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From the next day, the Nun Knights began entering the archives prepared in the Bishop’s Keep, starting their preparations to present their arguments at the Council.

The observations from the Church Order headquarters, reports from priests and Paladin-affiliated knights across various regions, official and unofficial statements from guilds related to the mysteries of spells—such as Spellcasters, Druids, Alchemists, and Runesmiths—and the responses of secular rulers to the situation.

The amount of content they had to review, organize, and supplement was mountainous.

And that wasn’t all. They also had to come up with a rough blueprint for how to actualize the arguments they had established.

Once the Council reached a conclusion, the entire Church Order would have to work frantically. Not only to respond to the instruments of evil spread by the Great Demon but also to prepare for the great war the Great Demon had foretold.

In this process, they could no longer afford to be lenient with the secular powers that might hinder them. The secular powers needed to understand that the Church Order had not left them alone out of weakness but had been observing them out of necessity and indifference.

From now on, many things would not go back to how they were before. The secular rulers would gradually become wary of the Church Order, and perhaps even harbor deep-seated hostility.

Therefore, until then, they had to ensure that the secular powers remained completely unaware of the Church Order’s activities. Like boiling a frog in lukewarm water, the Church Order had to seize all the momentum and justification without them noticing. And after everything was over, they had to consider the process of releasing what they had seized and the subsequent scenarios.

At that point, they would have to sweep through all situations with lightning speed.

To smoothly carry out all these tasks, they first needed to clearly understand what they were preparing for, why they needed to do it, what they had to do, and what they could do. They needed to grasp the correct procedures and order for it.

In the world, this understanding was referred to as a blueprint or policy.

“If only I had properly beaten that Great Demon back then, I wouldn’t have to go through this paperwork hell,” Sophia lamented. Everything was because she had been weak. The reason she was suffering today was all because of her past self. If only she had strived to become stronger and hadn’t been complacent, she wouldn’t be struggling in this paperwork hell now.

If Sophia could turn back time, she would have dragged her past self out and beaten her up. But since she couldn’t, she could only grind her teeth at the sins and vices of her past self while reading and organizing documents, and jotting down various scenarios, responses, and counterarguments in her notebook.

Even during the two-week preparation period, they couldn’t neglect their training.

Sophia, Hildegard, Esiocles, and Conra honed their skills daily, occasionally exchanging training methods and sharpening their abilities.

The highlight of their training was sparring. Learning combat techniques through practical training was far better than training alone a hundred times. Since opportunities to spar with masters of a certain level were rare, the group put more effort into these sparring sessions than ever before.

Perhaps that’s why Cardinal Andrea occasionally joined them in sparring. Sophia, Hildegard, Esiocles, and Cardinal Andrea were all formidable warriors, hard to match on the continent. Even Conra, considered the weakest due to his young age, showed tremendous growth potential due to his innate genius.

Cardinal Andrea was also highly interested in Conra’s growth. It was rare to find a talent who, at such a young age, could keep up with the top-tier warriors of the world, and who was also skilled in Druid techniques, Alchemy, and Rune Letters.

“Trot!”

The dynamic movement of the salmon leap, combined with solid basic techniques, transformed the basics into something ferocious, like a beast baring its fangs.

Cardinal Andrea easily countered this but didn’t hesitate to press the attack. This was their way of sparring.

“The best strategy in martial arts and military tactics is to subdue the enemy without loss in the best possible state and environment. But the goals and environments people face are all different.”

From Sophia’s insight, their sparring sessions often assumed various variables and conditions.

What are they aiming for in what situation? What is the state of friend and foe, the terrain, and the climate? Setting such conditions, handicaps, victory, and defeat conditions made their sparring unique and interesting.

Cardinal Andrea highly praised this sparring method Sophia had adapted from her past CQC training. It wasn’t just about being strong; it was about fully utilizing one’s skills in any situation to respond appropriately. Such a process was essential for nurturing talent.

“Why didn’t our predecessors think of this?”

Cardinal Andrea was so impressed that he openly complained about why such a method hadn’t been thought of before.

Currently, Cardinal Andrea was sparring with Conra under the condition that he had to subdue Conra within a time limit.

Conra’s skills weren’t enough to match Cardinal Andrea, and he would have been easily subdued, but Conra had various self-enhancement methods: the Bronze Giant’s belt, Alchemical elixirs, Druidic secrets, and Rune Letters.

Since the sparring was structured so that Conra could win by lasting the time limit without being subdued, Conra used various methods to tie up Cardinal Andrea’s hands and feet, waiting for an opportunity to exploit the Cardinal’s bold moves.

