Cathedral of Holy Light, Great Bright Hall.
Veronica quietly reported to the Pope. Ivan III reported on the recent changes in the situation in the south. "… After the capture of Firmrock Fortress, Gawain … Cecil sealed off the entire Southern Territory and announced the establishment of the Duchy of Cecil, or rather, the rebuilding of the Duchy of Cecil.
"Currently, only caravans that have obtained permission can enter and leave the Southern Territory. Furthermore, they can only stay in the vicinity of Boulder Fort. In order to conduct trade, the Cecil Family established a new town south of Boulder Fort called Boulder City.
"Messengers sent by merchants and nobles are not allowed to cross Rock City, so the situation in the hinterland of the Southern Territory is completely unknown. Only sporadic news came out that Gwen?? Duke Cecil has begun to integrate the Southern Territory, eliminating the influence of the nobles in the Southern Territory in the past 100 years. He has implemented a lot of new policies to ensure his rule. "
Saint?? Ivan III listened quietly until the end of the report and sighed softly. "It seems that this ancient hero has a strong desire for control..."
Then he paused and asked slowly, "Is the body of Bishop Lamont still in the hands of Cecil?"
"... Rock Fortress did not respond to the request of the church. Bishop Lamont's body is still in the Southern Territory, and it is said that it has been cremated."
"Purifying the body with fire... Fortunately, Cecil did not do anything blasphemous to the body of Bishop Lamont, but it would be good if they were willing to return the ashes to us." The old pope sighed softly. "At least we can confirm the real cause of Bishop Lamont's death."
A regional bishop had died in the "War of the Nobles" in the Southern Territory. When this news reached the Holy Light Church, it caused quite a stir. But in this war, the Church, which was supposed to be neutral, had sided with the nobles in the Southern Territory. It was an indisputable fact that the Cecil Family had taken the initiative to invade the Southern Territory. In addition, the Cecil Family had achieved de facto rule over the Southern Territory in a short period of time. Therefore, the Church had no reason nor opportunity to control the situation. By the time they finally had time to expand their parish and attack the heretics, the Cecil Family had already invaded Firmrock Fort.
After that, the church sent messengers to contact the Southern Territory, but the messengers were blocked at the gate of Rock Fortress. They only received a letter from Gwen??? Duke Cecil's letter expressed his disappointment in the actions of the Church of Holy Light in the southern region. He also conveyed a shocking message:
Although Bishop Lemont died in the course of the aristocratic war, he wasn't killed by the Cecil people. Instead, he was ambushed by the Church of Eternal Rest.
Only a few people in the church knew the contents of the letter, and the pope and Veronica were two of them.
"The situation in the Southern Territory is not as optimistic as the Eastern Territory. Although Duke Gwen has not publicly expelled our priests, according to sporadic news, he has sealed off Louen City and banned all Holy Light priests from walking and preaching in the Southern Territory. The reason is that he needs to investigate the corruption and infiltration of the nobles in the Southern Territory and maintain the post-war security," Veronica Moen said. Moen said, "It's tantamount to putting the entire Southern Church under house arrest."
"... The Southern Territory and the Eastern Territory have always been tricky places. Now it's just more tricky," the old pope said indifferently with a blank expression. "Now the royal family is mainly focusing on the rebels in the Eastern Territory. We want to use their power, so we can only pay attention to the Eastern Territory. Veronica, you have been in contact with the ancient duke. Now think about it again, what is his possible attitude towards the church?"
Veronica lowered her eyelids and said, "... He is indeed a person without faith, or the power of 'faith' is just a tool for him. I had only been in contact with him for a short period of time, and it was only a year ago. But based on his actions in the past year, I could guess what he was thinking. He actually did not care about God. He was neither in awe nor against God. Instead, he followed pragmatism. I have studied the new policies he implemented and found a rule from them: all his systems consider practicality first, then cost and efficiency, and finally legal and moral principles. This can explain his style of action. "
"Arrogant, but qualified to be arrogant," Saint Edward III said. Ivan the Third closed his eyes. "But his indifference is better than Edmund's. Moen's hostility. Since he regards faith as a tool, it means that he will at least not reject this tool. "
Veronica raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "Your Holiness, you mean..."
"Let's wait and see what he will do to Louen next. If the situation does not change, then we will ignore it for the time being. If the situation worsens, Veronica, you have to be prepared to talk to the ruler of the South."
Veronica bowed her head deeply and said, "As you wish."
"Go down, I'm a little tired," Saint Edward III said. Ivan the Third closed his eyes. His body, which was originally trying to sit up straight, gradually bent down. His voice was ethereal, as if part of his mind had drifted to the God of Holy Light's kingdom. "I want to take a nap … to listen to the voice of the Lord."
Veronica bent down and whispered in the old pope's ear, "Yes, the Lord is with you."
Saint Edward III? Ivan III breathed evenly and slowly, and on his face, a satisfied and calm smile gradually spread.
Veronica walked down from the platform where the pope's throne was. With a wave of her hand, a layer of hazy holy light shrouded the entire platform, protecting the pope and isolating him from the sea of holy light clouds lingering in the Great Bright Hall.
...
Night gradually fell, and the Royal City was shrouded in silence under the illumination of the stars.
Saint Sunil City, No. 4 Crown Street, Military Intelligence Officer Gypsy stood quietly on the balcony of the mansion, looking at the gorgeous but stale buildings outside the balcony.
