Things Are About to Get Big

Tervain Village was steeped in sorrowful joy.

They were joyful because the nobles were celebrating, but sorrowful because yet more people had lost their loved ones.

Some of the dead soldiers had been the pillars of their families, playing the roles of elder brothers, fathers, sons, and so on. They had been their families' hopes for the future, their support, and their emotional anchors.

Whatever roles they had played in life, they now had only one role: the dead.

Ergons felt that his next upgrades should prioritize the First Aid and Surgery skills. That way, soldiers who suffered severe injuries and were on the brink of death on the battlefield would have a chance of being saved by him.

Then again, this place was already in a war zone, and the extremely low level of productivity meant that people would sometimes die for no apparent reason.

They should have already grown accustomed to saying farewell to their loved ones!

But this was already the second death in the past month. The sorrow from the previous one had barely faded before it was stirred up again.

However, after their sorrow came joy, because these people would enter the embrace of the Holy Light. That was what they truly believed.

After all, the Chosen One was walking among them, and they were fighting for the Chosen One.

It was precisely because of this sacred glory that their sorrow came from missing their loved ones, rather than fear of death.

Everyone was preparing for the victory feast, while the soldiers' funerals could only be conducted hastily. Ergons felt there was still room to make use of this.

After the nobles left, he could create something like a Hall of Valor or a monument. Such things were practically a protagonist's ultimate weapon for governing an army in webnovels, possessing tremendous power to unite the army's morale.

However, they might not have such a great effect on his "Chosen One's vassals." After all, their sense of belonging and honor was already basically maxed out.

Amid the sonorous reading of the eulogy, everyone devoutly closed their eyes in prayer. Even the Baron and the many nobles who had come to attend the funeral had to admire this priest who had previously performed a divine miracle. He really did have the air of a "god" when he worked.

His solemn recitation of the eulogy, combined with the atmosphere, was truly very effective at deceiving the masses. These commoners looked devout, but the nobles were mostly skeptical of the Holy Light.

The priest and the nobles' disbelief was still because of the earlier transmigration incident.

As the priest performed the rites, he recalled the conversation from several hours ago, and for no apparent reason, felt even more repulsed by the "Holy Light."

In his view, if he had not immediately stated that he absolutely had no intention of usurping the glorious title of Chosen One, he would already have been dead.

He could tell himself that everything he had done was to help Young Master Ergons, and that he had acted according to Ergons's requests. This matter had nothing much to do with the Holy Light anymore.

The reason he was being so cautious was that Pastor Ramses Bolton was not a true believer in the Holy Light.

It could even be said that, within the Church or among the nobles, those with sufficiently lofty statuses basically did not believe in the Holy Light.

If an ordinary person were told that his soul would return to the embrace of the Holy Light, that the Holy Light would use him as its vessel to walk among the living, and that the world would preserve his legend, an ordinary person would probably be willing.

But these sufficiently intelligent people would think: Wasn't this just death?

As for whether they would go to the embrace of the Holy Light after death, who knew? Once a person was dead, what use was there in leaving behind a reputation in this world?

Thus, Pastor Ramses Bolton was now actually among the most loyal of them all, because he truly both revered and feared it.

To be honest, he did not want to become the vessel through which the Holy Light walked among the living at all.

With that thought, the priest recited the eulogy even more solemnly. He glanced at Young Master Ergons, who was praying among the crowd, and did not dare speculate about what he truly was. But surely he was not the Holy Light!

No matter how moving the eulogy was, how much it brought tears to one's eyes, how heroic, glorious, and great it made the soldiers appear, or how solemn and earth-shaking it was, it would eventually come to an end.

After returning from the cemetery on the rear hill of the estate, everyone began busily preparing for the victory banquet.

At dusk, the Baron and the seven landed knights under his command sat comfortably in the study of the farmstead's main castle as they waited for the banquet to begin.

"How could he have escaped? Send more people to search for him!... Forget it. There's no point."

The Baron still could not let go of the fact that the Viscount of Tervain from the County of Tervain had fled the battlefield. He said, "We can't let this matter go just like that. But if we cross the desert and the sea to attack them, we won't be able to balance the accounts."

After thinking for a moment, he pointed at the chamberlain and said, "Do this. Find several patients with infectious diseases and drive them into the County of Tervain."

"Will that work? Leaving aside whether patients with infectious diseases can cross the desert, the people of the County of Tervain will execute and cremate them on the spot as soon as they discover them."

The chamberlain voiced his concerns, trying to stop the Baron's wild scheme.

As a chamberlain from a collateral branch of the seventh generation of the Tevalin Family, John Libet Tevalin had grown up together with Tervain Baron Nordsa. He often dared to say things that other vassals did not.

"That is indeed a problem. Then send more people, along different routes and in separate groups. There will always be a chance."

Seeing that he still refused to give up, the chamberlain continued to argue, "Even if they evade the inspections, they might not spread the disease throughout their entire territory. They have many islands, making it easy for them to control an epidemic. The spread would be limited.

"And there is a high chance that the infected people would be sold back to some place on the mainland. After all, their main business is the slave trade."

"That's even better. Then keep an eye out over the next four months for any place where an epidemic breaks out. If it's somewhere close to us, then they must be cooperating with the Tervain pirates. We'll attack them, then!"

The chamberlain fell silent. He understood the Baron's intention: he wanted to use a war to vent all the negative emotions caused by being invaded.

The coming war would be waged with an overwhelming advantage and with public opinion firmly on their side.

The chamberlain took a deep look at Sir Ergons, the silent lord of this land. As another member of a collateral branch of the Tevalin Family, the chamberlain held great hopes for this young man.

He knew that in the battles to come, Ergons Tevalin—or rather, "Sir Davis Tevalin"—would continue to make a name for himself throughout North Province.

Thus, when a servant came to invite everyone to the banquet, the chamberlain deliberately fell a step behind and whispered two sentences to him. "Young man, I don't know where you got those two magical artifacts, but at least everything you've done so far has been quite good."

Startled by his words, Ergons heard the chamberlain continue, "The miracle that priest created was far too conspicuous. That information can't be suppressed. If it's truly inconvenient for you to act, I can help you let this priest return to the summons of the Holy Light. Child, the Baron and I both think highly of you."