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

Faith and physical pain broke their will, and they spoke of the atrocities that were about to take place in the town of Kargard, the territory of Earl Kargard.

During the festival on March 1st, they would burn the captured horned heretics, along with wine and some "non-believers," at fire for their god of light, in order to pray for rain and a bountiful harvest.

It is February 18th. February in this world only has 28 days, which means they have less than ten days to carry out the rescue. Fortunately, no living believers left the forest this time, otherwise, if the festival were to be held earlier, the captured Ling tribe girl might not have been saved.

Even so, the Ling Clan Chief was extremely anxious—Yang Hao was astonished that even the demons loved their "family" more than the landowners of the Roman Empire, but he also pointed out that calm was crucial, especially in situations like this. Attacking a town wasn't about mindless recklessness, but about logistics, tactics, and suitable weaponry.

With such a towering giant as the Golem, Yang Hao assumed that smashing the gates of Khagad Town wouldn't be a problem—but the question was, how many Golems were there exactly?

While asking questions out of curiosity, Yang Hao used a sharp stone at hand to strike the temples of the two prisoners repeatedly. Never give the enemy a chance. He had deeply understood these principles; after all, he wasn't some saint, and besides, what rule called repaying kindness with kindness?

Perhaps there are indeed such people, but that has long been irrelevant to Yang Hao, who has broken away from the Roman Empire.

Faced with Yang Hao's question, the Ling Clan Chief responded somewhat awkwardly:

"Golem...the child of stone and earth, currently only I am capable of creating it."

"...ha?"

"I'm the only one—the other children can only condense into stone spears and arrows, and many can't even create a palm-sized [hand]..."

"...Alright then."

I thought that at worst we could drag out several golems from here...

Yang Hao sighed, and after instructing Naruja to erect a stone wall outside the tent to block the view so that Teresa wouldn't have nightmares about what she saw, he carried the two gruesome corpses away.

This requires careful consideration—but how long has it been since we did something like this?

He was very excited.

He was excited to train a group of mercenaries to fight against his blood feud.

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

Meanwhile, Priscilla had returned to the capital through the portal of Earl of Kagard and was currently confirming the next mission with the uncle of the young Queen of the Roman royal family.

"Priscilla, you can no longer indulge in your magical research. Now that the Regent is gone, the Royal Family needs to communicate with the dioceses to obtain enough money to purchase grain from neighboring small countries and even from Isgard across the sea under the guise of 'noble luxury goods'."

I've heard you have a deep connection with Saint Cecilia of the diocese... I request that you, on behalf of the royal family, communicate with the reclusive Saint and try to gain her sympathy.

"...I understand. However, Knight Robert and his men need to rest for a few days, and besides, their equipment..."

"I will prepare it myself."

"...yes."

The Night Witch left the audience hall. In fact, ever since she failed to persuade Yang Hao to return and witnessed the villagers brutally murdering the lone Imperial Knight, she had wanted to refuse such a job.

She wanted to escape back to her own mage tower and wallow in its depravity... but the Roman Empire was in such dire need that everyone had to work together to overcome the crisis, and she had to do her part.

Communicating with Saint Cecilia...this is an extremely complex and...difficult task.

Since the day she disagreed with Yang Hao, Saint Cecilia has completely secluded herself in the underground chapel of St. Peter's Basilica and has not appeared in front of the world until now.

"So...she's even less aware of the current situation in this country than I am, and even less aware that Yang Hao has already left the Roman Empire with that Theresa...sigh, if she knew, she might mobilize half the parish for a 'holy war' against the Demon Forest—but if she knew that it was her own followers who drove him away, the conflict between these two things would probably tear her apart mentally..."

Saint Cecilia is half of the diocese, the spokesperson of the God of Light on earth, and the most devout believer of the God of Light—but at the same time, she is Priscilla's former rival in love, and although she completely disagrees with Yang Hao's ideas, she recognizes him as a potential guide, the "shepherd."

...How am I supposed to communicate with her like this? Am I supposed to just run up to her and tell her that after her followers drove away the man she liked, he eloped with another woman?