At No. 4 Crown Street, some of the buildings had become pure historical relics, but there were still many noble descendants living in the rest of the old houses inherited from their ancestors. Every day, from morning to night, there would be many richly decorated carriages coming and going on this street. Whenever a large number of carriages stopped in the same area, the luxurious houses there would be lit up all night, and the music of the lyre and tambourine would continue until the next morning. And the next day, those carriages would leave here with their drunk masters and return to their manors and castles inside and outside the capital.
Even if this country was in a civil war, even if soldiers died on the eastern front line of the Holy Spirit Plains every day, even if refugees displaced by the war were about to spread to the area of Jumu Road, the nobles of this country did not reduce the frequency and scale of their banquets.
Gypsy was tired of all this.
Fortunately, today was a rare quiet day: there were no banquets in the few manors recently. It was said that Count Bahrain held a bigger banquet in the south of the city, and half of the nobles in Crown Street had received the invitation. Their absence gave Gypsy a chance to enjoy the night.
The sound of the carriage wheels rolling on the stone pavement rang in the silent night.
Gypsy looked back and saw a carriage with a magic stone lamp stopped in front of the mansion. She quickly left the balcony and returned to the study.
A moment later, Pierce, who was tall and thin and wearing Knight's casual clothes, appeared in front of her.
"It's getting harder to travel at night," Pierce said as he took off his coat. "The nobles' banquets are getting more and more frequent, and the curfew in the craftsman and merchant areas is getting stricter. If it wasn't for the duke's mark on the carriage, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come back tonight."
"After all, there have been rumors in the city recently." Gypsy nodded and said, "The situation in the east of the plains is not good."
Pierce smiled and glanced around the room before quietly coming to the window. He closed the window and activated the magic rune under the windowsill.
A small soundproof enchantment then covered the entire room.
"There's an order from the headquarters," the Military Intelligence officer said concisely. "We're getting ready to evacuate."
"Evacuate?" Gypsy's eyes widened. "Has the situation worsened?"
"The duke has taken down Firmrock Fortress, and the Southern Territory has become the Duchy of Cecil. The Ansu royal family will soon respond to this. No matter what the response is, we'll get more attention the Captical," Pierce explained quickly. "We've been active here for a long time, and you've been in contact with the mage circle many times. It's no longer suitable for us to continue to stay here."
Gypsy could not help but frown slightly. "What about this stronghold?
"There will be a new team to replace us, but they will stay in the dark," Pierce explained. "The lord still needs information from the Captical, but we can no longer hide and disguise ourselves, so we have to evacuate in advance."
Gypsy was stunned for a moment, and then sighed with a little emotion. "Is that so... it seems that we have to leave."
"It's a good thing. It's said that the local side is developing very fast, and the newcomers in the headquarters are much more advanced than us in terms of skills and equipment. We can go back and make up for it. Otherwise... I'm afraid we won't be able to keep up with the newcomers when we go back," Pierce said with a smile and glanced at Gypsy. "By the way... do you still miss this place?"
"Miss? I don't miss this place. "Gypsy smiled sarcastically." Compared to the smelly streets here, the wind at the Whitewater River is fresher. "
...
The night wind at Whitewater River was very refreshing. Since a long time ago, Gawain had always liked to come to the high platform by the river bank and enjoy the cold wind while looking at the scenery by the river bank. He would either think about the future or reminisce about the past, or simply not think about anything and just enjoy the scenery.
The scenery here was changing all the time.
When they first came here, there was only a barren beach by the Whitewater River. 800 refugees set up simple tents on the barren beach, and the camp guards used braziers and simple fences to protect the safety of the land. At that time, as soon as the sun set, the people had to return to the camp immediately because there were hungry beasts hiding in the dense forests and barren hills outside the camp. The people could only spend the night in the tents anxiously.
Then, the tents became plank houses, and the plank houses became brick houses. The fences became city walls, and the city walls were built with sentry towers. The wooden bridge over the Whitewater River became a mechanical bridge driven by a giant repulsive mechanism, and the temporary wooden pier became a permanent pier made of cement. Even the most desolate north bank of the Whitewater River had become the busy "North City New District".
At night, the light of the magic crystal lamps would shine on both sides of the river, like bright stars sprinkling on the earth.
All this took less than two years.
As the person who created all this with his own hands, Gwen could feel the greatest sense of accomplishment from these changes.
He knew that the speed of the city's development was a miracle, even on Earth. The reason why Cecil's people could achieve such a miracle was not only because of the sudden burst of power from the liberation of the productivity, but also because of the development of magic technology.
"Magic technology..."
Gwen murmured in a low voice. Under the starlight and the lights on both sides of the river, he raised his hand, and a hazy light appeared in his palm.
This was not a Knight's combat skill or spell, but a phenomenon of light after the free magic in the air was stimulated. It always reminded Gwen that magic was everywhere.
"Omnipresent, seemingly boundless energy …"
Waving his hand to disperse the gathered magic, Gwen could not help but frown slightly.
Suddenly, there was a sudden splash from the river not far away, interrupting Gwen's thoughts. The latter looked up and saw a splash on the river, and Tyre's head floated up from the water.
"Yo — Liege, you're here to slack off too?"
(Push! Book! Time! Space! I had read this book a long time ago. It was written by the Phase Walker, "The 4.6 Billion Quartet of Evolution". It was a sci-fi genre and was still being serialized. It told the story of the evolution of a single-celled organism. Even now, it was a very novel and challenging idea. The book has been serialized for many years, and it is still continuing to be updated. For those who can accept this kind of setting where the main character is not human, and even the supporting characters are not human, this is a very interesting story. You can read it whether or not you have a book shortage. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the imaginative imagination.)
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