"The Holy Bath Pond? Is there such a thing? "
It wasn't difficult to find out why the Holy Church had come, at least on the surface. After all, there were many people in the Holy Church's headquarters, and there were many Holy Knight escorting us. It would be far too easy to find out information from a canned person whose intelligence was only slightly higher than a musclehead's.
"Heh heh, stop joking around. Out of all the gifts you gave to the Holy Church, that 'Holy Bathing Pool' was the most unique. Holy Bathing Pool is one of the three holy relics left behind by the God of Holy Light in the mortal world. Pope Caloma the First, who had just ascended to Holy Light's throne not long ago, was overjoyed. He treated the return of the holy relic as a miracle, and held a grand ceremony to retrieve it."
In the conference room, Kelly seemed to be in a good mood as she looked at the latest information.
It would seem that my luck was quite good. I had given the most valuable gift at the most appropriate time, but why didn't I remember giving something like the "Holy Bath Pond"?
I did my best to recall all the arrangements I had made. From a certain standpoint, if I wanted the Northlands to develop and reform as I wished, there would always be a barrier that I would have to face: the Holy Church, which was the main source of public opinion and righteousness in all of human society.
If I stepped on the line slightly, and that Pope Caloma the First suddenly went crazy and declared another Holy War against Donglan, we would be in deep trouble.
It wasn't that I was overthinking things. The God of Holy Light indeed wouldn't make trouble for us with the impending war. In fact, he might even actively recruit allies (cannon fodder). However, it would be difficult to say for the Holy Church, which was made up of mortals. Especially with my rather "glorious" past, which included the fact that I had almost completely wiped out the Holy Church's allied army, it would be quite easy for me to touch the Holy Church's sensitive nerves and dignity.
Not long ago, we had just expelled the Holy Church's local branch church. If this was just an ordinary small, remote country, with Wumianzhe's support, it wouldn't be a big deal. The Donglan Principality wasn't the only country that refused to believe in the Holy Light. In the world of Aichy, where all the Gods coexisted, the God of Holy Light wasn't the only God that could rule over everything.
However, we had just won a great war that attracted the attention of the entire world. Three True Gods had performed miracles during the war. One had leveled up, and two had died. Plus, the bitter battle on that snowy night, as well as the changes in the fate of the elves and beastmen, made this frozen land in the Northlands the focus of the entire world.
With the participation of two mega empires, Auland and San Antonio Empires, the value of this bitter war was guaranteed. Human society's view of the Northlands changed slightly, but this also brought about a small problem. The key point of the Northlands' transformation, the night when the Undead Knights returned, had long since been discovered by those with ulterior motives.
The Ottoman Empire and the San Antonio Empire, the two mega empires, had participated in this war. The entire human society's view of the Northlands had changed, and it also indirectly revealed a forgotten past. Those brave Knight who had been wronged and humiliated naturally damaged the reputation of the Holy Church, the villain of the story.
Actually, this legendary story had already been sung by countless bards in taverns and on the streets. The Undead Knight who had raised the broken flag in battle formation had shocked and moved countless listeners. Not only did it increase the reputation of Donglan, it also indirectly dug up a forgotten past. Those brave Knight who had been wronged and humiliated naturally damaged the reputation of the Holy Church, the villain of the story.
Perhaps the Holy Church was no longer the foolish, inefficient, and arrogant organization that had gone through multiple religious reforms. However, most people wouldn't care about such minor differences. They wouldn't even bother to differentiate, which would naturally have a negative impact on the Holy Church. Not to mention, the human rulers who were already dissatisfied with the Holy Light's authority added fuel to the fire. This slap in the face was truly painful. If it wasn't for the fact that we were currently in the middle of a Holy War, trouble would have already come knocking on our door.
Of course, I wouldn't regret what I had done, but that didn't mean that I wasn't afraid of trouble.
If we had been destroyed in this battle because we had chased away the Holy Church, then this story would have ended with an arrogant idiot who overestimated his own abilities and brought about his own destruction. However, we had won, and even without the Holy Church's support, we had won a great victory by ourselves. In that case, we would be treated as an overconfident idiot and viciously slapped in the face, so of course we wouldn't be the ones who would be treated as an overconfident idiot and viciously slapped in the face.
Coincidentally, we had defeated the Holy Church and viciously slapped them in the face. When I realized all this, I didn't feel any joy at all. Instead, I broke out in a cold sweat.
"We've truly offended the Holy Church this time. If we get backstabbed again, the Holy Church won't even need to do much. All they have to do is announce to the other countries that Donglan is a heretical country and demand that all believers of the Holy Light stay away from Donglan. Then, they'll have the other countries stop all trade and diplomatic relations with Donglan. This is the equivalent of exiling Donglan from all human society. We can't even supply ourselves with food."
Everyone had to unite during the Holy War? Based on my many years of experience of being scammed, I knew that I should never overestimate the foresight and morals of those with high authority.
Looking at the bigger picture? There was no need to fight to the death. They would always be able to make inconceivable orders with the wind and rain battering them. There were already countless idiotic and short-sighted actions in history that nobody could predict. As long as they had enough gold and silver in front of them, they would be willing to sell their necklaces to hang themselves.
