Praise the Light (2)

The Sera Kingdom.

Because of the war, knights leading small armies could often be seen on the roads between territories. The tension brought about by the war, although it did not send them directly to the battlefield with the Andara Kingdom, still required them to increase patrols to ensure the safety of the territory.

This is also a change that nobles have had to make in recent years. The terrible wars have instilled fear in them, making them worry that disaster will strike at their doorstep.

Of course, population movement between nobles remained a major taboo.

At that moment, a group of soldiers blocked Sven and his party.

"Who are you people? Why are you here?!"

The lead knight rode on a warhorse, but it was neither an imperial nor Highland Warhorse, nor any other extraordinary warhorse; it was merely an ordinary knight's horse.

He looked at the group of people in front of him. If it weren't for their bright and shiny clothes, he would have arrested them and made them slaves on the grounds of discovering runaway slaves and savages.

But the spirit and energy of these people had nothing to do with slaves, and the knight was worried about getting into trouble.

But for nobles, isn't it a bit too shabby for them to walk on their own two legs?

"We are believers in the Dawn."

Sven spoke, his body radiating a hazy Dawn Holy Radiance, something that couldn't be faked. Behind him followed more than twenty people, men, women, and children, from several families.

"Believer?"

The knight frowned. There was only one church around, the Church of Morning Radiance in his territory behind him. It wasn't large, but the priest inside the wooden church exuded great authority.

Where did these people come from?

"The great Lord of Dawn guides us forward; we are going to the place where we worship our Lord, a place called Morning Radiance Fortress."

The former Unicorn Fortress has now become the Morning Radiance Fortress, where the Sera Kingdom has settled all of the Dawn's followers.

Faced with the words of the missionary from the Church of Dawn, the knight felt a headache coming on. He really didn't know how to deal with these the Church, especially since the lord had recently had a fight with a priest from the Church, which seemed to involve something very serious.

I heard that some important figure from the Church has died, and even His Majesty the King was questioned by the Dawn Holy Mountain and forced to come out of meditation.

Actually, not wanting to cause trouble, he waved his hand.

"You must leave here immediately. This is Dias Barony, and strangers are not welcome here."

The Sera Kingdom is not as open as the Empire, but Sven is not going to leave now; he's using its influence for his own purposes.

"We are planning to rest in the church of Dias Barony, and we need you to show us the way."

Sven said that the knight instinctively wanted to refuse, but in the end, he gritted his teeth, turned his horse around, and led these Dawn Believers into the Baron's territory.

"Sir, it's them."

The knight spoke to Baron Dias, Baron was standing on the second floor of the castle watching Sven and his party through the window. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that they were not making any big moves.

"How dare these damned Dawn Believers come to my territory?"

Baron Dias was dissatisfied. He didn't want to see anyone right now, and his best hope was that his territory would remain unnoticed, allowing the war and the death of the Church Archbishop to fade into the background.

It is said that many clergy in the royal city have begun to urge His Majesty the King to wage war against the Andara Kingdom regardless of the cost.

As a result, many nobles sided with the Church.

But the more this happened, the less Diaz dared to send more troops to the the North. Instead, he secretly embezzled funds, claiming to have sent out one hundred men, but in reality only sending out thirty-four.

He dared not, for he had heard that something terrible had happened in the South: the Path of Dawn of the Church had slaughtered nobles, leaving many with heavy losses.

"Those lunatics at the Church!"

Diaz only dared to rant within his own territory; in short, given the current tense atmosphere, he would absolutely not allow his elite troops to leave his side.

Fortunately, His Majesty the King stood by them and did not agree to the unreasonable demands of the Church of Dawn.

"Ignore this missionary. Just send them whatever they want to eat. If they have any other requests..."

Baron Dias looked at the few maids in his castle, feeling a pang of reluctance.

A moment later, the butler returned and whispered something in the Baron's ear, which surprised the Baron.

"They only wanted fifty pounds of bread?"

"Yes, sir, I asked him what he wanted to eat tomorrow, and he said that fifty catties of bread would be their food for ten days."

