The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 555

Chapter 554
Remember to save me

Although Eivass could not be sure if the person who stole the experiment was planning to ambush the Pure White Saintess during the Pope’s Ascension Ritual, nor how much this matter was related to Cardinal Loki and Professor Moriarty…

He was at least sure of one thing.

—That person harbored clear malice towards the Pure White Saintess.

Upon realizing this, Janis became visibly angry. “I’m going to see His Majesty the Pope—has the Church become a place where such scheming individuals can run rampant?”

Despite constantly being pressured by the Pure White Saintess, even being scared to run around and not dare to go home.

But when Janis realized that Grey was in true danger, she did not hide her anger and anxiety at all.

“I’m afraid not.”

Eivass shook his head and replied, “These monsters and ghosts only started appearing after His Majesty the Pope fell into slumber.”

“…Can’t he be woken up?”

“It’s a slumber that cannot be woken. Of course, you can also call it a coma.”

Eivass glanced at the people present and decided to speak directly, “His Majesty the Pope’s petrification illness has begun to worsen. I don’t know how much longer he can hold on.”

“Everything is happening all at once…”

Janis frowned deeply. “Then this is bad. If the Pope is not here… then I’m afraid the other Cardinals won’t act either.”

“If these things hadn’t all happened at once, these people probably wouldn’t have dared to make a move,” Freya said faintly from the side.

Sherlock agreed. “That’s exactly it. If these accidents hadn’t happened, then what’s happening now probably wouldn’t have happened at all. I suppose the Eternal Holy Kingdom has always been like this. That’s how it managed to be…’Eternal.’ Heh.”

It wasn’t because the internal affairs were always peaceful and beautiful, but rather because any nascent signs of chaos and trouble were nipped in the bud. And when the upper echelons simultaneously encountered problems, it immediately exposed its flaws.

“There are over twenty Cardinals in the Church, can’t anyone else manage it?” Lily asked subconsciously.

“I’m afraid not,” Eivass said, considering the subsequent plot development, and shook his head.

Lily’s thoughts were still instinctively treating the Church’s Cardinals as the ministers of Avalon.

But the Church did not have such a monarchical political structure.

“It’s like this, Lily. The Church does not have a clear and unified source of political power,” Freya began, explaining in terms that Lily could understand. “The Church is not that the Candlemaster grants power to the Pope, and the Pope governs the Church on their behalf. The supreme power of the Church itself comes from the Eternal Pope.

“Or rather, the center of power in the Church is these Fifth Tier Cardinals. Each one is in charge of a “Church District,” responsible for caring for different facilities within that Ring, and the Pope himself is also a Bishop, thus in charge of the Twenty-second Ring.

“It is precisely because these Cardinals are also Cardinals of the Church of the Nine Pillar Gods, and obey the Pope within the Church, that the Pope has the right to rule the Church.

“They are all top-tier Extraordinary beings on the Path of Devotion, and the Pope walks ahead of all of them. Just as the one who walks the farthest in the Dream Realm is a Pillar God, the Pope thus becomes everyone’s protector and leader.

“But in essence, the Pope has never had the ruling power over the entire Church. The Pope directly controls only the Twenty-second Ring; the Pope’s own duty is only to communicate with all the residents of all the Rings and to supply energy to the giant tree.

“…Doesn’t that mean,” Lily widened her eyes, “that the Church might even split in the end?”

“From a historical perspective,” Freya explained, “the Church has always been broken. It is essentially a union of twenty-two stacked city-states. And since the founding of the Church, the rulers of these twenty-two federations happened to be in the same organization. Therefore, the Cardinals do not have a relationship of belonging to each other, and their powers cannot restrain each other.

“Ultimately,” Janis replied softly, “we Elves are the children of the giant tree after all. Even though the Church of the Nine Pillar Gods now respects the Candlemaster, and the Candlemaster is willing to protect the Church… the ‘land’ of the Church actually belongs to the ‘Great Giant Tree.’ This is, after all, its遗体, and it naturally has the right to dispose of it; we are still using the legacy of the giant tree, so we must respect its rules.

“And the giant tree, as an Apostle of the Candlemaster, the rules it personally set were that at least Fifth Tier Devotees could control a Ring, and each person could only control one Ring.”

“Why is that?”

Hearing this, Eivass suddenly understood why the Candlemaster remained silent when the Church split.

So he pressed, “And why did they merge later?”

“Because although the giant tree is an ancient god, it is enlightened and gentle. It hopes that the tenets of the Path of Devotion are expansive, developing, and innovative.”

