Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 901 - 185: Bazatous Sleepless Tonight

This was undoubtedly the happiest day in Solari's life. Even when he awoke in the dead of night, facing an empty room, he couldn't contain his emotions from meeting the Goddess.

Even though the Goddess spoke only two sentences to him in the Life Courtyard, they left his mind racing.

He became the only believer in centuries, since the time of Henry III, to receive the Goddess's attention.

It was the Goddess who chose him, an honor even Pope Carlo had never received.

And because of this, the whole affair became subtly complex.

Logically, as the actual ruler of the Far West, Pope Carlo should have been the person most likely to receive the Goddess's attention, a notion that even Solari himself had always believed.

After Julius's death, Carlo's series of measures, preparations for the Seventh Epoch and Doomsday, and the introduction of the Salvation Contribution Points had united the residents of the Far West; these were tangible contributions.

If it had been Carlo who received the Goddess's attention, Solari would not have felt any anger or jealousy.

However, Carlo was "not chosen."

Solari believed that every decision made by the Goddess of Life carried deep meaning, her attention was more than just a response to a devout follower, often it held epochal significance, just as in the Sixth Epoch, the Empire and the Henry Royal Family were the absolute "protagonists," and every decision by the Royal Family could cause world-wide ripples and changes.

The last Pope to have received the Goddess of Life's attention, Turzan, made his greatest contribution by establishing the Life Divine Teachings as the national religion of the Empire, gradually transforming the Empire from a royal dictatorship to a theocratic state. Since then, every new king's succession involved the Pope's coronation ceremony, representing religious and divine authority as a ruler accepted by the True God.

But what about him?

Solari sat up in bed, realizing he was drenched in sweat. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Though it was late at night, his spirits were intensely high.

Clearly, compared to those truly great leaders in the Church Court's history, he had no notable achievements, and people's impressions of him mostly halted at "Solari is a steadfast ascetic."

He quickly walked to the table, sat down, and began to review the entire matter.

First was the young priest from nowhere, and then the unfamiliar sheepskin book that appeared out of thin air on this table; all of it pointed him to that bottle of miraculous magic potion.

As Solari followed this line of thought, the answer leaped in front of him.

The young priest was the apostle representing the will of the Goddess of Life!

So, what message does the Goddess want to convey to him?

Solari carefully recalled all his encounters with the apostle. After their meeting, they went to the Border Administration Bureau, where they learned the truth about the attacker.

He had heard somewhat of the Border Administration Bureau's usual dealings, where so-called thefts were their habitual ploy; they would extract profits this way, later selecting a few unlucky scapegoats to take the blame for the theft. Solari had reported the disorders of the border city to the Crown of Dawn Cathedral, yet the response received was that Carlo hinted at him in secret orders to turn a blind eye.

This part of the profit loss was an "acceptable" cost for the Church Court; indulging these local bullies involved complex relations between the Church Court and the Kingdom Army.

In name, the Far West had both the Royal Family and nobility. Correspondingly, the Kingdom Army wasn't under the Church Court's jurisdiction, yet transporting strategic materials was tantamount to making every border Kingdom Army work for the Church Court, with the loss part being equivalent to the Church Court paying off the local bullies.

The small loss guaranteed the stability of all transportation lines.

In Solari's view, this was procedural injustice, bringing about the results Carlo hoped to see in extraordinary times.

And that foolish attacker, along with his grandmother, killed with a sledgehammer by border enforcers, were sacrifices under this unwritten rule.

Standing from Carlo's macroscopic strategic level, these two people were insignificant compared to the salvation enterprise.

Suddenly, Solari got goosebumps, and his heart started pounding fiercely.

Were these 201 Golden Lions and the illogical magic potion signaling that his past insistence on asceticism was on the wrong path? So, was the Goddess hinting that Pope Carlo had already set foot on the wrong path?

"Walking on the wrong path will only make the sins deeper and heavier..."

Solari muttered to himself.

He clenched his fists, his entire body trembling.

He believed he had comprehended the Goddess's profound intention, putting him in opposition to Carlo.

In the Far West, Pope Carlo was a dictator, and the latter had never denied this; he believed that in extraordinary times, only through tough and iron-blooded means could everyone be led through the crisis.

But... to oppose Carlo?

The mere thought of this made Solari tremble, knowing that even his position as the border city bishop was appointed by the Pope, and Carlo could make him the manager here, or instantly strip him of everything, branding him a criminal by the Church Court.

He gradually understood everything.

Understood why the Goddess chose an ascetic like him.

When he chose the path of asceticism, he had already prepared himself to dedicate everything to the Goddess.