The victory of a religion in another world is so easy?

Anyway, he was about to leave and didn't want to deal with the mess below.

The lives and deaths of those commoners below were no longer his concern. There was originally a sliver of a chance that, when the spoils were distributed after the war, this remote but still relatively fertile land would be allocated to him.

But since the Torch Church began its mediation, this has become completely impossible.

Currently, the Torch Church still holds supreme religious authority in all countries, and if they were to intervene, a ceasefire would be inevitable.

In other words, almost all the nobles who staked their entire fortunes on trying to gain military merit and then receive land and wealth after the war would lose everything.

He, a baron who originally had no hope of gaining military merit, actually benefited the most, having already made a fortune.

So, it seems he can still plunder some more?

He is about to leave, and because of the ceasefire agreement that will definitely be signed, no matter how outrageous his actions are here, the Northern United Kingdom will not be able to restart the war and drag him out in Lensea.

There must have been some left over from the last looting; now it's time to put those remaining valuables into our own pockets.

……

Rand learned of the Baron's intention to collect taxes again very quickly. Having already begun plotting to kill the Baron, he naturally had spies planted in the town.

This baron actually wants to rip us off again; even Zhou Bapi (a notorious skinflint) isn't as ruthless as you.

Rand immediately arranged for the Tauren, who were a secret unit, to temporarily hide in the rear base, and then adjusted the supplies and personnel of what was formerly Takina Village, now the No. 3 base.

Now that Den No. 3 is also under Rand's control, there's no need to create Den No. 2 just to disguise Den No. 1.

With the situation chaotic between villages and towns lacking intelligence systems, Rand wasn't worried at all about his hideout being discovered.

The point is to give this greedy baron some wealth so that he'll feel disgusted.

However, it is not the right time to take action yet. The Torch Church has just intervened in the mediation, and it will be some time before Lenza withdraws its troops.

If he were to kill the baron now, he might have to face an investigation team from Lenza.

Moreover, if the baron were hiding in the castle, he might not be able to kill him. This is not on the same level as dealing with that tax collector.

This time, Tanl no longer needs to impersonate the village chief to deal with the tax collectors, because Taran, who is the village chief himself, is there to face them. It's a natural performance, and he won't reveal any flaws.

There was still some time before the tax collector arrived, so Taran consulted with Rand.

This mysterious divine messenger was kinder than they had imagined. Since he and his villagers joined the hideout, although they had a hard time every day, they had never been mistreated, and their daily food and supplies were plentiful.

Therefore, he was still quite grateful to Rand, as for the villagers who had been lost in the attack on the stronghold.

They could be said to have brought it upon themselves, and that Rand is already being incredibly magnanimous by letting those who survived by sheer luck go.

For them, as long as there is a way to survive, they will not have the idea of ​​resistance.

When Taran came over to ask for his instructions, Rand also had something to say.

The humiliation that Tanl had suffered in his place had left a deep psychological impact on him, and he was reluctant to let his subordinates suffer humiliation for his sake.

“Have some self-respect,” Rand said. “You represent me now, so you don’t need to grovel. Let them collect whatever taxes they want.”

Taran had not yet gained enough trust, so he was unaware that Rand had long harbored murderous intentions towards the baron here.

Or perhaps in the eyes of the villagers of this era, the nobles were so high and mighty that unless they were truly driven to desperation, they might never have the thought of direct rebellion.

After all, the overwhelming combat power of a knight in full armor against an ordinary unarmored villager is simply too exaggerated.

Taran was very anxious at this point: "But if they take too much, we won't make it through the fall."

Rand smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything. We'll all be able to live comfortably until the wheat harvest."

After saying that, he glanced at Tanl beside him, who was studying the new doctrines, and felt that he should conform to the image of a divine messenger, so he reluctantly added: "The Mother Goddess will lovingly teach us and help us."

Then he left with Tanl. Rand felt that he no longer needed to act. Tanl probably saw through his act long ago, but he didn't know why Tanl didn't expose him.

Perhaps it was his love for the sect! If he were to expose himself, it would inevitably lead to internal strife within the sect. Therefore, for the sake of the greater good, Tanl endured the humiliation.

Even though the divine messenger had given his assurance, Taran was still somewhat worried. However, he did not intend to disobey the divine messenger's wishes. As the divine messenger had said, he was now, to some extent, representing the divine messenger's face.

As for which god this messenger was, Taran was very concerned before, but now he is at ease. Although he doesn't know the specific name, judging from Rand's behavior, he must be a kind god.

The tax collector arrived soon after Rand and Tanl left, this time a different person, accompanied by five or six knights.

This tax collector was not as arrogant as the previous one; in fact, he seemed somewhat uneasy because this time the baron demanded that he take away all the wealth, leaving no room for negotiation.

Even for someone in his profession known for his greed, this seemed a bit excessive. Therefore, he begged the Baron to assign him a few knights as guards, otherwise he felt he wouldn't be able to leave the village alive.

Sitting on his tall horse, looking at the somewhat obsequious Taran, the new tax collector said, "Let all your villagers come out."

Taran's smile froze for a moment. He used to say things like that when he was a bandit and robbing people.

Taran sensed something was wrong but didn't say much. He simply obediently called out to the villagers to come out of their houses.

Without specifying how much tax to collect, the tax collector, under the protection of the knight and accompanied by his assistant, began to extort money from house to house.

Taran's expression changed drastically. Neither he nor Rand had expected that this baron would take all the taxes when he collected them again. Even bandits and robbers wouldn't be so ruthless when robbing people. He rushed over and exclaimed anxiously, "This is robbery!"

One of the guarding knights sneered, swept his lance across, and knocked Taran away, leaving a bloody gash in his abdomen.

