[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing":3,"chapter-the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-chapter-23":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Holy Church Begins with Bestowal of Blessings",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1688744,2156,"Chapter 23 : I Shall Initiate a War of Conquest","the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-chapter-23",23,"\u003Cp>Chapter 23: I Shall Initiate a War of Conquest\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't understand your meaning,\" said Corleon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't be nervous, I come with goodwill,\" Pegiraov's voice was unhurried.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But Priest Corleon, are you sure you want to discuss these matters under the Lord's Throne?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, Pegiraov seemed even more devout than Corleon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corleon hesitated slightly but still bowed slightly and gestured with his hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Please follow me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corleon led Pegiraov to a side room used for storing miscellaneous items, keeping his eyes on the other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pegiraov paid no attention to the narrowness and messiness of the place, casually sitting on a wooden box.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The naturally exuded aura made Corleon feel as if he were in a royal palace, meeting a noble emperor, even in this storeroom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking a deep breath to shake off such thoughts, Corleon spoke solemnly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course, I desire what you mentioned—a larger church, more servants of the Lord, so that the Lord's glory can be admired by more believers—but this is not permitted by the lord.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You may only have one priest and one attendant; your church must be enclosed and sturdy, not needing to be beautiful or spacious, because during wartime, the church is to become a fortress for the garrison.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You are to comfort the hearts of the people, to perform funerals for the dead, to ensure that there are no more orphans in my territory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This is what you should do because you do not engage in production, and this is also the gospel the lord grants you; you should be thankful for this every day.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you do not want the gospel I give you, then you will receive a visit from knights, and you will become commoners who labor all day.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corleon recited the words he had heard from the old priest; these were the lord's decrees regarding the church.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never thought to touch the red line of the lord's decrees; he had never thought to test whether his body or a knight's sword was sharper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He is afraid, he is terrified; he needs the existence of the church because people need faith; he fears the existence of the church because faith can erupt with a power that terrifies him,\" Pegiraov said calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Therefore, he allows the existence of the church, and therefore, he limits the development of the church.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Helvin is old now; I still remember when I traveled to York Town, I saw him from afar—like a lion, wearing sturdy armor, holding a sharp longsword, riding on a strong horse.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Warriors cheered for his bravery, and women swooned for his charm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"At that time, he was a brave man; he feared no challenge.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But now he is old; he is afraid; he doesn't even dare to raise a flag and declare a conquest against me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He even used the excuse that his daughter was insulted to send a pitiful knight to test me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Priest Corleon, do you know, I have only one child, and he is now thirty-two years old; he is a dull person. When he was twenty, I married him to the most beautiful girl, but five years passed, and his wife was still a virgin.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I love him; I can endure his dullness, but I cannot accept that he has no offspring, so I obtained a magical potion made from the essence of a dragon.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I hoped he could truly grow up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I had his beautiful wife set aside her reserve and take the initiative to please him. After three years of this, he finally had a child.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His beautiful wife couldn't endure such a life and left him, returning to her hometown.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But he didn't feel sad about it; those three years made him afraid of being with women, so his wife's departure made him especially happy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He had long been disgusted with such a life, but because I, his father, wanted him to do so, he silently endured for three years.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And such a child of mine was slandered by Helvin as having offended his Mary.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Priest Corleon, do you know, his Mary is almost forty, and her body is three times the size of my child.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She has had seven husbands, each of whom died in bed, their internal organs crushed out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He is insulting me; he is insulting the honor of the Lundex Family,\" said Pegiraov, his voice filled with anger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the first time Corleon felt Pegiraov's emotional fluctuation; he felt his legs go numb, his heart as if tightly gripped, the air solidifying, making it hard to breathe, a feeling of suffocation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was afraid; even the small bits of information about the nobility revealed in Pegiraov's words did not alleviate his fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corleon seemed to perceive his body's instinctive reactions from a third-person perspective.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Apologies, Priest Corleon, my anger made me lose composure,\" Pegiraov's voice pulled Corleon's thoughts back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...Being slandered and insulted, anger is justified,\" Corleon subconsciously exhaled, his throat moving slightly as he spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, I am very angry, extremely angry, so I have decided to make Helvin pay the price,\" Pegiraov said seriously, looking into his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But the war has already ended, and you have signed a ceasefire treaty in York Town,\" Corleon said cautiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ended? Yes, of course, it's ended, and I even gave him five thousand gold coins and a full suit of plate armor as war reparations,\" Pegiraov said, even smiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Corleon was shocked by this compensation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not because of the money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although five thousand gold coins is a lot, compared to the full plate armor, it's nothing; this is something that money can't necessarily buy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Full plate armor is not the armor that Knight Borien wore as a knight, but a full set of plate armor forged from hundred-times-refined steel, paired with fine internal chainmail and the innermost tough beast leather armor; this three-in-one constitutes a full suit of plate armor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lightest full plate armor weighs over a hundred pounds; ordinary knights cannot wear it for long-term combat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the most precious aspect of full plate armor is the enchantments by mages, which can protect the knight inside and reduce damage from magic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If among the knights from York Territory who went to crusade against the necromancer, there had been one wearing such a full suit of plate armor, there would never have been a situation where three knights died.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A knight wearing full plate armor alone could slaughter four necromancers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes, a full suit of plate armor; if Priest Corleon is interested, I can give you one later,\" Pegiraov said nonchalantly, seeing Corleon's expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tone was as relaxed as giving away a piece of bread.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, please forgive me for refusing; this is too precious,\" Corleon said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, if Priest Corleon needs it later, feel free to tell me,\" Pegiraov didn't insist and returned to the topic of war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Although a ceasefire agreement has been signed, that was just the war between York Territory and the Lundex Territory.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And soon, I will launch a war of conquest against York Territory,\" Pegiraov said lightly, without a trace of emotional fluctuation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing this, Corleon's first reaction was a bit of confusion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A lord saying he would proactively launch a war against a viscount—anyone hearing this would think the person was crazy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But looking at the other's calm expression, recalling the fear that froze his body just from the other's anger, and the casual offer of a full suit of plate armor...\u003C\u002Fp>",1246,"2026-06-06T13:52:13.653Z",1,"novelbin.me","a65106d1f896a117597f7e92f265811087c15a2188a7de5436c006a8b2b2d34a","the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-chapter-372","the-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-chapter-371",373,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-holy-church-begins-with-bestowal-of-blessing-cover.jpg"]