"They requested Athena's presence, is there a problem with her staying here and The Church wants her back ?" Catherine asked with surprise.
"No, it seems they need her help in purifying the lands. The other Church personnel and that temporary Saintess Ophelia are not enough to purify the lands."
"It seems we made a mistake in our reports but saying that Athena cleared it in one go." Alex massaged his forehead.
"We shouldn't have stated the truth and should have said that it took a few days to purify the lands but who knew it would come to this?"
Alex muttered his eyes glowed fiercely as he raised his chin.
"Athena, just what kind of shit is this?"
"With such a huge force at their disposal, they cannot clear the lands quickly. If The Churches of Kinley lack personnel then ask for help from the other Kingdoms, how dare they ask my wife to overwork as a servant, are they looking down on me?"
Alex spoke as calmly as possible, but everyone could feel the anger in his tone which frightened them.
He was seriously pissed off by the request and anyone could tell by the look on his face.
"Alex, calm down a bit," Athena spoke, trying to appease him.
"Calm down! Are you kidding me?"
"There is a bishop, archbishop, and even a candidate running for Saintess position and many more who are on standby and if something happens they can just ask for Head Saintess."
"I know they are weak but can't their number make up for Athena's absence"
"Moreover, didn't you leave the saintess position to rest a bit? Those bastards knew that you gave up the position by yourself but in the whole capital they are talking about how you were thrown out from the position for committing vile deeds."
"Now, does it make sense for them to ask for your help when they were laughing at your misfortune?" Alex spoke while gritting his teeth.
"Those hypocritical assholes," Alex grunted.
Only he knew how he endured when he heard rumours about his wife being cursed and denounced.
He wanted to flip the capital upside down and break the mouth of those bitches but he knew that this wasn't his battle and Athena would prove them wrong and slap them with her overwhelming presence.
Athena was tongue-tied for a moment.
Even though she always keeps her composure was taken by surprise after hearing Alex's words.
Although she was baffled, she felt quite pleasant seeing Alex getting angry on her behalf.
She left the position mainly for two reasons, the first one was to recover from the injury due to performing the forbidden ritual and in the meantime accompany Alex for a bit and the second was to mark the enemies who were playing around her back.
She would just allow the weeds to grow and then she would just nip them at once.
The Church was not as simple as it looked. There were different kinds of political battles going on inside it and it keeps on happening now and then.
For a Saintess to remain in that position, support from others was very important to keep maintain that position and people who chose her side, prosper bountifully if she became Head Saintess.
Even if one couldn't become Head Saintess, just staying as a Saintess Of the Empire was more than enough to have a strong backing.
And whether it was nobles or personnel of the Church, everyone wanted to rip rewards by staying on their good looks.
Even after she resigned, there were still some who feared her return so they started to spread the rumour about her to bring her reputation down.
After all, a person with a bad reputation cannot ascend to the position again.
But she didn't care about all this, as in her eyes, it was just a childish scuffle and at the end of the day, it was the amount of divine power one, which matters
And in terms of that, they were not her match in any way.
The four of them tried to calm Alex and asked him to think carefully.
"Athena, how good are they when compared to you?"
Athena pondered for a moment"Ophelia had about two-fifth of the divine power I had."
"And she is the best possible Saintess candidate beside you, "Christina asked curiously.
"Not exactly, there is another girl who had more than her. Lina had a greater amount but she is rather ambitious so the Archbishop put Ophelia in that position while waiting for my return," Athena answered.
Before Alex spoke anymore, Athena spoke"It's not always about the amount of divine power rather it's about efficiency. On top of the huge reserve, my efficiency and control are the best."
Athena puffed her chest proudly trying to act childish while asking for praise.
"Yeah, you are the best," Alex spoke with a slight smile.
"They are going to send a squad of Paladin along with another priest to get you." Alex passed thereafter to Athena after reading it.
Just thinking about Athena visiting Kingdom after Kingdom to offer her help to purify the lands and work for others, made his heart ache greatly.
"Catherine, make sure to get enough compensation. Since they are willing to make Athena's work, they should prepare to empty their pockets. Once married, Athena belongs to Leonhart, not the Church so they can't order her as they please." Alex spoke, clenching his fist.
"Little Alex, I thought you were going to say that Athena belongs to me, only me but your words somehow hurt this Big Sis," Athena spoke with a dissatisfied expression.
Alex's lips twitched a little.
'Is she challenging me to test my thick skin?'
As the atmosphere relaxed a bit, Alex decided to spend his time leisurely before going to work again.
He had brought ten-day leave and he still had four days left with him.
He decided to utilise these days to the fullest.
For the sake of the future where he could 3slack off resting in the lap of his wives, he decided to strengthen the gaps in the military.
The disaster showcased the lapse in communication.
All of Alex's efforts had been taking place in the central area near the capital cities and bigger towns while faraway places still hadn't seen the dawn of industrialisation but Alex was going to change it all.
First, the thing he needed to do was create transport channels. For this, they need to create roads through the vast wilderness.
Alex decided to form a military checkpoint every 200 km where at least 20 people would be on standby so that in case of trouble, messages can be transferred quickly.
Since the number of armed forces had risen, Alex decided to form a squad of public safety in smaller towns and cities forming a squad of 50-100 depending on the nature of the town.
He cannot put trust in the useless Mayors who couldn't handle their people and a Safety Department would be established.
Every three months a meeting would be held in which every Mayor throughout Leonhart had to make an appearance and give them a report of their town.
People would be sent secretly to investigate the condition and livelihood of the cities.
All these schemes required a huge mass of people which would create many job opportunities for jobless people.
Amid all these things, the force of the Church finally arrived at Leonaheart and Alex decided to have a hearty talk with them.
