Upon hearing the name of this plan, Catherine finally lifted her head from the bureaucratic documents. She adjusted her glasses, scrutinizing the youthful bishop, just fifteen or sixteen years old, in front of her.

One must know that this plan aims to transform her identity from a witch to a saintess.

Catherine, with her understanding of these citizens, estimated that they would be unwilling to bear the reputation of ingratitude, but they held a religious discomfort towards witches.

Catherine knew a bit about Jeanne's transformation into a saintess, but that was built on the miracle of Horn's resurrection after decapitation. What about herself?

Horn placed a stack of bound yellowed papers on the table, pulled it open to his chest, and found it filled with names and red fingerprints.

Armand smiled slightly, "This is the current opinion poll; we have received twenty-nine joint letters from twelve districts, with over 3,000 people signing or leaving their handprints on these letters."

Under Armand's commission, hundreds of "rats" dispatched in the city quickly spread false news, successfully inciting public opinion.

These surging public sentiments were not only based on moral and ethical considerations but also included considerations of actual interests.

Currently, there is no second person in Rapids City with the same prestige and capability as Catherine to unite people and fight for their interests.

If Catherine were to be completely toppled, then no one would be left to fight for the interests of the people of Rapids City.

Although the current reckless stance of washing clean is awkward, if not restrained, if it is implicated in her, whom can she blame?

The essence of this approach is to correct the errors radically, making people afraid of bloodshed splashing onto themselves.

Under this fear, they end up supporting what the Salvation Army originally wanted them to support in a defensive posture.

Specifically in this practice, residents fear that the radical settling of scores with witches might lead to more radical reckonings upon themselves.

Horn looked up at Armand with some surprise, staring for a long time, not understanding why Armand seemed quite adept at such matters.

How come I didn't realize before?

"What is the main content?"

"There are requests asking you not to kill her but to exile her, and there are also requests asking you to let her continue governing."

Catherine tried hard to control her expression of frustration and grievance, but her lips still involuntarily curled downward.

Despite Armand's encouragement, less than one-tenth of people signed the joint letter, and even among those, many hoped to have her exiled.

Horn scratched his eyebrow with his fingernail to hide his embarrassment. He originally thought there would be more people.

But now it seems that there are plenty of people who talk, but far fewer who actually take action.

In this world where angels can be summoned down and indeed possess extraordinary power, such ingrained thinking inertia is not so easy to remove.

Seeing Horn frowning, Armand reminded him: "You better consider Thomas's proposed plan. You know, a witch is, after all, a rather formidable force."

Horn understood that Armand implied that the witch should best be firmly controlled by Horn, while the descent of the Holy Father would bind the identity of the saintess to Horn.

Otherwise, if Catherine could proclaim herself a saintess independently, her autonomy would be too strong.

The Salvation Army paid such a huge price, only to help someone else consolidate power, which is unacceptable to many within the Savior Pope Country.

As for Thomas's proposed plan, it replicates the process of Jeanne becoming a saintess, using the Heavenly Father as a guarantor to eliminate the common people's unease.

Armand's main reason for supporting this plan lies in the disagreement about handling the Meigedi Commerce Association.

The Meigedi Commerce Association is a considerable force. According to current ledgers collected by Horn, its bank business, shop properties, and shares in workshops have an asset valuation of forty to fifty million gold pounds, with liquid capital exceeding five million gold pounds.

Horn's Pope Country currently doesn't even have five million gold pounds in liquid capital, yet Meigedi's one merchant guild has five million gold pounds in liquid capital.

These funds are indeed minor issues; the main concern is the various artisans, notaries, and literate individuals it employs, along with the effective system formed by these literate individuals.

The Salvation Army could certainly dismantle and merge the Meigedi Commerce Association, but that's too wasteful, as rebuilding a system takes too long and might not even be effective.

But if they retain the Meigedi Commerce Association, they face a problem of trustworthiness.

One should know if the Meigedi Commerce Association integrated into the Savior Pope Country, it would likely take on some central bank responsibilities.

Horn needs someone with sufficient trustworthiness and capability to manage this bank.

He glanced around and found that the only person capable enough was Catherine Meigedi.

But can she really be trusted?

Regardless, Thomas and a group of priests from the Saint Father's Association believe that while Meigedi might be trusted now, she is a member of the merchant group after all.

Her current will doesn't represent her future will, and her previously demonstrated spirit doesn't mean she will always maintain it.

Some people can only endure hardship together but cannot share peace.

In other words, to retain the Meigedi Commerce Association, Catherine must be retained.

But Catherine is, after all, an outsider; the Salvation Army is unwilling to offer her such a high position and even more reluctant to trust her.

Seeing this point, Armand supports the "Holy Father Baptism."

Because in his view, using this method to cleanse Catherine into a saintess deeply ties her to Horn, creating strong dependency.

The process of Catherine becoming a saintess is a pledging process, also a pledging process for the entire Meigedi Commerce Association.

Getting the citizens to recognize the absurd "Holy Father's descent" as legitimate establishes the Savior Pope Country's legal legitimacy over Rapids City.

Because the citizens are too smart, farmers, laborers, and even artisans might believe in the "Holy Father's descent," but the citizens scorn it.

So Armand believes that cleansing Catherine into a saintess is merely a means, a latent struggle for discourse power, with the purpose of using this method to force Rapids City to bow to Horn.

Even though he knows "Holy Father's descent" is foolish, Armand wants the smartest and the dimmest people to bow and acknowledge it as sacred.

The moment they acknowledge it, the social contract between the Savior Pope Country and the citizens of Rapids City is signed.

Otherwise, should the subsequent "Holy Land Land Ordinance" be implemented? Should the sanctification of land be executed? What is the reason for its execution?

From a rational perspective, Horn can provide a multitude of reasons, but the issue is that these reasons come from experiences in his homeland.

Those reasons are castles in the sky, post hoc analyses, knowledge beyond the comprehension of the citizens.

Sometimes, Horn himself does not know the why and wherefore and can only mimic blindly.

With no alternative, he can only forcibly implement through religious law that requires no reason.

What struck Horn as absurd is that even in the Imperial Calendar year 1445, he still needed to resort to casting spells to establish legitimacy.

In the early days, with a makeshift team, he had to shamelessly perform rituals to establish legitimacy, and now, despite having over half a million subjects, he still needed rituals to establish legitimacy.

Isn't this a waste of being the pope?

"Your Eminence, what is your opinion?"

"Let's talk about it, let's talk about it." Horn rubbed his temples, impatiently waving his wrist, "I will consider it and give you an answer by tomorrow afternoon at the latest."

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