Oops, I became the witch's substitute

Marian could no longer bear it: "Why are the offerings to the idols so much better than what we have in the Knights' cafeteria?"

Gregers answered seriously: "We must always make believers believe that we are pious to the goddess."

Jasmine held her forehead with her hand: "What about now?"

Gregers was also a man who could read people's expressions and saw that Marian was dissatisfied: "There are some donations in the cathedral that have not been sent away, such as eggs, vegetables, bacon..."

Jasmine knocked on the table: "Do you want me to light the fire and cook by myself?"

Gregers raised his eyebrows slightly. "If you are in this mood, it is not impossible. Maybe the goddess can go out and buy the ingredients herself, as long as the money is not taken from the wishing well."

The wishing pool was guarded by palace knights day and night, so how could ordinary people get gold coins from it? But when Marian took action, they could only pretend not to see it.

This made Gregs very embarrassed. The goddess seemed to be particularly obsessed with food recently, but if he thought about it carefully, it might be too much pressure. The sect had no experience in how to take care of the goddess, and the goddess also had no experience in getting along with mortals.

Just before Marian's patience was further exhausted, a priest came in from outside: "Goddess, Your Majesty, this is Miriam's diplomatic request."

Jasmine raised it casually and said, "Put it on the table next to you first, thank you."

Gregers hurriedly stepped forward: "Goddess, diplomacy from other countries should be a priority."

Marian went crazy. "Since the star beast attacked, I came to my own sect. My food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and outings are all exposed to the public. It's bad enough. Normally, I have to squeeze through two hundred believers to buy some cakes on the street. Your people will even conduct surprise inspections of bakeries in disguise..."

Just as he finished speaking, a fully armed knight in shining armor came in. He was a palace guard from the Knights Templar, responsible for protecting the goddess.

"Goddess, Your Majesty, I am very sorry to disturb you at this time, but the routine security check time has come. Could you please allow the Knights to look around the cathedral?" The knight took his travel duties seriously.

It was said to be a look around, but in fact it was a search to ensure that no suspicious occult arts or familiars would infiltrate the goddess.

Gregers saw this and stepped aside to make way: "Maybe goddess, you can go to the garden to relax and relieve your boredom, and then come back to continue working."

Marian said impatiently, "Yes, those nuns and priests will admire the glory of their gods from a distance. I think the political prisoners in the prison are no more than that when they go out for a walk."

When he said this, the knight who had just come in to inspect happened to pass by, and Marian suddenly called him.

"Knight, stop, I want to ask you something."

"Yes, goddess."

"Have you had lunch yet?"

Greggs immediately turned his head away when he heard this.

The knight didn't know what happened yet: "Yes."

"Did you eat well?"

"Under your governance, the food in the cafeteria is quite rich. In order to ensure the knights' fighting power, meat and soup are always in unlimited supply."

Marian said calmly: "Any wine?"

The knight stood up straight, "Yes, but we don't drink when we are on a mission."

Marian smiled brightly: "How is it? Are you interested in knowing what I had for lunch?"

Gregers coughed and said, "Goddess, the Knights' cafeteria is still open at this time."

Marian slapped her hands on the table. "You want me to eat in front of everyone? Like a group of people watching cute animals eat?"

Nothing worked, nothing worked, Greggs felt a pang of pain in his heart, but he quickly recovered under the holy light of the goddess.

Perhaps seeing the poor old man in such a difficult situation, Marian no longer had the mood to stay. She quickly walked to the window, flapped her wings, and disappeared into the cathedral.

The knight was stunned, but Gregers breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, then regained his dignity and gave the knight a warning look.

"What just happened..."

Before the Pope could finish, the knight lowered his head hastily: "Your Majesty, I have been checking the magical aura outside and have never entered this room."

Arius still has a lot to do now.

Jasmine left in anger, her figure flickering in the sky for a few times. After thinking for a moment, she teleported to the Black Cat Pavilion.

As soon as Jasmine entered the Black Cat Pavilion, she called out to the boss, "Where's the one called Feilin? Manager, come out and prepare the best room for me."

Feilin immediately jumped down from the second floor and saw Marian slap a handful of gold coins on the table. He immediately felt that she was angry: "This is ready for you. How long do you plan to stay?"

Marian said, "Stay as long as you can. Tell me if you run out of money. Take me to my room first. Also, prepare four dishes, a soup, and some wine for me."

Feilin quickly wrote down: "Okay, Scathach, room 208 on the second floor, take Miss Marian there. Nishinoka..."

