Divine Kingship

Chapter 589 onwards no longer features flying ox-and-horse riders, nor human adventurers in the elven forest.
Rand returned to his territory.

The sacred domain of the Duchy of Lunar Phase.

The Sanctuary hasn't changed much since Rand left.

When he left, Rand was just Duke Rand, but now he is His Majesty Rand.

The inhabitants of the Sanctuary were aware of Rand's change in status, as they had already been informed of the great achievements of His Majesty Rand.

But they were already loyal subjects.

Whether Rand is a king, a bandit, or a demon, they are all loyal followers of Rand.

They will not become more loyal because Rand became king, nor will they doubt Rand because he is regarded as something else.

So when Rand returned to his sanctuary, he didn't feel much change. Only occasionally would people who were familiar with Rand joke around and bow to him.

He addressed Rand as His Majesty.

The others were mostly busy with their own things.

It is not common for citizens to bow to Rand in the Duchy of Lunae.

Because Rand doesn't require its citizens to do these things to show respect, returning the bow after being bowed to is quite a troublesome matter.

Other nobles rarely appeared before ordinary people, so they might not find these formalities bothersome.

Rand, on the other hand, appeared before the citizens very frequently.

However, although the residents of the Sanctuary did not change much in their attitude towards Rand, Rand's ascension to the throne brought about some changes.

The most crucial part is the Lord's Hall.

Rand had no interest in moving the capital; the Duchy of Luna, especially the resorts and the Sanctuary, were his base of operations.

Therefore, the current Lord's Hall should not be called the Lord's Hall, but rather the Royal Palace.

When the hideout was renamed the Sanctuary, this lord's hall had already been repaired and renovated.

The lord's hall has been decorated with many luxurious items.

The overall design style is still that of a majestic, wild, and untamed aesthetic.

The main structure of this palace consists of massive columns, rugged marble, and rough basalt.

Upon entering the lord's hall, one finds relic lamps, embroidered gold patterns, and luxurious red carpets.

But what first catches the eye, and will surely attract everyone's attention, is the deepest part of the Lord's Hall.

A gigantic, lord's chair, as if prepared for a giant.

It should now be called the throne.

Beneath the throne, naturally, lies the altar of the evil gods that Rand has collected.

Rand's strength has improved.

There's no longer much need to worry about being suddenly assassinated or attacked and having to hide in the divine kingdom.

However, the custom of placing the altar beneath the throne has been preserved.

Rand walked across the red carpet and onto the gray-black throne, which was also made of stubborn stone.

Wearing a crown, Rand rested his face on one hand in his usual posture, with his elbow braced against the armrest of the throne.

Rand's dark eyes lowered slightly as he looked down at his subjects below the throne.

"How are you feeling, Your Majesty?" Ellie asked, leaning against Rand.

As queen, she was entitled to a seat next to the throne.

But Ellie wasn't used to this, and as for sitting on this excessively large throne with Rand... Rand had warned the higher-ups of the Sanctuary that the throne was dangerous.

Everyone actually knows that beneath the throne are altars for various evil gods.

So everyone knows where the danger comes from.

Therefore, they would not casually touch this dangerous throne.

Sacrifice will not be initiated without a prayer, but in this world, the altar is still the place closest to the gaze of God.

If God were to catch a glimpse of it, that would be disastrous...

Rand doesn't care; at worst, he can just go to the Kingdom of Gods.

“My dear Queen, it feels quite nice sitting on the throne.” Rand pushed up the crown on his head with the back of his hand.

After wearing it for a while, Rand took off the crown.

You can't bow your head, or your crown will fall—that's a very real thing.

Actually, the crown can be clipped or glued to the head, but that would be very uncomfortable.

But if you just wear it on your head, it will really fall off when you look down.

Perhaps this means the king will never bow his head?

Rand didn't care about any of that.

He removed the golden crown from his head and placed it on the armrest of the throne.

Rand spread his fingers and ran his fingers through his hair.

The lord's hall and lord's chair have now been transformed into a palace and a throne.

But Rand still can't escape work, and now he has even more work to do because he lost Marcus.

