"I respect your wishes, Lord Lance. Draining the glass of wine in one gulp, the Count smiled playfully, "But how can she gain the approval of the soldiers? ”

There seems to be some deep meaning in this passage.

"That's my business. Lance looked as usual and ordered the maid who was in charge of pouring the wine on the side, "Go and call Angel, no, wait." ”

As if he remembered something, he said to the Earl, "Perhaps we should go and see her in person." ”

"What?" said the Count, feeling offended, and roared angrily, "I am the Lord of Silverblade Castle!

"It's a priest of the Temple!, Lord Earl!" corrected Lance again, "she's the shepherd of the god Nidaya on earth, watch your words, he's omnipresent! I don't want our relationship to go back to what it used to be, you say?"

"You..."

The Earl hammered the table with some shame, and after seeing the strange dead corpses on the battlefield, he still did not dare to offend the majesty of the gods.

"If it weren't for your boy's sake, he muttered something in his mouth, strode towards the outside of the banquet hall, and when he saw that Lance hadn't followed, he yelled, "Don't hurry up and lead the way!"

Lance smiled, took the squire, and rejected the idea of them following, leaving a group of knights to stop the brawl with a look on their faces, somewhat at a loss as to what was happening.

Wait out of the castle hall.

He took a torch and led the way, "Please go this way, Lord Count. ”

"Hmm. ”

The Count nodded, and followed behind Lance with a somewhat ugly face, silent all the way, like a moment of peace before a storm.

Believing that even God could not stop an offended nobleman from venting his anger if the outcome did not satisfy him.

"No offense, I just wanted to show you a look at her influence...," Lance explained.

After a heart-to-heart conversation, he personally felt that the two of them were closer to each other, and that he could show some of the things he wanted the Count to see with his own eyes, which was related to the implementation of his next plan.

Ever since he had demonstrated his powers on the battlefield, the original plan to grow slowly in the shadows was a bit out of place.

After all, so many soldiers have witnessed the power of the Templars and the majesty of the gods, and by word of mouth, the prestige of the Temple of Order has become known to almost everyone in the entire Ilketrin.

I believe that if it weren't for the pressure of the army of the Misty Mountains, people were trapped here and unable to travel, maybe Lance had been summoned by King Gregory IV for a cordial and friendly meeting at this moment.

This made him feel a strong crisis!

Unlike the new empire created by the remnants of the Bacchus Empire, the rulers of Livingston may not be able to accommodate the next organization similar to the state religion of the new empire, the Cult of Creation.

The fanatical believers have always been known for their excellent armament and undead fighting style, and their belief in the goddess of creation is far higher than their loyalty to the king, and in their hearts, whoever sits on the throne except for the immortality of the empire.

And this is precisely what all kings cannot bear!

The current Emperor Marius of the New Empire is also under pressure from the Serpent Cult - the group of masterminds behind the scenes, after the final victory, has reached the shoreline of Pander and infiltrated the power center of the new empire.

In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, it was necessary to support the existence of such a force that was separated from the state system and had strong autonomy, and launched a vigorous reform of military and political culture.

Lance couldn't help but think of the historical record, if it weren't for the assassination of the emperor, which led to endless domestic fighting, and the invincible commander Osa was isolated and had to choose to consolidate the gains he had won and establish a new empire, the Pande continent would have already belonged to the glorious old Bacchus Empire at this moment.

This is a typical confrontation between kingship and theocracy!

Although the divine power has triumphed and the royal power has retained its spark, this seemingly balanced state may sooner or later be brought to an end by the complete surrender of one side.

After all, no king wants to fall to his knees under divine power!

So once the Temple of Order led by himself becomes known to the magnates of Livingston, what will happen to those who await Lance?

He is just an illegitimate child, a lord of the kingdom who does not even have a fief, and his father still occupies a quarter of the fief of the kingdom, and the prestige of Duke Ryan is growing!

What will the king think, and what will the nobles and ministers think? A conspiracy to subvert the royal power is exposed to the sun?

Lance shuddered, and only a general like the Earl, who was brave and not politically wise, would still be unaware of his dealings with him after learning that he had mastered divine power and proclaimed his faith, and expressed a strong interest in this extraordinary power.

He peeked a glance at the Count out of his gaze.

I can't say that I am glad for his stupidity, but I still have to thank him for his honesty.

