Wearing black silk for a foreign woman

"I have asked my sister. There are no clergy in the camp, so it is understandable that there is no church. But now we are here, so I suggest that we build a church in the center of the camp to let the glory of the Emperor shine here!"

Shanoya looked excited, which was a normal reaction for a devout believer.

But Lind was not excited at all, and was even a little unhappy.

"Yeah." Lind did not rush to raise an objection or refute, but asked another question. "What about the materials and labor for building the church?"

"This is naturally the responsibility of the serfs in the camp." Shanoya said as a matter of course. "It is their honor to build a church for the Emperor."

Honored? Linde took a deep breath and controlled his inner dissatisfaction.

"Sister Shanoya, the camp is in its infancy and there are not enough facilities. There is not even a toilet. At this time, it is not wise to spend a lot of manpower and resources to build a church."

"And please forgive me for being blunt, but you don't seem to be qualified to build a church, do you?" Lind looked at Shanoya seriously. "I don't doubt your devout belief in the Emperor, but according to the regulations of the Church of the Emperor, only priests or pastors who have been authorized by the Emperor's agent, the Pope, are qualified to build churches for missionary activities. You seem to be... a nun, right?"

"And your permit? Can you show it to me?"

Although he had a smile on his face the whole time and seemed to be concerned about the other party, Ilfa on the side could clearly feel the gunpowder in Lind's words.

After hesitating for a while, Ilufa did not say anything to come to the rescue, because she also felt that building a church at this time was indeed inappropriate.

"I did not get permission, and I am indeed a nun." Shanoya explained patiently. "But now is an extraordinary period. The people are trapped on an isolated island. You can imagine their fear and confusion. Therefore, the guidance of the Emperor is necessary. Faith is the cornerstone of the empire."

Steel, faith, and sacrifice are the cornerstones of the Holy Empire. By Robert Hohenst, the current regent of the Holy Empire.

"Yes, I agree." Lind nodded. "Okay, I can allocate an area in the camp for you, but since you don't have the Pope's permission, it can't be a church, it can only be a monastery."

"This is not directed at you or the Divine Emperor Church. This is the rule of the Empire. Moreover, even the Mother Earth Goddess has not built any churches or altars here."

"Sister, you don't want the Pope to know that you built a church without permission, right?"

It is not allowed to build churches for preaching without permission. This is one of the iron laws of the Holy Empire. Especially after the War of Apostasy, the Holy Empire has strict regulations on the establishment of church parishes.

Moreover, Linde even brought up his identity as the son of the Earth Mother Goddess. As the son of God, I have not built a religious site in the camp. I have set an example myself. Do you have the nerve to set this precedent?

By the way, Lind also pointed out that this is not targeted at you, Sister Arnold, but is a treatment for everyone. No one is allowed to build a church without the permission of the Holy Empire.

Shanoya thought about it and finally agreed with Lind's idea. Instead of building a church, they would only build a monastery, and the site should not be in the center of the camp. After all, the location should be left for the future church.

After some bargaining, the location of the monastery was chosen to be near the edge of the camp. This was in line with the monastery's traditional location selection, which was to be far away from the city because of the need for quiet practice.

As for letting the serfs build the monastery, Linde did not object to this request, but agreed with a smile, and said that as long as you can convince the serfs to work, it will be fine. At first, Shanoya thought that the other party had given in, and then...

"Big Sister, these serfs are unwilling to build the monastery!" When the construction of the monastery began, the nuns soon encountered an unexpected situation, that is, no serfs were willing to come to work.

"What's going on? Are they unwilling to serve the God-Emperor?" Shanoya was surprised.

"Did you tell them that there was free food distribution?" Shanoya asked the reporting nun.

In the Holy Empire, civilians were very enthusiastic about building churches and monasteries, firstly because it was an opportunity to prove their piety, and secondly because the Holy Emperor Church provided food. The dual satisfaction of spirit and body made building monasteries and churches a good job.

But they hit a wall here, as no one was willing to build a monastery.

"I remember my sister said that the people here are all serfs." Shanoya thought for a moment. "Is it because they dare not come without my sister's order?"

