chsdbacks #169 - It's stable. Everything is stable.
#169 - It's stable. Everything is stable.
The doors of the council hall closed, and the core members of the Papal State remained behind for a smaller meeting, with only Madelaine leaving early to visit the seriously injured Granpwen.
Madelaine, mingling with the departing groups of vagrant leaders, leveraged her popularity to cultivate relationships, greeting them warmly.
"Bishop Madelaine," a balding leader elected by the other vagrants approached her. "I have a small matter to ask you about."
"I was just on my way to visit my good brother Granpwen..."
"No matter, I happen to be going to the wounded soldiers' camp as well, let's go together."
"Of course," Madelaine said with a hearty laugh, "Then we can talk as we walk."
Stepping out of the town hall, most of the vagrant army that had been sleeping in the square had already risen.
Under the organization of the children's army and veteran officers, the Salvation Army had largely restored some order, lining up in the square to receive breakfast to the sound of hymns.
Armand (still referred to by his nickname in informal settings) and Bonner and others were compiling a list of the dead and wounded.
As requested by Horn, regardless of whether the family members were willing to go with them, a compensation of 600 dinars was to be issued for each deceased person, and their names would be engraved and later inscribed on an obelisk as a memorial.
As Madelaine and Boritz walked past the vagrants and farmers sitting on the ground, they saw few happy expressions, mostly fear or confusion.
The Duke was dead, but what next?
After the initial excitement and fatigue, panic swept over them once more.
They had killed a devil to avenge their relatives and friends, but once the Duke's head fell and the knights bowed, they began to fear again.
They hated the Duke, and they feared the forces behind him; some vagrants who had fought bravely in the battle even began to sneak away.
Did they regret killing the Duke? To say they didn't regret it, well, they did a little, because it angered the nobles.
But to say they regretted it wasn't quite right either; deep down, they wanted to eat the Duke's flesh and drink his blood.
Caught in such conflicting emotions, the Salvation Army in the city fell into an irreconcilable state of confusion after killing the Duke.
As the cheers of victory gradually subsided, the vagrants, after a moment of excitement, did not thank Horn.
Especially under the instigation of some citizens under the guise of inquiring about the situation, rumors spread that "Why did Horn have to tell us about the blue-blooded orphans?" and "The knight lords had no intention of slaughtering us; it was that damn Holy Grandson who wanted to drag us down."
"What a bunch of ignorant people," the balding vagrant leader clearly did not consider himself a member of the vagrants or farmers.
"Brother, I haven't asked your name yet."
"Ha, Bishop Madelaine, you have a bad memory," the balding vagrant leader laughed. "My name is Boritz, a former notary."
"Oh? You are a notary, no wonder your words are so logical and well-founded," Madelaine asked with some surprise, but considering Boritz's title, she didn't ask why he was a "former" notary.
Within the Kingdom of Laya, notaries were almost equivalent to lawyers; many contracts and agreements often had to be signed through a notary.
"What does Mr. Boritz want to ask me?" Madelaine asked again.
"Bishop Madelaine, you've been to the Black Bone Marsh, right? I have a question I want to ask you," Boritz lowered his voice. "Even if we can take Autumn Dusk Island, we'll have a place to station ourselves.
But the problem is, I heard you say that there are still monsters and barbarians on the island. Can we win?"
"Of course, we can win," Madelaine said, smiling as she walked along the long street stained with black blood. "Those monsters don't wear iron armor, and those barbarians certainly don't wear iron armor. You saw how powerful our Saint Joan of Arc was."
"But I always feel empty inside, afraid that when I get to the swamp, I won't have a place to stay."
"Don't worry, at that time, His Holiness the Pope will casually bestow some title on you, and let you be a noble in the Beastmen Kingdom."
Boritz's eyes lit up, but he quickly lowered his gaze and suppressed his excitement: "That's what you say, but do you know how many barbarians and monsters are on the island? At least give me a hint."
"I don't know that," Madelaine shook her head. She glanced at the notary and said with a smile, "But before I left, I asked Gergo. She said that their Cao character army mobilized up to a hundred divisions at a time!"
"A hundred divisions? Are there that many people?"
Hearing this astronomical number, Boritz felt a little dizzy for a moment, wondering if Madelaine was joking. Even at its peak, El would not necessarily have a hundred divisions.
"What, they are like our Papal State, with small formations and large ranks."
Boritz immediately calculated according to the Papal State's organization and found that there were at least 6,000 people.
Even if it was based on ten people per soldier, those Beastmen Kingdoms were not small. Letting him be a duke might just be a village head or a knight.
But that was still a noble who managed people, better than staying in Joan of Arc and waiting to die.
"I see, I understand," Boritz and Madelaine walked to a street corner. He bowed to Madelaine, "I'll go this way."
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"The wounded soldiers' camp is this way."
"Ah, I suddenly remembered something I have to take care of."
"Oh-" Madelaine waved her hand understandingly, "Then go ahead, goodbye."
"Goodbye."
Standing at the intersection, watching Boritz's back, Madelaine's face showed a smile she couldn't hold back: "Hmph."
On the other side, after turning a corner in the street, Boritz looked left and right, and seeing no one, quickly put on his hood, picked up his robe, and jogged around the street corner, meeting up with several other companions.
They were mostly down-and-out armed farmers, citizens, or small middle-class people who had no choice but to become vagrants.
During last night's riot, they joined the Salvation Army after Horn defeated the knights.
Almost none of them were locals of Norn, but rather Laya or Fran people. The so-called blue blood didn't touch them at all.
Throughout the entire battle, these people were almost invisible, only playing some cheerleader role during the final attack on the town hall.
"How is it, how is it?" the companions asked impatiently.
"It's stable, it's all stable," Boritz said excitedly. "We'll probably get a duke's title in the past, but don't be too happy, this duke's title is about the size of a knight's territory."
"What's wrong with that?" a companion whispered, "It's better than us wandering around. If we stay here, we'll really be slaughtered by the knights."
"But don't we still have to come back in three months?"
"What are you afraid of?" Boritz said disdainfully, "That Paslik really thinks he's something. I'll find a swamp to hide in or pretend to be sick. He can't drag me away."
"Great, it's completely stable now."