Witch Troupe and the Undead

"What need is there for them, who are not superhuman, to understand the meaning of the priests' precepts? Ultimately, it's because it has nothing to do with them. Since that's the case, they won't find anything wrong with the depraved behavior we talk about."

“That’s right,” another priest agreed. “When I was preaching in Holm Town, someone mentioned this.”

"What did they say?"

“They said, ‘Father, you say those priests from the Holy City have fallen, but they haven’t done anything wrong. Isn’t that what all priests do?’ I couldn’t answer their question because if I did, they would ask us why we didn’t go and talk to Lord Holm in town and tell him not to be so decadent and extravagant.”

"So, in other words, our sect doesn't actually have much of an advantage in the countryside?"

“To be precise, we haven’t established an advantage yet,” the old pastor said. “It will take time and more effort. As I said, they are used to obeying the orders of their masters, no matter which master it is, while we… in their eyes, we are also masters, not one of them, or rather, we are not considered one of their own in these areas.”

“This is different from what I heard when I came here…” muttered one of the rescue priests.

"Of course, because we were masters before, we seemed easier to talk to than the other masters, and they were naturally willing to get close to us. But now that the other masters, or rather the masters who, in their eyes, have more control over their fate, have spoken, they naturally won't dare to get close to us. Maybe there are a few bold ones, but it's no use."

In the eyes of the villagers, this matter was essentially no different from the replacement of a nobleman, or from the king or emperor calling a nobleman a traitor or a degenerate forsaken. In any case, there always had to be a master.

At most, it's just that the Redemptionists are easier to talk to, so they might feel regret in private and then sigh over tea, "It wasn't like this when the Redemptionists were around."

Just like those nobles who might have had a conscience in the past, they might feel sorry for the enemy, and when it doesn't involve their own interests or lives, they might support the enemy and even be willing to give up the little grain they have left to support such a "kind-hearted lord" in fighting. But it is absolutely impossible to expect them to risk everything to provide help or support.

"Then what are we going to do?"

"I don't know..." The old pastor didn't know what to do either. After all, they were all extraordinary beings, and on a material level, they were truly separated from ordinary people by a thick physical barrier.

Moreover, although they have missionary experience, they really can't explain many things. For example, for these poor people, frugality and abstaining from extravagant desires are irrelevant precepts, since they don't have them anyway.

But if they can't become wealthy, what's the difference between supporting you and supporting the Holy City? At least the latter might be able to squeeze a few coins out of their fingers to buy a glass of ale.

If they become wealthy, and you tell them that they shouldn't indulge in luxuries when they were poor, and they shouldn't indulge in luxuries when they are rich, will these people really accept this doctrine?

At least from a material perspective, there is no difference between the old and new denominations. In fact, the Holy City Church has a greater advantage because they are rich. Those magnificent caravans and robes are not just for show; they are also a form of intimidation and credibility, making people believe that serving them will bring greater benefits.

From a spiritual perspective, the two sects' doctrines are indistinguishable to the villagers; they are both "incomprehensible." However, within the realm of what they can understand, there are significant differences.

One is that as long as I am devout, I may suffer in this life, but I can enjoy endless bliss after death; the other is that all faith comes from the heart, there is no heaven, and not all believers are capable of going to God's kingdom. You not only need material offerings, but also need to conform to the doctrine in body and mind.

"Honestly, for people at the bottom of society, this level of difficulty and complexity is really not as effective as simply donating money to go to heaven. Otherwise, how do you think those cults developed, and there might even be a few in the holy city?"

It's because cults are so simple and straightforward. Compared to the brick-thick scriptures of the Lingying Church next door, which allows you to make a wish and get gold coins by recruiting people, which one is more popular?

"So, we're just going to do nothing and wait to die?"

“No, I really don’t know how to gain support, but there are plenty of things I can do to strike at those priests.” The old priest’s face was shadowed by the firelight. “They don’t trust us, or rather, they’ve been misled by those priests from the Holy City and don’t trust us. Do you really think they genuinely trust those lords of the Holy City?”

The answer is obvious: absolutely not.

“It’s true that we criticize them for not following the doctrines and precepts, but even if they believe, they won’t think it’s a big deal.”

“But what if we attack them with other things? Like tithes,” a priest hesitated, “that goes against our doctrine, doesn’t it? Lying and spreading rumors.”

"Are they really just rumors and lies?" The old pastor looked at the other person seriously. "Can you say they don't have such thoughts?"

"Um..." This question is very hurtful. The Church's right to levy taxes has been abolished by the Empire, but the Church has never stopped trying to regain this right. In other words, the reason they raised the price of holy water is because the abolition of the tithe has left the Church without a stable source of income.

