Mount Karen Riel.
As the area with the highest altitude in the Western Continent except for the Sigh Mountains, it is surrounded by mountains, and the snow-covered peaks overlook the earth, like long swords erected on the ground.
On the steep cliff, iron ropes and stairs circled along the rock, and pilgrims from all over the world stepped up, just to admire the angel statues left on the top of the mountain, the miracles that remained in the world after the chaotic disaster.
Among these variously dressed people, a man with gray hair and a trench coat was among them, and he was inconspicuous.
Several peaks around the holy mountain are the headquarters of the major institutions of the church.
Among them, there are the Lam Ye Palace for teaching young children, the Aquarius Palace for treatment, the Mountain Elephant Palace for building, the Requiem Palace for Requiem, the Ten Swords Palace for maintaining law and order, and so on.
Now one of the three major knights, Odis, the leader of the Holy Lance Knights, is also in a dangerous fortress on the mountain.
He was wearing thick silver armor with golden lines, and was nearly two meters tall. Behind him was a big red cloak. The fleece cloak made the overall figure and armor much thicker, making him as firm and steady as a mountain.
He stood on a lookout, overlooking the many knights training and shouting in the valley below, and there was no expression in his slashed face.
There was a knock on the door in the room behind him.
"Enter."
The door opened, and a silver-armored knight with a document walked in. The knight had blond hair and a handsome face. He should be around 30 years old.
"Lord Odis, I want to report something recently."
"Let's talk." He turned around, and with the sound of the armor colliding, he came to the desk and sat down.
"At present, among the members of the Knights of various branches, some members need to take a leave of absence to go home for a period of time, about a month."
"This kind of thing has always happened, and it's normal." Odis commented briefly, but he knew that this smart young man was going to say more than that.
"Yes, but the ratio this year is much higher than last year. If last year was two thousandths, then this year it is four thousandths."
"But now there is no war and nothing special, which is not normal."
"And most of these people were sent to the local parish headquarters in the form of letters. Although it was usually busy, I deliberately found some of them to compare with the previous letters and found that the handwriting was not the same person."
"That is to say, the letters of these people were written by others, and maybe something happened to them?"
"Yes, according to the normal process, knights in various towns and small towns have to report to the local parish headquarters every other month. During this time, they will convey some recent orders and instructions. At the same time, strengthen contact to ensure the loyalty of the members of the knight order. "
"However, if you ask for leave like this, you can go and come back up to three times. That is, you can't report to the diocese headquarters for three months. Then the whereabouts of these people will become a mystery."
"Interesting." The leader tapped his finger on the table a few times, and after thinking for a few seconds, continued to ask.
"Have you asked about other palaces and knights?"
"I didn't ask directly, but took advantage of official business to inquire. The situation in other palaces is similar to previous years, and the situation in the Knights is somewhat similar."
"In addition to our Holy Lance Knights, the Church belongs to the Knights of the Song of Death and the Blue Nautilus Knights. Similar situations have also occurred, but they are not as fluctuating as us."
"It is estimated that you are so careful to discover this subtle data difference." Odis sighed.
"That's for our Knights, and to do this, it's often the people inside the church, otherwise the other twelve houses should have a similar situation."
"Yes, you see..." the young knight asked in a low voice.
Odis did not answer immediately, and slowly analyzed the current situation.
Now 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 House and the Three Great Knights.
At present, there are about 70 people who meet this condition. Except for some who have less qualifications and their own strength is obviously insufficient, there are 15 suitable candidates. Among these 15 people, there is a real hope to reach that threshold, which makes everyone more convinced. Only 4 people.
One of them is himself, as the head of the Knights of the Holy Lance, one of the red-robed archbishops, not only in the military position, but also a priest before, leading the party, his resume and strength are extremely stable. At present, it is also the peak of Angel Sequence 8, and it is only one step away from Sequence 9.
In addition, the scepter priest of the Ten Swords Palace, the Archbishop of Thebes is also popular. He served in the Lam Ye Palace 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 rulers of the Dormition Palace and the Holy Flame Palace are also friends with him and are their firm allies.
Then there is the Priest of Wands of the Aquarius Palace, Benes. She has served in Emenas, and she has also served as the archbishop of a diocese. The Blue Nautilus Knights, the Mountain Elephant Palace, and the Anthem Palace have all had a good relationship with them. In addition, she has taught in Emenas. Students, within the church, also have many high-level supporters.
Finally, the scepter priest of the Star Orbit Palace, Charente. This extremely senior existence, although he is over 150 years old, still looks like he is about 30 years old, and it is said that he was blessed by an angel when he was young. Although he rarely intervenes in foreign affairs, but his own strength is very strong, coupled with the support of some old people, if he serves as the pope, not many people will object.
Among the four, he and Sibis were both at the peak of Sequence 8, while Benes had just entered Sequence 9 5 years ago, while Charente, it is said that a hundred years ago, was already a Sequence 9 and participated in Xuehua The "Broken Bow Battle" between the Seven Kingdoms and the Green Empire.
Although his allies are only the scepter priests of the Silver Blood Palace, the Knights of the Holy Lance, as the church's largest combat legion, has more warriors than the other two knights combined, and its momentum is even higher.
Odis was silent for a while, and after a long time he opened his mouth and said, "The Knights will be dispatched from the headquarters, each of 300 people, to go to various places to change defenses. It is said that they will conduct training camps to rectify the gradually abandoned military discipline."
After these teams arrived in the local area, they went directly to the troubled towns and cities according to the list, to investigate and find the missing members by force.
"Fairy Wood"
"With so much momentum, it's hard to hide from other people."
"What if they can't hide it? Since they are sneaky, there must be some conspiracy and tricks. We directly disrupt the rhythm and turn their dark conspiracy into a bright battle."
"And fighting the enemy directly, our Holy Lance Knights have never been afraid of anyone."
"I understand, my lord." The blond knight bowed his head, and then walked out of the room with the signed documents, calling up the knights on duty along the way, and they would quickly send orders to all directions.