Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 18 Nobles and the Church

Upon hearing the answer, Haven was momentarily stunned.

"Leaders?"

"Yes, the people."

Count Hyland raised his glass and downed the Blackthorn wine in one gulp before slamming the glass down on the table.

"They want to become lords?"

Upon hearing his son's words, Count Hyland, who had just angrily slammed his wine glass on the table, silently picked up the glass and turned his head to the side.

Seeing that his father had no intention of explaining, Haven turned to Earl Morrie.

Earl Morrie scratched his head, looked at Haven with a puzzled expression, and wondered if he had misjudged him.
“They don’t want lords; they need people to believe in their gods; they need believers.”

In my past life, when I was wandering, I slept in a church and had a good impression of the Christ woman who did not drive me away.

Haven asked, puzzled.
"Can't our people believe in gods? I went for a walk in the countryside before and saw some farmers setting up shrines to the goddess of harvest in their fields."

"Yes, we do not forbid our people from worshipping certain gods. In fact, there are some gods that our nobles highly revere."
But this does not include Aurelion's church, nor the gods.

Havent recalled the golden sun symbol behind Aurelion when he left; he remembered looking through books and thinking that the deity represented by that symbol was...

"I remember that the Sun God is a mainstream belief in the Empire's faith system, and there is even the Empire's largest Sun God Church in the capital. Why are we in the North so resistant to it?"

Hehehehe~
Little Went, you're quite curious, Kevin. You should talk to your son about it.

I need to rest now; Aurelion is no easy opponent.

After saying that, Count Morley leaned back in his chair without any aristocratic bearing, propped his legs up on the table, and swung them around comfortably.

Seeing that Earl Hylan remained silent, she picked up the fruit on the table and threw it at him.

"Sooner or later he'll find out that little Went has proven he's not a child anymore, he's a proper heir to the territory."

After speaking, she sized up the handsome young man.

"Hmm~ Maybe the northern winds and sands will add some masculine charm to him."

Urged on by Count Morrie, Count Hyland slowly began to speak.

“We in the North belong to the royalist camp, so we reject the transmission of certain divine doctrines, especially the Eternal Sun, which is absolutely not allowed to appear in the North.”

Teacher~
"No, Father, I have a question."

Seeing Haven raise his right hand as if to ask a question, Earl Hyland nodded, indicating that Haven should ask.
"Um, why should we refuse the Eternal Sun's broadcast within our territory? I read in the book that in some southern provinces, almost every noble territory has a church dedicated to the Eternal Sun."

I've heard that the monks of the Eternal Sun regularly provide free treatment to people who can't afford medical care.

Ah, there should be two questions: what is the royalist camp?

Upon hearing Haven mention the nobles of the southern provinces, Earl Morley, sitting to the side, gave a disdainful laugh.

"Those cowards in the South, calling them nobles is an insult to nobility."

Those greedy rats, the parasites of the empire, with only money in their eyes, should all be hanged.

Seeing his father's angry expression, Haven was a little confused. What had he been talking about all this time?

He looked to Earl Morrie for help.

“Hahahahaha~
Your father was disgusted by those spineless monkeys in the South; let me tell you about it.

Kevin isn't a good storyteller.

After calming down, Count Hyland raised his glass to his friend.

"Let me tell you about the royalist camp first. Simply put, it's a noble alliance led by His Majesty the current Emperor, Frederick IV."
For His Majesty's side, maintaining the integrity of the empire and, most importantly, ensuring His Majesty's unique right to speak are paramount.

Therefore, within the royalist camp, we will do our best to avoid anything that might affect His Majesty's rule.

Of course, the specifics are definitely not that simple; it involves many aspects. You can look at your father's letters and some intelligence when you have time.

Hevente gleaned many key words from Count Maurice's words.

"Is the empire incomplete now? Moreover, I remember that during the reign of Simon II, books recorded that the Eternal Flame had assisted the empire in resisting foreign enemies and internal strife on many occasions."

After hesitating for a moment, Haven finally asked the question that had been on his mind.

Hehehehehe~
In theory, the empire is currently complete and unified.

Regarding the reign of Simon II, in terms of imperial biographies...

You're right, that's exactly how it is.

However, you should know that any help comes at a price.

And the party that pays the price always suffers a terrible fate.

Count Morrie paused for a moment, staring blankly at the wooden ceiling, as if reminiscing about something.

"What price did the empire pay?"

Upon hearing Havent's question, Earl Morley let out a long sigh, as if he were expelling all the frustration in his chest.

"Dignity, status, and most importantly, our noble rights."

"Hmm? What does that mean? I don't quite understand. The book seems to describe a relatively prosperous period for the empire during the reign of Simone II."

Upon hearing Haven's words, the two men gave a cold laugh.

"Of course, as books published in the open, those timid historians without a stance would certainly not dare to write about the specific circumstances."

For example, the Church attempted to control the succession of emperors, the appointment of nobles, the declaration of war, and the life and death of the people.

If it weren't for the sudden death of Simon II and the rise of the Mad King.

The empire—it's long gone.

Listening to Count Morrie's explanation, Haven looked shocked. He hadn't expected the story outside the book to be so exciting. He wished he had some melon seeds.

"That's why the religious wars that lasted for a hundred years came about."
Wait, something's not right. If things are like this, why is the Eternal Flame still one of the Empire's greatest faiths?

"The Hundred Years' Wars are another matter, although this also happened during the hundred years."

There are many stories here; you'll learn about them gradually in the future. Now, let's get back to our previous topic.

After some foolish actions during the reign of Simon II, the nobility nearly faced extinction.

It wasn't until the reigns of the Mad King 'Hurquist' and the Blood King 'Henherk' that the situation was turned around.

Hevant recalls that the book seems to have written very little about these two individuals.

"The brief history of the empire seems to contain very little description of these two emperors."

Now that things have turned around, why are there still... a pro-royalist camp?

That's because Frederick II's father, the Sleeping King 'Keene'

For his own ridiculous ideals, he transferred the management of his people to a portion of the church.

　Please comment, favorite, and recommend!
　　

(End of this chapter)