Chapter 20 Bishop Mathers

The Candlemassage Cathedral in the Red Queen District is the most orthodox Nine-pillar Church in Avalon, and it is also the church with the highest status.

The coronation ceremonies of the kings and queens of Avalon are held here, and it is also the location of the royal mausoleum. Other people who can be called "great" in the Kingdom of Avalon will also be buried here after the state funeral ceremony.

It dares to be named after the guardian pillar god "Candlemassage" of the dedication path, which is enough to prove its sacredness.

"Please come here."

An old man wearing a church crown and a solemn and solemn red robe turned around and said to Aiwas politely and gently.

Judging from his skin and eyebrows, this man with a beard and glasses is only in his forties. His temperament gives people a feeling of a strict class teacher. But he inexplicably gives people a feeling of "oldness", which makes people instinctively think that he should be an old man. Perhaps it is because his beard and hair are unnaturally pale, not natural white hair, but faded due to aging.

The old man looked up and warned Oswald, who was pushing the wheelchair behind Aiwas, "Be careful, the road ahead is downhill."

The shape of the mitre on his head resembles some kind of complicated, gorgeous and sacred candlestick.

You can even insert candles on it - but they will not really insert candles and light them except on important occasions.

With the design of this mitre, it can accommodate up to three candles. The big candle in front and the two small candles on the left and right sides represent that the holy order of the old man in front of him is quite high.

Even if the Pope of the Eternal Church is counted, it can be considered the third level from top to bottom.

Strictly speaking, all high-level clergy including the Pope are considered "bishops", and all bishops have three candles on their mitres, and only bishops can wear red robes. Among them, the Pope's mitre can accommodate three large candles, while the lowest-level bishops can only insert three small candles.

The next lower priest has two candles, and the lowest-level deacon has only one candle.

Although the churches in this world all worship the nine pillars at the same time, the churches themselves also have their own emphasis. Most of the clergy are on the path of dedication, so the Nine Pillars Church itself respects "candleholders" and the red candles that "burn themselves to illuminate others" are the sacred symbols of the Nine Pillars Church.

Although Aiwass is also a priest, he has not graduated yet and has not been awarded his own crown. This means that he is not considered a member of the religious system, does not receive the church's salary, and is not bound by the church's rules.

"Thank you, Bishop Mathers."

Aiwass said politely and gratefully: "Please come and teach me the sacred skills in person."

"What's the trouble? I was elected as a spiritual councilor thanks to Professor Moriarty."

Bishop Mathers put his hands in front of him and clasped his fingers. He walked parallel to Aiwas on the east side of the Candleholder Cathedral.

He smiled happily: "I read the newspaper this morning-you did a good job yesterday.

"That group of demon scholars did a lot of evil. Not long ago, they sacrificed an entire village. Including more than a dozen elderly people and more than 40 children, all of them were made into ritual materials by them. Their crimes were so outrageous that they even alarmed His Holiness the Pope. Now they are not only wanted in the Kingdom, but also in the Punishment Hall of the Theocracy.

"You relied on your wisdom to find them and defeated them with a pistol before you officially obtained the power of the Tao... You defeated the strong with the weak, which is very good. His Holiness the Pope has not received the newspaper yet. But I believe that if he sees the newspaper, he will also praise you as a 'hero born in youth'."

"It's not that great," Aiwas smiled gently, "Without the protection of Senior Sister Haina, I might have been killed even if I found them."

"Well, that little girl is also very good."

Bishop Mathers agreed: "Brave and resourceful - the most important thing is that she is willing to trust others.

"She is so much stronger than you and older than you, but she does not blindly believe in her own strength, but is willing to trust your judgment... When she can't handle the problem in front of her, she is willing to pass the ball to someone who can handle the problem. I think this is probably also a kind of wisdom. "

"Do you watch football too? "

The person who suddenly asked the question was Oswald behind Aiwas.

