Volume 7 Chapter 11: The Truth of the Attack

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Author: 夜州 (Yashu)

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Cain and the other adventurers were lost for words at the temple knight’s declaration.

“…So it was like that after all.”

Among them, Cain was the only one who answered the knight. The other adventurers’ gazes all gathered on Cain at those words, their faces sporting surprised expressions.

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, the bishop-sama told me in the carriage that there was something that didn’t add up…”

“Cain, could you please explain?”

“Yes, so the bishops from all the countries are heading to the main temple due to the pope elections, right. The priests in the Holy Country of Marineford too. And I heard that it was mostly church-related people who were harmed by the bandits. And thus, ––”

In the election, the person who had acquired the most votes would be inaugurated as the new pope.

If a cardinal could reduce the votes for the opposing candidates, they would, naturally, gain an advantage.

If unforeseen accidents or incidents caused the voters not to make it in time for the day of the election, their votes would be invalid.

Cain listed many other reasons people related to the church would be attacked. In the past, there had been many zealous believers even among the bandits, and they usually didn’t attack the church’s people due to an implicit understanding, but Cain derived the answer that that didn’t apply this time.

“…I see… So what you’re saying is that the bandits are being led by a cardinal other than the candidate the Bishop-sama supports…?”

Cain nodded at the temple knight’s words.

“But how could they tell? They shouldn’t be able to know if the Bishop-sama is riding in a carriage. Which cardinal he will vote for…”

Everyone agreed with Claude’s question. Certainly, that was usually the case.

“–– I’ll explain about that.”

The Bishop slowly went up to them from behind the temple knight.

“First of all, I am sorry for getting all of you involved in the church’s mess.”

The bishop bowed deeply. At his sudden actions, not only the temple knight, but Cain and the other adventurers too, all made surprised expressions.

Priests were the ones who managed the churches of each town or city, but the bishops despatched to each country were the highest authorities who oversaw all the churches in their whole country. Thus, it was no surprise that the temple knight and the adventurers were surprised by the bishop, who was the top official in the country he was despatched to, bowing to them.

“Bishop-sama, please raise your head. That’s why we’re here; we’re your bodyguards.”

Lina said apologetically.

“Thank you. I think it would be better if I told everyone. This time, my older brother, who is a cardinal, has entered the pope elections. Naturally, anyone would think I would vote for him. Moreover, the carriage I’m riding in has both the flag of Marineford and Esfort on it. Anyone would know that I’m the one in it once they see it.”

“That’s true… If your older brother is one of the candidates, nobody would even think of you voting for a different candidate.”

“Well, my brother doesn’t really care about all this faction business, so I doubt he has many allies… Normally, he wouldn’t win the election. But, perhaps they were just trying to get rid of the uncertainty. The one who planned this…”

As a bishop, that didn’t sit well with him. The temple knights were a force there in order to protect the important people belonging to the church, but acting to take the lives of their comrades was unforgivable for the bishop.

“We might not find out immediately, but I’ll make sure to put it on the agenda once we arrive in the main temple. I’m really sorry but danger might still be lurking about, so please continue guarding me until we reach the main temple.”

Their escort contract was for the way to the main temple in the holy capital, and the way home. And as for Cain, he was going to continue guarding the bishop even in the main temple, and get to meet Hinata.

The bandits’ corpses were stored in Magic Bags the temple knights had with them.

Their faces and bodies would be checked and confirmed once again once they arrived in the main temple. With that, they should be able to discover which cardinal had planned the attack.

And while they might try to play innocent due to the lack of evidence, the suspicions raised would also act as a check on the other candidates.

Cain was worried about what kinds of things were yet to happen in regards to the pope election.

Having finished taking their break, the carriage began moving along a mountain road. They arrived at their campsite before the Sun had completely sunk.

The campsite was off to one side of the highway; a clearing surrounded in a circle by a fence, with a well in the very middle.

There were already two other groups there, one being merchants, the other also likely a party belonging to the church.

The carriage parked in a place where it wouldn’t get in the way, and the adventurers took their luggage off the luggage carts and began setting up camp.

A different group of adventurers than Claude did so, briskly going through the preparations.

They had seen how hard Claude and the others had fought in the battle, and had volunteered to do it instead of them.

Cain also took out the necessary supplies from his Item Box.

“There’s no way I can take out a mansion here, is there… It’s so comfortable to sleep there though…”

Cain had built a number of mansions on some vacant land in Drintor and stored them in his Item Box.

He had ones differing from one-story bungalows to full-blown mansions, which were to be used according to the situation. However, the fact that he could store buildings was unusual itself, so it was needless to say that there was no way he could take them out with other people around.

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