Priscilla felt a headache coming on at the thought of this—just as she walked to the courtyard to get some fresh air.

She happened to catch a glimpse of Natalia, the former chief judge who had been demoted to a lady-in-waiting, accompanying the young queen as they enjoyed refreshments in the courtyard.

...Should I go over and say hello? Just as Priscilla was thinking this, she saw the little queen open her mouth in pain for the first time, and then quickly close it.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Priscilla seemed to have missed what the little queen should have been saying because she was so focused on giving an example...

Watching Natalia carefully prepare the extremely fine and sticky food for the little queen, Priscilla, as if possessed, cast a spell on herself so that she could hear the sounds coming from there.

'...'

At first, there was the silent grinding sound. Then came the little empress's painful sobs.

Priscilla was confused—but Natalia's next words plunged her into despair:

“My little queen, my little queen… don’t cry, don’t give up. His Majesty the Regent won’t let you suffer here any longer, I believe in him… Come, please open your mouth gently, don’t let the wind blow on the cut surface of your tongue, these cool liquids will make you feel better…”

Upon hearing the regent's name, the little empress, while sobbing and sniffling, obediently opened her mouth.

In her mouth, behind the two rows of pearly teeth, the pink tongue that should have been inside was reduced to a broken section at the root.

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

Priscilla fled, her face deathly pale. She couldn't understand what was happening—but then it dawned on her.

Perhaps the Queen's silence is part of a conspiracy by other members of the royal family.

The only member of the Roman royal family besides the Queen is her uncle.

Chapter 19: The Aggrieved Chief Physician, Yang Hao's Industrial Improvements

2 month 24 day.

When Priscilla, pale-faced, led the Imperial Knights through the portal to Kargard Town, they were once again welcomed by the local lord, Kargard III.

The family of this King Kargard III had lived on this plain for generations, and naturally, the entire plain, towns, and farms belonged to him. He welcomed the Night Witch's arrival and celebrated her intention to travel to the parish to "plead" for them.

"This is wonderful! If we can get the approval of the parish patriarchs, then our territory will have a bumper harvest next year!"

Seeing the count before him making a devout prayer-like gesture toward the clear, cloudless sky, Priscilla was momentarily speechless.

The residents here didn't understand the true nature of the drought, nor did they understand that their trip to the parish wasn't strictly about the drought, but rather about strengthening the relationship between the royal family and the parish...

But what could she do? She couldn't just tell him the secret right there, could she?

So Priscilla could only respond twice, then turned back to look at the street, which had inexplicably fallen into a kind of frenzied atmosphere, and the residents who were holding a mass under the guidance of the priests of the Church of Light, and said:

"Yes, if all goes well... but I see that the situation in Kargard seems rather jubilant, what's going on?"

“Oh, that’s because our annual festival in the Earl’s territory is coming up—this year, in order to please the God of Light and bring us a bountiful harvest,”

"Sacrifice?"

Although the Earldom of Kagard was a neighboring state to the Earldom of Shkur, Priscilla was honestly unaware of the Earldom of Kagard's customs. She was very curious about it and felt that the residents here were already considered one of the better townspeople in the surrounding area, working together towards a common goal.

When questioned by the Night Witch, Count Kagard simply stated that his people had recently gone to the Monster Forest on their own initiative and captured some horned monsters. They had now cut off their horns and were keeping them in captivity, waiting for the sacrificial ceremony to begin so that they could be burned along with fine wine and offerings to the God of Light to win his favor.

Before he could finish speaking, Priscilla frowned:

"Monster Forest...monsters? Aren't there only wild beasts in there?"

"It's more like a beast, although it has limbs, but overall it's still a monster—and not just a monster, we also plan to sacrifice some death row inmates here."

"A death row inmate? What did he do wrong?"

"Providing healing to demons without permission will result in your entire family being offered to the God of Light for judgment."

"..."

Why is providing unauthorized medical treatment to monsters punishable by death? Why does this affect an entire family?

