Although they had received the news in the player chat a few minutes earlier, hearing [ Ginseng Rooster ]'s description firsthand still brought a surge of joy to the Soul Returner.
Another new place to go!
There are new people to harm!
At this moment, the phrase "The Archbishop wants to see energetic recruits" from [ the Ginseng Rooster ]'s speech had been selectively forgotten in their ears, becoming "The Archbishop wants to see live recruits."
Need work?
Then you've come to the right person!
Anyone can criticize Ed's Soul Returner from countless negative angles.
They lack manners, morality, principles, and a sense of boundaries, but who dares to say they have no sense of responsibility?
Just you wait and see!
"Grand Knight Commander, look here!"
A loud voice came, and the knight commander looked around and saw three militiamen already forming a "crowd" shape in the crowd. They were the ones who had just somersaulted over.
Moreover, the three of them together are very stable, and can even run quickly on level ground, like a small, rapidly moving sentry tower.
That's something...
He sighed inwardly, but another shout came at that moment:
"Grand Knight Commander, Your Excellency Grand Knight Commander!"
He looked again at the other side of the open space and saw a player using multiple vine appendages on his body to toss seven or eight wooden balls back and forth.
The female militia member moved so fast that she almost left a blur, making it look dazzling.
Even so, there was no obstruction between her hands and the multiple vine appendages. Although her strength was very limited, her ability to manipulate multiple appendages simultaneously was something that some people who had just entered the Middle Tier could not match.
"Grand Knight Commander, please look this way!"
Another loud voice rang out, and a militiaman pushed through the crowd to stand before the captain and the Grand Knight.
He slowly made a circular bow, then caused an Oil Vine to grow from his body.
As it grew longer, the Oil Vine gradually bent, eventually wrapping itself tightly around itself to form a tight vine loop.
The man took the Oil Vine off his body, hardened the bottom, and fixed it to a position one meter above the ground.
Just as the Grand Knight Commander was puzzled by the man's behavior, he saw him pull out two flints from his pocket!
"Crack!"
A small burst of sparks shot out, and the seemingly harmless Oil Vine ring from a moment ago instantly transformed into a deadly ring of fire.
What is he trying to do?
The Grand Knight Commander already had some guesses, but those guesses startled even himself.
Because the Tree Worship Church Theocracy is a power centered around a plant system, it has a certain degree of control over fire. In addition, since its people don't need to cook much, there is no need to start a fire.
Therefore, flint and steel are practically useless within the Tree Worship Church Theocracy, their value to them being no different from that of a bald monk's comb.
So the moment the flint appeared, the Grand Knight Commander's face was filled with astonishment.
What happened next was even more shocking—the militiaman looked back seven or eight steps from the circle of fire, then accelerated and stretched his body completely out in mid-air.
With a whoosh, and amidst the flickering flames, the person landed cleanly on the other side of the ring of fire.
He stood up, dusted himself off, and opened his arms to the stunned crowd.
"Clap, clap, clap."
[ Ginseng Rooster ] was the first to clap, even though he knew the players would have some unusual tricks up their sleeves, this was still a bit too different, wasn't it?
This is why there is no river flowing through the city around the open space where the militia is training; otherwise, [ Ginseng Rooster ] believes that someone would put themselves in a sack and stage a tiger crossing the river.
Seeing the captain clapping, the militiamen, who were witnessing such grueling work for the first time, joined in the applause.
Whether it was the three-person human pyramid, the ball toss, or the fire-jumping act, they were all amazing performances they had never seen before.
Seeing everyone start clapping, the Grand Knight, who was already unsure whether the problem lay with him or the militia, whispered to the [ Ginseng Rooster ] beside him:
"These people all look nice, can we take them?"
"Of course, since the archbishop has agreed, you can choose whatever you like."
"That's good."
The Grand Knight breathed a sigh of relief, secretly resolving to recruit these capable individuals into his Holy Crusaders Knight Order.
Is it absurd?
Yes, it certainly looks absurd.
But that was just talk.
In real life, who wouldn't want to watch a circus performance after a long day of physical and Alienation training?
The two reached an agreement, and the Grand Knight Commander began selecting personnel.
Led by several Soul Returner, and accompanied by some militiamen with outstanding physical abilities, they were eventually organized into a temporary squad. Amidst the envious gazes of the crowd, they headed towards the Holy Crusaders camp in the western district under the guidance of the Grand Knight.
Seeing that it was getting late, [ Ginseng Rooster ] decided to announce the end of training and have everyone return to their tents to rest.
Just then, another person entered the training ground and found [ the Ginseng Rooster ] who was counting the number of people.
He looked at the somewhat familiar middle-aged man and quickly recognized him.
Those were Archbishop Luorui'er's men, and not his men from the church, but servants of the Fitz Family.
"Did the archbishop want to see me about something?"
[ The Ginseng Rooster ] asked in confusion.
"Yes."
The Fitz family servants looked beaming.
"The Archbishop asked me to tell the Captain that your suggestion to motivate the militia through salaries makes a lot of sense. Therefore, he specifically asked me to bring some tree seeds. These are tax payments that didn't have time to be sent to the Holy City. Now that Black Pine City is cut off from the outside world, it's better to give them to you to make the most of them."
Although tree seeds are the exclusive currency of the Tree Worship Church and cannot be circulated in the Second Holy See, in order to appease the local NPCs who hoarded tree seeds, Ed specifically locked the exchange rate of one tree seed to one silver coin.
This price is actually quite fair, considering that a commoner who Tree Worship Church can only grow so many different kinds of trees each year.
However, with the rapid development of the Second Holy See and the increasing number of players, tree species, which have both monetary and blind box attributes, have gradually become scarce.
Therefore, its price has risen slightly, and currently, a piece in better condition can sell for about one silver and twenty copper coins.
Looking at the several huge wooden crates in the carriage being pulled by the Hoofed Beast behind him, [ Ginseng Rooster ] stared blankly for a moment.
This is... military spending?