"We already have a knife pointed at the Holy Court, so when are you going to point it to the east bank? Your Majesty," asked the Earl of Wally.
"The sooner the better."
The king answered.
He had received a letter from the godfather Charles, the Pirates of Walway and the Royal Navy were ready. The astrologers calculated that within the next three days, the last northward current on the northern eastern shore of the Abyssal Strait would cover the sea near the Lowland Alliance in a thick fog for several days. Witches and Dragon Wings have a special way of navigating through the fog, which makes for great cover.
The attack is about to begin.
Before the raid, what happened in Legrand's territory was as shocking as possible, and he had to attract the attention of the Holy Court as much as possible for them.
As for how to do it, further thinking is needed.
Things were written down for the moment, and the king turned to the Earl of Wally to talk about other things. The sword hangers are the best hunters to track history. They have been silently hiding in the shadows, following clues and horses in the fog of time to pursue the behind-the-scenes truth of the sudden rise of the Holy Court in the legendary era.
"We infer that between the first two centuries after the end of the Age of Legends, there was an age of faults." Earl Wally took an ancient scroll of parchment from the bookshelf and spread it out on the table. Hidden at the end of the first millennium, the splendid age of the gods in less than three hundred years, forgotten, this forgetting too deliberately—you see."
Earl of Wally pointed to some markers on the map.
"The coast of the Hopeless Inner Sea, according to our speculation, should be the most prosperous area of the gods' civilization, but in these two centuries, the city-states of the Hopeless Inner Sea attacked each other. And in the recovery of the relevant battle, we found this area. In the war between the two countries, burning cities by fire is a very common method. Most of the city-states that have encountered fires have independent temples. Such large-scale killings are ostensibly to compete for water sources and trade routes.”
"But Your Majesty, according to our research, the past three hundred years have been a rare rainy period along the coast of the Hopeless Inland Sea. Each city-state has sufficient water resources, and the shipbuilding technology in the same period is not enough to support a tight commercial network. If it is really a trade dispute. , then it should be concentrated on the east side of the Hopeless Inner Sea."
"A deliberately provoked war."
the king whispered.
"We have this suspicion, but there are too few relevant materials to prove it." Earl Wally sighed. "The historical materials of this period were either burned to the ground or should be in the hands of the Holy Court."
"Didn't Legrand save it?"
"Very few." Earl Wally shook his head heavily, "In the first century, when the legend era just ended, Legrand's situation was not very good, and he was unable to cross the Abyss Strait to look east. The witches of the North during the period lost so much in the 'Hundred Years Migration'. Most likely to retain the relevant history…”
"Barbarians."
The king looked at the map. The battle outside Banz passed before him, and the black armored warriors of the battlefield faced them far away from the broken limbs and wreckage.
The sea barbarians who once unified all the countries in the Hopeless Inner Sea for a short period of time, their empire is called the "Angel Empire", and the rulers of the empire are accustomed to living in the white tents recovered by the four seasons. They are different from other ethnic groups, who are used to wandering and migrating grassland ethnic groups. They simply do not have a civilization carrier like a city-state for people to burn!
"The Rugold Empire's rule was short-lived and lasted less than ten years. Compared with their terrifying military strength, it is incredible that their empire ended so quickly. However, after the end of the barbarian empire, in less than a hundred years, The Holy Court appeared in the Hopeless Inner Sea - if they were to avoid the Holy Court's edge, then it could explain why the mighty empire disappeared so quickly." Speaking of which, Earl of Wally looked at the king, "Besides, the barbarian's The trail has been puzzling."
"Sea Barbarian Invasion." The King effortlessly followed Earl Worley's train of thought.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The barbarians are called the 'Shadows of the Steppe', and they are often scattered over long periods of time, mixing in different parts of the world. But at long intervals, they suddenly gather from all over the world. They rose up, and the number of people was as large as the sea of sand, launching simultaneous invasions against both sides of the abyss. But the tide-like invasion would quickly recede, and we have never been able to figure out the law of their actions. But if we compare them with the lost gods Time, the sudden rise of the Holy See, and I think it makes an amazing discovery."
Earl Wally spoke quickly, his eyes were sharp, and there was a hint of excitement in his eyes.
The fog of history is being cleared layer by layer in front of them, and many seemingly unrelated lines are slowly intertwining.
"Of course, these are preliminary speculations, and further work is needed to confirm it." Earl Wally said calmly, "However, Your Majesty, there is one thing I think can be used as auxiliary evidence."
"Tell me."
