The story of the black silk female knight

After completing the Golden Iris Award reward redemption process, Valensa and Tia went to the strategist's office together.

Valensa still needs to consult her father-in-law about how to turn the ruins of the Barrens into her own legitimate fiefdom.

"You cannot make a request directly to His Majesty; he will not agree."

On this point, the strategist and his daughter shared the same view:

"The royal family has long known that the underground ruins of the Wasteland are very valuable. Over the years, they have been sending elite troops to the Wasteland...ostensibly to scout the movements of wild beasts, but in reality, it is entirely for the purpose of excavating various treasures from the underground ruins."

"What should we do then? Father...?"

Valensa asked very obediently.

"Well... there are still ways."

The phrase "Father" clearly pleased the strategist, giving him a sense of accomplishment that his daughter had grown up and was now able to bring home beautiful girls from outside.

He smiled, resting his chin on one hand and stroking a non-existent beard:

"The royal family is indeed the ruler of Fran, and can even modify and issue laws at will... But there are some special laws that the royal family must also abide by. For example, the Territorial Law, which is the foundation of the current order of the Fran Kingdom. If the royal family violates it, it will completely lose credibility among the nobles, and may even cause Fran to return to its pre-establishment state, splitting into many independent lords."

The Territory Law clearly stipulates that a lord has complete power over his territory, and all the mineral veins, materials, and other wealth discovered on the territory belong to the lord of the territory. Even the royal family cannot seize them by force.

So the simplest way for you to get that ruin is to have His Majesty the King grant you that land without exposing the ruin.”

Chapter 110 Pioneering Order

"But that ruin has already been exposed..."

Valensa was troubled:

"I mentioned in my report earlier that there are ruins beneath that area."

"But you also mentioned that the area is now shrouded in a terrible curse left by the Great Witch, and any life that enters will suffer continuous damage, and it's also being closely watched by wild beasts, right?"

The strategist smiled slyly:

"That's enough... No one would believe you have the ability to control such a dangerous area, not even the royal family."

So, we can use a feint... I wonder if you've heard of the "Expansion Decree" issued by the Kingdom of Fran around 1200 years ago?

"Yeah, I've heard a little bit about it."

Valensa nodded; in fact, she was quite familiar with the law.

Although she was definitely not very studious when she was young, she did not miss out on essential aristocratic subjects such as history and etiquette.

When the Expansion Order was issued, Fran's territory was roughly the same as it is today, but the number of towns was less than a third of what it is today.

Because of its abundant natural resources, Franco enjoys bumper harvests every year.

According to Valencia's previous life, this means a food self-sufficiency rate of over 1000%.

With ample land resources and monsters lurking in the wilderness, it's no surprise that the people of Fran have little interest in exploring the wilderness, and everyone lives in big cities.

At that time, Fran was already fighting against wild beasts in the north every year. War was the fastest way for soldiers and officers to accumulate military merits.

Adhering to the principle of rewarding merit, the French royal family conferred noble titles upon many who had made great contributions, but they faced the predicament of not having any land to grant them.

The "Pioneering Order" came into being under these circumstances. Nobles who obtained the "Pioneering Order" could clear the wilderness and establish human settlements as their own territories.

While acquiring territory in this way is very costly, it also has many advantages.

Firstly, the territory obtained through the "Expansion Order" is larger. For example, when a nobleman with the title of baron reclaims wasteland, the territory he can obtain is the size of a viscount.

In addition to being larger in area, the territories built under the Expansion Order also have greater autonomy. It can be said that, apart from the lord still being a subject of the royal family, the territory is completely a country within a country.

However, this is also the main reason why many remote villages and towns are targeted by revelers and cultists. Their defenses are weak and they are too independent, making it difficult to get support in time when something happens.

Now, the "Pioneering Order" has been unused for a long time.

Firstly, the royal family now strictly controls the difficulty of becoming a new noble; they would rather pay several times the amount of wealth as a reward than easily grant another noble title.

Secondly, almost all of the high-quality land in Fran has already been developed. The remaining wilderness is either unsuitable for human habitation due to its terrain or is inhabited by powerful monster groups, making development very costly.

Recalling everything about the "Pioneering Order" in her mind, Valensa understood the strategist's meaning:

"My father wants me to apply to His Majesty for the authority of the 'Expansion Order' and then turn that area into my fiefdom by taking actual control of it."

But wouldn't that be too obvious...? The area above ground is under strict surveillance by wild beasts, and the underground area also needs time to be cleared and explored; it's not something that can be controlled in a short time."

