The light and heat brought by the giant sun are fading day by day. The time when the sun shines directly on the earth is shortening every day, while the nights are quietly lengthening. When the harvest festival is over, a sudden rainfall ends the heat of the past few days. On cooler nights, the white-horned star gradually moves westward to remind scholars and farmers who pay attention to astronomical phenomena that summer is coming to an end.
The Frost Moon is approaching. Although autumn has not yet arrived, as a northern kingdom, most areas of Anzu will turn cooler in the week before the Frost Moon arrives, even in the south.
In the past, this would be the last "golden time" for residents of various towns - the food harvested in the harvest month was stored in the cellars and granaries of every household, and there was no need to worry about food problems for the time being. Popular in summer Various epidemic diseases will decrease as the weather gets cooler, and annoying mosquitoes will gradually disappear. It will take some time for the weather to completely turn colder. Before the foggy moon comes in winter, people don't have to worry about the survival threats brought by the cold winter. They can take advantage of this last period of suitable activity to continue to stock up on food, repair houses, and stockpile firewood...
Theoretically, this short "Ansu Autumn" is the time for each town to spend the entire year The last busy day.
However, in Luan City, prosperity ended as soon as the Harvest Moon began.
Today is the fifty-fourth day of the lockdown, and the atmosphere in the city is still deteriorating.
There are almost no pedestrians on the street, and the doors and windows of every house are closed. Occasionally, a hurried figure flashes past the corner of the street. Apart from the patrolling Crusader soldiers, the only ones who come out to inquire about news Even though it was noon, the whole city was as lifeless and lifeless as night.
Almost no one would associate such a city filled with depressive tension and lifelessness with the holy land of the Holy Light Church in the south.
However, such an atmosphere makes sense - the news of the change of ownership in the Southern Territory and the revival of the Cecil Principality has long spread throughout the region. Everyone knows that a new ruler has come to dominate this land. However, The bad thing is that the relationship between the new ruler and the Holy Light Church does not seem to be harmonious: in the amazing war more than a month ago, the Holy Light Church made a not so good choice. An elite Holy Light Church The army entered the battlefield under the leadership of the southern bishop, and it was on the opposite side of Cecil...
The war started with great momentum, but ended incredibly quickly. In that short period of time, In the First World War, the bishop was defeated and the most powerful Holy See knights in the south were wiped out.
He even caught up with all the high-ranking knights from the Holy Spirit Plains.
Then Luan City was blocked.
Blocking, rather than attacking, put more pressure on Luan City.
If after the war, the Duke of the Southern Territory comes directly to investigate, or simply sends troops to the city, the priests in Luan City will feel more at ease - at least that proves a clear attitude, and as long as the attitude is clear,It’s much easier to deal with.
Luan City can sincerely apologize, agree to a series of compensation conditions, and give up some church land and even some religious exemptions in exchange for the new lord's anger to calm down and to continue to survive on this land. And the opportunity to preach. Even if the situation is really out of control and the Duke of the South insists on using force to solve the problem, the defenders of Luan City will not be afraid: the fanatical knights of the Holy See have long been prepared for martyrdom, and the priests and priests will not be afraid. The clergy who are afraid of swords and demonic fire and can preach in this wild land of the South have always been the most stubborn and unafraid of challenges in the Holy Light Church.
However, the new ruler of the principality chose the most difficult and unpredictable action: a silent blockade.
He did not send a single soldier into the city of Luan, but only blocked all the checkpoints connecting the entire city to the outside world. The heavily armed Cecil soldiers and their fortifications were like the ones on the barrels. Every road outside Luan City was blocked like a plug, and both the movement of people and the spread of news were strictly prohibited. The reason the Duke used was to maintain post-war order and investigate intelligence, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was under house arrest. the entire southern church.
All the Holy Light priests who were preaching in the southern region were driven into the city, and the channels of communication with the Holy Spirit Plain were completely blocked. Whether they were caravans or scattered adventurers and mercenaries, they were all No access to this area is allowed. At the beginning, because the Cecil blockade had not yet been closed, there were still sporadic exiled knights running into the city through the paths. The leaders of the cathedral could also learn about the latest changes outside through the mouths of the exiled knights. But soon, all the loopholes were closed, all channels of information to the outside world were cut off, and the city was completely blindfolded, covered its ears - and blocked its mouth.
The residents of the city soon became uneasy, and the nominal city managers sent here by the Ansu royal family ran away before the blockade was closed. Net, it is said that half of them have defected to the Cecil people.
In such an atmosphere, this year's Harvest Festival was spent in silence - no one organized a celebration, and no one dared to waste food. The priests directed the farmers to harvest the crops close to the city wall. The last crops in the farmland were packed into granaries, and the strictest curfew and rationing system began to be imposed on civilians.
It seems that everything has reached the worst situation, but in fact, in St. Luan's Cathedral, the firm faith still supports the last batch of clergy who stay here.
France Béran, who was temporarily elected as "Bishop of Luan", ended his morning prayers. He stood up in silence in front of the icon of the God of Holy Light and allowed his attendants to come forward to sort it out. His robe was still shining, and his expression was calm.
