Chapter 546: There Are Things Even More Terrible Than Humans

In Roland City in mid-June, the morning sun carried a trace of damp coolness, not as sweaty as at noon.

Under the towering dome of Saint Roland Cathedral, the air was filled with the scent of old incense and the grease of burning candles.

This is a sacred place of tranquility, its magnificence not inferior to Saint Clement Cathedral, but even so, the Empire people didn't look at this place squarely.

A thousand years ago, the Empire people and the Ryan people had no obvious difference, and even the Ryan people during the Isaac Dynasty were more civilized than the Empire people, and the sewers of Thunder City were built during that period.

It was just that I don't know from which year, the Ryan people became the barbarians of the Os Continent, and the Holy Light also inadvertently neglected this piece of land.

Prayer Hall.

King Xioden sat alone on an inconspicuous long bench, as if an old man who had come to seek redemption.

He wasn't holding a scepter in his hand, but was casually playing with a gold coin, his fingertips rubbing the worn-out patterns on it, as if he were smoothing out his own thoughts.

Beside him, a bitter monk wearing coarse cloth and hemp clothes was lowering his head, using a gray-black rag to wipe the accumulated dust on the candlestick.

His movements were very slow, and very light, as if he were a servant serving the gods. However, what came out of his mouth was the intelligence about the darkest corner of this country.

His name is Maliusi, he is the sharpest dagger under the king's robe, and also the leader of the "Gravediggers."

"I heard it's very lively in the south recently."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The monk wiping the candlestick spoke slowly, his soft voice like the rustling sound of a robe sweeping across stone steps.

"The Campbell Principality is building a novel thing called a 'railway,' which is said to be two parallel tracks, with steel monsters puffing white smoke running on them. Its speed is not as good as a warhorse, but it wins in endurance, crossing mountains and ridges as if walking on flat ground, and the supplies transported at one time can be worth several flat-bottomed cargo ships."

The gold coin turning in Xioden's hand stopped.

He turned his head slightly, a flash of unexpected color in his turbid pupils, but it soon turned into a playful cold snort.

"The child of my old friend always manages to come up with some novel little things..."

Maliusi said softly.

"I heard that's not a little thing, he shortened the time from Thunder City to Gladstone Castle to one-fifth of the original... or even shorter."

"Where have they built to?"

"Gladstone Castle."

"The territory of the Derick family."

"Yes."

The bitter monk stopped the action of wiping the candlestick, turned to look at the respected Majesty, and continued in a soothing voice.

"They completed the railway running through the north and south. According to their plan, the next step is to extend the railway to the northeast. The destination is the Spinor Earl Territory, or the undeveloped area further east."

"Spinor..."

Xioden gently chewed on this place name, revealing a thoughtful expression.

"If I remember correctly, that place seems to be close to the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, and is also the back garden of some... dirty things?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Maliusi nodded, speaking in a soft whisper, "Crossing the Spinor Earl Territory to the east is undeveloped wasteland, and to the north is the territory of the Rotten Meat Clan, although the sacrificial activities in the Twilight Province consumed their numbers, there are still quite a few left."

Rotten Meat Clan.

Chewing on this nostalgic name, Xioden fell into thought, his aging index finger gently rubbing on the armrest of the long bench.

That is the rat clan living in the underground and shadows, they are greedy, dirty, and forever in a state of hunger.

This group of little guys is like a plague entrenched on the border of the kingdom, even goblins look amiable compared to them... they are the nightmare of all lords.

But, it is not the king's nightmare.

On the contrary, they played the gardener in the king's back garden very well, eating the rotten leaves that fell on the ground, and pruning those wastes that absorbed the kingdom's nutrients but couldn't create any useful value.

And on the other hand, they can check and balance the Campbell people in the south, preventing them from obtaining minerals from the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and establishing excessive connections with the High Mountain Kingdom of the dwarves.

This is also the reason why the Lionheart Knights could destroy them in minutes, but didn't do so.

As for the difficulty of supply, being too short to drill in, and concerns about the relationship with the dwarves, those are all excuses that the old farmers of Ryan use to fool themselves. If humans want to fight the rat people, the dwarves will only be overjoyed, and their powerful old friend finally remembered them.

The dwarves of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain are even willing to be the vanguard to attack!

Guarding the "small" Brass Pass simply cannot reflect the full strength of the dwarves!

The church fell into a short silence, only the sunlight passing through the colored glass moving quietly, until Xioden's face was divided into light and dark halves.

A moment later, the elderly king sighed softly, his voice filled with the helplessness peculiar to a benevolent elder.

"Saint Xisi above... the people of Spinor have been living a difficult life recently."

