pope, the archbishops of various dioceses have rushed back, and the general election will be held in a few days.
If you want to become the pope, you must be one of the regional archbishops, or the leader of the Zodiac or the three major knights.
At present, there are about 70 people who meet this condition. Excluding some who are relatively junior and whose own strength is obviously insufficient, there are 15 suitable candidates. Among these 15 people, there are those who really hope to touch the threshold and convince everyone.
There are only 4 people.
One is himself. As the leader of the Knights of the Holy Lance and one of the red-robed archbishops, he not only holds a combat position but also served as a priest before. He leads the party and his resume and strength are extremely solid. He is currently at the peak of Angel Sequence 8.
We are only one step away from sequence 9.
In addition, Archbishop Thebes, the scepter priest of the Palace of Ten Swords, is also popular. He served in the Palace of Olive Leaves for 10 years and served as the Archbishop of the Dominican Diocese. Now the Archbishop of the Diocese is also his student. In addition, the Palace of Dormition
, the leader of the Holy Flame Palace has also made good friends with him and is his staunch ally.
Then there is the scepter priest of the Aquarius Palace, Beenes. She once served in Emenas, and also served as the archbishop of a diocese, the Blue Nautilus Knights, the Mountain Elephant Palace, and the Psalm Palace. She has good relationships with them.
, coupled with the students who once taught at Emenes, he also has many high-level supporters within the church.
Finally, there is Charente, the scepter priest of the Star Orbit Palace. This extremely senior existence, although he is over 150 years old, still looks like he is about 30 years old. It is said that he was blessed by an angel when he was young. Although he is very
He rarely interferes in foreign affairs, but he is very strong. Coupled with the support of some elderly people, if he becomes the pope, not many people will object.
Among these four people, he and Sibis are both at the peak of Sequence 8, while Beanies just entered Sequence 9 five years ago, and Charente is said to have been a Sequence 9 existence a hundred years ago and has participated in Snow Flower.
The 'Battle of Broken Bow' between the Seven Kingdoms and the Green Empire.
Although its only allies are the scepter priests of the Silver Blood Palace, the Knights of the Holy Lance, as the largest combat legion in the church, have more warriors under their command than the other two knights combined, and their momentum is even higher.
Otis was silent for a while, and after a long time he said, "Deploy Knights detachments from the headquarters, each detachment has 300 people, and go to various places to change defenses. The purpose is to conduct training and rectify the gradually declining military discipline."
After these teams arrived at the local area, they went directly to the problematic towns and cities according to the list, using force to investigate and find the missing members.
"It's so loud that it's hard to hide it from other people."
"So what if they can't hide it? Since they are sneaky, they must have some conspiracy. We directly disrupt their rhythm and turn their dark plot into an open battle."
"As for fighting the enemy directly, our Paladin Knights have never been afraid of anyone."
"I understand, sir." The blond knight bowed his head, and then walked out of the room quickly with the signed document, calling the messenger knights on duty along the way, who would quickly spread the order in all directions.
