Pirate Attack

"To speak frankly, how could there possibly be any soil where monsters could survive in a duchy illuminated by Holy Light?"

William Adena, the cheap brother-in-law of the young master with a unique identity, sat at the first small table beneath the seat of honor.

Compared with the other heavy cavalrymen present, his strength was indeed number one. There was absolutely no doubt about that.

With the help of some alcohol and relying on his understanding of Ergons, he directly raised the question without needing any prompting, showing considerable tact.

Normally, this role would have been taken by Adamson, but in front of this pastor sent by the Church, he seemed somewhat inadequate.

Pastor Ramses Bolton did not suspect anything. He merely voiced the same doubt: "According to normal logic, Holy Light has illuminated this place for hundreds of years. There should not normally be any monsters appearing."

"All right. Since this is a welcoming banquet, let's not talk about these political matters for now. Let Pastor Ramses Bolton properly experience the local customs here. That is the proper thing to do."

Changing the subject, Ergons raised his cup in a toast, and everyone else followed suit.

The day after the merry feast, when Pastor Ramses Bolton awoke, Adamson had already led the cavalry and light infantry to the chosen location and begun building the church.

There were no tall trees near Tervain Village to begin with. The usable roof beams had all come with Pastor Ramses Bolton.

The heavy cavalrymen who had gone out to "tame" the wild horses happened to return to the manor. This batch of "wild horses" had ropes put around them and was driven forward to haul the beams and pillars upright.

Ergons Tevalin and Pastor Ramses Bolton watched these robust young men build the house together. The scene looked so harmonious and pleasant.

However, such comfort had always been an illusion. For a border village like this, quite apart from the specific mission it currently had, even without one, it would be difficult to remain at ease for long.

Pastor Ramses Bolton looked at the soldiers working hard and sighed. "Do you know, Sir? Hundreds of years ago, there was no distinction between knights and pastors. Back then, there were only priests and believers who accepted their guidance. Knights who went into battle had to prepare their own armor and provisions. Generally, a qualified knight carried four things. Do you know what they were?"

Strictly speaking, this also counted as an examination. Fortunately, Ergons Tevalin had received crash training from Old Adam.

"A cross, a silver short sword, holy water, and a longsword!"

"That's right. Back then, the cross was hung on the chest to distinguish one another. The silver short sword was used to fight evil spirits, holy water was used for Mass and to drive away evil, and the longsword protected the body and established the Church."

After hearing Pastor Ramses Bolton, Ergons Tevalin naturally followed up at once. "Then when can we be fully supplied with pure-silver short swords and holy water?"

Pastor Ramses Bolton had been showing off a little, but this question left him frozen on the spot.

Unfortunately, he clearly still did not understand Ergons well enough, because the next thing he heard was: "I originally trained this group of knights without intending to make them combat-capable, but today we happened to capture such a large group of wild horses.

"They are all warriors willing to fight for Holy Light, but we can no longer afford the expense of raising the horses. Could the church help us solve that problem?"

At twenty-one or twenty-two, Pastor Ramses Bolton was still a little thin-skinned!

Before leaving, Pastor Alphons had already introduced him to this knight, who had kept the baroness at his side and used her until now. He was definitely someone thick-skinned enough.

But he had never expected the other party to be this shameless. He raised his own soldiers, yet actually dared to ask him for money?

The Holy Light Church had always accepted donations from ordinary believers. Why did it have to pay money out now?

The two of them were chatting when a rapid burst of hoofbeats came rushing from outside the manor.

Ergons had already seen the hurried figure on the map. Its name on the map was "Messenger," and judging by its troop type, it was a cavalryman from Tevalinburg.

A scout like this would not be dispatched lightly. For one thing, training such a cavalryman was expensive. For another, scouts were extremely taxing on their horses.

A single urgent delivery could potentially run a horse to death.

This cavalryman, clearly from Tevalinburg, was not stopped along the way. He rode directly before the two of them, dismounted, and knelt down.

"Baron's Order. Swedish pirates have come ashore along the Giovanni River and begun raiding. The knights of the Baron's seven villages are to lead at least twelve men to respond to the assembly."

Old Adam, who had been watching his son work, suddenly looked alarmed. He clearly remembered that a similar mobilization had taken place a little over a month ago. The lord he had served all his life had never returned from it.

The figure reading the parchment order was tall and well-built, wearing the same armor and bearing the same markings. The appearances of the young master and the Old Lord seemed to overlap.

The Old Lord (the young master) also began issuing orders: "Uncle Adam, stay behind and guard the household. I'll feel at ease leaving the village affairs to you. Everyone else..."

Can't I go?

Even with tears blurring his eyes, he could only think it in his heart. He could not say it aloud.

For the first time, Old Adam felt disgust and hatred toward the so-called conscription system, from the bottom of his heart.

"Uncle Adam, Uncle Adam, what's wrong?"

Old Adam wiped away his tears and smiled at the concerned young master before him. "Young master, leave the household to me. Don't worry. I'm still waiting for Adamson to give me a chubby grandson. I'll definitely guard the house well."

He agreed readily enough, but he did not know why the young master's gaze suddenly became somewhat strange.

The young master was also baffled. Did he just set a death flag?

Thinking carefully, Old Adam's strength had already been extremely high from the moment he appeared, so Ergons had never digitized him.

Adding in the death flag he had just set while tears streamed down his face, Ergons began to panic.

He did not have time to worry about anything else. He directly opened Old Adam's Attributes panel and used a level-two Cheat Command on him.

Old Adam's Attributes were already extremely high, so gaining a thousand experience from a single use was nowhere near enough to make him level up.

However, it still digitized him as a "vassal of the Divine Favor." This way, no matter where he was, Ergons could view Old Adam's status whenever he wanted.

If anything happened, he could also hurry back to provide aid. It only required two level-two Cheat Commands: pressing CTRL+V could instantly locate his troops, while holding CTRL+X could take him to any location (instant teleportation).

And the true Attributes of this old man—who had always seemed feeble and elderly, revealing the qualities of a veteran soldier only at crucial moments—were finally displayed before him.

Adam Joshua Rilanka

Profession: Teva Archer

Age: 57

Level: 32

Life: 50

Experience: 457826

Experience Required for Level Up: 533410

Attributes:

Strength: 23

Agility: 11

Intelligence: 9

Charisma: 9

Skills:

Power Strike: 1

Iron Bones: 2

Power Draw: 1

Horse Archery: 3

Weapon Proficiency:

One-Handed: 140

Two-Handed: 120

Polearms: 130

Bows: 0

Crossbows: 400

These should be Old Adam's remaining Attributes after he had aged somewhat, but they were still extremely powerful.

By rights, Ergons should not have had much to worry about. The manor had thick wooden walls, along with two soldiers, eighteen light infantrymen, and eleven heavy cavalrymen. Generally speaking, any force of fewer than two hundred people would be unable to break through here.

Old Adam insisted that William and Adamson, these two powerful fighters, accompany Ergons. Thus, he could only bring ten heavy cavalrymen in addition.

Pastor Alphons had no idea what had gotten into him, but he insisted on accompanying the army as well.

By rights, he should have stayed in the village and watched his church gradually take shape, but he insisted with great conviction:

"The Crusaders of old and the Knightly Orders evolved from medical relief organizations established by pastors under the Holy Light Church. As a pastor, I should naturally follow the glory of my forebears."