After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

"Theresa...don't you know any divine magic?"

This was what puzzled Yang Hao. In his mind, priests who believed in the God of Light could use powerful divine magic.

Whether it's forcibly creating a bright place at night in the name of the God of Light to support the army's night battles, or suddenly bursting out a flash of light that can burn others, or even turning scorching white light into a spear and throwing it to pierce through sturdy armor and roast the flesh inside... the priests of this world can always use divine magic to accomplish all sorts of bizarre operations.

Teresa was also a nun, so she should have known some magic. Why didn't she know how to use it?

Yang Hao's question left Theresa silent for a long while. Then, the young woman simply pursed her lips and hugged her man's body even tighter.

"The prerequisite for me to use [divine magic] is... the god I believe in possesses divine power. A priest's power comes from the god he believes in; the more devout the priest, the more powerful the god, and the stronger their divine magic. But the guy I believe in is almost finished. The fact that he's even paying attention to me, his follower, is already a testament to his survival. How could he possibly have the spare power to offer any more help?"

"But the God of Light is not—"

"Who the hell believes in the God of Light?! My little puppy, the 'Light' I believe in and the 'God of Light' are two different things, just like 'humans' and 'humans of the Roman Empire' are two different concepts..."

"But according to this logic, isn't the power of the [God of Light] weaker than that of [Light]?"

I vaguely remember Saint Cecilia telling me that God truly exists. If Teresa is right, and Light is a higher being than the God of Light, then wouldn't His power be even greater than the God of Light's?

Yang Hao fell into thought. He reached out and carefully placed a piece of firewood into the slowly burning ring of fire, only to see Theresa gently grab his elbow, urging him to pull it back quickly.

He could feel Theresa burying her face in his back. Her body was very hot, and he couldn't help but turn around, just like that, looking directly into Theresa's eyes.

Her grey eyes shimmered in the firelight. She seemed somewhat dejected, which made Yang Hao reach out and hug her tightly, embracing the girl who had always supported him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered in Theresa's ear. "If this makes you feel embarrassed or sad, then you don't have to answer."

Theresa has done so much for him all along. Although Yang Hao hasn't been able to do anything for her yet, even something trivial that would make her happy, at least he can stop her from thinking about those sad and upsetting things.

He only wanted to live a peaceful life with Theresa in a peaceful country, arguing together in a small house about what to eat for the next week, and worrying about the trivialities of winter. In his spare time, he wanted to accompany Theresa to prayer, even though he didn't really want to pray—but he wanted to be with her.

"...Thanks."

The girl in his arms nodded gently. Closing her eyes, she turned her head slightly and kissed Yang Hao's cheek before sighing.

"It's not really anything embarrassing... it's just that the god I believe in, my light—has had his power stolen by the God of Light. Just like you, you did your best to do something for the Roman Empire, but a thief named the God of Light stabbed you in the back and took everything from you. Yes, that's the story."

"...Um."

"And what about you? You've done so much for the Roman Empire, do you still want to go back? Do you want to become their saint or a great man?"

“No, I don’t want to go back anymore.” Yang Hao kissed her forehead in return. “Saints, great men… no, I’ve seen through them. I don’t want to be a saint, nor do I want to be any great man. I just want to live with you, in a peaceful place, whether it’s the Elf Kingdom or some other civilized land… I just want to live with you. To argue about what to eat for three meals a day, to worry about what to do in winter. That’s all.”

"I see. Although elves prefer vegetarian food, the elven kingdom is quite nice."

"...Then let's head towards the Elf Kingdom."

“But we’re running low on food,” Theresa pouted, shifting slightly in Yang Hao’s arms. “We need to think of something, my good man—of course, I’ll help. But I’m just a little nun, don’t expect me to do much…”

I'm tired.

After leaving those three words, Teresa fell into a deep sleep in Yang Hao's arms.

Embracing the most important woman in front of him, Yang Hao recalled everything he had done for the Roman Empire, while turning around and throwing a few more pieces of firewood into the fire circle.

Under the threat of common enemies, the barbarians and the Khan, the human tribes within the Roman Empire united under his leadership and fought together to overthrow the Khan's rule.

At that time, whether they were warlords or nobles, landlords or religious leaders, or even the Roman royal family who were struggling to survive in what was once a ruined capital and is now the royal capital, everyone was working hard to overthrow the Khan's rule.