That tone was as soft as if talking about today's weather, or the dishes for dinner.

Maliusi understood, a smile appearing on his serious face.

"Since it is forced by life, accidents are always inevitable."

Xioden didn't answer, just started turning the gold coin at his fingertips again. The gold coin turned in the dim light, just like the fickle gambling table of fate.

"Do it cleanly."

"As you command."

Maliusi lowered his head again, but after a moment remembered one thing, so he raised his lowered eyebrows.

"There is one more thing, Your Majesty."

"Speak."

"Commander Haigemo is on his way back to Roland City. It's just that... his team is much larger than when he set off."

Xioden's brows frowned slightly, a kind of annoyance like a rat entering the house, but he couldn't throw this rat out.

"What did he do again?"

"The Lionheart Knights intercepted several merchant caravans belonging to local nobles along the way in the name of 'wartime requisition,' obtaining a large amount of food and supplies."

Maliusi paused, "Of course, our knight commander didn't take these supplies for himself, but fulfilled the 'sacred and ancient' obligation, distributing them to the people of the kingdom. Now, those refugees you cleared out of Roland City are following behind his horse hooves like a snowball... the number is probably several tens of thousands."

Hearing this, the only trace of gentleness in Xioden's eyes vanished, replaced by the coldness pulled long by the corners of his eyes.

"This idiot!"

The king's voice suppressed anger.

He spent a lot of effort to drive that group of wastes out of the royal capital, letting that group of lowly garbage go to the countryside to fend for themselves, becoming the fertilizer for this piece of land.

But this great philanthropist Haigemo did well, bringing those several tens of thousands of beggars back!

Does he think there isn't enough gunpowder in Roland City?

"Do you want me to go and persuade him?" Ma Lusi asked tentatively, "If those refugees are allowed to enter the city again, I fear it will further worsen the security of Roland City... especially now that petty thieves are running rampant in the slums."

That was another piece of intelligence he probed through the lower lines of the Gravedigger organization, it is said that the things invented by the Campbell people are not just trains, but also created a new type of intelligence agency different from traditional intelligence agencies.

They no longer rely on informants within the royal family, but promote scouts from the professional army and mingle with the commoners of Roland City.

This is a very fresh thing for the Os Continent.

Although most royal families have their own intelligence systems, this set of systems is basically built around the palace, and this military-style intelligence system is two concepts, just the name is the same.

Xioden's mouth hooked into a cold smile.

"You go to persuade him? I advise you to save it, even I can't persuade him."

Maliusi didn't make a sound.

In this world where strength is supreme, transcendent power doesn't represent

With his strength, helping the king kill two people would be no problem, but persuading the famous "Radiant Knight" to turn back... was indeed a bit arrogant.

Xio Deng leaned back against the chair again and rubbed his brow wearily.

At this moment, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

This is the sorrow of being a mortal monarch.

In order to counter the increasingly bloated ecclesiastical power, the royal family had to rely on legendary powerhouses like Haigemo. However, that powerful individual might is a double-edged sword; it can sever the hand the Holy See reaches toward the throne, but it can also turn around and point at the royal court behind it.

Xio Deng looked at the compassionate statue of Saint Xisi directly in front of the cathedral, and a strong desire suddenly surged in his heart.

If only there existed a third type of transcendent power in this world.

It would be best if it had no thoughts, no morality, was not constrained by any form of rules, and could carry out the king's will to the end... just like the angel buried deep within the Holy See and descended upon the top of Dusk City!

If he could possess the power to summon angels, whether it was the arrogant Holy See, the disobedient knights, or those disgusting upstarts downstream of the Running River, they would all crawl at his feet!

In this way, all the problems currently faced by the Kingdom of Lei would no longer be problems!

Just then, a burst of hurried and messy footsteps came from outside the cathedral, interrupting Xio Deng's weary and annoyed thoughts.

Xio Deng waved his hand.

The monk standing by the candlestick nodded slightly and walked into the shadow under the candlestick without changing his expression, as if he had never been here from the beginning.

A few seconds later, the heavy door was pushed open.

A figure wearing a scarlet bishop's robe stumbled in.

The person who arrived was none other than Claude, the former court jester and today's Bishop of the Lei region.

He didn't even bother to straighten his slightly crooked high hat; as soon as he entered, his knees went soft, and he knelt heavily on the cold floor, his whole body almost pressed against the ground.

"Your Majesty..."

Claude's voice trembled, carrying obvious panic.

"Your subject is incompetent... please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Xio Deng was slightly taken aback, then made a wry expression on his face, rose from the bench, and walked to the door of the prayer hall.

