"When they challenged each other earlier, they were still shouting for the Queen to abdicate and for the Regent to take the throne."
"Uh..." Ever since the day when the "speechless little queen" issued a decree to shift resources to Drake Harbor, the people of the entire central region have been brewing dissatisfaction with the queen.
"Let the Queen go" is their slogan, "Let the Regent return" is their desire—
This is quite funny. Last month these people were still complaining about the facilities left behind by Yang Hao, but now they want him to come back
For a moment, Priscilla didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She could only sigh again, saying that the parish's actions were more disturbing than this matter.
"They are actually planning to move towards the Forest of Elves... What on earth are they planning to do?"
"It's all about profit. The Elven Kingdom has countless wealth, and more importantly, it's time for the "payday."
"Payday... They're willing to sacrifice the lives of their followers to keep the money? They're willing to declare war on the elves?"
Priscilla was a little stunned. She didn't quite understand the thinking of religious people. After all, according to her understanding, the followers of the Church of Light should also be an important asset to the leader Peter. Even if it was for money, it shouldn't be thrown directly in the face of the elves like garbage, right
Facing Priscilla's astonishment, Knight Robert pondered for a long time and gave a positive answer:
"The thing the Roman Empire lacks the least right now is people, and it has even abandoned a large number of peasants. For those who have been abandoned by the Empire, the military district, the nobles, and the landlords, their only two choices are either to riot or to go to the parish and become believers.
In a sense, the parish is not short of believers at all. What they lack is "priests with divine power" rather than "ordinary believers", so..."
"I see. So we can only hope that the elves will give the parish a hard time, or that the parish will destroy the Elf Forest? Which possibility do you think is more likely?"
“Maybe it’s a little more of the latter.”
"Why? Aren't elves a powerful race?"
Knight Robert shook his head and looked at the capital city getting closer and closer. He provided the Witch of the Night with a scenario based on his years of military experience:
"Yes, every elf is an archer who can hit the target with ease, and their magic power is indeed very strong...
But the population of the elves is an extremely serious problem. If our Roman Empire has so many people that some people must die to relieve food pressure, the elves have so few people that they can only guard the small piece of land in front of them.
Their life span is really too long. It is often thousands of years. They don't need "offspring" to inherit the family business and support themselves like humans do... This leads to their extremely slow population growth.
And the parish is not short of people at all... Add to that the temporary courage brought by the anesthetics, and the magic of the Church of Light that is extremely suitable for positional warfare, and it is hard to say whether the elves can withstand the wall of flesh and blood pushed forward by human lives. "
In Knight Robert's understanding, elves are a long-lived race with an extremely scarce population.
Humans can double their population in twenty years.
But the elves will only have a few new population additions in twenty years.
Although each of them is a powerful warrior, powerful wizard, powerful craftsman, unrivaled scholar and prophet, their population is too small.
A master can be killed by random punches, let alone those crazy believers in the parish who are reckless and don't know the danger after taking anesthetics
If the diocese can really push the Wall of Flesh and Blood into the heart of the Elf Forest and gain a foothold there with priests and bishops, then it is not impossible that the elves will be forced to migrate as a whole tribe...
But the question is, can the parish really advance into the heart of the Elf Forest
Knight Robert recalled what happened to the Earldom of Kagaard - after that incident, there is hardly a single male in the entire Earldom.
With a high probability that the Regent will go to the Elf Kingdom, can the diocese really advance into the heart of the Elf Forest
He shook his head, and in his mind he still increased the possibility that the parish would be hurt.
…
At the same time, in Drake Port of the Roman Empire.
This place belongs to the military district, and the residents here are different from the central area of the Roman Empire in terms of strength and wealth.
"Thank you, Queen—"
Almost every resident will praise the name of the Queen after eating and drinking. This can be said to be the richest city except the royal capital. It is also the only port of the Roman Empire that is open to the outside world and can conduct foreign trade. It is also an important barracks for the military district to train elite troops.
The city's wealth, power, and loyalty to the Queen attracted countless foreign merchant ships. The merchant ships brought a lot of wealth and took away the accumulated products, but did not bring the "food" needed by the Roman Empire.
This caused General Dreshuka's calm face to reveal a hint of anxiety.
The prosperity of this city is temporary after all. Domestic food transportation can only support Drake Harbor's continued "prosperity" for half a year at most.
If the port fails to attract the large caravans from Ishgard and buys food from them in the name of "brewing", then the city will soon be destroyed in ruins.
Damn the drought!
General Dreshuka could not help cursing in his heart, but as he cursed, he could not help but put the blame on the drought and the untouchables, and then put the blame on the regent who had already fled to who knows where.
If the regent hadn't really run away and had no intention of coming back, would the Roman Empire have become like this now?!
