Divine Kingship

Chapter 594 What is the meaning of the First Knights Order of the Moon Phase Kingdom?
Like the bewildered Rand.

The noble rebels of the Kingdom of Bolun were also very puzzled.

At first, he thought there weren't many people on the other side, and that there was no way reinforcements would come.

Even if reinforcements arrive, they can only be conscripts from nearby areas.

At first, he assumed that the person coming must be one of his allies.

Even if the reinforcements that come are from the enemy, they will at most be conscripts from the surrounding area.

Before the uprising, he had of course scouted the area. There were no legions stationed nearby, and there was no way there could be any reinforcements. He was a carrier pigeon, a messenger on horseback, and he did not allow the city to leave the ruined city.

There's no way the other side could send out the message.

Even if there were any messages in the city that he couldn't detect, he could still transmit them through various means.

Even if there are regular troops around that he hasn't been able to detect who might come to his aid.

These are all manageable; there shouldn't be any major problems.

"What is the First Knights Order of the Moon Phase Kingdom?"

The nobles of the Kingdom of Bolen had certainly heard of the name of this knightly order.

This is the personal guard of King Land of the Moon Phase, the most elite knightly order in the Moon Phase Kingdom.

Legend has it that most of the mounts of this knightly order can soar through the sky.

But isn't his army stationed in Crescent Ridge, the capital of the Moon Phase Kingdom?

Why is it here?

Rand stared at the bewildered nobleman from the Kingdom of Bolen.

We basically know that the other side must have mistaken the legion for the wrong one, and they didn't resist or show any fear.

"Drag him away and interrogate him." Rand had no interest in arguing with this nobleman from the Kingdom of Bolen.

The normal procedure is to capture enemy soldiers, then subject them to labor reform and naturalization. Those who have completed their labor reform term and meet the requirements are returned to their freedom in accordance with the labor reform regulations.

But those who surrendered and then rebelled.

Naturally, they would be executed immediately after extracting valuable information through torture.

However, he was free to choose whether to use an exquisite gallows or a magnificent guillotine.

Rand dusted off the dust and bloodstains from his clothes.

The knights, dressed in equally magnificent armor, entered the city.

The knights of the Kingdom's First Knights Order were also somewhat bewildered. They knew the enemy was weak, but to this extent still left them stunned.

The only way these enemies can attack is by splattering blood on their armor, and even then, they might not hit their target.

The knights followed Rand into the city.

Rand met Vanilla and the people of the city.

"According to the next procedure, we should repair the city's facilities, treat the wounded, and organize a mourning for the dead," Rand read aloud after looking at the exercise procedure form Olena had given him.

Rand certainly didn't need the procedure forms; he just wanted them to make the exercise feel more like a drill.

"So, did anyone die in battle?" asked Rand, who was wearing a crown.

Vanilla approached Rand's warhorse and whispered some information to Olena, who then reported it to Rand.

"In this exercise, we actually lost six men. Two of them were due to bad luck, and the other four were due to their lack of study," Rand announced. "However, they were all brave soldiers. They did not run away from the enemy, nor did they disobey their superiors' orders."

"Now, let us observe a moment of silence for them." The room was quiet for a few minutes.

Then Rand spoke again: "And I hereby announce that this exercise has been a complete success!"

Cheers resounded through the sky.

Although this was just a victory in a routine exercise, and not even a war, it was still something to celebrate for these fledgling students.

For the veterans, seeing their King Rand and hearing him personally announce the victory was something to celebrate.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Don't let your guard down on the follow-up work. I'll be checking and supervising." Rand waved his hand, then dismounted and walked over to Vanilla.

Rand looked at Vanilla, who already had a leader's demeanor: "The exercise went smoothly. Well done."

Vanilla wasn't used to being praised and was a little reserved. At this moment, she transformed from the dignified vice principal into an ordinary elf employee.

"So, considering the current situation, do you think there are any areas for improvement in this local governance method that involves teachers guiding students and utilizing the centrally stationed troops to provide support to the surrounding areas?" Rand asked.

