"Commander-in-Chief, you are different from what I imagined."
Looking at the somewhat frail-looking "woman" standing opposite him, Todd scratched his head, momentarily at a loss for words as to how to address her.
"Mr. Dion?"
"Miss Dion?"
After thinking for a while, Todd omitted the form of address, looked at the other person's simple women's clothing, and said hesitantly, "You are somewhat different from what I expected..."
With a headache, Tristan glanced at the two staring at each other and squeezed between them, saying to Todd, "Let's find a place. I have something very important to discuss, and we need to talk alone."
The latter glanced at the knight dressed as a woman and nodded.
The two arrived at the church's chapel and closed the door.
Tristan began by asking a question: "On my way here, I heard that you recently took in the Queen of the Silver Ring Kingdom and a rebellious army?"
Todd admitted that it did happen.
Tristan lowered his chin and pondered for a moment: "If I had known about this earlier, perhaps I would have brought some soldiers with me this time."
Todd, somewhat puzzled by the other's words, asked, "I saw the church delegation's entourage. Didn't you bring a troop of soldiers with you?"
Tristan rubbed his temples, a headache forming. "No, they aren't soldiers..."
The man then explained the events of the "Disaster of Truth" to the Grand Master of the Knights.
As Todd listened to the introduction, his eyes widened, and he finally stammered, "You...you mean, the soldiers you brought were just a bunch of students from the academy?"
Tristan closed his eyes and nodded gently.
Todd took a long breath, closed his eyes helplessly, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
In fact, Muxi Town is practically a haven for fugitives...
Serfs fleeing the nobility, persecuted barbarians, a queen condemned as a harbinger of disaster, and traitorous deserters—now, a group of students labeled as heretics have arrived. Most ironically, these people live on church lands and receive the protection of the Knights of the Papacy.
Todd opened his eyes and said, "When I saw your letter a few days ago, I thought you had brought reinforcements to Twilight Town..."
Then, he sat up straight, his face solemn, and recounted the recent events that had occurred in Muxi Town.
The young deacon stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and then said, "That commander from the Southern Legion was right about one thing. Even without the defection, Muxi Town would have been attacked. However, due to insufficient information, his analysis may not have been comprehensive. Next, I'll tell you some information I just learned, and it's very important!"
Tristan first explained the situation around Muxi Town to Todd: "According to the sacred covenant between the Church and many secular countries, no kingdom may engage in any form of trade with the northern barbarians. However, according to the Church's investigation, the Silver Ring Kingdom secretly conducted several large-scale transactions with the barbarian tribes several months ago, exchanging weapons and armor for a large amount of gems and gold dust from the barbarians."
"Because of a lack of valid evidence, the Church had to use the Holy Guard City to exert military pressure on Silver Ring City, while simultaneously sending an envoy to negotiate, using both soft and hard tactics to demand that they immediately cease such actions. They even stated that if Silver Ring City continued in this manner, the Holy Guard City would not hesitate to seize the strongholds and disrupt the trade routes to the north." Tristan tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, his expression grave. "At the same time, according to reliable sources, the barbarians and the pirates of the northern islands have signed a ceasefire agreement and may form a temporary alliance."
Tristan moved closer to Todd and asked in a low voice, "Do you know what this means?"
Todd processed the information provided by the other party in his mind.
I. In order to alleviate the domestic fiscal crisis, the Silver Ring Kingdom began to trade with the northern barbarians.
Second, the Church and the Holy City used both soft and hard tactics to force Silver Ring City to immediately cease trade with the barbarians, and claimed that they would not hesitate to use war to destroy the trade routes.
Third, the northern barbarians formed a temporary alliance with the pirates of the northern islands, opening up sea routes.
Combining the above three points, Todd came to a conclusion that left him drenched in cold sweat.
Since the trade routes between Silver Ring City and the northern barbarians could be cut off by the army of Holy Guard City at any time, the former two needed to find a safer new trade route to stay away from the threat of war; and the temporary agreement between the barbarians and the pirates opened up a perfect passage for this trade route - the sea.
However, this sea route still has one major problem to solve – Muxi Town.
Located at the strategic juncture of the west coast, Muxi Town faces Wailing Island across the sea and is surrounded by open plains. By simply stationing a cavalry unit in the town, no trading caravan can travel safely under its nose.
Therefore, for Silver Ring City and the barbarians, the existence of Twilight Town was like a thorn in their side, something they had to get rid of.
Having figured everything out, Todd sat down in his chair, looked at the young deacon opposite him, and suddenly said, "You mean to say that Twilight Town is in the vortex of war? And I suspect that the Church actually wants Twilight Town to be drawn into the war. In wars between secular kingdoms, the Church only has the power to mediate, but it is inconvenient to directly participate. But if Twilight Town, this territory of the Church, is attacked, the Church will gain a reason—the best reason for the Church's army to set foot in the secular kingdoms with impunity. Therefore, the Church uses Twilight Town as bait, a pretext for war. To the Church, we are nothing more than dispensable pawns in a plan."
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