I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 408 Chris's Strategy
The people from both churches are going too far. Look at what they're trying to do.
They want to form an army, which will nominally have a church, and will also have priests as leaders. Veterans from the defense forces will be drawn from the army to serve as the backbone, and fanatical believers will be the foundation!
And then there's the Holy Crusade?
In whose name should we punish the snake people of Suvano?
Is it Gaia, the Earth Mother? Or Demeter, the Goddess of Agriculture?

Or... Chris, the Regent of the Kingdom of Bagnia?

To enter Suvana, the territory of another country, and conduct military operations?

This is tantamount to an act of war!

Once this is done, it means that the power to declare war automatically falls into the hands of the church.

They have military power, and the right to declare war under the legitimacy and authority of their rule. What else do they lack?
These two sects could easily raise their banners, summon followers to join them, and establish a nation on the spot, or even replace the Kingdom of Bagnia and create a Bagnia divine kingdom!

It would be strange if Chris wasn't angry.

As the old saying goes, "Only the tools and the name should not be given to others." These two churches sent people to make a few noises and thought they could take two-thirds of the "tools" and "name" all at once. They are either complete fools who don't understand anything, or they think Chris doesn't understand and want to fool him.

Chris suspected that both were true: the church members didn't fully understand, and at the same time, they felt they didn't understand either.

Ha, looks like we need to give them a warning.

……

Connie's Department of Military Intelligence is currently not good enough at gathering intelligence externally; it barely passes muster and is far from excellent. However, when it comes to internal intelligence gathering, they are extremely efficient.

How tall is it!?

Just two days later, a thin intelligence summary written in special code was placed on Chris's desk. The summary itself did not contain lengthy process descriptions, but only presented a cold but crucial chain of facts.

On the evening of the day Princess Phyllis's delegation arrived at Anvil Fortress, Byron, the new High Priest of the Church of the Earth Mother, and Lydia, the High Priest of the Church of the Goddess of Agriculture, held a secret meeting in Omdur, a port city near the coast in Bagnia.

The location was chosen as a warehouse newly built by a local small chamber of commerce, which on the surface had no direct connection with either of the two major churches.

An informant planted among the low-ranking deacons of the Omdur Goddess of Agriculture reported that about two hours before Byron's meeting with Lydia, a person suspected to be a priest of the Church of the Sea God... Fisher had discreetly visited the merchant guild warehouse and stayed there for about an hour.

Byron and Lydia arrived shortly after Fisher left.

The informant noticed that Fisher's expression as he left seemed to carry an indescribable...satisfaction?
High Priest Byron left the storehouse with a furrowed brow, seemingly deep in thought about some weighty matter. High Priest Lydia, on the other hand, appeared even more anxious and worried than when she arrived.

Just one day after this "coincidental" contact between the three parties, which was the day after Princess Phyllis left Anvil Fortress due to dissatisfaction, Byron and Lydia's joint request for an audience was delivered to Chris's desk, followed by the request to form a "Holy Expeditionary Army".

At the end of the intelligence summary, Connie marked a cold conclusion in red pen.

There is strong suspicion that the Church of Poseidon is a key link and provider of information/ideas.

Their motives are unclear, but their goal was to get the two major churches to jointly apply to His Highness for permission to advance his "Holy Expeditionary Army" plan. The specific content of their conversation could not be obtained.

Chris put down the intelligence report, his fingertips lightly tracing Fisher's name, his eyes as deep and unfathomable as a cold pool.

Poseidon Church...

Chris knew that many members of the Church of the Sea God remained in the three provinces he had recently conquered, but out of concern for the locals, he had not yet purged them.

Unexpectedly, when Chris didn't attack them, these bastards jumped around like fleas.

What are they going to do?
"Holy Expeditionary Army"?
What a beautiful name.

Once Chris really lost his mind and nodded in agreement, this army, nominally led by the two major churches but actually a mix of elite members of the royal defense force and fanatical believers, left Bagnia's controlled territory and entered the territory of the Kingdom of Minicia.

Whether they face the serpent people or fight against the army of the Kingdom of Minisia, regardless of victory or defeat, their immense prestige and potential military organizational capabilities will belong to the Church.

Meanwhile, the Church of the Sea God, which was behind the Holy Army, could also take this opportunity to infiltrate the army, greatly expand their influence in the three provinces, and even use the remaining power of this "Holy Army" to sow the seeds of division in the newly occupied territories of the kingdom.