The cooks in Dias Barony weren't very good at cooking. Sometimes even the Baron found the bread hard to swallow and had to mix it with jam to eat it. Speaking of which, the jam from Earl Count Ryan's territory hadn't been delivered to the Sera Kingdom this season, and he didn't have much food left.

That missionary from the Church of Dawn, is this all he eats?

The Baron frowned. This was different from Father Card.

Good afternoon Father Card.

Missionary Sven met the Baron's priest at midday. In terms of status, priests were superior to missionaries, but those within the Church knew that many priests were priests not because of their power, but because of their connections.

They were not necessarily more powerful than those missionaries.

Just like Card, he knows very well what kind of person he is. The two nuns last night caused him to wake up at noon today, which is a day of prayer.

"Praise be to my Lord, the Dawn."

"I was just praying, I apologize, Priest Sven."

Sven forgave him and, in response to Card's invitation, nodded and entered the church.

"The light of Dawn will surely illuminate every dark corner of the earth."

He prayed devoutly before the sculpture at Dawn, and it took him a long time to return to his normal appearance.

His appearance surprised even Card, who was standing next to him. There weren't many Ascetic Monk in the Church, and this Sven appearance was truly a rare treasure.

Fortunately, he knew his duties as a priest, and addressed the Sven and solemn man:

"My Lord has received your devotion. His radiance will shine upon the depths of your soul, bringing you peace. His light will illuminate your body, making you strong."

A string of standard rhetoric was effective when spoken to the praying commoners and slaves, but Sven didn't believe a word of it.

His expression was devout, and he nodded in agreement with what the man had said.

"I come in accordance with the will of His Excellency the Archangel Samir, an apostle of my Lord, to pray for the believers of my Lord, that the light of the Dawn may shine down, and that the believers may serve my Lord Eternity."

Archangel?

This was something Father Card didn't know, and he looked at Sven with some curiosity.

"The archangel descended upon the Northlands and met with Archbishop Adriana, who came to this world in the name of the greatness of our Lord."

Sven said this, mentioning Adriana, and Card suddenly became interested.

"Did an angel really appear?"

He was extremely surprised, Sven politely, and then a hazy light emanated from his body, forming a snow-white holy sword.

"This is Divine Art bestowed upon me by the archangel, originating from my Lord, the great Dawn."

Father Card no longer doubted and couldn't help but envy Sven. The clergy in the Church all received their Divine Art from the Lord of Dawn, and each time they acquired Divine Art, it was a gift from the Deities.

And so, with a good topic to discuss, missionary Sven quickly became acquainted with Father Card.

As they chatted, the conversation naturally turned to the death of the Archbishop.

"The Archbishop Sigurd actually died in the Sera Kingdom. The Empire has audacity to kill a esteemed Archbishop of the Church."

Sven looked on in surprise at Father Card was both angry and unable to hide his fear.

"The Archbishop Sigurd died at the hands of the Empire?"

"It's such a pity, I once admired Archbishop Sigurd."

"Who else could it be but the Empire? In all of Norris, only the damned Empire has the audacity to kill a noble Archbishop. They want revenge for that Marquis of Northwind."

The impact of the public killing of Marquis of Northwind has not disappeared worldwide to this day. The Church suffered greatly because of this incident, and even the rebellion of the nobles of the Path of Dawn was influenced by it.

The nobles of the Northwind Province, who were at the eye of the storm, felt nothing, but elsewhere, the death of the Marquis of Northwind was mentioned by the nobles at every gathering.

Father Card believed that this was unreasonable, and that His Holiness the Pope seemed to regret it.

Fortunately, no one has been able to provide evidence that the Church was behind it.

"A few days ago, an order came from the Holy Mountain, supposedly from a Mages of the Empire who killed Archbishop Sigurd."

In reality, being killed by Imperial Noble was far more acceptable to the Church than being killed by an imperial Mages.

Just like a nobleman who dies at the hands of Orcs, at most it will make other nobles angry and united in revenge, but after a while they will forget about it. But if a nobleman dies at the hands of another nobleman...