Therefore, they had to raise prices for services such as donations, medical treatment, and holy water, and resort to various deceptive means to obtain the necessary funds, even though the vast majority of these funds were actually used to maintain the extravagant lifestyles of the upper-ranking bishops.

"The eleventh tax, the eldest son tax, and other things they've done in the past, and things they might do in the future..."

"...Will they believe it?"

"Wouldn't they? You tell them how evil and depraved the priests are, and they won't care. But if you tell them the priests are plotting to seize your land and houses, do you think they'll completely ignore it?" The old pastor scoffed. "Our greatest weakness is that, in the eyes of ordinary people, we and the priests of the Holy City are all masters. And their greatest weakness is the same—we are all masters. If one master says another master is planning to cut another piece of flesh from the serfs at the bottom, do you think they'll really just laugh it off?"

In other words, if you tell them that the bishops of the church are profiting from holy water, they won't be moved because they can't afford it anyway. But if you tell them that the bishops of the church are planning to take one of your pigs away, they will be really moved and will absolutely believe that the lords are capable of doing such a thing—most importantly, they might actually have a pig in their house!

"And we can spread the word that those bishops turned monasteries into their harems, recruiting young, handsome boys as servants, and then..."

"Of course, there's also the tithe, the firstborn tax, and the indulgence, especially the indulgence. Tell them that once the church comes, these unfortunate souls who can't prove their piety will be charged a hefty indulgence, or the noble lords will take away your land."

"Isn't the atonement only for those blessed people in the city? There's no such thing for ordinary believers, is there? I think the Holy City Church is the same in this regard." A priest finally couldn't help but retort, mainly because it's meaningless to collect atonement from ordinary believers.

Do you really think he won't just turn around and run to the Moon Goddess Church next door to convert? Do nobles think they can avoid offending the Holy City but offend the Moon Goddess Holy Land and the Earth Goddess? Does the manor not want a harvest? Or is the family already overflowing with male heirs and successors?

“I know, but they don’t know,” the old pastor was referring to which villagers. “They only know that they can’t prove their piety at all, since they can’t even memorize the first three pages of the canon, and they also know that the noble lord really wants to take their land, and the priest is also a lord. What’s the difference between the two lords? Can they tell the difference?”

The answer, of course, is that they simply cannot tell the difference! Moreover, this cannot be considered a complete slander, because there really were cases of nobles and priests colluding to amass wealth through indulgences and heretical trials. Although news traveled slowly in this era, it was not entirely blocked. They had either seen it, heard about it, or heard about such things from their elders.

“They can’t distinguish between true believers who have converted and received the gifts and ordinary, shallow believers… They only see that rich, unfortunate fellow in town or village being exploited for this reason, and now we’re telling them it’s their turn… I think… that should be very useful.”

"But what's the point? Do you expect a bunch of farmers to drive away priests and superhumans with pitchforks?"

"Yes, at least now they won't report us anymore. They'll even tip us off and hope we can inform them in time when the church people will come to collect the indulgence and tithes."

"We don't need them on our side, at least don't let them stand on the other side!"

"Is that what they say too in the old parish?"

"That's true, the old parish is our foundation... I estimate the Holy City will take action soon."

In fact, the Holy City's actions were much faster than the priests had imagined; a cavalry unit had already reached the outskirts of a pioneer village in the hilly area east of the capital while they rested.

"Is this it?" Knight Commander Daryl looked at the small village in the valley, then at the noble knight beside him. This pot-bellied fat man was wearing a light soft armor, and a large clump of fat was squeezed out from under the armor.

"Of course, those heretical followers who worship demons are gathered here; they must be plotting some evil scheme." A satisfied smile appeared on the fat man's face as he thought of the land and wealth he was about to acquire.

"Surround them, and then take them all away." The knight commander waved his hand, signaling the cavalry to surround the valley village and take everyone back to the Holy City for execution. Of course, before that, they would try to squeeze some money out of them. The ill-gotten gains would go to the church, and the cultivated land and houses would go to the nobles. The two sides didn't need any contracts; they reached an agreement with just a glance.

Chapter 244 The Outsourcing Company is Finally Online

The pioneer village is a unique unit within the imperial administrative system. According to the ancient pioneer decree, the territory pioneered on the borders of civilization and in areas covered by the Black Forest belongs to the pioneers. There are no lords, no tax collectors, and no obligations to anyone.

This essentially encourages the expansion into the wild frontiers. The pioneering of this world is not just about agricultural planting problems, but also includes the constantly encroaching Black Forest borders and the vast number of dangerous monsters.