If Chris refuses, as they are doing now, they can successfully create a rift between the two major land churches and the Regent.

The dissatisfaction and resentment generated by Byron and Lydia, and the millions of believers behind them, in believing that Chris was cold-hearted and allowed evil to spread, could also be exploited by the Church of the Sea God.

What a brilliant scheme to use someone else to do the dirty work! What a master strategist who watches from the sidelines!

The Church of the Sea God, or Charles standing behind his church, is far more cunning and secretive than the two leaders of the Land Church who were blinded by faith and anxiety.

Byron and Lydia may not have thought that far ahead. They were simply persuaded by the Church of the Sea God with their lofty ideals of "purifying the earth" and "saving lives" and their sense of crisis regarding the "imminent spread of pollution." They were so eager to take action that they overlooked the huge political trap behind the proposal.

They became pawns in the Church of the Sea God and Charles's attempts to test the power of the Kingdom of Bagnia and disrupt the situation.

"Ah……"

Chris let out a cold, sneer.

His previous judgment was correct; the people from those two churches were indeed stupid, naive, and had been used as pawns.

But the Church of Poseidon... he remembered that debt.

beat?

Of course, we need to give them a talking-to.

However, the target and method need to be adjusted. Those two local churches need to be severely warned, made to understand the consequences of overstepping their bounds, and to recognize who the true rulers of this land are.

As for Fisher, who is stirring up trouble in the shadows of the deep sea, and the Church of Neptune and Charles behind him... a more covert and deadly approach is needed.

The two seem to be able to be combined into one.

However, overall, these are not major problems at the moment. The most important issue is farming, and this rhythm cannot be disrupted by external interference.

……

Meanwhile, in the port of Omdour.

Several days have passed since that secret warehouse meeting.

Fisher, dressed in an unassuming grey merchant's robe, stood on a slightly elevated, abandoned lighthouse platform in the port area.

Because of its expansive view, offering a panoramic view of the entire harbor, especially the bustling reconstruction zone, this place is off-limits to unauthorized personnel. Yet now, Fisher is here, holding a prayer book inlaid with rough seashells, his lips slightly moving as he devoutly prays to Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Those eyes, hidden behind the shadows of the book pages, emitted a faint blue light, capable of gazing into the distance and seeing minute details that even a telescope couldn't make out.
Then Fisher, greedy and shocked, discovered the incredible sight below... the reconstruction work being carried out by the Bagnians in the port of Omdur.

speed!

This was the first and strongest impression in Fisher's mind.

During the reign of the Kingdom of Minesia, Omdur was an important port, but its development was always slow and sluggish.

Nobles were bickering, the church was hindering progress, and the artisan guilds were inefficient. After a storm, repairing the damaged docks could take months or even half a year.

Now, the Bagnians are displaying an almost brute-force efficiency.

The old dock area, destroyed by war, has long been cleared of its remains. In its place, a brand-new deep-water pier has sprung up rapidly, like the skeleton of a giant beast.

Huge, unprecedented cranes stood on the shore and in the shallow water, emitting a deep, powerful roar, and easily hoisted tons of boulders and bundles of timber into place.

Dressed in uniform dark gray overalls, the workers, as numerous as ants, worked methodically within clearly defined areas. The sounds of hammering, shouting, and machinery blended together to create a deafening yet powerful symphony.

In just two months, the outline of the new pier has become clearly visible, and its scale far exceeds that of the old port!

The scale was the second shock.

The Bagnians were not just rebuilding the docks; they were reshaping the entire port. The new warehouse district was laid out in a square pattern, with wide, straight roads and deep drainage ditches built with massive stones.

Further away, large tracts of land that were originally mudflats and abandoned salt fields have been leveled and compacted, and countless scaffolds have sprung up like a forest. New residential areas, shops and... military camps are being built?
However, Fisher felt it didn't quite seem right, so he spent a lot of effort and money to bribe an officer so that he could appear on the abandoned lighthouse platform and finally see clearly what that heavily fortified building, which resembled a military camp, really was.

It's a shipyard!
Fisher's gaze was now fixed on the northernmost part of the port, on the vast area tightly enclosed by towering wooden walls.

Even from a considerable distance, he could sense the vastness and...ambition of that region.

