Chapter 245: Traces

The gentry and nobles of the Diocese of York had all been suppressed by the Church into obedience, which allowed the priests to preach in peace.

But the gentry and nobles of the Diocese of Adrian had never suffered such mass slaughter, so the priests there did not spread their faith so smoothly. Some priests had even been attacked by roaming bandits. Though none were killed, injuries were inevitable.

Thus, these priests were more pragmatic.

After receiving Marl’s response notice, they went around the villages, loudly proclaiming the crimes committed by Viscount Youn, and declaring that the people of Viscount Youn’s territory had been judged by the Lord and subjected to Absolute Punishment.

The villagers looked at one another in confusion. They did not immediately follow, unlike the commoners of York Territory.

In the Diocese of Adrian, the gentry had not been driven out of their villages as in York Territory. They still held control over taxes and village guards, managing the villages in a semi-feudal style. Thus, the villagers did not react too strongly.

But these gentry did conduct trade with merchants from Light Port. During such dealings, the merchants had told them of the uprisings of commoners in York Territory, and of certain events that had happened there in recent years.

Therefore, they were very nervous about the priests’ proclamations and the commoners’ mood.

The gentry ran about, banding together.

Meanwhile, the Earl’s military order came, calling for conscription to reclaim the lands occupied by the Fishmen.

No one dared oppose this. It was the Earl’s command. Even without the very just reason of recovering lost lands, they could not refuse.

Thus, most rational gentry painfully sent some of their family guards and village soldiers, while only a few clung to tradition, seizing villagers and sending them away.

What could the villagers do? This was tradition, and the gentry’s guards and village soldiers were armed. Their families could only weep bitterly as the strong laborers of their households were taken.

Only the priests condemned the gentry, but most of the traditionalists ignored them. They feared the Church behind the priests, but still, two gentry refused to yield and directly seized the priests.

By chance, commoners from York Territory who had crossed through the port learned of this. They raised their sticks and farm tools, toppled the village’s wooden walls, and stormed into the two gentry estates.

The gentry estates had guards and soldiers, but those who came from York Territory were not like the weakened villagers controlled by food rations in Adrian. Among them were even mercenaries who had lived in the northern mountain undercity.

They stormed the estates, rescued the priests, and distributed the wheat—piled high like small mountains—to the villagers.

The rescued priests loudly proclaimed to the villagers: “These friends from York Territory have not come to plunder your wealth. They are seekers of the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth. The sinful lands of Viscount Youn have been struck by Absolute Punishment. That place stands in the way of us establishing the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth.”

Did the commoners of Adrian understand this?

Perhaps they did, perhaps they did not.

But they knew one thing—that they had eaten the gentry’s wheat. In the past, this would have meant torture to death.

So they cried out for the cleansing of Absolute Punishment, and followed those from York Territory toward Viscount Youn’s lands.

They did not know where Viscount Youn’s lands were, only that it was somewhere else. At least there, they would not be killed by their present gentry.

They did not want to die.

And so, swept up in the tide, these villagers followed the normal routes, passing through half of Adrian Territory. Upon hearing of the extermination of the two gentry families, the other gentry trembled.

Those who had conscripted villagers were horrified to find that their conscripted militia had already revolted. Since the militias had yet to be organized and armed, their departure was delayed compared to the dispatched guards and family soldiers.

The conscripted militias did not attack the gentry. They simply wanted to live. They toppled their estate walls and village palisades from within, and fled with their wives and children to join the torrent of York commoners.

The gentry dared not strike back. They had read the so-called Holy Scriptures—the “book of jokes”—and knew the laws that forbade killing commoners without cause. Outside their walls, more than a thousand armed law-abiding believers were passing by.

The rational gentry saw villagers leaving peacefully without conflict. But hearing of other gentry estates being toppled, and seeing the passing crowd of well-fed, healthy commoners, some villagers began to think differently.

