Chapter 176: Scenery by the Riverside

Sinuoli laughed out loud upon hearing this; he truly did not have much affection for the Goddess of the Lake, Lilisi. This Elven god and her chief sycophant, Teclis, had essentially detonated the entire Order side during the End Times, to the point where even the grudge entries of the Mother Goddess Valaya could indirectly account for her.

The Lord of Undeath, Nagash, had three parts of his eventual resurrection credited to Lilisi; she once had the idea of letting Nagash raise an army of the dead to resist Chaos. Although Nagash rejected her alliance to fight Chaos together, he still followed the part of the plan regarding his return to the Mortal World.

"Tell me, my unconventional Bretonnian friend, won't you face immense pressure by doing this? I fear there are quite a few 'chivalry-sufferers' in your duchy who wish to be rid of you," Sinuoli said, expressing his concern after he finished laughing.

"In other duchies, perhaps, but in Bordeleaux, those who support me are not few; they may even be the majority!" Kangsitanting pulled out his wine flask and took another drink.

"The nobles and commoners along the coast, their wealth is almost entirely derived from the sea—trade, fishing, salt-making, and so on. And my god, Mannan'en, will not accept infidelity in faith!"

Sinuoli heard something beyond mere piety in Kangsitanting's words, and he had an inkling of what it was. Unlike the Mountain Kingdom, where gods do not manifest and clans are bound by guilds, human society had gods capable of manifesting their grace at any time.

Church powers, formed with the shared belief in gods as a bond, had become organizations that restricted the rights of feudal lords. These churches and lords competed with one another, yet they were also inextricably intertwined.

Within the scope of the entire Old World, the largest and most influential were undoubtedly the Sigmar Cult and the faith in the Lady of the Lake, but other gods also had their own spheres of influence. Different sects were also in constant struggle for various interests.

It was not convenient for the two who had just met to talk too deeply; after exiting the range of the Grey Mountains, Sinuoli climbed down from the Doom Anvil and remounted his golden Rock Sheep.

With the life experiences of his past life, he still had some resistance to being a "superior person" in the literal sense, not to mention that being this kind of superior person was neither comfortable nor safe.

The pace of the entire army was fast; they passed through the territory of the narrow Mengtefute Gongguo in a forced march with almost no rest.

A resilient race like the Dwarfs was accustomed to this method to compensate for the difficulty of their short legs and small strides, and the few Humans accompanying them were no ordinary folk either; they were either masters of martial arts or possessed divine grace, so they could hold up for a short time.

On one hand, saving lives was as urgent as putting out a fire; on the other, there was not much baggage—no longer protecting a large number of cargo wagons for a caravan, Sinuoli felt the march of the troop was like a weight-trainer taking off the sandbags from their legs.

After a day of marching, Sinuoli and his legion arrived at the natural border between Mengtefute Gongguo and Basituonie Gongguo—the banks of the Gelisimeili He.

Sinuoli whistled as he looked at the great river before him. Since coming to this world, he had almost always been active in the Qunshan; this was his first time entering human territory, and the first time he had seen such a surging river.

It is said that the benevolent find joy in mountains, and the wise find joy in water. Having transmigrated into such a world with dark and cruel tones, Sinuoli asked himself if he could not be "benevolent," then being a wise man would also be quite good.

"The Gelisimeili He is the largest river in Bretonnia; she originates from Aisuoluolun Senlin and flows all the way to the marshes of Muxilong to enter the sea!" Kangsitanting's voice rang out.

"Ho! Does the Authority of Mannan'en also cover the basin of freshwater rivers?" Sinuoli nodded inwardly as he listened to Kangsitanting's introduction. Outside the territory of the Mountain Kingdom, his advisor Balin could not be of much use, and Sinuoli needed to obtain information through other channels.

"My god's believers include sailors, boatmen, pirates, and everyone who makes a living on the water everywhere; they all revere Him. You wouldn't think that the one in the freshwater lake would protect these poor people, would you?" Kangsitanting joked again.

"As far as I know, in Bretonnia, the worship of the Lady of the Lake is mainly aimed at the nobility, while the peasants generally believe in the Goddess of Mercy, Shaliya, or other gods!" Sitelinge also walked forward, surrounded by his Hammer Guard.

Just as Sinuoli wondered why this Rune Smith understood these things, he continued.

"There isn't a single peasant family willing to live more than a few minutes' walk from a Shaliya Shenkan. Recently, a custom has become popular rapidly; many nobles have also started donating to build a small Shaliya Shenkan near the Shengbei Jiaotang."

Sinuoli nodded upon hearing this; this Prince, who was being groomed as an heir, did indeed pay some attention to the pillar industry of Weifengbao—stonemasonry. In all of Bretonnia, the only buildings worth, or rather, capable of hiring Dwarf stonemasons, were the castles of Knight nobles and the churches or Shenkan of the gods.

"Let's go, let us cross the river and rest on the territory of Basituonie Gongguo!" Kangsitanting led his horse forward and beckoned. "My duchy has a better relationship with Basituonie; on the way here, I already greeted Duke Fengdaiyike in advance!"

Sinuoli had no objections; since Dwarf settlements in Bretonnia only appeared in a Duke's castle, it was the same wherever they spent the night now.

After obtaining Sinuoli's consent, Kangsitanting sent two Knights of the Sea to ride ahead, and then the main force began to cross the bridge slowly.

"Wait! There is something in the water!" This was the voice of Buluokesen. Relying on his monocle, which never left his person, he keenly noticed a huge black shadow under the bridge in the sunset glow.

"Set your mind at ease! My Dwarf friend," Kangsitanting's voice came from the front.

"There are plenty of dirty things in the Gelisimeili He; her slow current means that creatures can easily swim to the upper reaches of the river, whether they are monsters from the sea or undead from Muxilong. However, those things are not stupid either; with so many of us, they will not seek their own deaths!"

These words convinced the warriors in the troop; such a force could already be called a great army. If necessary, they could capture most of the castles in Bretonnia except for a Duke's residence, and no species with the ability to think would come to ask for trouble.

Across the bridge was a human town; she had a sturdy stone wall on the side along the river. This small town clearly did not have enough guest rooms to house so many Dwarfs, so Sinuoli's troops could only choose to camp in the wild.

After sending the quartermaster into the city to purchase ingredients for dinner, Sinuoli sat in his tent and spread out the map. Before, there was only one road to choose, but now, how to cross Basituonie needed to be discussed.