Chapter 41

“Chapter 41: A Perfectly Executed Mission!”

Ivyst was now very angry.

As the third princess of the Saint Roland Empire, it had been a long while since she had experienced being threatened.

Although she was the least favored, thanks to her naturally powerful abilities, she rarely found herself in such a situation.

Most reactions she encountered were actually fear.

But today, an oblivious bug had the audacity to come right up to her and threaten her.

Of all things, this bug even belonged to the Church of Heavenly Justice.

As one of the three major churches of the Saint Roland Empire, the Church of Heavenly Justice had become increasingly overbearing in recent years.

They were even teetering on the edge of surpassing the Silent Church and the Abundant Church.

When it came to the numbers and power of Transcendents, their internal organization, the Star Knights, was almost on par with the Royal Guard.

Even the top-tier Transcendents weren’t to be underestimated.

Just counting the Fifth Stage Legends, if we include the newly promoted young lady from the Snow Eagle family, there are a whopping six of them.

As for the more powerful Sixth Stage Half-Divines, it was rumored that an ancient Archbishop of the Church had been lying in a coffin, sustaining life through various means, just waiting for a disaster to strike the church before making an appearance.

When it comes to Sealed Items, the Church of Heavenly Justice is just terrifying.

They had a staggering four Level 0 Sealed Items registered, not to mention the hidden depths.

And setting aside Transcendents and Sealed Items.

Just looking at the number of followers, the Church of Heavenly Justice was undeniably the top church in the Saint Roland Empire.

Take Orlen City for example.

As a border capital, it had a population of a full 800,000, and about a quarter of them were followers of the Church of Heavenly Justice.

It’s no wonder they no longer acted with the humility of before.

The problem was, Ivyst was royalty, and now they dared to treat even her with such contempt.

Recalling the conditions laid out by that clergy member, she couldn’t help but scoff.

It turned out that the guy came to see her today regarding Duke Tilius.

As the governor of the southern provinces, he had grown increasingly discontent with these churches over the years.

Given the Empire’s weak control over the south, combined with being adjacent to the border and the Demon race battlefield, conflicts had been frequent lately, leaving many cities lacking proper governance and a deterrent, subtly pushing them toward becoming lawless zones.

The harder life became for ordinary folks, the more they needed some kind of spiritual support.

Thus, the faith of the various churches began to thrive in such fertile ground.

The Church of Heavenly Justice was one of them.

Because this faction was too powerful, even the official institutions like the City Council and the Public Security Bureau in places like Orlen City dared not act rashly.

Or perhaps, they chose to align with the church for the sake of intricate ties and tempting interests.

Here’s a rather ridiculous situation.

The royal family hadn’t collected population taxes from these border cities for years, which added up to a staggering sum.

Those churches often joined forces, using tax exemption policies to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes.

But the commoners didn’t experience better lives just because they paid a little less tax.

In fact, to remain loyal to their faith, they donated five to six times that amount to the church.

As the governor of the southern provinces, Duke Tilius was here in Orlen City to deal with these old issues.

Tax collection!

Tax collection!

And good grief, tax collection! This was also one reason Duke Tilius didn’t want to see Ivyst.

He was just too dang busy.

This isn’t a battlefield; there’s no way to just send the army marching in because those parishes don’t pay taxes.

If he did that, he’d be kicked out as governor by tomorrow.

And perhaps sensing something brewing, when they learned that Duke Tilius was personally visiting Orlen City, the churches became restless.

So the Church of Heavenly Justice sent someone to meet with Ivyst, but it ended in displeasure.

It’s quite laughable.

Those dumb pigs actually expected her, as a princess, to stand in for the church and duke it out with Duke Tilius.

Or maybe they wanted to stir up trouble, muddle the waters in Orlen City, and delay the tax collection for their own convenience.

In return, they would “generously” provide Ivyst with 50,000 gold coins of royal selection funds.

Is this princess only worth a measly 50,000 gold coins? Ivyst felt her intelligence was insulted.

Moreover, everyone knew she came to Orlen City to cozy up to Duke Tilius.

To propose such terms could only mean the masterminds were either stupid or malicious.

Ivyst was already quite upset, and who would have thought that the guy would dare to threaten her?

“Your Highness, regarding those three hundred innocent folks outside the city, if you need assistance, the church will definitely support you strongly. Please think it over, otherwise, if too much time passes, I’m afraid something unexpected might happen.”

While the words sounded sincere, the last sentence revealed the fox’s tail.

No matter what they were thinking, Ivyst took this as a threat.

She had already sentenced the guy before her and those dumb pigs to death in her mind.

She actually wanted to kill the guy right then and there, as it suited her character.

But then she thought, were the people from the Church of Heavenly Justice really that dumb?

Knowing full well that such terms would anger her, they still sent a pig-headed fellow to meet her? Did they expect her to commit murder here and blow the situation out of proportion to confuse the public as the victim?

With this thought, Ivyst temporarily suppressed her murderous intent.

But regardless, those three hundred plus civilians stuck outside the city were indeed a significant headache.

Ultimately, this might be a trap set for her by the Church of Heavenly Justice and the City Council.

Yet, she had no choice but to fall into it.

This just made her head hurt even more.

She didn’t even know if that guy had any countermeasures, and she was somewhat desperate.

After all, this was a major issue related to soothing the populace, not something that could be solved with quick wits and schemes alone.

Yet at the moment, it seemed the only choice was to trust.

Trust that guy to create another surprise.

But three days felt too short; even handling fifty people a day would take about a week.

So, Ivyst had already prepared herself mentally for their temporary failure.

If Lynn came to her pleading for a few extra days, Ivyst wouldn’t refuse.

But she would take the opportunity to give him a good reprimanding and crush his arrogant spirit completely.

Ivyst’s expression turned icy as she lifted her teacup and took a sip.

Then she spotted Lynn sneaking in through the doorway, looking all suspicious.

Seeing him eased her mood considerably.

Who knew why that was?

“What is it?”

As if guessing the purpose of his visit, Ivyst spoke sternly.

In the next moment, Lynn knelt on one knee, presenting a stack of papers in his hands.

“Your Highness, these are the Transcendent Contracts signed by the refugees stuck outside the city.” Lynn’s expression was serious, “A total of 312 people, with 311 signed in actual ink.”

“Except for one stubborn villain I took out on the spot, the rest are all here, mission accomplished!”

His voice was loud, as if he wanted the entire estate to hear him.

Even the maid passing by outside the door paused instinctively, wondering if something good had happened.

Ivyst stared at him, somewhat dumbfounded.

“What did you just say?”