They “thought”: The gentry’s guards and village soldiers had already been halved. The rest together numbered less than a hundred. But the villagers themselves? Their numbers were several times greater. And those strong commoners outside were devout believers, followers of the priests’ laws.

Thus, under the suggestion of certain individuals, they went to the priests and loudly declared: “We are devout believers, and we wish to cleanse the lands struck by Absolute Punishment.”

Though their words were not entirely correct, the priests agreed. They then led all who wished to leave the village to join the flowing tide of York commoners.

The gentry sealed their estates tightly, vanishing as though into thin air, making no attempt to stop them.

As the tide passed, more than three thousand villagers were swept away. The gentry sought aid from the nobles, only to find that when Count Richard’s orders arrived, the nobles themselves had already departed eastward with their knights and warriors to reclaim lost lands.

Thus, the surviving gentry, having understood the situation, quietly moved their estates out of the nearly empty villages.

If even the well-structured Adrian Territory fared so, how could the scattered gentry and petty nobles who once surrendered to Viscount Youn and later submitted to York Territory dare to act rashly? Since small churches had yet to spread into their lands, only a few unlucky villages saw their commoners flee.

But the traces of the passing commoners were already left behind.

……

Earl Gregor’s full name was Gregor Doyle.

His territory, Doyle Territory, bordered Adrian. Compared to Earl Raul, he was luckier. His land did not border the Fishmen, nor Baron Morn’s domain. When Pegira passed through, his lands were spared due to geography. As the primary heir, his territory remained intact.

But he was also less fortunate than Earl Raul—his father had left him no Holy Relic or usable Mystery. So when Richard came riding a Dragon-Eagle to ask for a portion of land to resettle returning commoners, Gregor could only smile and say that their family trees were one, and they should be as brothers. Thus, he lent it.

As for repayment, Gregor had no hopes.

Upon hearing of the uprisings in the neighboring lands, he quickly summoned the priest Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was thinner than when he first set out, his skin darkened from the sun.

With reverence, Jeremiah bowed and said: “Earl Gregor, what matter brings you to me?”

Gregor laughed loudly and said: “Hahahaha, I merely wished to ask if Priest Jeremiah has fared well in my lands these two years.”

Jeremiah replied: “All has gone smoothly. Order has been restored in the villages. By next year, we shall pay taxes. I thank you for not demanding taxes these past two years, but I believe we should also repay the taxes of those years together next year.”

His face beamed with joy.

Gregor felt awkward. He had simply not cared enough to send tax collectors, considering the villages were made of slaves whose survival was uncertain.

When Jeremiah first came to preach in his territory, Gregor, wishing to avoid offending York Territory amidst the uncertainty, casually gathered two to three hundred slaves to build a village and gave Jeremiah leave to establish a church.

They were slaves, so of course he gave them no food or supplies.

Jeremiah had to borrow food from passing York merchants, and with only thin broth, he and the slaves cultivated wasteland. Only now had they managed to repay the borrowed food.

Though the merchant dared not accept it, Jeremiah forced him to.

Suppressing his embarrassment, Gregor said: “Oh, Priest Jeremiah, how could I demand taxes from you? You are a servant of the Lord, so exalted. I have decided to exempt your village from taxation!”

But Jeremiah’s smile vanished. He said firmly: “How could taxes be exempted? The believers live in your lands and receive your protection. Paying taxes to you is their duty, as the Lord decrees. If a village is too poor, you may mercifully waive their taxes—that would be your benevolence. But in our village, we can afford it. Thus, you must not exempt us.”

Gregor felt the man was mad. To refuse exemption and insist on paying taxes? He could not understand Jeremiah’s thinking.

But recalling the uprisings next door, he suppressed his unease and asked kindly: “Then Priest Jeremiah, what do you think I should do?”

Jeremiah replied solemnly: “After we pay taxes, you must send tax officials, administrators, and a captain of the guard. This is your responsibility to manage your villages. Since they pay taxes and have cultivated wasteland, they have contributed. You should pardon them from slavery. They told me they have not broken the laws nor committed any crimes.”

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