Feilin quickly went to prepare. Jasmine came here with preparations. Not only did she have to stay in a hotel and eat, but she also had to find Feili.

Before this, Marian lived in the luxury suite first. She felt that although the room was small, it was very exquisite. The bed was just the right size. It was not like the bed of the goddess in the temple which was so big that it could be used for boxing matches. Such a place was comfortable to live in.

After confirming this room, Jasmine immediately carved a teleportation array on the ground so that she could teleport here directly next time.

After finishing all this, Scathach brought delicious food, and Marian's wounded heart was finally comforted. After eating and drinking, she stayed in bed. She always felt that there must be something wrong with the Arius Church. What was the difference between it and the Great Power Church? Why did the current god Arius allow them to develop wildly? But it was meaningless to imagine these questions.

Marian sensed it for a moment, and suddenly felt the familiar magical reaction back at the inn, so she immediately walked out of the room.

"Fili! I'm here to play with you!"

"Ah... hello." Fili came back specially because she knew that Marian was coming, otherwise she would be on her way to the palace.

Marian took in Fili's cold attitude and said, "Your reaction is too indifferent. Are you really not welcoming me?"

Fili waved her hands: "That's not the case. So what? Why did you look for me?"

Jasmine coughed and waved her hand softly: "Come here, come to my room, I want to talk to you alone."

Seeing this, Fili followed him and felt that this identity was really popular. Even the goddess who had stabbed her once could let go of the past grudges.

Marian was really troubled this time. After managing the church, she found that she was not cut out for it. Her power could not really reach all parts of the country, and the government affairs, big and small, reported from various places made her exhausted. Even if the goddess of time came, she could not finish approving them if she worked 72 hours a day.

Marian held Fili's hand with both of her own hands. She looked so familiar that one would think they were best friends. "Witch, you know me well. I was born in faith. All I know since birth is the consciousness of the Holy Kingdom. I don't have any knowledge beyond this consciousness. You've lived a long time. Do you have any good ideas?"

When Fili heard that the goddess wanted to ask her for a favor, she was delighted. Isn't this just like a pillow for a sleepy person?

Fili was merciless: "Okay, but knowledge is wealth, and questions and answers are transactions. What kind of reward have you prepared?"

Marian brought her wings closer: "I will make you a feather fan with my feathers?"

Fili leaned back. Does this goddess have any special feelings for her wings and feathers? She traded feathers for money last time, and she is doing it again this time? In the previous life, the mythical Zhuge Liang fanned a feather fan to set the prairie ablaze. Is she going to make a banana fan with the goddess' wings?

But the atmosphere was already like this. Fili grabbed Marian's wings and stroked them gently. She was quite curious about the structure. But just as she started, Marian made a strange sound, which scared her so much that she quickly let go.

Fili was a little embarrassed. It was just touching wings, but it felt like rubbing breasts. "Why are you panting for no reason?"

Marian scratched her cheek and said, "The wings are very sensitive in this state."

Fili was puzzled: "What if this gets cut during the battle?"

Marian felt that she was making a fuss. "Even if I get chopped during a battle, I can use my sense-blocking ability to suppress it. As long as my godhead is not damaged, I can recover."

"Marianne." Fili put her hands on her shoulders. "Listen to my advice. If you fall into a pit and can't get out for the time being, don't use the sense blocking skill."

Although Marian didn't quite understand why, she still agreed, and then she complained about her experience and told Fili about her demands. Fili also found it troublesome after listening.

The problem that Marian encountered could indeed be improved, but there was no final solution, and that was a problem that could not be solved in previous lives.

But Fili still told her: "You should set up a College of Cardinals headed by the Pope. Every year, exams will be held in various places. Every two years, people with excellent grades from grassroots priests will be selected to join the College of Cardinals. At that time, the government affairs sent by various places will be handed over to them for review. After the review, let them write at least three or more solutions. The final decision will be made by you."

Marian frowned slightly. "That sounds good. If we want to keep it secret, we can use faith to bless it. Well, I don't need to read every document. Humans understand each other better. They can decide the appropriate policy by themselves."

At this time, Fili poured cold water on Marian again: "But, Marian, you should pay attention to another problem when you go back."

Marian twitched her wings: "What?"

