Chapter 1077: Chapter 1020: The Holy Sect of Windmill Lands

Year 1454, early July.

Windmill Land had just emerged from the shadows of war, entering the bustling summer of freight traffic.

The previously desolate docks became busy, with sails slowly moving over the azure sea.

Ships from Xilan and even the Royal Court still appeared at the docks, while the Centaur gangs and Norn gangs continued their street fights.

Warehouses lined the coast, with cast iron cranes hanging on the outer walls for loading and unloading goods.

Walking in the shadows of these warehouse walls, Jill Orange lowered his hat brim and hurried past the Falan soldiers who were chatting and laughing.

Although it seemed as if nothing had changed from before, he could clearly feel the changes brought by the arrival of the Falan Legion.

First, a large number of people speaking Leia language in City Hall were expelled from Windmill Land.

Next, there was strict control over gatherings and nighttime outings.

Lastly, the shops of Leia people on the streets often changed their flags to the Falan fleur-de-lis overnight.

This didn’t mean that all Leia people were driven out of politics or business; many who switched sides stayed behind.

In addition, to win over the locals, many nobles and city priests from Windmill Land were recommended into City Hall.

For example, Jill, a follower of the Holy Path Sect, was unanimously recommended by the citizens and successfully became a secretary in City Hall.

Due to Falans’ clear oversight of Leia’s actions, various City Halls experienced varying degrees of unrest, allowing many monks of the Holy Path Sect to blend in.

The attitude toward the Holy Path Sect, a theological faction, has always been quite ambiguous throughout Falan.

Neither advocating for it nor suppressing it.

This attitude is also the general stance of the entire imperial theological community towards the Holy Path Sect.

When the Holy Seat City fell, the Triple Crown and the Holy Cabinet were lost, especially after the mysterious suicide of the Pope, the entire imperial religious community fell into great chaos.

It’s one thing for another believer to commit suicide, but for the Pope to commit suicide is truly absurd.

Coupled with the fall of the Holy Seat City, in the eyes of countless superstitious believers and priests and monks, it was the harbinger of Judgment Day. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

So it can be said that the imperial theological and ideological spheres were in complete chaos. Although they had already disentangled from the war, it was too late to root out the Holy Path Sect.

This formed the peculiar religious atmosphere in Windmill Land, but everyone understood that such an atmosphere wouldn’t last long.

Walking along the rows of warehouses for a while, there were fewer and fewer soldiers wearing the fleur-de-lis robe on the streets.

Finally, Jill looked around and, taking advantage of nobody paying attention, turned into a small alley.

The sky in the alley was narrow, and the cold walls were covered with moss. After walking on the stone pavement for a while, he arrived at a residential house.

Jill looked around, saw no one passing by or tracking him on either side of the alley, and then knocked on the window.

"It’s me, Jill."

"How much is the spice today?"

"10 dinars."

The green-painted oak door opened, and Jill followed a limping retired veteran into the home.

In the living room of the residence, nearly thirty people were crammed in. Some had a chair, while others could only stand.

Standing in front of the grid glass window was a man so burly that he didn’t look like a Priest, preaching.

"... The fall of the Holy Seat, the loss of the Triple Crown, and the two opposing popes, how did the current Miseria Church end up like this?"

"At its root, it’s because the Priest isn’t like a Priest, and the nobles aren’t like nobles."

"The priests have the responsibility of preaching and goodness, yet every Archbishop is full of greed and corruption runs rampant."

"Nobles have the duty to defend their land and protect the people but instead abandon their land for the city, exploiting the farmers endlessly."

"If the Priest and nobles adhered to their duties, how could the empire be in such civil unrest? How could Holy Seat City be left unguarded under the Ogres’ eyes?"

"So then, why have the Priest and nobles fallen so? It is because human nature is inherently evil, with original sin."

"It was supposed to be the Priest who monitored and judged the original sin, but the Priest and the Pope were devoured by it."

"What caused such an outcome? The original text of the doctrine is good, but it has been misinterpreted by the Church. I believe only learned individuals have the right to interpret the doctrine..."

Jill directly went to the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee, carrying the tray back to the living room.

He looked around for a while before finding his brother, Matthis Orange.

"Matthis..."

"Shh..." Matthis quickly held up a finger to his lips. "Listen to Priest Lamington’s speech."

Jill was helpless; he knew his brother was a faithful follower of this Priest Lamington.

Although it was Archbishop Richelieu who converted Matias to the Holy Sect, he still preferred the sermons of Priest Remington.

As for the reason, one only needs to listen to a few of Priest Remington’s sermons to understand.

