Several days later, in the southeastern diocese of the Empire, at Saint Orlando Cathedral.

Under the guidance of a Priest, Leon entered a small room used for rest.

He had come here to participate in the general knowledge assessment required to obtain an official Church rank—simply put, the written examination for formal Church establishment.

Such assessments were held twice a year in each of the Empire’s seven dioceses.

Just as Bishop Beckett had arranged, he had captured an informant, leveraged a Plea Deal to extract key leads, assisted the Church in successfully confiscating assets worth tens of millions, and rendered a great service.

With Bishop Beckett’s recommendation added on top of that, there had been no surprise in his securing a slot for this assessment.

“Please wait here. When the examination begins, someone will escort you to the examination hall,” the Delegate Officer said, bowing to Leon.

“Thank you.” Leon watched as the Delegate Officer left the room and then surveyed the resting chamber.

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Tea and pastries had already been laid out on the small tea table in the lounge. Before he arrived, two people had already been waiting inside—a man and a woman, about his age.

The man wore a tailored clerical robe over his shirt, while the woman was dressed in the formal attire commonly worn by Apprentice Knights. Before Leon entered, they had seemed to be chatting cheerfully.

As soon as Leon stepped in, they rose proactively, their gazes meeting his.

“Another future colleague has arrived.” The young man smiled and strode forward, extending his hand. “I’m Enrique Davison, serving as a Priest in the Secret God Church in Caster Town. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Leon Set. As you can see, Inquisitor, from Hamel Town.” Leon shook his hand in greeting. He had come today dressed in formal uniform as required by Church regulations. “Mr. Davison, could you perhaps be related to Viscount Locat?”

He remembered that Viscount Locat, who served as a Tax Official in Caster Town, bore the family name Davison.

The Viscount held an important post there and was considered one of the more influential local elites.

“You know my father?” Enrique looked at Leon in surprise.

“Haha, your father is renowned throughout South Harbor County. Who wouldn’t know him?” Leon replied with polite laughter.

Of course, he could hardly explain that he knew the man because the Viscount had been one of their major clients.

Viscount Locat had originally been Potter’s client and had maintained a fairly good relationship with Father Auden.

He had been one of the pillars supporting the Priest’s ability to run Money Laundering Operations smoothly in South Harbor County.

Now that Leon had inherited the Magical Potion business in South Harbor County, he had also become acquainted with many local dignitaries.

He remembered that Viscount Locat regularly ordered large quantities of aphrodisiac and Contraceptive Magical Potion. Clients like him made up no small proportion.

In Leon’s assessment, he belonged to the type who played extravagantly. As for whether he played extravagantly with the Viscountess, that was another matter.

Naturally, such matters could not be mentioned to the man’s son.

A Viscount serving as a Tax Official—his son had likely graduated from the District Church School, secured a Priest position, and then obtained this assessment slot through internal recommendation thanks to his father’s connections.

After Leon finished exchanging pleasantries with him, the young female knight stepped forward to greet him as well. “Bena Vick, Apprentice Knight of the Church in the Southeastern Diocese. A pleasure.”

After several rounds of conversation, Leon learned that she was the niece of a Fully Appointed Knight, and her grandfather was a Baron. She too had obtained her slot through internal recommendation.

Enrique and Bena spoke of their family backgrounds without the slightest reservation, and Leon was not surprised in the least.

In the Empire, this was entirely normal. Family background and titles were a form of honor, a kind of capital. Leveraging connections was not shameful; rather, it was something to take pride in.

Personal effort and achievements did not necessarily carry more weight in such social settings than a long-established family surname. It was not difficult to understand—merit might advance a person one step, but background could elevate them step by step.

Bishop Beckett had once told him that the Church was currently heavily factionalized.

Most fully appointed positions were filled by Priests and Apprentice Knights from various regions who served in suitable posts for two years before gaining promotion through internal recommendation—recommendations that largely depended on their fathers’ networks within the Church.

Among those promoted through merit, nobles still made up the majority.

After all, assignments that could earn merit were also distributed. Aaron’s investigation into the Hamel Town case was one such example. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Someone like him—a Delegate Officer with absolutely no background—achieving a leap to secure a fully appointed position was exceedingly rare.

But strictly speaking, he was not that different. His so-called “merits” had also been scripted through the power and backing of the Earl. In essence, he had not stepped outside the same framework.

