CHAPTER 9 - Play of Words.

The church is a powerful force—strong enough to contend with the dukes of the empire.

They don't have firepower equal to the dukes, as they don't have a large stream of soldiers lined up in their backyard.

All they had were healers and some holy knights, who, although strong, weren't enough to win against the battalions of soldiers a duke could have.

But they were still considered a formidable force in the empire, all because of their religious followers.

In a world where the strong decide what to do with the weak, people are quick to turn toward gods, who they hoped would help them.

If the church were to declare even the empress or the emperor a devil, the people would believe it—that was how much weight the church carried.

However, the church had never tried it because it wasn't strong enough to win against the empire, and it knew it.

But the pope of the church never lets go of a situation where it could sabotage the empire, nor does the empire.

So, the line stopping war from breaking out between the church and the empire had always been very thin.

Alex was aware of all, and he knew that the Drakathor empire, which is considered the strongest empire, would be plunged into a period of war if he let things progress as they were.

That was why he was stopping that from happening.

"Good! So what I want to know is the reason for your presence here being so important, Archbishop Lucious."

Alex, who jumped in delight the moment he got Lucious permission to speak, began; his head tilted in confusion and curiosity.

His question, however, caused Lucious to frown inwardly.

'What is he trying to get at?'

He thought inwardly, but it was not just him who thought that.

'What are you up to, son…?'

Even Vannesa, who, although believed him not to enough to know that he wouldn't make a bad decision, was still curious about what Alex was planning; her expression, however, didn't seem interested at all.

All she had on her face was an indifferent look, as if she didn't care about what was happening at all.

But she couldn't do anything about it as it was something she had stuck with all of her life.

She wasn't the only one with that type of expression, though, even Mira had the same expression; hers was just a bit different.

Mira didn't seem indifferent to the situation; she rather looked like a puppet standing next to Vannesa, her face marred with a blank expression, making it hard to tell if she was even alive.

Her thoughts were even more hard to guess.

"My presence here is the proof that this is all under the supervision of our goddess and to make sure that there is no evil hiding among the children here."

Lucious, on the other hand, squinted his eyes as he replied to Alex's question, turning his head toward the children in the hall, who had their bodies tense the moment they felt the scrutinizing gaze of the archbishop.

"I understand, but there may be those who fear their information being leaked. What should we do about them?"

Alex nodded his head before he added a question to his words, his head turning to look at the children who still stood frozen in their spots, his expression morphing into one filled with concern.

If one looked at him, one would instantly think that he really cared about the youths standing a level below him.

But Lucious frowned as Alex's words indirectly implied that the guy was worried that he would leak their information to the church.

He couldn't say it out loud though, as everyone knew he was going to do that.

"I would never do such a thing! That would directly go against the rules set by the pope."

Lucious just widened his eyes in shock as he exclaimed in disbelief as if Alex's words were a felony.

There was a rule saying that although a church official needed to be present during the awakening ceremony for it to be considered valid, they would never disclose the information of anyone unless and until it was something that went against their religion.

"Can you assure those who are concerned about their information being leaked out, Archbishop?"

Alex, however, was quick to let out another question, his expression filled with concern and hope.

Lucious's eyes sharpened for a bit, and his fist clenched, but feeling the gaze of the young men and women in the hall, along with Vannesa, Mira, and Alex, he nodded his head.

"Of course, I can assure you all that I, Archbishop Lucious, would resign from my position and give you proper compensation if any of your information were to be leaked or found out in the hands of people you do not want to."

He spoke all of that in a single breath, his expression as sincere as it could be, but Alex, who knew very well how fickle the words of the people from church were, had an indifferent light flash past his eyes before they returned to the same innocence-filled look.

The children, on the other hand, although never really concerned about anything, were still left assured by Lucious's words, and their bodies relaxed a bit.

But Alex wasn't done yet.

"I know this may sound a bit disrespectful, Archbishop, but my mother cares deeply for her people. When it comes to their protection, she takes no chances. So, if you would, please swear a mana oath."

Alex's words, loud and clear, made their way toward the ears of every single person present in the room, eliciting a wave of gasps from them.

*Gasp*

A mana oath, once taken, couldn't be broken, as it would take one's life the moment it was broken.

Everyone knew this, so they couldn't believe that Alex would bring something like this up for a matter so small.

They didn't know that this matter was not small, and they would realize it soon enough. For now, however, all of them waited for Lucious's response.

Even Vannesa, who was confused as to what Alex was trying, had now caught up on what Alex was doing.

Lucious, on the other hand, just kept looking left and right, he knew that he was stuck now, and his grip around the back stone within his palm tightened a bit.

If he were to deny Alex's request, then it would simply mean that he didn't mean his previous words, and if he were to take a mana oath, then it would simply mean that he wouldn't be able to speak about anything that he sees here to anyone else.

He was stuck between hard and rock, unable to decide anything before he just sighed and raised his index finger up in the air and stated.

"I, Archbishop Lucious Ignatius, swear with mana as a witness that if I were to leak any information that does not go against the church's beliefs to people other than the ones the concerned party wants me to, I shall be punished by death."

The Archbishop chose his life over his freedom of speech.

He did fail his mission, but now, at least he could say that he tried, and...

'I need to report that this child is not someone to be underestimated...'

A cold light flashed past his eyes as he stared at Alex, who clapped his hands in joy the moment he saw Lucious completing the mana oath.

This was the first time someone from church had direct contact with Alex, and Lucious was sure as hell that Alex was way more than what the rumors made him out to be, so he decided that this was something worth reporting.

"Great! This should have alleviated your concern, right mother?"

Alex, on the other hand, turned toward Vannesa with a smile, pushing everything he did over to Vannesa, as if it was what she wished for, but Vannesa didn't have any problem with that.

"Hm."

She just nodded her head with a low hum, her expression still as hard as ever.

With that, it was finally the moment of revelation, as this was when the information about their potential, physique, and elemental affinities would be revealed.

But before that, Alex moved closer to Vannesa and whispered something in her ear, confusing the audience.

Vannesa, however, had a frosty gleam in her eyes the moment she heard the words Alex had whispered into her ear, but that was all.

There was no other reaction from her after that.