"... The fact is, the past church has already fallen behind; the fall of the Holy Seat City is the omen.

We need to learn from the Holy Alliance, unite church and state, and establish a new church.

Therefore, we need you to enter City Hall, join the City Council, and persuade the City Councilors to collectively be reborn.

Transform the entire city into a church, make every citizen a believing priest..."

With a wry smile, Jill added a small teaspoon of sugar to his coffee.

What this priest said, in reality, was inciting Windmill Land’s autonomy and even independence.

Windmill Land has always been the preferred site for the Blood and Flesh Royal Court to land on the eastern continent, experiencing numerous large-scale wars over the generations.

The rights and wrongs in this issue are complex and difficult to articulate, but historians are universally troubled by its legal ownership.

On the path of the El Empire’s eastward migration, the second place the Imperial People landed was Windmill Land.

This place was originally composed of a tribe named Gothic, who had gradually become Aelified before the empire migrated eastward.

After many twists and turns, the Goths first established a kingdom, then were elevated to the status of a legion, once becoming one of the two major factions of the Central Army.

The other faction was the Imperial Guard Corps formed by the Kingdom of Celya.

In that era, these two military factions could even seize the central power of the El Empire, forcing the Elders Aier to kneel before them.

Even the third Archbishop of the Holy Seat City, who established the foundational doctrine of the Miseria Church, Saint Pierre, was assassinated by the Gothic warlords.

However, with the outbreak of the Gothic Great Rebellion, countless border army legions, under the banner of "Resisting the Goths, Saving the Elders," began a great chaotic war.

The Goths were besieged by various warlords and eventually exiled south of the Nao’an River.

They intermarried with the local small kingdoms, forming the embryonic form of today’s Falan Kingdom.

However, when it reached the year 476, the first invasion of the Royal Court’s bloody battle led to the founding of the Divine Ael Empire, and Windmill Land was taken by the Royal Court.

During the several bloody battles with the Royal Court, Windmill Land changed hands repeatedly, sometimes occupied by the Royal Court, sometimes self-governing independently, sometimes occupied by the Duke of Falan, and after a few decades, it allied with the Duke of Leia...

During these repeated changes of ownership, the native population suffered massive losses and casualties; regardless of which side occupied the land, they would aggressively import immigrants.

According to some regional jibes about Windmill Land’s populace, the people there are all "mongrels."

Then came the War of Reclaiming the Old Land in 951, and Windmill Land returned to the hands of the Falan Kingdom of that time.

For the following century, Windmill Land was under the ownership of the Falan Kingdom.

Until the Imperial Calendar year 1101, when the then Duke of Windmill Land, due to heavy taxes, incited a rebellion, eventually achieving independence.

However, not long after the Duke of Windmill Land’s independence, the Hundred Years’ War erupted, and vampires once again landed in Windmill Land.

Finally, in 1283, it was the Leia Kingdom that reclaimed Windmill Land during the war, up until now.

It can be said, from the 951 perspective, Windmill Land is indeed Falan’s territory, even ancestral land.

If viewed from the 1283 perspective, then Windmill Land should belong to the Leia people, given that they were the ones who reclaimed it.

Even a small portion of local Windmill Land people, holding the 1101 perspective, believes that Windmill Land should be independent.

After several turnovers, Windmill Land has indeed developed a relatively independent national consciousness.

Besides the large number of Leia nobles and merchants who migrated there in 1283, the locals generally prioritize Windmill Land’s interests over those of the kingdom or empire.

Precisely because of the repeated invasions, the people of Windmill Land always have low trust in the empire.

This has led to ideas of independent nationhood like those of Priest Remington being the unanimous expectation of the local Windmill Land people.

Its essence is similar to the initial "Thousand River Valley’s own Pope."

Jill also hopes that Windmill Land can be independent, rather than constantly changing hands between powerful nations, with their lives and fortunes entirely dependent on others.

Only he does not believe that independence can be achieved simply by persuading the City Council.

Windmill Land is not as strong as imagined; if they truly wish to be independent one day, they will still need support from the Holy Alliance.

At least, the Holy Alliance is far away from them and won’t annex their land.

After talking at length for more than ten minutes, Priest Remington was finally ushered off the stage by the meeting host, Old Pierre.

Standing at the main position, he nodded at the crowd, pleased, "Since everyone is here, I’m going to announce an important message from the Holy Alliance."

Upon hearing it was from the Holy Alliance, everyone in the room held their breath in focus.

"His Majesty Saint Sun has accepted Grandiva’s challenge, and at the same time, the two have also extended an invitation to the Empire’s religious community, making this debate the sixth Grand Duke Conference!"