For the nobles, these pioneering villages that had already been developed were all coveted prizes, but they had to abide by the Development Act. All the noble territories were formed by the Development Act, and they could not go against the overall interests and demands of their class.

Moreover, these pioneering territories, having established themselves in the wilderness, are not weak targets. Using force to annex them is not a worthwhile endeavor and could easily escalate, becoming a legitimate excuse for the empire to weaken the power of the nobility.

Yadmia is a typical pioneer village, nestled in a hilly valley. The entire village is covered by hills and black pine trees, and the land has an unhealthy gray-black color, a typical characteristic of Black Forest erosion. On Earth, this forest humus is excellent for fertile soil, but here it represents unhealthiness and pollution.

Crops planted in the gray-black soil have a higher probability of becoming demonized, much like a genetic mutation. The demonization effect brought about by the erosion of magic is not all positive; it will cause the fruits and seeds of the crops to become distorted and imbued with abnormal magic.

For ordinary people, ingesting too much magical energy is not a good thing, especially the products of savage magical erosion. Furthermore, the properties of crops themselves will change, such as becoming poisonous, unpalatable, or unable to provide nutrients.

Therefore, to cultivate these lands, they must be burned repeatedly, using flames to scorch the earth, both to remove the various demonic thorns and weeds that grow there, and to dilute and transform the excess wild magic in the soil with the symbol of fire, which represents civilization.

At the same time, the crops planted must have a high resistance to magic in order to grow normally in soil filled with chaotic magical energy.

One by one, crystal-clear blue-green branches grew out of the depressions in the field. Several farmers were carefully watering the roots with "Earth Mother's Holy Water." The holy water from the Church of the Earth Goddess was the cheapest product, and even serfs could afford it. Of course, it had only one purpose: to protect the plant roots from the erosion of chaotic magic.

It has no healing, exorcising, disease-curing, or purification functions, which is the fundamental reason why it is so cheap. Glistening blue-green branches grow around the supporting wooden stick, and the blue leaves resemble sparkling blue crystals in the sunlight. At the ends of the branches, several rhomboid flower buds hang down.

The plant is called "Ademia," named after a naturalist several centuries ago who cultivated and improved this crop, enabling it to grow in the polluted soil of the Black Forest, thus ending civilization's long "Dark Age" and ushering in the "Age of Exploration."

The current territory of civilization, whether it be the empire, the neighboring Kingdom of Rada, or even more distant kingdoms and city-states, has at least two-thirds of its territory and domain expanded during the Age of Expansion.

The fruit "Yadmia" spread rapidly throughout the world with the pioneering era. It is one of the very few known safe crops that can grow in polluted black forests. The prismatic flower buds form in early spring and open in late spring, forming beautiful six-sided snowflake-like petals. By early summer, it will bear fruit.

The fruit is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, pear-shaped, and light blue in color. The peel is translucent and rich in sugary juice. For Kaituo Village, drying this fruit will produce a kind of dried fruit with extremely high sugar content.

However, most pioneering villages do not consume this dried fruit themselves unless a trade route is established. This high-sugar crop has a low yield, and most of the time, it is traded with caravans for rye and beans as food.

The farmers diligently tended to these beautiful yet exceptionally resilient plants, clearing away the poisonous thorns and overgrown weeds that grew in the soil. Even plants strong enough to grow in this kind of soil would see a significant drop in yield if there were too many of these things.

"Dong!" The village bell rang, which meant that outsiders had arrived, usually a caravan from a nearby town, but there shouldn't be any caravans coming at this time of year.

The entire village of Ademia was surrounded by high wooden walls, especially the fields that had been converted to normal soil and planted with spring wheat. The sentries on the walls saw a large group of people advancing along the narrow path.

"It's Lord Andrew's cavalry!" The sentry recognized the people who came here. It was Baron Andrew from next door. His territory was in the next town. It wasn't very big. He usually levied a very high trade tax on the village's trade. Of course, considering that the pioneering village didn't have to pay taxes to the empire or the higher-level lords, they could barely tolerate this level of exploitation.

The cavalry halted some distance from the arrows; attacking such a village would be a heavy loss for a baron's private army like Andrew's.

This time, however, he was not required to provide force. The church was responsible for dealing with any potential superhuman combatants in the village, while the baron was merely to provide the identity of a "witness" to prove that these pioneering villagers were not under the protection of the nobility and that the church could conduct a heretical trial.

This is also a loophole in the Expansion Act, which is not really a loophole. Expansion territories do not have immunity from heresy and religious trials, or in other words, they do not need the consent of the empire and the nobility. This is a loophole left over from the early days of expansion, when these expansion territories did face the temptations and threats of evil gods, demons and various evil spirits roaming in the Black Forest.

