Five days later, at the Fakerhi Empire's imperial captial, the royal palace...
Lynn walked through the palace with a nervous mood. All the attendants passing by along the way could see his ashen expression. Lynn knew he had completely screwed up the prince's mission this time. Although the hostages were able to come back, Lynn knew that these soldiers were just dispensable cannon fodder for the prince. And the marriage he really wanted has completely botched because of Marika's expulsion order. He will definitely be severely demoted by the prince later on.
In the Fakerhi Empire, Prince Julian's authority was second only to the emperor, and his talent and methods were also worthy of his status. The emperor and many ministers had already acquiesced that he was the unparalleled successor to the throne. Julian is literally one step away from being emperor.
Lynn walked to the crown prince's office in a state of complete anxiousness. He knocked on the door cautiously and waited outside the door as if he was awaiting execution. But after a while, a lazy but noble male voice came.
"Come in."
Lynn walked in obediently, and the interior had the usual resplendent and lavish decoration style of the empire, but he kept his head down throughout the whole process, not daring to look at Julian.
"Lynn, judging by the look on your face, that woman rejected my marriage proposal didn't she?"
Although his voice was casual, it carried an unquestionable authority.
"Your Highness, forgive me, I am incompetent! I returned without success this time. I really didn't expect that Marika, ignorant of the honor you bestow to her, would dare to reject the marriage proposal of the noble Crown Prince!"
Knowing that Julian already knew what was going on, Lynn quickly knelt down in front of Julian's table, trembling all over. Lynn believes that the failure of Uro City will definitely shake the foundation of Julian's power, and there is no shortage of ambitious princes in the royal family who want to compete for the position of crown prince. Coupled with the failure of Lynn's mission, it's only natural that he will end up as the prince's punching bag. But surprisingly, Julian was not angry at all, as if everything was as he expected.
"Pick yourself up Lynn. Rather than punishing you, I much rather know why that woman rejected me."
When Lynn heard that he was pardoned, he stood up respectfully and looked at his monarch. With short, black and beautiful hair, a handsome but gentle face, a tall and well-proportioned figure, and luxurious imperial-style noble clothes, he is undoubtedly the most ideal nobleman in this world.
Ley described the experience at Stormveil City to Julian in detail.
"Hmph, interesting."
After listening to Lynn's description, Julian evoked a playful smile, and a shrewd look flashed in his eyes. He propped his chin with his right hand, leaned lazily on the back of the chair, and continued:
"She has long seen through my intention to usurp her power, but she still chooses to reject me. Obviously she believes that she has the strength to fight on an equal footing with the empire. But she did not completely reject me, but asked me to show my sincerity. She knows I am not prepared to make a trip into her territory. She is smart enough to not start a full-scale war with the empire while cleverly dodging my proposal. It seems that I underestimated her before."
As the prince of the empire, as long as he hooks his fingers, there will be countless women scrambling to climb onto his bed, and all countries are vying to marry their princesses to him, even the elves who have always been prideful creatures. Coupled with his handsome appearance, he has become the dream lover of countless noble girls. But now this mysterious Marika is the first woman who is indifferent to him.
"What an interesting woman, it makes me want her more and more."
Julian's smile grew bigger and bigger, Marika's intelligence and backbone had completely aroused his interest.
Back to Stormveil city...
A church made of neat stone bricks is in full swing to take care of believers. Under the supervision of the Godricks soldiers who are responsible for guarding the church, the people lined up neatly waiting to enter the worship hall. The triangular totem flag symbolizing the Golden Law is hung on the top of the gate outside the church. In the church, Marika took inspiration from the layout of Catholic churches. The windows on the upper level introduce gentle light into the building, and the twelve rows of seats for believers face a podium for priests to preach, and behind the podium is the shrine of worship. But what is enshrined is not Jesus on the cross, but a two-man tall, lifelike stone statue of Marika, posing with outstretched arms.
The reason for Marika's sudden construction of a Golden Order Church came from two tasks issued by the system after the visit of the imperial envoy not long ago.
"Mission trigger: Set up a Golden Order Church in Stormveil City and convert one hundred people into believers. Mission difficulty: medium. Reward: Elden Ring gacha pull x1, unlock the Tree Sentinel, Lyndell knight.
