Holy Light Cathedral, Great Hall of Light.
Veronica quietly reported the recent changes in the south to Pope Saint Ivan III: "...after capturing the Rock Fortress, Gawain Cecil blocked the entire southern border and announced the establishment of the Principality of Cecil or, in other words, the reconstruction Duchy of Cecil.
"Currently only licensed caravans can enter and leave the southern border, and they can only stay around the rock fortress. In order to conduct trade, the Cecil family set up a new town in the south of the rock fortress, called 'Rock City'.
"Messengers sent by merchants or nobles are not allowed to cross Rock City. Therefore, the situation in the hinterland of the southern border is completely unknown. Only sporadic news has come out that the Duke of Gawain Cecil has begun to integrate the southern border and wipe out the southern border in the past 100 years. Influenced by the aristocracy, he instituted a large number of New Deals to secure the rule."
St. Ivan III listened quietly, and sighed softly until the end: "It seems that this ancient hero has a strong desire to control..."
Then he paused, and asked unhurriedly: "Lemont's body is still in the hands of the Cecil, isn't it?"
"...The Rock Fortress did not respond to the church's request. Bishop Lemont's body is still in the south, and it is said that he has been cremated."
"Purify the corpse with flames... Fortunately, at least the Cecilians did not desecrate Bishop Lemont's body, but it would be great if they were willing to return the holy ashes to us," the old pope sighed softly, " This way at least we can confirm the real cause of Bishop Lemont's death."
A regional bishop died in the "Noble War" in the southern border. When the news was first reported back to the Holy Light Cathedral, it caused a lot of trouble. To the nobles of the southern border, it is an indisputable fact that they took the initiative to invade Cecil's territory. In addition, the Cecil family has completed de facto rule over the southern border in a short period of time, so the church has no reason or opportunity to control the situation until they finally By the time he was freed from expanding the diocese and fighting heresy, Cecil's army had already entered the Rock Fortress.
After that, the church also sent envoys to contact the southern border, but the envoys were blocked outside the gate of the Rock Fortress. They only got a letter from Grand Duke Gawain Cecil. Action expresses disappointment and sends a startling message:
Although Bishop Lemont was killed during the noble war, he was not killed by the Cecils, but was attacked by the Eternal Sleepers.
The contents of this letter are only known to a few people in the church, and the Pope and Veronica are two of them.
"The situation in the southern diocese is not as optimistic as that in the eastern part. Although Duke Gawain has not publicly expelled our priests, according to sporadic news, he has blocked the city of Luan and banned all priests of the Holy Light from walking around and preaching in the southern region. It is necessary to investigate the corruption and infiltration of the church by the nobles in the south, and to maintain law and order after the war," Veronica Moen said, "He is equivalent to using the post-war control method to put the entire southern church under house arrest."
"... the southern border and the eastern border have always been tricky places, but now it's just more difficult," the old Pope said calmly, "now the royal family is mainly focusing on the eastern border rebels, and we want to use them Therefore, we can only pay attention to the eastern border... Veronica, you have been in contact with that ancient duke, and now you think about it, what is his possible attitude towards the church?"
Veronica lowered her eyelids: "...he is indeed a person without faith, or the power of 'faith' is just a tool for him. I have only been in contact with him for a short time, and he is still It was a year ago, but based on his actions during the year, I can guess his thoughts: he doesn't really care about 'God', neither reveres nor resists, but follows pragmatism. I have studied his practice He found a rule in his New Deal: All his systems consider practicality first, cost and efficiency second, and legal principles and morals last, which can explain his style of action.”
"Arrogant, but he is qualified to be arrogant," St. Ivan III closed his eyes, "but his indifference is better than Edmund Moen's hostility. Since he regards faith as a tool... it means that he will at least not reject it." tools."
Veronica raised her eyebrows slightly: "Your Majesty, you mean..."
"Wait and see what he's going to do to Luan City next. If the situation doesn't change, then we'll ignore it for now. If the situation gets worse... Veronica, you have to be prepared to talk to that southern man Talk to the ruler."
Veronica bowed her head deeply: "I will follow your will."
"Go on, I'm a little tired," Saint Ivan III closed his eyes, his body that was trying to sit upright gradually slumped, his voice was ethereal, as if part of his mind had drifted to the kingdom of the God of Light, "I want to take a nap Awake... to hear the voice of the Lord."
Veronica bent down and whispered in the old Pope's ear: "Yes, the Lord is with you."
St. Ivan III breathed evenly and gently, and on his face, a satisfied and indifferent smile gradually spread.
Veronica stepped down from the platform where the Pope's throne was located, and with a wave of her hand, a layer of hazy holy light enveloped the entire platform, protecting the Pope within it and isolating it from the cloud sea of holy light lingering in the Great Hall of Light. .
…
Night gradually fell, and the king's capital under the stars was shrouded in silence.
Saint-Sunil City, No. 4 Crown Street, Jibri, an officer of the Military Intelligence Bureau, stood quietly on the balcony of the mansion, looking at the gorgeous but outdated buildings outside the balcony.
At No. 4 Crown Street, some buildings have become pure historical relics, but there are still many descendants of nobles living in the rest of the old houses inherited from their ancestors. Coming and going on the street, whenever a large number of carriages stay in the same area, the mansion there will be lit up all night, and the music of the lyre and tambourine will continue until the next morning. And on the next day, those carriages would take their drunken masters away and return to their manors and castles inside and outside the royal city.
