Wayne brought the ancient book back to the library with his suitcase; he made a phone call to the butler, explaining that due to busy official business, he wouldn’t be returning in the next few days.
At the same time, he also reported his safety to Hefei, having captured a Black Sorcerer. Just to be cautious, he decided to stay a few more days in Jianhe County.
The Naturalism Church had already reached an agreement with the Heavenly Father’s Court. The entomologist and the Evil God Statue were handed over to the Heavenly Father’s Court, and in this transaction, the Naturalism Church was definitely the winner. With the credits distributed, Wayne would also earn quite a bit.
Wayne had little interest in a civil servant’s promotion but was very interested in earning merits. Watching the numbers rise gave him a sensation akin to leveling up.
He was now a first-class Pastor, and with a few more tasks, rising to third-class wouldn’t be a problem. After that, pulling off one big job, a promotion to Priest would mean he could get a bigger office.
Not like now, where despite being a leader, he had to share an office with the other civil servants.
It was time for afternoon tea again. The civil servants fled the office as if school had just ended. Wayne chose a spot by the window, put on his white gloves, and began to thumb through an ancient book.
These books were precious collections of the cathedral and could very well be the only copies in existence. Out of respect for history, Wayne handled them with utmost care.
In the office, besides Wayne who didn’t fancy afternoon tea, there was only the artistic young lady Ottilia, quietly embracing a book.
Wayne didn’t strike up a conversation; he had nothing in common with this "cabbage." He might have been love-struck and wished for more "time," but she definitely wouldn’t care. Instead of forcing awkward small talk, he preferred to read more books, cram his belly with ink to spin new stories for Veronica.
Updating the diary every day was too hard!
Veronica was demanding to an endless extent, nearly draining him dry. To prevent the diary from losing its charming effect on capturing the Dragon Blood Girl, he had to recharge himself.
The combination and arrangement of letters in the ancient books slightly differed from the modern common version, and Wayne found it tremendously difficult, occasionally furrowing his brow and drawing in a breath of cold air.
He discovered that at the dawn of the sixteenth century, the records in the ancient books contained many gaps, with many historical events glossed over.
"If I remember correctly, that was precisely the time when Noah The Third was in power. Is there some secret here?" Wayne muttered to himself.
"The Naturalism Church’s records of that period are also very vague," Ottilia said.
Wayne was startled for a moment, turning his head to look at her; his view obstructed, it seemed as though the office had shrunk significantly.
Ottilia had caught a whiff of the precious book and her eyes lingered on the pages. Wayne tested this, and whenever he moved the ancient book away, Ottilia’s gaze promptly followed.
This was no ancient book, but rather a perfect trap for an artistic young girl!
If it were another man, he would have offered another ancient book for Ottilia to read, in an attempt to win her favor.
He pointed to the chair beside him, "If you’re interested, sit down and join me."
Ottilia didn’t refuse, quietly sitting next to Wayne; they were very close, and a faint scent of flowers emanated from her, allowing Wayne to successfully mark a new fragrance.
"Ottilia, do you know what happened at the beginning of the sixteenth century?"
"I know some, but it’s all from books, and there is very little information related to that era, with obvious discontinuities before and after," Ottilia, as if having found a treasure, answered without taking her eyes off the ancient book.
Wayne moved the book a bit closer to himself, and Ottilia subconsciously leaned in, continuing, "Apart from our Naturalism Church, I have also consulted the archives of the Sun and Moonlight Churches. The records of the entire sixteenth century are very scarce."
"In the reliable documents, the Heavenly Father’s Court faced a decline in the sixteenth century, while the Life Alliance experienced the opposite, their doctrine and beliefs blossoming everywhere, undergoing a revival."
"Because of this, the Heavenly Father’s Court provoked a war of faith which was hastily concluded, and from then on, its influence declined day by day..."
"It is strange. As the losers, it is normal for the Heavenly Father’s Court to cover up this period, but the Life Alliance, despite being the victors, also didn’t highlight it prominently, which goes against common sense."
Young lady, your viewpoint is too objective, fair and just but lacking in subjectivity.
We are followers of the Nature Goddess; anything less than absolute loyalty is absolutely disloyal, and your thoughts are quite dangerous!
Wayne coughed lightly into his fist to interrupt Ottilia’s engrossed soliloquy, and she, realizing she had misspoken, started to explain in a low voice.
"I was just repeating the conjectures of researchers..."
"No need to explain, I’m not deaf. I didn’t hear anything just now, but I might not be so oblivious next time. Be careful not to give me a handle, or it’ll be bad for you."
Wayne hummed twice, encouraging Ottilia to continue sharing history. There were no outsiders here; she could speak freely.
Ottilia looked at Wayne in surprise, seemingly having found a kindred spirit, and immediately became eager to share. She recounted in detail the religious reforms of the sixteenth century, the rise of the Life Alliance, the decline of the Heavenly Father’s Court, and a series of subsequent religious and political events.
Like Windsor’s suppression of the Heavenly Father’s Court which occurred in the mid-to-late sixteenth century, at the time almost succeeding in splitting the Holy See.
Due to various complex reasons, the Heavenly Father’s Court managed to survive, but its prestige further declined, only to watch the Life Alliance within the Windsor Domain take root and grow stronger day by day.
Unfortunately, although the situation was favorable, the Life Alliance failed to seize the opportunity, hindered by darkness and death, thus unable to flourish.
"The Royal Family must have leveraged the power of the Life Alliance. It was a trade-off: the Royal Family allowed the spread of the Life Alliance’s doctrine, and used it to counterbalance the Heavenly Father’s Court, yet fearing the Life Alliance might become another power, hence they preserved the Holy See..."