Fili raised her finger. "As far as I know, the Holy Kingdom of Arius has serious land annexation. The bishops of the dioceses are just variants of other nobles, but their power is even greater than theirs. Not long ago, the Inquisition was still hunting witches. In fact, the status of women in your country is still quite low. There is also black market smuggling and widespread slave trade that is more serious than Miriam's. Other races have no status in the Holy Kingdom. The living standards of your people are far lower than those of Miriam's people. The doctrine teaches them to endure the pain of this life in exchange for a better afterlife. All of this is wrong. Well, if we really want to talk about it, we can't finish it in days and nights. If you really want to change your church, build the Cardinals' Court first."

Because it is a holy country, everything people have comes from God and will also be returned to God. The farther away from the center, the more sustainable the living conditions of the people will be.

Of course, there are good bishops.

In fact, the Arian sect of the cathedral sect was a pioneer in reform with very advanced ideas. At times they even believed in "science" and were more enthusiastic about reform and progress than scholars.

However, due to the limitations of the times and the general environment, all they could do was to establish seminaries, build hospitals, improve the survival rate of newborns, drive away wild beasts and monsters to protect people's safety, drain swamps, reclaim wasteland to build farms, improve the status of scholars, plan road traffic, and so on.

In addition, the Court of Inquiry has always been a drag on the team, and often when you have finally made a step forward in your career, your brothers will stab you in the back. When the original three forces have different ideas, they will always oppose just for the sake of opposing.

This is why they calmly accepted Marian's existence.

The few people who knew the truth knew that Marian was a product of the Inquisition's conspiracy. After this period of time, they found that Marian's voice was the only voice of the Arian sect. Even if there were occasional oppositions, a policy could finally be implemented, and the strange incident of a road increasing year by year and the amount of money shrinking inexplicably would no longer happen.

The most important thing is that with Marian, the Holy Kingdom of Arius can finally hold its head high and compete with other holy kingdoms.

As for whether God is willing to fight personally, no one knows, but with the true God, people can stand up straighter.

"Fili!" Marian hugged Fili and even wrapped her wings around her, saying enthusiastically and attentively, "We really didn't know each other until we fought. Compared to those who don't care about the lives of others, live as they please, and even try to fight against the outside world, I am too immature to be born. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to survive. You are my best friend. You have helped me so much, so you must have other requests, right? Just ask. As long as it is within my ability, I will try my best to satisfy you."

Fili was not polite and took out a map from her arms: "Mollian, have you heard about Karan?"

Chapter 118 What to do if military funds are still insufficient?

Fili gave Marian advice and Marian helped Fili solve his problems.

"Karan? Where?"

"..."

Well, it didn't solve the problem.

After the actual conversation, Marian raised her hands in surrender. She now represented the Holy Kingdom of Arius. Even though she had a legitimate reason to uphold justice, the goddess had to be careful when going out, and she began to worry about the risk of being robbed.

Fili thought that it didn't matter whether Arius had gods or not, and his home was not gone. However, considering that it would be easy for Morrigan to make enemies if she went to Kalan, and there was indeed a risk of being replaced by the demons, Fili accepted it, so she asked if she could sponsor some military expenses or something.

Marian said she couldn't, she had no money, but not really. All the expenses of the goddess' life were paid unconditionally by the sect. Even if she wanted to buy all the jewelry in the country, the church would have to tighten its belt to pay for it. She lived an extremely extravagant life, but she was not happy. As a goddess, she had to have a name to allocate finances.

The Pope is an old fox, very good at persuasion. The current god Arius is not an easy person to deal with either, often flying in to give ideological, moral and political classes. The food in the church is not tasty either, so Marian still prefers a free life.

After all, she really thought she was Arius from ancient times.

"Of course, there is no problem in organizing an army to support Kalan. This is already a humanitarian disaster. As a country in the so-called camp of light, we have an obligation to stop the crisis happening in Kalan." Marian made a final summary.

As a goddess, it is no problem for her to uphold justice. The only question then is who to send to lead the support troops.

2018-03-27

In fact, getting these replies from Marian was already indirect help from her. Then Fili went to the palace to ask the royal family for logistical support for reinforcements.

This support was organized by Serena. Her family recruited an expeditionary force, and under the banner of the kingdom and the family, they went to Kalan to show their support on behalf of the country and the people. The royal family did not have to do anything, but only provide some financial support. So what are the benefits for the royal family? The royal family will be credited with three points of merit. In name, it was the royal family that initiated the call, promoted Serena's title and provided a small amount of funding. Serena became a general representing the royal family.