Even though this country is in a civil war, even if soldiers die every day on the eastern front of the Holy Spirit Plain, even if the refugees displaced by the war are about to spread to the giant wooden crossing, the nobles of this country have not reduced the frequency of their banquets and scale.
Jibri was tired of this already.
Fortunately, today is a rare quiet day: no banquets were held in the nearest few houses, it is said that because the Earl of Bahrain held a bigger banquet in the south of the city, half of the nobles in Crown Street had received invitations, and their departure gave A chance for Jibri to enjoy the night.
The sound of the wheels of the carriage rolling over the cobblestone road sounded in this silent night.
Jibri looked away, and she saw a carriage with magic spar lamps parked in front of the mansion, so she quickly left the balcony and returned to the study.
A moment later, Pierce appeared in front of her, tall and thin, wearing a knight's casual clothes.
"Traveling at night is becoming more and more difficult," Pierce said while taking off his coat, "The banquets of the nobles are becoming more and more frequent, and the curfew in the artisan district and merchant district is becoming stricter and stricter. Mark, I'm afraid I won't be back at all tonight."
"After all, there have been rumors in the city recently," Jibri nodded and said, "The situation in the east of the plain is not good."
Pierce smiled. After scanning the room, he calmly came to the window. He closed the window, and then activated the magic rune under the window sill.
A small soundproof barrier then covered the entire room.
"An order came from the headquarters," the officer of the Military Intelligence Bureau said succinctly, "We are preparing to evacuate."
"Evacuate?" Jibri opened her eyes wide. "Is the situation getting worse?"
"The Duke has laid down the Rock Fortress, and the southern border has become the Principality of Cecil. The Ansu royal family will soon respond to this. No matter what the reaction is, we will receive more attention in the capital," Pierce explained quickly. , "We have been active here for a long time, and you have been in contact with the mage circle many times. It is no longer suitable for us to continue to be stationed here."
Jibri couldn't help frowning slightly: "Then what about this stronghold
"There will be a new working group to replace us, but they will remain lurking in the dark," Pierce explained. "The lord still needs information from the capital, but we have to evacuate early as we can no longer hide and disguise."
Jibri was taken aback for a moment, and then exhaled with some emotion: "Is it... It seems that we really have to leave."
"It's also a good thing. It is said that the local side is developing very fast. The newcomers in the headquarters are much more advanced than ours in terms of skills and equipment. We can hurry up and make up for the lessons when we go back. Not those novices anymore," Pierce said with a smile, and glanced at Jibri, "By the way... don't you still miss this place?"
"Nostalgia? I don't miss this place," Jibri said with a sarcasm smile, "Compared to the stinky streets here, the wind by the Baishui River is fresher."
…
The night breeze of the Baishui River is very refreshing. Since a long time ago, Gao Wen liked to come to the high platform by the river bank, blowing the cold wind to watch the scenery by the river bank, or thinking about the future, or recalling the past, or simply doing nothing. If you don't want to, just enjoy the scenery.
The landscape here is changing all the time.
When I first came here, there was only a barren beach beside the Baishui River. Eight hundred refugees set up simple tents on the barren beach. The camp guards used braziers and simple fences to protect the safety of the land. At that time, as soon as the sun sets, people must return to the camp immediately, because there are hungry beasts hidden in the dense forest and barren mountains outside the camp, and people can only spend the night anxiously in tents...
Then the tent became a wooden house, the wooden house became a brick house, the fence became a city wall, a sentry tower was built on the city wall, and the wooden bridge on the Baishui River became a mechanical bridge driven by a giant repulsion mechanism. The temporary pier has become a permanent pier made of cement, and even the most desolate north bank of the Baishui River has now become a busy "Beicheng New District"...
After nightfall, the brilliance of the magic spar lamp will shine on both sides of the river, as if the bright stars are sprinkled on the earth.
All this in less than two years.
As the person who built all these with his own hands, Gao Wen can feel the greatest sense of accomplishment from these changes.
He knew that the speed of development of this city was a miracle, even on the earth. The reason why the Cecils were able to achieve this kind of miracle, apart from the huge power emanating from the suddenly liberated productivity In addition, there is the development of magic technology.
"Magic technology..."
Gawain muttered in a low voice, and raised his hand under the light of the stars and the lights on both sides of the bank, and a hazy brilliance appeared in his palm immediately.
This is not a knight's combat technique or spell, but just a luminous phenomenon after the free magic power in the air is stimulated. It always reminds Gawain: magic power is everywhere.
"A pervasive, seemingly endless energy..."
Waved his hand to disperse the accumulated magic power, but Gao Wen couldn't help frowning slightly.
There was a sudden rushing sound in the river not far away, which interrupted Gawain's thinking. The latter raised his head and saw a ball of water splashing on the river surface, and Tyre's head floated up from the water splash .
"Yo lord, are you here to be lazy too?"
(Push! Book! Time! Time! I pushed this book a long time ago, "The 4.6 Billion Ensemble of Evolution" written by Phasewalker, science fiction, still serialized today, tells the story of an evolution from single-celled organisms The story, even if you look at it now, is a very novel and challenging idea. The book has been serialized for many years, and it is still insisting on updating. This is a very interesting story for those who set it up, and anyone who is not a book lover can read it, and the unrestrained imagination in it will satisfy you.)