That's why I told you to use a feint attack.

The strategist smiled again:

"After you obtain the 'Expansion Order', you can pretend to be interested in another wasteland, outwardly appearing as if you are preparing to open up the land, while secretly accelerating your control over the ruins."

Don't forget you're still a member of the Church of the Sun. You could easily ask your friends in the church to do some confidentiality and speed things up when the land deeds are generated.

“Land deed…I understand.”

Valensa suddenly realized—this was a classic case of feigning one move while secretly making another.

Unlike the ancient land deeds and modern land certificates of Valensa's previous life, the land deeds on the continent of Frenoia are not just a piece of paper, but a divine contract witnessed by the Church of the Sun and guaranteed by divine punishment.

Those who break the contract will truly suffer divine punishment.

There was a time when a noble broke a contract. He was a Star-level expert who lost his territory in a gambling game and had no choice but to hand over the land deed. However, he later regretted it and tried to seize it by force. As a result, he directly triggered the divine punishment of the land deed and was reduced to ashes by a pillar of blazing sunlight that fell from the sky.

The specific method of obtaining the "Expansion Order" was that the royal family would give the nobleman who obtained the "Expansion Order" a semi-blank land deed that had his name and the size of the land written on it, but did not specify the exact location of the land.

After a nobleman who obtains a half-blank land deed occupies a piece of unclaimed land, he can complete the land deed and become the owner of the land by performing a ceremony witnessed by a clergyman of the Church of the Sun.

In other words, after Valensa obtains this semi-blank land deed, she can first find another unclaimed piece of land, pretend to cultivate it, then secretly complete the exploration and clearing of the ruins, hold a ceremony, and directly turn that area into her own territory.

As expected, experience matters. The strategist's method is perfectly feasible!

But Valensa suddenly became worried:

"Wouldn't doing this... be too offensive to the royal family?"

"No, this level of competition for interests happens frequently between our noble families and the royal family. It's a tacitly understood game."

The strategist smiled gently:

"Of course, the royal family will be somewhat unhappy with what you're doing—but repairing the relationship is actually quite simple. You can sell a portion of the spoils from the underground ruins to the royal family through a trade."

The royal family is not short of wealth; they can directly purchase the knowledge and technology within the ruins with money, which actually saves them a lot of trouble... If managed well, this could even be a win-win situation.

"What admirable wisdom!"

Valensa exclaimed sincerely.

. . . . .

After reporting their battle results and asking the questions they wanted to ask, Valensa and Tia only stayed at the Third Fortress for one day before quickly completing the procedures through their connections and returning to the capital.

The beastmen's offensive has completely ceased, and the war is likely to end soon. Naturally, the front lines no longer need the support of students who have not yet graduated. Valensa and Tia's month of service has now come to an end.

However, it will still be a few days before the war is officially declared over, and the royal family will not reward those who have distinguished themselves in this year's war until then. Valencia's authority to grant the "Pioneering Order" will also have to wait until then.

Valensa and Tia immediately became busy upon returning to the capital.

Tia needed to purchase large quantities of attribute-less magic crystals and alchemy materials for the development of the ruins, while Valensa took Friggia to the Church of the Sun to give a report.

Chapter 111: Someone coming from the headquarters

Information about Friggia is classified as top secret within the Church of the Sun, on par with Valensa's evil mother.

Even a Star-level Paladin Captain like Lika couldn't find the relevant information.

Although Sila, who was of equal rank to Rika, also lacked authority, she knew some information about the First Witch, Friggia.

"I heard it from my mother."

Faced with the curious gazes of Valensa, Lika, and Fran, Sila smiled and explained:

"My mother was one of the saintesses who participated in that sealing battle. She was a pet of the goddess born in the divine kingdom. She came here to serve as a saintesse 1800 years ago. She fell in love with a priestess 1200 years ago and gave birth to me. Her term of office ended 800 years ago, and she was transferred elsewhere by the goddess."

"Your mother had you with a priestess?"

Valencia's attention was drawn to this sentence, and she even subconsciously touched her lower abdomen:

"How was it born? Was it a child bestowed upon you after praying to Her Majesty the Goddess?"

"Not really."

Sera smiled and even waved one of her tentacles:

"It is natural reproduction. Although our Tentacle Princess clan consists only of women, we also have the ability to impregnate other women, and the newborn will definitely be a pure-blooded Tentacle Princess."