Fili came forward in person and began bargaining with the royal family. In addition to the open attack on the demons, she was secretly investigating Pandora's movements to prevent any disaster from happening.

The Miriam royal family is quite open-minded. The strongest among them is only at the level of heroes, and there are only two of them, both of whom are human and have a lifespan of only a hundred years. The only two gods in the country are Hecate and Fili (they think). The witches also give enough face to the human kingship and have never interfered with the country. Even public security and large-scale monster attacks and star beast incidents are mostly solved by witches. Magic academies, magic creations, alchemy technology, and the abundance of food and fruits are all brought by witches. The relationship between the two sides is very peaceful.

The Black Witch once brought chaos, but it was cleared up by the Witch, and there was no unpleasantness on both sides.

So after listening to Fili's great truth about the loss of one's teeth and lips, and realizing the horror of Pandora, King Miriam asked Fili, "Isn't a 200-man armed group too few?"

Fili waved her hand: "Kalan is far away from Miriam, we can't send a large army. Serena's expedition just shows Miriam's attitude. If Kalan is completely destroyed in the future, the most dangerous ones will be the neighboring countries. They are the ones who are willing to send troops at all costs."

A demon tribe that is not friendly to humans wants to establish a demon tribe country in the center of humans. Isn't this just asking for trouble? Although the other party meant the same thing, it was obvious that there was no need for Fili and others to rush to the front line and fight desperately.

King Miriam weighed the pros and cons for a while, and thought of the opportunity to go on the expedition to Kalan. This was an opportunity to gain experience without any faults. Suddenly, he did not want to let Serena take the lead. After all, she was an unknown knight from a subordinate lord's family. He wanted his own family to be in the limelight. But when he thought about it carefully, there was the black witch Pandora and a large number of demon heroes on the other side, and the number of expedition members was small, so he gave up.

Miriam has been surprisingly "flexible" over the years, and finally agreed to Fili's request, not only providing some financial assistance, but also renting 400 sets of armor for the royal guards.

Finally, the cooperation plan was finalized. Fili couldn't help but sigh that the armor in the magical world was much simpler to make, almost catching up with the level of everyone wearing armor in the previous life's "Lord of the Rings" series of movies.

After seeking assistance, Fili wrote to Serena. It was relatively easy for Serena to recruit people. She provided compensation and equipment, and many people were willing to join. However, Serena's requirements were high this time. She only wanted veterans and experienced mercenaries, and would not recruit ordinary farmers. After all, it was an expedition to the dangerous Kalan. What was the point of recruits wearing divine equipment to die?

In addition, her own territory also needed to be built, so it was very difficult to recruit 200 people. She then turned to the Adventurer's Association for help and posted a recruitment notice.

It just so happened that the battle for the Arius star beast had just ended, and a large number of unemployed adventurers and mercenaries were gradually becoming a security threat. It was easy for Serena to recruit these people, as she just had to provide money. The only downside was that mercenaries were prone to forming groups and were difficult to control, which was also a test for Serena in the future.

It is not easy for people to be convinced of her identity as Miss Knight, and there are many people who covet Serena's beauty, which makes Serena feel that there is no perfect thing in the world.

When the depressed Serena returned to the royal capital again, she finally recruited more than 60 people, and the rest had to wait.

At this time, Feilin came forward and said, "Aren't they just the casual adventurers and the rogue soldiers among the mercenaries? We have drawn a line in the sand from the beginning. The casual adventurers can be rectified, and the rogue soldiers with bad intentions can be kicked out directly. The longer the recruitment period, the longer it will take. It is better to have fewer people than to have unqualified ones at this time."

Serena was regretting that she didn't know how to train soldiers: "It would be great if I could build a strong army myself."

Feilin shrugged: "You have all the good things, why don't you want the strongest soldier system? Ahem, I mean, have you heard of Riel Mercenaries?"

Serena nodded. "They are the best mercenaries in the world. I heard that the largest theocracy hired these mercenaries as the Pope's guard. These mercenaries are said to be from the same race. They are good at fighting and absolutely loyal to their employers. They are willing to sacrifice their lives for the spirit of the contract. They are the only mercenary group in the world that will not retreat even if all members die in battle. They are quite legendary."

Feilin took out another gold coin and said, "Look, even though you don't have time to train the soldiers, you can hire them if you have money."

Serena finally showed an embarrassed expression: "Well, as a rookie, I have to admit that I am indeed poor. It is said that the hiring fee of private mercenaries of that race is five or six times that of ordinary mercenaries. We can't afford it."