This journey made Mr. Kipling look older and weaker. No one dared to say that, but everyone knew in their hearts that without the goddess' extra care, his life would be about to end.
He curled up in the carriage, covered with thick blankets, and warm fur under him, resting with his eyes closed. The bumps and cold could no longer drive away the tired sleep. Only the carriage drove into the gate of the Ice Peak Fortress. When the tall wall cast the familiar shadow on his wrinkled eyelids, he finally slowly opened his eyes.
"I'm back, it's great." Old Man Kipling took a deep breath and said, "Take me to the hall, I have something to say."
"Let me say it." Giles wanted to take over the mission for the first time.
The old man couldn't hear it, and he didn't know if he didn't see this sentence or pretended not to answer. He kept murmuring and repeating: "Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a good thing or..." He insisted that everyone send him to the hall.
In order to welcome the old man back, Ramsden secretly made him a new recliner, which was both fit and comfortable. Old man Kipling touched the fat man's face, said "good boy", and finally showed a warm smile. Just as Feige was in the throne of the Hall of Hell, the snowy owl instantly controlled his nest, that is, he naturally found a comfortable position in the recliner. He cleared his throat, slowly raised his head, and glanced across everyone's faces.
"Are you all okay?" Lord Snow Owl's tone was solemn but far away, "Nothing happened, right?"
Feiqi glanced at Kelle. The eyes of the two people met in the air for a moment, and then one of them took them back. The younger people representing the fortress said, "It's all good. The castle is safe and the outing is smoothly completed. During this period, several wild beasts came over foolishly and were easily blocked by us under the city wall. Now the three people have all gathered all the materials for the enhancement ceremony."
"Oh?" Old man Kipling looked at Wumama and Ramsden: "Would you be afraid if you were asked to perform the enhancement ceremony?"
"I'm not afraid." Wumama replied.
"I have a little bit." Ramsden raised his hand and gestured a narrow gap with his index finger and thumb: "You won't blame me for being so scared, do you?"
"Of course not, after all, you are still young. And as long as you learn to face your own fear, this is not a problem." Old man Kipling looked at Fitch and slowly raised his hand: "You come and preside over the ceremony for them. My strength... I don't have much time."
Ramsden was already crying. Kelly slapped at Giles, staggering the latter: "How do you take care of the boss? Say!"
"The goddess is calling me, I readily agreed, and the Storm (Gilles) could not stop it." The old man waved his hand: "But it is not that fast, I will need to implicate you for a while. During this time, I have to let a new priest in the Ice Peak Fortress."
He could only refer to Feiqi. Feiqi has a lot of words to say, such as not having the ability to perform healing magic, such as not being able to preside over the ritual, such as not being the priest of the Goddess of Truth, and some of him are devils.
But in some cases, all kinds of "no, no, no, no" must be swallowed.
Feiqi squatted down and held the old man's hand: "The enhancement ceremony is fine sooner or later, please don't overwork this. You just came back and there must be something important to talk about, right?"
"A bad news, Bishop Nathaniel passed away. He has always taken good care of us, treated everyone equally, and did many useful things. After the winter, he went there quickly and we were unable to catch up with the funeral."
Feich only had a very shallow impression of Bishop Nathaniel, after all, he had seen it once. However, through the narration of the elf female knight Diderit Andomir, he knew a lot about Bishop Nathaniel.
Nathaniel and Kipling were classmates, and they were trainee pastors who entered the Thunder Church of Truth. Later, they both ended their studies with excellent grades. Nathaniel then chose to enter the Sacred Heart and Kipling entered the Sacred Body, and the two talents separated.
The fortress is a place of lack of change, and the Sacred Heart is busy, so decades later one has become a bishop and the other is still just an ordinary grass-roots priest, staying in the remote place of the Sunset Mountains, with a group of monster hunters raised from wanderers, bankrupts, orphans and exiles.
"I always told him that the air in the mountains is better than in the city, and I can live longer than him, but... I have never really expected it like this." The old man sighed, "He left in a hurry, and it seemed that the goddess had a very important thing to call him to do. It is said that he left peacefully, but Dilly, who was overly sad, didn't say that."
"Of course, the mission in the heavenly realm needs to be done, but once the old guy leaves, things in the mortal world may change." Master Snow Owl pinched the armrest of the chair and supported himself to sit up straight: "You should know some things too."
