Divine Kingship

Chapter 557 News from the New Holy City and the Red and White King
In the new Holy City, the old knight commander and Rand's subordinates are chatting.

The New Holy City is the stronghold of the utilitarian faction within the Torch Church.

Most of the clergy here are more focused on personal gain.

It's not accurate to say that everyone here is heartless, inhuman, and only cares about money.

But those who truly deserve to be called good people are indeed only a small minority.

Most of the clergy here regard people as mere cattle and sheep for producing their wealth.

After all, the Torch Goddess saves all living beings, and as her representatives, isn't it only natural for them to receive offerings from all living beings?

If only there weren't those neurotic newbies.

With the Tuobao faction confined to its corner of the world, if it weren't for the Newborn Faction, the interests of the entire world would converge on the New Holy City.

After all, people always need to use the power of the Church of the Torch to deal with evil, right?

"What strategy do you think we should adopt?" the old knight commander asked.

Lanta stroked his chin: "I think we can also use this to deal with some of the opponents of the new Holy City and strengthen our control over it."

The New Generation faction currently has very weak control over the new Holy City. The old Knight Commander was initially just a chosen figurehead, a puppet in name only.

Later, after contacting the early faction of the Torch Church and Rand, the old knight commander managed to build up a little bit of power, but this only made things easier and did not allow him to influence the decisions of the knights in the new Holy City.

According to Ranta, this means that by dealing with some extreme, evil, and utilitarian clergy, it will be easier to influence and guide the overall decision-making of the new Holy City in the future.

As for why Ranta is here.

That's because Lanta and Chad simply couldn't stand the idle positions in the territory.

According to Rand's view, a job that allows one to slack off, is close to home, is stable, has a decent salary, and isn't truly meaningless, is something to dream of.

Anyway, this is the job that Rand dreamed of in his past life.

Rand couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't like this kind of job.

Lanta and Chad have shed a lot of blood for the development of the Holy Land's power, and have teetered on the brink of life and death more than once. If all the blood and sweat they shed were accumulated, it would be enough to fill several basins.

In fact, it wasn't just Ranta and Chad who enjoyed these positions in the Sanctuary. Rand arranged many such positions, most of which involved mentoring new recruits or handling veterans' or disabled veterans' compensation.

This arrangement can strengthen the cohesion of the organization from top to bottom. When guiding newcomers, these veterans can recount some of their glorious past deeds. When dealing with disability compensation, these veterans can also better empathize and think of details that their superiors might not have considered.

This can also strengthen cohesion.

This is one of the reasons why the Holy Domain's power has continued to expand, but its cohesion, especially the cohesion of its army, has never diminished.

These positions are valuable, close to home, easy, and offer decent and stable salaries. Rand doesn't know why some people are unwilling to take them.

But Ranta and Chad could not accept it.

They certainly thought the job was good and could feel Rand's care, but they still couldn't accept it.

In Rand's eyes, they had already given so much and could rest now, so as not to sacrifice themselves in some work in the future.

But in their eyes, the Holy Domain's forces are advancing, and countless colleagues are risking their lives for the development of the Holy Domain's forces. How can they just enjoy their territory peacefully?

Even if the work Rand assigned wasn't entirely a leisurely and enjoyable job.

They hope that the Holy Land's power will continue to advance, thanks to their continuous efforts.

So they applied repeatedly, and RAND, of course, rejected them repeatedly.

After a stalemate lasting six months, Rand finally convened a meeting of the high-ranking officials of the Holy Land to discuss the matter and then assigned them jobs in the new Holy City.

With Ranta and Chad's abilities, working in the new Holy City would still be risky, but the problems wouldn't be too great. The new Holy City would require more brainpower than life-or-death combat, so the mortality rate would be relatively lower.

So now, Ranta and Chad have appeared in the new Holy City.

The perilous enemy stronghold immediately ignited the fighting spirit of the two men.

And unexpectedly, not long after arriving here, a crucial task came up.

The throne of the Kingdom of Bolen is about to change hands, and the new king actually plans to unite with the new Holy City and other forces to attack Land.

