Wizards: Starting as a Potions Master!

Chapter 141 The Debate within the Church of Storms and the Acquisition of a Bishop

Inside the cathedral of Morea, facing questioning from the high-ranking members of the Church of Storms, who were also the ascetics and Benedictines within the church, Borgia was pale and stammered.

This caused the high-ranking clergy of the Storm Church's Achaia district to frown in displeasure. They found it hard to believe that this man could kill the wizard who had slaughtered over a dozen of the church's elite knights and hundreds of elite soldiers.

Borgia was afraid because the Benedictines were the most strict ascetic organization in the Storm Church within the Storm Kingdom, and could be considered a small group of moral guardians of the Storm Church.

The Benedictines accepted a commission from Pope Innocent III of the Papal States, a pantheon of the Order of Gods, to oversee whether the Church of Storms' commandments were observed, the spread of the Church of Storms within the Storm Kingdom, and to gradually convert the original God of Law, the Eastern Orthodox Church, to the God of Storms, or at least to acknowledge the Papal States as the religious leader of the pantheon of the Order of Gods.

Borgia, looking at the three Benedictine elders sitting at the very top of the church, felt an overwhelming sense of fear.

He had heard his bishop father say that the Benedictines were a bunch of old foxes with sharp eyes. Could someone as young as him really deceive these old foxes?

At the same time, Borgia looked at the five chief priests of the Achaia parish, who were his father’s former colleagues, standing beside the three Benedictine elders.

Now, he doesn't know how the high priests, who mostly took care of him when his father was alive, treat him now.

Fortunately, two of the chief priests were his uncles, and another chief priest had a secret affair with his sister.

Her sister was also an illegitimate child of the Frederick family.

However, this trial had an unusual flavor from the very beginning.

Among those attending the trial were the highly respected High Priest David Davis of the Achaia parish, and Father Mark Stewart, a member of the Platinum Commercial Republic who had forcibly entered the court using the power of their money.

Bishops are elected, so even if someone does not currently hold a clergy position, they can be elected directly to become a bishop of a pastoral district.

There's no need to climb the ranks step by step to reach the divine order of the Storm Church.

But High Priest Davis and Father Stewart were his main rivals.

The fact that the Othello family used their financial influence to allow their two rivals to listen in on the Benedictine interrogation of him shows that from the very beginning, the Othello family wanted to kick him out of the game.

For a long time, the people of the Platinum Commercial Republic have been trying to interfere with the Church of Storms and make the high-ranking clergy of the Church of Storms come from the Platinum Commercial Republic.

This effectively guarantees that the Platinum Commercial Republic's trade privileges in the Storm Kingdom will not be revoked.

At this moment, Borgia was completely stumped by the questions and could not utter a single word, which greatly displeased the Benedictine elders who were mainly responsible for interrogating him.

They had begun to suspect that Borgia was a fraud.

Otherwise, the believers in Achaia would now consider Borgia a church hero, and they would have already had the two holy knights of the church take him down.

The Benedictine monk, Elder John, questioned him: "Borgia, why won't you answer our questions? If you've lied or are hiding something, admit your mistake now, and perhaps you can still gain the mercy of the Storm God."

Borgia was almost forced to blurt out the truth by the immense pressure.

But at that time, Blom, who was under the control of Sunan and had entered the church as the protector of Borgia, suddenly stepped forward and said, "Are your questions worth answering? No."

"That's why Mr. Borgia isn't answering."

Borgia was immediately startled and looked at Blom. "Blom... Mr. Blom, these are all important people..."

The Benedictine elders and five high priests on the platform, along with the two rival bishops from Borgia, all looked at Blom in surprise at the sudden outburst.

Elder John was stunned that someone would dare to talk back to him directly in the cathedral. For a moment, he was speechless with astonishment.

He noticed that the old soldier, who had been silent and slacking off, had suddenly become very confident, giving him the illusion that he was the master of the place.

Elder John frowned and asked, "Who are you? Don't you know that outsiders are not allowed to interrupt during a Benedictine interrogation?"

Su Nan completely ignored his explanation and cited the rules of the Storm Church.

As a wizard with an astonishing memory, Su Nan was intimately familiar with the rules of the Church of Storms. "According to the Church's spiritual principles, as Borgia's secular protector, and the one who escorted him all the way back to the Achaean Peninsula, I..."

"Therefore, I can certainly answer on his behalf."

