As I was preparing the meal, one of the people in the same encampment slowly walked towards Cain and his friends.
　He wore a white robe, which made it easy to recognize him as a church member. A young man in his mid-twenties spoke to Cain and his friends with a smile.

'Looking at the flag on the carriage, I think it's from the Kingdom of Esfort, but are you in Bishop Hannam's carriage?　If you don't mind, I'd like to say hello.
'Yes, Bishop Harnam is resting in his tent, shall I tell you?　If you'd like, you can send your name to .......
I'm sorry about this. My name is Oliver, I'm a priest.
'You must be Pastor Oliver. I will check with the bishop now, just a moment.

　Cain was the only adventurer to interact with the bishop, and Cain went to the tent where Bishop Harnam was taking a break.
　When he informed the temple knight who was waiting at the entrance to the tent, he told him to wait for a moment and Cain waited at the entrance.
　When he was immediately given permission to enter the tent, he found that in addition to the bed where the bishop was resting, there was also a table arranged for a meeting.
　The two temple knights and Bishop Harnam were in the middle of a meeting, and they were discussing a map.

'This is Lord Cain. How can I help you?''
'We have a visiting priest, Father Oliver, who is here right now and would like to say hello to the Bishop: ......
"You're a priest Oliver? ...... I'm fine.

　Bishop Harnam pretended to think about it for a moment, but he smiled and nodded.

'Then I will go and tell you.'

　Cain left the tent and entered the tent with him as he greeted the Oliver priest.
　In turn, the Temple Knight left the tent.
　When Bishop Harnum offered a seat to Priest Oliver and seated himself, Cain was about to leave the tent, but Bishop Harnum stopped him and seated him next to him.
　Priest Oliver's expression twisted slightly at the thought of Cain being seated with him. But he quickly returned to his expression and began with a standard greeting.

'It's been a long time, Bishop Harnam. I'm glad to see you in good health.'
It's good to see you again, and I'm glad to see that Father Oliver is safe and sound.
...... If you can pay someone to talk to me, preferably just the two of us, I'd like to talk to you alone. ......

　Priest Oliver gave a little glance to Cain. But Bishop Harnam shook his head.

'I'm sorry, but I can't do that,' he said. We were attacked by a large group of bandits on our way here. We managed to fight them off. The guards have told me not to be alone in any case.
"?　It's also ...... well done to you for being safe. I also came through the mountainous road today and was lucky not to meet any bandits. Maybe they came out afterwards. ......
'The same way ....... That's good. Our guards were excellent and helpful, but there were more of them than we would normally be able to withstand.
'I see. Well then, I can't blame you. I was hoping to talk to you about the papal election: .......
I'm not going to discuss the matter with me or anyone else. Until the day.
'Yes. I'm sorry about this. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit us. I wish you a safe journey to the main hall.

　After greeting him in a slightly unfaithful voice, Priest Oliver took his seat and left the tent.
　When Priest Oliver was gone, Priest Hannam sighed tiredly.

'Lord Cain, I'm sorry to have you present at the unpleasant part.
No, no, no. It's about as good as it gets.
The churches in town are asking questions about the election. It's the same everywhere you go. Can I have a word with you?
If that's okay with me, you can go to ......

　Bishop Harnam began to describe the four cardinals present. Priest Oliver, who was there earlier, is the faction of the Chief Cardinal of Bangla and is the most energetic. However, he seems to have a lot going on behind the scenes and is keeping a line between the two.
　Cardinal Denter, Bishop Harnam's brother, is the least numerous in terms of faction, but he is also a man of character, even from the standpoint of his brother.
　But that violence of numbers does not prevail, and that it is difficult for him to survive a papal election.
　The complaining went on for about thirty minutes, and when he finished speaking, Bishop Harnam had a clear look on his face.

'I'm sorry. I'm sorry for complaining about so many things: ......
No, no, you're much more refreshed than before. I think it's time for me to go back to my guards.
All right. Just a few more days.

　In reply, Cain bowed to Bishop Harnam and left the tent. However, Cain didn't go from there to where Claude and the others were gathered, but disappeared without a trace.

　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

That old bastard. Did you make it out of there in one piece?

　In another tent, Priest Oliver poured the wine glass and drank it all at once.
　The Temple Knight pours out a refill.

''We should have a reasonable number of people in place, but I'm not sure if it's possible to get out of there ...... and I've got a knight with a reasonable ability.
Yeah. They must have had about a hundred people hiding in there. How could you let them get away with that? ....... The incompetent ones are really no good. We have to make sure that Master Bangla is the new Pope on the board.
Even so, Bishop Harnum probably has the smallest faction of his brother, Cardinal Denter, I think.
'I know it's the least faction-wise. But I'm sure Cardinal Denter will be the one who gets the most votes in terms of floating votes. He's popular with the priests who aren't part of a faction.
'Oh, right: ......'
'Send one of them ahead of me to the main hall. If we hurry, they'll be able to use the dark part before we reach the main hall, and they'll be able to do something about it. We'll be untouchable once we arrive.
'All right. I'll write a letter and have one of you run it right away.

　The temple knight who was present bowed to the priest Oliver and left the tent.

''I'd like to crush any hostile candidates here. If the bishop's slot opens up, I should be able to get a recommendation for the bishop as well.

　Priest Oliver gulped down the rest of his drink.