Checks and Balances (Part Two)

Fran's actions were certainly not impulsive; Ian had fallen right in front of her last time, but Fran had done nothing about it.

Last time, letting Ian go brought Fran more benefits, but now that she has killed Ian and the knights he brought, Fran can gain even more benefits this time.

When Ian fell just before activating the Territory Destroyer, the situation was already dire, and Lorinvik had just captured Horn Pass.

The fact that Horn Pass, which Theodore had stationed with a large force, was easily captured dealt a heavy blow to the Duke Theodore's power.

After that, Lorinvik's army only needs a short rest before it can march on the Royal Capital, help the Prince of Antir escape the Royal Capital, and reclaim Antir.

For Duke Theodore, if he failed to deal with the Prince of Antir before the arrival of the army of Lorinvik, he would be in dire straits.

Activating the Territory Destroyer was Duke Theodore's last hope for that battle.

As long as the Prince of Antir doesn't receive the Territory Blessing, Duke Theodore will be able to easily defeat him.

Although Fran prevented the Territory Destroyer from activating, she also made Finley the lord, indirectly helping Theodore kill the Prince of Antir.

And what happened after that? Ian had become a second-tier knight and was to lead all the available knights back to the vicinity of the Royal Capital to begin fighting against the army of Lorinvik.

Fran knew that it would take a long time for her to secure her position on the throne, so Fran knew that Theodore would most likely be confined to the area around the Royal Capital, leaving Count Ian to fight against the Kingdom of Lorinvik.

Fran thought that although Ian was only a second-tier professional, her brother's Sect was called the Shadow Cult. With the help of the Deity, she estimated that she could still deal with this Second Order Profession User.

She wasn't just imagining things; she had given it real thought before letting Ian go, hoping Ian would fight a deadly battle with the Kingdom of Lorinvik.

She believed in the power of the Shadow Cult, after all, it had existed in the Kingdom of Lorinvik for so many years, and a prince had personally promoted the development of the Sect.

But when the news came back, Fran was completely dumbfounded. What did they mean? That Prince Darian was planning to surrender. After confirming the ransom, she returned to Lorinvik.

The war that was supposed to happen didn't break out. Instead, it gave Ian some free time to deal with the lords near Antir, allowing him to ruthlessly eliminate a wave of obstacles from other lords.

Now, Duke Theodore's side has a huge advantage, while the other side is still sitting on the throne.

The Kingdom of Lorinvik is still negotiating, and other countries have realized that this situation may not allow them to gain much benefit, and almost all of them have been badly hurt.

Logically speaking, if the issues with White Flower Territory and River Valley Territory are resolved, Antir can almost certainly remain the lord after Theodore truly inherits the throne.

But things weren't as easy as Ian thought. Fran, who had stayed there, would never let Ian go back after Ian arrived.

The Radiant Sect has now absorbed almost all the population of the towns of White Flower City and River Valley City; at least on the surface, all these people are believers in the Lord of Radiance.

In addition, Fran arranged for people to gather all the people from the farms between the two towns, which led to the emergence of two new First Order Profession within the Sect.

Now, what Fran needs most is not stability or avoiding conflict with Duke Theodore, because her previous preparations were insufficient. Now, she is ready.

Now, the real task is to win over the people of the two towns to the Lord of Radiance, and to convince those who merely profess faith in the Lord of Radiance the future of the Radiant Sect.

That means we can't continue with high-pressure control. Only long-term measures are effective, and Fran thinks that's too slow.

Fran thought that anything that could truly make someone who has no faith, or only a slight belief in Deity, bow down before Deity would be a complete victory.

When your country's army is powerful and invincible against its enemies, and your living environment is far better than before, wouldn't that sense of belonging naturally arise?

When what you do aligns with the needs of the people in feudal times, all rumors and gossip will have no basis.

Fran had this in mind. Her Base Camp was already producing a large number of firearms and cannons, and under Fran's instructions, the scale of production was constantly expanding.

She felt she was ready, and killing Duke Theodore's right-hand men here to prepare for the upcoming war was the best way for her to expand her territory.

Furthermore, she has already experimented again in River Valley City with the method of generating territorial blessings through laws.

Thanks to her continuous efforts to streamline the process, she was able to incorporate a piece of unclaimed land into her own territory in just half a month.

