What exactly was a base area?
It meant keeping the rural regions under control when productivity was low.
But what if the church could take its place?
Religious books taught literacy; people read stories and learned strategies. Churches had defensive capabilities, and knights' castles did too. The church handled medical care.
Lynn drew a deep breath.
He continued reading. "The church's armed forces began recruiting in the countryside, and knights were mobilized from rural areas as well."
"Knights of the Nobles and church missionaries worked together, expanding through force of arms."
"The church helped treat the sick and wounded, while the knights dealt with bandits, robbers, and Magic Beasts."
"This really does have the same underlying principle as my own methods."
"The wisdom of those who came before?"
Ria reached out with her slender, fair, beautifully jointed hand and brushed Lynn's hair aside. "Lynn, it really is very similar to yours."
"But there's something even more similar." Ria's voice was gentle, like bathing in the finest hot spring in the world, making Lynn's spine go weak.
"Hiss." Lynn let out a groan. "Ria, what are you doing?" What Ria was doing had gone beyond Lynn's understanding.
Ria merely said in a soft voice, "Keep reading. I noticed that although the church did all these things, its attitude toward the Devil Race was exactly the same: slaughter, expulsion, fire."
"Yet the books recorded that they said the Devil Race was best at deceiving people."
"When they were weak, they would pretend to be pitiful and play the victim to deceive others."
"When they were strong, they would say, 'Don't be afraid.'"
"Because they looked frightening, they would tell people not to be afraid, then put on mystical airs and deceive them."
"These were all books recovered through archaeology."
"At this very