Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 282, 281 Quivor Van Liwei
The bugle calls gradually subsided.

Captain Byrne led several priests forward to greet them.

He solemnly bowed to Quivorvan, striking his chest: "Greetings, Lord Quivor."

Quivervan frowned and tapped the breastplate of the Bain guard captain with his short cane: "It's 'Your Excellency the Bishop'? You roughnecks from the frontier haven't even finished reading the 'Ordinance of Clerical Titles'?"

His voice was like silk soaked in ice water, and the sea breeze lifted his sleeves, revealing the golden badge pinned there—the mark of a high-ranking priest of the temple, who was only qualified to receive it after at least three years of service in the temple.

"Please forgive our rudeness, Your Excellency the Bishop."

Captain Byrne lowered his head: "Compared to the magnificent temple of Taijing, our place is indeed like a fishing boat compared to a giant ship."

"Fishing boat?"

Quivervan raised an eyebrow slightly: "I don't think it even qualifies as a sampan."

His gaze went over the shoulder of the head guard of the Bain and toward the main entrance of the church.

"The emblem on the door isn't even gilded, and the stained glass windows are broken. This place is even more shabby than I imagined."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.

Father Miller couldn't help himself and wanted to say something to explain, but he was stopped by Salutau's eyes.

"Praise the mist."

Salutau stepped forward, crossed his arms, and said, “Your Excellency, you must be tired from your journey. Why don’t you come into the sanctuary and rest for a while? We have arranged a welcome banquet and have even prepared thirty-year-old sacramental wine.”

These words were reasonable and persuasive, leaving no room for criticism and easing the awkwardness.

But Quivervan's brow furrowed even deeper: "According to the latest 'Diocesan Financial Regulations,' sacramental wine must be destroyed if it is kept for more than seven years. Not only have you violated the regulations, but you also dare to flaunt it in front of the high priests of the Temple?"

Sarutou's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Everyone could see that Quivervan was trying to establish his authority, but his difficulty in being served still exceeded everyone's expectations.

To avoid the topic, Salutau waved Mike over.

It wasn't intentional; it's just that Mike happened to be assigned a task today—to present a table of sacraments.

Mike looked visibly exhausted, which was understandable; he had drunk too much the day before and was still somewhat sober.

He approached, holding the parchment scroll in both hands, and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Excellency, Bishop, this is the schedule of sacraments for this period..."

Before he finished speaking, Quivervan sniffed the air and smelled the ink on the parchment.

"How interesting."

He gently lifted the parchment scroll with two fingers: "You use inferior ink to write the sacraments, and you allow people who haven't washed their hands to touch the sacraments?"

Quivervan sneered, revealing his gleaming white teeth.

He stared at Mike, his tone leaving no room for argument: "Today you will copy the Canon of the Holy Scriptures fifty times, and I want to see your tears of repentance on every page."

Having said that, he bypassed Mike and walked straight towards the church's main entrance: "It seems I need to thoroughly inspect every corner of this place to know just how rotten you all are." Quivervan pushed open the church's main entrance, and upon seeing the interior, he froze on the spot.

He assured the god of mist that he could never have imagined a sanctuary could be so shabby.

The morning light slanted in through the domed skylight, and should have been refracted into starlight by the gilded reliefs on the walls—a feature almost standard in every church—but now it just lay pale on the bare stone walls.

The chandelier overhead resembled a pitiful, skeletal skeleton, all the gold leaf stripped away to reveal the grayish-blue copper base.

Every five meters along the wall, there was a blank space, which looked particularly abrupt. Judging from the remaining square dust marks, these spaces should have been used to hang paintings, but now they were empty, with only nail holes remaining.

The rows of heavy mahogany cabinets still stood in their original positions, but upon closer inspection, all the gilded handles had been pried off, leaving only honeycomb-shaped dents.

One second Quivervan was gloating, feeling that he had displayed his majesty to the fullest, but the next second he was deeply shocked – had this sanctuary been looted?
The question is, who has the guts to do that?
Even the most notorious Ghost Lantern Society in Taikyo wouldn't dare to go this far!
……

After touring the entire sanctuary from the inside out, Quivervan's expression grew increasingly grim.

The church lost not only ordinary gold and silver artifacts, but also its most important items: the priest's cape, crown, and scepter—these were all missing!
Back in the main classroom to rest, Quivorvan finally got the answer from Salutau and Millercao.

Salutau didn't go too far with his words. He said, "Father Feng Xiuhu took these things away and burned them in the name of commemorating the former bishop Conatchen."

Miller remained true to his outspoken nature: "They say it was burned, but it all ended up in his own pocket—it was blatant looting."

Quiver was incredulous: "A priest did this?"

So he's a traitor within the family.

“Uh…” Salutau carefully chose his words, “To be precise, it should be the priest plus the choir—after all, one person can’t move all that stuff.”

Quivervan's eyes widened even more—what, a choir?
He was immediately enraged: "Absurd! Absurd! Do these people deserve to be members of the church? They're like hyenas that scrape even the candles three times! The temple sent me here to take over as a licked-on plate?"

Salutau remained silent, while Millercao angrily added, "That's right, he is indeed a scoundrel. Relying on his status as Elder Vadra's student, he has always been so lawless!"

Elder Vadra's student?

Quiver van immediately calmed down, and his expression returned to normal.

He nodded slightly and said, "But then again, I believe Elder Vadra wouldn't misjudge someone. Father Feng... Xiuhu? Is that his name? He must have some unique qualities that Elder Vadra has taken notice of—is he also in the welcoming party today?"

Miller was completely numb; how was he supposed to continue?

Fortunately, Salutau came to his rescue: "Your Excellency, Father Feng Xiuhu has not come to the church for several days. I heard that Elder Vadra has arranged other matters for him. Perhaps you will see him during the cathedral prayer tomorrow afternoon."

Quivervan nodded silently, casually ending the topic.

The first day in charge of the sanctuary was not pleasant, but Quivorvan felt that he had at least established an image and shown demeanor—in the sanctuary of the factory district, apart from the unexpected incident of Feng Xiuhu, he should be considered to have secured his position.

Unfortunately, this confidence only lasted until the end of the afternoon when I left work.

P.S.: Quivorvan didn't know that the person he couldn't afford to offend right now wasn't Feng Xiuhu.

(End of this chapter)