Chapter 462 — The Church's Plan
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
"While the bishopric is withdrawn, arrange as well for the evacuation of ordinary clerics and missionaries—Edmund Moen is hostile to the Church, and that is the best reason for us to withdraw our clerics," the old Pope said quietly. "As for the faithful... the Lord will watch over their souls."
...
The meeting in the Great Hall of Light had ended.
The bishops departed in order, and soon only the aged Saint Ivan III was left in that vast hall, together with Viroday Morn, standing in quiet attendance beside the papal throne.
After a brief silence, the Pope's aged voice reached Viroday's ears: "Viroday, do you too hold that the Holy Army's entry into the war is a challenge to the traditional order of Ansu?"
The Saint Princess was silent for two seconds, then answered calmly: "It benefits both sides—the Church will gain room to grow, the royal army will have its chance to turn the tide on the battlefield, and the two regent dukes will make the right judgment. And as I see it... the times have changed, Your Holiness. When an age turns, the traditional order is not something that cannot be made to yield."
"Yes, the times have changed, and a new age brings new threats... yet the threats are far from being in one place alone," the Pope sighed, his tone holding nothing but lament. "How do matters stand in the south?"
"Thick with fog."