Cain and the other adventurers spun their mouths at the Temple Knight's words.

'...... I knew it was so.'

　In the midst of all this, Cain was the only one to speak back. The other adventurers looked surprised at those words and their eyes were drawn to Cain.

''What do you mean?''
Actually, the bishop told me about it in the carriage, but there was something that didn't add up: ......
Cain, can you explain?
'Yes, as a matter of fact, the bishops from various countries are heading to the main temple for this papal election, aren't they? I've heard that priests from all over the Marineford area are also heading there for the election. So I've heard that a lot of bandits have been hitting church officials as well. So from thereーー

　That whoever gets the most votes in an election shall be the new Pope.
　If you can reduce the number of votes cast for a rival candidate for Cardinal, you automatically gain an advantage.
　That if an unforeseen accident or incident on the way to the polls prevents you from making it to the day of the vote, it will be an invalid vote.
　Cain went on to list several other reasons for the attack on church officials. Going back in the past, there were many dedicated congregations even for bandits, and they often did not attack church officials by implicit consent, but only in this case was it exempt, Cain came up with an answer.

'...... I see. ....... Does that mean that the person commanding the bandits is supposed to be a candidate other than the cardinal that the bishop is supporting this time ......?

　Cain shook his head in affirmation at the Temple Knight's words.

'But how do you distinguish between them?　You wouldn't know that if you were in a carriage. Who to vote for which cardinal, etc. ......

　All of them affirmed, as if they were convinced by Claude's question. Certainly, that would be the case in general.

I'll explain it to you.

　The bishop slowly emerged from behind the temple knight.

'First of all, I'm sorry for getting you involved in the church mess.

　The bishop bowed his head deeply. Not only the temple knights, but also Cain and the other adventurers look surprised at the sudden action.
　The priest unites the churches in each city, but the bishop is the chief executive who supervises and oversees the churches in the entire country he is sent to. It was no wonder that the adventurers and temple knights were surprised because the bishop, who is the top person in the country where they were sent, bowed his head.

''Bishop, please raise your head. That's part of the escort.''

　Lina said apologetically.

'Thank you. You had better tell everyone. This time, my brother is running for Pope as a Cardinal. Everyone will assume that I'm going to vote for him. Moreover, the carriage I've come in this time has the Marineford Church flag and the flag of the Kingdom of Esford on the carriage. Everyone will know that I'm in the carriage.
'Certainly ....... No one would ever think of voting for another candidate when my brother is the candidate.
'Well, my brother doesn't care about factions or anything, so he shouldn't have many friends: ....... He wouldn't win a normal election. But I'm sure he wants to erase the uncertainty. The person who plotted the attack is ......

　It's not something I would agree with as a bishop. The Temple Knights are a force to be reckoned with to protect our precious church members, but as a bishop, I can't allow them to be treated to take the lives of my friends.

''You won't know right away, but I'll make sure to put you on the agenda when we arrive at the main hall. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it may be dangerous, but I'm going to ask you to continue to escort me to the main hall.

　The contract for the escort includes a ride to and from the main hall of the church capital. As for Cain, he is also assigned to guard the main hall and will have an interview with Hinata, the saint.

　The bodies of the thieves are kept in the magic bag that the temple knights had with them.
　After arriving at the main hall, he was to reconfirm his face again to confirm his identity. This should lead to the Cardinal being discovered by planning the attack.
　In fact, he would probably fall in love with the lack of evidence, but the suspicion raised would serve as a check on the other candidates.
　Cain was anxious to see what would happen in the upcoming papal election.

　After the break, the carriage begins to head down the mountain road again. Before the sun went down, they arrived at a place where they could camp.
　The camp is located in a fenced-in area on the side of the road, with a well in the center.
　There were two groups of campers ahead of us, one group of merchants and the other group of people who appeared to be churchmen.
　They parked their wagons out of the way, and the escort adventurers began to unload their belongings from their wagons and prepare for the encampment.
　Another group of adventurers, separate from Claude and the others, quickly made preparations.
　They saw that Claude and the others struggled in the battle and bought them out instead.
　Cain also takes out necessary supplies and other items from his item box.

'As expected, you can't take out a mansion here ....... It's comfortable to sleep in .......

　Cain has had several mansions built on empty land in Drintle and stashed in item boxes.
　They differed from single-story to mansions to be used differently depending on the occasion. However, it goes without saying that it was not possible to take them out in the presence of others, as it is unusual for a building to go in there.