"In the Church of Storms, the secular protector responsible for protecting the priests can, with the priest's consent, be interrogated with him by the Benedictines."

Elder John asked Borgia, "Do you acknowledge him as your worldly protector, sharing with you the Storm God's protection of your souls, Mr. Borgia?"

Borgia's mind had completely shut down. "Yes...yes..."

Elder John could only frown and reluctantly admit that Blom had participated in this internal church interrogation procedure. After all, although it was a bit unorthodox, it was indeed one of the tedious rules that the Storm Church had accumulated over the years.

As a penitent of the Church of Storms, he certainly knew this.

Elder John could only ask Blom, "Then why do you think the question I asked earlier was largely meaningless? What's your opinion?"

Su Nan looked up and surveyed the cathedral of the Principality of Moria. "Ah, so this is what a cathedral looks like. It's the first time I've seen one like this. It is indeed more magnificent than Father Louis's cathedral."

The cathedral is the main cathedral of a parish of the Church of Storms.

It has special significance.

The dome of this church is entirely made of stained glass, and on these stained glass domes are painted the god of storms and his angels.

On the dome, there are also relics of the Storm God suspended by golden chains, as if they were hanging down from the Storm God's heaven.

Believers entering this church for the first time may be overwhelmed by its magnificent religious architecture and develop a fear of the Church of Storms.

Sunan, controlling Blom, pointed to the grass spirit's corpse lying on the ground and said, "You should see this, right? This corpse has no disguise whatsoever. What non-wizard could look like this? This is the best evidence that Mr. Borgia killed a wizard."

"That's why I said your question was boring."

"The details you mentioned are unimportant. In the heat of battle, it's very common to make mistakes. As for your suggestion that Mr. Borgia should duel a Storm Knight to prove he has the fighting ability to kill a wizard and defeat a Knight, that's a different story."

Su Nan suddenly lowered his voice, then smirked. "Elder John, you have blasphemed the God of Storms. Do you know your sin?"

"You still don't know your crime?"

Because Su Nan's voice was so certain, even Elder John himself doubted himself for a moment. After all, he was a devout Benedictine ascetic, and self-reflection was part of his daily life.

Moreover, the five high priests, as well as the other Benedictine elders and monks, were momentarily swayed by Su Nan's unwavering confidence, and for a moment began to doubt and reflect on themselves.

Elder John, somewhat bewildered and aggrieved, said, "How did I blaspheme... blaspheme?"

Su Nan pointed at Borgia, who was staring at him in astonishment, and said, "Who says that defeating a powerful enemy is done by force?"

"Who says defeating the enemy depends on individual strength?"

"The Storm Church Canon, page 112, verse 3, says this: 'O God of Storms, only you can help the weak over the strong, and only you can help the poor over the rich.'"

"On the next page, in the first section, it says again—'The powerful, the talented, the proud, the wealthy, the gifted, the better than others, all decay and weaken before the god of storms, utterly powerless.'"

Su Nan concluded, "The teachings of the Storm God say that before the God, the strong become the weak, and the God helps the weak defeat the strong. Mr. Borgia was able to kill that wizard not because of his superficial strength, but because of his devout faith in the Storm God and his fighting spirit that never gave up until the very last moment."

"He proved the will of the Storm God—the wizard's corpse is right in front of you, and the people of Achaia outside all consider him a hero of the church. Yet you ignore the Storm God's will and judge whether Mr. Borgia can kill a wizard by the so-called strength of force."

"Isn't this blasphemy against the god of storms?"

"I tell you, Mr. Borgia's reliance in killing the wizard was not his brute force, for he was merely a knight's squire; but he killed the wizard with piety!"

The best way to deal with a delusional person is to be even more delusional than them.

Fighting addiction with addiction!

Because Su Nan quoted extensively from scriptures, even the monks who wanted to subconsciously refute him dared not question him immediately, or even argue with him, because it would easily turn the interrogation into a theological discussion.

That will be a long discussion.

It can also easily lead to saying the wrong thing, which can damage one's reputation.

Blom is a warrior, so it doesn't matter if he has some misunderstandings about the classics. But they are high-ranking clergy, and it would be troublesome if they lost the debate.

Therefore, one should not engage in detailed debates on the classics with ordinary people.

Moreover, Su Nan's quotations were excellent, and the cultivators present also felt that what Su Nan said... actually aligned with their own understanding.

As long as you have faith in the God of Storms, anything can happen, right?

What is there to doubt?

The corpse that Mr. Borgia brought back also looked like a wizard.

