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

Once the residual heat subsided, fortunately, the current season is still relatively humid, and there were no signs of a forest fire.

Upon arriving at the golem, the giant snake had been reduced to charcoal, and the steel golem had completely lost its core. However, apart from the many fragments that flew out and felled many trees, much of the outer shell remained in place.

There was no sign of it being melted by the high temperature.

Now the most dangerous obstacle in front of the "Relics Development Plan" has finally disappeared, and the overall plan can be launched.

Moreover, in his recent letter, Tanl mentioned that the relationship between the Second Prince's faction and the Third Prince's faction was gradually becoming tense, so they probably didn't have time to come to this remote mountain village to cause trouble for him, the illegal lord.

Looking at the almost undeformed magic steel, Rand glanced at Ellie: "If we control the amount used, is it possible to cut these metals?"

Ellie thought for a moment and nodded: "It should be possible."

Rand was quite excited: "Come and try it!"

If these near-perfect metals can be cut, they can be crafted into armor and large shields, which means that a legendary unit unique to Rand may very well be born.

Ellie carefully dipped a quill into the potion and then drew it onto the surface of the steel golem.

After a while, Ellie took out a dagger and gently made a cut on the area where the potion had been applied.

Nothing happened.

Ellie was taken aback and used a lot of force, and the steel that Lyza's arrows could not damage in the slightest was scratched.

Seeing this, Ellie breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Rand was breathing heavily, his heart pounding. This meant that the legendary units for the stronghold faction could finally be put on the agenda.

Chapter 47 Greed, Malice, Action

Currently, only about one-third of the textbooks for literacy have been compiled, but literacy and math courses can already begin.

Let the believers learn it first.

The classes were scheduled for early morning, starting after dawn and lasting for an hour, after which the followers would be sent to work.

The literacy lessons were taught by Olena, with Ellie sometimes helping out, while the math lessons were taught by Rand. The literacy and math lessons alternated every other day.

After the basic knowledge courses are completed, there will be a small class on Rand's doctrines.

This means enabling believers to more clearly understand Rand's new doctrines and avoid ambiguity.

Rand tapped the small blackboard and asked, "If you needed to clear out goblin caves in the wild, what would you do?"

No one answered.

Rand raised an eyebrow and expertly called out a name: "Sers, you answer!"

Sers was used to being called on; he stood up skillfully, thought for a moment, and then answered, "Seal the entrance, then smoke it out?"

"Correct answer, sit down!"

Many adventurers like to go into goblin caves to fight the goblins when clearing them out, but this method is completely wrong. If you just block the entrance and smoke them out for a while, they will all die.

Most monster caves in the wild don't have good ventilation, and at most there are only two or three exits.

There aren't any valuable treasures in the goblin caves in the wild. After smoking them out, there's no need to reopen the seal on the cave entrance; you can just leave.

I don't know why they insisted on entering the narrow, dark cave. Did they think they could find some treasure in the goblin's lair? In the end, it's more like the goblin's treasure.

The small class ended, and the believers left the classroom in an orderly manner. Due to the scarcity of paper, none of them had their own notebooks. Although they were very attentive in class, the teaching effect could only be described as mediocre.

However, Rand could only prioritize the development of papermaking technology over culinary arts. It was still too early to have the time to research papermaking. Right now, the most important thing was to build the Adventurers' Resort and deal with the malice of that Baron of Lake Source.

After everyone in the classroom left, Rand also left and went to the annex office of the sacrificial chamber.

Upon seeing Rand arrive, Ellie stood up and said, "The White King Calant has officially replied and will begin promoting the ruins here soon."

"And what about the status of our project?"

"The first phase of the project has been completed, and basic facilities such as taverns, toilets, and some housing are already in use." Toilets, in Rand's words, are places where people relieve themselves, and excrement is transported by night soil carriers to designated locations for composting.

According to Rand's vision, a sewer system will be built in the future to directly transport sewage to septic tanks.

As for the second and third phases of the project, it depends on the number of adventurers. If it's not too bad, there's no need to continue spending money on construction. However, the large bathhouse, a luxury building invested in by Ellie and Olena, is still under construction.