A massive dry dock is being excavated; it is large enough to accommodate the simultaneous construction or repair of several large warships.

Beside the dock, a massive wooden slide, like the spine of a dragon, juts diagonally into the sea.

What was most unsettling was that, inside the shipyard, he could see massive keels standing up like a dense forest.

The keels were incredibly thick, clearly not intended for building ordinary merchant ships, and their sheer number sent chills down his spine... There were at least three large warships having their keels laid simultaneously!
On the other side of the shipyard, under the open-air sheds, piles of fine oak and teak, already partially processed, along with bundles of iron bars and copper sheets, silently testify to the Bagnians' determination to build a powerful navy.

What's even more frightening is their method.

Through the magic of the sea god, Fisher could see that the workers in the distance were not hammering by experience like traditional shipwrights, but were using uniform tools and, under the direction of some people holding large sheets of parchment covered with lines, following fixed procedures and blueprints, carrying out assembly-line work.

This standardized, systematic, and aesthetically pleasing construction method is far more efficient than the traditional shipbuilding methods of Minicia or any other country he knows.

"By the God of the Sea..."

Fisher muttered unconsciously, the prayer book nearly slipping from his cold fingers, and he felt a suffocating chill.

He wasn't sure what the drawbacks of this construction method were, but the advantage was that the Bagnians could acquire a main combat fleet in just six months.

Because in Omdour, and in the port of Lev, far away in the province of Chivelevka, Fischer knew of the existence of other shipyards.

If this largest shipyard is building massive, mountain-like main warships, then the smaller shipyards must be manufacturing secondary warships and other auxiliary vessels.

This is not a simple post-war reconstruction!

The Bagnians are transforming Omdour Port into a powerful naval base and industrial center at an astonishing speed and on an astonishing scale!
They are not repairing wounds, but forging a sharp spear aimed at Minicia and the coastal waters of the entire Greek continent!

Fisher's anxiety grew like a poisonous vine. King Charles's order was to stir up trouble within Bagnia, create conflict between the Church and the Crown, and delay its consolidation of new territories.

He had thought that using the "purification" appeals of the two major land churches was a brilliant idea.

But now, having witnessed the transformation of Port Omdour, he realized that Chris's strategic core was not in the inland farmlands and mines, but in the surging power of the sea!
He must send out the intelligence from here immediately!
It wasn't just the result of the church's efforts; more importantly, it was the scale, speed, and construction methods of this shipyard! This was a matter of life and death for the Kingdom of Minicia!
Fisher sighed regretfully as his gaze swept over the port guards in the harbor area, who wore dark blue uniforms, anvil badges, and sharp eyes that scanned every corner.

The Bagnians' control over this area is so tight it's almost despairing.

Not only are all personnel entering and leaving the shipyard subject to strict checks, but there are also lookout posts on nearby high points, and any suspicious person lingering or observing for an extended period of time will attract attention.

He was able to get to this place by taking advantage of the cover provided by the bribed military officer, but he obviously couldn't stay in a place like this for long.

Even the beaches and seabed near the shipyard are densely covered with huge, rot-resistant wooden stakes and sharp iron chevrons, forming a deadly reef area.

Between these obstacles, multiple layers of sturdy metal mesh chains with sharp barbs are also suspended.

Why does Fisher know all this?

That's because last night he sent several frogmen, blessed by the priest Poseidon and capable of long-term diving, to try to get close to the shipyard and then burn it to the ground.

Unfortunately, only half of the frogmen returned this morning; the other half were still hanging on the metal mesh chain.
"Damn..."

Thinking of this, Fisher cursed under his breath, ended the spell, pressed the prayer book tightly to his chest, and forced himself to calm down.

He took one last, deep look at the shipyard, which resembled a giant beast's lair, his eyes filled with shock, fear, and a profound sense of urgency.

The intelligence must be sent out, at all costs.

Otherwise, the day this fleet, forged from steel and giant timber, sails out of Omdur Port will be the day the Kingdom of Minicia is utterly suffocated at sea!

He turned around, then froze...

Behind Fisher stood five men watching him with mocking smiles. They wore different styles of half-armor and held weapons such as flintlock pistols, longswords, and halberds.

"Come here, kid. Are you going to surrender, or will we break your arms and legs and take you away?"

(End of this chapter)