Many people died during this period.

The man who became Yang Hao's sworn brother, and who was also the father of the next empress, died on the battlefield. Before his death, he entrusted his youngest daughter to Yang Hao. Yang Hao believed he had not betrayed his trust, but why...?

...No.

Upon closer examination, the little empress is riddled with problems.

She was a lively and adorable child... Every time she returned, she would excitedly tell him about the changes in the capital, and timidly ask him how the outside world had changed. The letters she sent every day could fill Yang Hao's desk. She was very shy, and would always burst into tears whenever she saw those fierce-looking generals.

This always gave Yang Hao a lot of trouble. But he never worried that the little empress would lead the newly established empire into darkness, never.

How could such a lovely child become so quiet and withdrawn when she went to the parish...? No.

Is it that they [did not say a single word]?

Even when facing the general she feared most, even when her face was filled with terror and tears were about to fall...

Why didn't she say a word? She didn't even open her mouth.

...Upon closer reflection, everything seemed wrong. He had spent the entire year trying his best to avoid recalling his painful experiences, but upon closer examination, everything appeared problematic.

But so what? Even if we go back to the past, so what?

He sighed and threw several more pieces of firewood into the fire. The firewood they had gathered today should be enough to last until tomorrow morning, when the snow would stop and they could continue their journey.

With the loss of the Khan as a common enemy, the division within the Roman Empire was a foregone conclusion.

The cult leader and warlords pressured him to gain autonomy, nobles and landowners were willing to do anything to reclaim their former estates, and even the royal family was full of suspicion towards him.

Aligning with religious leaders and warlords will lead to glorious martyrdom within two years. Aligning with nobles and landowners will result in the royal family's poisoned wine being delivered to their door within two years. Completely aligning with the royal family? That's a good idea—then it'll be a four-way coalition to "punish the treacherous minister."

We were never of one mind. We were only forcibly brought together because of the enemy, the Khan. More or less, we were all suspicious of each other because of jealousy, envy, conspiracy, and the tribal mentality of simply wanting to fight.

Left with no other option, Yang Hao could only place his hopes on the common people and the Nationalist army he had trained—because there was nowhere for him to go in these five places. Although the common people were powerless, he could find a way to train them. Although the Nationalist army was nominally only able to obey the Empress and the royal family, they should support him for the sake of his leadership and salary.

And then? And then there was nothing more. He saw through the true nature of the people of this country. Since they didn't need anyone to lead them to a better life, they just wanted to continue starving to death in the first year of the famine, they just wanted to continue freezing to death in the winter, and they just wanted to continue licking the toenails of the big shots.

Let them continue like this. Yang Hao gave up completely. No one had ever asked him to help them become better, so be it.

He wanted to maintain a balance of interests by expanding the pie, thus buying himself time.

But to gain the support of the common people, he had to publicly promise them corresponding rights and wealth. What sensible person would do that without the power to back it up? But he had no choice; otherwise, let alone surviving until the trial in Imperial Year 004, he would be impeached and removed from office in 003 due to various issues, lacking support.

Faced with the choice of either dying now or suffering a delayed death like a locust, Yang Hao chose the latter. It was at that moment that his long-held plan to gain the Holy Maiden's support completely failed.

'You don't need to say anything more, Yang Hao. My faith in the God of Light is supreme. Before you choose to accept my Lord's baptism, before you choose to become my supreme husband under God's witness, before you ask me to be your guide and God's messenger, I will not listen to a single word from you.'

Remember, God truly exists, and the parishioners feel fulfilled because of Him. Isn't that better than wasting public funds showing them how ugly the outside world is?

...Thinking of this, he sighed again. The girl behind him murmured in dissatisfaction, hugging him tightly, making him feel drowsy as well.

He simply wanted to make this nascent empire better, so that people could have a better life. At least not living in mud houses, but in wooden houses.

He simply didn't want anyone to starve to death in the first year of the famine, or freeze to death in the winter; that was all he wanted.

Why is this happening?

He turned around and hugged Theresa's warm body tightly.

Perhaps he shouldn't have left the village to become that superior person back then.

............