The main reason is that Rand herself also needs a convenient place to take a shower, and this would also be a very attractive facility if she wants to recruit high-end talent in the future.

"Is there anything else?" Rand continued to ask.

Ellie nodded, but sat back down. This part of the work was handled by Olena, although Rand still didn't know how they divided the tasks.

Olena said, "Baron Lakesource has already started urging us on; he seems very anxious."

Rand frowned. Such haste was highly unusual. After all, even dragons would have some patience when faced with enormous profits, unless the baron's finances were in trouble.

"Was Lake Source Territory also breached during the war?" Olena had read the White King's letter to Ellie detailing the current situation, so she was somewhat aware of the matter: "Yes."

"But this Baron of Lake Source didn't die?" The original lord of Crescent Moon Territory died during the attack by Lunsa, which led to the later Baron of Lunsa. But this Baron of Lake Source didn't die. His territory was conquered, but he wasn't stripped of his title. It's a very strange thing.

According to noble law, a nobleman must defend his territory to the death. If the territory is captured and the lord of the territory flees, he will lose ownership of the land. If the land is later recovered, it will no longer belong to the original lord.

Some harsh countries would even execute fleeing nobles. While nobles enjoyed so many privileges, they also had obligations, namely the responsibility to defend their territory.

But the Baron of Lake Source still returned to his territory, which must have been quite suspicious.

The reason why this Baron of Lake Source is in such a hurry is likely because he has financial problems. For example, his territory has been plundered by nobles of the Kingdom of Lenza, and there may be very few survivors left.

Now, Rand feels that his hideout is walking a tightrope, with multiple tasks running at once, so much so that dealing with this dog who is so anxious he wants to jump over the wall is really a bit tricky.

Although they didn't know the exact situation of Baron Lakesource, Rand and Olena were of one mind: there was absolutely no way they would be given money or supplies.

After a moment's thought, Rand said, "Speed ​​up the production of the Steel Golem Armor, and then send people to garrison the border. I think Baron Lakesource is getting impatient."

Crescent Moon Territory borders two other territories: Lake Source Territory to the northeast and River Source Territory to the southwest. To the east lies the buffer zone of the Kingdom of Lunsa, a buffer zone without any noble lords, only refugees and bandits.

Given the current situation, the only option is to send the untrained third batch of soldiers to garrison the Northeast, and Rand even plans to personally go there to command them.

After arranging everything, Rand entered the sacrificial chamber. He hadn't come to turn in the mission after completing the task of destroying the God of Struggle's hideout, but now it was time.

After reciting the tongue twister fluently and bleeding a little, Rand disappeared into the sacrificial chamber, only to return some time later.

Indeed, the great, benevolent, wise, and supreme goddess of darkness and abundance is far more generous than the three-headed wolf god of war.

The "Desire to Share" skill has been upgraded to allow for double attacks, and it feels like it's just around the corner to become a group skill.

The thought of him snapping his fingers and a large group of people starting to fire made Rand very excited.

As Rand expected, the task of eliminating the heretics was a long quest chain. After eliminating the heretical strongholds in Crescent Moon Territory, the task changed to eliminating heretical strongholds outside Crescent Moon Territory and in the vicinity. It was probably a long time before they could leave Crescent Moon Territory to wipe out the heretics, so there was no need to consider it for the time being.

As they left the sacrificial chamber, Rand tossed a crystal to Ellie.

Ellie took a look, unsurprised, and smiled: "Have you seen enough?"

Rand rolled his eyes, knowing that no matter how he explained, these two probably wouldn't believe him, so he simply didn't bother to explain.

The recording crystal is no longer necessary. A few days ago, when they faced a giant serpent even larger than the Iron Golem, they were practically in the same boat. At least he heard Ellie and Olenna's thoughts about this period of time, and they had established trust in each other.

Keeping this thing is pointless except for making it a knot in your heart.

Ellie wasn't really bothered by the matter anymore, but it was better to keep the embarrassing history to herself. After exchanging a glance with Olena, she left the photo crystal to Olena to keep safe.

Rand stood there for a moment, pondering, and then asked, "Do you want to keep it for yourselves?"

Olena paused as she put away the recording crystal, then exchanged a glance with Ellie, realizing that what Rand said made perfect sense.