What? I was overthinking things. Did I have paranoia? I was just an unlucky person who had been scammed too many times. I had never had much hope for my useless teammates. And every time I made the worst-case scenario, it was usually the most correct one.
In such a situation, I still had to forcefully carry out the Undead Industrial Revolution against the Holy Church. This was no different from wearing the hat of an evil heretic on my head. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time left. It was impossible to stop such an explosive increase in the country's power. So, since the Holy Church still held over half of human society's faith, we absolutely had to eliminate their hostility toward us. At the very least, they wouldn't attack us before the Holy War was over.
In order for my plan to succeed, I indeed sent out envoys after the end of the Beastmen War. However, it seemed that the envoys I sent out were all treasures that I had left behind from my days in the mortal world. Perhaps they were valuable, but they were meaningless to me.
"Holy relics from the God of Holy Light? How is that possible? I probably wouldn't be able to take them out even if I sold them. "
Not to mention that I didn't have any, even if I did, how could I possibly be willing to give away truly good items like holy relics or God Equipment? And even if I gritted my teeth and gave them away, they probably wouldn't be as useful as those shiny treasures.
"Could it be that the God of Holy Light made up an act to ease the tension between us? I've heard that Pope Caloma the First just succeeded to the throne. It's said that he was lucky enough to win the election. His position is still quite unstable. This sudden incident of challenging the Holy Church's authority is a difficult one for him to deal with. If we manage to deal with it, it'll indeed be good news and a good omen for him. "
But right after that, I rejected this possibility.
"No, there's no need for the God of Holy Light to fake such a thing. The risks and benefits aren't even worth it. In their eyes, we're still less than half a major country. This bit of criticism won't matter in a few months. There's no meaning in helping us fake such a thing. Only when the fake is exposed will it truly be a blow to the God of Holy Light. In that case, that so-called Holy Bathing Pond is most likely real. "
And so, I asked what the holy relic looked like.
"It's a wooden barrel made out of oak. It's probably handmade. It's the last thing the God of Holy Light used to wash himself of mortal dust before he ascended to Godhood."
A holy relic sounded quite impressive and stylish, but it was actually just such a boring item. A holy relic would either be evidence of an important moment in history, or it would be a living utensil used by a True God when he was still a human, which was infused with his aura. So what if it was a holy wooden barrel? Wumianzhe's holy relic included the little yellow duck pillow and the raindrop gargling cup … cough, I think I accidentally revealed something.
However, one shouldn't underestimate the power of a holy relic because of this. The more ancient a God was, the fewer holy relics they would have left in the world. The power of faith from countless believers' prayers would also allow these ancient existences to truly possess unimaginable power. Perhaps a holy relic would be meaningless to someone unrelated to them, but to true believers, it would represent the most devout faith and unparalleled power.
"A wooden barrel used for bathing? I don't have any recollection of that at all. "
This gift was all from my personal collection, and most of it was from the Yongye era. However, there was no wooden barrel in my memories. Even if I had encountered a wooden barrel, it would be impossible for me to keep it in my collection.
"There are even some traces of the claws of a huge beast on it. It seems that some evil existence wanted to destroy this treasure, but failed in the end."
"Oh, oh, oh, oh. So it's that, Ah Bao's dog food bowl … "
Halfway through my sentence, I realized that something was wrong with the situation, so I took the initiative to cover my mouth. However, it seemed that it was already too late. Seeing how Kelly was clutching her chest, it was as if she was having a heart attack. Wasn't it said that wood elves were immune to natural diseases …
"The final holy relic of the God of Holy Light, the ultimate holy relic in the eyes of countless Holy Light believers. You're using it as dog food … You mustn't let any Holy Light believer know about it. Otherwise, the second Holy War is just around the corner. The newly born Mist Kingdom definitely can't be destroyed for such a laughable reason!"
Alright, this was the first time I realized that even the gentle wood elves could roar in anger.
Actually, I couldn't be blamed for this. How could I have known that it was a holy relic? Back then, during the all-out war against the Holy Church, after the Ice Aeon spell, there weren't many that could be left behind. Later, when I was cleaning up the battlefield, I noticed that the wooden barrel was actually undamaged and seemed to be quite sturdy. Recalling how Ah Bao would always accidentally tear apart his own food bowl, I decided to use it as a dog food bowl. This had probably been the case for more than a hundred years.
Back then, when the Holy Church organized an allied army to fight against the Yongye army, it was probably because some powerful individual had found a holy relic to use as a trump card. In the end, a forbidden spell killed the owner, and the wooden barrel became a spoil of war.
"But how did I give it out … Oh, there were too many random gifts, so I just randomly found a wooden barrel and packed it all up. So the wooden barrel was the most valuable. Oh my, what a huge loss. "
Before I even finished speaking, I discovered to my astonishment that Kelly had collapsed while clutching her chest. It seemed that the wood elves, who never suffered from illness, really had a heart attack.
"Sister Kelly, don't scare me! If your heart was bad, you should have told me earlier! "
"I was angered by you! Can you be any more ridiculous than that? "
I pondered for a moment, then nodded proudly.
"Sure, I feel that I still have room for improvement."
"Don't laugh so proudly! Nobody is praising you! "
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