Chapter 637 Position
In the Church District of Tivyán under the gloomy sky during the day, the steady chimes of the clock echoed gently, and the chanting of prayers continued endlessly. Citizens passing by for prayer walked across the large cathedral square, with the grand St. Hymn Cathedral standing as usual, its sharp spire pointing towards the gray sky of Tivyán.
In some place within the Church District, in a spacious office adorned with many suits of armor and weapons, Vania, dressed in a white nun’s robe, sat at a high-backed chair behind a large desk. She was meticulously reviewing and signing off on a stack of documents piled on the table. On both sides of her, there were two thick piles of files accumulated.
Vania quickly wrote down notes on the pages of the documents. At this moment, a light knock was heard from inside the office. After hearing the sound, Vania paused slightly and then looked toward the door of the room.
“Come in.”
After Vania softly spoke, the office door opened, and an elderly nun slowly entered the room, walking towards the desk and placing a document on it.
“Madam Vania, this is the list of major medical equipment purchases by Mercy Hospital. Please take a look,” the elderly nun said respectfully to the present Vania, who immediately put down her pen and stood up to speak.
“There’s no need to be so formal, Sister Anre. I’m just temporarily filling in for the archbishop; I haven’t truly taken over the position. Like you, I am merely a humble servant of God, a common nun.”
Facing the elderly nun, Vania also responded humbly. Seeing such a posture from Vania, the elderly nun smiled and nodded before continuing.
“Madam Vania is too modest. Even if you’re just temporarily serving as the archbishop, it’s still a significant role. Your appointment came directly from Sacred Summit, so there’s no issue with that. For now, St. Hymn Cathedral is going through a special period. How we navigate this time smoothly depends greatly on your efforts, Madam Vania…”
“Sister Anre, you’re flattering me. Although I’m sitting in the archbishop’s seat, my main responsibility is to manage the Tiered Vision to prevent cultists from causing trouble. As for other specific tasks of the archbishop… I don’t know much about them, so I don’t want to give orders rashly. After all, my previous role was just a nun at the Historical Records Office. Even after becoming a Holy Relic Guardian, I mainly dealt with religious education and had no experience in administrative affairs…”
Vania continued humbly. Hearing her words, Sister Anre slowly took a few steps, looking at the documents on the desk and then speaking.
“Madam Vania, you’re too modest. You’ve only been in this role for a few days, but you’ve already started handling things efficiently. The speed at which you review these documents has increased, and you handle matters swiftly and precisely. Especially in financial audits, you’ve done work that even professional clerics would admire. Recently, everyone has noticed how hard you work late into the night. Many people in the church have seen your effort and talent.”
“No, no… I’m just doing what I can. After all, some decisions in the diocese must be made by the archbishop, and I can’t keep delaying. I can only try to understand the situation and make my own decisions.”
“Sister Anre, don’t think I process many documents… In fact, I don’t make direct decisions on most of them. I write down opinions and set them aside first, planning to consult with relevant clerics later before making a judgment. I still need to rely heavily on experienced clerics like you in this matter…” Vania continued to respond, and Sister Anre then slowly spoke.
“Your carefulness and caution in this work are reassuring. During the time Sir Francesco is away, the smooth operation of the church in Tivyán largely depends on your efforts. Although you’re new to administrative duties, your recent performance has been excellent. You indeed have a natural talent for this.”
“Whether it’s the affinity and appearance when preaching to believers or the administrative skills and learning abilities in handling public affairs, and most importantly, your devotion and faith in God, Madam Vania, you’ve nearly achieved perfection. It’s a great honor for the church in Tivyán to have someone like you. Including myself, many veteran clerics in St. Hymn Cathedral foresee that your future in the holy teachings is limitless.”
Sister Anre said to Vania, and upon hearing this, Vania didn’t know how to respond humbly. So she continued to speak.
“Well… This is all thanks to God’s blessing…”
Vania began to pray sincerely. In fact, Sister Anre’s praise wasn’t entirely wrong. Regarding personal qualities, Vania did have excellent affinity and appearance with believers, and her superior administrative and learning abilities were due to Dorothy.
