After his conversation with Michaela, Victor realized a problem.
Even churches could be infiltrated by fanatics.
Wouldn't the possibility of infiltration by these believers be even higher among the relatively less vigilant inhabitants of the kingdom?
Ten years ago, the empire's high command was infiltrated by cultists.
In the end, it was he who publicly revealed it at the princess's birthday banquet.
Since then, the Empire has begun to cooperate with the Mage Council.
He ordered the recording of every citizen's unique identity verification information into the Empire's magic treasury in order to thoroughly investigate the followers of the Goddess of Justice.
But the kingdom does not have such a targeted system.
This makes it easier for outsiders to infiltrate the populace with religious believers once outsiders enter.
So Victor used the excuse that the residents were spreading rumors to gather them together.
After a simple test, clues were indeed found among the residents.
Believers do not shed blood, because they live on the flesh of others.
Therefore, the person in front of them has a much higher health value and level than the residents present.
It is almost certain that he is a believer.
However, when flames suddenly ignited behind Viktor.
The man, like the other residents around him, showed extreme fear and timidity.
The residents huddled together, pressed against the cold walls of the basement, trying to keep their distance from the flickering flames.
They were afraid that the scorching waves and high temperatures would burn their delicate skin.
"Please, sir... no, don't kill me, we've been blinded by greed!"
"I...we really know...we were wrong."
One stuttering voice after another pierced the silence, their feeble pleas striking his heart.
Seeing this, Victor gently tapped his cane on the ground.
A dull thud as wood and stone collided echoed in the dark space.
The agitated flame extinguished instantly, turning into countless tiny sparks and dissipating completely.
As the flames died down, the residents' faces gradually recovered from their fear.
But they remained tense, the shadow of fear seemingly lingering.
Finally, after looking around, Viktor calmly said:
"It seems I mistook someone else for someone else."
So he calmly walked back into the darkness of the room, then turned back again.
Looking at those people, their faces frozen, their expressions filled with terror,
Victor's voice remained cold as he spoke:
"Let me teach you a good lesson."
He raised his cane, pointed at the demi-humans behind him, and continued:
"They will not harm you unless you corner them."
"Because they are more afraid of humans than you are of other species."
"If it weren't for my orders, do you think any of them would dare to kidnap you?"
Upon hearing this, some of the demi-humans involuntarily lowered their heads.
Most of them were once demi-humans enslaved by human nobles.
As Victor said, their fear of humans is still difficult to eliminate.
Those dark days of enslavement are their eternal nightmare.
"But I am different, I am human."
Victor put down his cane, rested his hands on it, and calmly continued:
“I am one of your kind, so I know exactly what you are afraid of.”
“I know your weaknesses and how easily you are swayed by rumors. Therefore, I can manipulate you at will.”
Listening to Victor's words, the bound residents gradually recovered from their initial fear.
They all lowered their heads, remaining silent, filled with shame and self-reproach.
They lowered their eyes, facing the black ground, silently accepting the lesson, unable to utter a sound.
"Let me tell you something more realistic."
Victor gently tugged at his collar, inadvertently revealing the three stars on his chest that symbolized his count status.
For them, as members of a kingdom, the significance of these stars was self-evident.
When these stars appeared before their eyes, everyone's pupils inevitably trembled.
"First of all, I am a nobleman, with ample status and wealth."
"How many of these do you think I could buy with the price of your lives?"
Viktor remained calm and composed.
"To put it bluntly, your lord possesses wealth that surpasses even that of many nobles in the kingdom."
"But have you considered what other lords did?"
Other lords dealt with disobedient residents or those who spread rumors in far more severe ways.
Disobey? Then we'll just deport you.
Spreading rumors? Just treat it as a violation of local laws and shut it down on the grounds of being a cult.
Kill some, sentence some, shut some down, and rectify some.
After this back and forth, let's see who dares to disobey the lord's words.
This is no casual remark; within the context of the kingdom, a large number of excellent warriors are still waiting to be deployed.
These residents are only the lowest level of the workforce.
If you don't do it, plenty of others will.
There will always be more obedient people to replace this group.
However, Priscilla, like her own father, placed too much importance on these residents.
She did almost everything she could to make life better for the residents.
They even hoped that they would not overwork themselves and would continue the faith of the Church of Abundance, just as Laureen had done before.
The fact that Shulbong receives divinely blessed ears of rice from the Church of Abundance every year ensures a bountiful harvest for this land.
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