Chapter 216: The Believer Laidun

Turning the page, the first batch of supplies prepared by the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce for the development of Daxia Territory appeared—grain, herbs, clothing, tools, and so on.

Seeing the final price, Xia Duo breathed a slight sigh of relief; it was only a few hundred Gold Coins, though the grain was only coarse flour, with no meat, oil, salt, or anything of the sort.

It looked like it was for commoners to eat.

Turning the page again, the development plan followed. Xia Duo looked it over roughly; in its general direction, it did not differ much from his own plan, only some details that Xia Duo, not being a native, found hard to consider, were written here.

Seeing that Xia Duo had finished reading all the Documents, Lady Patti asked, "My Lord, is the plan feasible?"

"It is. For now, let's prepare according to this. Once we reach the Territory, we can adjust if there are any changes." Xia Duo returned the Documents to Yarman and added, "If possible, prepare some crossbows."

"This—"

Lady Patti looked somewhat troubled. "My Lord, if it were just ordinary weapons, the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce could still obtain them, but crossbows are a Territory monopoly; others cannot interfere."

In fact, it was more than that; the Liyadun Chamber of Commerce was not an ordinary chamber of commerce. What it sold were not physical goods, but rather the connections with Konnifila City. It was only because of some recent changes that Lady Patti had the intention to transform.

All the supplies shown to Xia Duo before were purchased temporarily; to have gathered these in such a short time of two or three days was already no easy feat.

Facing Lady Patti's explanation, Xia Duo was speechless, yet he was also glad that it was Savile Territory; here, he could still gather most of the supplies, and even the population.

If he were to develop near Kangqi City as designated by the Princess, not only would the wilderness be dangerous, but he would also receive no support nearby, which would be too difficult.

"Right." Xia Duo suddenly remembered, "What about those 20 new residents? Where are they now?"

If nothing went wrong, these people would be his first core team.

"My Lord, the Chamber of Commerce has arranged for people to teach them how to survive in the forest, how to fight, and how to farm. If you wish to see them, I will have them come over immediately," Yarman said hurriedly.

"No, no rush. Train them well; the most important thing is obedience!"

"My Lord, those people are mostly porters from the docks; they are the most hardworking and obedient to orders."

"I hope so." Xia Duo did not say more.

If those people were truly that hardworking and obedient, they wouldn't have thought about following him to develop a new Territory. It was just the change in status that made Xia Duo require their obedience.

Next, while waiting for Cleric Laidun, Xia Duo and Yarman began to discuss the problems that would be encountered in the development of the Territory.

He discovered that this Yarman was truly a capable person; if Lady Patti were not present, he would have wanted to recruit him directly.

But there would be plenty of time in the future; there would always be an opportunity.

……

Xia Duo and Steward Yarman were talking very congenially. Before long, Lady Patti's butler ran in, panting, "Mage, My Lady, Cleric Laidun has arrived."

As soon as the words were spoken, Xia Duo saw a sturdy young man trot in from the manor entrance. Looking at his attire, he did not look like a Cleric at all, but rather like an Adventurer.

He was wearing a set of old Leather Armor, with a one-handed sword hanging at his waist.

However, on the front of the Leather Armor, Xia Duo saw the Holy Emblem of the Lord of Radiance, and in his Magic Vision, this person trotting toward him was enveloped in a layer of Holy Light.

It was very similar to Bishop Anbulier whom Xia Duo had seen before, only the density of the Holy Light was different.

He really was a Cleric!

Xia Duo hurriedly stood up, walked out of the villa, and went to greet him, while Lady Patti and Yarman followed closely behind; in any case, people from the Temple should not be slighted.

"You are Mage Xia Duo? My future liege?" Cleric Laidun, who had trotted over, had steady breathing, but the words he spoke surprised Xia Duo greatly.

Joining Daxia Territory just like that? But I haven't agreed yet! Xia Duo first bowed to show respect to the servant of the Lord of Radiance, and only then said:

"Cleric Laidun, I heard you want to participate in the development of Daxia Territory?"

"Yes, My Lord!" Cleric Laidun said earnestly.

"No, wait a moment." Xia Duo hurriedly interrupted him. "Daxia Territory doesn't even exist yet! You don't need to call me Lord. Also, why do you want to participate in the development of Daxia Territory? Isn't Savile Territory also developing? Why choose me?"

Cleric Laidun's expression turned solemn, and his face glowed with Holy Light. "My Lord is the Lord of Radiance, the Lord of Order. What could be more pleasing to my Lord than establishing laws from nothing!"

Hearing this last sentence, Xia Duo's hair stood on end. How did this sound familiar? If one added "breaking the old order" before "establishing order," it would sound even more familiar.

This was practically a standard slogan for rebellion!

But fortunately, Xia Duo had read the "Sacred Proverbs of the Lord of Radiance" quite a few times, so he knew a little about the Doctrine of the Lord of Radiance.

It did not contain "breaking the old order," only establishing order and maintaining order; in a narrow sense, it meant maintaining the ruler's governance.

As for whether the ruler was competent, it did not care.

The "Proverbs" clearly mentioned "obeying the law," "do not doubt the decisions of superiors," "sincerely serve superiors," and so on.

All things considered, if it weren't for such a Doctrine, it probably wouldn't be so popular in Netheril.

Even though Spellcasters were already the absolute rulers of the Empire, the Faith in the Magic Goddess was far less widespread than that of the Lord of Radiance.

Almost from top to bottom, even in a small village in a remote area, there might be an Altar to the Lord of Radiance.

Having figured out that this Cleric Laidun was a believer in the Lord of Radiance, Xia Duo's worries lessened significantly; the more devout a person was, the more one could manipulate them through their principles.

Of course, one couldn't go too far; one had to grasp the other's state of Faith and understanding of the Doctrine, otherwise, if the other party thought he was an obstacle to order and delivered a righteous Judgment, it would be a tragedy.

Fortunately, this possibility was extremely small; at least in the books in the Mage Tower, Xia Duo had never seen any ruler killed by a Cleric of the Lord of Radiance.

On the contrary, countless had died to maintain order and the ruler's governance.

To put it bluntly, Xia Duo was just worried that the other party's Faith was not deep; if he was a devout believer, then there would be no problem.

If he were just an ordinary cleric who had snuck into the team, or even one without the power of Divine Magic, then Xia Duo certainly wouldn't want him; adding one such ordinary person would be of no benefit to the overall situation, and losing one Temple person could save a lot of trouble.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Temple had authority, and the Temple was indeed a good helper for a ruler to govern the people, but if they went against the ruler, that would not be good.

And confirming that Cleric Laidun possessed the power of Divine Magic, and that it was unlikely he would lie in front of the Holy Light, a smile finally appeared on Xia Duo's face.

He looked at Laidun's firm gaze and liked him more the more he looked. With Laidun, during the development, he could popularize the ruler's authority to the residents, provide healing for the wounded, and also participate in battle.

This was practically an all-around model worker delivered to his doorstep!

Xia Duo took Laidun's wrist and invited him into the living room. "With the addition of Cleric Laidun, the development of Daxia Territory will surely be even smoother!"