Falsifying history is good business

Chapter 280: The Vatican’s Excessive Attention
To put it bluntly, the British royal family's management committee is a group of institutions and individuals serving the royal family; the so-called supervisors, although their titles are different, can actually be simply equated with the royal family's personal butlers.

As the magic advisor to the royal family, the Forester family was nominally one of the subordinate institutions of the committee. The director personally came forward as the recommender, which on the one hand represented the attitude of the royal family, and on the other hand also expressed respect for Earl Goff.

In this way, it would not be easy to turn away these visitors from the Vatican; nor could they directly report them and send them to the Auror office as they did to those agents some time ago.

The supervisor was an extremely traditional British gentleman who strictly adhered to the duties of a "butler" and never overstepped the mark. When the guests came in, he conscientiously introduced both parties, and then silently retreated to the door and stood with the old butler of the Forrest family.

Only the host and the guest were left in the reception room: the host, Earl Goff, the guest, the cardinal, and a monk accompanying the cardinal. The cardinal was white-haired, old and hunched; the monk was middle-aged, calm and capable.

"Since he is a guest introduced by the royal family, there is no need for us to make hypocritical greetings; let's just deal with business matters and speak frankly!" Lin You said expressionlessly.

"Your Excellency, we are here for John Constantine," the Cardinal began. Perhaps because of his age, his voice was hoarse and unclear, and he spoke every word slowly.

"Are you talking about the dark wizard who knows some black magic and helps people with exorcisms?" Lin You said coldly, "He is not in Forest Manor. You should look for him somewhere else."

"Your Excellency, we are here to seek help sincerely." The middle-aged monk echoed, "We already know that Mr. Constantine is teaching at a prestigious...magic school, and there are many controversies surrounding him; these controversies have spread throughout the wizarding world."

Lin You was not surprised at all that the news had been leaked; the Vatican had been unable to find anyone before because Constantine had been hiding under a pseudonym, but now that his name had been published in the Daily Prophet, how could he hide it from the church? Although the Vatican had a bad relationship with the magic world, it was not difficult to get a copy of the newspaper.

"Since everyone knows his whereabouts, let's go find him. Good luck to you!" Lin You seemed eager to end the conversation and sent the uninvited guest out.

The middle-aged monk said hurriedly, "But we can't find a suitable way to contact him. As far as we know, the school is highly confidential, and the entrance and exit have been blocked recently for special reasons."

Hearing this, Lin You suddenly understood.

Not to mention the remote location of Hogwarts Castle itself and its strict defense measures; just to say that this year, in order to hunt down Sirius, Dementors were deployed around the castle, which was equivalent to adding an insurmountable barrier out of thin air. It is possible that the people sent by the church to investigate Constantine made a special midnight snack for the Dementors.

All I can say is that Constantine chose the right time to hide in Hogwarts this year.

These guys from the Vatican must have tried every possible way but hit a wall, and had no other options left, so they came to Count Goff for help.

As the wizarding world generally does not have direct contact with Muggles, the Forresters become the only and most reliable channel for communicating with wizards.

"Why are you looking for Constantine? I heard that this man has no other skills except exorcism. He is basically a lousy liar." Count Goff pretended to be unfamiliar. "Could it be that your church also wants him to exorcise demons? Do you need outsiders to help you exorcise demons?"

"No, of course not." The cardinal took over the conversation. "We are looking for him for a holy relic that is of vital importance to the church. I don't know if you have heard of this rumor, the Spear of Longinus."

"The lost holy object is the Holy Lance?" Lin You continued to play dumb; after finding the Holy Lance, everyone left quickly, and he didn't know what Helena said and did when exchanging the Holy Lance, and whether she had revealed the secret that he had participated in the search. "Yes, and the Vatican has conducted a thorough investigation; we believe Constantine has a great..." The middle-aged monk was interrupted by the cardinal in the middle of his words.

"We believe that Mr. Constantine is likely to know clues about the whereabouts of the Holy Lance."

The tone and wording of the two paragraphs are very different.

Lin You could tell that the middle-aged monk in front probably wanted to say "Constantine is highly suspicious"; but the words spoken after the cardinal interrupted softened the wording, changing Constantine from a "suspect" to an "insider".

"Do you want to investigate him?" Lin You asked with a smile; the smile on his face made it impossible to see his true thoughts.

"We would like to ask him to assist in the investigation." The cardinal still chose his words carefully.

Is this wording intended to reduce the hostility of people in the magical community?
These old guys in the church are really all shrewd people; after all, if they didn’t understand human nature well, how could they be charlatans?

Lin You asked again: "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I hope Your Excellency the Count can help us invite Mr. Constantine; we want to talk to him." The Cardinal said calmly.

"If you just want to help pass on a message, then there's no problem." Lin You pretended not to understand, "But I can't guarantee the result; if Mr. Constantine doesn't want to meet with you, I can't bring him here, right?"

"Of course, we can understand." The cardinal responded with a smile, and at the same time, a subtle movement of his hand stopped the middle-aged monk from speaking. "However, if you can help facilitate a meeting between us and Constantine, the Holy See will be very grateful. I believe that God will bless those who help others."

Is this the condition? Lin You remained calm, but his heart was beginning to waver; the importance the Holy See attached to the Spear of Longinus was a little beyond imagination.

When the story of "Indiana Jones" was integrated into the big world, clues about the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail in this world had already surfaced, but the Vatican had never been so anxious to look for them?

Is the Holy Lance so special?
Lin You had no idea what to do, so he could only smile and respond insincerely: "It is my honor to have the friendship of the Holy See. As for the blessing of the Lord, I dare not expect it... As long as He shows mercy and does not cause more trouble to my work, I will be very happy."

The cardinal and the monk thought that Earl Goff was joking and laughed in unison; the atmosphere in the reception room was very harmonious.

No one knew that what Lin You said were all true and from the bottom of his heart.

The two parties tacitly agreed on cooperation, and Lin You asked the old butler to see the guests out; but he didn't expect that the director of the Royal Management Committee deliberately lagged behind and secretly slipped a business card into Lin You's hand.

(End of this chapter)