Lion's Roar Castle, study room.
The young maid served two cups of coffee lightly, put a plate of dessert and a plate of fresh fruit on the table, and then quickly bowed and left.
Colin stirred the coffee with a silver spoon, and his eyes stayed on an oil painting hanging on the left side of the fireplace.
He remembered that this painting did not exist before.
The content of the painting is a heroic knight, holding a long sword dripping with blood, and stepping on the corpse of a white wolf.
The knight's whole body was covered in armor, and his face could not be seen clearly, but the emblem on the breastplate was a roaring bear's head.
Moreover, the style of that pair of armor is obviously exactly the same as the armor that Colin himself wears most often.
Obviously, the knight in this painting should be Colin.
And the white wolf is the incarnation of the god of war believed by the trolls.
So, the meaning of this painting is a bit interesting.
What's more interesting is that Vera actually chose to hang this provocative oil painting in the study when the troll emperor visited Lion's Roar Castle...
But immediately, a doubt arose in Colin's heart—with Vera's peaceful personality, she shouldn't be able to do such a thing.
If it wasn't Vera, who would it be
Could it be that they want to deliberately provoke the relationship between the Northern Territory and the trolls
…
Just when Colin was thinking about it, Okamoto should have noticed Colin's gaze, and asked with a smile:
"Count Angelet, do you like this painting?"
Colin took a sip of his coffee, took this opportunity to observe Okamoto's face carefully, but found nothing unusual, so he said lightly:
"I came from a humble background, so I don't know much about art appreciation."
Okamoto smiled slightly and said:
"Count Angelet, you are too modest. In fact, this painting is a gift from me to the Duke of St. Hilde. I wonder if it suits your liking?"
Colin was stunned for a moment.
He looked at the troll emperor with a flattering smile in front of him, and the phrase "shameless" stuck in his throat, so he managed not to say it.
During the previous few exchanges, Ke Lin had already experienced the "bending and stretching" of the troll emperor, but now he realized that he still underestimated the other party's courage.
It was not enough to send a prince as a hostage, and even handed over such a handle to the St. Hilde family.
With such a humble attitude, Ke Lin felt that even if he wanted to send troops to the Sky Ice Field, he couldn't find a suitable reason.
You know, as the troll emperor, sending such a blasphemous oil painting, once the news leaks out and spreads back to the troll empire, it is estimated that the angry trolls will tear Okamoto alive.
"Ahem." Colin put down his coffee cup and said in a reserved manner, "This painting is not bad. Although I don't know much about art, I can tell that this should be a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation. Otherwise, in Vera's eyes, Nor would it hang in such a position."
"As long as you like it." Okamoto said with a smile, then changed the topic and said, "Master Earl, in fact, I came to Cold Winter City this time mainly to ask for your help."
Ke Lin's face straightened, knowing that the show meat had finally arrived.
"Do you need help?"
The expression on Okamoto's face also became extraordinarily solemn, and said solemnly:
"Count Angelet, I want to ask you to help me kill someone!"
"who?"
"White Wolf Witch King, Squeen!"
The so-called White Wolf Witch King is probably equivalent to the Pope of the Radiance Church, the religious leader of the Troll Empire.
Ke Lin was slightly startled, and asked, "Why did you kill Squeen?"
Okamoto smiled wryly, and said, "Lord Earl, I think you can best understand my motives. After all, you almost led an army to kill the Holy Mountain before."
"What did he do?"
"He wants to murder Gondwala!" Okamoto said through gritted teeth.
Colin nodded knowingly, not surprised by this.
As the religious leader of the troll empire, it is reasonable to not tolerate that the first heir of the empire is a half-troll.
Colin touched his chin, and asked again: "Plan to murder a white wolf witch king, Your Majesty Okamoto, are you not worried about being punished by God?"
"God's punishment?" Okamoto said with a disdainful smile, "Your Earl, do you know? The God of War has not absorbed the power of belief from the trolls for thousands of years. I suspect that the eyes of the gods have long since stopped paying attention to this world." .”
Hearing this, Colin's eyes flashed.
The god of war that the trolls believed in was actually the same as the Lord of Glory that humans believed in, and they lost contact.
why is that
What happened to these gods
What about the gods worshiped by other races
Are they all lost too
…
Seemingly seeing what Colin was thinking, Okamoto asked, "Lord Earl, if I guessed correctly, the Lord of Radiance should no longer absorb the power of human faith, right?"
Colin hesitated for a moment, but nodded.
Okamoto smiled slightly, with such an expression, and then said:
"My lord, I suspect that the God of Destruction believed by the orcs and the Goddess of Fate believed by the elves are probably in a similar situation.
Therefore, the orc clan has been divided for a long time, fighting each other endlessly, and it is rare to have a unified period.
But the faith of the elves has collapsed, and they are weary of the world and live in seclusion, hiding in the Huiyue Forest and cannot come out.
It can be seen that there will no longer be miracles in this world!
Then, why do we still fear those high priests and allow them to dictate to us in the name of gods? "
Colin looked at Okamoto who was blushing with excitement, and finally understood why the other party sent such a blasphemous oil painting.
Originally thought that this was a vote of honor to win the trust of the northern border, but now it seems that it is more like a letter of war.
A declaration of war against the White Wolf Church!
Colin himself had just had a fight with the Radiance Church, and he was still full of anger. If it is said that Okamoto got this timing really just right, Colin really wanted to find someone to vent his anger on.
But Colin did not agree immediately, but asked calmly:
"Your Majesty Okamoto, why should I help you?"
Okamoto immediately showed a sincere smile, and said: "Master Earl, the Volkin family is willing to contribute 1.5 million gold coins as a reward for you.
In addition, the troll empire will provide 300,000 young slaves to the northern border as free labor in the next three years! "
After pondering for a moment, Colin added: "I also want the Troll Empire to completely exempt the merchants from the northern borders from customs duties. In addition, I also want to allow the Church of Radiance to freely preach on the Sky Ice Field."
Okamoto glanced at Colin suspiciously, and said, "Lord Earl, I actually have no objection to the Church of Radiance preaching on the Sky Ice Field, but are you sure you want to do this?"
"Of course." Colin nodded affirmatively.
Of course he knew that this would increase the power of the Radiance Church, but this kind of religious infiltration was the best way to assimilate another race.
However, this religious assimilation will not be effective in the short term.
It will take a long time, and at the same time face a bloody revolt of the heretics.
If the Church of Radiance wants to successfully spread the gospel of the Lord of Radiance throughout the ice field, it must obtain strong support from the North.
This also gave Colin the opportunity to infiltrate the Radiance Church.
Colin is confident that he can completely subdue the Church of Radiance in this process, making them an auxiliary tool to help the human nobles strengthen their rule, rather than a high-ranking crowned person.
Okamoto saw that Ke Lin was determined, and after pondering for a moment, he finally nodded and said:
"good!"
(end of this chapter)