It was as if a sudden clarity had pierced through Nemus's mind.
The matter most closely tied to his current advancent to the Golden Rank was, naturally, the Saint Child Project.
Nels himself could not be considered a true Saint Child. He was rely a modified individual, a byproduct created by Dartnerly using the scraps of the Saint Child Project.
However, after Nemus took over, his Divinity had subtly influenced and transford this body, awakening its true essence. In terms of the final result, Nemus could now barely be considered a Saint Child as well.
Rhine was currently in his late forties, approaching fifty, which created a slight discrepancy in age.
Yet, Nemus strongly suspected there was a high probability that Rhine was the original Saint Child created by the old pastor.
'As to whether he is or not, I only need to investigate Rhine's family to find out.'
Nemus pondered.
He then turned his attention back to the situation at hand.
On one side stood a smug and self-satisfied Dong He, while on the other was Roman, eager to interrupt and speak his piece.
Faced with this standoff, Nemus finally spoke up. "Leaving the position of bishop vacant for so long is detrintal to the stability and growth of Tail Fin Town. It is better to decide on a candidate as soon as possible."
"What do you think of Dong He's proposal?" Nemus asked, shifting his gaze between Roman and Isabella.
His current plan was to have Isabella withdraw from the competition to focus entirely on watching Rhine, but he could not allow Dong He to seize the bishop's seat so easily.
Dong He lacked the necessary talent, yet harbored boundless ambition.
Nemus did not even have to guess to know that the mont Dong He rose to power, he would bare his fangs at him.
Such an outco would be highly unfavorable to Nemus's own plans.
He certainly possessed nurous thods to shatter Dong Luo's fangs and clip the old man's claws.
However, doing so would require a considerable amount of effort.
It would be far better to let Dong He and Roman fight it out among themselves.
Even though Dong He had garnered a fair amount of support, thoroughly suppressing Roman would not be an easy task.
In the process, he would ironically be forced to rely on Nemus's support.
Nemus could seize that opportunity to make Dong He face reality, thereby subjecting him to absolute control.
Moreover, leaving the bishop's position hanging in the balance actually benefited Nemus.
Without a top leader above him, Nemus, as the second-in-command, might not have overall control of the whole situation, but he would possess the authority to intervene in most matters.
This arrangent would play out much more to his advantage.
"I disagree," Roman imdiately voiced his opposition upon hearing Nemus's question.
Those two simple words caused Dong He's expression to darken completely.
"I have not been in Tail Fin Town for long, and I only recently advanced to the Iron Rank. I will not be competing this ti," Isabella chid in from the side, formally withdrawing herself from the race.
Only then did Dong He's complexion improve slightly, and he even offered Isabella a nod of acknowledgent.
However, before Dong He could open his mouth to attack Roman...
"Then let it be a competition," Rhine declared, speaking up before Dong He had the chance.
Although he had stepped down in na, he was still a priest rely one step away from reaching the Golden Rank.
The mont he spoke, everyone instantly ceased their discussions, waiting in respectful silence for Rhine to continue.
"The position of bishop cannot be determined by sheer strength alone. It requires administrative capability as well."
"I plan to have each of you manage a departnt. Over a period of ti, the results of your managent will serve as proof of your abilities." Rhine paid no heed to Isabella's earlier declaration of withdrawal.
"But I..." Isabella furrowed her brows, about to interrupt.
"Isabella, you will return to the Redemption Departnt," Rhine ordered. That single sentence caught the words of refusal right in her throat.
Based on her observations, the Redemption Departnt was the most problematic branch of them all.
"Roman will go to the Confession Departnt, and Dong He will take charge of the Missionary Departnt."
The three departnts Rhine had assigned were precisely the primary functional branches for the priests.
Healing, confession, and missionary work. Among them, the healing branch generated the most financial revenue.
The Confession Departnt held countless secrets but was subjected to the strictest constraints.
The Missionary Departnt had the broadest range of duties. Its mbers needed to navigate through streets and alleys, traveling everywhere to spread the teachings of God.
It also oversaw various other functions, including the Church Academy.
During this process, they were expected to use their own senses to help investigate the unseen auras lingering within the city.
Should they discover a Demonic Aura or any other criminal activity, their role would shift from preaching to leading the eradication of obstacles hindering their faith.
They were granted a certain degree of authority to mobilize outpost guards to assist them in temporarily subduing criminals.
If they encountered a particularly thorny issue, they could report directly to their superiors and apply to Nemus to dispatch the six teams of Holy Knights.
It was safe to say that the personnel in the Missionary Departnt handled the most tedious work, but it was also the easiest place to achieve prominent results.
From this arrangent, Rhine's underlying attitude was clear.
Although Isabella was assigned to the Redemption Departnt, her ideals would inevitably clash with its current staff.
In the past, working there rely involved sitting around, chatting, and sipping tea until the day was over.
There was no need to exert imnse effort casting spells, nor did they have to interact with the filthy, lowly commoners.
They could even rake in quite a bit of profit along the way; it was practically getting paid just to sit there.
Under such circumstances, Isabella's desire to break the status quo would undoubtedly be t with fierce opposition from countless people.
Yet, expecting Isabella to simply give up was equally impossible.
Therefore, Isabella had been completely boxed in.
As for Roman, it would be exceedingly difficult for him to accomplish anything noteworthy in the Confession Departnt.
That branch did indeed gather a massive amount of the public's secrets, but according to church dogma, they were forbidden from casually disclosing them. They were sworn to secrecy.
Moreover, individuals entangled in truly massive scandals almost never visited the Confession Booth.
This ant there was a steady stream of trivial gossip, but an absolute drought of major secrets.
The revenue was decent, but nothing more than decent.
To achieve any real success, he would have to sohow persuade a notoriously great villain to repent their sins, willingly surrender to the church, and then donate their massive fortune as a token of faith.
Otherwise, it was practically impossible for Roman to win the competition.
Dong He might not be brilliant, but he at least knew which church departnt wielded the most power.
He did feel sowhat disgruntled that Rhine had not directly supported his election and had dragged Isabella back into the fray.
However, as far as this specific arrangent was concerned, Dong He was quite satisfied.
Watching Dong He's reaction, Nemus shook his head.
Dong He's greatest flaw was already on full display: he was far too shortsighted.
The Missionary Departnt might hold the most authority, but it was burdened with so many functions that the potential for catastrophic failure was equally high.
And a competition was not solely about comparing achievents.
More often than not, competing against others did not require performing better than them; it only required maintaining stability and waiting for the opponent to make a mistake.
Given Dong He's current deanor, he clearly hadn't considered this angle at all.
After he returned ho, Dong Luo might offer him so guidance, but it would be useless.
Even if he was forewarned, many situations arose unexpectedly, and his inherent shortsightedness would prevent him from handling them properly.
He couldn't exactly tie his grandfather to his side to provide advice around the clock.
"And so... Isabella." Nemus couldn't help but look at her. Despite facing the most difficult path, the one with the highest likelihood of erging victorious was actually the very woman who had no desire for the bishop's seat.
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