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

However, even Earl Black Brown has no intention of using force at this stage, and he has recently been busy dealing with bandits who have appeared out of nowhere.

Tanl, along with a group of relatively clean-cut and well-trained members of his hideout, stayed in the tavern in Blackbrown City, looking at the missions issued by Earl Blackbrown.

Generally speaking, the suppression of mountain bandits involves the lord's army and mercenaries working together to eliminate the main bandit force, and then hiring adventurers to deal with the scattered smaller groups of bandits, in order to annihilate them.

However, nowadays, bandits are rampant in the Black Brown Territory, so many mercenary groups have taken on missions to eliminate the bandits directly, rather than cooperating with the local army.

Tanl stroked his chin, carefully examining the map of the Black Brown Territory. He was a man who liked to plan ahead and make thorough preparations before taking action, and every person in the hideout was extremely valuable.

He can now name everyone he brought out of the hideout. He hopes that none of these young men will die and that they can return to the hideout unharmed after completing their mission.

……

At this time, Rand was dealing with a very serious diplomatic incident. The Torch Church reacted much faster than the leaderless Frostmoon Kingdom. As a result, after the change of ownership of the Crescent Moon Baron, the Torch Church immediately sent people to check on the situation of the Torch Church branches in the town.

Seeing that the new owners here had not destroyed the branch, the Torch Church members wanted to negotiate with Rand, hoping to continue preaching to free people and nobles in this land.

Rand rested his chin on his hand. According to Olena, although as the Mother Goddess's messenger, the Church's low-level ritual implements would find it difficult to perceive his pure and immense evil, the Torch Church's messengers who came to negotiate might carry ritual implements as high-level as Ellie and Olena's back then.

This is quite troublesome. At present, with the chaos on the mainland just beginning to emerge, the Torch Church still has a strong grasp on faith and its influence is at its zenith. At most, it just feels like it is running out of steam.

Rand dared not be negligent towards the still powerful church, otherwise, if he really angered the Torch Church and the church knights rushed over, then his hideout would be destroyed along with him.

However, he couldn't directly meet with church personnel, otherwise, if his identity as a cult messenger were discovered, he would be finished.

Rand glanced at the Torch Church messenger's request for an audience, then looked at Ellie: "My dear subject! Do you have a brilliant plan?"

"Huh?" Ellie couldn't understand the meaning of the words that Rand inexplicably came out of his mouth.

"Is there any way to deal with this? I don't want to appear aloof to the Torch Church's messengers, but I also can't meet them directly to avoid having my identity discovered." Rand scratched his head. In his previous life, he was just a college student about to graduate, and he didn't really have any sophisticated political thinking.

Ellie thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you pretend to be sick? If you're ill, it's inconvenient to see guests. The White King often does that too."

good idea!

Although feigning illness at this point might be a bit too late, it's still much more polite than condescendingly saying, "I won't see you! Talk to your subordinates."

Rand looked at Ellie with longing eyes.

Ellie sighed: "Many people have seen my face. In a remote place like Crescent Moon Territory, no one may know it, but the messengers of the Torch Church might recognize it. Are you sure?"

Although the White King has agreed to provide some publicity support to the hideout, this kind of support is completely different from the sensation caused by the fact that the White King's only blood relative is actually staying here.

At least the current hideout might not be able to withstand such a huge public opinion pressure.

Rand looked at Olena with hopeful eyes again, and Olena rubbed her forehead: "Actually, quite a few people know me, at most a few fewer than Ellie."

Damn it, we have no one left to use.

Now we can only rely on Taran for help. Taran is now the sixth most educated person in the hideout, and we can only depend on him now.

At that moment, Rand had a flash of inspiration and came up with a perfect solution: "You think that messenger from the Torch Church probably doesn't know what I look like, or even my age and appearance?"

Ellie and Olena nodded.

"Then can I have Taran impersonate me?"

A win-win solution!

This demonstrates respect while perfectly preventing their cult affiliation from being discovered.

It requires Ellie and Olena to keep an eye on things from behind the scenes to prevent Taran, who isn't very well-educated, from making any mistakes. It's a strange feeling of ruling from behind the curtain.

Moreover, once Ellie and Olena leave the hideout for town, the messy affairs of the hideout will fall back on Rand's shoulders.

During this period, RAND's textbook writing project has already started, and with other miscellaneous tasks to handle, the leisure time is gone in a flash.

Rand will remember this grudge!

Chapter 38 Lysa's Investigation and Taran's Performance

Lysa moved nimbly through the jungle, like a butterfly. After purchasing a low-level ritual artifact from the Torch Church, she began to wander around the more remote parts of Crescent Moon Territory.

Unfortunately, we can't buy high-level ritual artifacts; those things probably have to be ordered from the Holy City of the Torch Church.

Her golden eyes granted her superhuman vision, and she didn't need to directly locate the hideout; she only needed to find traces.

Every living person leaves a trace, no matter how careful these evil cultists are.

After all, every living person needs to eat, drink, and relieve themselves, which inevitably leads to the consumption of resources.

Previously, because of her noble status and lineage, no one had ever dared to assign her such a difficult task, but that didn't mean she couldn't do it well.

She never neglected to hone her professional skills; the jungle, teeming with wild beasts and insects, was no different to her than when she was strolling around her hideout.

Actually, there aren't many secluded places where people can hide, and Crescent Moon Territory isn't particularly large, so she just needs to search them one by one.

The thought of receiving a "reward" upon returning home made her feel a surge of heat.

Crescent Lands is about 3000 acres. With the current productivity, such a large land area can support 12 armored knights. However, due to its remoteness, neither the previous baron who died at the hands of Rand nor the baron before that who died at the hands of the Lenza army were particularly good at managing the area.