Long-term mission triggered: Convert the entire Kingdom of Inrud into believers of the Golden Order. Mission Difficulty: Difficult. Rewards: multiverse lucky draw x1, Elden Ring Gacha pull x1, Lyndells City buildings, Golden seeds x3"
Ignoring the already generous rewards of the long-term mission, being able to summon the elite Lyndell Knights was already an alluring reward in itself. And the Tree Sentinel is even more of a powerful ally. Marika is naturally happy to do such a task that can get rich rewards without fighting.
For the manpower to maintain the church, Marika summoned 50 wandering nobles. Different from the dry zombies in the game, the nobles have blond hair and golden eyes, and their appearance is neat and clean. And being summoned by Marika made them even more joyful.
After assigning some of the nobles equally to work under Kenneth and Siduri, Marika then summoned 100 Lyndell soldiers in their yellow uniforms as her official personal guards. It's a bit wasteful for exiled soldiers and homeless knights to stay by her side as elite combat troops. Compared with the Lyndell soldiers who originally already served in the royal city, they are obviously more suitable for the task.
As for the first Golden Order Church in the city, it was managed and preached by Coryhn and the remaining 20 nobles. Marika sets every Sunday as a "Grace day". On a Grace day, the church will use Crimson tear flasks or healing incantations to treat the sick and disabled for free from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm. The only condition is to accept Grace and convert to become a believer of the Golden Order.
For the people on the fringes of the kingdom who did not have firm beliefs, such a cost-effective deal naturally attracted many people to join the religion, and they all received free treatment as they wished. Parents with seriously ill children, young people with elderly and sick parents, mercenaries and adventurers with disabled bodies, the Golden Church welcomes all.
Today is another Grace day. As the bishop of the church appointed by Marika, Corhyn devoted himself to his duties and led the nobles to treat every believer. Believers come from all over the kingdom with their own unique stories and reasons for joining. And listening to the strange experiences of these believers every Sunday can be regarded as one of his small hobbies and today is no exception.
A female mercenary who was forced to retire came to treat her missing leg with the help of a friend. After inquiring, Corhyn learned that the female mercenary had once served as a hitman for a wealthy nobleman. She worked dutifully for her employer, but was cruelly abandoned by her employer after she lost her leg in a battle during an escort mission. She sought out every church within the Kingdom's borders to have her leg treated, but was charged ridiculously high fees that not even her life savings could cover. She even ran into clergymen who tried to take advantage of her body. Frustrated, she thought that she would remain a cripple for the rest of her life, until she received a recommendation from a past friend who was an adventurer, and with the help of that friend, she came to Stormveil City for treatment, seeing no harm in giving the Golden Order a shot. When her legs miraculously regenerated, she almost wept with joy and hugged her friend, and the two swore on the spot to obey only the Golden Order.
Another believer who impressed Corhyn was a male ex-priest who wandered alone. Many who came to the church were surprised when they saw him come to the church seeking treatment with a bandaged eye.
The Kingdom of Inrud also has its own state religion. They believe in a god similar to the Catholic God and call themselves Angelists. The leader of the Church of Angels is the Pope, whose authority is only under the king. The Pope even has his own armed force, the Inquistory Legion.
Of course, this wandering priest is just an ordinary smallfry. After Corhyn healed his eyes, he learned his story. The ex-priest once lived and worked in peace and contentment as a missionary in a small village, during which he met a cute little girl. The little girl is innocent and kind, and she often goes to church to help, and the priest thought it would be good to take her as an apprentice and train her to become a nun. Unexpectedly, one day the little girl suddenly confessed her love to him, and the upright priest rejected her as any sane adult should. The next day, she revealed her true color. The little girl suddenly notified the court, slandering the priest for sexually assaulting her, and the court took him away without asking any questions. When the priest presented evidence of his innocence to the church, the bishop who presided over the trial at that time ordered someone to poke his eyes blind and expel him from the church regardless of his presented evidence. After being expelled, he was ruined and suffered all kinds of abuse and beatings from the world. Even if he sincerely begged his god to rectify his name, all he got was cold silence. Frustrated by the ruthlessness of the god to whom he had given everything, the priest accidentally wandered into the city of Stormveil city after a year of aimless wandering.
After Corhyn healed the priest's eyes and heard his story, Corhyn felt sympathy for his suffering and valued his kindness, so he invited him to become an official priest of the Golden Order. The ex-priest recalled how his God and church had betrayed him ruthlessly, but now he is being treated kindly and received a true miracle in the form of his eyes being healed. He knelt down in front of the statue of Marika and wept bitterly, abandoning his past beliefs. Having sworn to dedicate the rest of his life to the Golden Order, he finally believed in the existence of a loving God.