Janis sighed. “We have to start from the very beginning… Your human history books probably don’t have this knowledge. This is already secret knowledge, a story from before the second sun set.

“When the Elves were first born, they were not unified. At that time, the Elves were called the ‘Hundred Children of the Giant Tree,’ and the Church was called the ‘Ten Thousand Nations of the Giant Tree’—not only was each level independent, but many Rings had not yet produced Fifth Tier Devotees.

“After the birth of the Church of the Nine Pillar Gods, the Church finally merged after several civil wars. But being divided was its original form… Therefore, if the Church splits again, some old-fashioned traditionalists might even be happy.

“Taking Cardinal Loki as an example: as long as he hasn’t lost his power entirely, it means he hasn’t betrayed the Path of Devotion in his heart, and he still has control over this Ring. Then, whatever actions he chooses to take, even ‘Controlled Fire,’ are his personal freedom. Because he is the master of the ‘Controlled Fire’ sect.”

Sherlock, who was listening from the side, understood.

The Church was actually a main sect, and each Cardinal was a faction.

The power of the Church did not belong to anyone, but to those who came first—and the qualification was judged solely by the resonance of the Path.

If the Path itself acknowledged such an idea, even if others did not, it would only represent a “niche Path of Devotion.”

From the giant tree’s perspective, it did not want this possibility to disappear.

It wanted them to compete with each other and coexist, thus developing more possibilities, rather than stagnating…

“…Stagnation?”

Sherlock murmured, catching a hint of inspiration.

From this perspective, perhaps the current form of the “Church” was actually what the giant tree disliked…

“When there was a Pope suppressing things, the path chosen by the Pope was the highest and only correct direction of the ‘Path of Devotion.’

“But since all the Cardinals are Fifth Tier Extraordinary beings, it means they inevitably have their own thoughts and opinions. And now that the Pope is silent, they can explain the paths they follow… and preach. And from the very beginning, this was allowed by the Pope.”

Janis said sternly, “Because from the very beginning, the Church could not ‘kill’ other ideas.”

Eivass also understood.

The reason why, in his impression, after the Pope completely fell into a coma and the Church completely split, all these Cardinals looked like madmen with contorted faces… it was because they were all in a state of excitement, trying to recruit people for their paths and propositions.

“There are too many things happening now, and too many clues. It’s getting late… Time is pressing, so we’ll split up tomorrow for our investigation. If anyone has any objections, please let me take command for now,” Eivass analyzed calmly.

“Lily, you and Freya will go find Mr. Oswald.”

“Oswald? Which…? Oh!”

Freya was stunned for a moment, then barely recalled the name. “Mr. Oswald is in the Church now too!”

“Yes,” Eivass nodded.

He remembered that Oswald was formerly a Pope’s Guard and might have been close to the Pope.

Perhaps he would know some secrets.

And if Professor Moriarty returned, he would probably contact Oswald. Having Lily and Freya, who were familiar with Oswald, go to him would increase the possibility of obtaining useful information, and Oswald would have nothing to hide.

“Sherlock, please go and find Mr. Yunus first. That matter can only be entrusted to you for now.”

“Leave it to me with confidence,” Sherlock replied calmly, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his words full of confidence.

Yunus, as Isabel’s father, his troubles also had to be dealt with. He knew Yunus’s true identity—others might not take it seriously, but Sherlock would definitely be able to protect Yunus.

“Then what about us?” Janis asked.

“Coincidentally, the Pure White Saintess will chat with you, Master, tomorrow. You can tell her about the current troubles as well,” Eivass mentioned. “Also, Master Janis, you can ask her if ‘Eivass’s dates are still available.’ If she says yes, then introduce Freya to her and bring some dates back for her to study.”

“Okay, I remember,” Janis nodded, then asked, “Then what about you? Where are you going yourself?”

“I’m going to see Cardinal Loki alone again,” Eivass said grimly. “Perhaps there are some things he can’t say in front of you all. So I’ll go by myself.”

“That’s too dangerous, Eivass!” Freya was the first to object. “According to you, Cardinal Loki might be the mastermind.”

Lily also looked at Eivass with concern, but she did not object.

“That’s why I’m telling you all here,” Eivass said calmly. “If I don’t return for a long time… remember to save me.

“—I’m not the type to investigate alone without telling anyone where I’m going.”

With that, Eivass shot a glare at Sherlock.

Sherlock in the original timeline had disappeared for this very reason.

Sherlock tilted his head, somewhat confused. “You’re talking about me?”

“Consider it as if I am,” Eivass said, too lazy to explain.

(End of this chapter)