The villagers were a little agitated, but seeing the knights' fine armor and lances that were taller than them, they dared not make a move.

Soon, the tax collectors loaded almost all the village's grain and money onto oxcarts and led all the livestock away.

In fact, the knights were allowed to kill all the villagers, but seeing that they were not making any trouble, they felt that killing them would wear down their weapons and would not be worth the risk.

After the tax collector left, Taran, clutching his wound, staggered to his feet. He was surprised to find that he was so thick-skinned that he could even stand up.

The villagers immediately gathered around, their faces downcast, for they had all thought their lives were about to improve.

In such a short time, they lost everything again.

Looking at the villagers who were in despair, Taran clutched his stomach and said, slightly out of breath, "The Divine Envoy will arrange everything."

He didn't know how to appease the villagers who had suddenly lost everything, so he invoked the divine messenger, hoping to give them something to look forward to.

He needs to see the divine messenger as soon as possible, otherwise the village might not even have dinner tonight.

Chapter 28 The Cult's Treatment Methods May Indeed Be a Little Special

Although Taran was still vigorous despite his age, the wound inflicted by the lance was still far too severe.

When he was mentally stressed, he didn't feel anything, but when he relaxed, Taran felt a burning pain.

He felt as if two of his ribs were broken and his waist was still bleeding. In this state, it seemed impossible for him to reach the first hideout.

The village's few horses had all been confiscated by the tax collectors, leaving them with no choice but to walk.

All of this was witnessed by Ellie and Olena.

This was a scene they could not comprehend at all, because they were born into high-ranking noble families and had never experienced such a situation where they were not in control of their own destiny.

After the tax collectors had gone far away with the money, Olena appeared before Taran.

He tossed him a strange potion: "Apply this to the wound to stop the bleeding and stabilize the injury."

Upon receiving the potion, Taran, sensing his impending death, did not doubt its authenticity. He lifted his clothes and applied the milky-white potion to his wounds.

After only a dozen breaths, the blood that had been flowing out seemed to congeal and stopped seeping out.

Taran was stunned. Even when he was a notorious bandit, he had never seen such a miraculous potion.

He cautiously looked up at Olena, who had given him the medicine: "My lady, what are your orders?"

Such a high-level potion being used on a nobody like him could very well be for ulterior motives. He thought to himself that if these two people tried to ask him for information about the hideout, he would just die.

Only Rand has the potential to save the starving villagers of Hideout No. 3, and he will never reveal any information about the hideout.

Olena didn't answer, and stepped aside, while Lysa slowly emerged from the shadows.

Upon seeing Lysa, Taran breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Rand had an elven ranger follower, so it seemed that these two women, so beautiful that he dared not look directly at them, were not the Baron's subordinates.

Taran lowered his head and said in a low voice, "The Baron's tax collectors have taken everything away."

Lysa reassured her, "Shasa and his minotaur tribe are on their way, and supplies will be distributed tonight. The Divine Messenger is waiting for you at the hideout; come with us."

Taran gave a wry smile, indicating that although the bleeding had stopped, he was still unable to move.

Ellie raised her staff, a flash of red light appeared, and Taran found himself being lifted up by an upright creature with ram horns.

With the help of what appears to be a horned demon, Taran successfully met Rand, who was standing at the entrance of the hideout enjoying the breeze.

Rand felt bad and said, "This time it was my fault. I knew that baron wanted to collect taxes, but I didn't expect him to rob me like this."

"Sir, how are we going to survive? The other villages have probably already been looted. Even if we try to rob them, we probably won't find anything." Taran was very worried. If things continued like this, it might turn into a scene of cannibalism.

Rand shook his head and said, "It's alright, I'm prepared to take back everything we've lost."

"Huh?" Taran looked up in shock. "You still have a way to get it back?"

Rand sat down, this time with a chair kindly provided by Theraley, and he was finally a bit more clever than Theraley.

The elf stared wide-eyed at Serai with a somewhat intimidating look, startling Serai, who scratched her head in bewilderment, wondering how she had offended the elven ranger.

Lysa stared intently at the chair Rand was sitting in, feeling a surge of excitement. She felt perfectly suited to be there, and it was time to give it a try.

After Rand sat down, he revealed a mysterious smile: "Of course, I've been preparing for this for a long time."

Seeing the somewhat bloodthirsty expression on Rand's face, Taran finally realized what was happening: "You, you intend to..."

“That’s right.” Rand nodded when he saw that Taran looked like he suddenly understood.

"Can we win? The Baron has so many soldiers and knights," Taran said with some melancholy. In his mind, nobles were always high above and invincible, especially these real nobles who actually controlled soldiers and territories.

Rand laughed and said, "Don't worry, the wisdom of the Mother Goddess shines upon us."

Taran actually felt that this Rand God Envoy was not like a charlatan at all. Although the God Envoy always talked about the Mother Goddess, he was actually thinking about practical things.

However, given his experience as a bandit and village chief, he simply couldn't understand Rand's thoughts. But that didn't matter. As a subordinate, as long as Rand didn't abandon them, he only needed to carry out orders.

He then nodded and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute," Rand called out to Taran. "I have another mission for you."

Taran, please stay.

"Afterwards, I will arrange for someone to go with you, carrying supplies, to appease the other villages in this baronial territory. Once we have actual control of this baronial territory, they will all become part of our base. We cannot afford to damage them now." At this time, the base still has enough food reserves, at least enough to appease the other villages temporarily.

Taran nodded, indicating that he understood. Although his injuries had only stopped bleeding temporarily and were far from being healed, he was very willing to go to great lengths for Rand.

“Alright, I’ll heal you now,” Rand said.

Taran was taken aback, then declined, saying, "I'm just an ordinary villager; there's really no need for me to waste such precious medical resources."