Back then, this job was even a major business of the Church of the Night. The night watch that the Night Inquisitors were responsible for every day came about in this way, and the territory they expanded was always far from the core area.

If you need permission from nobles and the court every time, then by the time you get the permission, you're basically doomed—the cultists and demon worshippers in this world can really tear open a rift and let demons in to harvest souls and life essence!

However, the trial for expanding territory was different from that of pure savages. At the very least, it required a "witness," and Andrew was that witness. In return, he would receive the village and expand his territory.

Knight Commander Daryl gestured for a battle priest to come forward. The village elder stood on the wall and exchanged a few words with the priest, then revealed a look of shock.

"Sir, we don't have any cultists here. We are all good people who believe in the Earth Goddess. You must have made a mistake!"

"The Earth Goddess?" This answer surprised the priest slightly.

The Earth Goddess usually doesn't have much of a presence, but everyone knows that if her priests are really provoked, the consequences are far beyond what ordinary nobles and powerful forces can handle. For one thing, there are usually some incredible things buried or sealed beneath the Earth Goddess's churches and sanctuaries. Just releasing a few of them can cause you a huge headache!

“Then let the chosen one of Mother Earth come out and prove it!” A parish that truly and completely worships the goddess must have a priest of the Earth Goddess. However, the priest glanced at the gray-black land that had not yet been fully tamed and thought it was unlikely.

According to the agreement of the gods, the worship of the earth is limited to the territory of civilization. There is no sanctuary or worship of the Earth Goddess in the expanded territory. The holy water of the Earth Mother is a commodity brought by caravans for trade. Although the locals may be shallow believers of the Earth Goddess, shallow believers who have not been blessed are not considered believers in the realm of religion and gods.

They cannot receive any blessings or divine favor; it is merely a form of spiritual sustenance and social interaction. The various religious sects will not make things difficult for these people, and no one will interfere even if they pray in the Holy Church in the morning and gather at the Holy Land of the Moon in the evening.

Gods don't easily pay attention to mortals, and the actions of mortals are also difficult to enter the eyes of God, just as it is difficult for a person to always pay attention to what a speck of dust is doing, unless that speck of dust is not a small speck, but a large enough pile.

This is something the Holy City Church has been racking its brains trying to understand: why would the priestess who worships the Horse-Headed Lord be elevated to sainthood in the arena? The reason why the ascension ceremony is so complicated and the prerequisites are so high is because the recipient of this divine grace must at least be transformed from dust into a small pebble, to the point that God can see it.

Through extremely complex rituals, self-hypnosis, chanting, and the gathering of magic, the soul and certain qualities of mortals are briefly amplified, becoming a faint glimmer in the eyes of God, in order to attract God's attention. Whether God will ultimately be willing to elevate them to sainthood depends on other circumstances.

Therefore, even within the Holy City Church, the number of saints is very small, and most of them are in seclusion. They will not be mobilized unless it is a critical moment. Moreover, since these flashes of light... well, they are enough to attract God's attention, the Church is actually not very willing to let them participate in most of the daily activities, as the effect would be comparable to surrendering.

These superficial believers are not even worth a speck of dust in the eyes of God. However, they are the foundation for becoming recipients of the gifts. Every church will try its best to maintain this large number of superficial and general believers and will not actively drive them away or deny their existence.

Of course, official recognition and actual believers are two completely different things. If they are just a group of casual and superficial believers of the goddess, rather than recipients of the blessing, then there is no need to worry about causing conflict between the Holy City and the Earth Sanctuary.

After a while, the elder reappeared on the wall. "Respected sir, our goddess priest has left. Perhaps you will need to go to town to find him."

"..." Knight Daryl looked at Baron Andrew, who gave a disdainful smile. "Your Excellency, it seems you rarely deal with these lowly people. They're lying to you. There's no such thing as a goddess's priest. We came from the town. The whole town only has one Earth Sanctuary, and it's open-air. There are only three favored by the goddess, and I know them all. These peasants do have a little bit of cleverness, but that's all!"

A lie like "I forgot my homework at home" is something anyone with a modicum of common sense can see is a lie, and the person is only lying to make a last-ditch effort.

"We have received information that you are heretics who follow the Church of Salvation, the devil disguised as the Holy Lord!"

“We have never heard of any Church of Salvation, and we have made offerings to the Church of the Holy Lord; we have paid tribute!” the elder repeated. “We have made offerings to the Church!”