That's when their job comes in, isn't it?

Soon, the Knights Commanders convened a meeting at the Grand Cathedral of the New Holy City.

The elderly Grand Knight Commander spoke up: "As you all know, the eldest prince of the Kingdom of Bolen has invited us to join forces against Rand."

Some of the knight commanders remained silent, while others whispered among themselves.

Soon, a knight commander spoke up: "Our business is slowly shifting south, and the profits seem pretty good so far. It seems unnecessary for us to get involved in things in the north. Dealing with Rand... Rand is not an easy person to deal with."

This is typical utilitarian thinking: since money can be made in the south and RAND is not easy to deal with, why bother with tough challenges?

RAND's continued development will certainly affect the development of the utilitarian faction in the future, and RAND will definitely be a major enemy of the utilitarian faction in the future, but so what?

RAND may strangle the pragmatists in the future, but that doesn't affect their ability to make money in the south right now. We'll deal with the future later; making money is the priority now.

After this knight commander spoke, many other knight commanders agreed with him.

We're all businessmen. If Rand is too difficult to deal with, then there's no need to deal with Rand now.

The Grand Knight Commander had anticipated this situation.

This group of people are driven by profit and bully the weak while fearing the strong. If they weren't like that, they wouldn't have formed the current pragmatist faction.

Those who can become knight commanders are naturally the most ruthless, money-making, and extremely pragmatic group among the utilitarian faction.

The Grand Knight Commander was not surprised at all, and was filled with disgust.

Are the Torch Church Knight Commanders a group of merchants? The Grand Knight Commander was quite certain that in a few years, the military strength of the New Holy City would be no match for Rand.

A group of businessmen who only care about money are incredibly short-sighted and weak.

Combat effectiveness may not be weakened much, but overall cohesion and decisiveness will...

“We don’t necessarily have to confront Rand head-on.” The Grand Knight had already made preparations. “We can send a few people as a token gesture, and then find an opportunity to make a quick buck and come back, such as during the final battle between the two sides.”

This isn't a last-minute defection or robbing Rand; it's also a form of assistance to the Kingdom of Bolen. Making Rand disgusted is already working, isn't it?

Of course, during a robbery, it will only be when both sides are at war. They will not confront Rand head-on. Everyone already knows how disgusting Rand is, from the fire that burned for several days and nights in New Holy City.

Rand was the kind of person who could persuade the sewer rats to try to escape, despite the danger of being hunted down by their masters.

It's best to avoid a direct confrontation with Rand. In fact, the combined strength of the new Holy City is much stronger than that of a single Duke like Rand, but... it's just that compared to the easier money to make in the south, the knights of the new Holy City feel there's no need to confront Rand.

However, on the other hand, they would be happy to make some money if they could: "The eldest prince of the Kingdom of Bolun is about to ascend the throne. How much is he willing to give us?"

"Once this is accomplished, the Kingdom of Bolun will abandon the Primordial Faction and instead pay tribute to our new Holy City, and promise to help us develop our faith in the north," said the conference scribe, not the Grand Knight Commander.

"Looks good, but shouldn't we ask for a deposit first?" The knights weren't sure who would win, but getting a deposit beforehand for the work was definitely the right thing to do; otherwise, their trip to the north would have been quite costly.

"That's settled then. You can decide for yourselves how much money and how many people to send." The Grand Knight Commander's objective had been achieved.

All he needs to do is inform Rand, and those who attempt to rob Rand will definitely suffer the consequences.

The Grand Knight Commander will naturally send some of his own people—actually Rand's men—to assist Rand in the war.

A paladin who only wants to rob won't pose much of a threat. In fact, he might even cause the Kingdom of Bolen to misjudge the strength of friend and foe, thus bringing benefits to Rand.

……

Rand also received a letter from the Grand Knight Commander.

The fact that this elderly paladin became the Grand Knight Commander of the new Holy City astonished Rand for a long time, but it also brought him many benefits.

The same is true now.

