Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 372 Fenneport

Klein, the 'Fool' who sat in the first seat, glanced at Cattleya, the 'Hermit', and thought thoughtfully:

"It seems that the 'Hermit' doesn't have any particularly good memories of Intis."

The Hermit, Cattleya, immediately understood what the others were thinking upon seeing their expressions.

She is an Intis, and the "mysterious queen" behind her is also an Intis, so theoretically their stance should naturally lean towards Intis.

actually not.

Although the "Mysterious Queen" is an Intis, and her father, Emperor Roselle, was the founder of the Republic of Intis, the current Republic of Intis is a continuation of the Republic of Intis established by Emperor Roselle, similar to the relationship between the First French Republic and the Second French Republic.

Therefore, many people believe that the "mysterious queen" Bernadette will resolutely uphold the system of the Republic of Intis, because it is the only legacy her father left to Intis.

In reality, the "Mysterious Queen's" attitude towards Intis is quite ambiguous. Although she frequently returns to Intis and Trier, there is nothing there that she cherishes. Her reasons for returning to Trier are essentially the same as her reasons for appearing in Backlund.

Among the high-ranking officials of the Republic of Intis, Gadriya couldn't find a single person related to Emperor Roselle, neither his own descendants nor those of his friends.

This country, despite bearing the name of the Republic of Intis, has no ties that the "Mysterious Queen" would cherish.

As for the Church of the True God of the Republic of Intis, there is even less reason for the "Mysterious Queen" to help them.

Ultimately, the reason why Emperor Roselle perished in the White Maple Palace was because he was assassinated by the Church of the Eternal Sun, the Soren family of the Intis royal family, and other nobles!

Even though Emperor Roselle was almost insane in his later years, and even though Bernadette left her father in disappointment, it did not mean that she could calmly accept her father's death or forgive the forces that had killed him.

The Church of the Eternal Sun is like this, and so is the Church of Steam.

The former participated in and even planned the assassination of her father, while the latter turned a blind eye to it, making her an obvious accomplice. Moreover, during Emperor Roselle's lifetime, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the Steam Church to Bernadette on more than one occasion.

His second son, Bonova, had his soul influenced by the god of steam and machinery, causing divinity to overshadow humanity.

For ordinary people, they would consider this a blessing.

But for Emperor Roselle, this was a threat to the Steam Church, and Bonova was the 'host' chosen by the Steam Church!

Emperor Roselle could not confide his feelings to anyone except Bernadette, but precisely because of this, Bernadette was well aware that Emperor Roselle's attitude towards the Steam Church was not friendly.

As his daughter, Bernadette was inevitably affected. Although her brother Bonova was now in the Steam Church and had even become a Sequence 2 angel, this only intensified Bernadette's hostility and vigilance towards the Steam Church.

In other words, from top to bottom, from the nation to the religion, there was nothing in the entire Republic of Intis that Bernadette would cherish. Although she was an Intis citizen, she had absolutely no goodwill towards the current Republic of Intis, and she would not feel a single pang of sadness even if the country were to perish.

Just as Bernadette was deeply influenced by Emperor Roselle, she was adopted by the "Mysterious Queen" when she was less than three years old and grew up by her side. Bernadette taught and nurtured her, and she was deeply influenced by Bernadette.

For Cattleya, Bernadette was not only her teacher but also her mother. She would give everything for Bernadette without hesitation, but she didn't have any special feelings for Intis.

Of course, she held the same stance towards the Kingdom of Rune. However, since most of the members of the Tarot Society came from the Kingdom of Rune, she didn't mind standing with them and hunting the demigods belonging to the Republic of Intis.

After all, as things stand, her level of importance to the Tarot Society is second only to the "Mysterious Queen," even surpassing the Morse Ascetic Society, to which she currently belongs—despite being one of the ten pillars of the Morse Ascetic Society and a true high-ranking member.

But if one day she were forced to betray the Morse Order, Cattleya would not hesitate.

"if!"

