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Monk Lawrence was obviously stunned, completely unprepared for this situation.
Was this young lad just back from training at the Imperial Capital's Holy Temple? How did he seem to know more than himself?
Even the lord of Isonpol wasn't this much of a pain!
In his habitual thinking, in a new pioneer territory like this, the villagers at the bottom desperately needed the support of faith, and the lord urgently needed someone to help him win the hearts of the people. Moreover, these peasants were very easy to deceive.
In the previous villages, he just strolled around with two retainers. Before he even said a word, many villagers came over to pray and kneel.
It was a pity that those villages were so poor that there was hardly any profit to be made.
Unlike this new pioneer territory in front of him, where there was a constant clanging sound everywhere, people coming and going, all busy, presenting a scene of large - scale construction.
Not far away, the lord's mansion was like a small castle, clearly the work of a wealthy person.
As long as the lord agreed to his request, he could start collecting donations in the name of building a church and get some money right away.
If enough money was donated, it meant there was a lot of profit here and he could continue to invest.
Once the church was built, he could make a steady profit; if not, he could just abscond with the money.
The annual donations and taxes a church received were at least as much as what a lord got.
If he met a pious lord, the lord himself would even pay money to the church!
Even if the profit was really small, he could resell it to other monks. It was a sure - fire deal.
What? Making money out of thin air? Isn't the time and energy the noble monk spends dealing with these country bumpkins a cost?
Monk Lawrence was unwilling to give up and could only patiently explain, "Our Lord's guidance is always right. Once the church is built, the documents will be sent over."
"Alright then." Leo suddenly nodded and said.
He folded his arms, propped his elbow, scratched his chin and looked around. Then he suddenly pointed to an open space in the distance. "Build it there!"
Monk Lawrence was overjoyed because the place Leo pointed to, only a hundred meters away from the lord's mansion, would become the center of the village if a church was built there. When he didn't want to stay here anymore, he could resell it and make a killing.
"However, there are two conditions."
"Tell me." Lawrence almost used honorifics.
"First, the money for building the church cannot come from River Bend. You have to pay for it yourself. Second, not only the God of the Holy Light but also the god of war Tyr of the Northern Region must be enshrined in the church."
"Absurd! How can two gods be enshrined in one church? Moreover..." Monk Lawrence was furious.
"Moreover, what?" Leo reached out and grabbed the hilt of his sword, and his eyes suddenly turned dangerous.
"Nothing, nothing." Monk Lawrence suddenly came to his senses and quickly shook his head.
He originally wanted to say that the Lord of the Holy Light was the only true god.
But this was not the Southern Region; it was the Northern Region.
The true god of the Northern Region is the god of war Tyr. This fact was written into the imperial law when the Northern Region joined the Atlantis Empire and was personally acknowledged by the Pope of the Holy Light Church at that time.
In order to unite the various tribes in the Northern Region and unify the Eastern Continent, the emperor of the Atlantis Empire and the contemporary Pope of the God of the Holy Light personally went to the holy city of Anserst in the Northern Region and signed a covenant with the Supreme King of the Northern Region.
Let's not delve into the details of the covenant. The core point is that the Supreme King of the Northern Region relinquished his throne and demoted himself to the grand duke of the Northern Region, leading the Northern Region to join the Atlantis Empire. (Note: Previously, "empire" needed double - checking in the terminology list; "Atlantis Empire" is the correct term as per the list.)
As a condition, the Atlantis Empire would grant the Northern Region a degree of autonomy far greater than that of other regions, and recognize the true divine status of the god of war Tyr.
Of course, only a small number of people knew about these things. Ordinary folks wouldn't bother learning knowledge so far removed from their daily lives.
Over the centuries, to beautify and cover up the situation, many high - ranking monks of the God of the Holy Light would depict the northern god of war Tyr as an incarnation of the God of the Holy Light, or one of his archangels, or even avoid talking about him altogether. However, they wouldn't label him a heretic like they did with other deities.
Facing Leo's cold gaze, Monk Lawrence suddenly understood.
The guy knew everything!
Whether from a religious or an interest perspective, the other guy was just as hip to the tricks as he was, and had clearly expressed his attitude in a few words only insiders would understand.
Monk Lawrence immediately dropped the pretense and snarled, "Without the protection of the God of the Holy Light, darkness will devour everything, including your puny River Bend. I hope you think it over carefully."
With that, he turned around and walked away.
Watching him leave, Leo replied coldly, "The God of the Holy Light never said so."
Monk Lawrence paused in his steps and then continued on his way.
Their conversation wasn't long. Ivan, who had been standing nearby, finally understood a bit. He grumbled angrily, "What the heck? Build a house and think he can lord it over everyone? Even Uncle Ulyan isn't that ruthless!"
Leo didn't want to bother with him. He just seriously instructed, "Don't slack off during this period. Train hard and strengthen the patrols. If there's any sign of trouble, blow the horn or beat the gong. Don't be afraid of false alarms. Just think of it as a drill. Got it?"
"Yes." As Leo's trusted follower, Ivan was very obedient. Hearing this, his face turned serious, and he nodded and went to convey the order.
Leo stared at the direction where Monk Lawrence had disappeared, feeling a faint sense of unease in his heart.
Presumably, any transmigrator would be wary of the medieval monotheistic church.
Leo was no exception. Although he didn't dare to be careless, he hoped it was just a false alarm.
As the main projects in River Bend were completed, the labor force was freed up, and the militia got more training time.
Every morning and evening, Leo would try to lead the militiamen to run around the water's edge of River Bend twice.
On the one hand, it was to improve the militiamen's physical fitness. On the other hand, it was to drive away the nearby beasts.
The lone wolves, wild leopards, brown bears, and even magical beasts hiding in the woods watched dozens of fully - armed strong men running around River Bend every day and couldn't find a chance to launch a sneak attack.
After a long time, they would leave this area and remove it from their hunting grounds.
The crossbows seized from the Wild Boar Man also became one of the militia's equipment during this period of training.
Although these crossbows were powerful, second only to the longbows of the Wild Folk Hunters, their manufacturing process was extremely rough, and they couldn't even guarantee shooting accuracy beyond fifty meters.
With the attitude of "it's better to have something than nothing", Leo never expected the militiamen in his hands to become long - range combat units like the Wild Folk Hunters.
However, in small - scale The Battles in the wilderness, it was also very good to send out a few volleys of arrows first when facing the enemy's charge.
In addition to crossbows, each militiaman was also equipped with a thick, one - inch - thick heavy round wooden shield, an iron single - handed sword, and two short spears.
At long - range, they used crossbows for fire suppression. At close - range, they threw short spears to kill the enemy explosively. When it came to hand - to - hand combat, they formed a shield wall and used their single - handed swords to stab the enemy in the belly.
The Slings, which hadn't been very useful, didn't fade into history either. They were still life - saving weapons that every villager carried.
Normally, they were tied around the waist like a belt. People would take them out to practice in their spare time for fun.
By now, even the children in the village could use them to shoot birds. The talented Little Mouse stood out among them.