But apparently, the Count has become an indispensable part of Reims' plan!

"Let's hope everything goes well...", Lance thought with some trepidation, "Maybe there should be a higher position above the Templars, such as the head of the Templar Order...?"

Walk on the road made of stone slabs.

The wind blew the wolf-patterned flag above their heads, making the two of them who had just left the warm place tighten their robes.

"Why hasn't it arrived yet?, what a waste of time...!" the Count muttered discontentedly, recalling the sweetness of the wine and the beauty.

"Soon, it's over there, near the city gates. After stepping up a step, Lance replied, gesturing ahead.

Tonight's moonlight was obscured by dark clouds, and the castle looked a little desolate in the darkness under the faint light of the torches, and the rugged architecture looked less like the seat of the kingdom and more like the shadow temple of the legend.

But it's no wonder that Lance.

Castles in the north have always been like this, considering that their strategic function is far more important than that of cities, and they are generally not very comfortable, after all, the lords live inside the castle and have a warm fire pit.

This and the South are simply two extremes.

I've heard that the pleasure-seekers of Sarion have built their castles like gardens, with fountains, statues, and roses for easy flirtation.

As for the soldiers?

Please, they've all been beaten to the castle, what else to resist, surrender...

This is related to the fact that they were relatively wealthy, and generally the castle was surrounded by a large ring of walls, which slowly developed into a large urban complex.

Unlike the way of treating the castle as their own estate, the barren land and rare population made the lords of Ravenston have to be realistic, except for a few large cities like Ryan, most of the remaining lords only have villages, and a small market built on the outskirts of the castle is enough to meet the trading needs of these commoners, after all, they have nothing to trade except for the harvest brought by some hunters.

Gems and minerals are the private property of the lord, and if you dare to steal, you will be put on a rope around your neck, and the corpse will be hung on the castle tower to show the public. You must know that the criminal law in the north has always had only two options: life and death, and it generally depends on the mood of the lord that day.

Knights' residences, soldiers' barracks, blacksmiths, stables, armory, squares for the assembly and training of soldiers, and a tavern for self-production and sale, these are basically all the buildings in Ilkettrin Castle.

The two of them walked out of the empty residential area and turned a corner, and then they gradually felt the popularity.

The square of the castle was covered with tents and filled with civilians who had come to take refuge. These unentertained creatures are either going to bed early or are busy making the next generation, so much so that the movement is a bit noisy, like an aria in a musical note.

"Why do you want us to see her?" the Earl was a little irritated, and was the first to break the silence, and asked with some confusion, "Is she busy with something?"

"Sermon. Lance stopped in front of the door of the church, which had been converted from a stable, and after stopping the soldiers in charge of the guard, he gently pushed open the wooden door and said, "Look, she is busy preaching the doctrine of God." ”

The Count looked at the crowd gathered inside, the outer walls of the stables were nailed to the wooden walls, and the long, wide but low space was luxuriously lit by candlelight.

Unlike the noisy people in the square, the people here seemed quiet, their hands folded, their eyes closed, intoxicated by Angel's gentle voice, drawn to her high-spirited tone and the teachings preached in the story.

Even after the wooden door creaked, one by one dared to look at it with angry eyes to express their dissatisfaction with being disturbed.

"Lord Lance, Lord Earl!" Angel's brow furrowed slightly, and she didn't stretch out until she saw the person clearly, "What are you...?"

"Just keep going. Lance pulled the Count to stand in front of the crowd, ignoring his somewhat depressed eyes, and smiled at Angel and said, "Lord Count wants to hear the teachings of the Temple of Order, he is interested in becoming one of us." ”

"Hey!" the Count tried to justify something.

"Shhhhhhh

The Count turned dissatisfied, and those fanatical eyes were fixed on him, as if he was going to tear himself apart if he dared to disrespect the gods. This scene made him slightly stunned, and he couldn't help but swallow back the words of rebuttal.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth is empty and chaotic. The abyss is dark. The Spirit of God hovers over the waters. Angel's gentle voice echoed in her ears. Considering the dignity of the count, she began from the beginning of the book of Genesis:

God said, "Let there be light, and there was light."

God saw that light was good, and He separated light from darkness.

God called the light day and the darkness night. There was evening, and there was morning, and it was the first day...