Damn the drought! Damn the untouchables! Damn the regent!
However, despite his anger, General Dreshuka remained calm and opened the letter sent by Prince Gasson from the royal family.
…
In the letter, Prince Gasson said he was also under a lot of pressure.
Now he had to temporarily send part of the compensation sent by the diocese to the nobles who supported him in the name of "loan", and then ask those nobles to open their warehouses and provide food.
But even so, the extra food can only slightly appease the untouchables.
If the port is still unable to purchase large quantities of food, it is estimated that peasant riots will soon break out in the central area.
"It's just a peasant uprising, so just suppress it and it will also reduce the number of mouths to feed. But if this kind of thing is noticed by the empire across the sea... that would be troublesome."
General Dreshuka pondered for a moment, then waved his hand, signaling his attendants to come in.
He had to further strengthen the security of Drake Harbor and use all means to prevent any foreign merchants from leaving Drake Harbor and never let them see the situation in the central area.
However, what Dreshuka and Prince Gassen never imagined was that Isgard had long planned to build their own secret port on the continent of Elucia.
So what's the point of just blocking Drake's port? Not sending cavalry to search for suspicious landing traces along the coast is just like covering one's ears and stealing the bell.
If Yang Hao were here, he would probably laugh to the point of spitting blood.
But unfortunately, he is now in the Monster Forest.
With the help of the "tranquility spell" released by Theresa, he can now communicate with Naluga and others in a normal manner.
This should be the first day that this small team really got together. In this small night party, everyone sat around the campfire, and Theresa sat directly on Yang Hao's lap as if to claim sovereignty.
Apart from her clothes and appearance, she didn't behave like a nun at all - Mr. Joseph muttered to himself, and then a few seconds later, his wife twisted his abdomen several times, and he almost cried in pain.
While Mr. Joseph was winking at his wife, Theresa, who was sitting on Yang Hao's lap, was hugged by him and smiled:
"Anyway - we are about to get close to the Elf Forest. In order to avoid giving a bad impression to our long-eared forest master, I have to talk to you about the elves here."
This is a serious matter, right? So please be a little more serious. As the nun spoke, everyone sat up straight, because they also knew that the Elf Forest would be an important turning point in their new life.
After making sure that everyone was paying attention, the little nun began to explain everything about the elves in earnest.
She seemed to understand a lot - Yang Hao, who was sitting under her, was listening and thinking about something.
Theresa knew elves all too well.
From the brotherhood between the ancient human empire called Bayerjans and the elves for thousands of years, to the population structure of the elves and their customs, to the elves' preferences and trade tendencies -
Theresa's knowledge of elves is even greater than that of the smartest and most experienced diplomats of the Roman Empire.
She is not an ordinary nun. Yang Hao muttered in his heart, and at this moment, maybe he was too excited
After the little nun finished the necessary "rules explanation" to the elves, she suddenly started talking about St. Petersburg, the headquarters of the diocese.
"It is said that St. Petersburg was a religious city in the south before the Byzantine Empire sank into the ground. It may be because it was built too magnificently, or it may be because the people of this city have perished together with the invading demonic beasts.
In short, St. Petersburg stopped sinking after sinking more than 40 layers underground. It may be the only city ruins of the Byzantine Empire that remain on the surface today...
Um, just the thought of it being defiled by some lunatic from the Church of Light makes me want to throw up."
Theresa playfully made an expression as if she was about to vomit, and then seemed to feel a little uncomfortable sitting down. She adjusted her posture slightly and leaned her whole body against Yang Hao:
"So in a sense, the reason why the diocese can have such a magnificent city to attract believers is because they occupy the ruins of an ancient empire, right
If they really had to start from scratch, how could they attract so many believers and talented people like they do now... Sigh. But this is all beside the point. What we are most concerned about now are the following major events!"
"First, we have to settle down in the Elf Kingdom. Whether it's Naluga or Mr. Joseph, you must be tired of wandering around the world... What? I'm the only one complaining? You're used to it? I don't care, we have to settle down in the Elf Kingdom anyway! I haven't been shopping for several months! So let's just settle this matter!
Second, there is the issue of the injured members of the Ling tribe. The magic of regenerating broken limbs is a healing spell unique to the elves. If nothing unexpected happens, the "antlers" on your heads should be able to grow back...
But if we want to do this, it will probably cost a lot of money. So our most serious problem may be how to get a "job" after safely entering the Elf Kingdom and obtaining a residence permit...
The third thing is that my man's identity is somewhat... special. Who knows, the elves might suddenly come to me one day... So, um.
Everyone needs to be prepared - what preparation? Don't ask me, I'm just a nun, I don't know. Anyway, just be prepared. "
Theresa kept muttering to herself, and suddenly said this, leaving everyone with a helpless look on their faces.