"Golundi heavy cavalry. Their heavy armor technology is completely different from the current era." Earl Wally stood up and walked a few steps. The black armor of the cavalry is displayed majestically behind the glass.
At that time, the king had used the swamp to trap and kill a small group of Grundy heavy cavalry. Later, General Sheehan sent someone to salvage the heavy armor from the swamp, and one of them was requested by the Royal Academy of History in the name of research.
"This is not the heavy armor technology that Hopeless Inner Sea should have, and they have even surpassed today's level."
Earl of Wally, the aged professor at this moment is like a general on the battlefield, with a loud voice.
"They hold clues to the age of the gods."
The best hunter catches what he wants in the fog.
The king applauded softly.
"I think I know what to do," said the king. "Thank you for your efforts, sir."
He stood up, just in time to see the House Chief walking hurriedly towards him across the courtyard.
The Housemaster brought the king neither good nor bad news.
…
"Burning idols activity?"
The king unfolded the stationery.
This letter was sent back from overseas, and now the intelligence organization in the hands of the king has another intelligence network that cannot be exposed on the surface in addition to the "local public opinion response committee" - the king's black wings.
It was a network of undercover spies through which the king tracked the situation at home and abroad.
The king's spies entered the mansion of the lords and princes on the other side of the abyss by posing as monks, poets, sailors, etc., and then reported the observed information to the king.
At present, the person in charge of this cobweb is the head of the house at the king's side.
The rest, no matter who they are, see the king too often, which will always arouse the vigilance of the nobles with a keen sense of smell. But the Director of Internal Affairs is not included here, he himself needs to be responsible for enforcing discipline and supervising the normal operation of the inner court. The Housemaster had unfettered direct access to the king most of the time.
The Chief of Internal Affairs leaned slightly, waiting for the king's order.
He knew that the king had given him this spy network because of his trust. Because of this, he was always careful to ensure that the information was 100% truthful to the king, and whether it was good or bad was up to the king himself.
And today's news is neither good nor bad.
The Holy See made a new move. It issued an order to the small kingdoms of Lower El on the Hopeless Inner Sea and the abyss, asking them to maintain their loyalty to the Holy Lord and completely burn down all the remnants of the old gods and idols. When the news reached the king, at the city-state pier along the Hopeless Inner Sea, the statues of the old gods were already lit with ashes in the flames.
"Unity of Faith."
said the king.
He realized what he had to do—whether it was to cover the Volway pirates sailing north in the Abyss Strait, or to stop the Holy Court's step-by-step plan to build the kingdom of God.
He pondered for a moment, and asked the Director of Internal Affairs to explore the traces of the Gulundian heavy cavalry in the next time, and then began to write the writ.
After receiving the writ, the Director of Internal Affairs glanced at it, and his face couldn't help showing a look of surprise.
He didn't say much, and withdrew with the warrant.
…
The notice was quickly plastered all over the notice board of Metzl Castle, and a thunderous news spread quickly: Bishop Anil invited all the students who stayed in Metzl City to come to St. Will's Cathedral at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Witness the burning of the pope's lies.
"… Here, the ancient and the apostolic conventions will be followed, the most terrifying and blasphemous lies will be exposed, the decrees of the popes and the evil books of scholastic theology will be burned, all who are devout to the Lord, you should Rise up to accomplish this brave act of upholding the dignity of the priest.”[1]
"The one who takes the crown in the air shall be judged by the eternal fire."
The announcement has just been posted, and in less than a day, there have been many clashes in the city of Metzl. When the timid man saw the content of the announcement, he fell to his knees tremblingly. Hesitant people dare not comment more on this. The radicals clapped their hands, and the academics discussed loudly, arguing with each other. Someone tried to tear up those notices, but soon, they were all thrown into prison by the heavily armed rose cavalry.
Because of this incident, in the tavern, the owner had to go to great lengths to hire a man with a long gun to stand at the table, in order to prevent a violent conflict between those with two extremely different opinions on this.
Obviously, not all believers can accept such words as if they should be burned at the stake.
Before ten o'clock the next day, the opposition, organized by a priest, formed a large guard, also in armour, armed with weapons and flags. They elected their own representatives, determined to debunk Father Anil's heresy in front of St. Weiss' Cathedral, and protested to the king.
In such a tense atmosphere that it seemed that armed conflict and violent repression could occur at any time, the next day soon arrived.
Crowds began to gather, and opposition civil guards, led by priests in black and holding crosses, crossed the long streets.
Ten o'clock is coming.
The author has something to say: [1] Quoted from Luther's 10 December 1520 announcement, with modifications. Also, the burning of papal edicts in the Middle Ages wasn't actually done by no one.