The Purpose of the Territory Token

Fran walked to the gate of the lord's castle and followed the servant in front of her into the lord's reception hall.

"Master Lai, let's talk in the next house. This place isn't suitable."

Finley led Fran to a small, ornately decorated room, where they pulled out chairs and sat down.

Before Fran could speak, Finley answered first.

"Excuse me, Lord Lai, there is something I would like to confirm with you."

Fran blinked, then nodded slightly.

Finley paused for a moment before continuing:

"I apologize again... but I still have many questions about the missionary work your subordinates are doing."

"I know they didn't say the Deity's name directly, but just referred to him as 'the great Lord' or 'the great Deity '."

"That's exactly what I want to ask. Are the Deity they preach to among the more well-known Deity on the continent?"

Fran lowered her hands from the armrests of the chair, folded them over her stomach, and slowly said:

"I can say with absolute certainty that this is not the case; you can rest assured."

"Those well-known Sect simply look down on White Flower Territory, a small place with far too few people compared to it."

"Even White Dragon Port, a small port on the mainland, is not a place that many Sect are willing to go."

"You can rest assured, the Deity I asked them to preach to is unknown to anyone on the continent."

Finley hesitated for a moment. He knew what Fran meant. In the end, the population of White Flower City and even Antir was too small. Compared with the rest of the continent, it had no advantage at all.

Moreover, Antir is located on the outskirts of the Alliance, making it unsuitable for missionary work, as the mages would never allow a large-scale Sect to emerge in their vicinity.

But the situation is different now. The person who came here to preach is a monk, and a monk who can help him overcome the difficulties ahead.

"Letting mages preach isn't a challenge to their authority, is it?" Finley thought to himself as he watched Fran's men preach.

As neighbors of the Alliance, the Antir are actually not very free; they are not ordinary people with legitimate status within the Alliance.

Their daily lives must adhere to the Alliance's regulations for Antir, which are enforced by the various lords.

For example, no magical items should be transported, any magical items encountered should be reported immediately, and the use or purchase of anything from countries other than those surrounding Antir is prohibited.

The lord's inspections were very strict, almost to the same extent as the collection of taxes.

The same applies to missionary work; the Alliance does not allow any form of religion to emerge on their side.

They will handle those cults on their own, while the Alliance prohibits those religions that are already well-known on the continent.

Finley was very worried that Fran was preaching this kind of Deity.

But despite his deep concern, he had no suitable way to find out which 'master' was being referred to.

He had just asked Fran, but clearly Fran's answer did not put his mind at ease.

Finley placed his hands on the table, interlacing his fingers and rubbing them together. He swallowed hard, trying to calm himself down.

"You don't need to be so nervous. I won't help those Deity spread their religion; it won't do me any good."

Fran blinked and saw Finley nod stiffly; it seemed he was still uneasy.

Fran didn't continue the conversation, because she had already prepared something to put Finley's mind at ease.

She didn't really care about Finley's worries; she knew his situation, and now she was a lifeline he desperately needed.

Even if Finley were to investigate further to find out which deity those believers were referring to as "the Deity," he would find nothing.

Because the faith of the Lord of Radiance on the continent does not support the unbridled spread of the other party's name on the continent.

This is precisely why Fran dared to proselytize so openly in White Flower City —the believers didn't even know the name of the Lord of Radiance.

Currently, among the followers of the Lord of Radiance on the continent, only Aila, Profession of Formal Rank, knows that the Deity she worships is the ' Lord of Radiance '.

Even when Aila explained things to the others, they couldn't hear what Aila was saying; it was as if Aila was just opening her mouth to speak.

This is also why Fran dared to carry out large-scale missionary work in the Antir Region during her cooperation with the Alliance.

Although others knew she was ordering her subordinates to preach, they could never possibly know which Deity was being preached to.

They would only assume that the mage ' Lai ' had conducted a rather unusual experiment, actually extending his reach into the realm of the Deity.

In any case, they would not associate ' Lai ' with the Lord of Radiance Sect led by Fran in the religious and Spirit Realm she had established.