The people of the Platinum Republic simply wanted to have the Benedictine elders confirm this matter once again through certain means.

Borgia's inability to answer various details had already aroused suspicion among the people, but now, after Su Nan's words, these cultivators began to wonder if they were really overthinking things.

After all, it's quite possible that a large group of church knights exhausted a wave of wizards, and then Borgia picked up the scraps.

Elder John blushed, sighed, and then stood up and began to worship and repent.

Su Nan never expected that his retort with church scriptures would actually break the old ascetic's defenses.

Elder John sighed, “Over the years, I have indeed become more worldly. It is my fault. Indeed, what defeats the enemy is never our own military strength, but our devout faith in the Lord of Storms.”

"Excuse me, protector, where do you come from?"

Without any hesitation, Sunan replied, "I come from Peter's territory. After witnessing Mr. Borgia's valiant fighting, our Baron wished to become his secular protector."

"Mr. Borgia earned our Baron's respect through his courage and piety."

On the high platform, the advanced cultivators immediately began to discuss.

"I remember now, it's the Peter family. Old Baron Peter used to be very famous. I heard that the Peter family has changed a lot since then, and has become powerful, even controlling the surrounding baronies."

"Perhaps it really is true. Why would Mr. Borgia need to deceive us? He has even gained the approval of the local baron."

At this point, Borgia's uncles, seeing that the situation was improving, suddenly began to persuade everyone, even though they had been pretending to be dead.

"Borgia has just lost his loved ones. He has no reason to lie; his courage and piety have indeed received the full support of the secular ruling family."

"What outstanding personal charisma! He also has the blood of the nobles of the God of Law. If he were the bishop, tsk tsk tsk, the rebellion of the followers of the God of Law that is currently troubling us might not exist at all."

"Now that you mention it, it's true. It's truly remarkable that Borgia has the full support of the Peter family. He's still considered a church hero by the common people... His reputation is more than enough, and his lineage and family background are more than sufficient..."

Borgia's two competitors wanted to interrupt and say something, but since they were just listeners and had no right to speak, they could only helplessly shut their mouths.

Meanwhile, the three Benedictine elders began an internal discussion.

Ten minutes later, Elder John announced the results of their discussion. "Borgia Frederick, we acknowledge that you are currently distraught due to the fierce battle and the deaths of your comrades. Please accept our condolences; they have simply gone to the heavens of the Lord of Storms."

"Now, after interrogation, we acknowledge your achievement in killing the wizard, even though you may have only completed the final task. But your piety and the fighting spirit you maintained even in dire circumstances make you worthy of this honor."

"I hereby declare the interrogation over."

After making his announcement, Elder John even nodded to Blom and walked over to whisper, "It's clear that you are both an excellent warrior and a scholar well-versed in the scriptures. Thank you for reminding me. Over the years, I have indeed been too influenced by worldly work and have become so mercenary."

"They actually believe that one must be stronger than others in order to defeat them."

Su Nan was rendered speechless by his logic.

The problem is that, in most cases in this world, it really is true that only those who are militarily stronger can defeat others.

Su Nan could only nod slightly, which was considered a perfunctory response.

Sunan pulled Borgia along as they walked out of the cathedral. "Come on, my future bishop. After today, the electoral committee will also make its decision."

"You'll soon be a bishop."

"Don't forget your agreement with the Peter family, my friend."

Borgia, belatedly realizing what was happening, mumbled, "Did I win? Was it really that simple?"

Su Nan gave him a deep look. In fact, with the momentum he had built for him, plus the existing influence of his family in this pastoral area, as long as he could handle things normally, victory would be that simple.

The priest, who came from the White Gold Republic, was already viewed with suspicion by many. The most respected priest in the Achaean parish, David Davis, had popular support as his greatest weapon. Unfortunately, after he helped Borgia and publicized his deeds of killing the wizard in the Achaean region, Priest Davis lost his greatest advantage.

Therefore, Borgia's position is now secure.

His father originally wanted to help him gain some merit, and now Su Nan has done just that for his father.

The moment Borgia stepped out of the church, he shuddered at the sunlight, then blurted out to Blom in a low voice, "On my first day as bishop, I demanded that the archbishop help the Peter family upgrade their title and feudal rank!"

"Furthermore, I will request the Archbishop of the Storm Church to grant Peter's Maple Leaf Town the special status of the most important trading city in the central Storm Kingdom!"

(End of this chapter)