Dorothy used information channels to share her immense computational and memory capabilities with Vania via Vania as the host. With the help of the high-tier “Enlightenment” extraordinary being’s superhuman information processing ability, Vania could easily handle the unfamiliar archbishop’s administrative work and produce remarkable results.
In reality, if Vania fully utilized Dorothy’s information processing capabilities and controlled a few zombie puppets to assist, she could handle all the administrative work of the entire Tivyán church. She could shift hundreds or even thousands of administrative staff to the grassroots level, transforming herself into a central administrative computer, making the Tivyán church operate more efficiently than ever before. However, currently, Vania didn’t need such extensive information processing capabilities. With just a small amount of help from Dorothy, she could manage the archbishop’s affairs well.
As for the last commendation by Sister Anre—Vania’s extremely high piety and faith—it was a matter of perspective. At least for Vania herself, she had never strayed from the teachings of the Holy Mother, so calling her pious wasn’t inappropriate.
After briefly exchanging pleasantries with Sister Anre, she left the archbishop’s office. Seeing Sister Anre leave, Vania sat back in her chair, sighing slightly.
Not long after, the door to the archbishop’s office suddenly opened again. Vania paused slightly and said, “Come in.”
Responding to Vania’s words, the office door opened once more, and no one immediately stepped out. After waiting for a moment, a nun cautiously peeked out from behind the door. When Vania saw her face, she couldn’t help but brighten up.
“Isn’t that Aurora? Is there something you need?” Vania said directly, recognizing the nun who appeared as a colleague from the Historical Records Office.
“Oh, this… Yes, sir! This is the summary report of the Historical Records Office for this quarter, according to the routine, to be reviewed by the archbishop!” The nun named Aurora, clearly nervous, finished speaking and quickly ran to Vania’s desk, placing the document on it. Vania thought for a moment and said.
“Oh… yes, the Historical Records Office… It’s about this time of the year for quarterly summaries. I used to be very busy around this time… It’s nostalgic…”
Although Vania was busy now, it was with different matters.
“However, shouldn’t the summary be submitted personally by the head of the Historical Records Office? Why are you here, Aurora?” At this point, Vania recalled something and asked her colleague. Standing uneasily, Aurora was startled by Vania’s words and immediately explained.
“Oh… Sir, you mean Brother Rob? He took people to Gramorn for ruins exploration, and hasn’t returned yet. So, after completing the summary, everyone was worried about who should submit it because no one felt qualified or brave enough. Finally, we decided to draw lots, and… I was the one drawn…”
Scratching her head, Aurora said with some distress. Upon hearing this, Vania chuckled and said.
“What’s there to be afraid of? Aren’t we all colleagues?
“Well… That was before, now you…”
“It’s the same now. We are all servants of God, just in different roles. Besides, my current position is only temporary. There’s no need to be so reserved. Come, relax a bit. We can chat more…” Vania said with a smile to the nun almost her age. But the nun remained tense and only answered Vania’s questions, not daring to say much herself.
Looking at this familiar yet unfamiliar colleague from the Historical Records Office, Vania sighed inwardly and didn’t continue the conversation. After giving a few instructions, she let the nun leave. Watching Aurora run out of the office and close the door, Vania sat back in her chair.
Then, she looked out the window. Through the window, Vania gazed at the wide square in front of St. Hymn Cathedral, watching the groups of young nuns walking briskly and chatting happily, about the same age as her. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe.
Vania carefully considered that about a year ago, she hadn’t been much different from those nuns. As a junior clerk, she had little difference from ordinary nuns, working, praying, and sleeping together every day.
At some point, Vania and her sister nuns had always treated intermediate clerics like Black Earth with respect, and they wouldn’t dare to speak to senior clerics like White Chalk or ordinary bishops from other regions. As for Archbishop Francesco, the highest-ranking bishop in the entire Pritt Diocese, she could only catch a glimpse of him during major ceremonies and had no thoughts of interacting with him.
