On the fourth day, Roland summoned the fortress and the nobles near the fortress to the castle hall.

Even though most people knew the news, he felt he needed to stress to his face that the Westside had a new owner.

When he announced that he would return to the border town and leave the fortress in the custody of the eldest son of the Honeysuckle family, everyone immediately became dissatisfied. Of course, no one was willing to take the lead in expressing dissent at this time, the duke's head was still hanging high in the gates, and the news of Tifeco's defeat made it impossible for the speculators to do so with the help of external forces.

Except for the knights of the Honeysuckle family who were ransomed, none of the other captured knights would accept the ransom, and along with those mercenaries, they would be escorted back to the border town. In Roland's plan, the mercenaries were all sent to the mines for labor reform, and the knights were to be hired as appropriate after examining their repentant attitudes - after all, most knights were literate and could be used as teachers of universal education. Of course, in this life they will not be allowed to use weapons again.

In this way, the power of the Honeysuckle family will stabilize the four families, and the force in their hands will be basically enough to defend the fortress of Changge and their own earldom, Roland thought, as for the undercurrent surging under the water, that is something that Perot should worry about.

In the past few days, he has also taken the time to send his guards to arrest a group of officials who caused the residents of the border town to starve to death and freeze to death two years ago, including the Minister of Finance Ferreno, who will be judged by the people in the border town. The only regret is that Count Hiltai Dmide, the culprit who tried to burn the grain and grass and kill the greyhounds, died on the battlefield without trial.

Now, the traffic between Changge Fortress and the border town has been fully restored, and in the coming week, more than a dozen sailing ships will continue to transport goods and resources to the border town. Roland guessed that Barov would be busy next, receiving the money looted from the duke, and housing a large number of immigrants, and he didn't know if the temporary wooden shed he had built for Carl had been completed.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but want to return to the border town as soon as possible to preside over the upcoming farming business.

After entertaining the nobles and nobles for lunch, Roland was about to go for a nap, and the castle welcomed a special guest.

High Priest of Taylor at the Church of the Long Song Fortress.

Roland suddenly fell asleep.

Unlike the border towns, the church has been in the area for a long time, not only building a church, but also sending a high priest to be stationed there. This is the main reason why the prince decided to return to the border town to develop in peace - under the long-term indoctrination and influence of the church, any commoner may become their eyeliner, their plans for public participation will be restricted everywhere, and the risk of witches being discovered will increase exponentially. Unless the church is uprooted, his reform will not take an inch.

It is very normal for the church to pay close attention to the change of fortress lords, but Roland is strange that they can endure to send a representative to deal with him until today. However, the identity of the comer is not simple, the believer who serves as the high priest is already a high-ranking figure in the church, in charge of overseeing one side, and the territory under his jurisdiction is similar to that of a secular duke.

He met him in the lobby as usual.

High Priest Taylor was a middle-aged man, dressed in a church-style robe with blue trim on a white background, about forty years of age, dressed neatly and well-mannered, and spoke and behaved like a courteous nobleman. If it weren't for the ass sitting on the side of the witch and the royal family, I'm afraid that anyone who talks to such a person will be happy.

The High Priest must have carried a high-quality Divine Punishment Stone, and in order to avoid accidents, Roland specially told the nightingale to stay away from the other party's location before the meeting.

After Taylor's salute, Roland invited him to a seat and ordered his attendants to bring tea.

No matter what you think in your heart, you still have to do the superficial work in place.

"Your Royal Highness, I send my blessings on behalf of the Holy City," Taylor said with a smile on his face, "You have become a veritable Lord of the West, may the gods bless you." ”

"Thank you," Roland replied in a relaxed tone, "it seems that you don't care at all about me taking out Duke Lane and seizing the Fortress of Long Song." ”

"We rarely interfere in secular disputes, and as long as we make life better for the people, we are wise kings. The question of which family he was born into, or whether he came from the royal family, is not the focus of the Church. In fact, the promotion of the church is never based on status, I used to be the son of a farmer, and now I can also serve as the high priest in the church," he smiled, "I beg all due respect, Your Highness, I am afraid that no farmer's son can become a duke, right?"

If he revolts to overthrow the royal family, he can still be king. Roland thought so in his heart, but he didn't refute it, and changed the subject, "So you came here today just to send blessings?"

"Blessings are only part of the story, and I also bring cooperation. ”

"Cooperation?

"When it comes to expanding your territory and power, we can help you in any way we can. ”

"Wait......" Roland frowned, "and you said that the church rarely interferes in secular disputes. ”

"Rarely interfering is not the same as not interfering," said the High Priest calmly, "and now the battle between your brother Tifeko and Garcia, the daughter of the Three Kings, has made life difficult for the people of the South. As I said, if the world is allowed to live in peace and tranquility, the Church will recognize him as a respectable king. And you, exactly such a person. ”

Roland was stunned, was the other party expressing that he wanted to help him fight for the throne? He subconsciously asked, "Why?"

"You led the people of the border town against the evil beasts and survived the Demon Moon, which is a testament to your courage and ability. As you can see from the large amount of grain purchased in Willow Leaf Town, you don't want your people to starve and freeze, which is a sign of kindness. The combination of three noble qualities and the royal blood is why we chose you. ”

Roland didn't believe the other party's reasoning at all, but this statement at least proved that even when the border town was in a state of isolated land covered by heavy snow, the church was still watching this remote place.

"How can you help, send the Inquisitors to fight for me?"

"We also want to quell the war as soon as possible, but if we do so, it will arouse the disgust of most of the nobles, so we can only help in terms of materials," the high priest took out two pills from his arms, one red and one black, "This is the Holy City's Divine Prayer Room - that is, it is equivalent to the medicine made by your alchemy workshop, the red pill can temporarily give your subordinates great strength, and the black pill can increase their tolerance to pain, cold, and scorching several times." With this drug, your army will be unstoppable. And the church only charges the most basic production fee," he paused, "a hardware dragon." As for these two balls, they can be used as test samples as gifts to you to prove that what I said is true. ”

"What do you want in return? to expand the congregation and build churches in every territory?"

"That's all right, of course, but that's what we meant to do. As long as the people are at peace, they will naturally fall into the arms of God. ”

Roland accepted the pill, "It sounds amazing, but I have no plans to compete for the crown of the Grey Keep for the time being, whether it is Tifeko or Garcia, they are my closest blood, and I don't want to hurt them." ”

"I can understand," the high priest smiled, "but sometimes family affection can't stop the temptation of power, especially when you become a stumbling block in their way to power." The pills are just the beginning, there is so much more we can help with, and if you decide to take that step, feel free to come to me at church. At this point, he stood up and bowed, "I have brought the decision of the church, may the gods be with you, Your Highness." (To be continued.) )