Meanwhile, two streets away from the Holy Crusaders camp.
A middle-aged man with a stubble beard is running as fast as he can.
He was the Grand Knight Commander of the Holy Crusaders Knight Order, who were the ones who were ambushed.
Five minutes earlier he had been drinking heavily at a nearby pub.
His knightly order has a somewhat unique position within the Holy Crusaders, resembling a specialized Holy Crusaders tasked with maintaining order in Black Pine City. This is why the military camp was established in the densely populated western district.
The days without needing to go out and fight caused this knight commander's martial skills to gradually decline, and his physique also began to go out of shape under the influence of the World of Disorder's fine wine.
He even doubted at one point that he had lost the ability to run.
However, just five minutes earlier, one of his soldiers found him in the tavern and delivered devastating news that struck him like a bolt from the blue—
Their own military camp, their own military camp located in the center of the western district, was actually attacked by a group of rebels riding on giant flying insects!
This feeling is as absurd as suddenly finding out while you're at work that Cybertronians have invaded and specifically demolished your house.
The Grand Knight Commander immediately regained his composure and realized something—
He can still run.
The Grand Knight Commander, rushing into the camp, deliberately slowed his pace and breathed only through his nose, but his heavy, rapid breathing still betrayed his exhaustion.
Just as he was about to gather everyone to ask about the situation, a sentry captain suddenly came up to him and whispered:
"Grand Knight Commander... the Archbishop has arrived..."
"What?!"
The man's back was instantly soaked with sweat, whether from fright or from the sprint he had just taken, it was hard to tell.
Where are we now?
"In... your military tent."
The Grand Knight Commander arrived at his tent with a heart full of despair. As soon as he entered, he saw a man in a gold-trimmed priest's robe sitting in his seat.
A faint smell of alcohol wafted into Luorui'er's nose, and she secretly sighed inwardly, just as she had expected, but she couldn't muster any anger.
The entire Theocracy is in such a state of decline. The southern regions, which are closer to the empire, are somewhat better off due to the threat of enemies, but the central and northern provinces are almost all in the same state.
However, Luorui'er never considered these people as his subordinates, nor did he ever truly consider himself the Archbishop of Fitz Province.
Her attitude towards this former family fiefdom has always been less that of a lord towards his subjects and more that of a master towards a hen that lays eggs even without eating.
All I need to do is collect the eggs on time; as for whether the hen is healthy?
Who cares?
Luorui'er didn't care about the lives of ordinary people in Fitz Province, nor whether the Holy Crusaders there were undisciplined, and even less about the experiments on the Stained Ones happening right under his nose.
Therefore, when she felt she should be angry at the negligence of the person in front of her, she was shocked to find that she seemed to have lost that ability.
But it's okay, I have other ways.
The aroma of mint wafted silently through the air. Looking at the silent Grand Knight before him, Luorui'er simply spoke:
"Have you seen the statistics?"
The Grand Knight shook his head with a look of shame.
Luorui'er sighed appropriately and said:
"Your Holy Crusaders Knight Order have a full strength of 500 men. Today, 490 men entered the camp. Of the 10 absentees, 8 are due to health reasons, and the remaining 2 may have deserted."
"As of just now, a total of thirty people have been seriously injured, almost all of the rest have minor injuries, and fifty-five people are missing. According to the soldiers, they have been captured by the enemy."
Luorui'er closed the report in his hand and looked at the person in front of him:
"And you, as the only unharmed member of the entire Holy Crusaders Knight Order, do you have anything you want to say to me?"
Although the two are theoretically not that different in level, at this moment, the Grand Knight Commander's knees involuntarily buckled.
At the same time, his feelings of remorse were inexplicably rising, even surpassing the peak he had ever reached before, as if he were about to regret being born.
"Archbishop, I..."
"Forget it, I don't want to hear any excuses or lies."
Luorui'er gestured for him to shut up, then spoke slowly:
"The rebels will be attacking the city soon. Get your knights in order. As for the vacancies... go find that militia captain and ask him to spare some men."
"... yes."
The Grand Knight Commander lowered his head in shame. A series of footsteps swept past him, and when the sound disappeared, he finally raised his head and stood up from the ground.
The archbishop and her entourage have left, and the place has once again become her personal fiefdom.
Perhaps because he was filled with shame and remorse, he felt no joy at this moment, but instead felt a greater sense of loyalty to the archbishop.
He sat back down and loudly called the guards in, ordering them to gather all the company commanders and platoon leaders for a meeting.
A group of wounded soldiers of varying degrees of injury quickly arrived before the Grand Knight Commander. He looked at the group and counted them twice in his mind, but still felt that there were not enough men. He asked and learned that nearly a third of the fifty-odd men who had been kidnapped were officers, and most of them were officers who usually trained very hard.
Looking at the huge pile of misshapen and broken fruits in front of him, the feeling of helplessness transferred from Archbishop Luorui'er to the Grand Knight Commander.
"Well..."
He sighed deeply:
"The company commander was kidnapped, so the squad leader will temporarily take over. If both the company and squad leaders are kidnapped... I'll put them under my direct command for now. Tomorrow I'll go to that militia unit and see if I can get some useful manpower back."
Having said that, he glanced around at the crowd below licking their wounds and said, word by word:
"I am determined to serve the Archbishop faithfully."
In the spacious noble castle, Luorui'er sat in the seat of the head of the Fitz family, deep in thought with a worried expression.
Today was truly long, and it brought her more than one shock after another.
Seeing the group of energetic militiamen, she was momentarily convinced that the city could be defended.
But that was just a momentary illusion; the subsequent surprise attack proved her wrong.
Looking at the entire military camp filled with wounded soldiers, Luorui'er finally realized his own shallowness.
The Fitz Province was a very special region because of the agreement between the Fitz Family and the Holy See.
This place is neither close to the imperial frontier to the south nor to the Wilderness of Chaos to the east. Coupled with the Fitz Family's decades-long neglect, it has long been a prime example of deeply entrenched problems that are difficult to reverse.
Looking at those wounded soldiers who showed no signs of training today, she realized that Black Pine City was doomed!
Just then, a close attendant came up behind her:
"Master, are we not leaving? Should we unpack and put back the things we packed earlier?"
"No."
Luorui'er's tone carried a hint of disappointment:
"On the contrary, I've just realized that we have to leave."
"Clear."
"There's one more thing."
Please give your instructions.
"Go to the militia's training ground and tell [ Ginseng Rooster ] that a batch of tree seeds (the currency of the Theocracy ) will be delivered there soon, so they can focus on their training."
"Yes, Master."