Alger, the "Hanged Man," broke the silence first, speaking with a serious expression:

"If we are to take action against the demigods of the Republic of Intis, we need to gather enough intelligence on this and then revise our plans."

The Hermit, Cattleya, showed no discomfort and spoke frankly:

"The composition of demigods in Intis is more complex than that in Fusak. On one hand, the former royal Soren family possessed the 'Hunter' pathway, and when the Soren family was destroyed, the newly established Republic of Intis had the most extraordinary individuals with the 'Hunter' pathway. Even today, many members of the Soren family still hold high-ranking positions in the government, so Intis is not lacking in 'Iron Knights' and 'War Bishops' with the 'Hunter' pathway."

"As for the abilities of those who have transcended the Hunter pathway, I think you don't need me to explain them further."

"In addition, the demigods of the Eternal Sun Church are mostly 'those without darkness' and 'mentors of justice.' Regarding the extraordinary abilities of this path, 'The Sun' should be able to provide us with sufficient advice..."

"As for the demigods of the Steam Church, they are mostly 'alchemists' and 'mystic scholars'."

"Demigods of this path can imbue the objects they create with souls, giving them a certain life, crafting puppets, and creating bodies that do not age. Therefore, most of the time, they appear in the public eye in the form of puppets, and if you want to hunt demigods of this path, you must first find their true forms."

"This will be extremely difficult, so if we're going to attack the Republic of Intis, I don't recommend targeting the demigods of the 'Steam Church'..."

The Hermit, Cattleya, detailed the advantages and disadvantages of the various pathways to demigodhood in the Republic of Intis, ultimately concluding that the Hunter pathway was the top priority, followed by the Eternal Sun, and then the Steam Church…

On one hand, demigods who follow the "Hunter" pathway provide the greatest boost to war, and hunting them can maximize one's benefits. On the other hand, extraordinary beings who follow the "Hunter" pathway are also the easiest to hunt; as long as their connection with the army is severed, they are lambs to the slaughter.

Among the members of the Tarot Club, there are multiple ways to sever this connection, and they have relevant professional experience.

The Hermit's attitude completely dispelled the doubts of the others, making it clear that the Hermit truly had no affiliation with Intis. This meant they no longer needed to hesitate when hunting demigods of the Republic of Intis.

"Miss Justice is actually a passionate young woman."

Klein, the Fool, sighed inwardly. Everything they were doing was helping the Kingdom of Rune fight against foreign invaders, which was a good thing for both them and the Kingdom of Rune.

Unfortunately, limited by their current position in the hierarchy, their vision is not able to see to a higher level, so they cannot understand the deeper nature of this war.

On the surface, their actions delayed the attacks of the Republic of Intis and the Empire of Fusak, buying the Kingdom of Rune valuable buffer time so that they could better deal with the attacks from the two countries and reduce the losses of the Kingdom of Rune.

However, in the long run, this may not be a good thing.

To truly end the war, a divine war must break out as soon as possible. The prerequisite for this is that one side can no longer maintain the stalemate and faces annihilation. At that point, the weaker side's gods will have no choice but to rise up in resistance, while the stronger side's gods will choose this moment to deliver a fatal blow.

The longer the war drags on, the further away the outbreak of the divine war will be, and the casualties will only continue to increase with each new war...

Klein, the Fool, thoughtfully turned his gaze to Justice beside him. Miss Justice might understand the nature of this war, but she clearly could not accept it easily, nor could she sit idly by, even though she knew that what she was doing was likely to be futile.

"So this is the real Miss 'Justice'."

Klein sighed inwardly; he had actually anticipated the choices made by the Tarot Club members.

He could easily have stopped their actions by assuming the role of the "fool," but he wouldn't. Because he had neither the reason nor the standing to do so.

After all, he was also a native of Rune. His family and friends were all in Rune.