Now, Vania found herself sitting in the archbishop’s seat, handling the affairs of the entire Pritt Diocese. Those she once looked up to were now looking up to her. The status, power, and authority she had never imagined were now placed upon her, making her feel somewhat overwhelmed.
Reflecting on it, Vania realized that her fate, like countless ordinary church staff, had been ordinary until the response to her prayer in the churchyard of Igwen County a year ago.
“From that moment on, my fate has been written by the deity. Where will this fate ultimately lead me?”
Sitting in her chair, Vania thought with some melancholy. Just then, a familiar voice echoed in her mind.
“Great Akka, recorder of all things… Please connect me with Sister Vania…
“Sister Vania, do you have any free time now?”
Hearing this voice, Vania was slightly stunned, then immediately sat up straight in her seat, responding in her mind.
“It’s Miss Dorothy… What’s the matter? I’m taking a break between work.”
“It’s like this, some old friends have sent you letters again.” Dorothy told Vania. Hearing this, Vania was suddenly alarmed and immediately replied.
“Old friends… Do you mean the Wolf bl**d Association?”
“Yes, not long ago, I received a letter from the ‘White Pray’ account in the White Stone Craftsmen Guild. It was from that group of wolf pups as usual.” Dorothy’s voice echoed in Vania’s heart. Then, an unfolded letter appeared before Vania’s eyes. She glanced at the content and frowned.
When dealing with werewolf Smith, Dorothy specifically designed a plan to make the Wolf bl**d Association believe that Smith had a potential insider within the church called the White Pray. For a long time after that, the Wolf bl**d Association consistently communicated secretly with this White Pray through the craft guild channel, attempting to corrupt them.
The White Pray naturally referred to Vania. After Smith’s incident, she obtained letters from the Wolf bl**d Association through Dorothy and continuously communicated with them. She even successfully obtained the “Cup” holy emblem used for Dorothy’s advancement from them. After Vania and Dorothy left Tivyán simultaneously, due to Dorothy beginning to rely on connections in Tivyán to receive letters, their contact with the Wolf bl**d Association decreased. Since returning, the Wolf bl**d Association had not contacted her until now. This was the first letter Vania received from them after her return.
“Tivyán Church is in turmoil… Worried about the unstable environment… Confirming my condition…
“Miss Dorothy! The Wolf bl**d Association wants to use me to gather intelligence about the current state of the church! They want to verify the rumors and understand the true situation of the Tivyán Church… They might be planning something!”
After reading the letter, Vania solemnly stated in her heart, clearly seeing the intention behind the letter.
“Mm… You think the same as I do. The Wolf bl**d Association has been establishing themselves in Tivyán Church for quite some time. They won’t miss this opportunity while Sir Francesco is away…
“Currently, the Wolf bl**d Association has ill intentions towards St. Hymn Cathedral. No matter what, I absolutely cannot let them succeed, Miss Dorothy. Now, we need to clearly understand their specific intentions. Should I lure them by replying to the letter?”
“Not yet. Setting traps in the letter to extract information… It’s risky. If they are cautious enough, they might detect something unusual. What we need is to reply normally and reveal a little information to gain their trust.”
Dorothy’s voice continued echoing in Vania’s heart. After hearing this, Vania couldn’t help but look puzzled.
“Just a normal reply… with a little bit of information? To gain trust and extract more information later?”
“No, no, no. I mentioned that setting linguistic traps in the letter is quite risky. We don’t need to take such risks. With them, a little normal exchange is enough.”
“As long as… a little normal exchange… is enough?”
“Of course. Trust me.”
Sitting somewhere, Dorothy smiled and responded through the information channel. At this moment, she held a brand-new letter she had recently received from the craft guild in her hand.
Even through a medium, it was still communication. For a red-tier dream interpreter, even communicating through writing and exchanging letters was enough to subtly deconstruct the other party and complete a personality profile.
