I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 239 Conspiracy?

After quickly processing Arlanca's remains and preparing to reward the players with the items "he" had created, Chris lost interest in looking at the "gold coins" this guy had dropped.

Dead people's stuff, don't look at it, it's bad luck. And this bad luck isn't a metaphysical concept, but rather refers to the fact that looking at it might affect Chris's mood.

Is Aranka bad?

No, he's not bad. It's just that he's been in a high position in the church for too long, and his gaze has only been upward. He has never looked down to the bottom. When he was in the Polas Fortress, he never really went deep into the poor people to understand their needs and suffering.

Even after Arlanca caused trouble and "escaped" back to Wotradnoy to continue being the High Priestess of the Earth Mother, he was still somewhat out of touch with reality and retained the demeanor of a born nobleman.

What does it mean to be born with a noble destiny?

People like Aranka subconsciously believe that the workings of everything in the world will change because of his consciousness and commands.

When Waltradnoy encountered an enemy like Prince Chris, the local elites did nothing and even tried to escape. Without a second thought, Aranka summoned the jihadist army, without considering communicating with the local city defense system and councilors.

They never imagined that the Holy War Army could be so easily formed. By ringing a bell and relying on the reputation and influence that the Church of Mother Earth had gained through years of cultivation in Bagnia, they could mobilize a large number of sincere believers in the shortest possible time.

However, getting the Jihad Army to defend against the Prince's invasion as Araka envisioned is not just a matter of giving orders. It also involves the Jihad Army's structure, the selection of commanders, and most importantly, the logistical support that keeps the army running.

Building an army is never a simple task.

However, Aranka naively believed that as long as the banner of faith was raised high, the fanatical believers would be invincible like heavenly warriors.

However, reality slapped Aranka in the face.

During this process, there must have been intelligent people within the Church of Mother Earth who knew this was wrong, but they remained silent, and no one from top to bottom objected.

On the one hand, due to the authority of the high priest, wise people dared not voice their opposition.

On the other hand, the church has long been corrupted by power, and truly devout believers have either been marginalized or have long been disillusioned with the actions of the higher-ups.

Those high-ranking clergymen have long been accustomed to a life of luxury. They are more concerned with how to maintain their status and wealth than with the lives of believers.

When Aranka rang the bell to summon the jihadist army, the priests outwardly responded with great enthusiasm, but behind the scenes they were already plotting how to gain more benefits from this turmoil.

They sent their most fanatical lower-class believers to their deaths while they themselves hid in the safe rear, boosting morale with empty slogans, yet they wouldn't even take a single bag of food from the church's warehouse.

Chris didn't leave the city walls; he only knew from the chat logs and photos on the forums that half the city had been robbed, and that the player-organized groups only stole food and didn't attack the neutral players' homes.

Aside from bandwagoners and opportunistic thugs, who were the other robbers?

Ah, Chris didn't even need to think to know that some of Mother Earth's people played a disgraceful role in this matter.

As for whether that's the case, we'll find out tomorrow when Chris sends people to raid the residences and secret safe houses of these high-ranking Earth Mothers.

Chris waved his hand and verbally instructed the scribe to write down his orders so as not to forget them. Just as he finished doing this, the esteemed figures in fine clothes that Chris had seen being escorted earlier finally arrived at the foot of the west city wall. The cavalry leader leading the group jumped off his horse and excitedly trotted up the wall.

"Hey, Your Highness, Your Highness, I've made a major discovery, a major discovery!"

Chris turned his head to look at the steps of the city wall, and seeing the person who was wearing heavy armor, moving swiftly, and was not stopped by the guards, he knew that this guy was a player.

Sure enough, when he excitedly ran up to Chris, a huge ID appeared in front of the latter.

+Slash through the entire street+
Ah, isn't this the same guy who organized his men and ran rampant in Walteradnoy at night, turning what was already a slightly chaotic situation into a complete mess?

"What major discovery has been made?"

Chris has always been very approachable to players, never acting superior or putting on airs like a nobleman. Others who want to see him have to go through several checks.

The players are the only exception. They can see Chris whenever they want, as long as he's not asleep. With the NPC assistant, the scribe, reminding them, the guards won't stop them.

Although doing so carries certain risks, the players are his financial backers, and Chris has always maintained a very proper attitude towards his benefactors.

Of course, if a player comes to Chris for no reason, they will lose reputation points every time they visit him.

Players who feel they have a lot of reputation points can give this a try. Anyway, using this method to reclaim reputation points is a way to get free player merits, and Chris doesn't feel like he's losing out.

He rubbed his hands excitedly as he hacked through the street, his face beaming with the expression of "I'm going to make a big splash." He lowered his voice and said mysteriously.

"Your Highness, guess who we caught? The Finance Minister of the Republic of Bagnia! That old bastard tried to escape disguised as a merchant, but our men caught him at the eastern city gate."

Chris raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on his face.

"Oh? Did he confess anything?"

The player chuckled and pulled out a ledger with a gold-embossed cover from his pocket.

"What we found in this old man's carriage was a record of the money he had embezzled over the years, and most importantly, his private ledger. The contents are quite interesting, Your Highness."

Chris took the ledger, casually flipped through a few pages, and his eyes gradually sharpened.

The embezzlement records inside weren't a big deal—you get used to debts all the time—but some of the recorded data and annotations were quite interesting.

Prince Chris's tuition expenses...
Upon seeing this content, Chris immediately recalled the tuition and living expenses that his predecessor theoretically received every year, but in reality, he never actually received.

So the money really did exist.

However, it seems that it was deliberately intercepted and embezzled by some people, who are deliberately plotting to harm members of the Bagnian royal family!?
In other words, the overthrow of the Kingdom of Bagnia was not a revolution, but a conspiracy that had been going on for more than a decade.

(End of this chapter)