Exercises are not real wars, and other places will not be able to obtain such strong support so quickly as here.

So Rand was quite interested to see what could be improved from Vanilla's perspective.

“From my perspective, I think we should optimize our escape and evacuation preparations.” Vanilla is also a smart person; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to go from a low-level worker to the vice principal of the Holy Domain’s national church school.

Vanilla explained her reasoning: "Our standard setup in the countryside consists of ordinary teachers, some students from church schools, and locally recruited students. Our combat strength consists of only one or two professional soldiers, five or six new recruits, and some locally recruited soldiers."

“This configuration is sufficient to completely wipe out some common-sized bandit groups, maintain daily order, and eliminate some common wild beasts and monsters,” Vanilla continued. “However, it’s unrealistic to use such forces to defend against rebellions or large-scale raids, and even if reinforcements arrive quickly, they may not be able to reach us in time. We should prioritize preserving our strength and lives, right?”

"If we can't resist, we just need to preserve our strength as much as possible and wait for reinforcements to arrive to resolve the danger."

Rand looked at Vanilla with some surprise.

Now Rand feels that if Vanilla were to truly ascend the throne of the elves, she would be qualified to govern well.

Vanilla has a very thorough understanding of Rand's governance and military philosophies, and she grasps the key points perfectly.

“I will take into account any reasonable suggestions,” Rand nodded, praising Vanilla again.

Vanilla became a little reserved again.

After Rand and the others entered the city's office to learn more about the situation and made some arrangements, the interrogation of the nobles of the Kingdom of Bolen yielded results.

“You’ve all done a good job, but you still need to continue to do a good job in the future. I don’t have much to say here. You’re all very competent. I have to deal with rebellions in other places, so please excuse me.” Rand didn’t waste any more words.

The interrogation revealed to Rand that this nobleman from the Kingdom of Bolen had colluded with quite a few people, who were already waiting to join the uprising.

They were all caught and hanged.

Even for a king, executing nobles is quite troublesome, but if there is a rebellion, there is naturally no burden.

Even without the rebellion, Rand's execution of nobles posed no real burden; as the founding monarch, his prestige was virtually limitless.

Just as Rand was leading the kingdom's First Knights in a show of force, he encountered Archbishop Kahn.

Archbishop Kahn seemed to have come specifically to see Rand.

"We need to increase our vigilance recently." Archbishop Kahn seemed quite busy lately.

"Are some church members dissatisfied with me again?" Rand said helplessly.

“No,” Archbishop Kahn shook his head. “It’s about what you mentioned earlier, some future dangers.”

Rand rubbed his temples. Although with the changes in the world and the deepening influence of the gods, it was inevitable that some unpredictable dangers would appear in the future of this world.

But did I not expect this to start?
Early detection and treatment are actually good things, but Rand would prefer that it never happens at all.

Now it seems that the revelation given to Rand by the Torch Goddess is about to come true?
"What exactly happened?" Rand asked seriously, staring at Archbishop Kahn, who was equally serious.

“Some of our forces in the south have reported back that the incidence and frequency of illness seem to have increased somewhat in the south,” Archbishop Kahn said.

Currently, whether in the north or the south, the Torch Church is stronger than the Goddess of Harvest and Health Church.

This is especially true in the south, so health-related work is initially handled by the Torch Church, and then taken back to the Harvest and Health Goddess Church once the staff is complete.

The frequency and proportion of illnesses are not things that Rand requested to monitor.

RAND is not qualified to set up a disease control center and act as a true guardian of health.

It's not possible right now.

This kind of thing can change due to various reasons such as seasons, climate, natural disasters and man-made disasters, making it difficult to effectively monitor and judge.

But since Archbishop Kahn said so, then...

Although Archbishop Kahn's private life leaned towards the teachings of the goddess of harvest and health.

But Archbishop Kahn is trustworthy in his work.

The proportion and frequency of illness must be something that should alarm Archbishop Kahn.

“Normally, these things wouldn’t be too serious, but in the current situation, if those evil gods can really influence the world more easily, we must start to be vigilant,” Archbishop Kahn said, expressing his thoughts.

