By the time the report reached this point, more than two hours had passed, and it was nearing its end.
Emilia turned her head and looked at the five bishops on her left.
The five bishops nodded simultaneously, indicating that Silas had no problems and all issues were perfectly connected.
Then, she turned her head to look at Logan and the other four, confirming if there were any discrepancies.
The five also nodded simultaneously, indicating no problem.
"Silas, please don't worry. We have already sent people to track them down and hope to help you find your sister's whereabouts," Emilia said soothingly.
Silas looked grateful upon hearing this and lowered his head slightly. "Thank you for your mercy."
Emilia nodded slightly, took a deep breath, sat up, placed her hands on the table, and said with a serious expression, "Silas Sotos, your bravery, your caution, your forbearance have earned the respect of all Church personnel, as well as the Goddess's recognition. Due to your heroic performance in this incident, through direct and indirect participation, you disrupted the conspiracy of the former bishop of the Church and minimized the losses and casualties of the Goddess's children."
"Your firm faith in the Goddess and your spirit of willingly sacrificing yourself for the people have been recognized by everyone."
"I now announce that Silas Sotos is promoted to Bishop Candidate, holding the position of Vice-Bishop of Fate."
Hearing this, Silas's heart skipped a beat. This promotion was a bit large.
The hierarchical system of clergymen wasn't too extensive.
The lowest level was monk or nun. Above that was priest, which was Silas's previous rank. A priest could manage an independent church and all the believers who were baptized and prayed in that church.
Above priest was celebrant; Priest Gael's previous rank was celebrant. They were generally assistants to bishops, helping bishops manage several churches in a certain area of a city.
And above celebrant was bishop, who independently managed all religious issues in a city.
However, due to the large gap between the two, there was also a vice-bishop in between.
A vice-bishop's status was higher than a celebrant's, but they had no real power. This position could be said to be completely nominal, a qualification title. Their role was only to temporarily manage the city in the bishop's absence. After the bishop returned, they could only handle some dispensable miscellaneous tasks.
For example, the previous Vice-Bishop Laurien's daily work was to assign mystical missions and help clergymen with baptisms.
But this position could be said to be just right. Because of this incident, a careful calculation would show that Silas's contribution was immeasurable.
If he hadn't discovered the problem, if he hadn't found Luke (from the Church's perspective), thus indirectly summoning that powerful existence and letting the monster run rampant, then the problem would not have been limited to just this one city; it might have spread into a huge disaster affecting the entire empire.
With such merit, promotion to bishop wouldn't be an issue, but Silas's qualifications were too low. No matter how exceptionally he was promoted, it was impossible to elevate a young man who had just joined the Church for less than half a year to bishop.
Silas had no objection to this promotion; on the contrary, he was very happy.
He liked this kind of nominal position that sounded impressive but had little work. It had face, money, and no work – such positions were rare.
Silas knelt on one knee, crossed his hands on his chest, and said in a low voice, "Thank you for the Goddess's blessing, thank you for the Archbishop's trust and promotion. I will definitely not fail the expectations the Goddess and the Archbishop have for me."
"Very good. Go to the first floor and wait for a moment. We still have matters to discuss with you after our meeting here is over," Emilia said.
Silas nodded respectfully, turned, and walked down.
After Silas left, several more people walked in.
These people were Father Anthony, Sister Marlene, Father Harden, Ivan, and others.
However, these people were not being questioned but were here to provide evaluations.
"We have two goals this time. The first goal is to rebuild the entire Bayne City and completely seal off this news," Emilia said with a serious expression.
Everyone understood upon hearing this.
Then, she continued, "The second matter is that we need to use this city as a springboard to quell the internal strife in the Kingdom of Guinness and bring it under the protection of our Church."
"As the Kingdom of Guinness, bordering our northeastern frontier, it holds a very important geographical position for us. Once internal strife occurs there, our detection work will be greatly disrupted, and a large number of cults will mix in with the chaotic refugees. In recent months, the number of cult incidents in the northeastern province has increased by 50% year-on-year compared to last year. This is not a good sign, so we must completely control the Kingdom of Guinness!"
Speaking of this, Emilia's ethereal and clear voice actually carried a hint of metallic sound, decisive and unquestionable.
Everyone immediately nodded upon hearing this, indicating they understood.
Emilia continued, "We have previously sent two people to negotiate, but due to some historical issues, the effect was not good. Therefore, we plan to select one person from among you as a vanguard to first enter the Kingdom of Guinness to investigate the situation, and at the same time, by helping the struggling royal family and through gentle persuasion, pave the way for our entry. But from the current looks of it, the most suitable candidate has already appeared."
Logan said with a serious expression, "Silas's caution and prudence were praised by both Jeros and Ron when he first joined the Church. And according to Anthony's and Ivan's descriptions, he possesses a very firm will and spirit and is very good at accepting new things and in-depth learning."
Ivan, on this side, immediately bowed. "Reporting to the Archbishop, Silas Sotos's learning ability is indeed very strong. I previously taught him runes and magic circles for a month. He can quickly digest a lot of knowledge and can master it thoroughly in just one night."
Anthony continued, "He is the kind of person who can treat learning as an interest. I remember when I first introduced him to Ivan, he read books at home from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon, even forgetting to eat lunch."
Hearing this, one of the five bishops, a female bishop in her fifties, asked in surprise, "Really?"
"Really, I can swear by my soul!" Father Anthony said with a serious expression.
The five bishops looked surprised and astonished upon hearing this.
The middle-aged bishop from before sighed, "If all this is true, then he is indeed a rare talent, not seen in many years."
At this moment, Father Walter, who had been silent, spoke in a hoarse voice, "I don't know about other things, but I know about Silas's learning ability. When he first joined the Church, he came to my place to borrow books. He borrowed more than ten books at once, covering history, religion, magic potions, magic circles, mysticism, mechanics, and seven or eight other disciplines. He finished reading all these books and returned them in just over a week. In the following months, sometimes he would find a book and just sit on the steps, reading for hours."
Father Walter's words carried great weight. The five priests were shocked upon hearing this, and their evaluation of Silas instantly rose by a level.