"No." The nun who went to question shook her head. "Although the people here are nominally serfs, their freedom is no different from that of civilians, and no one whips them to work. They are very motivated at work and are not lazy at all."

"They are very motivated?" Shanoya was stunned. "Did my sister influence these serfs with her noble spirit and fearless courage?"

"No, it's eating meat." The nun who asked the question said with a strange look on her face.

"Eat meat?" Shanoya opened her eyes wide in surprise.

So, the nun who went to question told Shanoya about the situation she had asked, including the reward and punishment competition system, eating meat, and exchanging points for freedom.

After hearing these measures, Shanoya's expression was uncertain. These measures were obviously completely different from the practices of the nobles in the past.

"Sister, what should we do now?" one of the nuns asked. "Should we go talk to your sister-in-law?"

"No." Shanoya thought for a moment. "I'll go and get in touch with these serfs."

Chapter 112 Prospecting

In the tent in the center of the camp, Ilufa stood inside the door curtain, opened a gap, and carefully observed the situation inside the camp.

Ilfa certainly had no voyeuristic habit, she was just curious about what actions the battle nuns would take.

When Shanoya proposed to build a monastery, Ilufa had already thought about this question: would the serfs in the camp be willing to build a monastery for the battle sisters for free? According to the custom of the Holy Empire, building a monastery or church is something that many people would rush to do, as it can show their piety and they can also get free food.

Especially the latter. Proving piety is good, but the most important thing is to fill your stomach.

Although the people in the camp were nominally serfs, their lives were actually not much different from those of freemen. Serfs sold themselves to the lord or other similar people, and then were exploited to the extreme like private property. As long as freemen paid enough taxes, they were completely free and could do whatever they wanted, except that they could not leave the territory at will.

The serfs and freemen in the camp were treated almost the same way. As long as they completed their assigned tasks every day, they were free to allocate the rest of their time. Except for not being able to leave the camp at will, their lives were much better than those of serfs in other places.

They can have a full meal every day, and the groups that complete the work the fastest and best can even eat meat or drink broth. In comparison, the reward for building the monastery for the combat nuns is simply insignificant.

Although the combat nuns also provide meals, they are only military rations brought from the Holy Empire, and the taste is very touching.

The battle sisters will definitely encounter obstacles in the construction of the monastery. At Lind's suggestion, Ilufa did not remind Shanoya immediately, but planned to observe Shanoya's reaction.

Then Shanoya's reaction made Ilfa very pleased.

"The sisters did not scold the serfs for being impious or lazy, but communicated with them seriously." Ilufa watched the sisters communicate with the serfs seriously one by one. There were no conflicts, nor were the serfs forced to build a monastery.

"Hmm..." Inside the tent, Lind was sitting at the table, writing something. He hummed casually to indicate that he was listening.

Ilufa blinked. If someone didn't know Linde well, they would think he was the lord here and she was his personal maid.

"I'm back~" Just then, Alisa came back from watering the farmland. "I'm so tired, please build that water truck soon, I'm so tired from watering the farmland every day."

"Thank you for your hard work." Linde raised his head and looked at Alyssa kindly.

"...What do you want me to do again?" Looking at Linde's familiar eyes, Alyssa immediately knew that he wanted her to do something again.

"My lady, your water magic is so pure, I wonder how about the reverse magic?"

"The other way around? You mean fire magic?" Elisa reacted quickly.

"Yes, to be precise, it's explosion." Linde said with a smile. "Do you know the magic of explosion?"

"Yes, yes... What are you going to blow up?" Alyssa frowned.

"Iron ore." Linde said with a smile.

Alisa looked at Lind expressionlessly.

"Linde, are you planning to mine ore?" Ilfa turned his head and asked.

"Yes." Lind nodded. "The camp is really short of iron. Without enough iron, many things cannot be done. Although the camp is still not safe, I still think it is necessary to bring back some iron ore."

"I see." Illufa nodded in agreement. "Then do you know where there is ore? With so few people in the camp, it's impossible to conduct large-scale exploration, right?"