The sudden snowfall meant that even the warmth provided by the fire rings inside the cave wasn't enough for the ill-fated couple to last until dawn the next day.

Perhaps they already knew, but they felt justified in offering each other confidence and warmth on their last night—they just didn't expect the smoke from the fire rings to attract the native inhabitants of the monster forest.

It was a woman with antlers on her head, followed by giants called "Golems" made of solid stone and mud, and dressed in clothes made of tree bark and animal skin.

The woman watched as the smoke filled the cave, then controlled the golems behind her to dig a path, and pulled out the two people who were tightly embracing inside.

The woman carefully examined the two people in Golem's arms, who were unable to wake up due to the cold, and then she muttered to herself:

“They are not the Kagard who abducted my people…who are they?…Children, prepare hot water and fur clothing in the tribe…I will bring them back.”

The antlers on her head shimmered with an eerie green light as she spoke. She covered the two of them with the animal skins she was wearing, then went into the cave, gathered the clothes, blankets, and backpacks in her hands, and left.

...

Shortly after the antlered woman left with her golem, Priscilla's team, which had been tracking her all the way to the Monster Forest, eventually gave up the pursuit.

The sudden snowfall had obscured all traces of footprints, and continuing deeper into the snow would only result in unnecessary casualties.

"Let's go to Earl's Landing in Khagad and use the portal there to go back and regroup."

Priscilla murmured wearily to herself, and after glancing magically at the distant cave in the dim light where wild beasts seemed to be roaming, she led her group away.

Chapter Sixteen: Isgard's New Rifle

......

Meanwhile, on the other side of the sea.

The president of Issugard, accompanied by generals, is inspecting the progress of the new rifle conversion.

"boom--!"

With a crisp sound, the wooden barrel target placed two hundred meters away flew up and spun, finally shaking out the shattered pieces of meat inside before falling back to the ground.

The president, holding the new rifle, blinked, awkwardly pulled back the bolt, and then ejected the spent cartridge from the chamber. She turned to her general and scientists and said:

"A good weapon, more powerful than bows and crossbows, and it doesn't require as much training as a bow, nor is it as bulky and difficult to carry as a crossbow. Moreover, its accuracy in direct fire far surpasses the weapons we are currently equipped with. The only problem is—is it vulnerable to thunderstorms and strong winds?"

Ysgard's current standard weapons are mainly bows and crossbows, with almost no melee units, pursuing the long-range shooting method of "long-range damage".

But whether it's bows and arrows or crossbows, they are particularly vulnerable to rainy or windy weather. The former may cause problems with the bowstring and bow arm due to continuous rain and moisture, affecting their power. The latter can directly scatter the rain of arrows flying in the sky, causing them to deviate from their original target.

Therefore, the president was particularly concerned about the impact of these two weather conditions, while the scientists in Issugard said that this was not a problem.

"This weapon is an improvement on our experimental weapon, the muzzle-loading gun. Taking into account our country's industrialized standard production line, we decided to fix the gunpowder and then combine it directly with the bullet, which resulted in this weapon."

Because it uses a two-in-one bullet, this rifle uses the trigger to activate the firing pin and ignite the primer. Therefore, there is no need to worry about the gunpowder getting wet in thunderstorms or the gunpowder and matchlock being blown out in strong winds.

The only problem is—the cost.

The scientist shook his head, then sighed heavily:

“It’s expensive, Miss President. Very expensive.”

The cost of a single new rifle is now equivalent to the recruitment cost of a whole squad of twelve archers, not even including the price of bullets!

However, the advantages are also obvious—at a distance of two hundred meters, a well-trained archer can likely break the morale of the archers before they even reach their positions. But bullets, unlike arrows, cannot be obtained on the spot through "capture," so...

"Then increase production and improve our lathes. We have absolutely no reason to abandon such a good weapon—hmm? Is there a problem?"

"...Our existing factories are completely incapable of mass-producing the new rifles; we still need to produce them by hand."

"I knew it..."

Upon hearing this, the president sighed and handed the new rifle to the general beside her.

Issugard is an industrial powerhouse—a country the President is very proud of.

Even though it is an industrial powerhouse, Issugard's industry is not considered strong at present.

Their factories are still very low-end, the environmental pollution caused by steel production has not yet been resolved, and even the products that can be industrially produced are limited in variety.