Chapter 852

"So... How did you persuade the Holy Cross to agree to compromise?"

Sitting honestly on the seat, holding the wine glass carefully, Loren asked with great sincerity.

Charlotte did not answer him immediately, and the countess, who was meditating for a moment, drew an uncontrollable arc from the corner of her mouth.

Although he knew that this guy's trembling and thin ice expression was pretended, he might have known the whole thing from beginning to end in private - but he would continue like this as long as he hadn't revealed any signs of depression.

Even if it is pretended, the attitude of being cautious and afraid of neglect really makes people happy.

Well... Keep it for another day... No, it's still a week. Let this bastard know his mistakes clearly.

And we should have enough "profound" understanding.

"Before answering this question, I want you to answer me first." suddenly, the countess who "sold a pass" smiled more and more:

"Your Excellency, do you want the answer out of pure curiosity about how I did it, or because of the guilt of not being able to shoulder my responsibility at such a critical moment?"

Uh

Lauren looked blank.

Although Charlotte's face was "just asking", the obviously uncontrollable smile cooled his back. Things were not as simple as they seemed.

If you don't answer well, you might... Die.

"This... Is really hard to say, because many things can't be explained in a word." almost in an instant, Loren's mouth immediately showed a formulaic smile, and the spiritual palace was organizing appropriate language at ten times the usual speed:

"I feel very guilty for not being able to shoulder the responsibility at the critical moment - but the problem has been solved. Of course, out of instinct and absolute confidence in Charlotte, I will be a little curious to know that you can do it."

"If you insist on description, you are like an ordinary mortal. When you see the masterpiece completed by the miraculous hand of the Holy Cross, you will always try to explore its principle... Don't forget that I am a wizard. It is my nature and habit to inquire deeply."

"After all... Only when you see the whole picture can you understand the real charm and elegance of things - what do you think?"

The voice fell, and the sincere Lauren blinked his innocent big eyes.

"I think this is very reasonable." the countess nodded happily.

Then silently raise the deadline from one week to one month.

The dark haired wizard, who was not aware of his next "fate", put down his glass and raised his hand: "then please tell me how our Countess of red blood Castle interceded with the tough and stubborn church."

"Nothing complicated - coercion, inducement, coercion and repression are all the means on the negotiation table, just like a card game. The key is whether we can hold the most favorable card to suppress the enemy."

Charlotte raised her head, and her pupils were full of pride: "fortunately, there are three people on the card table this time - Byrne, the church, and... Arles."

"Arles?"

"The connection between the Principality of Arles and the heavenly palace and the church is the most alienated among the several principalities - the Holy Cross Church is aggressive this time. It plans to solve the two principalities at the same time and support their people as bishops of the principality."

Loren was still a little confused: "so this time Arles stood on our side against the will of the church and the heavenly palace?"

"No, it's better than that - Arles is going to betray us, exchange Bain's interests for the recognition of the church, and then they can reach a compromise with each other."

Huh?!

Where is this good?

"Haven't you seen the essence of the problem yet, my Duke - the card game of three people. Everyone is uniting one against the other, but the real idea..." the countess gave a slight pause and opened her lips with deep meaning:

"Both regard the other two as prey at the same time and intend to eat them without mercy."

Put away his smile and the dark haired wizard listened carefully.

"The Holy Cross Church is aggressive, and Arle plans to shut everyone out - their interests are in conflict with each other, but Bain is a thorn in the eye of the church, and Arle doesn't care about us at all, so he can unite."

"So... We're going to buy Arles and win them over against the church?"

"No! It seems feasible, but it's never advisable!" the countess frowned and flatly rejected, "once we try to buy Arles, they will understand that we want from them - as a result, Arles starts to pay, and even if we can win, it will be a heavy loss."

"The most important thing... I despise the temporary stability obtained by selling interests."

Loren became more and more curious.

"The only correct way is to divert our attention - let Arles become the primary goal of the church, so that Arles can ask us, and Bain will become the arbitrator of both sides; finally, win over Arles and confront the church."

With that, Charlotte picked up the glass, took a sip of red blood wine, and her eyes dropped slightly: "we should not only win over the allies, but also keep them in a state of uneasiness and need protection at all times, and then make the enemy take the allies, not us, as the primary goal."

"Byrne... In control."

"Speaking of it, the Duke taught me how to deal with Yunling kingdom."

The dark haired wizard was surprised.

Yes, I'm too late.

For three years, as the Countess of red blood castle and the only remaining countess in the history of the round table parliament, she can always grasp the voice and initiative of the parliament

Charlotte Turin, as she grows older, is not only more mature and slim figure and unique personality.

The deserted living room was quiet for a minute.

"So... How did you shift the goal of the church?"

Straightened up, Lauren crossed his fingers on the table, like a passenger sitting by the fire waiting for the storyteller to tell the story: "as you said, Byrne is a thorn in the eye of the church, not Arle."

"That's right - so if you want to divert the target, you need a more urgent and threatening thing to break out." Charlotte nodded slightly:

"Kastalan Clovis."

"Who?" Lauren raised his eyebrows.

"An oath Knight of the Holy Cross, a captain of the 'shield of Defense' oath knight; stationed in the Cathedral of Arles two years ago under the direction of the church."

It's no surprise.

