When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#268 - The Salvation Army must be destroyed!

Inside the Jeanne d'Arc City Hall.

Ancient stone bricks formed the walls, adorned with Western-style royal tapestries depicting the heroic deeds of the Laya royal family.

The accompanying cleric, Rohak, stood expressionlessly behind Argon, while the dozing old bishop's beard repeatedly dipped into his water glass.

Visibly, iridescent oil slicks and skin flakes floated in the water.

To the old bishop's left, Montaigne crossed his legs, a faint smile on his lips, while Beaulieu, the Northerner, sat rigidly upright.

"Hmph!"

Whenever their eyes met, Montaigne would snort coldly, and Beaulieu would quickly turn his head away as if seeing something disgusting.

The snort woke Argon, who blinked hard and dazedly drained the oily water in one gulp.

Seeing the two men looking ready to draw swords, Argon frowned, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

For him, the position of Bishop of Jeanne d'Arc, though a promotion, was truly a thankless task.

On one side was the rebellion in Rapid Falls, on the other, the rebellion in Coldspring Fortress, and nearby was the Savior Army, inexplicably antagonized by the Pope.

He was basically semi-retired, and the only reason he remained within the Church was to clean up his messes and protect his descendant monks.

Yes, Argon, a monk forbidden from having offspring, needed to protect his descendants.

The Empire's social and medical standards meant that even nobles couldn't guarantee their children would survive to adulthood or that all their offspring would live.

Therefore, to ensure their family lineage continued, Imperial nobles had many children as insurance.

The Empire's established primogeniture law was mainly effective in core areas and among the high nobility.

In other regions far from the Pope's reach, like Norn, equal inheritance was still prevalent, dividing family property into ever smaller portions.

Ultimately, the Church became a good place to settle surplus noble children, especially since cathedrals offered many lucrative and well-compensated positions.

If the family heir died, these clerics could return to secular life and inherit the family property without delay.

Huannuo once sharply criticized this as "feigned piety, future repentance."

The further one was from the "center of civilization," the more the Church was controlled by local nobles. For example, in the Norn region, the Pope had almost only the right of confirmation, not investiture.

So, although Argon, as a monk, was not allowed to marry and have children, he was already a third-generation churchman.

"Archbishop Constance asked me to bring you a message," Argon smelled faintly of alcohol, but it was much better than before.

"What message?"

"The Savior Army must be suppressed at all times. There's no way around it." Argon set the tone for the meeting, confirming the issue of whether to fight or not. "Only by eliminating this rebel army can you free up your hands to deal with the Rapid Falls situation."

Montaigne glanced at Beaulieu, intending to refuse as usual, but he remembered the pigeon that had arrived from France yesterday.

The French, through Duke Cush, mainly wanted to plant a thorn in Thousand River Valley, cooperating with Grandival to create trouble for the current Laya Church.

For the Kingdom of France, successfully sending Royal Knights to Jeanne d'Arc through this channel was a victory.

As long as the Royal Knights could legitimately station themselves in Jeanne d'Arc, a constant stream of French and Elven merchants would turn it into a dumping ground for goods.

With military guarantees and economic control, over time, it would become a de facto extraterritorial city of the Kingdom of France.

For the Laya Kingdom, with its loose grassroots control, this unscrupulous method was very effective.

According to Lord Lorenzo's letter, their primary goal was to muddy the waters of Thousand River Valley and trap Prince Condé there.

"Lord Beaulieu, what do you think?" Montaigne asked, looking at Beaulieu with a smile that wasn't a smile.

"They will not actively attack," Beaulieu replied in a deep voice, "at least not before mid-March."

"Why?"

"I received information that Duchess Melia sent mountain knights from the County of Nos to support them.

Now they occupy Ash Hearth Town but are not advancing, probably waiting for the support of those knights."

Beaulieu was certain that the other side would not initiate an attack; they were not as easy to deal with as the country knights of the Yvette Plains.

Almost every Edict Knight could overcome the so-called fear of charging.

Because even if they fell from their horses, they wouldn't die with the protection of supernatural power.

In the end, it wasn't a question of winning or losing, but of how to maximize profits.

Especially since the knights of the Edict Legion had all taken a share of Duke Cush's manor and property.

"Then why don't you, Beaulieu, lead the Edict Legion directly out of the city and wipe them out? Are you afraid of them?" Pulling at his shirt collar, Montaigne revealed his hairy chest.

Beaulieu looked at him coldly: "I'm not afraid, I'm afraid of what you'll do while I'm gone."

"Would I take advantage of your departure to seize Jeanne d'Arc? Am I such a vile person?"

"Hard to say."

"You… Fine, if you don't go, I won't go either." Taking out a silver flask from his pocket, Montaigne took a sip indifferently, "My lord only gave me the order to garrison; I'm here to protect French merchants. As long as the Savior Army doesn't attack French merchants, I won't fight."

"But these damned short hairs are plundering our nobles everywhere; they have burned down a large number of monasteries and knights' manors and assets," Argon tapped the table to express his dissatisfaction.

The city hall fell silent, Montaigne and Beaulieu stared at each other without speaking, and even the sound of the attendant swallowing saliva was so clear.

"How about this, Beaulieu? Bishop Constance has given me full authority to handle this. You can go to war with peace of mind." Argon, who usually avoided taking responsibility, gritted his teeth in a rare move. "I don't mean to offend you, but if Mr. Montaigne really encroaches on your interests in Jeanne d'Arc, come to our Church, and we will compensate you."

If he had known that this group of Savior Army could make such a big splash, he shouldn't have been loafing around and trying to smooth things over.

Beaulieu turned his body in surprise: "Bishop, are you serious?"

"Absolutely compensate you if Mr. Montaigne really does that." Argon turned his head and looked directly at Montaigne, "If you really do that, the Lonsdale family will forever become the enemy of the Dolak family."

Montaigne sat up straight and laughed, "How is that possible? Even if we want this city, we have to follow the basic laws."

After a long silence, Beaulieu nodded: "Alright, but please give me some time; it's spring plowing season now, don't affect the estate's harvest next year."

Argon coughed softly: "May I make a suggestion that I don't know if it's foolish?"

"Please speak."

"During the spring plowing season, the farmers are all planting, but the city residents have nothing to do. Why not recruit a batch of city soldiers and let those knights from the Yvette Plains lead them to wipe out the Protectorate Army?"

"What do you mean?" Beaulieu asked in a deep voice.

Argon steadied himself: "Send those country knights to attack the Protectorate Army. If the Savior Army comes to rescue, we can lure them out of Ash Hearth Town and annihilate them in one fell swoop.

If they don't come to rescue, kill and expel all those Protectorate Army soldiers, and take them away as slaves, so that no one dares to join the Savior Army.

Otherwise, with the current rate of the Protectorate Army's spread, it might disrupt the spring recruitment.

What do you think of this plan?"

"It can slightly harass the Savior Army." Montaigne sat up straight, "However, they will at most send out one or two companies, uh, they call them legions, haha."

"Killing their spirit is also good." Beaulieu stood up, "Then let's do it."