"Hmph!" Knight Commander Daryl waved his hand. He was a paladin of the church, but not a priest, much less one of those ascetics and inquisitors. So what if these people really dedicated themselves to the church? So what if they were truly devout believers? He wasn't one of them anyway.

In most churches, no more than one-fifth of the members receive divine gifts and powers; the majority of the rest are ordinary people or superhumans who do not receive divine gifts and use other powers.

The church's paladins and guardians are the most typical members, including battle priests and retired inquisitors who have become members, but there are also a considerable number of wandering knights, adventurers and mercenaries who have been recruited by the church.

Even among priests and priests, there are many who do not know any holy magic or have divine power, but they can simulate and use similar holy magic to a certain extent by relying on holy artifacts, rituals and holy water.

Moreover, are those extraordinary clergy who are granted divine power truly devout? In any case, Knight Commander Daryl doesn't think so. The bestowal of divine power is inherently unpredictable. An extremely devout old monk may never bask in the glory of the Lord in his entire life, while a newcomer who has just joined the church and can't even memorize a single page of the scriptures may suddenly be granted divine power and wield extraordinary strength.

"These are all heretics' excuses. We've wasted enough time. They must be covering for those heretics to escape!" Doesn't Baron Andrew know whether there are heretics or not? If there really were heretics, he wouldn't have reported them to the church, much less led a team here!

He had heard about those heretics; they were led by a saint. He didn't have the guts to fight real cultists and heretics, but he certainly had the guts to plunder land and people under the guise of heresy!

"The trial against the Church is conclusive evidence of heresy!" Knight Commander Daryl drew his sword and pointed it forward, and the Church's guards, who could no longer contain themselves, rushed forward.

The resistance of Ademia Village was undeniably resolute, but it lacked sufficient supernatural power. The only supernatural power in the entire village was that of a retired mercenary. Facing the enchanted greatsword of Knight Commander Daryl, he was beheaded in less than three rounds, and soon flames and thick smoke filled the pioneering village.

The farmers' houses were set on fire, their wealth was looted, and then they gathered in the open space in the middle of the village to begin a trial of heresy. The priests summoned a sacred fire and declared that if they could pass the test of the sacred fire, they would be innocent.

If one does not wish to pass the test of the sacred flame, one must pay an exorbitant ransom. Of course, if one cannot pay, the kind-hearted Baron Andrew will be happy to help pay the money and in return receive a group of serfs—or rather, "debt slaves."

The test of the sacred fire can only be passed by true recipients and those who have received divine power. For novice believers, the sacred fire is no different from any other kind of fire magic; they will only be burned to ashes.

If there are indeed gifted individuals here, then letting them go is fine. For the church, these gifted individuals are indeed the backbone of the church. But those who have divine gifts... are mostly true heretics. As I said before, if there are true heretics, Baron Andrew wouldn't dare to come looking for death.

Soon, the village of Ademia disappeared, replaced by a large number of serfs and a vast expanse of newly developed land belonging to Baron Andrew. Meanwhile, Knight Commander Daryl gained a new batch of "heretic prisoners" to be handed over to the Holy City, along with a large sum of "atonement money." At the same time...

Beneath the enormous wooden horse-headed angel statue, the newly ordained saint knelt before it, her hands clasped in prayer for the Lord's attention.

"Lord, why do you not judge the unrighteous, but instead cause your devout people to kill one another?"

The Holy Lord did not answer. Even saints do not always receive the attention and focus of the gods. They are just more conspicuous than others. Those who are truly frequently noticed by the gods are those known as "the chosen ones," and such people are extremely rare.

"Lord, why do you allow those priests to abuse your power and do evil in the name of light?!"

"..." The Holy Lord responded with silence.

"Have they not disobeyed your teachings? Or do you still hope for their repentance? They poison the countryside, distort the scriptures, and even though they do evil and commit wicked deeds, you have not taken away their glory. Why is that?"

"...They deserve it," the Holy Lord replied with only this one sentence. They deserved it. This time, it was the Holy Maiden's turn to fall silent.

"I see," she understood God's meaning. The power they were given was their due, and their current mistakes did not affect their past deeds. "Lord, that divine power is not a gift of Your grace and generosity, but something they deserve, a reward for their past righteous deeds?"

Just like those farmers, whose harvest is the reward for their past labor, even if they squander the money in taverns and casinos, the earth will still bear fruit for every bit of their work.

“However…” After the Holy Lord answered, that aura gradually faded away. She knew that the Lord would no longer listen or answer.

"But, Lord, their righteous deeds are rewarded, yet their evil deeds go unpunished. Why is that?!" The saint's question was destined to remain unanswered, for the one who could answer it...