Yang Hao was somewhat helpless—but it was true that his identity was too special for the elves.
I can only hope that the elves will give me a little face... It would be better if I don't make things difficult for myself because of my special identity.
Chapter 5: Humble Hospitality from the Elves
One month later, on May 1st, when Yang Hao and his party finally arrived at the border of the Elf Forest, the visible changes between the forests were directly presented before them.
To put it in more common terms, they were in a dark place where they could hardly hear the sounds of birds or even the sound of the wind. That place was the Monster Forest.
The overall color tone in front appears extremely warm and bright. You can even see many birds flying between the branches, and the sunlight shines directly through the tree canopy, making the ground shine with golden light. This is the forest of elves.
Elves love sunlight and have a strong talent for magic - so in order to allow sunlight to penetrate the dense leaves and reach the ground, the elves will release a wide-area magic in their territory to meet their needs.
It is said that the thousand-year-old trees in the Elf Forest can move. But Yang Hao had never been to the Elf Forest before, so he just regarded it as a rumor.
But the rules should still be followed honestly - with this idea in mind, Yang Hao restrained the words and actions of the Ling people and Joseph's family, and asked them to stand in the back.
Then he walked carefully to the junction of the two forests, half-knelt on the ground and scooped up a handful of brown soil from the Elf Forest. He recalled the etiquette of the elves he had learned before.
If you want to enter the Elf Forest and the Elf Kingdom, the first thing you need to do is to express your needs and respect to the trees maintained by the elves at the border of the Elf Forest - if nothing unexpected happens, those thousand-year-old trees will also give corresponding responses.
But how to do it specifically
Suddenly, a fragrance came from his side. Yang Hao looked up in confusion and found that Theresa was half-kneeling on the ground like him, holding a cup of soil and looking at him playfully.
"Generally speaking, we just tell them the purpose of our trip," she said. "We also ask them to respect the trees as if they were human beings, and they will naturally respect us in return - they are very friendly and willing to give a lot for us, and we only need to do a little in return."
"Theresa... you know so much."
"That's natural. After all, although I'm just a little nun, the books at my house contain a lot of things related to elves... Compared to this, have you forgotten the words?"
Theresa's straightforward question made Yang Hao feel a little embarrassed, but he still nodded, saying bitterly that this was knowledge he had learned a long time ago, so it was understandable that he had forgotten the words now.
"But I remember that few people from the Roman Empire have ever been to the Forest of Elves, let alone learn the etiquette of the elves. After all, the parish bordering the elves is always a place of border friction..."
"This is actually the information given to me by a scholar I sent to the Forest of Elves. I don't know how he is doing there."
"Oh? It seems that you trust him more than Mr. Joseph?"
"After all, he was my right-hand man at the time, and I also understand that he was in the Elven Kingdom conducting crucial diplomatic activities and had no way of rushing back in time after the incident... But forget it, let's go in first. Maybe he also gave up his duties after I was exiled."
They both lowered their heads and looked directly at the cup of soil in front of them.
Theresa was muttering to herself, and Yang Hao followed suit and told the Ni in front of him the purpose of his trip.
He kept Theresa's advice in mind and also thought about the team's food problem.
After entering the Elf Forest, you are not allowed to attack the animals in the forest without permission.
But now, the golems are running out of food. If they don't find a way to replenish their food, they may not be able to hold on until they reach the elves' village to seek help.
How about we collect enough food in the Monster Forest outside before going in
Just as Yang Hao was thinking about this, he suddenly felt that his spirit seemed to be touched by something.
With the fragrance of leaves, it was like a kind old man. He looked up at the illusion in front of him, and in the next moment he saw nuts and plump vines falling from the tree not far ahead.
"The elf tree has responded to you."
Looking at the pile of nuts and vines not far away, Theresa ignored the exclamations of the Ling family and Joseph's family behind her, and muttered in surprise:
"It allows us to take those nuts and vines as food and water along the way, but the price is that we have to leave the seeds of the nuts and find a suitable place in the Elf Forest to plant them in the ground..."
"I seemed to see an old man just now?" Yang Hao muttered to himself uncertainly. "But when I reacted, I couldn't see anything..."
"I saw nothing. Perhaps this is a sign that you are favored by the elves - eh? Is there anything else you want to convey?"
"The golems of the Ling tribe will inevitably cause damage to the land of the Elf Forest. We must also express our apologies to the land here."
Yang Hao continued to speak sincerely to the soil. After a while, with more nuts and seeds falling, he received permission from the forest.
The forest allows golems to trample the ground and grass, collect firewood to make fires and cook at night, and cut down a few trees to build shelters to avoid the cold at night when necessary.
Just to compensate, they need to plant more nuts, preferably with a little watering from the vines with the cool, thirst-quenching juice while they're planting.