Chapter 516: Divine Artifact Overwhelms (10k Words Chapter)

Chapter 516: Crushed by the Divine Artifact (Ten-Thousand-Word Super Chapter)

A faint smile graced Delon's face, prompting him to shift into a more comfortable sitting position;

It was a pity that he did not have a cup of hot tea in hand to heighten the coziness, and if it could be paired with a few pieces of pastry baked by his wife, it would be truly perfect.

Owing to his temperament, Delon harbored a distaste for matters that were overly "complex," maintaining a relatively pure disposition regarding both the Holy Church and his own duties; it was precisely because he always treated his subordinates and each of his students with genuine sincerity that whenever he had need, he scarcely had to search before a single word sufficed to bring these priests from the department along with him, even though everyone understood perfectly well that coming here likely meant offending the bishops.

Nevertheless, Delon had served in the department for so many years after all; even if he had never personally pickled the bean paste, he had at least tasted it;

Thus, sitting here now, he was still entirely capable of reading the room.

"This lad is truly extraordinary."

Delon recalled how his wife held Karen in exceptionally high regard, particularly how she would always have an identical set tailored for Karen whenever she procured new divine robes and other vestments for Richard.

The old gentleman did not find anything unusual in this; quite the contrary, he deemed it entirely natural.

His wife possessed an unerring eye and had long since discerned Karen's excellence;

Ah,

Who could possibly dislike such a young man?

At this thought, Delon subconsciously glanced in the direction of his own grandson.

That bizarre, shameful sense of vicarious embarrassment had still not faded to this very moment.

…

"The Captain is truly magnificent."

Richard clenched his fists tightly, as though it were not Karen but he, Richard, who had just stood at the center of the frontal arena interrogating the entire gallery, filled with an intense sense of vicarious immersion!

Philomena spoke up, asking, "In what way magnificent? The tone of his voice? Why do I feel the Captain was somewhat driven to desperation?"

"Heh, how can this be called desperation? It was the other party who initiated the out-of-bounds talk first."

"Out-of-bounds?" Philomena was momentarily taken aback. "Is that a term from that game?"

During those days spent drifting upon the great sea aboard the sea beast, Philomena had also been forcibly required to join that game called "Werewolf."

"Indeed. Today was originally supposed to be about the trial, yet Bishop Bourn completely bypassed the main issue and insisted on bringing up out-of-bounds matters; therefore, the Captain simply decided to talk out-of-bounds with him, which naturally cancels it out in equal measure, does it not?"

Philomena desperately wanted to reply "yes," but she still found herself somewhat unable to comprehend.

Richard immediately continued his explanation: "It is just like trying to determine who among two people is a good person and who is a wolf; a believer of the Moon God Church says, 'By the Great Moon God above, I am a good person.' Would that not make you think he is definitely not a wolf? But then the other person immediately follows with, 'By the Great God of Samsara above, I am absolutely not a werewolf.'

In this manner, do not the two individuals return to the exact same footing in your mind?"

"Mm, I understand now. So, after canceling out the out-of-bounds factors, one must still return to the 'game' to analyze the logic? Which means returning to the case right before our eyes."

"Yes, exactly. Ah, you know, the longer I spend around Karen, the more I realize that I seem to fall short of him in every single aspect."

Hearing this, Philomena remarked, "Are you implying something about me?"

"No, no, you are very formidable in my eyes, truly."

"However, there is one thing..." Philomena said. "Have you ever met Inquisitor Pavaro?"

"No. I heard from Pick and Dincom that Inquisitor Pavaro constantly accepted missions outside all year round to earn points for purchasing medicinal ingredients for his two corrupted daughters, rarely returning home."

Philomena asked, "Do you believe Inquisitor Pavaro's two daughters are still lacking medicinal ingredients now?"

Richard licked his lips.

"If you were to say Inquisitor Pavaro intentionally hid from the Captain to keep him from knowing he was investigating, I would believe it; but right under the Captain's nose, allowing him to be silenced just like that—I do not quite believe it."

Richard took a deep breath, instantly placing his index finger against his lips:

"Shh! Do not speak of this matter anymore, and do not ask about it again, understand?"

"I have deployed an isolation barrier; when the two of us speak, there is no need for a 'shh'."

"Oh, right, I simply failed to notice."

"Furthermore, except to you, I will not speak to anyone else."

…

"This young man is truly rather intriguing." The Grand Pontiff lifted his teacup and took a sip. "Additionally, this Bourn—is he one of your men?"

"No, he belongs to Lissen, though he remains one of your men just the same."

"Is he from Lissen's lineage? In York City, oh, that family of the Pamires Church."

"Yes, the Pamires Church is practically controlled by his family."

"Mm, I remember him. That family has made immense contributions to the Holy Church. Never mind, since he is Lissen's man, Lissen will make his own arrangements; perhaps in their view, a regional bishop is more suited for him to exert his influence."

Immediately afterward, Norton looked at Karen on the screen and suddenly smiled.

Then, the Grand Pontiff lifted the teacup resting upon the coffee table and spoke:

"Foden."

"Present."

"That cup of tea—you were not splashed in vain."

…

Bishop Bourn stared at Karen for a long duration before finally nodding.

Step by step, he had dug a pit for this young man, while this young man utilized a form of candor to fill the pit he dug, step by step.

As for that interrogation of the entire gallery just now, was it truly a pure venting of emotion?

Bourn did not believe so.