Priscilla opened his mouth, but ultimately remained silent.

She silently led the Imperial Knight away from Kargard Town. Along the way, she saw countless devout believers prostrating themselves at the feet of fanatical priests, receiving their Mass and loudly praising the greatness of the God of Light.

"...The parish's power has increased again." The accompanying knight Robert grimaced, because his chest wound had not yet fully healed. "Originally, they could raise several armies just from the parish. Now, with the spread of faith, they are probably not the only ones who can rival them, except for General Dreschka's military district."

"But the military region... Hmph, even your armor is like this, what can we expect from the military region?"

"But at least they are more trained, they know how to launch crossbows, how to form ranks, and they know that war is not about faith and recklessness, but about strategy and tactics."

"What about the crucial logistics?"

Priscilla's heavy sigh silenced the Imperial Knight Commander.

Their group left the town, crossed the drawbridge at the city gate beneath the stone wall, and arrived at the national highway located in the suburbs.

The neglected national highway was overgrown with weeds, and the cracked paving stones forced horses to tread carefully. They happened to pass a group of farmers coming to sell their goods in town and overheard their complaints:

"The drought in the central region seems to be spreading... Ouch! I almost fell over... What kind of road did the former regent build?! It's not as comfortable as the ridges between my fields."

"Look at what you're saying. It's not that the road is bad, it's just that no one takes care of it."

"Then tell me, isn't this the mess created by the former regent? He built the road but didn't bother to maintain or manage it. What was the point of building it at all!"

"You're right. Sigh... things were really messed up a couple of years ago. Why did they have to open night schools out of the blue? It drove my wife and daughter crazy, wanting them to learn to read instead of staying home and preparing their dowries. What good is it for my wife to learn to read? In the end, all that food we eat still has to be exchanged for a dowry..."

"And those underground pipes, so hard and rigid, must have angered the God of Light, causing this drought..."

"And then there was that Red Cross thing a few years ago. My brother was perfectly healthy, but after going there, they found out he had a disease—I told him not to go, not to go! And now look what happened, he's afflicted with illness. Going to the doctor is nowhere near as effective as praying to the Great God of Light. Even the holy water the pastor gives out is more effective than the Red Cross medicine..."

"And that factory... it's ruined everything my uncle painstakingly wove—nobody's buying the straw sandals. If his daughter hadn't married for a good price, he probably would have hanged himself..."

"And those heating systems in the capital... Hmph! This regent won't build one for our Earldom of Kagard either. Isn't that just favoring the royal family who support him?"

"So now it seems the project has been abandoned?"

"It's all the Regent's fault..."

"It's all the Regent's fault. The late emperor shouldn't have appointed him as Regent in the first place..."

The chattering group of farmers quickly passed by on the national highway.

The Night Witch turned back and looked at the farmers' retreating figures with an extremely complicated expression. The clothes they were wearing were cheap garments produced in the steam factory a few years ago.

She opened her mouth, speechless—and it was at this moment that Sir Robert sighed and said that at least they still remembered the late emperor.

"The late emperor and the regent together are the true emperors of the Roman Empire," Knight Robert remarked. "Although the regent understands countless reforms, his political skills are not as strong as the late emperor's... Although the late emperor could deal with countless capable people and coordinate the interests of everyone, he lacked the ability to bring about change."

If the two of them had governed the country together, even in its worst-case scenario, it wouldn't have fallen into such a state...

Why did the late emperor have to die on the battlefield when he was perfectly healthy? Sigh…

The Night Witch recalled the late emperor who died on the battlefield against the barbarians, who was also the little empress's father.

He died on the battlefield, and was indeed a brave and glorious warrior—but why did such a warrior die unexpectedly when he was charged on horseback and shot from behind by an arrow?

The Night Witch remembered the little queen's tongue, the little queen's mother who also died in an "accident," and the only remaining male member of the Roman royal family...

...She instinctively shuddered. What would become of the Roman Empire to avoid its ultimate demise?

She really doesn't know.

...........