When the Sect spread throughout the entire Antir Region, it was only then that Fran had to begin controlling the spread of the Deity' names.

After all, what the Lord of Radiance is doing now is really too big, and it will cause a lot of trouble even in the Material Realm.

Shifting the focus back, Fran smiled at the nervous Finley and began to talk about something else.

"By the way, my subordinate ' Elan,' I heard he knows you, which is why I came here to conduct experiments."

Finley was somewhat puzzled as to why Fran had brought this up. As a mage, she shouldn't have needed to get close to him like this, but after careful consideration, he replied:

"Yes, he helped me a lot in the Knight's Duel. Without him, I would never have been able to defeat so many opponents and become a lord."

Fran slowly raised her head and then asked:

"How much time has passed since then?"

Finley paused for a moment, then replied:

"It was probably three or four months, I don't remember exactly."

"Then you should only have received Duke Theodore's recognition and become a lord in name only, not in reality, am I right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Finley was very puzzled, not understanding why Fran would repeat something that everyone already knew at this moment.

Although Finley had never mentioned this to Fran before, he felt that Fran must have already learned about it from passersby or from his friend ' Elan '.

He even suspected that Count Ian might have already revealed his true colors to Fran, suggesting that his position as lord was largely undeserved.

"That's a bit slow. If we had the Territory Token, we would probably have become true lords by now."

Finley said with a smile.

"If it really exists, then that's certainly the case, but Duke Theodore made a mistake when arranging the Hundred Flower Territory, and we still haven't been able to find that Territory Token."

"All we know is that it's not in the Royal Capital. Otherwise, when the Blood Wolf Knights were still around, we would have stormed in and retrieved the token long ago, and the war would be over by now."

Finley told Fran some inside information about the Territory Token, Fran just smiled and then remained silent.

Fran reached into the box she had brought, opened it, and placed it in front of Finley.

Finley, Fran had been wondering what Fran was doing, couldn't take his eyes off her once the box was opened. A longing appeared in his eyes.

It was a square object, entirely yellow, with a red, prismatic Gem embedded in the center.

As far as Finley knew, wasn't this exactly what the Territory Token he'd only heard about in rumors looked like?

And another reason that convinced Finley that this was his Territory Token was a feeling that came from within himself.

He had been a lord for three or four months, and even though he wasn't a lord in name only, it had already begun to connect his body with his territory.

He could feel that his physical abilities were slightly better than those of an ordinary knight, but not by much.

Because he didn't truly resonate with the territory, this small boost didn't even give him much of an advantage in battles against other knights.

But now things are different. Finley's eyes are still fixed on the Territory Token. With this Territory Token, his progress in resonating with the territory will advance by leaps and bounds, no longer like the slow, insidious process of being boiled alive.

He didn't even need three or four months; he only needed to use...

"This is something I arranged for your friend ' Elan ' to find; he acted very quickly..."

Fran's sudden words interrupted Finley's thoughts. He paused for a moment, then quickly replied:

"Thank you Lai, I truly don't know how to repay you..."

Although Finley knew that Fran was referring to his friend ' Elan ' who retrieved the Territory Token, Finley also knew that without Fran's help, his friend wouldn't have been able to find what Duke Theodore was desperately searching for.

Finley looked at the Territory Token with joy and excitement in his eyes.

With this Territory Token, he can accelerate his path to becoming a true lord.

Once he becomes a true lord, neither Duke Theodore nor the Prince of Antir will make things too difficult for him, because they both need the support of these local lords.

As for the Kingdom of Lorinvik, it was far too far away for him. If Duke Theodore and the Prince of Antir both failed, then he might as well give up.

Just then, a hand blocked the Territory Token; it was Fran's hand.

"Please wait a moment. If you're going to take this, please remember..."

"Before becoming a lord, you must not reveal the status of this item to anyone, including Count Ian and Theodore..."

Finley hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He had actually been hesitant about whether to tell Count Ian, but since the mage had asked him not to, he decided not to say anything.

"There's one more question." Fran's hand remained still.

"After you get this thing, how long will it take you to become a true lord?"

Finley made a quick estimate and then answered without hesitation.

About a month.