"I know part of it." Linde said, picking up the bark in front of him, which was used as a temporary paper when there was not enough paper. "The mark on it is the location of the ore that has been discovered."

Ilfa and Alisa both came over curiously and looked at the bark in front of Lind.

"Is this... half of Aiwozhen Island?" Elisa said uncertainly.

"Yes, the southeastern half of Ivozhen Island is bounded by the Hengduan Mountains in the center of Ivozhen Island," Lind explained. "The locations marked above are the known ore locations."

"This is really..." Ilufa looked at the bark in front of him. Compared to normal paper, this bark is very rough, but in terms of value, a thousand pieces of paper cannot compare to this piece of bark. The location of various minerals, as a noble, Ilufa knows the value of them too well.

"Did Mother Earth tell you this?" Elisa confirmed with Lind.

"Yeah." Lind nodded.

"Wow~" Elisa exclaimed. "Does Mother Earth care about this? If those dwarves knew about this, wouldn't they all convert to Mother Earth..."

"No, no, no, the Earth Mother Goddess does not have this power. She obtained this from the shamans of the new beastmen tribes on Aiwozhen Island, so there is only half of the island, and it is definitely not complete." Lind explained. "Although large-scale mining is definitely unrealistic, I plan to bring back some on a small scale first to alleviate the shortage of iron."

"I see." Illufa nodded. "Then Elisa's firepower is not enough."

"Huh?" Linde was stunned.

"You want to blow up the mine, but Elisa's firepower won't be enough." Illufa crossed his arms, looking eager to try. "I'll do it myself."

--------

At the same time, the battle sisters in the camp suffered the biggest shock ever.

As devout followers of the Divine Emperor, the Sisters of Battle have always adhered to the Divine Emperor's teachings, fighting evil and promoting good, and eradicating heresy. Their overly radical style of action has also led to frequent conflicts between the Sisters of Battle and secular nobles.

But even so, in the eyes of the battle nuns, civilian serfs are stupid, ignorant, and lazy, and they can't accomplish anything without someone to guide them.

But the serfs here are completely different.

The supervisors did not hold bloody whips, but wooden boards to record working hours. The so-called supervisors were just serfs who could read. The serfs were divided into several groups, each with a responsible team leader who coordinated and arranged the work of each team member. This team leader was not appointed by the lord, but was elected by the serfs themselves.

After further questioning, the combat nuns learned that whenever the team leader's command failed to maximize work efficiency and their team could not eat meat or drink broth, the team members would collectively replace him. The so-called team leader did not receive any preferential treatment and ate exactly the same food as the other team members.

Extremely high work efficiency and high work enthusiasm, all of this can be achieved in just one sentence: you can eat meat.

Shanoya was very excited. She felt that what she was looking for might be right in front of her.

Chapter 113 The Mysterious Thirteen

It was a new day again, and the Chaos Beastmen group that Fran had detected arrived as expected.

As the enemy's arrival was detected in advance, the camp was prepared for battle defense in time. The militiamen, armed with crude spears and javelins, stood guard inside the fence, waiting for the enemy's arrival.

With the experience of the previous battle, the militiamen in the camp have improved their fighting mentality. How to train an ordinary person into a qualified soldier? Different countries and periods have different answers, but basically all forces will agree on one standard: soldiers who have been on the battlefield and successfully survived can at least be used.

The Chaos Beastmen were nothing special. Most of the militiamen were much calmer in facing the enemy. Moreover, compared with the last time, the strength of the camp had been greatly enhanced.

There are more enemies than last time, including shamans and behemoths, but the camp has also become much stronger. Not only are there thirty combat nuns wearing heavy armor, but there are also thirty wolf-like beastmen who run faster than anyone else.

Then something weird happened...

"God Emperor above!"

"Mother Earth is protecting us!"

"Waaaaagh~!"

In battle, it is normal to have uniform slogans or battle cries to boost morale and deter the enemy. Armies with the conditions will also use war drums and the like. It is also normal to have different slogans within the same army, but it is very strange to have some slogans appear together.