The old elf asked with interest: "Which team do you support?"

"Of course it's the Mistletoe Club."

The bishop answered without hesitation: "I think there should be something to say about the new player they introduced this year."

"What about Unicorn? What do you think of Unicorn's performance this year?"

"I am from Avalon, so of course I support the Avalon team. You are an elf, so you support the team of the Church. This is normal."

The bishop said happily, and lightly skipped the topic.

He looked at Aiwas and said seriously: "Although you have proved that you can defeat the strong with the weak - without gaining any extraordinary power, you have defeated the enemy who is about to touch the third energy level. But if we put you aside so confidently, it would be a dereliction of duty for us elders.

“Although this may be against the rules... According to the regulations issued by Her Majesty the Queen forty years ago, Avalon citizens need to reach adulthood, obtain excellent grades in cultural courses, have good moral evaluations, and have no bad habits or criminal records before they can officially contact the Tao and embark on the path of transcendence.

"But there is actually only one month left before your final assessment for this semester. You have proven your integrity and rationality. I will talk to Her Majesty the Queen later."

Hearing this, the housekeeper Oswald who was pushing the wheelchair suddenly coughed lightly.

"Master Bishop," the old but still elegant elf butler asked seriously, "Did something happen?"

Bishop Mathers was still folding his hands cheerfully, but did not immediately reply to Oswald's words.

Until the three of them arrived at the chapel on the east side of the cathedral, Bishop Mathers took out a huge key that looked longer than Haina's dagger and opened the closed door. ...The old bishop spoke slowly:

"——Today, St. Guinevere's Chapel is opened only for you.

"In addition to teaching you the three sacred skills of 'Fire Sacrifice', 'Illumination', and 'Blessing', I will also help you complete your first advancement. Don't be too nervous. You don't need to enter the dream world for your first advancement. The situation in Avalon is not very good now, I think you need some self-preservation ability.”

"So, what happened?"

Oswald demanded.

Bishop Mathers closed the chapel door and flipped on the light switch.

The next moment, the chapel, whose structure and floor space looked like a university lecture hall, suddenly became brightly lit.

On the left and right sides, countless one-to-one proportion statues stored in niches suddenly became brighter behind them. As if awakened by the light, the statues in the niches slowly began to move silently, and gradually turned their gaze towards them.

Bishop Mathers stretched out his hand to light the three candles on his diadem, and respectfully greeted the statues of the saints: "Seventy-three pioneers.

"May Si Zhu take care of your candlelight."

Aiwass and Oswald also bowed their heads slightly to show respect.

These seventy-three icons are all the pioneers, including the monarchs of all generations, who have received burial ceremonies with state funeral standards since the founding of the Kingdom of Avalon and were buried here. Each one of them has his or her name engraved in the history books of Avalon.

When Queen Sofia dies, she will become the seventy-fourth.

Aiwass has already seen that there is an extra niche in the corner of St. Guinevere's Chapel that does not contain the icon.

Noticing Aiwass' gaze, Bishop Mathers explained to him thoughtfully: "This is the position Her Majesty the Queen has prepared for herself. Her old man's icon had been carved five years ago and finished two years ago. It has been prepared. The icon is now in the Temple of Silver and Tin."

Then, he turned back to look at Oswald.

"The people in the Round Table Hall probably don't know about this yet, but I have already reported it to Her Majesty the Queen."

Bishop Mathers said seriously: "Important information came from the Theocracy.

"We caught a Star Antimony spy over there and asked about something.

"——It is said that a traitor has appeared in the top leadership of the kingdom. They plan to cause a continuous chaos of unknown time, scale, and location on the Glass Island. The ultimate goal is to "obtain or get close to some kind of sacred entity."

“I’m afraid the capital will soon fall into chaos, so I don’t think it’s necessary for Aiwass to wait for the final exam to be over.

"Just in case, he must immediately embark on the extraordinary path."