Today, only five villages remain, along with a town that serves as the nominal administrative center.

Just as Lysa was trekking through the dense forest searching for clues to the hideout of the Cult of the God of Struggle, Taran watched Ellie and Olena with great anxiety as they delivered a letter from Rand.

He was overwhelmed with gratitude that Rand had put him in charge of the town. He worked hard every day, his nerves on edge, afraid of making a mistake and letting Rand down. He never imagined that he, a former bandit leader, would be entrusted with such an important task.

Managing a relatively prosperous small town was something he never dared to dream of before.

Taran's office was a small courtyard that he had vacated. As for the castle where the Baron used to live, he did not dare to enter it without clear instructions from Rand.

As for why he joined the hideout before these two beauties but now holds a lower status, he has no complaints whatsoever. He is already overwhelmed with gratitude for everything he has achieved.

After receiving the letter and reading it carefully, even asking Ellie for help with unfamiliar characters, Taran solemnly confirmed, "The Divine Messenger wants me to face the Torch Church's Divine Messenger in his place, is that right?"

Ellie nodded and said, "Rand wants you to impersonate him, so that the messenger doesn't notice anything amiss."

Actually, there's nothing wrong with it; this messenger definitely doesn't know either Rand or Taran.

Olena then spoke up, "If there are any questions that are truly uncertain, we can postpone them and discuss them with you after the envoy leaves."

Taran carefully considered what he could and could not do in order to conform to the image of a qualified baronial ruler.

Seeing Taran deep in thought, Ellie asked doubtfully, "Have you misunderstood something?"

Taran bowed slightly and asked, "May I ask what you need my guidance on?"

Ellie rolled her eyes: "You're overdoing it. Just be yourself."

To outsiders, Crescent Moon Territory is nothing more than a place occupied by unknown bandits due to war. Once the Frostmoon Kingdom is free to act, it will be nothing more than a tiny place that can be conquered in the blink of an eye.

The Torch Church messengers came only to prevent these thieves from being so tactless as to damage church assets.

Such a bandit should not resemble a politically astute nobleman.

All I can say is that Taran is indeed the most suitable for the role; Rand is too young and doesn't look like the part.

Taran did indeed work as a bandit in his youth, so as long as he plays himself, he won't reveal any flaws.

Taran readily agreed, knowing full well that the two beautiful women who had always been by the messenger's side understood his meaning better than he did.

Moreover, after their explanation, he felt it made perfect sense.

Taran straightened his robes, gave instructions to his men, and soon the messengers of the Church of the Torch arrived.

The envoy was dressed in a fiery red robe and wore red accessories.

A gilded belt was fastened around his waist.

Although they were all dressed in red, their attire appeared much warmer and gentler compared to the blood-red of the followers of the God of Struggle.

The messenger, carrying a wooden staff, entered the hall and performed a fairly common greeting.

He wasn't surprised that Taran didn't live in the baron's castle; it was normal for a bandit who had never held a noble status to have some reverence for the symbols of nobility.

However, none of these were within his considerations. He only needed to ensure that the church received the property. After bowing, he asked, "Hello, would you interfere with the church's missionary work?"

Taran's not particularly aged face relaxed slightly as he looked at the envoy with a somewhat mercenary air: "What's in it for us not to bother you?"

The envoy was not surprised by this, after all, although such a scene was rare, it was not something he had never seen before.

Mr. Taran was already being very lenient by not directly robbing the Torch Church of its property.

The messenger bowed again, saying that giving the Taran bandit some assets was perfectly acceptable, otherwise he would become enraged and suffer even greater losses.

Therefore, he replied, "Our church is willing to donate all of its church properties in Crescent Territory."

The church owns a considerable amount of land in Crescent Moon Territory, but donating it all to this Taran is perfectly fine. Once the Frostmoon Kingdom has the resources to eliminate this band of robbers, it can naturally reclaim the land.

For now, there's no need to preach any grand principles to the robbers; all we need to do is protect the church's core assets.

Following Rand's lead, Taran naturally didn't want to provoke the Torch Church at this time. Seeing that they were willing to make such concessions, Taran decided to stop while he was ahead.

The church's real estate generates a considerable income. Previously, they were hesitant to touch it for fear of being held accountable by the church, but now that they have taken it over, it's enough to feed many villagers.

That's great.

As for the issue of missionary work, only free men and nobles were qualified to believe in religion.

The faith of the Goddess of Abundance is only spread to its most loyal members.

That's how it is at least for now. As for how the sect will develop in the future, that's up to the divine messenger to decide, and he has no right to interfere.

After the messenger left, Ellie and Olena emerged from behind the curtain, expressed their approval of Taran's performance, and prepared to leave.

Before they even set off, Rand pleaded with them to hurry back.

Although they felt that going back would mean being exploited again, they didn't want the development of their hideout to stagnate due to slow processing of affairs, which would prevent the project from progressing in a timely manner.

After leaving Taran's courtyard, the messenger of the Church of the Torch did not intend to return immediately to the Holy City of the Church of the Torch to report back.

He came here on another mission: to find someone.

The Torch Church headquarters has lost a highly talented Supreme Paladin. In the words of the bishop in charge of that Paladin, he has gone missing.

Although he didn't know how a fully grown, highest-ranking paladin could get lost.

But since the church had assigned him a task, he naturally wouldn't neglect it. So he decided to explore this crescent-shaped territory, hoping to find some clues.

Chapter 39 Turbulent Land

Rand originally planned to secretly handle the affairs of the hideout while Ellie and Olena went to town to deliver the instructions, and then finish compiling the teaching materials he intended to provide to the believers, in order to prove his strength.

But in reality, it's impossible. Indeed, once people have experienced a leisurely life, it's really hard for them to adapt to a busy life in a short period of time.