The new beastmen shouted "Mother Earth protects us!", which is normal because they believe in Mother Earth. The battle sisters shouted "God Emperor!" which is also natural. If they shouted anything else, their loyalty would be questioned. But the other militiamen shouted...

The battle sisters who formed a defensive line outside the fence, ready to meet the Chaos Beastmen's attack, turned their heads and looked at the militiamen inside the fence in great surprise after hearing the battle cry behind them. The two knights in charge of commanding the militiamen both had a carefree expression of "I'm used to it".

Although they were extremely surprised, the combat nuns still calmed down and tried to repel the enemy first.

Since the enemy's situation was already known, the camp's tactics were simple. The defense line was divided into two parts. The heavy infantry sisters would meet the enemy outside the fence, the militia would defend inside the fence, and the new beastmen, mainly werewolves, would take the retreat route in the forest, and strive to wipe out the enemy in one go.

After the battle began, the plan went very smoothly. Although there were more than 150 Chaos Beastmen invading, which was slightly more than the number of the camp, it was not enough compared to the current combat power of the camp.

One beastman can easily kill one human soldier, but four human soldiers can tie with four beastmen, and fifty human soldiers forming a square can defeat a hundred beastmen.

In short, after the battle began, the situation on the entire battlefield tilted overwhelmingly towards the camp. The Chaos Beastmen rushed out of the forest in disarray, and then, just like before, they first experienced the warm welcome of grid fences and javelins, and then the hospitality of the heavily armored sisters. Even if they managed to break through the defense line and rush towards the camp, they would be greeted by dense array of guns.

To be on the safe side, there were high-level combat forces such as Lind and Sal in the camp. However, it turned out that this was completely unnecessary. Not to mention the militia's gun formation, the Chaos Beastmen could not even break through the defense line of the Battle Sisters. The Battle Sisters in heavy armor were like tin cans, fixed to the ground, and no Chaos Beastmen could break through the defense.

The battle did not last too long. When the werewolves led by Fenrir successfully went around and overwhelmed the Chaos Shaman, the last suspense was gone. As for the giant wolf with a huge body, its head was smashed by Shanoya's hammer.

The battle only lasted two hours before it ended. No one from the camp died, and the battle sisters' defenses were not even broken. There were a few injured beastmen who came around, but after treatment, they all recovered quickly.

"An exercise of slightly high intensity." After the battle, Shanoya commented on the intensity of the battle.

"It was these things that captured Dundalk and Vickro!?" Cynthia, the one-eyed blonde battle nun, said in surprise as she cleaned the blood and flesh residues from the weapons.

"I heard that when the Chaos Beastmen attacked the city, they acted in an orderly manner, which was different from the usual Chaos Beastmen. That's why the two cities fell in the end." The youngest nun, Milia, analyzed. "And I heard that when the Beastmen attacked the city before, it seemed like someone was directing the Beastmen."

"Indeed, I heard from my sister that there is indeed someone commanding the beastmen, and it is a human magician." Shanoya took off her armor and was wiping the white brains on it. "He claims to be Zekesi Enzo, and he is a rare shadow magician. The previous chaos beastman riot was caused by him."

The sisters of battle gathered together to clean the blood and flesh residues on their weapons and armor. Since they did not have people like knights' servants, the sisters of battle maintained their weapons and armor themselves. While cleaning, the sisters of battle also chatted and exchanged information to pass the time.

"Can you command Chaos Beastmen? Are you a heretic of the evil god? " asked one of the battle sisters.

"...According to my sister, no." Shanoya struggled to remove the bone fragments from the gaps in the armor. "My sister said that in her opinion, that person is not a heretic who believes in the evil god, but controls the Chaos Beastmen through other means. As for how he controls them, the things are now in the hands of Sir Lind."

"Also, my sister said that the one called Zekesi should be a member of a secret organization." Shanoya raised her helmet and carefully observed if there were any brains that she had missed. "Two people from this organization have appeared now. The other one is a very high-level wind magician. They are both wearing black robes with two numbers on them. One is thirteen, and the other two are six and three."

"Have you heard of this organization?" Shanoya asked, putting down her helmet.