When they learned that Leon was entirely of commoner origin, both Enrique and Bena were somewhat surprised, but quickly offered him courteous compliments.

“To handle such a major case single-handedly is truly admirable. The merits you’ve created for the Church in one month of handling cases likely surpass those of my entire Knight Order. After all, you helped the Church confiscate criminals’ wealth, while we’ve only been spending the Church’s money,” Bena joked half-seriously.

“That’s true ability and real accomplishment!” Enrique nodded repeatedly. “Sitting in the same assessment as someone as capable as you makes me feel a bit ashamed of myself.”

Though there seemed to be a subtle class disparity on the surface, decorum still had to be maintained in social interaction.

They would all be serving in the same regional Church in the future—inevitably crossing paths again and again.

“You’re too kind. No matter how fortunate I’ve been, my career will likely end here. When you two rise higher in the future, I fear that when I bow to you, you won’t even recognize me,” Leon replied in jest.

“What are you saying? This isn’t the West!” Enrique laughed and shook his head. “Our family’s title was only obtained in our great-grandfather’s generation through meritorious service on eastern lands. A capable man like Mr. Set might very well be ennobled one day.”

“Speaking of which, my uncle once served in Fogpine County in the West. He said the nobles there are truly overbearing. He struck up a conversation with a Baron, and as soon as the man heard that my uncle was from the East and held no title, he turned away to talk to someone else,” Bena added, picking up the topic.

Enrique and Bena seemed to share much in common on this matter.

Soon the discussion shifted to complaints about western nobles, along with satirical jokes that apparently circulated in the eastern regions.

Leon did not understand much about noble affairs, but he had some knowledge of Imperial history. The territory of the Noren Empire had essentially expanded from west to east.

The eastern lands had a shorter history under Imperial rule, and the noble families born there generally had briefer lineages than those in the West.

The southeastern coastal region in particular had been conquered from the Islander Nation three hundred years ago.

Afterward, the remaining Islanders and the Empire had struggled against one another for a long time. It had taken the Empire considerable time to assimilate the Islander lands.

The families that obtained noble titles on this land did not have particularly long histories.

Viscount Locat, Baron Turner, and Viscount Arend of South Harbor County were all examples.

The Earl Foyle likewise belonged to the ranks of newly risen eastern nobility.

From the content of their conversation, Leon gradually sensed that old-established western nobles and newly risen eastern nobles formed clearly delineated cliques—even their respective forces within the Church appeared to align along those same lines.

“By the way, have you heard about that matter? The three Dukes in the Imperial Capital recently attended the court knighthood conferment ceremony alongside Her Highness Princess Freda. That should count as openly supporting her as Crown Heir, shouldn’t it?” Bena suddenly brought up.

“Yes, after all, Her Highness is the granddaughter of the Duke of Glen. The western nobles will certainly support her,” Enrique said.

“But His Majesty Roland III still hasn’t made a decision, and the College of Cardinals hasn’t expressed its stance either. So could that rumor be true?” Bena’s eyes sparkled as she discussed the gossip.

“You mean that matter about His Majesty’s illegitimate son?” Enrique clearly knew what she was referring to.

“His Majesty the Emperor has an illegitimate son?” Leon was surprised. It was the first he had heard of it.

“It’s just a rumor. Noble circles are always full of them. I’ve even heard people say more than once that my own father has an illegitimate son!” Enrique smiled faintly, clearly not fully convinced.

That one might not necessarily be false, Leon thought to himself.

“But my uncle heard from an acquaintance that that prince has already received secret backing from several eastern lords. If he wants the Church’s support, he would surely need to serve in one of the Church’s Knight Orders, right?” Bena spoke with increasing animation.

“Miss Vick, could it be that you—” Enrique’s smile turned meaningful.

Seeing how carried away Bena looked, anyone could tell she had imagined perhaps encountering the rumored prince in a Knight Order—ideally with something more happening.

Bena quickly coughed lightly and regained her composure. “I’m merely curious about whether the rumor is true. How could I indulge in such unrealistic fantasies?”

As they spoke, more examinees were gradually brought into the resting room. The two of them began exchanging pleasantries with the newcomers, quickly abandoning the topic.

Yet the subject lingered in Leon’s mind. Because from Bena’s description of the rumored illegitimate son of the Emperor, he had thought of someone.

“Surely not?” he pondered inwardly.