According to the tradition of the Holy Cross Church, the "sword of oath" is responsible for preaching with the sword, and the "shield of defense" is responsible for protecting the church - in the era when the Holy Cross has not become the unified belief of the Empire, the cathedrals of the principality are not only the spiritual shelter of the local people, but also the front-line barrier against various evil gods and local pagans.

However, after 12 generations, the number of oath Knights has been greatly reduced. There is only one "sword of oath", and the number of "shield of defense" is not even enough for a team of 100. Most of them are concentrated in duanjieshan fortress and the Cathedral of the imperial capital.

It was not until a letter from Laurent three years ago that the church consciously sent the "shield of defense" to patrol around in order to stabilize the situation and believers' confidence in the church.

"But... Why Arles?" Charlotte said slowly. "Why not areas with more believers and more important to the church - such as the Principality of lottel?"

Lorenzo Garth said: "maybe... Because they want to take this opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to fight against heretical groups, evil gods and monsters to improve the influence of the church in remote areas such as Arles?"

"I thought so at the beginning; therefore, master Dalton kand sent only two demon hunters to follow him into the Principality of Arles."

"But the actual situation is beyond imagination - kastalan Clovis, the 'shield of Defense' has never left the cathedral half a step after arriving in Arles."

"Because he has other... More important tasks."

"What is the more important task?"

The countess did not answer his question immediately, but raised her eyes with meaning; Following her eyes, Lauren looked out of the window and her pupils coagulated slightly.

That's... The direction of Byrne cathedral.

The dark haired wizard immediately understood.

"Kastalan Clovis... His real mission is to monitor a 'weapon of blasphemy' suppressed under Arles cathedral and warn all heretic groups who covet it." Charlotte's expression became serious:

"The unrest in eboden and the disaster in red blood castle... All made the church feel a profound threat."

"He failed?"

"No, he succeeded... To be exact, it was too successful." Charlotte sighed and suddenly darkened her face: "so that our demon hunters lurking in the cathedral have noticed the abnormality for the past two years."

"In his long surveillance career, kastalan Clovis has been completely eroded by the void force scattered by the 'blasphemous weapon', so that his body turns into ashes - when the demon hunter of the wings of the sky finds him, there is only an empty armor in front of the sealed gate."

"He did his highest duty as an oath Knight of the Holy Cross. But in order to cover up the truth, and more importantly, not to be discovered by others, so as not to cause panic, the priests of Arles Church decided to destroy the armor, creating the illusion that the oath knight had left."

"But they underestimated the power of this' weapon of blasphemy ', and underestimated kastalan Clovis's firm belief that even if the body was destroyed, his soul was still attached to the armor and occupied by the' weapon of blasphemy '."

"Finally... Two demon hunters lurking in the church had to destroy their armor with a secret silver sword and blow up the underground palace of the church sealed with 'blasphemous weapons', which finally contained the worst situation."

The countess's voice fell down and sighed again.

There was another silence in the living room.

The expressionless Lorraine bowed his head and meditated, calculating the impact of the incident on the church.

There is no doubt that the death of an oath knight is a heavy blow to the church, and once this attempt to cover up the truth is revealed, the consequences will be even more terrible.

However, the news of "great lethality" is also a double-edged sword. Once it is not used well, it will also harm itself, and even make the church desperate to lay charges against Bain who disclosed information in order to avoid taking responsibility.

So... Charlotte Turin, how did she successfully avoid being targeted by the church while threatening the church?

"Night watchman."

"Huh?"

"Among the two demon hunters we sent, one was personally 'trained' by master Dalton kand and knew how to leave information in a way that the night watchman understood." the countess said faintly:

"Therefore, the Holy Cross Church that got the information only knew that something had happened in Arles, and the situation was very serious. It might even spread to the whole Arles and even the Southern Region - the 'blasphemy weapon' sealed under the church would also be exposed."

"Under this threat, the church has no spare energy to target Bain. It can only focus on Arle wholeheartedly - they are already negotiating with Arle to make a whole team of ten 'shield of Defense' swore Knights stationed in Arle."

"This will be an unprecedented scale since the 12th generation, comparable to the sword preaching of the first generation."

Loren finally knew Charlotte's intentions.

"I guess... Arles can't wait to get Byrne's support to stop the church from interfering, right?"

With a sip of red blood wine, the countess's face showed a leisurely aftertaste.

"The minimum level of support is only to allow the oath knights to enter the country, and shall not involve too much religious affairs in Arles. This level of compromise is still within the scope of acceptance by the church."

"My offer is that the Duke will choose one of the priests who will be installed in Byrne in the church to become the bishop of Byrne, and the church shall not obstruct it."

"In this way, both sides have got what they want, but there is a slight deviation from the imagination, which is a 'win-win' situation," the countess concluded.

"No, only 'you' should get what you want most." Lauren frowned: "the so-called 'win-win' is just creating two 'winners' who lose half in exchange for the biggest booty you can get."

"The compromise of the church and Arles' dependence on Byrne - both sides have to look at Byrne's face before they can decide to get more from the other side."

The silent Charlotte raised her mouth and nodded lightly.

Great, really great.

Elegant, iron handed, cold-blooded, graceful.

This is Charlotte Turin - even "unscrupulous" seems to have become a commendatory word to her.

"The list of candidates for bishops has been made, all of which have been placed in the Earls' necks and cathedrals in the past three years." put a parchment full of names on the table, and Charlotte "carelessly" picked up the wine glass on the table.

It seemed that it was not the names of living people, but the toys she could give away.

"Pick one you like."