"What a domineering bloodline!"

Valensa sighed, with a hint of regret:

"I wonder if Her Majesty the Goddess will grant Tia and me a child... Yesterday, when Tia and I were at the Third Fortress, the strategist was urging us to have a child again, sigh."

"This... I'm afraid it will be difficult. Even if you can get pregnant, you may not be able to meet the requirements."

Sila hesitated for a moment, but then said it directly:

“A devout female clergywoman may indeed pray to Her Majesty the Goddess to grant her a child. But whether you or Tia conceive and give birth to a child, it will only be a child of you and Her Majesty the Goddess, or a child of Tia and Her Majesty the Goddess, not a child of you and Tia. Do you understand?”

"Oh... I see. Okay, let's think of another way."

Valensa decisively abandoned this path.

She would absolutely not allow Tia to have another man's child, not even Her Majesty the Goddess.

But if it were her... ugh.

Valensa suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

With the goddess showering her with affection, could she really get her pregnant one day? After all, according to Friggia, the goddess is quite horny...

But since Your Majesty the Goddess is so beautiful, it doesn't seem like a bad deal, does it?

After shaking her head to suppress her wandering thoughts, Valensa quickly steered the conversation back on track, continuing the discussion about Friedeja.

Lika, Sera, and the two high priests of the Royal Cathedral first examined the silver sword used to pin Friggia to the ground, read the message left by the saintess, and confirmed that Friggia had indeed served her sentence and was eligible for release, and that Valensa had the authority to release her.

Afterwards, they personally guided Valensa in writing a meticulously formatted report, detailing the causes and consequences of releasing Friggia, which they prepared to upload to the church headquarters.

When writing reports for the church, Valensa dared not lie. At most, she would gloss over her affair with the Great Prophet of the Wild Beasts and conceal the existence of the nuclear bomb. However, Valensa truthfully recorded everything that happened in the ruins afterward in her report.

Frieda also emerged from Valensa's shadow, greeting Rika and Sila in a very friendly and familiar manner. She then took the initiative to frankly discuss her future experimental plans and inquired about the specific procedures and formalities involved.

The clergy frowned deeply at Friggia's plan to conduct further human experiments, and one of the high priests even immediately considered pinning Friggia to the ground with a silver sword again.

However, considering that they didn't even have the authority to know about Friggia's situation, they ultimately didn't dare to make a decision easily. Instead, they had Friggia write an application as well, which was submitted together with Valensa's report.

The response from the Church of the Sun headquarters was faster and more decisive than Valensa had anticipated.

She submitted her report in the morning, had lunch with Fran and Rika at noon, and then left the cathedral for her own residence in the afternoon, planning to rest for half a day and spend some time with Melina.

She had barely laid her head on Melina's black stockings and hadn't even had a chance to enjoy it when she suddenly sensed a powerful divine magical fluctuation coming from the cathedral, almost identical to the one she had felt when Rika returned from the continent of Gods.

...The church headquarters of the Divine Continent has sent people?

The thought had barely crossed Valensa's mind when a small bat flew out of her collar, circling in front of her eyes and making Fran's slightly anxious voice:

"Quickly, quickly...come quickly, the Holy Maiden wants to see you."

"Oh... okay, coming."

Valensa quickly got up and, with Melina's help, straightened her dress.

She was still wearing a silver dress and paladin armor on the outside, but instead of the lace shirt and pleated skirt of the War Academy uniform underneath, she was wearing a pair of black stockings that tightly covered her fingers and neck, yet were slightly sheer.

This is a special suit that Valensa specially changed into in order to get intimate with Melina.

In the past, she might have worried that her outfit was too revealing and inappropriate for a church setting.

But Valensa already knew from Friggia that Her Majesty the Sun Goddess liked beautiful, well-built female priestesses who dressed provocatively, and that her attire would only make Her Majesty the Goddess happier.

So after only a slight hesitation, Valensa decided not to change her clothes and went to meet the saint in her silver skirt armor and black stockings.

Because the Sun Goddess can communicate with the clergy at any time and personally issue commands, the Church of the Sun does not have a position similar to the Pope in other religions.

The saintess and the leader of the Holy Knights already represent the pinnacle of power within the Church of the Sun.

Those with slightly lower power and authority include the candidate saintess, the vice-commander of the Holy Knights, and inner temple knights like Valensa.

Below them are captains like Lika, the Starlight Paladin, and the high priests who manage the cathedrals of various cities.