The icon of the God of Holy Light stands quietly in this prayer room. A layer of clear light envelopes the icon, just like it has been without any dimming in the past hundred years. In FranceIn Bélang's view, this eternally glorious icon represents the Luan Cathedral at this moment: no matter how bad the situation outside is, no matter how rampant the darkness and heretical beliefs are, the great God of Holy Light will always protect him. Here, His light never fades, which means that all challenges from the outside world are temporary.
After asking the attendants to retreat, the tall black-haired bishop left the prayer room. In the rest room outside, he saw several people wearing clerical robes gathered here.
On the round table in the rest room are exquisite snacks and fragrant black tea, and some of them have obviously been enjoyed.
Food rationing is going on in the city, and civilians can only receive enough food to survive. In order to avoid exhausting their physical strength, most civilians now choose to stay at home all day long. However, the priests of the cathedral They are not within the scope of the "ration limit" - as messengers of God, priests cannot suffer from hunger like the untouchables. This not only insults the majesty of the God of Holy Light, but also seriously affects the combat effectiveness of the priests.
It was a reasonable arrangement, so Fran Braun just glanced at the snacks and tea quickly, and then came to the priests expressionlessly: "How is the situation in the city?"
A priest stood up: "There is no chaos. The Crusaders and the exiled knights who have surrendered to us are maintaining patrols. The civilians basically stay at home."
France Nodding, he turned to another priest: "What's going on with the Cecil people?"
"Nothing has changed. They are still blocking the city, but they have not taken any further steps."
< p> "That stupid and arrogant 'Duke' who surrendered to the devil..." a middle-aged priest couldn't help but said angrily, "...his behavior is simply unreasonable! Treating the Holy Light Church like this, he thinks that the entire security Is there only one Saint-Louan Cathedral in Su?""Perhaps the bishops of the Holy Spirit Plain and the Royal Capital will come to our aid, but at least at this stage, we are still controlled by others," Fran Bélang He glanced at the angry middle-aged bishop, shook his head slightly and said, "Gawain Cecil's behavior is indeed tantamount to working with the devil, but he is a powerful devil."
Previous Chapter A priest who spoke had a trace of sadness on his face: "Bishop, what do you think that Gawain Cecil wants to do?"
France Béran pondered for a moment, then took his time. He said: "It is obvious that he wants to drive us out completely."
Then he added: "Neither attack nor retreat, maintain the blockade situation, wait for Lu'an City itself Collapse, his purpose is very clear, that is, he hopes that we will voluntarily surrender - let us servants of the Lord leave this city on our own, so that he can take over the place in a logical manner, completely expel the belief in the Holy Light, and do not have to worry about being morally violated. Criticism. This is a typical vicious trick, full of cunning and without honor. Just as we originally judged: the founding hero who looked great and glorious on the surface was actually just an arbitrary and greedy person., all he wanted was absolute power, which was completely exposed when he used trickery to destroy all the nobles in the south. "
"We are the servants of the Lord, how could we surrender to such a person! "The grumpy middle-aged priest immediately said loudly, "His efforts are in vain - he doesn't understand the power of piety at all! "
"Those powerful magic weapons clouded his judgment. He thought that conquering Luan Cathedral would be as easy as conquering the Rock Fortress," Fran Béran shook his head, but then The tone was also a little solemn, "But Gawain Cecil is still a very cunning person... He did not directly attack Luan Cathedral, which shows that he at least understands that he is at a moral disadvantage. "
An elderly priest who never spoke nodded slightly, with a hint of pride and reserve in his tone: "Yes, he at least realized one thing - attack Lu An directly. Cathedral, that can only turn us into martyred saints, but he himself will lose the support of the people. "
"Yes, his opposition to the church can only push him into an unjust situation, especially at this moment," Fran Béran said solemnly, his eyes sweeping across Although the language of everyone present was plain, they conveyed unswerving thoughts, "Our persistence is the biggest counterattack against him - his blockade of Luan City cannot last forever, and the poor excuses he used are very... We will soon be unable to hold on, and as long as we hold on to the cathedral, the people of the Holy Light will gradually overwhelm Gawain Cecil with their doubts...
"We may make sacrifices in this process With some sacrifices, this process may be longer and more difficult than we imagined, but I believe that everyone present must be ready, even ready for martyrdom.
"The God of Holy Light will be. Witness our piety and courage, we will use facts to prove that Gawain Cecil's deviant and blasphemous actions are unjust. We will never evacuate, and we will never shame the God of Holy Light. Maybe we will finally Fall, but we will fall with the name of a saint. Gawain Cecil may finally step here - but we swear that he can only step here as an executioner and blasphemer! ”
Francan Bélang’s voice was powerful and powerful, strongly affecting everyone present. They thought of Bishop Lemont who had been martyred, the crisis that Luan City was facing at the moment, and even more so. For the glory of dedicating oneself to the Lord, everyone stood up and followed the voice of the interim bishop:
“We swear! "We swear!" ”