Judging from the letters and the methods used to send them, the new king of the Kingdom of Bolen must be trying to operate in secrecy.

After all, these kinds of things need to be done in secret to succeed.

In fact, the Kingdom of Bolen's strategy towards Land has always been surprise attacks.

Unfortunately, there are differences in mobilization capabilities and speed between different forces.

The mobilization speed of the Kingdom of Bolen is actually quite fast compared to other countries, but it is still a bit lacking for Rand.

If the raid fails, the Kingdom of Bolen will not only have to face Rand, but Rand and his allies. In this case, considering the quality of Rand's army and the military capabilities of Randtan, Fenris, and Rand himself.

At this point, Rand's victory is practically a foregone conclusion.

In fact, this happened several times: the Kingdom of Bolen attacked, Rand defended, and then Rand won.

The Kingdom of Bolen could have defeated Rand if they had been more secretive and faster, but they simply couldn't do it.

The new king of the Kingdom of Bolen was clearly aware of this.

They chose the faction least likely to have any cooperative relationship with Rand, but it turned out to be related to Rand.

“Then the strategy of the Kingdom of Bolen is clear,” Rand, Ellie, and Karin said.

Karin was also in the territory recently. When she heard that Rand had returned, she came over to meet him.

"What are you planning to do?" Karin asked.

“We’ve also joined forces with some people,” Rand smiled. “Now the enemy is in the open while we are in the shadows.”

Rand was ready to feast on the Kingdom of Bolen again.

In fact, the Kingdom of Rand and the Kingdom of Bolen are currently playing a game of alliances and counter-alliances.

The Kingdom of Bolen united with some forces opposing Rand, while Rand could also unite with some forces that wanted to carve up the Kingdom of Bolen.

The Kingdom of Bolun is now in decline.

Having endured years of war between the two major alliances of the Southern Kingdom, and the rampage of the undead, vampires, and Rand.

The Kingdom of Bolen may still possess considerable resources, but its military strength, which can be directly used for combat, is no longer substantial.

The Kingdom of Bolen's naval fleet may still be powerful, but its land forces...

In any case, Rand was confident of victory by using the power of his allies, even if he attacked while the Kingdom of Bolen defended.

But Rand wouldn't keep something to herself.

It is obvious that at this stage of RAND's development, the correct strategy is to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible.

Otherwise, if the Kingdom of Bolen promises something to other forces and they unite to attack Rand, it will be very troublesome, since Rand itself is quite a threat.

Although RAND rarely takes the initiative to attack and mostly plays a passive defensive role followed by a counterattack, RAND's continuous development and growing influence are undeniable facts.

Rand, the Duke of the Moon, is already a very threatening figure.

Now everyone can realize what kind of entity RAND will become once it develops.

Such a powerful, ambitious, and very young Rand would make many forces uneasy.

Rand must secure enough allies to avoid being attacked by a mob.

Rand glanced at Berlan.

Berlan stopped observing Karin and, speaking as Ellie, said, "A clever strategy."

Berlan was certainly listening to what Rand was saying, and he agreed with it.

In political and military matters, Rand has always been able to make the right decisions, so now Berland is more concerned about his own situation and Ellie's.

Of course, if any political or military issues arise that require advice, Berlan will not hesitate to speak up.

For the past few days, Berlan has been watching Rand with wary eyes, fearing that he and Elsa might cause some trouble again.

Elsa is not in the vicinity now, but she is not far away.

She didn't want to delve into what Rand and Ellie did during the last half-night she was away.

Ellie and Rand definitely did something strange, but she could pretend she didn't know. Although her body had indeed become very strange, she could pretend she knew nothing.

Ellie was right.
Elsa has been busy lately.

But Karin appeared.

Berlan recalled Ellie's assessment of Karin.

Karin Eldridge, the Crimson Queen, is considered a normal person among the high-ranking members of the Sanctuary forces, roughly on par with Olena.

As long as you don't provoke Karin, nothing will happen if you anger her.

However, Berlan had to consider another problem.

Karin Eldridge is a queen; can she discover things that others can't?
(End of this chapter)