Miss Justice and her team's efforts may ultimately be in vain in terms of the outcome, but that doesn't mean their actions were meaningless.

and……

Klein glanced at Ember out of the corner of his eye. The outbreak of the God War might not be as far off as he had imagined; it might break out soon, as long as Ember could make a move.

"Everyone."

"Justice," Audrey raised her hand slightly, considered her words carefully, and then spoke:

"If possible, I would like to ask you to help me purchase some grain."

The topic was so broad that many people didn't react immediately.

But the Hanged Man and the others quickly realized what Miss Justice was thinking—this noble lady might be running a charitable foundation that had been providing food aid to the people since the outbreak of the war.

"This is very much in line with Miss Justice's character. In the entire Tarot Club, apart from her, perhaps no one else would do something similar."

"Magician" Fors sighed softly. This was the difference between Miss "Justice" and them. She was as dazzling as an angel.

If it were Mr. Hanged Man instead, he wouldn't buy food to help the people; instead, he might take the opportunity to resell the food and make a fortune from the war. And he might not only resell food, but also weapons...

"The Magician" Fors glanced at the "Hanged Man" opposite her, who seemed lost in thought, and felt a little guilty. It wasn't a good habit to speak ill of others in one's mind, even if that was truly what she thought...

Regarding this matter.

After a moment's thought, the hermit, Cattleya, spoke:

"I have a suggestion."

Audrey's eyes lit up, and she looked at the Hermit with anticipation.

"It's unrealistic to buy large quantities of grain from within Rune. Nobles and the wealthy are hoarding grain, and grain merchants will only take the opportunity to raise prices. Ordinary people can't get much grain even if they spend all their savings."

"If we really hope to buy up large quantities of grain, it would be best to start with Fenneport."

"Fenneport?"

"Justice" Audrey quickly realized that before the war broke out, the Kingdom of Fenneport was the most important grain exporter, without exception!

This is partly due to the geographical advantages of the Kingdom of Feneport, whose fertile land is ideal for growing crops. On the other hand, it is also due to the Orthodox Church, the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, which the Kingdom of Feneport adheres to.

The extraordinary beings in the Church of the Earth Mother are mostly of the "Cultivator" pathway. The lower-sequence extraordinary beings are mostly "Cultivators" and "Healers", while the middle-sequence are "Harvest Priests", "Biologists" and "Druids".

The names of these potions reveal that the extraordinary individuals of the Church of the Earth Mother are practically masters of planting.

They can not only distinguish different seeds and select those that yield high-yield seeds, but also catalyze the growth and reproduction of plants and animals, and carry out various hybridizations of these organisms to increase their yield.

Over the past thousand years, every major war in the Northern Continent has proven that while the Kingdom of Fennepot may not have performed admirably in war, they have never lacked food!

Even at the height of the war, they still had ample food production. Furthermore, since most of these extraordinary beings were followers of the Church of the Earth Mother, the Earth Mother would use the food to support her followers during the war, so starvation was rare.

The Kingdom of Rune was even forced to use the Grain Law to protect the prices of its agricultural products, and would not import grains from southern countries such as Fenneport, Masile, and Remnburg until prices rose to a certain level.

While the purpose of this bill was to protect the interests of the nobility, it also indirectly reflects the abundant grain production of the Kingdom of Fenneport!

Before the Grain Act was repealed, an 8-pound rye bread cost 15 pence, but within just two months of its repeal, a large influx of cheap grain imported from Fenneport brought the price down to 9 pence.

"Justice" Audrey's eyes lit up as she realized the feasibility of the suggestion, but she quickly became somewhat frustrated:

"But I have no way to..."

Since the outbreak of war, a major reason for the skyrocketing grain prices in the Kingdom of Rune is that the outbreak of war caused the Kingdom of Feneport to stop exporting grain to the Kingdom of Rune.

"I can help with smuggling, but in limited quantities."

The Hermit, Cattleya, slowly spoke:

"If you need to obtain a large amount of food at a low price, it would be best to go to the Kingdom of Fenneport in person and have a good talk with them."

(End of this chapter)