Wizard Earl

Chapter 39 The Guacertino Incident (Part 2) (Please add to your favorites and vote!)

"Parasites!" When these clergymen are mentioned, wealthy merchants and nobles will grit their teeth and utter this word!

Thirty-six councilors from both houses of parliament, representing over 90% of the councilors in Loen City, secretly petitioned the Storm Church headquarters. On the surface, it seemed to be because of the "Guacertino Incident!" However, the "Guacertino Incident" was merely a trigger.

What these nobles and wealthy merchants truly wanted to rebel against was the increasingly exorbitant donations demanded by the Storm Church within their traditional sphere of influence! A wealthy merchant from Rune once hired an accountant to calculate that in a factory in Rune with annual sales of 50,000 gold pounds, after deducting workers' wages, raw material costs, imperial taxes, and other expenses, the capitalists would only receive about 15,000 gold pounds each year. Of that final 15,000, the Storm Church would demand 5,000 gold pounds in donations!

Without doing anything, they want to take a third of the net profit from their own pockets. Without a doubt, the wealthy merchants and nobles of Rune hate the Storm Church to the core and wish they could eat the flesh and blood of Bishop Constantine of the Storm Church of Rune!

Constantine's actions against Guacertino this time were so outrageous that they disrupted the balance between the church and the ruling class. How could the nobles and wealthy merchants let such an opportunity pass? Connor even felt that he had reason to believe that the so-called "Guacertino incident" might be a setup, a setup to get rid of Constantine!

"Although the members of both houses of parliament chose to submit their petition secretly rather than publicly in order to avoid uncontrollable situations, the upper echelons of the Church of Storms still took this matter very seriously. They sent a cardinal named Elena to Rune to investigate the matter, and Miss Margaret is Cardinal Elena's assistant pastor!"

"Connor, you know, my father has long supported several members of the House of Commons, so last month, Cardinal Elena personally visited my father, and it was at that time that I met Miss Margaret!" George told Connor everything he knew.

Connor nodded slowly, but he was deep in thought. He knew that George knew so much detail because he was the first heir of his father, Mr. Harvey, and that his father, Mr. Harvey, was very likely the main force behind the joint petition signed by members of both houses of Congress.

To become a member of the House of Lords, one must first be a member of the nobility; to become a member of the House of Commons, one needs "two votes"—money and ballots! Both are indispensable. George says his father is a supporter of several members of the House of Commons, a very euphemistic statement; in reality, Mr. Harvey is the financial backer of the members he supports! And those members are, in effect, tools for Mr. Harvey to achieve his own ends!

Cardinals are second only to the Pope in the Church of Storms, and are among the highest-ranking members of the Church. Clearly, this Cardinal Elena of the Church of Storms skipped over those "tools" and went directly to the mastermind behind it all to negotiate!

Thinking of this, Connor felt much more at ease. When he heard that Margaret was a priest of the Church of Storms, his heart sank to the bottom. He remembered that his mentor, Professor Reyes, had once told him that the Church of Storms considered all wizards other than himself, the Church of Earth, and the official wizards of the Empire to be dark wizards, and that dark wizards should be eliminated!

Therefore, Connor is worried that Margaret is coming at him because she has discovered that he is a wizard. It seems that Margaret and her Cardinal Elena should be focusing on the "Guacertino incident" and should not be distracted by such an important matter as him.

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"Pastor Margaret, did you go to see Connor Ferguson at Harvey Sanchez's birthday party?" In a room of the magnificent Storm Church in downtown Rune, a gaunt, middle-aged man with a gloomy face was angrily questioning the stunningly beautiful woman in front of him.

If Connor were standing in this room now, he would be astonished by the deep, almost dripping, gloom on the face of this middle-aged man who always presented a kind smile to the people of Loen. This tall, thin man was none other than Constantine, the bishop of the Storm Church in Loen, one of the key figures in the "Guacertino Incident"!

"I went to see him, what's wrong?" Miss Margaret brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and replied noncommittally.

"Pastor Margaret, please remember why you came to Rune. You need to focus on resolving the issues at hand. The relationship between our Storm Church and the nobles and wealthy merchants is already extremely tense. Let alone the fact that we don't have conclusive evidence that Connor Ferguson is a black wizard and that Vidal of the Spirit Worship Cult is involved in death, even if we did, the issues at hand are a hundred times more important than Connor Ferguson! Do you understand, Pastor Margaret?" Constantine roared at Margaret like a hairdryer.

A disdainful smile appeared on her refined face as Pastor Margaret said slowly, "So, Bishop Constantine is aware that the relationship between the Church and the nobles and wealthy merchants is already quite tense?"

"Margaret! You... how dare you!" Constantine shouted angrily, "Margaret, you are merely a priest! I am a bishop of the church, a bishop!"

Margaret's disdainful smile deepened, but just as she was about to open her cherry lips to retort, a young woman's soft voice suddenly rang out in the room. Although the voice was not loud, it clearly reached Margaret and Constantine's ears:

"Shut up, both of you! This is a turbulent time for the church, and you are both elite members of the church; you should be united in spirit!"

"There are priorities in this matter. Margaret, you need to focus on negotiating with the nobles and wealthy merchants. As for you, Constantine, don't forget that you are a criminal; the Church Inquisition could judge you at any time!"

Upon hearing the woman's voice, Constantine and Margaret both showed a hint of awe in their eyes. They exchanged a glance, then simultaneously said in unison, "As you wish, Lady Elena!"

"Bishop Constantine, as you wish, I will temporarily set aside my efforts to gather evidence that Connor Ferguson is a dark wizard and focus on negotiating with Harvey Sanchez and the other masterminds behind this incident. I hope you will provide me with information on those masterminds as soon as possible!" Margaret said calmly.

Seemingly aware of Margaret's abilities and having secured her promise, a hint of relief finally appeared on Constantine's gloomy face.

"Connor Ferguson, I'll spare you for now. Enjoy your last moments as a dark wizard!" After Constantine left, leaving herself alone in the room, Margaret clenched her fists and murmured softly:

(End of this chapter)