Yet he respected this method of handling things that integrated candor into one's own rhythm.

Bourn recalled his son Delius once mentioning that this security personnel named Karen was highly interesting; looking at it now, it was indeed a matter of his own prior contact resulting in oversight.

However, this clash had only just begun.

Let everyone continue to "slaughter" one another from their respective stances.

Bishop Bourn turned sideways and spoke, "Captain Karen, may I suspect that your description of the 'timing not being ripe' is merely an excuse of your own choosing to evade?"

Karen nodded and replied, "There is no need to suspect; it is precisely an excuse to evade."

"Then may I also suspect because of this that your loyalty to the Order's doctrines is insufficient?"

Gaspor spoke up, "Defense counsel, your questioning exceeds reasonable boundaries."

"My apologies, Chief Judge."

Karen, however, bowed to Gaspor and said, "I am willing to answer, Chief Judge."

Gaspor remained silent.

Karen turned his gaze back to Bishop Bourn, replying, "Yes, my loyalty to the doctrines of Order is insufficient."

"Therefore..."

Before Bishop Bourn could continue, Karen interrupted him, saying:

"Not long ago, I underwent a physical examination at the affiliated hospital of the Knights Templar; my faith piety score was a rare perfect mark. I believe, Lord Bishop, that you ought to possess my profile in your hands; you may verify it further upon your return."

"Since it is a perfect score, why..."

Sitting beside Cullen, Alfred’s breathing suddenly quickened. He grew quite exhilarated by the turn of the conversation; was this Lord Bishop intending to debate faith with his young master?

"Because the path of faith has no end. I believe in Order, yet I too have strayed into error. There were times I believed myself to be correct, only to realize some time later my own radicalism and muddleheadedness.

I will not grow discouraged because of this; instead, I shall find joy in each of my awakenings.

After all, if everyone could so easily harbor the faith of Order in their hearts and let their actions be guided completely by the thoughts within, wouldn't the ideal blueprint for which countless sages of our Church of Order have fought for all their lives be far too simple?"

"So, Captain Cullen, you mean to tell me that it was only because Inquisitor Pavaro died that you resolved to take his place and continue the investigation against Adjudicator Vicole?"

"Yes. Because his death touched me. Originally, I thought to wait until the winds were more favorable and the environment better before cooperating with Inquisitor Pavaro to investigate this matter.

Only after Inquisitor Pavaro died did I realize that if I kept sitting and waiting, a suitable wind and a better environment would never come.

These things require me, and a large group of people, to step forward of our own accord to strive and create them."

"To create this environment, you would strive to make some changes, correct?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Captain Cullen, do you feel that it is precisely because the Whip of Order currently lacks sufficient power that such an environment has arisen? In your heart, do you believe that as long as the power of the Whip of Order can be restored, the environment will improve?"

"Defense counsel for the accused, please mind your words," Gasper reminded.

"Yes, Chief Judge."

"I believe everything has two sides. But as someone walking forward in the faith of Order, at least for now, I feel that if the Whip of Order could restore a portion of its former power, it would indeed serve a very good cleansing role for the atmosphere of the Holy Church."

"Very well, I understand." Bishop Byrne shifted his gaze toward Vic. "In the chain of evidence stated previously, our side deems the first and third points to be highly improper.

First, our side does not believe Adjudicator Vicole usurped Inquisitor Pavaro's credit. At the time, the Regional Management Office conducted an investigation and characterization of the matter, and even followed up on it. Furthermore, Inquisitor Pavaro did receive a portion of the credit. At that time, Inquisitor Pavaro even accepted it, if I remember correctly?"

"Yes, that is correct."

"Therefore, it was Inquisitor Pavaro himself who acquiesced to this result. He did not choose to properly utilize the power granted to him by the Holy Church to protect his own legitimate interests. Thus, to wish now, simply because he is dead, to overturn a result he personally recognized—I believe this is inappropriate and unreasonable.

Moreover, the issues involved here are quite complex. For instance, when a squad completes a mission together and rewards are distributed according to merit, if the squad captain or a certain individual in the squad receives the greatest reward, the rest will feel psychologically unbalanced.

But in the end, who is right and who is wrong? Can an outsider distinguish it clearly?

This was a muddled account to begin with.

Judging by Inquisitor Pavaro’s choice at the time, the most I can concede is that they collaborated to solve the Qihe case.

And Inquisitor Pavaro might have complained to you in private, grumbling that this distribution of credit carried a bit of unfairness."

It had to be said that Bishop Byrne was indeed a master of shifting concepts.

With a few words, he had directly transformed Vicole's shameless theft of Inquisitor Pavaro's credit into a "dispute over credit distribution" between two people, describing a black-and-white matter as a shade of "gray" that everyone was accustomed to.

All of his arguments avoided specific clues, including Pavaro's investigative notebooks, his suicide note, and other such evidence. No, while admitting this evidence, he minimized its effectiveness to the greatest extent possible.

Most importantly, the reason Bishop Byrne dared to do this was that he had reviewed the case files; every person related to the Qihe case was dead. Even the adjudicator who had fled had died during the wanted pursuit and capture.

But when boiled down to the root, it was still because the one who had completed the "transaction" with Vicole back then was Cullen, who had just put on Pavaro's mask. At that time, under those circumstances, Cullen had only just obtained his new identity and was in an unfamiliar and sensitive environment, forcing him to choose a rather conservative method of response when facing Vicole.

At that time, the true Inquisitor Pavaro was already long dead.