However, Conra’s struggles were still far from enough to stop the seasoned Cardinal Andrea. The old Templar Knight’s sword strikes broke through all obstacles and successfully placed a longsword at Conra’s neck.

“Ugh, I lost…”

Conra, subdued before even half the time limit, raised his hands in defeat.

“You did well to last that long. There’s a saying about the path of years crossing life and death. If you had won, what would that say about my reputation?”

Hildegard comforted the dejected Conra. Sophia wasn’t the type to coddle her students, so it fell to Hildegard to console the young boy.

“Sir Wolfstein is right. Honestly, I’m impressed. I had expectations when Sir Chazel took you as a disciple, but you truly have a different caliber. Have you ever thought of becoming a Templar Knight?”

Cardinal Andrea praised Conra and even started openly recruiting him. Sophia immediately intervened, blocking the Cardinal’s offer.

“Enough, Your Eminence. Conra will not enter the priesthood.”

“Are you serious? You have such a talented disciple and won’t recruit him? If you had any affection for the knight order, you wouldn’t do this.”

“I was entrusted with the child’s well-being by his parents. There was no request to induct him into the priesthood.”

Sophia countered Cardinal Andrea’s argument with a clear rationale. The Cardinal, not one to argue against reason, reluctantly backed off. Conra, tense from the exchange between the Cardinal and his master, quietly closed his mouth and sighed in relief when the Cardinal stepped back.

Suddenly, Hildegard, who had been watching the sparring and the subsequent exchange, spoke up.

“By the way, there are only about two days left until the Council convenes.”

“Indeed, I’ve heard that quite a few clergy have been arriving at the Bishopric lately. I recall that previous Councils didn’t have this many attendees.”

Esiocles Emanuele, who had been practicing his Spirit Warrior techniques while rolling a massive iron ball, commented in passing. Hildegard, still in her revealing outfit with only a white cloak as a compromise, glared at him but answered sincerely.

“That just shows how important this Council is. Given the agenda, it’s no surprise.”

The topics discussed at the Council were sometimes raised on the spot, but most were sent to the Church Order’s subordinate organizations in advance. Based on the content sent, clergy would decide whether to attend and what preparations were needed.

Since the Church Order itself was a loosely run organization, many priests chose not to attend when topics unrelated to them were discussed. The fact that Paladin members, except for Cardinal Andrea, rarely attended Councils was one such example.

In that sense, the current situation, where an unprecedented number of priests were visiting the Toriento Bishopric, showed how seriously and importantly they viewed the agenda of this Council.

“How will it turn out…”

Hildegard sighed, sounding genuinely worried.

The conflict between the hawks and doves was deeply rooted. Both sides had their justifications, and each was a result of contemplating humanity’s future, making the situation even more complicated.

To silence their disputes and manage the Church Order’s future actions neutrally and comprehensively, half-baked logic wouldn’t suffice.

“Don’t worry too much. We probably don’t need to reconcile the two factions.”

At Esiocles Emanuele’s words, Sophia nodded quietly to herself. Despite his messy appearance, this man often hit the nail on the head. What they needed to do at this Council wasn’t to reconcile the hawks and doves.

Rather, what they needed to do was coercion. They had to thrust the urgent situation before everyone’s eyes and demand cooperation, regardless of faction, for the time being.

Cardinal Andrea also nodded at Esiocles’ words.

“He’s hit the mark. We mustn’t misidentify our goal. Frankly, the conflict between the hawks and doves can’t and shouldn’t be resolved. It’s their conflict that keeps the Church Order healthy.”

As he spoke, the Cardinal’s gaze fell on Esiocles. Noticing Esiocles’ attire, the Cardinal’s pupils shook slightly, and he cautiously asked.

“By the way, who are you?”

Later, when Cardinal Andrea learned that Esiocles Emanuele was a monk who had trained in the Alb Mountains, he sighed in understanding. Having gone through many hardships and battles himself, he knew well how eccentric the monks and nuns of the Alb Mountains could be.

Having lived too long in the comfortable life of the Church headquarters, he couldn’t hide his surprise. Hildegard gave him a sympathetic look.

And time passed. Meanwhile, the group continued preparing for the Council while training. More and more clergy from outside arrived at the Toriento Bishopric. The sight of priests, monks, and nuns in their unique and distinctive robes was quite exotic.

Two days passed, and finally, the awaited and prepared morning arrived. The clergy who had arrived in Toriento moved in groups to the meeting hall prepared in the Bishop’s Keep.

The Toriento Council was about to convene.

 

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