"Kill them all... does that include the knights who returned?" Finley shuddered and asked tentatively.

"Yes, my dear Finley, we must kill all these knights, for I have no need of them."

Fran did not trust the loyalty of these knights. Apart from Finley, who was already bound to her chariot, the other knights would only be obstacles, not helpers.

First, there's the issue of mindset. Other knights might not be able to accept serving a religion, and they might rely on inertia to return to their original feudal territories.

Moreover, even if she accepted these knights, there would be limited positions available for them, as the ruling class had a limited number of positions.

Knights in the past mostly remained loyal because even if they couldn't obtain an entire territory, they at least had some small farms or similar land.

If you want to climb higher, join the Knights, earn Battle Merit, and perhaps you'll be able to obtain a piece of land.

This is the basis for the loyalty of those knights.

After Fran replaced the feudal knights' rule with religion, could she allow these roughnecks to continue managing parts of the factories, or to collect taxes from them?

Even if that were the case, how would she deal with the other core group of First Order Profession Priest who had risen through the ranks by following Fran and relying on missionary work?

Don't say things like "the division of land will be more detailed later," that's just treating people like fools.

Those knights are nothing but remnants of the old world; how dare they claim the same fiefdoms as our Priest?

If you don't divide it equally, can you guarantee you'll get a satisfactory share? Wouldn't they know which side gets less?

Another crucial point is that after those knights Fran's side, they, like the lords of the Alliance, almost lost their room for advancement.

Fran would never allow a knight to annex a large amount of land, and what she was going to do was to sweep away all of Antir. It's not certain that all the knights Fran didn't have the motivation to rise up.

Therefore, Fran chose a more perilous path that would push the current knightly class to the other side; she would at least have to eliminate all the knights she encountered next.

"Of course, Finley, you can rest assured, I won't kill you..."

Fran watched Finley tremble. This was the first time Finley had felt fear since witnessing Fran indiscriminately killing those knights.

Because, after all, Finley himself was a knight, and he and these knights were ultimately of the same origin. If these knights died, he probably wouldn't fare well either.

Who can guarantee that Fran won't get rid of him after she's used him?

A knight is so insignificant, especially after the rise of the Priest community.

Fran glanced at Finley's nervous expression and knew that he was probably overthinking things. She knew her words would not dispel his doubts.

She raised an eyebrow, but decided to present some more convincing evidence. She took out a roll of parchment that she had always kept folded from her belt and handed it to Finley.

"This is?"

"This is what I applied for from the Alliance. After you see it, I think you'll feel at ease."

Finley raised an eyebrow, somewhat delighted. He guessed that this was probably because Fran had helped him apply to have White Flower Territory incorporated into the Alliance.

If it really is this application, then Finley is at ease no matter what. After all, as long as he joins the Alliance and raises the Alliance banner outside, he doesn't believe anyone will dare to mess with him.

Moreover, although he was unaware of the Alliance's charter, there was still a difference between a lord of a small country and a lord certified by the Alliance.

When Finley actually opened the parchment, he was delighted to find that its contents confirmed that his status as Lord of White Flower Territory had been recognized by the Alliance, making him a part of the Alliance.

Finley's tense heart relaxed. Even though he didn't know the standard format of the Alliance document, receiving this notice from Fran at least meant that he was valuable to Fran.

But when he looked at Fran's ambiguous smile with a surprised expression, he felt something was off.

"Wait... Authorizer: Lai... This..."

Fran raised an eyebrow, looking at Finley's somewhat frightened expression. She slowly took out another document, this time on paper with a texture similar to cotton cloth.

"This is my application to the Alliance for the occupation of the entire territory of Antir. Now that I have occupied White Flower Territory, according to the Alliance law, I can decide the nature of this land."

"Therefore, it is legal for you to be the lord of White Flower Territory under the laws of the Alliance."

Fran smiled gently, put away the document, and reminded Finley:

"You will be in charge of executing these knights. Remember, don't do it now. Wait three days. Giving Duke Theodore some time to react will also be in our favor."

"Yes." Finley's head was spinning, his face was ashen, and he remembered the contents of the application form that Fran had shown him.

"The application time..." This was before Finley received the letter from the Alliance, which sent a chill down Finley's spine, and his face involuntarily twitched.