“There are two naming matters here.” Rand looked at the high-ranking officials of the Holy Domain sitting in the Territory Hall.

Karin and Archbishop Kahn also arrived.

“The primary issue is the Church of the Torch,” Rand said.

“When we split, we called the Torch Church faction in our territory the Newborn, meaning the beginning and new life,” Rand said slowly. “But now, after discussion, we believe we should reject this name.”

The executives present listened quietly.

“The Torch Church should be the Torch Church, it should be us, not some sect. Those Torch Church members who have wandered abroad will eventually submit to us or be destroyed.” Rand finished his first point.

Now that the reunification of the Torch Church is to be initiated, there is no need to call it a faction anymore.

Once we are truly unified, we can call ourselves the New Torch Church or something similar, but there is no need to divide ourselves into any faction now, as that would be detrimental to reunification.

After all, defining oneself by a faction means distinguishing oneself from other factions.

Meanwhile, Rand is already undergoing some internal changes in other factions, especially in the New Holy City.

The envisioned outcome is that after the conquest is complete, some will be absorbed, some will be sent to labor camps, and some will be executed.

"Another one is to rename the unique units of our Lunar Kingdom." Seeing that there were no problems, Rand moved on to the next topic.

"The Flying Ox and Horse Force is a powerful army of our Lunar Kingdom. They are capable of aerial combat, well-equipped, have a strong fighting spirit, and excellent combat skills."

"It's rather arbitrary to continue using the name 'Flying Ox and Horse Unit' for this distinctive and powerful force, so I suggest we rename them. What are your thoughts?"

Rand's alternatives are the Dragonblood Eagle Knights or the Kingdom's First Knights.

Both names sound nice and are official.

It's suitable to talk about later.

Otherwise, people won't immediately grasp the terrifying nature of the Flying Bull and Horse Force upon hearing its name. However, if they hear later that the First Knights of the Moon Phase Kingdom have arrived, the effect might be much better.

Those present who were qualified to attend the meeting also offered their opinions.

For example, the Silver Moon Knights, the Dragonblood Knights, the Hospitallers, and so on...

Rand actually thought the name Dragonblood Knights sounded really cool.

Just as Rand hesitated, he saw Lysa's eyes, and he could easily read something from them.

This doesn't seem to be a very suitable name, or something with a good meaning.

The decision was still made by the First Knights of the Moon Phase Kingdom.

The First Knights Order of the Moon Phase Kingdom will have some members who also serve as Rand's personal guards.

The rest formed knightly orders to serve the country.

The Kingdom's First Knights will be equipped with Dragonblood Eagles as mounts, and their weapons and equipment will consist of magical steel armor, small crossbows, and a long spear.

At the same time, Rand will train a group of mages equipped with standard staffs to serve as accompanying magic knights, becoming part of the first knightly order of the Moon Phase Kingdom, in order to fill the gap in magical power.

At the same time, the Kingdom's First Knights will be given priority in logistical support, and the Centaur Transport Force will prioritize preparing logistical services for the Kingdom's First Knights.

The number of centaurs in the Land Territory is now quite large. Some centaurs patrol the territory as knights of the Thunder Knights, while others form the Pegasus Express, which is responsible for both material and transportation.

The name "Pegasus Express" was, of course, given to Rand.

And that concludes the more ceremonial part.

There are still some more that need naming, which will be added later.

The Tauren army, and even the Elven army, are still pending.

The next item on the agenda is the issue of territorial administration.

The stability of the Rand territory is currently very, very low.

Because the military breakthrough was too rapid, the local enemies were not completely wiped out.

The urgency of conquering cities and seizing territory in such a short time is already immense. While rapid conquest is beneficial for preserving the population, it also gives local forces a certain ability to resist.

This is the issue that RAND will address next.

"The local resistance forces are also striving for a swift and decisive victory, employing a rather simple strategy: high-level combatants to decapitate the enemy, high-speed frontal assault troops to break through, and the Kingdom's First Knights in the sky to provide support at any time." Rand gave instructions on the suppression of the local resistance forces.

