The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 869

Chapter 868
The Chaotic Star Antimony
April 1st, which is April Fools’ Day.
Four itself is the sacred number of the Path of Wisdom, just as The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire is a grimoire of the Path of Wisdom.
This is the day when the elves commemorate the death of the Fool, Dionysus, before the arrival of the Hengwo Era.
Not many humans remember this event anymore.
Back then, Hengwo had not yet ascended to the position of Pillar God, and Xi Tian Si had not yet been born; the era of “beasts” had not yet ended, and the rule of “power” still existed—in a world of endless darkness, everything was so primitive and barbaric. The strong preyed on the weak.
The Fool walked the earth, acting mad and mockingly flattering the great figures as “sages,” yet he ruthlessly pointed out their selfishness, ignorance, stubbornness, madness, and greed. Even the Church and the Pope frequently appeared in his criticisms.
He sympathized with the mortals who were caught in the midst of the gods’ wars, their lives precarious, calling them “fools,” while cursing them, pitying them, and praising them.
Naturally, he offended many people.
However, the Fool also had many friends, and he was indeed capable of fighting. So, people could only feel extremely helpless. Many important figures in various places would respectfully greet the Fool when he came, for fear that he would say something troublesome again, or record the words he cursed them with in poems that would be passed down for eternity.
He was a powerful being, yet he stood on the side of the weak.
At that time, the sun had not yet risen, and the Fool was the only fire in the night.
The Fool even dared to deny the gods—the ancient Heavenly Envoys were called “gods,” and the apostles were called “subordinate gods.” Even Extraordinary beings of the Fifth Tier and Phantom Demons could be called “demigods” or “false gods.”
People looked up at the sky, and the stars were all gods.
People bowed and knelt when they met the gods on earth.
Although the Fool himself did not become a god in the end, his will remained. In commemoration of the Fool, April 1st became “Fool’s Day,” just like the holy days of other Pillar Gods.
…Although the Fool himself might not have agreed with this.
However, on this day, people’s acts of madness and presumptuous words were usually forgiven, as they could be referred to as “commemorating the Fool and imitating the Fool’s speech.” Many people would also mix their true feelings into the lies on this day, and these seemingly true and false statements were more like the Fool.
Initially, people set the “time when one can lie” to be “before sunrise.” Later, because it did not fit the daily routine of normal people, it was gradually changed to before noon, that is, before the sun, which illuminates the heavens and the earth, reached its zenith.
But later, people gradually forgot the Fool’s name.
Nowadays, the name “The Fool” only exists in Occult Classics as a piece of esoteric knowledge. Only the tradition of April Fools’ Day remains in the world, but people have long forgotten who these lies were spoken for.
Coincidentally, the Church chose the morning of this day to announce the removal of its Permanent Neutrality status—if it were another day, perhaps the controversy would not have been so great.
People argued fiercely, yet they did not know whether these words were true or false.
—Perhaps people already knew the truth or falsehood from the very beginning, it was just that some people hoped it was false.
In Avalon, there was not much worry about this. Instead, many people treated it as a topic of conversation—after all, everyone knew that the current Pope was from Avalon, and he was their Minister of Affairs, and about to become their Prince!
He was one of their own!
Removing the shackles and chains, wouldn’t that be a joyous occasion?
However, in the current Star Antimony, this news caused intense chaos—
At this moment, the Children of the Moon in the Red Fortress gathered together.
The first generation Red Phase Pomanach was dead, and the leader of the Children of the Moon was naturally Queen Louise.
She herself was a sufficiently powerful Child of the Moon, and now she was the acting regent of the legitimate royal family—Valentine VII was her husband, Valentine VIII was her child, and in the absence of any other royal family members emerging to claim the throne, it was natural for her to act as regent for the “sick” Valentine VIII.
Upon hearing that the Church had removed its neutrality, their first reaction was—is this aimed at them?
“Don’t worry.”
Louise’s face was grim, but her emotions were quite stable: “According to the Church’s rules, this is an internal power shift within our nation… Our father was Pomanach. He was one of the founders of Star Antimony, and by any angle, he is not an outsider.”
“…But the problem is,” a young Child of the Moon asked cautiously, “isn’t the current Pope Eivass Moriarty? Will he, as a human, truly adhere to the Church’s traditions?”
“—He must adhere.”
A middle-aged man, who looked around forty or fifty years old, spoke with a firm tone—he was General Lister, who was also the Naval Minister of Star Antimony.
Due to the special nature of the Children of the Moon, when controlling the upper echelons of a nation, they often tried to prioritize controlling its navy. If the navy was not firmly in their hands, they would easily be trapped in a certain place by the weakness of “flowing water,” or drown at sea. Therefore, those who controlled ships had to be their own people.
Minister Lister had been seconded to the Church for over ten years before he became a Child of the Moon. He could be considered an expert on the Church among their Children of the Moon.
“Those elves in the Church are not saints who are free from desire. Their internal cardinals are divided into several factions, one of which strictly adheres to all traditions, and this faction is almost the loudest.
“And Eivass is merely an acting Pope. He is not the true Pope… According to the Pure White Saintess, she will succeed to the papacy before the end of the year. This means he is only a transitional figure, and in such a situation, the Church will not allow him to wield too much power.”
“Might there be a possibility,” Louise humbly asked General Lister, “that the founding event of the Eternal Holy Kingdom was not led by Pope Moriarty?”
“This possibility exists, but it is unlikely.”
The Naval Minister shook his head and said solemnly, “Just as I said—because the internal opinions of the Church have always been divided, if it is a resolution ‘passed unanimously,’ it must be due to external forces intervening and influencing the thoughts of those cardinals.
“Those cardinals in the Church are all obstinate eccentrics. Each of them is as strange as Black Phase, and there is no room for compromise on matters of principle, and they may not even follow the Pope’s orders. Therefore, if they can pass it collectively, something must have happened.
“I believe that first, we can rule out the possibility that they established [this new status] to interfere with the situation in Star Antimony. In the end, the current situation in Star Antimony is just a minor scuffle… We haven’t even started a civil war. Although the Ministry of the Army has defected to the Academy, they haven’t launched an attack on us, have they?
“In the long lives of elves, there have been many more serious matters than this. To the elves, the current chaos in Star Antimony is not even worth dispatching Paladins to mediate—otherwise, if the Church had clearly expressed the attitude of ‘I don’t want you to continue causing trouble,’ do you think we would still be fighting like this?”
“…Certainly not.”
Louise felt somewhat embarrassed, but she still nodded in admission.
Admittedly, if the Church had truly put pressure on them… they might have backed down.
They had always believed that Pomanach was the number one person under the Pope. But that was, after all, the “number one person under the Pope.” Not to mention, Pomanach was no longer here.
Moreover, the person who killed Pomanach was within Star Antimony—if the Church applied pressure, they could indeed find an excuse to step down.
In that case, at least they could retain their influence and power.
Because they had never failed, they had merely yielded to the pressure of the Church…
But who could withstand the pressure of the Church?
Everyone would understand them.
But if they were truly crushed by the Church, the situation would be completely different.
Fortunately, after General Lister’s analysis, this situation was basically ruled out…
Louise also breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as the worst-case scenario of “the Church intending to directly intervene in the situation of Star Antimony” could be ruled out, all other scenarios were acceptable.
On the other side.
The Ministry of the Army had a solemn attitude towards this matter.
They had a completely different understanding of this from the Children of the Moon.
—The Church was coming for them!
And they also gave the reason—
“Speak,” Master Walter said with a stern face, “who leaked it.
“Regarding… the secret of the Ouroboros Ring ritual.”
(End of this chapter)