"When people get old, they don't want to run more. I am like this, that old guy is even more so. He suddenly ran over last year. I felt abnormal at that time. I asked for a long time before I understood the whole story."
"The church is preparing to adjust, and there is a voice growing stronger and stronger, called the 'model leader'. It is probably because it hopes to change the role of the Sunset Mountain Fortress Group and add one: to establish a knight leader. Based on this land, manage it according to the church's ideas, and set an example for the lords of the world."
Kelly spat, shook his head. Tron blinked his eyes and asked quickly, "So we have a chance to become a knight?"
"Maybe it can-if this adjustment can be implemented." Judging from the expression of the old man Kipling, he did not show joy or sorrow for this change, but his opinion on this matter was simply stated. "Nathaniel has always opposed this matter, but his opinion of agreement and objection is almost the same. One or two votes in the bishop can affect the result. He came to Bingfeng Fortress to ask my opinion. After all, I will not flatter him in his status, nor will he take care of his identity. Alas... what's the use of asking?"
Feiqi thought for a while and asked, "Saying this way, will change come?"
"Sooner or later, the church has been trying to spread the teachings of the goddess more widely and deeply, and to savor the soul with good things. But in most places, even the water of wisdom cannot seep into the stone. At this time, only the power of role models can play a spur to force change. The model leader is the product of this idea."
Kelly shook his head: "It is better to let the dragon change to vegetarian food than to transform a noble family - this is a waste of effort."
"Don't draw conclusions early, and don't be too optimistic. Just remember that the change of name has nothing to do with your soul, and the goddess can see everything in heaven." Old Man Kipling smiled slightly: "Since Nathaniel told me about this matter in advance, including the conception and operation method of the model leader, I also made some preparations in advance. It is naturally not necessary to change. If it changes, it should be a little bit of money. So before last winter, I had already reported you four as Monster Hunters. Now Fitch has completed the enhancement ritual and is lucky to become a priest, which is very good. Tron, Wumama and Ramsden, you three must work hard to complete the enhancement ritual before the inspection work arrives."
"Don't reveal it," Giles said.
The old man was moving very quickly, and he actually did such an unruly thing. Feiqi always felt that the old man was always anxious, especially when he asked him to learn magical skills. He kept urging him to run away. Unexpectedly, the three young men reported this matter before the enhancement ceremony was completed. Is this still orderly?
Maybe he is not orderly, but he should still be kind. The old man did not talk about the specific situation of the model leader, and probably didn't want to say it, but he could still infer something from the words and his actions. If he really wanted to build a church territory, the priest should not act lightly. The paladin must be the main force, or be analogous to the aristocratic class; Monster Hunter also has great uses, and it is likely to be analogous to the knight. After all, this is a model leader, used to demonstrate to the nobles and knights, and of course there will be similar initial settings.
The Paladin assessment is difficult, while the Monster Hunter is much simpler, but it will inevitably become more and more difficult in the future. Moreover, the Monster Hunter of last year and the Monster Hunter of the future must have different responsibilities. Mr. Kipling must have considered this based on this point.
"Previous years of inspections began in May, but I got a little premonition after praying to the goddess, and this year may be ahead of schedule. Within a week, you three will complete the enhancement ceremony and then immediately start learning the seal and martial arts of the Eagle School."
Feich had to speak at this time: "Sir Snow Owl, I don't know how to heal spells, and there will be problems with holding the ceremony. I can help design it, but can you start the ceremony in person?"
"Healing spells and enhancement rituals are not related. Of course there is good, and there is nothing to do without - the goddess will take good care of everyone."
But Feiqi was just afraid that the goddess would not take care of her! "I...I...I...is not pious enough, this...ah, this is too dangerous."
"I understand your mood, and the same was true when I first became a pastor. I was afraid of myself being shaken, especially when an injured person or a patient was sent to me, my hands holding the Holy Emblem were trembling. Can I cure him? Am I worthy of their hopes? Can I face their eyes after everything is done?"
"The situation is not very same, and I don't think I can overcome it."
"I couldn't overcome it, and I still think like this now." The old man laughed, pinched the back of Feich's hand, and said, "Fitch, worry is a manifestation of wisdom, you can definitely understand it. But confidence does not increase the success rate. It is essentially the same as recklessness. It just makes things happen and thus makes the success rate leave zero. I'll give you three days to prepare, either use confidence to start this thing, or use recklessness, but you have to do it. Because..."
Chapter completed!