These local resistance forces could be quite troublesome. If they were to defend the city, they would be extremely difficult to deal with. This difficulty in dealing with them means that it would be unprofitable to deal with them, not that they are truly impossible to deal with.

To breach a castle, you need several times the number of troops and it takes a very long time.

For those castles that couldn't be breached in a short time, Rand planned to set them aside for the time being and send strong men to cause them trouble later.

I wonder if it was Elsa who knocked on their door, or some high-ranking member of the Sanctuary?
"What do we do after conquering unclaimed land?" Tanl was, of course, in the palace awaiting orders.

In a sense, Tanl was Rand's Minister of Military Affairs, and all military-related matters were handled by Tanl.

“I plan to build a school.” Rand had only a somewhat impractical idea.

Now, the Moon Phase Kingdom is in its infancy, a time of pioneering and arduous pioneering.

Of course, many problems cannot be solved perfectly.

At present, RAND Corporation plans to adopt school governance methods to address local governance issues.

Set up a school in the local area, send a few experienced and capable teachers, and then enroll a group of students.

These students are local young people.

Rand will promise them a future after they graduate. But in exchange, they will assist the teachers in governing the local area during the initial stages of the school.

At the same time, Rand would also send missionaries, who would serve as teachers in schools to impart knowledge, assist in governing the local area, and spread doctrines.

Then, they would dispatch three to five veterans and three to five new recruits.

This is how a place is configured.

The world does not recognize the absence of aristocratic-led governance in local areas.

But as the king of the new nation, Rand doesn't need to care about these issues.

This crude approach to local management will suffice.

The RAND Corporation required missionaries and teachers to prioritize their own safety and not to govern local areas entirely according to national policies, but rather to adapt to local conditions and avoid major conflicts with local culture.

Such a method is, of course, quite crude, and the output will not be much.

But it's still much better than letting it fall into disrepair and even escape from Rand's control.

As more and more talents were cultivated by church schools and local schools, the overall number of talents in the Holy Land continued to increase.

After that, Rand can gradually strengthen its governance of the region.

In short, let's first sweep away all the evil resistance forces in the area.

"If there are no further questions, the meeting is adjourned." Rand maintained his usual concise meeting style.

The high-ranking officials of the Holy Land, along with other qualified attendees, left their seats and exited the palace.

Karin and Archbishop Kahn did not leave immediately, but came to Rand's side: "There's something we need to be aware of."

"whats the matter?"

"The Torch Church doesn't have too much opposition to your becoming the church's leader. Everyone has seen what we've done over the years, but this is still a major change from our original ideals..."

"Are there some completely unconvincing diehards?"

“Yes, they even regard us, Archbishop Kahn, as apostates who have been bewitched by demons…and so am I.” Karin had always acted as a senior nun of the church, but now she, the saint, was being regarded as an evil apostate.

"So I'm the demon who bewitches you?" In a sense, Rand did indeed possess a considerable amount of evil, Rand said with a light laugh.

"In short, there might be some people who act extremely, so keep an eye out for them lately," Karin warned.

Karin then left with Bishop Kahn.

The Torch Church's agenda for reunification has been launched, and their work has become as demanding as that of Rand.

……

Meanwhile, in the Elf Forest...

The Elf Forest is a newly opened adventure location, a high-risk area that only advanced adventurers can participate in.

However, the corresponding rewards are also substantial.

The Sunburst Adventurer Team naturally came here to embark on their adventure.

Their job is simple: to assist the staff of the Holy Land in transporting supplies and to deal with monsters or other enemies that require adventure experience to handle.

Overall, the work is relatively easy.

It's just that it's more difficult to deal with elves.

The elves' arrows and magic caused many adventurers considerable trouble.

However, these were relatively easy tasks for the Sunrise Adventurer Team. Through continuous adventures, they had grown to the level of advanced professionals.

“I’ve obtained something strange.” Luca, the captain of the Sunrise Adventurer Party, took out an ancient fragment of a parchment scroll. “This seems to be some kind of myth or legend?”

(End of this chapter)