Kingdom Crisis 2

The weather at sea is unpredictable, just moments ago it was clear and sunny, but now it's suddenly overcast.

"No wonder I didn't see many boats going out to sea today, I really should have asked an experienced old fisherman about the weather." Greiman said with great annoyance, turning to Queller and saying, "I'll take you back to the inn in my carriage, it can at least provide some cover if it rains on the way."

Queller gladly accepted, "Then I'll trouble you, brother."

The two boarded Paul's carriage, and the coachman flicked the reins, heading towards the inn in town.

Along the way, Paul was still pondering the issue of Giles's backers. He felt that the most likely candidate was the Holy See, and the reason was quite sufficient: the previous King of the Auldo Kingdom had a major conflict with the Holy See.

In essence, it was nothing more than the age-old conflict between theocratic and secular royal power.

That year, the Archbishop of the Auldo Kingdom region was called upon by the Lord of Light. According to tradition, after the position of Archbishop in a country became vacant, the Holy See and the country's high-level officials would communicate with each other, negotiate a candidate that satisfied both sides, and then the Holy See would issue a notice, and the country's high-level officials would publicly acknowledge it, and everyone would be happy.

But this time, there were two strong contenders: one was a bishop from Auldo, who had joined the monastery as a child, starting from running grassroots rural churches, diligently serving for decades to rise to the position of regional bishop, enjoying high prestige within the kingdom, and was also a close friend of the old King, with the highest calls for succeeding to the position of Archbishop.

The other was a bishop of foreign origin parachuted in by the Holy See, who had not served in the kingdom for a long time, but had worked in the seminary of the Holy Capital, and had taught students all over the continent.

Old King Rodney XV was not a fool, and supported the native and his friend to serve as Archbishop, both publicly and privately.

The Holy See was not a fool either. Everyone knew the relationship between that Auldo bishop and the King. If their Archbishop and the diocesan noble forces formed a group, how could they play the game? They supported their own foreign bishop in a tit-for-tat manner.

The two sides fought back and forth over the position of Archbishop, engaging in countless battles both openly and secretly. Rumor has it that during a closed-door friendly meeting, the old King excitedly "wore" his dentures on the face of the Holy See's envoy.

In the end, the kingdom and the Holy See reached a compromise: the position of Archbishop was given to the candidate supported by the Holy See, but in the future, the regional bishops of the Auldo Kingdom would be given priority to native people, and half of the regional bishops would be given priority to appointments recommended by the royal family.

Although a compromise was reached at that time, a grudge was formed, and Rodney XVI, who later succeeded to the throne, spent a lot of effort to repair relations with the Holy See.

Therefore, Paul guessed that the force behind Giles was most likely the Holy See, but after thinking about it, he felt that it was not.

The opposition between theocratic and royal power had happened before. The most common method used by the Holy See was to openly excommunicate the ruler of a country who opposed them, or to find a obedient agent among the nobles of that country, claiming that this was the legitimate ruler recognized by the Lord of Light.

Simple, crude, and effective. It is said that the Holy See once forced a monarch to stand barefoot in the freezing cold for three days and three nights by means of excommunication.

Such sneaky little actions didn't seem like the style of the Holy See. Could it be that the Holy See felt that its influence was declining, and it would suffer if it confronted head-on, so it changed its strategy? But Giles's side hadn't been heard to be so enthusiastic about the Holy See.

Then was it the Gabella Empire? That was also unlikely. The Auldo Kingdom and the Gabella Empire had been related by marriage for generations, and the relationship between the two countries was very strong.

Just as Paul was thinking wildly, Queller, who was sitting next to him, sighed, "That Giles has great ambitions. If he occupies the Auldo Kingdom, I'm afraid he will have other plans for the Horn Bay Alliance. I really don't know what those chambers of commerce are thinking, they don't even care about national interests for the sake of money. I hope the Council can take some action."

It was time for my moment to shine, a golden opportunity, Paul immediately cleared his throat and said pretentiously, "Queller, a philosopher once said, 'With adequate profit, capital becomes bold. A guarantee of 10% profit ensures its employment everywhere; a 20% profit enlivens it; a 50% profit makes it reckless; a 100% profit will make it trample on all human laws; and a 300% profit ensures there is not a crime at which it will scruple, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged.'"

"I've never heard of that? But that sentence is indeed very true."

Queller shrugged and agreed, "Our Horn Bay Alliance is founded on commerce. Although it has formulated laws that seem incredibly perfect to outsiders, everyone must both adapt to it and learn how to exploit its loopholes."

Queller, who came from a large family, was no stranger to those things. He raised his head, put his hands on the back of his head, "So, after I turned 16, I dreamed of becoming an adventurer, traveling around the world carefree and unconstrained, avoiding those annoying rules and regulations."

"So you ran to Northwest Bay to adventure?"

"That's right, and my old man also entrusted the Lichman Adventurer Group to find me, what a great opportunity, I really want to join them." Queller suddenly became excited.

"The Lichman Adventurer Group? Are those the people in the church that day?"

"Yes, this adventurer group is very famous in our south, and has solved many crises."

Paul asked a little puzzled, "Is an adventurer just another name for a mercenary?"

"No, no, no!" Queller stretched out his index finger and shook it from side to side, denying Paul's statement, "Although they both take people's money and help them eliminate disasters, adventurers have their own moral standards and a complete set of industry norms."

"Moreover, specialized institutions such as adventurer guilds have been established in major countries and regions, on the one hand, to provide services such as issuing commissioned tasks and collecting rewards for adventurers in various places, and on the other hand, to restrain them and monitor whether adventurers violate industry norms and local laws."

"In comparison, mercenaries have no constraints to manage them, and the lower limit for accepting commissions is also lower. They are often active in wars between countries, and it is common for people to kill and steal for employers for money."

"Then can you introduce me to the Lichman Adventurer Group? What are their respective abilities?"

"Oh, I only know the four members who came to save me. The pink-haired girl is called Meru Heimer, although she is petite, she is very strong, and her weapon is the uncommon chain mace, she serves as the leader of the group."

"The blue-haired young man is Dean Issac, who is good at using daggers, is quite agile, and is responsible for reconnaissance, tracking and other tasks."

"The yellow-haired young man's name is Kai, he is very strong, and is a greatswordsman."

"The green-haired girl's name is Laddie, this one is more special, her main job is a scholar, she joined the adventurer group to travel around and increase her knowledge, but she also has unique skills, serving as a crossbowman in the team, and also knows some medical knowledge."

Paul asked strangely, "A scholar who can use crossbows is really rare."

"That's right!" Queller slapped his thigh, "That guy Dean said that Miss Laddie can hit a fly at a distance of 150 meters, I guess that guy is bragging, it's good enough for a girl to be able to pull a bow."