“I am particularly worried and suspicious that the skeleton of the Cataclysmic Apostle has awakened.” Archbishop Kahn’s voice became low and his expression particularly serious.

Rand frowned as well.

Since the collapse of the old Torch Church, cultists around the world have done all sorts of things.

The Gold Mine Wars, the Civil War, and even the war between the Kingdom of Rand and the Kingdom of Bologna—these major wars that had a significant impact on the global landscape—were likely influenced by the God of Struggle to varying degrees.

The undead tide that was previously unleashed, if not destroyed, would inevitably affect the massive city of the dead; this was the work of the Scourge.

Even the Fertility Goddess Cult, which is not affiliated with Rand, has its share of troublemaking.

Now anything can be the beginning of God's influence, which makes things really difficult to handle.

“We can’t get involved in the south, so let’s not worry about it too much for now. Just strengthen our oversight of the relevant issues there. I’ll send more people,” Rand said after thinking for a moment. “If you think about it, we’re not entirely powerless in the south.”

“I will write a letter to Quiro in the south, and then your people can arrange for it to be delivered,” Rand said thoughtfully.

Kui Ruo is the third protagonist, and he is already a top-level professional.

Since Rand had already established a good relationship with Quiro, and Quiro led his people to settle in the south, he would occasionally contact Rand, and Rand would also engage in some trade with the ratmen.

Of course, due to the long distances involved, these contacts and trades were simple and crude.

However, Rand can ask Quiro to pay more attention to this matter, since now that the signs are starting to appear in the south, the people in the south will be the first to be affected.

Of course, Rand wouldn't blindly believe in the power of the world's protagonist. Besides hoping that Quiro could make some discoveries, Rand would also write to the wife of Marcus's son, the Grand Duke of Thorns, the princess of the Lionheart Kingdom, to find out what was going on.

This relationship may seem distant, but it is actually a very close political connection, and such serious matters will receive a timely response.

"Shall we do it this way for now?" Rand looked at Archbishop Kahn.

Archbishop Kahn nodded in agreement: "We will also pay close attention to this matter. Hopefully, this troublesome situation will pass soon."

Rand watched Archbishop Kahn leave, then frowned.

Since the situation in the south couldn't affect things much for the time being, Rand decided to deal with the matters in the Elf Forest and his own kingdom first.

Rand is now the king of the Moon Phase Kingdom, but the kingdom can only transfer a small amount of wealth and military power to him.

Instead, the RAND Corporation needs to inject a lot of resources to govern and rebuild.

However, none of these are problems. As long as Rand proceeds step by step, it will not encounter any economic funding shortages.

As for the Elf Forest.

We are now making some progress on the third faction that still exists in the Elf Forest.

It seems to be a group of lunatics who have gone crazy from being cooped up in the Elf Forest.

Some of them came from the nobles of the Elf Forest, while others came from the Elf Forest's belief system.

They longed to restore the Elf Forest to its former glory through various means.

Although Rand didn't know how their extreme actions could possibly restore the Elf Forest to its former glory.
In short, it seems that the revivalists of the elven forest are currently engaged in selling elven slaves, elven products, and elven knowledge to humans, raising funds to forge weapons, and plotting rebellion.

Another task is to collect secret weapons related to relics around the world.

These were all obtained after capturing some revivalist lunatics, and no further information can be found at present.

The influence of these elven madmen on the elven royal court seems significant, but it's not something Danland needs to worry about.

These madmen cannot gain the support of the middle and lower elves. It will take until Rand is able to mobilize the power of the middle and lower elves, and even win over some of the power of the upper elves.

These won't be any problems, right?
On the contrary, the Elven royal court is difficult to deal with.

The Elven royal court has ruled for generations, and its influence in the Elven forest is deeply entrenched.

Even if Rand has Vanilla, a member of the royal family, and launches a struggle for the throne in the name of legitimacy, it will be difficult to truly shake him. At least for now, the forces supported by Rand can only be called guerrillas.

However, the current rate of expansion of the guerrilla forces is quite satisfactory.

(End of this chapter)