Pinch the photographic crystal, apply a little pressure, and the crystal cracks, then turns into quicksand that flows through Olena's fingers.

Chapter 48: The Increasingly Tense Situation and the Rising Fame of the Mercenary Group

Looking at the fifty new soldiers, Tanl felt Rand's deep expectations and support.

Given the current population and economic situation of the hideout, training fifty full-time soldiers and equipping them with weapons and armor would not be easy, but the letters Rand sent never mentioned the hideout's difficulties.

But Tanl truly felt this support and expectation.

However, things have been going well lately. As the strongest mercenary group in Blackbrown City, Tanl has gradually gained the Blackbrown Earl's approval after completing several missions to wipe out bandits, and has begun to take on more difficult missions that test his strength.

Tanl opened the "Reference for the Use of War Strategy," which, despite its careful handling, was still somewhat damaged due to being opened so many times. Several pages were inserted, containing answers to questions he had received from correspondence with the divine messenger, Rand.

As autumn approaches, the situation in the Frostmoon Kingdom is gradually becoming tense. The old nobles, who value stability, support the second prince, hoping to prevent changes in the domestic situation and maintain stability.

The military faction supported the third prince, hoping to strengthen the army and avenge the Kingdom of Lensa. Although the Kingdom of Lensa withdrew its troops, the army swept through and caused heavy losses to large swathes of land in the Kingdom of Frostmoon.

Now, due to the war, many nobles have died in the Kingdom of Lensa, and the vacant territories are being fought over and bickered with each other, leaving them no time to attend to external defenses.

If they can regroup immediately, the chances of revenge are very high; at worst, they will be mediated by the Torch Church again.

Interestingly, the conservative faction is stronger than the military faction, though not by much, and the two sides have now entered into a military standoff.

The same was true of Earl Blackbrown; a large number of troops marched to the border and began an armed demonstration.

Therefore, many affairs within the territory require mercenaries to complete.

However, so far, no one believes that a civil war will break out, except for Rand, who has now led his team to the northeast of Crescent Moon Territory.

Tanl, leading his now swelled mercenary group of 150 men, began to deal with the monster invasion of the village.

Of these 150 men, 100 were recruits from the hideout, supported by Rand. They were reliable and trustworthy, and were part of the core group that Tanl could rely on.

The remaining fifty men were a ragtag force composed of prisoners of war, citizens recruited in Blackbrown City, and some volunteers. They generally did minor chores, such as cleaning up the battlefield.

Moreover, along with the new batch of recruits came five scouts riding warhorses. Tanl didn't know what price the envoy of Land had paid to purchase such high-quality warhorses, but the scouts' riding skills were really average and they needed more training.

Such strength is actually only slightly weaker than some barons. In fact, it is stronger than regular troops. A baron would have about twelve armored knights and twenty or thirty mounted knight squires. Such cavalry strength can suppress the Fengrang Mercenary Group, which can be said to be an all-infantry group, to a certain extent.

However, the mission the mercenary group has received now is certainly not to deal with other nobles, but to hunt wild beasts.

The Black-Brown Territory is named so because it is rich in black-brown wild boars, and the Black-Brown Earl also relied on this specialty to form a wild boar cavalry regiment.

However, without enough soldiers to protect the village, these black-brown wild boars that breed in the Black-Brown Ridge forests could come out at any time to destroy crops or even injure villagers.

Tanl and his mercenary group were stationed in a village in the Black Brown Territory. Truffles that would attract Black Brown wild boars had been placed nearby, and they were just waiting for the boars to appear so they could wipe them out.

Opening "Reference for the Use of War Strategies" again, the last page says "act according to circumstances," while the first page contains words that Tanl cannot understand: "The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities."

Tanl didn't understand the meaning of the sentence at all. To be precise, Tanl had never seen this kind of script before and didn't know what the purpose of the angel Rand had written it here.

Wild boars soon appeared, much larger than common wild boars, with broader backs, making them rideable.

However, wild boars are difficult to tame, and even if they were managed to be tamed, they probably wouldn't be considered particularly good mounts.

Tanl mimicked Rand's thoughtful manner, touching his chin, thinking that he could collect some of these truffles in case he ever ended up on the opposite side of Count Black Brown.