Longsong Stronghold was completely different from Border Town, here the Church had already been rooted for a long time, they not only had a church, they have even dispatched a High Priest to this place. This was also the Prince’s main reason that he had decided to further develop Border Town rather than staying further in Longsong Stronghold — here the people were already under the influence of the church for a long time and any of the civilian could become their eyes. Here his plan to manipulate the people’s view would become complicated and the risk that the witches would be discovered would also become much higher. Unless he completely unrooted the Church, his reforms would never get a chance to work.
Paying attention to the replacement of the ruler of Longsong Stronghold is a normal thing for the Church, so Roland wasn’t too surprised that they would send him a representative to come into contact with him. However, the identity of the person they send was a bit special, as the High Priest of the Church he belonged to the most influential people of people, the area under his jurisdiction was of a similar size to that of a Duke.
Once more he decided to use the Grand Hall as the meeting place.
The High Priest Tylo seemed to be around 40 years old. He was dressed in the typical church-style with a with a white underrobe and a blue robe above it, giving him a very neat appearance and a behavior that was just like a courteous aristocracy. If he wasn’t a member of the royal family and allied with the witches, Roland believed that holding a conversation which such a person would have been a pleasure.
As the High Priest he had to be in possession of a high-quality God’s Stone of Retaliation, so in order to avoid any accidents, Roland specifically told Nightingale before the meeting, that she should stay away from him during it.
After Tylo gave him a salute, Roland invited him to sit at the table and ordered some tea.
No matter what he thought, he had to at least show a welcoming atmosphere on the surface.
“Your Royal Highness, I’m here as a representative of the New Holy City,” Tylo said with a smile, “You have become the veritable master of the Western territory, may God bless you.”
“Thank you,” Roland said in a relaxed tone. “You do not seem to care at all that I’ve gotten rid of Duke Ryan and taken over Longsong Stronghold.”
“We rarely intervene in secular disputes, as long as the people can live a good life, he has to be a good ruler. So in which family he was born, or if he belonged to the royal family, it is not important to the Church. In fact, I think the church is much more open minded in this respect, previously I was only a farmer’s son, and now I have became a High Priest,” he smiled. “Excuse me, my Lord, but I don’t believe that a mere farmer could become a Duke, right?”
If he launched an uprising to overthrow the royal family, he can even become the King. Roland thought, so he never spoke it out, instead, he went straight for the topic, “So why did you come today, was it only to deliver the blessing?”
“The blessing was only part of what I have come for, I also want to offer a cooperation between us.”
“Cooperation? What kind of cooperation?”
“We would help you with whatever you need to expand your territory or your forces.”
“Hold on…” Roland frowned. “You just said that the Church rarely intervenes in secular disputes.”
“Rarely intervention doesn’t mean no intervention,” said the High Priest, still casually. “I have said that as long as the people in this world have a smooth and peaceful life, we will not intervene. But the struggle between your brother Timothy and your third sister Garcia has resulted in widespread poverty throughout the south. In the beginning, we thought that Timothy deserved it and would become a respected King, but now we think he isn’t any longer worthy, you are such a man.”
Roland got a thoughtful look, it seems the Church has the desire to help me fight for the throne. He subconsciously asked. “Why?”
“You lead the people of Border Town to resist the demon beasts, and spend the whole Months of the Demons with them in Border Town, this all proves your courage and ability. And from the large amount of food you purchased from Willow Town everyone can see do not want your people to starve, which shows your kindness. With this you have the three grandeur characteristics a noble should have, furthermore, you are even of royal blood. All this are the reason why we chose you.
Roland didn’t believe one word the High Priest said, but at least it proved that, even if Border Town was at the edge of the country and was an independent island-state during the winter, they were still under the close watch of the church.
“How would you help? Would you dispatch an Army of Judges to fight for me?”