"Bishop Claude, what are you doing? Get up quickly." He stretched out his aged and well-maintained hand and kindly supported Claude's trembling elbow.

The voice was as gentle as that of a true elder comforting a child of his own who had been wronged.

However, being supported by those hands, Claude cried even harder.

"Your Majesty... those people in the Shengcheng... they are simply rotten to the core!"

This Bishop of the Kingdom of Lei was sobbing without any decorum at this moment, his snot and tears smearing that face crisscrossed with wrinkles.

While wiping away his tears, he accused them angrily and aggrievedly.

"This group of clerics wearing holy robes! They are simply a bunch of vampires, truly rotten to the core! I wrote to them to clarify the situation in Roland City, begging them to open their purses and help us tide over the difficulties. However, this morning, a gray owl threw the letter at my window... they arrogantly and coldly rejected us! They wouldn't even cough up a single copper coin!"

Looking at the bishop who had cried his eyes red for the kingdom, Xio Deng sighed softly and reached out to help him straighten his crooked high hat.

"It seems... it is not just our empire that is corrupt; the Saint Clementine Cathedral is no longer that benevolent and inclusive Holy Court."

There was a hint of regret in the king's tone, as if he were lamenting the decline of that ancient Holy See in the distance, yet the lament was not very obvious.

At least he was not as heartfelt as the bishop; he didn't even shed a single tear.

"Do not be sad, Claude. Greed is the sin of the Pope and the Cardinals; I will not blame the innocent you for their greed."

Deep within those turbid eyes that seemed full of pity, there was only an indifference that had been expected all along.

Xio Deng was not surprised at all; he had never counted on the Shengcheng, far away in the distance, to spend money for the people of Roland City.

However, Claude's ridiculous performance art was not bad for him; at least it brought him a little good mood.

Only by letting the clerics of Roland City understand that the clerics of the Shengcheng had abandoned them would they unite more closely around his crown.

Hearing that His Majesty really did not blame him, Claude's violently heaving shoulders finally calmed down slowly.

He sniffed, wiped the tear stains on his face messily with his cuffs; although he still looked disheveled, there was finally some luster in his eyes.

"Your Majesty... what should we do?"

Having just stopped crying, Claude remembered those terrible rumors outside, and worry climbed onto his brow again.

"I hear people outside are all discussing... saying that the royal treasury is already empty, and even the mice don't want to go in. Others say that by this time next year at the latest, we won't even be able to pay the military pay for the guards..."

Xio Deng chuckled, a smile carrying contempt for the ignorance of mortals.

"What do they know."

There is always a group of guys in this kingdom who think they are clever, thinking they are amazing just because they have read two books, and that they know everything. Take guys like Baron Weikdun, for example, who quotes books all day long; he finds the demeanor of that accountant manager annoying just to look at.

And his Minister of Finance, playing number games with him all day, calculating how many copper coins the citizens of Roland City can earn in a month, calculating how much that is equal to in loaves of bread... Heh, the day he gets annoyed by his calculations, he will send this dog-thing to Saint Xisi to babble!

In the ancient land of knights, discussing economics is inherently a stupid thing; the power of the Devalu family does not come from those lowly people full of the stench of copper, but from the transcendence flowing in their blood vessels.

The Second Estate is the master of the kingdom; the rest are either the First Estate, which is shelved, or the Third Estate, which is a tool of production.

Seeing the contempt hidden behind those turbid eyes, Claude's shoulders couldn't help but tremble slightly, and a hint of panic appeared in his eyes again.

"But Your Majesty..."

"Listen, Claude, you don't have to listen to the chatter of those ants."

Xio Deng stretched out his hand and patted Claude's shoulder gently. The movement was soft and rhythmic, as if he were soothing a frightened pet.

He lowered his head and leaned into the bishop's ear, his voice like a leaky whistle.

"I am the king, and you are the bishop. We are not those merchants full of the stench of copper. That group of upstarts thinks that poverty can defeat us, not knowing how childish and ridiculous their own thoughts are... They will soon know how stupid they are, because our wealth has never been gold coins, nor silver coins and copper coins."

Claude swallowed his saliva.

"That is... what."

Looking at this foolish jester, Xio Deng smiled and spat out a cold word.

"People."

The morning sunlight not only illuminated the dome of the Saint Roland Cathedral but also crossed the curtains of the guest room in the Kelin Manor, illuminating Princess Ailin's quiet sleeping face.

Sure enough—

The bed at home is still the most comfortable to sleep in.

Her trembling eyelashes moved slightly, and Princess Ailin stretched like a little lion that had just woken up, yawning as she sat up from the bed.

Wash up.