Viscount Miles is the best example. Without Ryan's help, Viscount Miles would probably still be paying off his debts. No, he might even be in danger of losing his Noble Title. Keep in mind that this was around the time the Baronet System was being established, and the great nobles of the empire were struggling to find opportunities to make room for their own bloodlines.

The Church of Dawn and Mages have always been enemies, harboring a hatred for Mages for thousands of years. Over this long period, Mages have killed countless Mages members, including His Holiness the Pope.

"I also heard that the Mute Ascetics from the Holy Mountain are coming to the Sera Kingdom. Those people are the bane of Mages."

Because of his background, he had connections with the Holy Mountain and was well-informed.

Father Card wanted to befriend the Sven missionary because the latter had connections with the archangel. If that archangel were to appear on the Holy Mountain, his status would likely be second only to the Pope, half a head higher than the ten Cardinal Archbishop, and on par with the Holy Son.

Father Card's Northlands was already quite good; he had a series of connections on the Holy Mountain, but while the scope was wide, it lacked depth.

Who doesn't want to improve themselves? Father Card is tired of staying in the Sera Kingdom, but without Gao's connections, he would have to stay in Dias Barony for the rest of his life.

In the evening, Father Card brought out his treasured delicacies. He also wanted to call over a few nuns, not the common folk believers outside. Nuns bathed regularly and had very healthy skin.

But he didn't do it, not because he was reluctant, but because he felt that this Sven missionary was different from him.

Father Card's greatest strength was his clear self-awareness, which was also the reason he was able to obtain the priesthood from a group of competitors.

What he didn't expect was that this Sven missionary was even more traditional than he had imagined.

"I have already collected a portion of the faith tax from Baron Dias."

Sven took out a piece of bread that wasn't very soft, and then an egg. The egg was forced on him by the butler because he was shocked that he had only taken so little, but Sven still wrote a note about it.

He handed the note to Father Card and said:

"A total of fifty catties of bread and one hundred and twenty eggs, enough for us to eat for ten days. According to the proportion, this is enough for five families to pay their religious taxes for a year."

Because of Ryan's scheme, the clergy of the Sera Kingdom have the power to collect taxes.

Sven's intention in handing the note to Card was simple: to collect taxes from ten fewer households this year.

The main reason is that these breads and eggs are quite precious, after all, they are things that the Baron himself eats, and the ingredients are of high quality.

Father Card was shocked but didn't know what to say.

Are the Church missionaries like this? They should be like this...

But the current Church of Dawn probably can't find such a person.

Kade didn't understand, because he had never lived in such an atmosphere, but he knew very well that in terms of status, this Sven missionary would definitely be able to go further than him in front of the Lord of Dawn.

As a priest with a clear understanding of himself, his attitude immediately became humble, and he even picked up the bread in front of Sven and started eating it.

It was very dry, but he swallowed it anyway, then smiled and told Sven that he owed him a piece of bread.

Their relationship took another step forward.

Sven stayed there, meeting with many believers from Dias Barony in place of Father Card. He patiently explained things, prayed sincerely for each person, and even used Divine Art to help a woman with blurred vision regain her sight.

Father Card showed no displeasure at Sven's behavior.

"I met these families in the Wilds. They are unable to come with me to Morning Radiance Fortress, so I implore Baron Dias to take them in and treat them as your subjects."

Sven left his men in Dias Barony.

The Baron territory was small, and xenophobia was an instinct, but it wasn't something that would be considered at this level. Baron Dias simply waved his hand and granted them the right to live in the houses.

After expressing his gratitude, Sven led these people to their houses. Because of the war, each territory had some houses available, and the houses where these ordinary people lived... were not luxurious at all; they were just enough to provide shelter from the wind and rain.

"You are the people of this place."

Sven addressed the people, and he prayed again, praying that they would be happy. Dozens of people knelt on the ground, weeping, in gratitude.

"Praise be to the Dawn, praise be to the light of my Lord."

(End of this chapter)