Roland summoned the nobles, large and small, from the fortress and its vicinity to the castle hall on the fourth day.

Although most of them already knew the news, he felt it necessary to emphasize it in person—the Western Region had a new master.

When he declared that he would return to Border Town and hand over the fortress to the eldest son of the Honeysuckle family as a proxy, the crowd immediately began to murmur. Of course, no one was willing to take the lead in expressing dissent at this time. The Duke's head still hung high above the city gate, and the news of Tiffeco's defeat made it impossible for speculators to seek external help.

Except for the knights of the Honeysuckle family who were redeemed, no ransom was accepted for the other captured knights. Together with the mercenaries, they would all be escorted back to Border Town. In Roland's plan, the mercenaries would all be sent to mining for labor reform, while the knights would be employed at his discretion after examining their attitude of repentance—after all, most knights were literate and could be used as enlightenment teachers for popular education. Of course, they would never be allowed to use weapons again in their lives.

In this way, the power of the Honeysuckle family would steadily surpass the four major families, and the military force in their hands would be basically enough to defend Longsong Fortress and their own earldom, Roland thought. As for the undercurrents surging beneath the surface, that was Peiluo's concern.

In these days, he also took the time to send his personal guards to bring back a group of officials who had caused the starvation and freezing deaths of Border Town residents two years ago, including Finance Minister Ferreno. They would be tried by the people in Border Town. The only regret was that Earl Hilltay Medde, the culprit who attempted to burn the grain and kill Greyhound, died directly on the battlefield without trial.

Now, the transportation between Longsong Fortress and Border Town had been fully restored. In the coming week, more than a dozen sailing ships would transport supplies to Border Town every day. Roland guessed that Barov would definitely be overwhelmed next, receiving coins plundered from the Duke and settling a large number of immigrants. He didn't know if the temporary wooden sheds that Karl was entrusted to build were ready.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but want to return to Border Town as soon as possible to preside over the upcoming farming project.

After entertaining the nobles with lunch, Roland was about to take a nap when the castle welcomed a special guest.

Tairo, the high priest of the Longsong Fortress Church.

Roland instantly lost all sleepiness.

Unlike Border Town, the church had been rooted here for a long time, not only building a church but also sending a high priest to be stationed here. This was also the main reason why the prince decided to return to Border Town to develop peacefully—under the long-term indoctrination and influence of the church, any commoner could become their informant, and his plans for mass participation would be restricted everywhere, and the risk of the witches being discovered would also increase exponentially. Unless the church was uprooted, his reforms would only be able to move forward with difficulty.

It was perfectly normal for the church to pay close attention to the change of the fortress lord. Roland was rather surprised that they could endure until today before sending a representative to deal with him. However, the identity of the visitor was not simple. The believer who served as the high priest was already a high-level figure in the church, responsible for supervising one side, and the territory under his jurisdiction was similar to that of a secular duke.

He received the other party in the hall as usual.

High Priest Tairo was a middle-aged man, wearing the church's standard white robe with blue trim, about forty years old, with neat clothes and appearance, and spoke and behaved like a polite nobleman. If he wasn't sitting on the side of the witches and the royal family, anyone who talked to such a person would feel happy.

The high priest must be carrying high-quality God's Stone of Retaliation. To avoid accidents, Roland specifically told Nightingale to stay away from the other party's location before the meeting.

After Tairo saluted, Roland invited him to sit down and instructed the servants to serve tea.

No matter what he thought in his heart, the appearance had to be maintained.

"Your Royal Highness, I bring blessings from the Holy City on behalf of the church," Tairo said with a smile, "You have become the veritable master of the Western Region. May the gods bless you."

"Thank you," Roland replied in a relaxed tone, "It seems you don't care at all that I killed Duke Lyon and seized Longsong Fortress."

"We rarely interfere in secular disputes. As long as the people can live better, he is a wise king. As for which family he was born into, or whether he comes from the royal family, it is not the focus of the church's attention. In fact, church promotions never look at identity. I used to be just a farmer's son, and now I can serve as a high priest in the church," he smiled, "Please forgive my bluntness, Your Highness, I am afraid that no farmer's son can become a duke, right?"

If he launched an uprising to overthrow the royal family, he could become a king. Roland thought so in his heart, but he didn't refute it and directly changed the subject, "Then you are here today just to send blessings?"

"Blessings are only part of it. I also bring cooperation."

"Cooperation? What cooperation?"

"We can provide assistance within our power in expanding territory and influence."

"Wait..." Roland frowned, "You just said that the church rarely interferes in secular disputes."

"Rarely interfering does not mean not interfering," the high priest said calmly, "Now the struggle between your brother Tiffeco and the Third Princess Garcia has made the Southern Region miserable. I said that as long as the world lives a stable and peaceful life, the church will recognize him as a respectable king. And you are such a person."

Roland was stunned. Was the other party indicating that they wanted to help him fight for the throne? He subconsciously asked, "Why?"

"You led the people of Border Town to resist the evil beasts and safely passed the Months of Demons. This proves your courage and ability. The large amount of grain bought from Willow Town shows that you do not want your people to starve and freeze. This is a manifestation of benevolence. Combining three noble qualities and being a member of the royal family is the reason why we choose you."

Roland didn't believe the reasons the other party said at all, but these words at least proved that even when Border Town was in a state of isolation due to the heavy snow, the church was still watching this remote place.

"How can you help? Sending the Judgment Army to fight for me?"

"We also want to quell the war as soon as possible, but doing so will arouse the resentment of most nobles. Therefore, we can only provide assistance in terms of materials," the high priest took out two pills from his arms, one red and one black, "This is from the Holy City's Hall of Divine Prayers—which is equivalent to the medicine made by your alchemy workshop. The red pill can temporarily give your subordinates powerful strength, and the black pill can increase their tolerance to pain, cold, and heat several times. With this medicine, your army will be unstoppable. And the church only charges the most basic production costs," he paused, "Five gold dragons per pill. As for these two pills, they can be given to you as samples to prove that I am telling the truth."

"What do you require in return? Expanding the scope of the church and building churches in every territory?"

"That would be great, but our intention is to quell the war. As long as the people settle down, they will naturally embrace the gods."

Roland took the pills, "It sounds magical, but I don't have any plans to compete for the crown of Graycastle for the time being. Whether it's Tiffeco or Garcia, they are my closest blood relatives, and I don't want to hurt them."

"I can understand," the high priest smiled, "But sometimes family affection cannot stop the *youhuo* of power, especially when you become a stumbling block on their way to seize power. The pills are just the beginning. We can provide much more help. If you decide to take that step, you can come to the church to find me at any time." Saying this, he stood up, bowed, and saluted, "I have brought the church's decision. May the gods be with you, Your Highness."